Fine Early 19th Century Side Table in the William Kent Manner - English c.1830

The table executed in giltwood with a fine central female mask set upon a shell surrounded by leafy fronds. The apron decorated overall with a recurring Vitruvian scroll motif, a favourite motif of William Kent and his followers. The cabriole legs with a delightful profile and with finely leaf-carved knees with bellflowers descending down the legs. Each leg terminates in a paw foot of unusual “stepped” design. The table top is a fine slab of figured marble, the inclusions in a variety of shades, primarily cream, pink, red and grey. The table is of 1830s date and relates to the work of the likes of William Cribb in this period in the Kentian manner. William Cribb, was a carver and gilder in King Street, Covent Garden, and is known to have executed tables in the Kentian manner, including one for Chatsworth that was signed and dated 1834. Certainly the present table would fit comfortably in to Cribb’s manner of working. Intriguingly, the present table seems to be remarkably similar, and possibly en suite, to a table advertised by Norton Rosenbaum as period, c.1740, in Apollo magazine, October 1972. The advertisement is reproduced here and the similarities between our table and that piece are clear. The interestingly refined paw feet are common to both pieces, as are the form of the legs and the carving thereon. The Vitruvian friezes are common to both tables and the masks, though not identical, are so close in feeling and likely to have been executed as a true pair for the same commission. Another table of closely related form sold at Sotheby’s New York on the 11th of October 1996, lot 213. This piece was again described as 18th century at the time.