A Victorian carved oak library table by Gerrard Robinson dated 1890

carved with Shakespearean figures to the frieze and supports, each figural support carved to the base with the portrayed characters name, (Othello, Shylock, Hamlet and Richard III), the underside carved G ROBINSON / NEWCASTLE / 1890

Good overall condition. Some old marks and scratches
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A Shakespearean Centre Table carved by Gerrard Robinson - '....one of the best wood-carvers the North of England has ever produced'

Gerrard Robinson was born on 22nd December 1834, the son of a Tyneside blacksmith. He was taught to draw by his elder brother John, who trained as an engraver and watercolourist at the Newcastle School of design. Aged almost 14 in November 1848 he was apprenticed to Thomas Tweedy for seven years as a carver and gilder. After serving his apprenticeship for which he was paid half a crown a week in the first year rising to 8s. during the final year, he remained with Tweedy as foreman until 1862. Tweedy showed four examples of Robinson's work at the London International Exhibition of 1862; a figure of Robinson Crusoe, a panel showing Tam O'Shanter, a "Shakespeare" sideboard ( now in the collection of the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead) and a sideboard carved with scenes from Robinson Crusoe, (subsequently sold Sotheby`s London, The Great Exhibitions Sale, 31st October 2006, lot 540, £60,000).

Tweedy (1816-1892) was a business man rather than a craftsman. It is recorded by his apprentice Ralph Hedley that he only saw him hold a tool once when he changed the figure of Miranda from a panel of the "Tempest "into a rock. However he did have the gift of recognising skilled workmen and giving them employment thus enhancing his considerable reputation.

By 1862 English work shown at the exhibition had advanced considerably. The Crusoe sideboard was praised by the writer of the Art Journal commentary, "few objects in the Exhibition attracted more attention than the "Robinson Crusoe Sideboard", the carved panels were exceedingly well executed; and certainly the work merits the very general popularity it undoubtedly obtained." John Burney Waring, in Masterpieces of Industrial Art, London 1862 singled out the sideboard for special mention and illustrated it as a chromolithograph, "The design of the carving evinced considerable originality, and great vigour and boldness of touch; the figures, especially of Crusoe going out shooting, and his coming on the first footprint, were wonderfully life-like, and caught the very spirit of each movement." He continues, "In the centre piece specially, the rush and roar of the storm, the driving clouds, the wave-beaten sailor, and the helpless wreck, were rendered with very unusual power; and if here and there the work was rough, we felt that , after the polished prettiness now so prevalent in sculpture, it was quite grateful, - a good genuine north country voice amongst a crowd of word-slurring Londoners."

Following the success of the exhibition, Robinson set up in business on his own and spent three years in London. Amongst his distinguished patrons were the Earl of Caithness, Lord Henry Scott, Lord Manvers of Thoresby and Sir George Chetwynd of Grendon Hall, Staffordshire. He eventually returned to Newcastle where he had hoped to take over Tweedy's business but unfortunately this did not take place. He set up instead on his own at 30 Collingwood Street, Newcastle where he offered `Designs and Estimates given for every Description of Carving, including Portraits, Busts, Figures, Animals, Birds, Foliage, Church and House Decorations. Lessons in Carving given to Ladies and Gentlemen'.  Over the years his commissions for carving declined as this type of work lost popularity. In 1887 he carved panels showing scenes from the life of Queen Victoria on a `Jubilee' sideboard made by George Bennett exhibited in Newcastle, Edinburgh and York. Around 1890 he carved the present lot for a local butter merchant, which then cost £20. He died on March 16th 1891, his obituary recorded that he "was one of the best wood-carvers the North of England has ever produced".

For further comparison see Sotheby`s London, Important English Furniture, 13th June 2001, lot 131, `The Chevy Chase Sideboard' by Gerrard Robinson, £75,000.