Fine & Unusual Closed Back Whatnot or Etagere in Rosewood by Gillows c.1825

A Fine and Unusual Closed Back What Not or Etagere in Rosewood by Gillows, c. 1825 The piece having three tiers, the top one flanked to all sides by a fine fretted gilt metal gallery. The lower tiers in the form of shelves supported by a series of baluster-form spindles, the edges of the shelves with a finely executed repeated egg and dart moulding. The piece is veneered in the finest quality rosewood, of excellent colour and figure. There is an integral drawer with Gillow style turned knobs underneath the bottom shelf for additional storage space. The piece stands on typical Gillow flattened bun feet with tapering, reeded carving. Although unsigned, this piece can be attributed to Gillows with a high degree of certainty. The reeded bun feet are a Gillows staple and smaller versions of this what not design, with the firm’s stamp, have appeared on the art market on multiple occasions and also feature in Dr Susan Stuart’s monograph on the firm. The finished, closed back on the piece is highly unusual, suggesting that the original commissioner intended the piece to be free standing and placed in the centre of a room. Many what nots had dual purposes with hinged tops allowing them to be used as music stands or reading stands more generally. The present piece doesn’t have that feature and so would appear to have been designed purely as a “dumb waiter” in the conventional sense and yet having a closed back is unusual enough, let alone one finished to both sides which would have cost considerably more than the standard model. The Gillows estimate books make it clear that gilt metal galleries, also featured on the present piece, were an expensive addition to the basic price of a model and so clearly this example was made for a wealthy client on a no expenses spared basis.