A GEORGE II MAHOGANY KETTLE-STAND

This stand is designed in the French/antique fashion designated 'Modern' in the mid-18th century. Its scrolled truss pilasters recall the picturesque patterns for tea-kettle stands in the manner of tripodic altars that Messrs. Ince & Mayhew illustrated in their Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762 (pl.14); however, its serpentined tripod claw terminates in Ionic wave-scrolled volutes as featured in one of their firescreen patterns (pl. 50). In its overall design, the table clearly reflects the variety of patterns for 'Tea Kettle Stands', such as featured in The Society of Upholsterers, Genteel Household Furniture in the Present Taste.

This French picturesque style was also popularised by Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754-1762 and the table's open scrolled vase-baluster shaft and scrolled claws loosely recall the 'pair of large Candlestands neatly carv'd..' supplied by Chippendale for James, 2nd Duke of Atholl's drawing room at Blair Castle, Scotland, in 1758 at a cost of £7 7s. 0d. (A. Oswald, 'Blair Castle II', Country Life, 18 November 1949, p. 1508).