Object Description
This is a superb and rare antique George III mahogany and marquetry inlaid twin pedestal partners desk, Circa 1780 in date.
It is made from fabulous flame mahogany, the rectangular top is fitted with an inset gold tooled green leather writing surface and has elegant boxwood inlaid and Goncalo Alves crossbanded borders.
It has three frieze drawers to either side, with six further drawers arranged around a central kneehole on one side, with cupboards to the reverse. The left hand cupboard with a central shelf, the right hand cupboard with pigeonholes.
The whole desk has been masterfully inlaid with floral and foliate marquetry decoration which includes urns, shells and garlands.
It has decorative brass handles and stands on bracket feet.
Complete with working locks and keys.
Instil the elegance of a bygone era to a special place in your home with this fabulous decorative antique partners desk.
Provenance:
Barrington Hall, Essex.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 79.5 x Width 185 x Depth 101 – Desk
Height 60.5 x Width 63 – Knee hole
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 6 feet, 1 inch x Depth 3 foot, 4 inches – Desk
Height 2 feet x Width 2 feet, 1 inch – Knee hole
Barrington Hall
is a Grade II* listed 18th-century English country house in Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, England.
The original manor of Hatfield Broad Oak was bought by Sir Francis Barrington in 1612. The Barringtons were the hereditary woodwards (foresters) of Hatfield Forest. Prior to 1600 the family seat was an earlier Barrington Hall, which once stood on a moated site north of the village of Hatfield Broad Oak. In 1735, John Shales Barrington succeeded his cousin the 5th Baronet Barrington to the estate. He began to build a new Georgian manor but the plan was not concluded until after his death and the house was not occupied on a permanent basis until 1863. After his death, the house was owned by Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington. The Barrington family sold their interest in Hatfield Forest in 1832 to John Archer Houblon after the death of Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington.
A partners desk
is an antique desk form, which is basically two pedestal desks constructed from the start as one large desk joined at the front, for two users working while facing each other.
This piece of furniture was first conceived in the United Kingdom to accommodate the work of banking partners. These gentlemen were usually senior bank officials who wished to work together while keeping the convenience and the prestige of a pedestal desk.
Marquetry
is decorative artistry where pieces of material of different colours are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers.
The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian “Cosmati”-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the “hardstones” used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.
Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.
Our reference: A2803