- 434
A monumental George IV mahogany center table in the manner of Gillows, possibly Irish circa 1825
Description
- mahogany
- height 36 1/4 in.; length 9 ft.; width 5 ft. 4 3/4 in.
- 92 cm; 274.3 cm; 164.5 cm
Catalogue Note
The massive scale and exuberant carving of the present lot is similar to a number of pieces of furniture made by the firm Gillows of Lancaster and London, from 1815 to 1835. The overall design relates to a number of Gilows commissions including the giltwood suite of seat furniture and library tables the firm supplied to the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam in 1833 for the Whistlejacket room at Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire; a sofa with paw feet, supplied to Thomas Lyon of Appleton Hall, July 1828; and a suite of furniture for Princess Irene Wiszniewska, for her house at Ennismore Gardens, London, eventually situated in the Red Drawing Room at Tatton Park, Cheshire.
The combination of the paw foot and boldly carved acanthus motifs and the rich use of mahogany throughout are typical traits found on Irish furniture at the time, a superb example of which is the State bed supplied by John and Nathaniel Preston to the 2nd Earl of Belmore for Castle Coole, Ireland.
See:
The Knight of Glin and James Peill, Irish Furniture, New Haven and London: 2007, p. 189.
Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, Woodbridge: 2008, vol. I, pp. 224-227