Lot 204 in Dreweatts’ auction of Fine Furniture, Sculpture, Carpets, Ceramics and Works of Art (20 November 2019) is a beautiful Regency mahogany dressing table circa 1815 and attributed to Gillows of Lancaster and London - one of the finest cabinet makers of English furniture during the 18th and 19th centuries.
This model of dressing table with its distinctive bowfronted element is a genuinely rare design by Gillows - more common is a concave central element to the frieze (see Christie's London, The English Collector, 17th May 2017, Lot 86 sold for £11,250).
The dressing table here, with it's sunken panels of exotically flame-figured mahogany heading the front legs, relates closely to Messrs. Gillows' 1813 commission for Hackwood, Hampshire. In July 1813 Gillows delivered six dressing-tables for the 2nd Duke of Bolton. Four of the tables, varying in size, were sold Christie's House Sale, Hackwood Park, 20-22 April 1998, lots 356 & 358-360.
This pattern was already in existence slightly earlier - in 1812 Gillows supplied related tables to Tatton Park, Cheshire (C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, 1978, vol. II, no. 500; and N. Goodison and J. Hardy, 'Gillows at Tatton Park', Furniture History, 1970, pl. 19B and 21B).
The dressing table carries a pre-sale estimate of £2,500-4,000 and is one several beautiful pieces attributed to Gillows in the auction. Other "Gillows" lots that have caught the eye of Head of Furniture, Ben Brown, include Lot 178 (a Regency mahogany drum library table) and Lot 184 (a George III satinwood and purple heart banded bowfront chest of drawers).
Click here to view all the lots consigned to this sale.
VIEWING:
Friday 15 November: 10am-4pm
Sunday 17 November: 10am-2pm
Monday 18 November: 9am-5.30pm
Tuesday 19 November: 9am-4.30pm
Day of sale: from 8.30am
AUCTION DATE & LOCATION:
Wednesday 20 November 2019 | 10.30am
Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE
CONTACT US:
Tel: + 44 (0) 1635 553 553
Email: furniture@dreweatts.com
Sign up for auction alerts and our monthly newsletter to receive expert analysis and insights from our specialists and keep up-to-date on forthcoming auctions, valuation days and previews.