WILLIAM IV MAHOGANY 'JUPE'S PATENT' EXTENDING DINING TABLE, BY JOHNSTONE, JUPE & CO. ◆
CIRCA 1835-40
£150,200
Auction: Day One: 16 November 2022 | From 10:00
Description
the radially segmented circular top comprising eight sections with two sets of additional leaves, on a baluster pedestal and four leaf carved outscrolling legs ending in carved paw feet with brass castors, the internal mechanism with a central brass capstan engraved 'JUPE'S PATENT', the frieze with an ivory trade label inscribed 'JUPE'S PATENT/ JOHNSTONE, JUPE, & CO. NEW BOND ST. LONDON'; the larger leaves with brass caps to the points
Dimensions
74cm high; 155cm diameter without leaves; 192cm diameter with small leaves; 225cm with larger leaves
Provenance
Provenance: By family repute, formerly Aldbar Castle, Brechin
Careston Castle, Brechin, Angus
Footnote
Note: In March 1835 Robert Jupe, an upholsterer based at 47 Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, London, applied for a patent on an ‘improved expanding table’ that was ‘so constructed that the sections composing its surface may be caused to diverge from a common center and that the spaces caused thereby may be filled up by inserting leaves or filling pieces’. From 1835-1840 Jupe was in partnership with John Johnstone of New Bond Street and the company traded under the name Johnstone, Jupe & Co. The partnership dissolved after 1840, and each man set up on his own, each selling tables with Jupe’s patent mechanism but under different trade names, Jupe under his own name and Johnstone with a new partner Jeanes. Beautifully engineered, the genius of Jupe’s mechanism was that it enabled the table’s radial top to expand with minimal effort to accommodate two different sets of eight leaf inserts, allowing the table to transform into three different sizes. Pedestals and bases could be tailored to the wishes of the buyer, from fairly plain to more exuberantly carved examples like the present lot. Other closely related Jupe tables are on record, all with the distinct leaf-carved quadripartite base and lion paw feet as the present model. Although of the same design, many are marked with various combinations of Jupe and Johnstone’s company’s names, an interesting detail as the partnerships changed within such a short period. See C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, fig. 535.
Please be aware that this lot contains material which may be subject to import/export restrictions, especially outside the EU, due to CITES regulations. Please note it is the buyer's sole responsibility to obtain any relevant export or import licence. For more information visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/imports-exports/cites/
With non-transferable CITES self-certification number 44ZJAW4H