Regency Mahogany Pocock Extending Dining Table

A rare Regency mahogany Pocock’s patent sympathetic extending dining table, the rounded rectangular top with reeded edge and a dummy drawer at both ends, stamped “Pocock’s Patent” and with a brass trade plate engraved “Patent sympathetic tables by Pocock, Southampton Street, Covent Garden” and numbered “15”, raised on four splayed central pedestal legs with brass caps and castors, with four numbered leaves to fit between the two removable end leaves. The construction of this table is ingenious as it can be extended by one person and will only all fit together in one sequence. It has the added benefit of being entirely supported on the one central pillar allowing diners to be seated all around the table without having to place chairs between the table’s legs. William Pocock (1750-1825), began work as a carpenter in London and by 1782 had become a member of the Carpenters Co. By 1786 he was operating a flourishing building business in Essex and through this work, he developed an interest in cabinet making. Between 1801 and 1825 he had showrooms at 26 Southampton Street, Strand, formerly described as a cabinet and upholstery warehouse, later described in directories as a mattress warehouse. Joined by his son John in 1809, the business traded as Pocock & Son, later Pocock & Co. Pocock’s ingenious yet commercial mind satisfied the public interest in novelty furniture, and often his pieces included mechanical devices which were marketed as ‘patent furniture’. In 1805 Pocock took out a patent for an extending dining table, a number of which were sold as a ‘Patent Sympathetic and Self-acting dining Table’ and often bearing a brass plate, as per the example in this lot. The main feature of this table was that a single person could easily expand or retract the table without assistance – if one side of the table was pulled towards the operator, the other automatically receded. Pocock’s trade cards of the time showed that not only did he produce extending dining tables, but that he also offered library tables with rising tops to suit both a sitting and standing position, and he also ventured into the field of invalid furniture.