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Lot Essay
The painted ornamentation of this table is in a style associated with the firm of Seddon, Sons & Shackleton, who specialised in the production of hand-painted furniture, often depicting floral motifs against a fine timber ground. In 1790, related floral-painted furniture was supplied by the firm to Hauteville House, Guernsey (C. Gilbert, 'Seddon, Sons & Shackleton', Furniture History, 1997, pp. 1-29, fig. 3).
The cabinet-making firm established by George Seddon in the early 1750s was a prolific one. An entry in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1768 notes a fire on the premises of Mr. Seddon, 'one of the most eminent cabinet-makers in London', which resulted in £20,000 in damages; in 1783 another fire destroyed an enormous £100,000 in property. By 1786, a German novelist Sophie von La Roche noted in her travel journal that the firm employed over 400 apprentices including glass-grinders, bronze-casters, carvers, gilders, painters, drapers and upholsterers, all of whom worked at the Aldersgate Street premises. A study of the printed bill-heads for the firm reveal the times when sons Thomas and George officially joined the company. Thomas Shackleton, who married the eldest daughter in 1790, was invited to join the firm in that same year. The partnership lasted until the father retired in 1798 and the sons assumed control of the business.
The cabinet-making firm established by George Seddon in the early 1750s was a prolific one. An entry in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1768 notes a fire on the premises of Mr. Seddon, 'one of the most eminent cabinet-makers in London', which resulted in £20,000 in damages; in 1783 another fire destroyed an enormous £100,000 in property. By 1786, a German novelist Sophie von La Roche noted in her travel journal that the firm employed over 400 apprentices including glass-grinders, bronze-casters, carvers, gilders, painters, drapers and upholsterers, all of whom worked at the Aldersgate Street premises. A study of the printed bill-heads for the firm reveal the times when sons Thomas and George officially joined the company. Thomas Shackleton, who married the eldest daughter in 1790, was invited to join the firm in that same year. The partnership lasted until the father retired in 1798 and the sons assumed control of the business.
