Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale
this very rare
original Thomas Chippendale George III circa 1780 Architects writing table or desk.
Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within
the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would
like an accurate quote please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with
the exact price
A very fine, highly collectable and rare piece of English Georgian
furniture. Most certainly made in the workshop of Thomas Chippendale, there are
multiple references to this particular type of carving and of course the double
fronted desk in “The Gentleman’s and Cabinet Makers Director” by Chippendale
This piece really is a tour de force of craftsmanship, it is simply put
the finest desk I have ever seen in real life. In terms of the functionality
naturally the front section slides forwards on the period castors, you have two
hidden compartments and two hidden drawers, the top lifts up and can be used in
multiple positions.
Condition wise there are some losses and patina, all of which can be
restored for the cost price by my cabinet maker and French polisher, I have
left them as they are for now so the new owner can decide. In detail the losses
are as follows, one of the spindles is missing from the gallery rail, there
would have been a sliding desktop on top of the drawers with a leather or baize
writing surface. Lastly there would have been a timber rail across the base of
the top. As mentioned, I can have this restored perfectly should the new owner
wish. The only other point to note is the lock has a later replacement internal
without key.
Dimensions
Height:- 88cm
Width:- 94cm
Depth:- 56cm
Legroom height:- 58cm
Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point, if you would
like any additional or specific measurements please ask
Thomas
Chippendale (1718–1779) was born in Otley in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, England in June 1718. He became a cabinetmaker in
London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo,
and Neoclassical styles.
In 1754 he published a book
of his designs, titled The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director, upon
which success he became renowned. The designs are regarded as representing the
current British fashion for furniture of that period and are now reproduced
globally.
He was buried 16 November
1779, according to the records of St Martin-in-the-Fields, in the cemetery
since built upon by the National Gallery.
Chippendale furniture is
much valued; a padouk cabinet that was offered for auction during
2008 sold for £2,729,250. Various sofas and armchairs in 2020 sold in excess of
£6,000,000 and £4,500,000
Life “A Design for a State
Bed" from the Director, 1762.
Chippendale was born the
only child of John Chippendale (1690–1768), joiner, and his first wife Mary
(née Drake) (1693–1729). He received an elementary education at Prince
Henry's Grammar School.
The Chippendale family had
long been involved with the wood working trades and so he probably received his
basic training from his father, though it is believed that he was also trained
by Richard Wood in York, before he relocated to London.
Wood later ordered eight
copies of the Director. On 19 May 1748 he married Catherine Redshaw at St
George's Chapel, Mayfair and they had five sons and four daughters.
During 1749 Chippendale rented a modest house in Conduit Court,
near Covent Garden.
In 1752 he relocated to
Somerset Court, off the Strand. In 1754 Chippendale relocated to
60–62 St Martin's Lane in London, where for the next 60 years the
family business operated, until 1813 when his son, Thomas Chippendale (Junior),
was evicted for bankruptcy.
During 1754 he also began a
partnership with James Rannie, a wealthy Scottish merchant, who put money into
the business at the same time as Chippendale produced the first edition of
the Director. Rannie and his bookkeeper, Thomas Haig, probably cared for
the finances of the business.
His wife, Catherine, died
during 1772. After James Rannie died in 1766, Thomas Haig seems to have
borrowed £2,000 from Rannie's widow, which he used to become Chippendale's
partner. One of Rannie's executors, Henry Ferguson, became a third partner and
so the business became Chippendale, Haig and Co. Thomas Chippendale (Junior)
assumed management of the business in 1776 allowing his father to retire. He
relocated to what was then called Lob's Fields (now known as Derry Street) in
Kensington.
Chippendale married
Elizabeth Davis at Fulham Parish Church on 5 August 1777. He fathered
three more children. In 1779 Chippendale relocated to Hoxton where he
died of tuberculosis and was buried at St
Martin-in-the-Fields on 16 November 1779.
There is a statue and
memorial plaque dedicated to Chippendale outside The Old Grammar School Gallery
in Manor Square, in his hometown of Otley,
near Leeds, Yorkshire.
There is a full-size
sculpted figure of Thomas Chippendale on the façade of the Victoria and
Albert Museum, London.
Any questions please feel
free to ask before you bid.
ABOUT US
Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family
ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We
specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating,
along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th
century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer
brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames,
Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on
PAYMENTS
We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash,
Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are
paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all
paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee
will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are
happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the
purchase
If sold items aren’t collected within three months
and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the
item and payment
CONDITION
Please view the very detailed pictures as
they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid
and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed
Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any
independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on
any point, please feel free to ask for clarity
Please note vintage period and original items such
as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and
wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed
leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of
time as it will dry out and fade
DELIVERY OR COLLECTION
This item is available for collection from our Pulborough
warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered
nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee
Please contact me via email, alternatively my
contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with
your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed
covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed
covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France
Please be sure to include which item you would like
to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more
than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the
second and third item, for international shipping please view the below
information
COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED
We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our
nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company
that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can
send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or
soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time
frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely
governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances
Whomever delivers will always require help on the
larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on
this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect
the price to send a two-person team
Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you
need help upstairs or in flats etc that's absolutely not a problem, the
couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working
elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee
All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to
the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client
and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate
your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book
in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be
made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior
arrangement
IMPORT DUTY
Most countries charge some kind of import duty
however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt
from tax due to the age and materials used
For European deliveries the price you will be
quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so
there won’t be any additional fees
For international deliveries such as the United
States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would
estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for
either
All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser
who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or
factored in with additional retrospective discounts
RETURNS
Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return
policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece
you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected
within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding
a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy
We don’t offer a sale on approval service which
means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like
it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot
of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the
costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece
please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything
before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in
person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer,
perhaps look for a local gallery instead