George Jack, after the design by Philip Webb

Giles Elwood, 'Three Tables by Philip Webb', Furniture History, Vol. XXXII, 1996.

Jeremy Cooper, Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, London, 1987.

It is believed that the original table of this form was designed by Philip Webb and appeared in more than one of his commissions. An oak example, with four supports as the current lot, formed part of the furnishings for the alcove of the dining room of Rounton Grange, Yorkshire, built for Sir Lowthian Bell between 1872 and 1876 and furnished by Morris & Co (illustrated  below). This piece was subsequently cut-down and now has three supports to each side. Another, slightly longer oak example, with five supports, was commissioned from Webb and Morris & Co. for ‘Clouds’ in Wiltshire, designed and refurbished for the Hon. Percy Wyndham and carried out between 1881 and 1889. This latter example was sold Sotheby’s New Bond Street, Applied Arts from 1880, 27^th March 1997, lot 322.

In his discussion of three tables by Webb, Ellwood (op. cit., p.134) notes ‘Webb’s assistant, George Jack, who made later alterations to Rounton Grange, was clearly influenced by this table, for he continued to design similar examples in walnut until the mid-1920s’. George Jack worked with Philip Webb from 1880 and became Chief Designer for Morris & Co. in 1890, remaining there after Morris' death in 1896 before taking over Webb's architectural practice in 1900. The current lot, in walnut, differs from the Rounton Grange model in details to the mid-tier moulding, as well as its original size.  Indeed Cooper (op.cit., p.172) ascribes the design of the Rounton Grange example to George Jack.