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Altar table
William Gomm & Son - Enlarge image
Altar table
- Place of origin:
Clerkenwell, England (made)
- Date:
1764 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
William Gomm & Son (makers)
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved mahogany
- Credit Line:
Given by the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund
- Museum number:
W.7-1990
- Gallery location:
On loan
This table is in the Rococo style of the 1730s to 1750s. The highly curved, or 'cabriole' legs, and lively carving, with swags of fruit and flowers, are typical of this style. The 5th Lord Leigh commissioned the piece in 1764 for use as an altar table in the chapel at his house, Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire. By that date the Rococo style was no longer the height of fashion, but the table fitted well with the plasterwork and carvings in the chapel, which also featured cherub's heads. The cabinet-making firm William Gomm & Son of Clerkenwell Close, London, made the table, and their bill for £31.50 still survives. The table is now on long-term loan from the V&A to Stoneleigh Abbey.
