Games table
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1795 - 1800
Materials
Ivory, ebony and silver plate
Measurements
694 mm (Height); 562 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Murshidabad
Order this imageCollection
Treasurer's House, North Yorkshire
NT 592867
Summary
An ebony inlaid Ivory pedestal table, Indian, probably Murshidabad, circa 1795-1800. The circular top veneered with ivory and ebony forming a chequer board with a silver-plated band around the edge. The reeded ivory column with turned base and cabriole legs, traces of parcel gilt decoration. Also an incomplete set of chess pieces.
Full description
This table and a pair of chairs (NT 592868) in the Treasurer's House collection are predominantly solid ivory. They were probably made in Murshidabad, the Nawabi capital of Bengal and a famous centre for ivory-carving. Furniture makers there made small quantities of western-style pieces, possibly only as commissions. Historically it is believed the Nawab of Bengal gave these pieces as part of a special gift to Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first British Governor-General of India, however this is unlikely as Hastings retired from his post in 1785 and the furniture stylistically post dates this by at least a decade. (James Weedon, December 2019)
Provenance
Given by Frank Green (1861-1954) along with house, garden and contents to the National Trust in 1930. Recorded in pre-1930 Treasurer's House inventory with note: 'Isaacs Dec 30th 1911" - probably firm of D.L.Isaacs from whom Green is known to have made other purchases.