A REGENCY MAHOGANY KNEEHOLE DRESSING TABLE BY GILLOWS
Width: 137 cm
Depth: 54.5 cm
Height: 81 cm
Provenance
Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton (1739–1819), or his son, Lord Archibald Montgomerie (1773–1814), for Coilsfield House in Ayrshire.
Supplied by Gillows
Literature
Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730–1840, Vols. I & II
Lindsay Boynton, Gillow Furniture Designs 1760–1800
Royston: Jeremy Mills Publishing for the Furniture History Society, 1995
N. Goodison and J. Hardy, Gillows at Tatton Park
Furniture History, Vol. 6, 1970, pp. 19–46
A George III Regency mahogany kneehole dressing table, the top with a brass gallery above three drawers all retaining their original handle, the drawers set above two figured cupboards doors centred by four tapering fluted columns.
The underside of the kneehole with a bone label 'MONTGOMERIE'
Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton (1739–1819), a politician and amateur composer, was a significant patron of public works, including the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal, which he helped fund. His son, Archibald Montgomerie, Lord Montgomerie (1773–1814), served as a major-general from 1809 and held military and diplomatic postings in Sicily, before dying in Alicante, Spain.
Both father and son were among the most important clients of Gillows of Lancaster and London, commissioning large quantities of furniture for at least two major residences.
In 1800, Gillows supplied the 12th Earl with a magnificent state bed for Eglinton Castle, one of the firm’s most ambitious commissions, the bed cost £323 16s 7¼d, making it one of the most expensive items ever produced by the firm.