Open bookcase
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1795
Materials
Satinwood, kingwood, brass, mahogany, rosewood
Measurements
93.8 x 76.7 x 29.8 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 731614.2
Summary
One of a pair of satinwood and kingwood cross-banded open bookcases, London, circa 1795. The top with a sliding retractable adjustable book rest above two open graduated shelves and a long drawer to the base, square section tapered legs and brass socket castors. Brass squared handle to the sides. These bookcases are unusual in their design with the sliding book rest. They are of the highest standard in both construction and quality of timber. They may be a bespoke commission from a top London firm of cabinet makers. It is unclear as to whether they were commissioned by Sir Richard Colt Hoare but certainly date from the period of his new furnishing commissions from Thomas Chippendale the Younger.
Provenance
Given to the National Trust along with Stourhead House, its grounds, and the rest of the contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.