£2*,000.00

Pair of Card tables, 1875

Designed by Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912)

Provenance: Almost certainly Sutton Place, Surrey, 1875-6, Frederick Harrison Snr (1799-1881),(...) British art market 2022/23.

Japanned/Lacquered mahogany, parcel gilding, inlaid with burr yew.

One table has original scarlet baize the other has later, but still old purple baize.

91.4cm wide

45.5cm deep

68cm high

(when closed)

Richard Norman Shaw's distinctive use of 'pies' or 'mon' can be seen in the frieze of the library at Cragside, Northumberland, 1869-82. A drawing held in the collection of the RIBA describes 'Pies for Cragside Library' and shows Shaw alternating their use thus; '24 round, 17 square, 36 oblong, 77 pies in all'.

Then later at Cragside, Shaw again used round pies set within a moulded frieze on a walnut and oak bed designed as part of conversion works being carried out for a royal visit in 1884.

Shaw's use of solely round pies can be seen in another drawing with the RIBA, this time for work carried out in 1875-6 at Sutton Place, Surrey. They are used in the cornice of a chimneypiece for the drawing room. Shaw specifies a black and gold finish with a design that shows pies of alternating patterns, emulating a variety of flower heads. Sadly Shaw's redecoration of the Drawing room at Sutton Place has long since been swept away by a succession of owners. Our tables exhibit 19 pies each of a different flower design. 

The pier-glass from Sutton Place was sold Sothebys/Paul Reeves 'The Best of British', 14th - 20th March 2008 item 46.

Unlike his contemporaries, Edward Godwin or Bruce Talbert, Shaw was not a commercial designer and only provided furnishing designs to accompany his architectural commissions.

Further Reading.

Andrew Saint, Richard Norman Shaw, Paul Mellon Centre and Yale University Press, first published 1976. In particular page 44.