Occasional Table by George Washington Jack 1855-1932 (designer) for Morris & Co. (maker and retailer)

Occasional Table

Designer: George Washington Jack (1855-1932)

Manufacturer and retailer: Morris & Co.

c. 1885

31 inches (78.5 cm) diameter; 27 inches (68.5 cm) high

Mahogany with central sunflower carved boss and 'pie-crust' top and six carved legs

Exhibited: London, The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 1889

This is by far the most elaborate and expensive of occasional tables in Morris & Co.'s catalogue. It illustrates Jack's combined knowledge of furniture design and subtle carving within the fashionable Queen Anne idiom. This table appears in period photographs of the Drawing Room and Entrance Hall at Stanmore Hall decorated by Morris & Co. 1888-1896. A plainer version with straight, uncarved legs was also retailed, though at a considerably lower price.

The Fine Art Society, London, has most generously given its permission to use information, images, and text from its catalogues in the Victorian Web, and this generosity has led to the creation of hundreds and hundreds of the site's most valuable documents on painting, drawing, sculpture, furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, metalwork, and the people who created them. The copyright on text and images from their catalogues remains, of course, with the Fine Art Society. [GPL]

References

Cooper, Jeremy. Victorian & Edwardian Furniture and Interiors. London: 1987. Figures. 473 & 476.

The Fine Art Society Story. Part I. London: The Fine Art Society, 2001. Catalogue number 82.

Morris & Co. Catalogue, Specimens of Furniture, Upholstery and Interior decoration, circa 1900.

Gere, Charlotte, & Michael Whiteway, Nineteenth Century Design. London: 1989. Plat 269, p.215.

The Fine Art Society, London, has most generously given its permission to use information, images, and text from its catalogues in the Victorian Web, and this generosity has led to the creation of hundreds and hundreds of the site's most valuable documents on painting, drawing, sculpture, furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, metalwork, and the people who created them. The copyright on text and images from their catalogues remains, of course, with the Fine Art Society. [GPL]

Last modified 23 February 2008