PROBABLY BY ARTHUR BRETT, AFTER A DESIGN BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE

Details

A MAHOGANY LIBRARY DESK
PROBABLY BY ARTHUR BRETT, AFTER A DESIGN BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE
The brown leather writing surface above a frieze drawer flanked by a cupboard door enclosing four drawers, the doors to reverse enclosing a drawer above vertical divisions
32 in. (81 cm.) high; 78 in. (198 cm.) wide; 47 in. (119.5cm.) deep

Special notice

Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square not collected from Christie’s by 5.00 pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Cadogan Tate. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Cadogan Tate Ltd. All collections will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Alexandra Cruden

acruden@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2566

Lot Essay

The present desk is a direct copy of the celebrated 'library table' supplied by Thomas Chippendale to Sir Rowland Winn for Nostell Priory, Yorkshire in 1767 (C. Gilbert, The Life and Works of Thomas Chippendale, 1978, vol. II, pp. 240-241, pl. 440-441). Chippendale's model 'completely finished in the most elegant taste' cost Sir Rowland the then princely sum of 72p 10s. A photograph of the Nostell Priory desk was included in Oliver Brackett's Thomas Chippendale: A Study of his Life, Work and Influence published in 1924 (plate XXXVI). This book, whose author was the Curator of Furniture at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, no doubt contributed to the enthusiasm to reproduce this design.

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