A Regency Rosewood Tilt-Top Breakfast Table

An impressive and very fine quality Regency rosewood tilt-top breakfast table, the rectangular top with rounded corners above a frieze with double row of inlaid banding, supported on a central splayed octagonal column upon a quadriform apron with concave sides above frieze banding, resting upon four substantial gilt bronze lion paw feet with inset brass castors, the tilt action secured by original elaborate coupled bolts with pull-rod and brass pull-knob and original keeper plates within the pedestal top
England, date circa 1810
Height 74cm, width 132cm, depth 122cm
With its distinctive octagonal columnar support and shaped apron on lion paw feet, this handsome breakfast table can be compared with a design by the renowned furniture maker Gillows & Co, of Lancaster and London, as featured in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books for 1822 (No.3146). In addition to occasional tables produced by Gillows and their contemporaries, the present example reflects the influence of the architect and designer Henry Holland (1745-1806), whose designs, aided by the drawings made by his pupil Charles Heathcote Tatham in Rome, achieved a masterly synthesis of the late Louis XVI and Greco-Roman styles. Included amongst that group are tables such as one supplied for the library at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire (illustrated in R. Edwards, “Patrons of Taste and Sensibility”, in “Apollo”, 1965, pl. 14); a circular rosewood and satinwood centre table, sold at Woburn Abbey, by Christie’s, 21st September 2004, lot 1150, The Property of Two Ducal Collections, as well as related centre tables that were supplied to Samuel Whitbread for Southill Park in Bedfordshire. These latter tables are thought to be amongst the furniture supplied by Messrs William Marsh and Thomas Tatham (Charles Heathcote Tatham’s brother) and as here, feature substantial lion paw feet below a shaped apron and central columnar support.
The Regency period was marked by a fascination for classical antiquity, which influenced the design of furniture, architecture, and decorative arts. Whilst King George III’s son, the Prince of Wales, only served as the British Regent between 1811 and 1820, the term Regency is broadly used to describe anything designed in England from about 1800 up until the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The Regency style is sometimes described as the ‘English Empire’, in recognition of the debt it owes to the French Empire style, promoted by Napoleon’s chief architects and designers Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853). Indeed, this elegant breakfast table reflects that influence, with its well-proportioned pedestal and base that draw upon classical motifs.
The use of rosewood, an exotic wood imported from South America, further emphasises the opulence associated with the Regency period, while the tilt-top design not only adds functionality but also speaks to the ingenuity of the period’s furniture makers, who sought to combine beauty with practicality. Tilt-top tables were first seen in England during the early eighteenth century and were used as breakfast or tea tables, dining tables, gaming tables, and often as a candle holder. These tables which, as here, have a hinged top that tilts up into a vertical position on a carved or turned pedestal was a novel type of furniture that was perhaps more popular for its appearance than its utility. Increased trade and change in the economy gave buying power to the middle-class English, enabling them to purchase such new items of furniture.
The term ‘breakfast table’ dates back to the mid sixteenth century when, for instance the Tudor king, Henry VIII sat at a walnut breakfast table in his Privy Chamber. During the Georgian, Regency and Victorian periods, breakfast was a leisurely affair when a large selection of food and glassware was set upon the tabletop and the wealthy middle class tended to follow the example set by the gentry in having a full cooked breakfast.