A GEORGE III MAHOGANY PEDESTAL DESK

This pedestal desk is of a pattern associated with the 'Library Table' supplied to William Crichton-Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries (1699-1768) for Dumfries House, Ayrshire, by Thomas Chippendale. The latter was invoiced on 5 May 1759 as 'a Mahog: Library Table of very fine wood the top cover'd wt. best black leather, a Writing drawer at one End wt. a double rising slider cover'd, & drawers and Cupboards in the sides & stong triple wheel castors £22'. The Dumfries House desk was included in the Christie's Dumfries House sale catalogue, 12 July 2007, lot 30. Like the Dumfries desk, one of the side frieze drawers on the present desk encloses a leather-lined slide that previously supported a book-rest.
The use of rich, fine grained mahogany and the simple, clean lines of this desk matches another desk attributed to Thomas Chippendale and orginally belonging to the Worsley or Worsley-Holmes family, of the Isle of Wight, sold anonymously, Christie's London, 22 November 2007, lot 610 (£95,500).
Furthermore, the construction of the desk, with its three-prong door locks and six-screw hinges and folio racks, as well as evidence on the base that it once had centrally-located castors, matches exactly the construction of the Dumfries House desk.