Antique Victorian Ash & Burr Walnut Gillows of Lancaster Cheval Mirror Sconces

What a find, in the world of cheval mirrors this is head and shoulders above the rest, where to begin describing it! It is of course in the highly collectable Aesthetic movement taste, the side pillars are tapered and very elegant, they are in solid Ash with Burr Walnut central panels on the front and sides, finished with gold gilt brass candle sconces. The mirror is the original plate glass which is very think, heavily bevelled and lightly foxed. All in all this is an exhibition quality piece as you would expect from pretty much the greatest craftsman from the 18th to 19th century

Condition wise we have cleaned waxed and polished the timber, everything works as it should and other than normal patina there are no issues to note at all

Dimensions

Height:- 191.5cm

Width:- 95cm

Depth:- 55.5cm

Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point,

Gillows of Lancaster and London

Gillows of Lancaster and London, also known as Gillow & Co., was an English furniture making firm based in Lancaster, Lancashire, and in London. It was founded around in Lancaster in about 1730 by Robert Gillow (1704–1772)

Gillows was owned by the family until 1814 when it was taken over by Redmayne, Whiteside, and Ferguson; they continued to use the Gillow name. Gillows furniture was a byword for quality, and other designers used Gillows to manufacture their furniture.

Gillows furniture is referred to by Jane Austen, Thackeray and the first Lord Lytton, and in one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas

History

By the mid-18th century the firm was one of the leading cabinet-makers in Lancaster. They had a reputation for manufacturing very high quality furniture. By the end of the 1700s most of the firm’s partners were based in London. The firm merged with a Liverpool firm in 1897 to form Waring & Gillow

Gillow family (1728–1814)

In 1728 Robert Gillow began trading in Lancaster as a joiner, builder, house carpenter, furniture maker and overseas merchant. By the summer of 1731 he had entered into a partnership with a fellow catholic, George Haresnape, which had ended by 1735. By 1734 six other names appeared on their staff list.

Gillows notably made heavy use of mahogany wood, which is indigenous to the Americas, from the early 1730s. In the early 1740s, Gillow owned a twelfth share of the ship Briget, which he partially used to import mahogany from the West Indies.

The success of the firm was partly due to his ability to directly import mahogany; by 1742 Gillow was exporting finished mahogany furniture back to the West Indies. On 1 January 1757 Robert entered into an equal partnership with his son Richard Gillow (1733–1811), and the firm was known as Robert Gillow & Son.

Richard was also the architect for several buildings in Lancaster. He financed the building of the Catholic church in Dalton Square, Lancaster in 1798. The family’s Catholic history was important in building up a customer base within Lancashire’s gentry, and their subsequent purchase of Leighton Hall, Lancashire from a cousin in 1822.

On 31 December 1768 Robert Gillow I retired and left his share of the firm to his other son, Robert Gillow II (1747–1795). In 1769 and 1770, a shop at 176 Oxford Street, London, was sent up by the brothers’ cousin, Thomas Gillow (1736–1779), to sell their furniture.

Goodison and Hardy state that the firm opened a London branch in 1760 at 176 Oxford Road. By 1775 the Lancaster branch had 42 employees, and by 1789 there were about 50 employees. Leonard Redmayne, Whiteside, and Ferguson (1814–1897) By 1814 the firm had been taken over by a partnership of Leonard Redmayne, Whiteside, and Ferguson; they continued to use the Gillow name.

Redmayne was mayor of the City of Lancaster in 1824, and then in 1826 he became the first chairman of the Lancaster Banking Company, a position he held until 1860

The company won commissions to furnish and decorate public buildings in Australia, South Africa, India, Russia, Germany, France and the United States. It provided furniture for aristocratic houses, such as Tatton Hall, where some 150 extant pieces complement the work of the architect Lewis William Wyatt. Details of the commissions can be found in the Pattern Books in the Gillow archives.

CONDITION

Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition.

Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade.