Side table
probably Matthias Lock (London c.1710 - London 1769)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1740
Materials
Carved deal, paint, gilt, marble
Measurements
87 x 168 x 75 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire
NT 1270685.1
Summary
A parcel-gilt and white-painted marble-topped side table, one of a pair, English, circa 1740. Very close to a drawing attributed to Matthias Lock (c. 1710 - 1769) in the Victoria & Albert Museum [Museum Number 2848.98]. Topped by a slab of white-veined red marble, above an inset frieze carved with a run of Vitruvian scrolls beneath a leaf-carved edge. The legs headed by flowerheads and formed form a facing scrolling truss and another set back to its side. The trusses topped and terminating in scrolls and carved with acanthus, husks and shells. Each leg raised on a block with rosette and leaf-carved upper edge. The extraordinary apron centred by the mask of Hercules, the lion's pelt with paws suspended from rings attached at either end of the frieze. -- Let into the skirting boards of the Dining Room, which was completed in 1748, this pair of tables was probably part of the room's original furnishings. Its design corresponds very closely to a drawing attributed to Matthias Lock. However, other very similar tables were supplied to houses where Henry Flitcroft worked, such as Ditchley House, Oxfordshire, so it is possible that he was the designer. Flitcroft also worked at Shugborough. Flitcroft collaborated with William Kent at Ditchley, so the latter's hand in the design of these tables cannot be ruled out.
Provenance
Accepted by H.M. Treasury in lieu of estate duties following the death of Thomas Edward Anson (1883 – 1960) the 4th Earl of Lichfield and given on loan to The National Trust for display at Shugborough Hall in March 1966. Transferred as a gift to The National Trust by H.M. Treasury on the 30th October 1984.
Makers and roles
probably Matthias Lock (London c.1710 - London 1769), designer possibly Henry Flitcroft (1697 - 1769) , designer possibly William Kent (Bridlington 1685 - London 1748), designer
References
Bowett 2009, Early Georgian Furniture 1715 - 1740 (2009), pp. 226 - 227 Gilbert, Christopher Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall : 1978., pp. 353 - 356