A GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING ROOM PEDESTAL

A closely related pair of sideboard-pedestals, applied with the same shaped, moulded panels to the front, surmounted by a vases (in this case a cisterns), attributed to Gillows, was made for Thirsk Hall, North Yorkshire, in the mid-1770s when the dining room was completed. (illustrated in S.E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Woodbridge, 2008, vol. I, p. 309, pl. 343). This type of pedestal was usually supplied in pairs to flank a serving-table, and the form remained popular throughout the latter decades of the 18th century with the grouping evolving into the prdestal sideboard circa 1800. Richard Gillow wrote to an unknown gentleman in August 1777, two pedestals 'will answer all your purpose in the gentlest style'. A further pair of related vase topped pedestal by Gillows, previously at Lulworth castle, are now at West Wycombe house, Buckinghamshire, (illustrated in, ibid., p. 310, pl. 346) and another related pair was sold Christie's New York, April 2007, lot 304 ($ 24,000 incl.).