GEORGE III PERIOD ARCHITECT'S OFFICE Attributed to Gillows In mahogany with all-face decoration, gilt copper ornamentation, the top rising and forming a lectern, the belt fitted with a sliding top also forming a lectern and fitted with six holly compartment boxes, the front opening with six drawers around a central leaf, resting on a plinth finished with castors, the lock engraved "I. BRAMAH PATENT" surmounted by a closed crown; lightened by the sun, restorations Dimensions (closed top) : H.119 cm (46 ¾ in.) l.125 cm (49 ¼ in.) P.114.5 cm (45 in.) Provenance : Former Collection of Sir Georg Goold, Oldcourt, Cork, Ireland ; Butchoff Antiques Gallery, London; Acquired from the latter in June 2008. Comparative bibliography : S.E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Antique Collectors' Club, 2008, vol. I, p. 279 fig. 293 and p. 282 fig. 296. A George III gilt-brass mounted and mahogany architect's pedestal desk This architect's desk was designed by the English firm Gillows & Co, founded around 1730 by Robert Gillow (1704-1772). A famous furniture manufacturer, the company remained in business until the end of the twentieth century under various corporate names. The combination of a mechanical desk top, a front with a flap drawer and interior drawers decorated with medallions inscribed with letters in alphabetical order is one of the hallmarks of the desks designed by this famous firm. This example can be compared with the desk made in 1789 (see fig. 1) for the Earl of Shrewsbury (see L. Boynton, Gillow Furniture Designs, 1760-1800, Hertfordshire, 1995, pl. 24) or with the piece illustrated in S.E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Antique Collectors' Club, Vol. I, p. 282, pl. 296. A similar desk sold at Christie's New York, 17 October 2008, lot 17, while a second sold at Christie's New York, 6 February 2002, lot 463. Concealed in one of its drawers, the desk still held several old documents dating from the beginning to the end of the XIXᵉ century. Consisting mainly of land and financial documents, these archives make it possible to link its provenance with the Goold family, and more specifically with Sir George Goold, second baronet (1778-1870), figure of a line then among the most influential and prosperous in Ireland.