Lot 572
ARTHUR W. SIMPSON (1857-1922), KENDAL (ATTRIBUTED MAKER)
ARTS & CRAFTS FREESTANDING DESK, CIRCA 1920
Auction: Design Since 1860 | 21 October 2021 From 10:00
Description
oak, inlaid with ebony and bone, with an arrangement of six drawers to one side and two cupboard doors to the other
Dimensions
137cm long, 74cm high, 75cm deep
Provenance
Provenance: From The Millinery Works Collection.
Footnote
Note: Arthur Simpson was first apprenticed to a Kendal cabinet maker, then to Gillow’s of Lancaster as Architectural and General Wood Carver. He returned to Kendal in 1885 and opened his own workshop, employing several workers, and in 1889 was showing at the Arts & Crafts Society Exhibition in London. His Lake District house was designed by C F A Voysey in 1908. The high quality of the timber chosen, the cabinetmaking and the quality of the carving are characteristics of Simpson's work, and which recommended him to Voysey as a maker for his own designs. The metalware suggests the work of Nelson Dawson (1859 - 1941) a fellow Quaker, and member of the Art Workers' Guild who supplied ironwork for Simpson.