A BEAUTIFULLY PROPORTIONED MAHOGANY HEXAGONAL CENTER TABLE

A BEAUTIFULLY PROPORTIONED MAHOGANY HEXAGONAL CENTER TABLE IN THE ENGLISH TASTE FITTED WITH SIX SEGMENTED READING STANDS

North European. Circa 1800.
Measurements
Closed Height: 30 1/4" (77 cm)
Width: 51 1/2" (131 cm)
Height with reading tops to highest position: 41 3/8" (105 cm).
Research
Of mahogany and boxwood marquetry. The top of hexagon form is centered by a floral marquetry whorl. The top is fitted with six hinged reading stands which can be raised on stanchions. The surface below the stands completely covered in marbled bookbinding paper. The square edge with inset brass molding. The plain frieze is set with two drawers. The table is supported on six square tapering legs each with a square capital and terminating in block feet.

The Neoclassicism of Northern and Central Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was often distilled down to its purest elements to produce an aesthetic vocabulary based on form, volume and proportion at the expense of decoration and ornament; simultaneously designers were striving to cleverly and invisibly integrate multifunctionality to suit the practical needs of their sophisticated patrons.

This hexagonal center table is a perfectly successful example of these design trends. It is heavily influenced by the paired down, almost minimalist examples of late George III furniture, expressed here in its finesse of line and proportion to result in its beautiful poise.

Full research report available on request.