George III Miniature Architect's Table
ENGLAND, CIRCA 1760
23.5 x 28 x 20 cm
9 ¼ x 11 x 7 ¾ in
9 ¼ x 11 x 7 ¾ in
7203
The adjustable top with a book or drawing rest with two brass holders, the underside with a shaped ratchet support with twelve positions, with a shaped apron to all four...
The adjustable top with a book or drawing rest with two brass holders, the underside with a shaped ratchet support with twelve positions, with a shaped apron to all four sides on plain square legs within a frame base.
Schiffer writes: 'It is unlikely that miniatures were made as masterpieces. First, the labor involved in the production of a miniature is the same as that necessary to produce a standard size piece....In a photograph, the best of miniature furniture can seldom be differentiated from standard scale furniture, unless there is something to indicate scale.' (Herbert F. Schiffer, 'Miniature furniture', (Livingston Pub. Co, 1972).
There are various theories regarding why miniature furniture was created - that it was made by apprentices to prove their skills at the end of their service, used in shop windows to advertise the type of stock on offer or as tradesmen's samples to allow them to conveniently present the customer with the designs and the quality of workmanship available from the furniture maker's workshop. The fact that such furniture tended to be created in times of prosperity and were not included in household inventories may also suggest that they were made as toys. (For more on this debate, see 'Miniatures' compiled for the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1983 p. 47-49) and Jane Toller, 'Antique Miniature Furniture in Great Britain and America', London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. 1966 p. 49-50.
The first edition of Chippendale’s Director from 1754 included drawing chests/tables with ratcheted tops. In ‘The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale’, (1978) Christopher Gilbert illustrates a related design by Chippendale for an artist’s table dating from circa 1760 (pl. 397, p. 218). In The Universal System of Household Furniture by Ince & Mayhew such pieces are described more broadly as ‘writing and reading tables.’ This piece is also indicative of the growth in production of metamorphic furniture which reached its zenith in the Regency period.
Schiffer writes: 'It is unlikely that miniatures were made as masterpieces. First, the labor involved in the production of a miniature is the same as that necessary to produce a standard size piece....In a photograph, the best of miniature furniture can seldom be differentiated from standard scale furniture, unless there is something to indicate scale.' (Herbert F. Schiffer, 'Miniature furniture', (Livingston Pub. Co, 1972).
There are various theories regarding why miniature furniture was created - that it was made by apprentices to prove their skills at the end of their service, used in shop windows to advertise the type of stock on offer or as tradesmen's samples to allow them to conveniently present the customer with the designs and the quality of workmanship available from the furniture maker's workshop. The fact that such furniture tended to be created in times of prosperity and were not included in household inventories may also suggest that they were made as toys. (For more on this debate, see 'Miniatures' compiled for the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1983 p. 47-49) and Jane Toller, 'Antique Miniature Furniture in Great Britain and America', London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. 1966 p. 49-50.
The first edition of Chippendale’s Director from 1754 included drawing chests/tables with ratcheted tops. In ‘The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale’, (1978) Christopher Gilbert illustrates a related design by Chippendale for an artist’s table dating from circa 1760 (pl. 397, p. 218). In The Universal System of Household Furniture by Ince & Mayhew such pieces are described more broadly as ‘writing and reading tables.’ This piece is also indicative of the growth in production of metamorphic furniture which reached its zenith in the Regency period.
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