William IV Mahogany Drum Table / Centre Table

Finely proportioned 19th Century (c.1830) William IV antique mahogany drum / centre / library table with exceptional fiddle-back top. Based on designs for library tables drawn up by the early regency pioneers such as George Smith, this table shares the basic form of these pieces but is actually rather slimmer and more elegant in its proportions and utilises carved decoration for its ornament rather than gilt metal mounts as would have been the fashion some 20 years earlier. With the exception of some gadrooning around the base of the central column and on the feet, this table relies for much of its decorative effect on the extensive use of panelled mouldings. They are used on the sides of the tripartite base, on the drawer fronts and in the rectangular sections between those drawers. Some of the drawer fronts are non-functional and purely decorative, typical on large pieces of this sort, but there are four opening drawers, each of them oak lined and quite beautifully made. The edge of the top employs a shaped moulding and the top itself is veneered in fiddle back mahogany of exquisite colour and figure with lovely dark veins running through the surface. This is a very fine multi-purpose table that could be employed as a centre table in a large hall, as a library table or even used for dining. A very attractive and well made piece with crisp, sharp carving.