Object Description
The design attributable to Charles Bevan (1815-1891)
Manufactured by Lamb of Manchester, English, circa 1870
Stamped ‘Lamb, Manchester’.
Walnut and ebony-inlaid
122 cm. wide x 74 cm. high x 67 cm. deep.
The moulded rectangular top inset with leather gilt-tooled writing surface, above two shaped frieze drawers decorated with inlaid rosettes with loop handles, on trestle x-frame supports decorated with conforming motifs, joined by a turned stretcher terminating in acorns at each end, on bracket feet fitted with castors.
In the late 1860s and 1870s, Charles Bevan, a leading proponent of the Aesthetic Movement, designed gothic-revival furniture for several Victorian furniture-makers, including Gillows and Lamb. For related tables see Bonhams, Modern Decorative Art & Design, New York, 2022, lot 4, and another table with H. Blairman & Sons (Ref 1945), both of which are based on designs attributed to Bevan (see H. Blairman & Sons, op. cit.). The table with Blairman & Sons, in particular, may be related to the present table in terms of the trestle legs and turned stretcher, as well as the inlaid ebony rosettes.
James Lamb (1816-1903) was the founder of a successful cabinet-making workshop active in Manchester during the Victorian period. Lamb collaborated with prominent designers of the period, including Charles Bevan as well as other key members of the Aesthetic Movement.