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Side table
Brookshaw, George, born 1751 - died 1823 - Enlarge image
Side table
- Place of origin:
London, England (probably, made)
- Date:
ca. 1785 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Brookshaw, George, born 1751 - died 1823 (attributed to, maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Gilded and painted pinewood, with painted copper top and frieze
- Museum number:
349A-1871
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 118e, case 7
Object Type
By the 1780s, simple and elegant semi-elliptical side tables were fashionable and thought well suited to the Neo-classical style. They were placed against a wall, with one candelabra or more placed on the top, so that the light could be reflected in a mirror. Such tables were mostly ornamental and reserved for the most important rooms of the house.
Materials & Making
The table is decorated with floral decorations and pastoral themes. These have been painted by the encaustic method, in which dry pigments mixed with molten wax are applied to the surface and then heated to 'burn in' the colours.
People
The table has been attributed to George Brookshaw (1751-1823), who described himself as a 'peintre ébéniste' (painter-cabinetmaker) and a specialist in encaustic or 'burnt-in' paintings on copper surfaces. He borrowed ideas from the prints of Angelica Kauffmann, but he himself wrote and illustrated botanical books, such as the New Treatise on Flower Painting (1816) and Pomona Britannica (1804-1808), an illustrated survey of fruit grown in Britain.
Subjects Depicted
The table is decorated with paintings from Angelica Kauffmann's engravings Abra, published in 1782 (right), and Innocence, published in 1783 (left). These and other engravings by Kauffmann were issued until around 1800 and were repeated on furniture, embroidery and porcelain during that time. Delicate garlands and swags were widely used Neo-classical motifs, but the naturalistic style indicates the hand of a botanical expert like George Brookshaw.
