A George III burr walnut Pembroke table, possibly by Seddon Sons and Shackleton circa 1790

the oval top veneered in knotted burr walnut and cross-banded with rosewood above a drawer with silver ring pull handles, on square tapering legs decorated at the top with oval marquetry panels of flowers and inlaid with boxwood stringing, terminating in brass castors.

The firm of Seddon, which was possibly the largest manufacturer of furniture in the last quarter of the 18th century, was founded by George Seddon (c.1727-1801) in 1753. He had purchased a two acre site in Aldersgate Street, which included London House, the firm remaining at this address until 1826. These premises were visited by a Miss Sophie von La Roche in 1786, her diary giving a fascinating account of an 18th century workshop . She noted that `Some other department contains nothing but chairs, sofas, stools of every description, some quite simple, others exquisitely carved and made of all varieties of wood...while others are occupied by writing tables, cupboards, chests of drawers...of all manner of wood and patterns, from the simplest and cheapest to the most elegant and expensive.' She continued that `Seddon, foster-father to 400 employees, seemed to be a respectable man of genius, too, with an understanding for the needs of the needy and the luxurious, a man who has become intimate with the quality of woods from all parts of the earth... and is for ever creating new forms.`  The firm of Seddon, Sons and Shackleton was formed in 1790 when Thomas Shackleton, a cabinet-maker with premises at 115 Long Acre, married Mary, the eldest daughter of George Seddon. On George`s retirement from the business in 1798, the partnership was dissolved and his two sons assumed control of the business. 

Sadly for furniture historians, despite the prodigious output of the firm, few pieces are labelled at this period and it is difficult to identify with certainty pieces from these workshops. However a documented  Pembroke table supplied by Seddon, Sons and Shackleton to Richard Hall Clarke of Bridwell House, Devon in 1793 and subsequently sold Sotheby`s, London, 9 July 1993, lot 173 and another example of similar form, again sold Sotheby`s London, 19 November 1993, lot 100, both relate to the offered lot in terms of style, quality and fittings which might indicate the firm as a possible maker.