Thomas Moore
Head of Department
Lot 166TP
A William and Mary kingwood, rosewood, oyster veneered and featherbanded kneehole desk in the manner of Thomas Pistor
23 – 24 February 2021, 10:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £4,590 inc. premium
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A William and Mary kingwood, rosewood, oyster veneered and featherbanded kneehole desk
in the manner of Thomas Pistor
Circa 1690, the hinged foldover top inlaid with segmentally veneered radiating circular, lunette and spandrel tablets, enclosing three drawers, a central open compartment and a hinged secretaire drawer front, above eight short drawers flanking the door to the recess, the door inlaid with a radiating segmentally veneered roundel, enclosing one shelf, on replaced large bun feet, with lozenge inlaid sides, 103cm wide x 64cm deep x 89cm high, (40 1/2in wide x 25in deep x 35in high)
Circa 1690, the hinged foldover top inlaid with segmentally veneered radiating circular, lunette and spandrel tablets, enclosing three drawers, a central open compartment and a hinged secretaire drawer front, above eight short drawers flanking the door to the recess, the door inlaid with a radiating segmentally veneered roundel, enclosing one shelf, on replaced large bun feet, with lozenge inlaid sides, 103cm wide x 64cm deep x 89cm high, (40 1/2in wide x 25in deep x 35in high)
Footnotes
A similar oyster veneered 'princeswood' kneehole to the present lot, also circa 1690, is with W.R. Harvey Antiques, Witney, Oxfordshire. Another comparable desk, albeit one with historic provenance to Hotspur of London back in 1945, sold Christie's, London, 25 November 2004, Important English Furniture, lot 11. A further similar model was previously with Rolleston Antiques, Kensington.
The radiating oyster veneering on the offered lot relates to that on the aforementioned desks as well as on a kingwood escritoire inscribed: 'Mr Thomas Pistor, Ludgate Hill, London', formerly housed at Buxted Park, East Sussex. This escritoire is visible in a photograph of the drawing room at Buxted Park that formed part of a 1950 article in Country Life magazine.
Such oyster veneering is also the dominant characteristic on a kingwood escritoire attributed to Thomas Pistor which sold Bonhams, Knightsbridge, 18 March 2020, lot 355. Interesting by way of comparison is an equally remarkable cabinet on chest, also with W.R. Harvey Antiques.
Literature
C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, 1996, Leeds, p. 44.
Country Life, 11 August, 1950.
D. Harvey, "Three Piece Suite", www.wrharvey.com
