An Important George II Carved Mahogany Marble-Topped Side Table Attributed to Giles Grendey circa 1750

the rectangular figured Sienna marble-veneered slab on a conforming molded frame above a Vitruvian scroll-ornamented frieze, the apron below centered by a molded lobed fan ornament above shell with scrolled pendent leaves, and issuing scrolled acanthus leaves, flanked by shaped sides edged with C-scrolls with scrolled terminals and pendent shells and carved with scrolling acanthus leaves and stylized flower heads, the side aprons similarly ornamented, the bold molded cabriole legs with scrolled brackets issuing long pendent acanthus leave, and with claw-and-ball feet.

Percival D. Griffiths, Sandridgebury, Kent, by 1912

Sold in his sale, Christie's, London, May 10-12, 1939, lot 252

The Collection of Eric Moller, Thorncombe Park, Surrey, sold Sotheby's, London, November 18, 1993, lot 60

Country Life, January 27, 1912, 'Furniture of the XVII & XVIII Centuries - The Percival Griffiths Collection', pp, 139-144, fig. 4

R. W. Symonds, English Furniture From Charles II to George II, London, 1929, p. 183, fig. 180

Country Life, June 13, 1952, 'Portrait of a Collector', R. W. Symonds, pp. 1810-1812

Sir Ambrose Heal, The London Furniture Makers, London, 1953, p. 243, fig. 26

The Antique Collector, April, 1964, R. W. L. P. Luff, 'Marble Topped Tables in England, Part III', pp. 5761, fig. 5

Hyde Park Antiques, Catalogue, n.d., vol. I, p. 22  

Overall very good condition with fine old patinated surface with usual old rubbing, scuffs and scratches overall; some old age cracks at joints of legs with frame and brackets; small piece of carving replaced at tip of foliage at center of apron; some old worm damage to internal corner brackets of frame; some old infilling to edges of marble veneers.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Giles Grendey (b. 1693-d.1780) of Aylesbury House, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell was one of the pre-eminent cabinet makers working in London during the second and third quarters of the 18^th century, being described at the time of his wife's death as a 'great dealer in the Cabinet way', and further in 1755 when his daughter married the Royal Cabinet maker John Cobb as 'an eminent Timber Merchant'. Apprenticed in 1709, he became a freeman in 1716, taking his own apprentices in 1726 and being elected to the Livery of the Joiner's Company in 1729 and a freeman of the City of London. Grendey was one of the few cabinet makers of the period to label his furniture and this, together with his workshop's practice of stamping the initials of his workmen on chair frames which relate to the names of his registered apprentices allows the attribution of pieces without provenance to him. Although it is obvious that his business was of considerable size, only a small number of documents appear to have survived which record the names of his clients and the extent and nature of their commissions. These include Richard Hoare of Barn Elms, Surrey whose account is dated 1723, and of Henry Hoare whose account books note several payments dated 1746-156. In 1762 he supplied Lord Scarsdale of Kedleston Hall 'a Fine Jamai. Mahog. Plank', but his most important traceable commission appears to be for an extensive suite of scarlet and gold japanned furniture commissioned by the Duke of Infantado for Lazcano Palace, Spain. Although no bills appear to have survived, many of the pieces from this suite, which included some seventy-seven pieces including chairs, mirrors, tripod stands, desks and bookcases, retain Grendey's printed labels, others bearing the identifiable stamps of his workmen.

The present table's attribution to Grendey is based on the close similarity of the design and hand of the carving of the apron to that on a labeled cabinet in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (See: Christopher Gilbert, Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 240, fig. 432). In Ambrose Heal's publication, The London Furniture Makers, London, he includes a chapter written by R. W. Symonds, 'Old English Furniture and its Makers', p.p. 215-219, in which he also illustrates the Williamsburg cabinet (fig.24), drawing parallels with an un-labeled clothes press (fig.25) which has a similar carved apron. He also illustrates the present table (fig.26), which not only has a similarly designed and carved apron but similarly carved, albeit longer, legs than those on the clothes press. Both the Williamsburg cabinet and the clothes press are fitted with paneled doors of serpentine form which are related to another mahogany cabinet and a japanned cabinet from Lazcano, both with Grendey's label (Gilbert, op. cit., fig. 447).   

The table is also related to another almost identical table which was also formerly in the collection of Percival Griffiths (sold in his sale, Christie's, London, 10-12 May 1939, lot 253), and that of Eric Moller (sold in his sale, November 18, 1993, lot 59); this table had been acquired by Griffiths from the collection of George Seymour, 7^th Marquess of Hertford, Ragley Hall. Another table with a closely related carved frame, but with shell-carving at the knees, which was formerly in the collection of Sir Walter Trevelyan, and sold by order of the Trustees of his daughter Mrs. A. J. Wolseley, Nettlecombe Court, Somerset, Christie's, London, December 12, 1957, lot 74, and another from the collection of the late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, is illustrated in John Cornforth, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother at Clarence House, London, 1996, p. 62, fig. 60, 'The Hall'.

 

The table was part of two important 20^th century collections of English furniture, those of Percival Griffiths and Eric Moller, the former whose interest in furniture began in the early 1900s. The collection was extensively published by the furniture historian R. W. Symonds , whose works, such as English Furniture from Charles II to George III which illustrated Griffith's own collection, remains a pioneering work on the subject to this day. The present table was first illustrated in an article by Percy Macquoid in 1912 and was therefore one of Griffith's earliest acquisitions. It entered the collection of Eric Moller some time after that, Moller having very similar tastes to Griffith's and, in fact, also relying heavily on Symonds' knowledge in forming his own collection which was also largely used by Symonds's to illustrate his book Furniture making in the 17^th and 18^th Century England, 1955.