Furniture, Clocks & Works of Art

Property from the Curwen collections at Workington Hall, Ewanrigg Hall and Belle Isle, Cumbria

A pair of George III mahogany bedside commodes by Gillows, 1788

UK: Greenford Park Warehouse

Auction Closed

November 9, 01:23 PM GMT

Estimate

4,000 - 6,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Curwen collections at Workington Hall, Ewanrigg Hall and Belle Isle, Cumbria

A pair of George III mahogany bedside commodes by Gillows, 1788

the hinged tops opening to reveal aperture for chamber pot, faced with dummy drawers on bracket feet

78cm. high, 63cm. wide, 55.5cm.; 2ft. 6¾in., 2ft.¾in., 1ft. 10in.

Supplied to John Christian Curwen (1756–1828) for the 'strangers rooms' at Workington Hall, Cumbria;
Thence by descent.

Probably the pair recorded in Waste Book, 12 October 1788, p. 2555 (Westminster Archives Centre, 344/12).

RELATED LITERATURE

Lindsay Boyton, Gillow Furniture Design, 1760-1800, Bloomfield Press, 1995, p. 167 (monochrome illustration 100);

Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, 2008, Antique Collectors' Club, 2008, Vol. II, pp. 112, Pl. 661.

The design of this beside table is a well-documented Gillows model produced during the second half of the 18th century and the firm are known to have supplied John Christian with several examples. The present pair are most likely to be the 'two very neat Mahogany night tables like chests of drawers' recorded in the Waste Book, 12 October 1788 for the 'strangers rooms' at Workington Hall.