Thomas Moore
Head of Department
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Lot 42TP
A mahogany serpentine library table of shallow proportions George III period (1760-1770) but later reduced in size and consequently also reduced in proportions (possibly to convert the originally larger table into a two section desk)
1 July 2025, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £5,000
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Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
A mahogany serpentine library table of shallow proportions
George III period (1760-1770) but later reduced in size and consequently also reduced in proportions (possibly to convert the originally larger table into a two section desk)
Of shaped outline with projecting canted angles, the tooled leather inset top with a moulded edge, above one long central and two shorter oak lined frieze drawers, flanked by scrolled foliate and shell carved angles, over six short graduated oak lined drawers flanking the kneehole, with scrolled corbel headed, gadrooned and acanthus clasped, blind trellis work and channelled angles, on ogee moulded plinth bases, terminating in brass castors, it is possible that this desk was reduced in size by a local craftsman or restorer in order to accommodate it within a smaller living space, 196cm wide x 64cm deep x 82cm high, (77in wide x 25in deep x 32in high)
Of shaped outline with projecting canted angles, the tooled leather inset top with a moulded edge, above one long central and two shorter oak lined frieze drawers, flanked by scrolled foliate and shell carved angles, over six short graduated oak lined drawers flanking the kneehole, with scrolled corbel headed, gadrooned and acanthus clasped, blind trellis work and channelled angles, on ogee moulded plinth bases, terminating in brass castors, it is possible that this desk was reduced in size by a local craftsman or restorer in order to accommodate it within a smaller living space, 196cm wide x 64cm deep x 82cm high, (77in wide x 25in deep x 32in high)
Footnotes
The offered lot, particularly in its former guise (before it was notably reduced in size), appears to have its origins in a design for a library table which features in Thomas Chippendale's seminal publication, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, first edition of 1754, pl. LVI. This drawing was evidently used by Gillows as the basis for a comparable library desk that his firm made and then supplied to Sir James Ibbetson of Denton Hall, Yorkshire, in 1778. Both of these examples are illustrated in C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, fig. 448, p. 246, as well as both appearing in S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, Vol. I, 2008, Woodbridge, pl.'s 289 & 290, pp.'s 276-277.
A further related serpentine model of this type, dating to circa 1765, which interestingly was constructed in two sections, features in R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, Vol. III, 2000, New York, fig. 22, p. 250. It is described therein as a "Commode-Buroe-Table" and was made for Althorp, in Northamptonshire.
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