A GEORGE III MAHOGANY ARCHITECT'S PARTNER DESK ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS, CIRCA 1800

When writing to a customer in 1783, Robert Gillow wrote, "... as to the library table it is one of the best we ever made..." in reference to the present example's model. The library table was a highly inventive form: the two frieze sham drawers opening as a fall front, a writing surface elevated for standing, and a complex fitted interior. At the time, it was the most expensive library table that the Gillow firm ever made. The seemingly earliest desk of this type designed by Robert Gillow and delivered to William Egerton of Tatton Park, Cheshire is illustrated Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, vol. 1, London: 2008, pl. 293.