Christian Davies Antiques Ltd has dated this piece to the Victorian era.
The inside of the kneehole and the ends of the desk are also in stunning quality solid mahogany with satinwood banded detail, the whole supported on a solid mahogany plinth with concealed castors. The quality of this desk cannot be explained, the use of the finest mahogany throughout and the finely cut dovetails in each drawer is a sign of the finest Late Victorian craftsmanship. The desk is stamped in numerous places and has two labels with the cabinet makers name "Flashmans Of Dover". English 1890-1900
Dimensions: 60" wide x 36" deep x 56" high (knee hole 24" high x 26" wide)
It was in the autumn of 1830 that George Flashman opened a furniture making business at the corner of Market Square that was to dominate the east side of the Square for the next 150-years!The old Council Chamber in what was once Dover’s Town Hall – the Maison Dieu – was added in 1868. Flashman’s of Dover made the furnishings, many of which can still be seen. Born in 1804, George had served his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker in his birthplace of Chatham. He came to Dover in the 1820s eventually teeming up with George Killick and opening a small business in Last Lane, on the west side of Market Square .George bought premises on the north-east corner of Market Square and opened a shop making high-class furniture to the customers’ specifications on the premises. As his business grew, George opened a furniture depot in Market Lane and a Cabinet factory in Dieu Stone Lane. Always the businessman and recognising an opportunity, with the approaching wedding of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert on 10 February 1840, George erected a large Royal Coat of Arms on his shop front. Underneath was the dedication, ‘Congratulations to her Royal Highness Queen Victoria & his Royal Highness Prince Albert’. This attracted a lot of interest to his shop, from the elite members of Dover’s society and visitors to Dover. Soon his fame spread such that members of the Royal family were ordering furniture from Flashman’s of Dover! By the time of George’s death the firm was well patronised by the elite of British Society. In acknowledgement to this George had replace the earlier plaque with one proclaiming that his company had been given a Royal Warrant. This was hung over the entrance to the shop. After George’s death his sons and son-in-law continued to run the business. Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Royal Warrant plaque was moved to the inside the shop and replaced by another proclaiming the different aspects of the enterprise. Their adverts proclaimed that they were high-class decorators, auctioneers and house agents and that their premises had an acre of floor space that would completely furnish a house. ‘The floor space was stocked with cabinets, curtains bedsteads, bedding, bedroom suites, linoleum, rugs, curbs and fire brasses plus over eight miles of carpets in stock, many being private patterns!’
Condition: This desk is in superb condition, re-polished in our workshops
Christian Davies Antiques Ltd has dated this piece to the Victorian era.
Quality furniture particularly from the late victorian and edwardian period.
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Christian Davies Antiques Ltd is a registered member of LAPADA CINOA
A Stunning Quality Large Late Victorian Period Mahogany and Satinwood Cylinder Desk
