Large Inlaid Mahogany Carlton House Desk by Jas Shoolbred

A fine quality inlaid mahogany Carlton House desk by the prestigious cabinet maker Jas Shoolbred and Co of London. Dating from the late Victorian period and of excellent construction in solid mahogany and stunning mahogany veneers, decorated with satinwood banding and stringing throughout. Of generous proportions and fitted with a range of cupboards and drawers (all lockable with keys supplied). This desk is finished to the rear so it could be free standing within a room if desired. Fitted with its original sumptuous leather writing surface and standing on elegant tapering legs which terminate in their original brass castors. Sympathetically refinished in our workshops to a very high standard and now offered for sale in excellent condition. With a splendid colour and patina, ready to go straight into the home or office.

Dimensions:

Width 138cms

Depth 69cms

Height 105cms

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.