Object Description
A George III mahogany octagonal drum table by John Thompson of Durham. With a label framed by festoon curtain surmounted by an eagle with sarcophagus cellaret below that reads ‘I. THOMPSON, Upholsterer & Cabinet Maker, Sadler Street, DURHAM, Auctioneer & Appraiser.’
John Thompson is recorded as working at Sadler Street in Durham from 1802 to 1819. He subscribed to Thomas Sheraton’s Drawing Book of 1793 and his later Cabinet Dictionary of 1803. Thompson supplied Cuthbert Ellison of Hebburn Hall, Gateshead with four wash-hand tables in 1808. In an advertisement of 1814, Thompson noted that he carried out ‘Display of Decoration & Ornaments. Plans of rooms taken and designs of furniture prepared for them.’
Marjorie Stabler in the Furniture History publication of 1976 comments, ‘his billhead… seems extraordinary up to date with current fashion for a provincial firm.’