Tilt-top pedestal table
Gillow
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1830
Materials
Rosewood, specimen Derbyshire hardstones and minerals, Ashford black marble, fluorspar, malachite.
Measurements
77 x 74.5 x 74.5 cm
Place of origin
Lancaster
Order this imageCollection
Trerice, Cornwall
NT 336760
Summary
A rosewood circular tilt-top table with black Ashford marble top, English, circa 1830, in the manner of Gillows of Lancaster, the top with beaded rosewood edge and inset to the centre with a variety of local Derbyshire mineral and hardstone specimens, including Blue John, fluorspar, baryites as well as malachite, on a column with a gadrooned and a foliate collar, above a concave-sided triangular platform base, with a hand-written label affixed to the underside with iron tacks '' Black marble (Ashford) table top inlaid with Derbyshire marble &c.... a piece of malachite in the centre excepted ...The woodwork is by Gillows of Lancaster, made soon after the year 1820. R.D. Radcliffe, F.S.A. 1894 ''.
Full description
Ashford black marble is the name given to a dark limestone, quarried from mines near Ashford-in-the-water, Derbyshire. Once cut, turned and polished, its shiny black surface is highly decorative. There was a thriving trade in the manufacture of urns, obelisks and other decorative items from Ashford Black Marble during the late 18th and early 19th century. John Mawe had a museum in Matlock Bath that dealt in black marble and Ann Rayner engraved pictures on black marble using a diamond. Many fine examples of engraved and inlaid black marble exist in local collections, including those of Derby Museum, Buxton Museum and Chatsworth House. Other coloured rock from local sources was used as inlay in the black marble. These may include grey, blue and purple local minerals from Monyash, "rosewood" from Nettler Dale in Sheldon which consisted of red and white layers and barytes which created other variations, the local Castleton Blue John and yellow flourspar from Crich, whilst "Birds-Eye" rock had a design made from the fossils that it contained. Some of these are found in the Trerice table.
Marks and inscriptions
Beneath the top: Hand-written paper label attached with iron tacks: '' Black marble (Ashford) table top inlaid with Derbyshire marble &c.... a piece of malachite in the centre excepted ...The woodwork is by Gillows of Lancaster, made soon after the year 1820. (signed) R.D. Radcliffe, F.S.A. 1894 ''.
Makers and roles
Gillow , cabinetmaker