A highly important George II carved walnut and veneered walnut concertina-action games table possibly from the workshop of Whittle and Norman and after designs by Matthias Lock circa 1755

on casters.  Repairs, contemporary needlework associated.

By family repute, from the Collection of  Auguste-Charles-Joseph, Comte de Flahaut de la Billardellie (1785-1870) and his wife, Margaret, The Baroness Nairne and Keith (1788-1867)

Thence to their daughter, Emily Jane Mercer Elphinstone de Flahault, 6^th Baroness Nairne (1819-1895), of Meiklour House, Perthshire, who married, November Ist, 1843, Henry Petty-Maurice, 4^th Marquis of Lansdowne (1816-1866)

Thence to their daughter, Lady Emily Louisa Anne (d.1939), who married, 1886, the Hon. Everard Charles Digby (1852-1915), son of the 9^th Baron Digby

Thence to A. E. H. Digby, Esq., The Channel Islands

Catalogue of the Digby Collections - The property of the late A. E. H. Digby, Esq., - Sold by Order of the Executors, Sotheby's, London, June 22, 1951, lot 92

With M. Harris and Sons, London

The Collection of Arthur Leidesdorf, New York

Sotheby's, London, Catalogue of A Collection of English Furniture, June 27 and 28, 1974, lot 21

Purchased from French and Company, New York

The Antique Dealer's Fair and Exhibition, Grosvenor House, London, June 11 to June 26, 1952, by M. Harris & Sons, London, Catalogue p. 49

Overall good condition, of beautiful quality; the burr walnut-veneered three-part top with numerous scratches and with some small veneer patches and also with an approximate 7-inch age crack to the left side, age crack to back right edge, slight warpage to top, hinges slightly loose, later finish to top with some craquelure; later metal brace to interior side of top under the needlework slightly bent and exposed; the needlework with numerous small losses to the wool thread throughout especially to the folded edge, losses around the exposed metal brace; the edge of the needlework added; the front legs and back left leg each with an old repaired break above the shell-form foot and with a plug to the back; the back right leg with an old repaired break to the top of the bottom scroll and with two plugs to the back and two small plugs to the side; back right leg with a plug at the back at the scrolled foot; front right shell foot with a chip to one scroll and with one replaced carved corner; back left shell foot with chip to one scroll and chip to one corner; back right shell foot with chip to one scroll and chip to one corner; overall with very minor nicks, scratches and scuffs. Please note that the apron is carved to the front and to half of each side when fully opened (see photo) condition report last updated 4/1/09
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A unique design, this card table is a masterpiece of the carver's skill.  The carver Matthias Lock (b. c. 1710-d. 1765) published similar designs in Six Tables, 1746 and there are manuscript drawings by him for related tables in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Lock is recorded as one of a number of joiners and carvers bearing the same name and probably members of the same family which appears to span three or more generations.  After being apprenticed to his father, also Matthias, a joiner in the parish of St. Paul's, Shadwell in London, and to Richard Goldsaddle, a carver in the Parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, he appears to have become a journeyman in his own right in 1731.  Other than his recorded marriage to a Mary Lee in 1734, no other documents appear to survive regarding his career until 1744 when his name appears in Thomas Johnson's The Life of the Author. Johnson (b. c. 1714-c. 1778) was an eminent carver, gilder and designer who, in 1744, was employed in the workshop of Thomas Whittle, the London carver and gilder.  It is obvious from Johnson's memoirs that Lock was also employed by Whittle at that time, describing him as 'the famous Matthias Lock, the most excellent carver, and reputed to be the best Ornament draughts-man in Europe'.  It is further apparent that Lock had been employed in Whittle's workshop for some years and that he held an influential position within it. Lock obviously became Johnson's mentor, lending him his drawings to copy and furthering his skills as a craftsman, designer and draughtsman.  Although Lock's association with Whittle and his partner Samuel Norman seems to have continued until at least 1755, Johnson does note that he had 'greatly declined in his health, so that he did not attend the shop so much as their business required'.

While his precise role with Whittle's firm still remains unclear, his parallel career as an independent contractor is equally not fully documented, although Christopher Gilbert believes that he did work in this capacity for Thomas Chippendale.  Lock published a number of pattern books between the years 1740 and 1752 at which time Johnson implies that he was involved with Whittle.  Containing ornaments for carvers in the French rococo taste, these included A New Drawing Book of Ornaments, Shields, Compartments, Masks &c., 1740, which was followed in 1744 by Six Sconces and in 1746 by Six Tables.  A number of these were re-issued in the 1760s, and in 1752 he published a number of designs in collaboration with H. Copland.

Similar manuscript drawings for the present table are included in two folio volumes of drawings which were acquired by the Victoria and Albert in 1862 and 1863 from his grandson George Lock.  Largely unpublished, they include many original compositions and others which are closely related to the published work of Thomas Chippendale and to Ince and Mayhew.  One of the more interesting groups within the collection are some six sheets illustrating sketches of furniture which have been annotated to indicate the time worked by Lock and other craftsmen on them together with the wages due to them. These have been identified as pieces commissioned by the Earl of Poulett such as a pair of candle stands and a pier table and a mirror. These remained at Hinton House, Somerset, until sold at Sotheby's, London, November 1, 1968, the mirror and table now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Two designs from Six Tables, 1746, and several drawings from the Lock Album contain carved elements found on the present table.  These include: an egg-and-dart-carved table edge (Lock Album, no. 121), the apron carved with ruffled leaves (Six Tables, 1746, see catalogue illustration), legs headed by C-scrolls (Lock Album, no. 104), legs carved with  conjoined C-scrolls, the upper section of the legs carved with ruffles (Six Sconces, see illustration), the lower section carved with long leaves, the scrolled feet on carved shells (Lock Album, no. 104).

The drawings in the Lock Album with Lock's own name leading the list of workmen still does not clarify Lock's own position as an independent designer and carver with his own workshop, or as an employee for another firm. The present table can possibly be dated to the time at which he was known to be involved with James Whittle.  As with Lock's own career, Whittle's early life is not well documented although it is known that he took his first apprentice in 1731and supplied a chimneyglass frame in the French taste to the Earl of Cardigan in 1742.  Again Thomas Johnson's Life reveals facts regarding his career which are not recorded elsewhere.  These include that there were 'upwards of thirty men' in the workshop indicating an enterprise of some importance when compared with other recorded establishments.  He also calls Whittle 'Carver to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales', making it clear that he means, George, Prince of Wales, later George III, an appointment that is not recorded elsewhere.  Whittle had entered into partnership, before his death in 1759, with Samuel Norman who was himself described as 'Master Carver in Wood to the Office of Works' in 1762. Certainly this table is the product of a major workshop, possibly Whittle's.

A related concertina-action games table from the Henry Hirsch Collection was sold, Christie's, London, June 10, 1931, lot 52, and is illustrated, Macquoid and Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, 1986, rev. ed., vol. III, p. 200, fig. 26.  A side table with similar carving and pierced frieze is illustrated, James D. Breckenrige, ' ":The French taste", the rococo style in England and America', The Magazine Antiques, vol. LXXV, no. 5, May 1959, pp. 452-455.  Cf. a George II mahogany polescreen, sold, Christie's, London, April 7, 1983, lot 28, and another, sold, Christie's, New York, May 31, 1981, lot 101, from the Mulliner Collection, with similar ruffle-carved cabriole legs ending in scrolled feet on shell-carved feet; see also a side table of 1764 by William Gomm made for the Chapel at Stoneleigh Abbey for the 5^th Lord Leigh, obviously derived from Lock's Six Tables of 1746.

The crest centering the apron of the present table is a dexter arm embowed in armour holding the lower part of a broken spear bendways.  This crest possibly belongs to the following families: Auchmuty, Harrison – County Lancaster, King – London, Makareth – County Lancaster, Montgomery – Conroy House, County Donegal, Montgomery – Maj. General Samuel Montgomery, Carmichael – Lord Carmichael and Earl of Hyndford, extinct 1787, Thompson – Bishopwearmouth, County Durham, Gilbert – Locko, County  Derby or Selby, County Leicester.  None of these families seems to be associated with the provenance of the table.