BY J. & W. PITKIN, KINGSTON, JAMAICA

Details

A WEST INDIAN REGENCY MAHOGANY AND SPECIMEN-PARQUETRY GAMES-TABLE
By J. & W. Pitkin, Kingston, Jamaica
The rounded rectangular top inlaid with cube parquetry and centred by a removable reversible panel, inlaid on one side with a pattern of overlaid roundels around a star, using various woods including specimens of mahogany and various end-cut palm, the reverse inlaid with a satinwood and kingwood chess-board, above a padouk-lined well with a removable tray inlaid with a backgammon board on an amaranth ground, the frieze with two mahogany-lined drawers, on a faceted baluster pedestal and concave-sided plinth with scrolled feet and countersunk brass castors, both drawers with printed label 'J. & W. PITKIN, MANUFACTURERS OF CABINET & UPHOLSTERY FURNITURE OF EVERY DESCRIPTION., / OF THE BEST MATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP, NO. 15, NORTH WEST CORNER OF CHURCH STREET, AND WATER-LANE, KINGSTON, JAMAICA.', lacking three handles
28½ in. (72.5 cm.) high; 38¼ in. (97 cm.) wide; 20½ in. (52 cm.) deep

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Jamaican furniture of the Regency and early Victorian period is renowned for pieces made by the Kingston cabinet-maker Ralph Turnbull who at the time advertised 'brass fittings and accessories made in London and available for use on fancy furniture for ladies and gentlemen who are desirous of finishing or beautifying their drawing rooms in the English taste' (P. Carson, 'Jamaican Regency Furniture 1815-1840', The Jamaican, December 1999, pp. 74-75). Jamaican furniture, although sometimes more restrained than its English prototypes, often used a wide variety of specimen woods, as in the present piece. O. & J. Da Silva of Harbour Street, Kingston, advertised an octagonal 'loo' table inlaid with thirty-two pieces of various Jamaica woods (ibid., p. 75).

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