A George II mahogany triple-fold harlequin games table, attributed to Thomas Potter, circa 1735, with gaming pieces, two keys, measuring 78cm high, 80cm wide, 38cm deep, 76cm long when extended.
Attributed to Thomas Potter, the rounded triple folding rectangular top enclosing a tea-table, backgammon and chessboard with a concealed frame fitting into the ivory escutcheons and a baize lined table with four guinea-wells, a brass button release to either side revealing a rising cartonnier with pigeon holes, drawers and fitted book-rest, the backgammon frame is also concealed within. All on tapered legs terminating in pad feet with enclosed brass skirted castors. The inner oak carcass has its four original springs which convey the till to its maximum height without effort. Folded away it returns to a elegant table with its base moulding conforming to that of the folding leaves, a true tour de force. Thomas potter: Master Cabinetmaker of Holborn, was known to have taken a Michael Bonsfield on as apprentice in 1731 and his son Philip Potter in 1746. Potter was also known to work with master cabinet maker John Kelsey of Westminster, between them they supplied fine furniture to Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Barn Elms, Richmond as well as Sir Justinian Isham the 5th Baronet of Lamport at Lamport Hall, Northamptonshire where he paid Potter £19 in 1736 for a communal table for Lamport Church shortly before his death in March 1736/37 (See image). Potter is known to have supplied other pieces of furniture for Sir Justinian Isham around this time as extensive additions to Lamports main building was finished and being furnished, research is still ongoing with the local archives office to verify if this is one of those pieces as the table came from a short distance away from Lamport. [From previous tables sold attributed to potter this specimen is of the closest seen in regards to design, build and configuration etc. (See image)] Related tables: The 1730s trade-sheet of the High Holborn cabinet-maker Thomas Potter shows the table (of same design) opened to reveal its raised 'cartonnier' with near identical drawer configuration and another with its inlaid games-boards which is with similar foldable frame, (see C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, John Channon and brass-inlaid furniture 1730-1760, London, 1993, p.19). (C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, vol. III, 1998, No.828). Known to have worked and shared designs with John Channon in the centrepiece of Potter's trade-sheet was a boulle-enriched medal-cabinet, that in turn relates to a cabinet in the Victoria & Albert Museum; and to the Museum's finely engraved bookcases at Powderham Castle, Devon, which bear the date 1740 and signature of the cabinet-maker John Channon (d. 1779), Channon had established premises in St. Martin’s Lane in 1737 and it is believed in 1753/54 Chippendale set up in the next premises along. Amongst other very closely related tables is one illustrated P. Thornton and D. Fitz-Gerald, 'Abraham Roentgen 'Englische Kabinettmacher' and some further reflections on the work of John Channon', Victoria & Albert Museum Bulletin, October 1966, pp. 137-147 and fig. 8. Abraham Roentgen from Neuweid formed part of the immigrant Moravian community, working in London in the early 1730s; and, like Channon, appear to have specialised in the manufacture of such ingenious furniture although designs and the trade card show us that this was likely to be the invention of Potters. (See image)
Realised Price: £
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