An Irish Regency mahogany and rosewood banded extending dining table

possibly by Mack, Williams and Gibton

Footnotes

Provenance
By family repute the offered lot was purchased in the 1950s by the vendor and current owner's parents during their residence in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The table was then brought back to England by the vendor's parents upon their permanent return there.
During the late 1980s it was accepted 'on loan' by the National Trust upon behalf of the vendor and the vendor's mother.
Whilst under the care of the National Trust the table had until only recently been on display in the Small Dining Room at Sudbury Hall, near Uttoxeter, Derbyshire for over thirty years.

Featured
Various rooms at Sudbury Hall, including the Saloon, Long Gallery and Great Staircase, were used to represent the interior of Pemberly in the celebrated BBC production of 'Pride and Prejudice' that was first aired in 1995.
The table, which was evidently the central focal point of the Small Dining Room, features briefly in a Jane Austen enthusiast's short film from June 2014 which shows the interior and exterior of Sudbury, along with the Museum of Childhood located on the estate. http://kleurrijkjaneausten.blogspot.com/2015/03/sudbury-hall-and-national-trust-museum.html

The thick reeded edge to the top, distinctive baluster columns and leaf clasped hippings to the main legs of the large platform base are all recurrent characteristics found on dining tables produced by Mack, Williams and Gibton. Also of interest is the prominent rosewood banding to the top (and also rosewood on the legs) which can often be found on smaller pieces made by the firm, even though this seems a remarkably idiosyncratic feature for a dining table. In fact, by way of comparison a pair of labelled Irish Regency tea tables by Mack, Williams and Gibton with similar rosewood bandings recently sold Bonhams, Knightsbridge, 24 March 2021, Home and Interiors, lot 302.

Sudbury Hall
Through his marriage to Helen Montgomery, John Vernon obtained the Sudbury Estate in 1513 and it has remained within the Vernon family ever since that time. Many years later it was George Vernon who oversaw the construction, between 1660 and 1702, of the beautiful E-shaped house which remains today. Nowadays Sudbury is widely acknowledged to be one of the best preserved and arguably finest Jacobean Houses in the country. However at the time it was being built - during the Restoration period - it was evidently considered old-fashioned and overly traditional.

Although he made scarcely any alterations to the property during the 62 years he resided at Sudbury Hall, a peerage was conferred upon Henry Venables-Vernon in 1762, meaning that from that point onwards he acted as the 1st Lord Vernon. During the period 1839-1842, whilst the 5th Lord Vernon lived in Italy, he saw to it that the Hall was leased to Queen Adelaide who was the wife of the late King, William IV.

In 1963, following the death of Francis (the 9th Lord Vernon), ownership of Sudbury was granted to the Treasury by the 10th Lord Vernon in lieu of payment of death duties. At approximately this time a new house was constructed on the estate and this still serves as home to the Vernon family today.
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