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Not currently on display at the V&A

Dressing Table

1820-1835 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In Britain painted satinwood furniture based on styles of the 1780s and 1790s remained popular until at least the 1830s. Cabinet makers adapted and changed the designs slightly to satisfy the fashions of the time. This dressing-table was possibly adapted from a design published in 1788 for a combined writing- and dressing- table. It may have been made in the 1830s as there are hand made screws used in the construction and handles made of Sheffield plate, a technique which fell out of use in the mid-1830s.

The dressing-table belonged to James James (1819-1879), one of the earliest collectors of English painted satinwood furniture, who believed that it had been made in the 1780s or 1790s. He lent the table and a painted satinwood commode to the Museum from 1866 and in 1870 the Museum bought the table and the commode from him for £200 each. There are several Victorian versions of the dressing-table, made by firms such as Hindley & Wilkinson or Maples, showing that the design continued to be popular in the 1880s and 1890s.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 27 parts.

  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Trinket Box
  • Mirror
  • Pin Cushion
  • Keys
  • Pincushion
  • Bottle
  • Stopper
  • Bottle
  • Stopper
  • Bottle
  • Ink Bottle
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Pincushion
  • Sand Bottle
  • Box
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Cover (Closure)
  • Dressing Table
  • Stopper
Materials and techniques
Painted satinwood, with Sheffield plate handles
Brief description
Dressing table of painted satinwood, with Sheffield plate handles. The dressing table is raised on turned legs, joined by a shaped, rising X-stretcher with a small casket sitting at the intersection. The superstructure shows consists of a plinth of shallow drawers, supporting two cupboards painted with oval panels showing female figures in classical dress, between which hangs a shield-shaped mirror. The dressing table is fitted for writing and dressing.
Physical description
Dressing table of painted satinwood, with Sheffield plate handles. The dressing table is raised on turned legs, joined by a shaped, rising X-stretcher with a small casket sitting at the intersection. The superstructure shows consists of a plinth of shallow drawers, supporting two cupboards painted with oval panels showing female figures in classical dress, between which hangs a shield-shaped mirror. The dressing table is fitted for writing and dressing.
Dimensions
  • Height: 132cm
  • Width: 101.7cm
  • Approx depth: 53cm
LC/FC 5.1.10
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Transliteration
Credit line
Purchased from James James
Object history
This dressing table was acquired in 1870 as a fine specimen of painted satinwood furniture of the 1790s and was published as such in 1972 (see References). It is now, however, thought to date from the period 1820-1835, made as a close reproduction of a 1790s piece.

Museum negative 74591 shows this on display in Gallery 40 in 1936 as part of a display of Georgian furniture.
Production
Acquired in 1870 as late 18th-century, but no documented 18th-century piece of this form is known. Re-dated by Clive Wainwright to the 1860s (shortly before its arrival in the Museum on loan in 1866). But so late a date seems unlikely in view of the use of Sheffield Plate handles (Sheffield Plate was superseded by British plating in the mid-1830s and by electroplating after 1840), and of screws which are not wholly machine-made. Several late 19th-century versions of this design, by Hindley & Wilkinson, are known -- all of which were presumably inspired by this prime version, which became very well known after entering the V&A collection.
The previous owner, James James (agent to the Rothschilds) was a serious early collector of English furniture, unlikely to have tried deliberately to deceive the Museum.
Summary
In Britain painted satinwood furniture based on styles of the 1780s and 1790s remained popular until at least the 1830s. Cabinet makers adapted and changed the designs slightly to satisfy the fashions of the time. This dressing-table was possibly adapted from a design published in 1788 for a combined writing- and dressing- table. It may have been made in the 1830s as there are hand made screws used in the construction and handles made of Sheffield plate, a technique which fell out of use in the mid-1830s.

The dressing-table belonged to James James (1819-1879), one of the earliest collectors of English painted satinwood furniture, who believed that it had been made in the 1780s or 1790s. He lent the table and a painted satinwood commode to the Museum from 1866 and in 1870 the Museum bought the table and the commode from him for £200 each. There are several Victorian versions of the dressing-table, made by firms such as Hindley & Wilkinson or Maples, showing that the design continued to be popular in the 1880s and 1890s.
Bibliographic references
  • Clive Wainwright, 'The Dark Ages of Art Revived; or, Edwards & Roberts and the Regency Revival', Connoisseur, Vol. 198, No. 196 (June 1978)
  • Lucy Wood, The Lady Lever Art Gallery: Catalogue of Commodes (London: HMSO, 1994), pp. 27--28, 280--82, fig. 254
  • Tomlin, Maurice, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture (London: HMSO for the Victoria and Albert Museu, 1972), cat. no. U/11.pp. 178-179.
  • Frederick Litchfield, Illustrated History of Furniture from the Earliest to the Present Time. 4th ed., London and New York: Truslove, Hanson and Comba Ltd., 1899, illustrated as frontispiece and opp. p. 176. At that time the piece was on show at the Bethnal Green Museum
Collection
Accession number
635:1to:27-1870

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Record createdJune 25, 2004
Record URL
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