A GEORGE III DRESSING TABLE AND MATCHING WRITING TABLE , English, circa 1765
Width: 24¾ in; 63 cm
Depth: 15¾ in; 40 cm
Further images
A George III padauk and burr elm veneered dressing table and matching writing table attributed to Thomas Chippendale.
Note: The tables retain their original brass Dutch axe handles.
The dressing table has a hinged top and is fitted out with compartments and lidded boxes under a mirror on ratchet easel. The fabric lined screen at the back is on a rising action.
The writing table - with a slightly different apron, but similarly veneered - is fitted with a baize-lined pull-out to the front. A drawer to the right-hand side is fitted with ink wells and various divisions for writing equipment.
Chippendale supplied this type of table in varying combinations of woods to many of his clients. Following his usual practice, each commission was unique either for the woods used or for the surface treatment (whether marquetry, japanned finish or simply left plain), but the overall outline remained the same.
Other London furniture-makers supplied similar versions, but the Chippendale model stands out for its refined design and superior manufacture.
Known commissions for which tables of this type are recorded are:
Sir Lawrence Dundas, for either Arlington Street, London, Aske Hall, Yorkshire, or Moor Park, Hertfordshire:
‘1764, May 18th, A Neat dressing Table of Black Rosewood with a folding Top and looking Glass boxes bottles &c £7 7s -’
Sir Rowland Winn, for Nostell Priory, Yorkshire, or his London residence:
‘1766, June 23rd, A Lady’s commode writing table of tulip and rosewood with a slider covered with Green Cloth. £5 14s -’
Sir Edward Knatchbull, at Mersham Le Hatch, Kent:
‘1768, June 9th, To a neat Black Rosewood Commode with a Slider & Glass & drawers with good Locks &c £8 = = ‘
‘1769, November 22nd, To a Commode dressing Table of Black rosewood to match [a cloths press [presumably ‘clothes press’? Or maybe a linen press?] mentioned earlier in the accounts] with dressing drawer and slider cover’d with Green Cloth Complete £9 10s=
To a neat small Commode Table of Black rosewood with drawers & Good locks & handles. £5 15s =’.
Provenance
Apter Fredericks Ltd., London, England;
Private collection, London, England.
