Early 20th Century Figured Walnut Writing Table Desk

Antique Victorian walnut writing table, circa 1850 in date. One of the drawers is stamped by the maker: C.Hindley & Sons, late Miles & Edwards, 134 Oxford Street, London. It bears the inventory number 12451 The rectangular top features a moulded edge with a striking inset red leather writing surface over two cedar lined drawers to the frieze, fitted with Bramah locks. It is raised on four decorative barley twist legs terminating in brass castors. It is finished on all sides so that it can stand freely in the middle of a room. Complete with working Bramah locks and special key. Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 76 x Width 123 x Depth 69 Dimensions in inches: Height 2 foot, 6 inches x Width 4 foot x Depth 2 foot, 3 inches Hindley, Charles & Sons Berners Street & Oxford Street, London; cabinet makers, upholsterers and retailers (fl.c.1820-1892) Charles Hugh Hindley (b.1792- d.1871) was the son of Christopher, a merchant in Mere, Wiltshire. He moved to London with an elder brother to live with his uncle, who was possibly running the London branch of the Wiltshire business. In 1817 Charles joined the upholstery firm of Benjamin Merriman Nias at 32 Berners Street. Within a few years he bought the Nias business with a £1,000 investment from his family. Despite his business being described as a 'carpet warehouse' in London directories from 1820-1841, by the mid-1830s upholstery and cabinet work had joined his repertoire and he had taken on more showroom space next door at 31 Berners Street. Family records of the 1840s showed that individual custom-order business expanded to also ‘supplying established furnishing houses with goods on wholesale terms’. Jobs ranged from supplying Pentonville Prison with 100 hair mattresses and pillows, to altering spring roller blinds, to fulfilling private commissions with suites of parlour furniture. Hindley was the father of eleven children with three involved in the business: Charles Hugh (b. 1818), Frederick (b. 1820), and Albert Daniel (b.1822). Charles Hugh and Frederick joined the family firm about 1832, thus establishing the family partnership, Charles Hindley & Sons. Albert Daniel learned the carpet manufactory and trade in Kidderminster and eventually established a carpet manufactory in Liversedge, Yorkshire, supplying the family’s London store and others. In 1845 he patented an early tufted carpeting technique. Charles Hindley & Sons acquired the firm, Miles & Edwards in September 1844, including their premises at 134 Oxford Street. Both companies operated from this address until 1845 when Miles & Edwards was closed. The purchase of Miles & Edwards enabled Hindley & Co. to compete with other West End firms by offering everything from cabinet making and upholstery to painted decoration and interior design for the middle and upper class market. In a sample of 737 orders from October 1842-June 1845, six per cent of the clientele were upper and lower aristocracy with approximately seventy per cent gentry or middle class. The aristocratic clientele included the surnames of Hoare, Kirland, Drummond, Montefiore, Ashburton and Rothschild, and the Oriental Club at 18 Hanover Square (1824). Bramah is London's oldest security company. Established at 124 Piccadilly, London in 1784, and today based in Marylebone, London and Romford, Essex. Bramah made their first lock in 1784 and the patent was awarded in 1787. The designer was Joseph Bramah. Joseph Bramah was a leading inventor of the industrial revolution, patenting over 18 new ideas, including a new valve for the water closet (toilet), the hydraulic pump, a fountain pen, and a fire engine. Bramah also introduced a beer hand pump for use at the bar, to prevent fluid loss when barmen went downstairs to pour a new jug! Due to the quality of his manufacturing, his name became a by-word amongst British Engineers for engineering excellence and many of his inventions are on display in the Science Museum in London. You can find one of his original toilets still working in Osborne House, Queen Victoria's home on the Isle of Wight. The Bramah lock was unique and advanced property and valuables protection enormously. Indeed it was 50 years ahead of any Chubb lock...

This is an exquisite Victorian Revival crossbanded flame mahogany desk dating from the late 20th Century. This desk has been beautifully made from ...

This is an elegant antique French ormolu mounted burr walnut writing table, Circa 1870 in date. This lovely shaped top is crafted from the most beautiful burr walnut, with amboyn...

This is a superb antique Victorian partners writing table, crafted from beautiful flame mahogany and dating from Circa 1860. The rectangular top features a moulded edge with an inset faded green and gilt tooled leather writing surface over four drawers, two on on either side. It is raised on four elegant shaped tapering legs that terminate in their original brass castors. It is a partners desk and finished on all sides so that it can stand freely in the middle of a room. Complete with working locks and keys. THE BOTANICAL NAME FOR THE MAHOGANY THIS ITEM IS MADE OF IS SWIETENIA MACROPHYLLA AND THIS TYPE OF MAHOGANY IS NOT SUBJECT TO CITES REGULATION. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 76 x Width 143 x Depth 114 Dimensions in inches: Height 2 foot, 6 inches x Width 4 foot, 8 inches x Depth 3 foot, 9 inches A partners desk is an antique desk form, which is basically two pedestal...

This is a fine antique George III mahogany and marquetry library table, circa 1780 in date. The table features beautiful floral and scrolling foliate marquetry throughout, with flame mahogany marquetry panels and gonçalo alves crossbanding. The rectangular top is fitted with the original emerald green gold tooled inset leather writing surface above a pair of crossbanded frieze drawers, raised on square tapered legs. It is freestanding, finished on all sides, so that it can stand freely in the middle of a room, making it extremely suitable for a large home or office. Complete with original brass handles, working locks and keys. THE BOTANICAL NAME FOR THE MAHOGANY THIS ITEM IS MADE OF IS SWIETENIA MACROPHYLLA AND THIS TYPE OF MAHOGANY IS NOT SUBJECT TO CITES REGULATION. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, and only shows minor signs of wear commensurate with age and use. Please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 76 x width 144 x depth 84 Dimensions in inches: Height 29.9 x width 56.7 x depth 33.1 Marquetry is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, pewter or brass silver) of different colours are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers. The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian "Cosmati"-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the "hardstones" used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique. Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs. Flame mahogany Thomas Sheraton - 18th century furniture designer, once characterized mahogany as "best suited to furniture where strength is demanded as well as a wood that works...

This is an elegant antique Victorian Gonçalo Alves writing table by Edwards & Roberts, Circa 1850 in date. The top is inset with a gold tooled burgundy leather writing surface abo...

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An early 20th century Italian writing table, with rectangular top. Measures: 164 x 79 x 50 cm.

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