George III Regency period mahogany hall bench attributed to Marsh & Tatham

Classic lines, lovely original condition.

Stock Code: 2484 - SOLD

Description: A fine George III Regency period mahogany hall bench in the manner of Marsh & Tatham. The solid mahogany top of rectangular seat with moulded inset, applied moulded strakes to the frieze and prominent rounded ends, each centred by a turned and applied roundel. The bench is supported on tapering fluted legs, with tapering moulded strakes and terminating in spade feet.

Further Information: The imperial ‘antique’ design and ornament of this hall bench, evoking lyric poetry, derives from the fashion popularised by C. Percier and P. Fontaine’s, Receuil de decorations Interieuses, 1801 and promoted by the connoisseur Thomas Hope, author of a guide-book to his London mansion/museum entitled Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807. The rectangular frame has architectural ‘eared’ ends that are supported on taper-hermed legs. These same elements feature in a stately throne pattern published in January 1807 and included in a Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1808, issued by George Smith (d.1826), ‘Upholder Extraordinary to His Royal Excellency the Prince of Wales’. Smith, who began his pattern-book in 1804, wrote of ‘the great taste and elegance’ of this design.

Marsh & Tatham (subsequently Tatham, Bailey & Sanders) was a partnership between William Marsh (active 1775-1810) and Thomas Tatham (1763-1818) of a very successful firm of cabinetmakers and upholsterers based in Mount Street, Mayfair. They carried out major commissions for the Prince of Wales at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton among other important clients.

Condition: Excellent. Possible old minor restorations, waxing.

Country of Origin: England

Origin/Age: English, George III, Regency, circa 1815.

Provenance: Private collection Yorkshire, UK.

Maker: In the manner of Marsh & Tatham

Dimensions: Height 18.50 inches (46.99cm) Width 47.00 inches (119.38cm) Depth 14.50 inches (36.83cm)

Price: £16,900