A WILLIAM IV GILT AND PATINATED BRONZE TABLE LAMP

In the Brighton Pavilion taste, with similarities to the designs of Robert Jones for the Banqueting Room, this opulent table lamp with Chinoiserie dragon was made by the Birmingham lighting manufacturers John W. Phipson and Abraham Lambley (listed in 1830 as manufacturers of 'chandeliers, lamps and lanterns etc.'. The partnership was dissolved in 1835. Phipson's father John had been in partnership with Thomas Messenger from about 1810 until his death in 1824. An ormolu candelabrum with matching base to the present lamp is illustrated in Jonathan Bourne and Vanessa Brett Lighting in the Domestic Interior, London 1991, No.521, they note it is possibly inspired by John Flaxman.