A pair of George II carved mahogany side tables, in the manner of William Bradshaw, circa 1735

each with a verde antico marble top, on a mahogany frame with a leaf carved border over a moulded frieze with festoons of oak leaves and acorns suspended between a scrolled cartouche containing a grotesque mask, with boldly carved cabriole legs headed by stylised acanthus carved in relief and ending in with scrolled decoration and hairy paw feet, the side returns formerly with oak leaf carved festoons and now with replaced roundels

Possibly commissioned by Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart (1708-1770) on the basis of similarities with three tables probably commissioned by him at Ham House, Richmond

A dramatic pair of tables which are overall in excellent restored condition. The marble tops have some minor chips and losses some of which have been filled. The returns of each table formerly with swags and now with later turned caps to the apertures which supported these. The nose to one mask has been replaced and the rear right leg of the same table has a spliced repair to the upper section. The other table with some chipped detail to the mask and acanthus detail, some glue to the scallop. The back left leg of the same table has a crack to the lower section and repairs to the paw feet which appear to have been re-fixed. The colour of the legs and carved decoration differs to that of the frieze on both tables. With old marks and very minor chips throughout commensurate with age and use.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This superb pair of tables exemplifies not only the immense skill of the cabinet maker responsible for their execution but the fascination by wealthy patrons in the second quarter of the 18th century with a 'Roman' style inspired by the classicism of the antique and the drama of the Baroque. The tables are a culmination of this, with a bold architectural frieze suspending swags, not of laurel, but the foliage of the English oak, these devices create the perfect frame for the theatre of an extraordinary mask held within a scrolled strap-work and scallop cartouche and raised upon a set of boldly animated legs with weighty hairy paw feet.

The genesis in Britain for this style lies in part through the work of Inigo Jones (1685-1748) and in turn by William Kent (1685-1748) who was greatly inspired by Jones. Both were architect designers, who spent time studying Antique and Renaissance architecture and art in Italy, an examination of their work, using designs brought together by John Vardy in 1744 and published as Some Designs of Mr Inigo Jones and Mr Wm Kent, is fascinating. We see a series of motifs, evidenced in the offered lot, which are employed across a range of designs which include architectural elements, furniture and other three dimensional objects. Most interestingly there is a design for a table by Kent, plate 41 (fig.1) commissioned by Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (1701–1751). This too features an extraordinary mask between swags of foliage below a detailed architectural cornice. Whilst the vocabulary of the motifs employed is similar in tone, the actual design of the offered tables is different and authorship seems removed from the output of William Kent but none the less is possibly inspired by his work. Certainly the influence of Jones and Kent was far reaching and there is an illustrated design from 1739 by architect William Jones (d.1757) which seems to bridge the gap between the work of Kent and the design of the pair of tables offered here (fig. 2). This engraving from The Gentleman or Builder's Companion is reproduced by Elizabeth White (ed.), Pictorial Dictionary of British 18th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, 1990, pl. 27, p. 262. 

Importantly there is a group of three tables at Ham House in Richmond, which are very similar and assist in an assessment of the tables offered here. The Ham group consists of a pair and a single example. Each is of almost identical form and features a verde antico top above a similar frieze, mask and cabriole legs. The Ham tables feature a shorter swag of oak foliage to each short side and from this we can assume our tables featured these two, this is confirmed by small later applied disc motifs which cover apertures from where these would have been suspended. We can assume these were lost at some point in the long history of the tables.

The single table at Ham (fig. 3) is illustrated Christopher Rowell (ed.), Ham House; 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, London, 2013, p. 282, fig. 279 and relates most closely to the pair offered here. The carving is similar, although looser and perhaps more naïve than the pair from the group at Ham. The timber employed is the same tightly grained mahogany and the gauge of thickness of the marble tops is similar (the top on the single example is approximately 3cm. and on our tables approximately 3.5cm). The measurements are strikingly close with the single table at Ham measuring 88.4cm. high, 155cm. wide and 75.8cm. deep. All five tables feature a pine supporting carcass with a substantial cross bar to support tops. The archive on the furniture at Ham House is extensive and discussed in detail by Christopher Rowell and others in their superb account of the house also see appendix 3 and 4, (op. cit. p. 430-433).

The key figure who commissioned the tables which relate so closely to the pair offered here is that of Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart (1708-1770), he is also an important figure when it comes to discussing possible authorship. It was he who on inheriting Ham in 1728 embarked up on a program of repair. In his early 20s and fresh from a Grand Tour in Italy he must have felt the 17^th century interiors old fashioned and tired. Work was undertaken on both the exterior and the interior and there are surviving bills for new furniture which was brought from central London down the river Thames by ‘waterman’. Three primary names emerge on contemporary bills for these new pieces of furniture and for the alterations to existing items; that of George Nix (active 1744-51), William Bradshaw (1700-75) and Peter Hasert (1692-1746).

Nix seems primarily to have been involved in restoring pieces already in the collection but did supply, in 1730 the splendid sgabello type mahogany hall chairs, ’18 Hall Chairs Painted and Varnisht’. Hasert supplied a pair of torchéres ‘with pillars and claws’ in 1747 which, like the Hall chairs are still at Ham, see Maurice Tomlin and Peter Thornton, The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House, The Journal of the Furniture History Society, 1980, Vol. XVI., fig. 152 and fig. 159.

Bradshaw or Nix are possibly those responsible for the pair of gilt pier glasses currently in the Dining Room that, like the tables, feature swags of oak leaves either side of a scallop. Both supplied pairs of mirrors to Ham. Nix in 1729 invoiced '2 Peer glasses...£12' and Bradshaw in 1737 'Two large glasses...£17.17.0' (Rowell, et al, p. 282). Interestingly Bradshaw was responsible for the alterations in the Dining Room of that same year and supplied, in 1743, a pair of gilt pier tables and mirrors for the Queen's Bedchamber (Rowell et al. p. 287) '2 Rich carved and gilt-oval Glasses [£] 28.10.0' and '2 Ditto tables 24.0.0' with '2 Black & yellow Marble tops 8.2.6'. These share similar decorative flourishes that include foliate swags, oak leaves and scrolled acanthus like the offered lot and the three tables at Ham.

The three Ham tables with their distinctive and large marble tops lack a bill. The most likely out of the three 'Ham cabinetmakers' cited above could be William Bradshaw, he is known to have supplied items alongside other ‘Kentian’ figures such as John Boson and William Hallett for William Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor (1725–1776) at Londsdale Castle and for the Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (1697–1759) for his great house at Holkam, a commission in which William Kent had a hand. Interestingly he also supplied Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753) with three couch beds for Chiswick in 1751. A table, generally attributed to Bradshaw and recorded at Chevening in Kent, see Edwards & Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet-makers, London, 1946, p. 49, is worthy of comparison. Although in gilt-gesso, it too features an exuberant mask to the apron and bold legs of a similar shape to the tables offered here. It also shares characteristics with the pair of gilt consoles from 1743 in the Queens Bedchamber at Ham, which are cited earlier in this note. A bill addressed to Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope (1714–1786) for £1200 in 1736 is recorded (Edwards & Jourdain, p. 31) for work undertaken at Chevening which probably includes this table and other pieces in gilt-gesso. See Beard & Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, Leeds, p. 99-100 for a list of commissions undertaken by Bradshaw.

Also see M. Harris & Sons, A Catalogue and Index of Old English Furniture and Works of Decorative Art, London, n.d., c. 1930, Vol., II, p. 164 for a table of similar bold form and very much in the manner of the tables offered here and William Bradshaw.