THE PERCIVAL D. GRIFFITHS CARD TABLE

A magnificent George II walnut concertina action card table. The inside of the table is lined with a faded green velvet playing surface. Percival D. Griffiths was advised by R. W. Symonds on the purchase of most of his pieces, and his collection of English furniture is still regarded as the finest ever assembled. After Griffiths’s sudden death following a hunting accident, however, his collection was dispersed, and Symonds supervised the distribution of his treasures elsewhere. Griffiths collected predominantly carved furniture of the early to mid 18th century. He preferred pieces with lion masks. This table is exceptional and is to date the finest example of its kind known.

Literature: Percy Macquoid, 'Furniture of the XVII & XVIII Centuries, Mr. Percival Griffiths’ Collection’, Country Life, 27 January 1912, pp. 139-44, fig. 3.
R. W. Symonds, The Present State of Old English Furniture, 1921, fig. 45.
Frederick Litchfield, Illustrated History of English Furniture, 1922, fig. 281.
R. W. Symonds, Old English Walnut and Lacquer Furniture, 1923, pl. XXXII.
R. W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II, 1929, p. 63, fig. 34 and p. 118, fig. 72.
R. W. Symonds and T. H. Ormsbee, Antique Furniture of the Walnut Period, 1947, pl. XXXII.
Edward Lennox-Boyd (ed.), Masterpieces of English Furniture: The Gerstenfeld Collection, 1998, p. 25, fig. 13.
Illustrated: Herbert Cescinsky, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, vol. III, 1911, p. 55, fig. 47.

Provenance

Percival D. Griffiths, Sandridgebury, Kent, England, purchased circa 1908.
Geoffrey Blackwell, Esq., England; Sir James Caird, Bart., sold Christie’s, London, England, 8 July 1993, lot 75.
Theodore and Ruth Baum, New York, USA; Private collection, England.