This Masterpiece from the Regency period is a Games Table firmly attributed to Gillows of Lancaster. Constructed in Gonçalo Alves and braced with a central crisply turned stretcher. The feet terminate with superbly carved feet with cast brass paw feet having inset castors. The top has radial ends, which incorporated lockable hinged lids, with a reversible sliding plain top, with a chess board inlaid to the obverse within a Morocco leather border, and when removed, reveals a well having a velvet lined backgammon board. This is an important piece of furniture and in Susan E. Stuart's two volume work 'Gillows of London and Lancaster', published by the Antique Collectors Club in 2008 shows images and text on pp 265-7, Volume 1, of an identical table, one of two ordered in 1813 by a wealthy Liverpool merchant, John Gladstone.
Height 29" (73.5cm) Width 55" (140cm) Depth 24.5 (62.25) Item Sold
Brief History of Gillows
The Gillow family of cabinet makers and upholsters came to prominence with Richard Gillow (1733 – 1811), the son of Robert Gillow, founder of the firm. Gillow’s reputation as one of the leading British cabinet making firms of the 18th and 19th centuries was established by contributions from some ten members of the family over three generations.
During the 18th century, the Gillow firm established a reputation for producing the highest quality furniture, made by competent workmen from the best woods, in elegant but practical styles. These sometimes incorporated ingenious devices. Gillows produced good, solid well- made furniture and were the only 18th century cabinet makers to establish and maintain a branch in both London (opened 1770) and the provinces. The Gillow Archives (now in the City of Westminster Archives Centre) comprise mainly the business records of the Lancaster branch from about 1728 to 1932 and include estimate sketches and memorandum books from 1759 to 1905. They are the longest and largest cabinet maker’s records to have survived in the world.