F16: Table
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© The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
| Museum number | F16 |
| Title | Table |
| Object type | In category: Furniture » Table » Pier tables/side table |
| Date | Circa 1820 |
| People |
Unknown - Cabinetmaker(s) |
| Place of origin | Europe » Northern Europe » British Isles » Great Britain » England |
| Condition |
Good |
| Dimensions |
77.3 cm height whole 77.7 cm width whole 52.0 cm depth whole |
| Materials & techniques |
In categories: Animal material » Horn Animal material » Ivory Animal material » Mother-of-pearl/shell Metal » Pewter Wood » Mahogany Wood » Oak Wood » Sycamore Wood » Walnut |
| Description |
A rectangular centre table with square tapering legs and frieze incorporating a single drawer with knob handles. Of oak and mahogany with decorative marquetry veneers to the top and frieze. The top is formed of a central panel of marquetry taken from a seventeenth-century glove box. It is composed of pieces of walnut, sycamore, ivory, mother of pearl, horn and pewter. These are arranged in a central oval and four quarters surrounded by ropework bands of shaded timber, depicting birds, flowers and tree stumps. On either side are simpler panels of later eighteenth century marquetry on a satinwood background, depicting floral sprays enclosed in a double band of boxwood stringing. The edge of the table top is banded with a thick bead-and-reel moulding stained black. The drawer front, side and back friezes below the top are decorated with similar panels; the central panels are also taken from a seventeenth-century glove box with later eighteenth-century insertions on either side. The legs are of tapering square section with black applied mouldings at the top and above the spade feet. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Notes | This table has been described as a genuine enigma. It was undoubtedly made in England using a late 17th century marquetry box for the main panels. However, exactly when this was is harder to tell. The marquetry foliate sprays on a harewood ground are in the style of about 1760. It is known that seventeenth-century marquetry was being incorporated into furniture at about that time, but other aspects of the table seem later. The most significant is the bead-and-reel edge which is typical of the 1820s. The fact that the back frieze of the table is also decorated in the same manner as the sides and top would suggest that this piece was made up in the early nineteenth century rather than in the late eighteenth century. The convention of arranging small pieces of furniture to stand out in the centre of the room, seen from all sides, developed in England post 1800. In the eighteenth century the convention was for a table of this shape to be placed against a wall with the back left undecorated. The 1874 probate inventory (AR153) taken of 10 Cavendish Crescent following Sir William Holburne's death lists this table as a ‘Marquettrie Occasional Table in the Front Drawing Room. On it were the following objects: ‘Chelsea Figure of Justice, Dresden figure [of] A Clown, 2 Dresden Cups and Saucers, 2 Cappo di Monte Cups and Saucers. Pair Turquoise Oriental Vases and Covers. Sevres Pen-Tray, turquoise ground. Pair Oriental Josses Turquoise in Ormolu.’ | ||||||
| Muse theme | The Art of Collecting |
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| Muse chapter |
The History of the Holburne Collection » Sir William Holburne and his Collection » Arranging the Collection: Sir William at Home
The History of the Holburne Collection » The Collection » Furniture |
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| Gallery Labels |
TABLE English, late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, incorporating seventeenth and eighteenth century panels. Mahogany and satinwood with marquetry of various woods, ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and pewter. The centre panels of the top and longer sides date from the later seventeenth century and were taken from a Dutch lace or glove box. To either side of these panels are narrower sections of English marquetry in a markedly different style which probably date from c. 1775-80, which may also be the date of the table frame and legs. The dark moulding around the top and the drawer knobs date from c. 1825-30. This markedly antiquarian piece of furniture stood in Holburne's first-floor front drawing room. The top was crowded with porcelain.F 16. (Unknown) 2004 TABLE English, late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, incorporating seventeenth and eighteenth century panels.Mahogany and satinwood with marquetry of various woods. The centre panels of the top and longer sides date from the later seventeenth century and have probably been taken from a Dutch lace or glove box. The fine quality marquetry decoration is composed of walnut, sycamore, ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and pewter. To either side of these panels are narrower sections of English marquetry in a markedly different style which probably date from c. 1775-80, which may also be the date of the table frame and legs. The dark moulding around the top and the drawer knobs date from c. 1825-30. In the early nineteenth century a taste developed among English collectors for seventeenth century marquetry. While some original cabinets and tables survived intact, other pieces were occasionally "made up" for collectors such as Sir William Holburne, incorporating older panels of fine marquetry into more modern items of furniture. This is what may have occurred with this piece. Collection of Sir William Holburne. Museum Number: F 16 (Unknown) 2005 |
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| Method of acquisition | Bequest | ||||||
| Provenance | Thomas William Holburne (1793-1874); by whom bequeathed to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882), by whom bequeathed to the Museum | ||||||
| Exhibition history |
Title of exhibition: The Beauties of Bath: the Holburne Museum Revealed Title of exhibition: Town House Treasures; Sir Thomas William Holburne of Bath |
