Victorian Mahogany Writing Table by Jas Shoolbred

A very good Victorian period 2 drawer mahogany writing table by Jas Shoolbred & Co of London. Well constructed in solid mahogany with attractive mahogany veneers. The rectangular top is fitted with a sumptuous green leather writing surface complete with gilt tooled decoration to the surround. The freeze with a pair of drawers, each stamped with the makers name. All standing on elegant turned legs which terminate in their original brass and ceramic caps and castors. Sympathetically refinished in our workshops and now offered for sale in excellent condition, ready to go straight into the home or office. This table is finished to the rear so could be free standing within a room if desired.

Dimensions:

Width 107cms

Depth 53cms

Height 74cms

Knee hole clearance 60cms

James Shoolbred & Co

The name of James Shoolbred & Co is highly respected among admirers of Aesthetic Movement furniture. Their antique desks, Victorian dining chairs and antique marquetry furniture were produced for wealthy households up to 1931. A particularly fine example of James Shoolbred antique marquetry furniture – an ornate piano by designer Henry Batley – is on display at the V & A museum, London.

Established in the 1820s, James Shoolbred’s Tottenham Court Road company began life as a drapers. It began supplying textiles to the furniture trade, and expanded into the stores either side, branching into interior design. By the 1870s, the company was designing and manufacturing its own furniture.

A major factor of James Shoolbred’s success was their detailed catalogues, which were published from around 1873. Configured to showcase the company’s designs beyond the confines of London, they made Shoolbred an overnight success.

In the 1880s the firm moved to larger premises. Imaginatively laid out, with detailed room schemes showing off the company’s latest furniture and textile designs, it became an unmitigated success.

Although James Shoolbred & Co specialised in furniture of the Aesthetic Movement they encompassed all the fashionable trends of the time, from the motifs and patterns of Japanese design in their antique marquetry furniture, to Art Nouveau and gothic influences in their antique desks and Victorian dining chairs.