Lot 254
FINE REGENCY MAHOGANY AND EBONISED SLATE TOP WRITING TABLE
CIRCA 1815
Fine Furniture and Works of Art
Auction: 27 January 2016 at 10:00 GMT
Description
the long rectangular top with slightly outset square corners and inset with a slate slab, above a long and two short frieze drawers flanked by deep drawers, with dummy drawers opposing, raised on fluted square tapered legs ending in bold carved lion paw feet
Dimensions
220cm long, 79cm high, 82.5cm deep
Footnote
Provenance:
Stobo Castle, probably supplied to Sir James Montgomery
Purchased Hylton Philipson, 1905
Acquired by the Countess of Dysart, 1938
Purchased Sotheby's, 10th & 11th April, 1972
Sir James Stirling
Thence by descent
Note:
Stobo Castle, in the Scottish Borders, was built in 1805 from designs by the Scottish architect James Elliot. It replaced the earlier Manor of Stobo which itself had replaced an even earlier Tower House. In 1767 the estate was sold to the Graham-Montgomery family who owned the property until 1905 when it was sold to the cricketer Hylton Philipson who extensively changed the gardens.
This unusual writing table is impressive not only for its scale, but also for the use of the single large slate slab that covers the top surface. While slate surfaces are not uncommon on furniture of the period, it is the sheer size of the piece which makes the present lot so remarkable. It is believed the table was commissioned and installed soon after the new house was completed in 1811. It remained there through subsequent owners in the 20th century until the two day sale of the contents of the Castle in 1972 when it was acquired by Sir James Stirling. The table was on loan for many years to the National Trust for Scotland and was on display in the Trust's previous premises on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. A related smaller and much plainer table with a slate top is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.