A George III mahogany Pembroke table, in the manner of Thomas Chippendale, c.1770


The serpentine top with ogee moulded edge above a mahogany-lined drawer, on fluted legs and brass castors, 98cm wide, 73cm deep, 72cm in diameter, (38 1/2in wide, 28 1/2in deep, (28in in diameter,
|It is interesting to compare the present table to the documented work of Thomas Chippendale in the 1770's. The top for example is the same shape and dimensions of as the table Chippendale and Haig supplied to Paxton House in 1775 and in the absence of complete records of the commission, notes made by one of William Trotter's men in an inventory of the property in 1828, helped add to the evidence that the Pembroke table was his, (Sotheby's, Arts of Europe, lot 122, 10th November 2015). The reed-and-pateraed handles are noted by Christopher Gilbert as Chippendale's preferred pattern during this period and are used on case furniture at both Paxton and Nostell Priory. The legs too have similarities to the Paxton commission, both the fluting and the positioning of the tuned elements, although at Paxton the legs are straight, rather than of slender baluster form.The drawer stamped T.(Thomas) Wilson, Great Queen St. London a furniture maker and broker. Furniture bearing the Wilson stamp date from around 1780-1840 and examples referenced but not illustrated in 'Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840' include a table that appeared in and advert in Connoisseur, August 1952, described thus: 'Pembroke table, the top of serpentine outline and the supports of tapering turned form with brass cup castors'.Literature:Christopher Gilbert, 'The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale', Tabard Press, London 1978'The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840' edited by Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, published by The Furniture History Society and W.S Maney and Son Ltd., Leeds, 1986