A GEORGE IV MAHOGANY PEDESTAL DESK

Gillows' design for this handsome desk was one of many published in the firm's sketchbooks under the heading Ferguson & Co, William Ferguson being one of the trio of former employees who purchased the Gillow business when the family relinquished control in 1813, the new partnership being known variously as Gillow & Co., Ferguson, Whiteside & Redman, or Ferguson, Redmayne & Co.
Ferguson and Henry Whiteside were responsible for the running of Gillow's London business based at various Oxford Street addresses until their deaths in 1835 and 1832 respectively.
A closely related desk is illustrated in S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 2008, vol. II, p. 379, pl. GC32, while others were sold Christie's, London, 17 June 1993, lot 102, and Sotheby's, London, 3 July 2003, lot 118.