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Attributed to GILLOWS OF LANCASTER & LONDON (1730-1903) A Fine Bookcase Cabinet attributed to Gillows of Lancaster (c. 1830 England)

Rosewood

214.00cm wide   92.00cm high   45.00cm deep (84.25 inches wide  36.22 inches high  17.72 inches deep)

The founder of the Gillows dynasty, Robert (1704-1772) rose from humble beginnings as a provincial joiner, and evolved into a consummate businessman following a pursuit of excellence throughout his life.
Founding his business in 1730 he expanded his furniture making activities to include the direct import of quality West Indian timbers especially the finest mahogany. His talents as both a cabinetmaker as well as innovative designer brought him early success, and, bringing his two sons, Richard & Robert, into the business, he expanded his Lancaster showroom, to include another in London’s Oxford Street. The clientele now included the Government, the aristocracy and the burgeoning middle classes. His furniture had gained its’ reputation for excellence of workmanship, and materials employed, and coupled with his insistence on being at the cutting edge of design kept the company to the fore throughout its’ one hundred and seventy year history from 1730 until its’ amalgamation with Messrs S.J. Waring in 1900. Throughout this period it was the largest manufactory of furniture in England. The fortuitous survival of the Gillows records in their Estimate Sketch Books show over 20,000 designs and are preserved in the City of Westminster Library. Furniture made by Gillows is to be found in Royal collections and museums throughout the world.

‘Gillows of Lancaster & London’ by Susan E. Stuart was published by the Antique Collectors Club in 2008. A ‘dwarf bookcase’ of markedly similar form is shown in Volume 1, pp 384

Excellent

Constructed of finely figured rosewood, of four door breakfront form, exuberantly carved in the Graeco-Roman taste, rising from acanthus carved splay feet: the lockable glazed doors housing adjustable shelves, and framed within tapering, lobed and ring turned columns, capped by rectangular paterae; the top with a bold & confidently carved gadroon edging.