Table
ca. 1760 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Wash tables served as stands for basins, soap dishes and towels. This particularly elaborate version of a simple and functional piece of furniture formed part of the furnishings, made in about 1760, of Spencer House, London, the town house of the Earls of Spencer. Other inlaid pieces in this style include two bedside cupboards and a wardrobe, which have been at Althorp, Northamptonshire, since about 1920. The London firm of Gordon & Taitt supplied much of the upholstery, but the maker of the inlaid furniture remains unknown.
Materials and Making
This wash table is made of mahogany. The inlay on the table top consists of boxwood on a ground of padouk (a kind of rose-wood from Burma).
Design & Designing
The table is set on four legs, surmounted with capitals modelled on those placed above the caryatids (sculpted female figures) on the Erechtheum, a temple in Athens which stood to the north of the Parthenon. James Stuart (1713-1788), the table's designer, made use of an illustration from The Antiquities of Athens (London, 1762: pl. XXXVIII), a book he wrote in collaboration with Nicholas Revett (1720-1804), the first detailed survey of ancient Greek architecture written in English.
People
Stuart designed this table for the bedchamber of Georgiana, Countess Spencer (died in 1814), at Spencer House, London. In A Six Weeks Tour through the Southern Counties of England and Wales(1770), Arthur Young referred to Spencer House's 'beds and tables very finely carved and inlaid'.
Wash tables served as stands for basins, soap dishes and towels. This particularly elaborate version of a simple and functional piece of furniture formed part of the furnishings, made in about 1760, of Spencer House, London, the town house of the Earls of Spencer. Other inlaid pieces in this style include two bedside cupboards and a wardrobe, which have been at Althorp, Northamptonshire, since about 1920. The London firm of Gordon & Taitt supplied much of the upholstery, but the maker of the inlaid furniture remains unknown.
Materials and Making
This wash table is made of mahogany. The inlay on the table top consists of boxwood on a ground of padouk (a kind of rose-wood from Burma).
Design & Designing
The table is set on four legs, surmounted with capitals modelled on those placed above the caryatids (sculpted female figures) on the Erechtheum, a temple in Athens which stood to the north of the Parthenon. James Stuart (1713-1788), the table's designer, made use of an illustration from The Antiquities of Athens (London, 1762: pl. XXXVIII), a book he wrote in collaboration with Nicholas Revett (1720-1804), the first detailed survey of ancient Greek architecture written in English.
People
Stuart designed this table for the bedchamber of Georgiana, Countess Spencer (died in 1814), at Spencer House, London. In A Six Weeks Tour through the Southern Counties of England and Wales(1770), Arthur Young referred to Spencer House's 'beds and tables very finely carved and inlaid'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Mahogany, with boxwood inlay on padouk ground |
| Brief description | Mahogany table with boxwood inlay on padouk ground, designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart, London, ca. 1760 |
| Physical description | The following description has been transcribed from the original accession record of 1979. TABLE ENGLISH: about 1760. Mahogany inlaid with padouk and boxwood |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | TABLE
ENGLISH; about 1760
Mahogany
One of a pair of wash-stand tables provided en suite with two bedside cupboards and a wardrobe for Lady Spencer's bedchamber at Spencer House, London. Probably designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart.
Purchased by the Brigadier Clark Fund through the National Art-Collections Fund.(pre October 2000) |
| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the Brigadier Clark Fund through Art Fund |
| Object history | Designed by James Stuart for the bedchamber of Georgiana, Countess of Spencer (died in 1814); made in London by an unknown maker. This table was made for the pioneering Neo-classical interior of Spencer House in London, designed by the architect James Stuart. He was nicknamed 'Athenian' Stuart because he had been to Athens and studied and published its ancient remains. The Doric capitals at the top of the legs of this table are copied from those on the Erectheum, a monument in Athens. The table top is inlaid with a double Grecian wave-scrolled ribbon fret, a decorative design which Stuart used in other parts of Spencer House. In 1857 he had taken over from John Vardy as the building’s architect and introduced changes to his predecessor’s completed designs (some of which are in the collections of the V&A). Vardy’s original sketch of the underside - or soffit - of the great staircase (museum no. 3436:198) makes use of Roman-style scroll brackets. Stuart replaced these with the same Greek fret pattern that can be seen on the table. The table has torch-tapered feet which spring from a reeded bulb – a feature of much Chippendale furniture. |
| Association | |
| Summary | Object Type Wash tables served as stands for basins, soap dishes and towels. This particularly elaborate version of a simple and functional piece of furniture formed part of the furnishings, made in about 1760, of Spencer House, London, the town house of the Earls of Spencer. Other inlaid pieces in this style include two bedside cupboards and a wardrobe, which have been at Althorp, Northamptonshire, since about 1920. The London firm of Gordon & Taitt supplied much of the upholstery, but the maker of the inlaid furniture remains unknown. Materials and Making This wash table is made of mahogany. The inlay on the table top consists of boxwood on a ground of padouk (a kind of rose-wood from Burma). Design & Designing The table is set on four legs, surmounted with capitals modelled on those placed above the caryatids (sculpted female figures) on the Erechtheum, a temple in Athens which stood to the north of the Parthenon. James Stuart (1713-1788), the table's designer, made use of an illustration from The Antiquities of Athens (London, 1762: pl. XXXVIII), a book he wrote in collaboration with Nicholas Revett (1720-1804), the first detailed survey of ancient Greek architecture written in English. People Stuart designed this table for the bedchamber of Georgiana, Countess Spencer (died in 1814), at Spencer House, London. In A Six Weeks Tour through the Southern Counties of England and Wales(1770), Arthur Young referred to Spencer House's 'beds and tables very finely carved and inlaid'. |
| Associated object | 3436:198 (Object) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.31-1979 |
About this object record
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| Record created | April 2, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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