Brass Gallery & Burr Amboyna Wood Gillow Breakfront Library Desk

We are delighted to offer for sale this stunning and exceptionally rare Gillow Library breakfront desk with brass gallery in Burr Amboyna timber, circa 1852-1857 An exceptionally rare example of a high Victorian Library desk made by one of the finest if not the finest furnisher in English history, Gillows of Lancaster and London I’ll include a short biography below on Gillows for those who aren’t fine furniture connoisseurs. The desk is fully stamped in the middle drawer Gillow with a serial number 617 L, looking through Volume I, Gillows Lancaster and London 1730-1840 we see on page 95 plate 55 this particular stamp dates to 1852-1857 The desk is made from Burr Amboyna timber which we find detailed in Volume II of the same directory as follows “Amboyna or Ambonia, the finely colored knotty wood of Pterocarpus indicus, a papilionaceous tree, is no. 29 on the workbox.” This refers to a lovely sample workbox they have The timber is glorious to look at from every angle, the better the light source the more it glows, the leather top is the original Regency Green with tooled edge and is nicely aged with a good patina. We have lightly cleaned waxed and polished the piece from top to bottom, the new owner should expect a piece that is in excellent condition however it will have genuine age related signs of use Dimensions: Height 78 cm Width 123 cm Depth 56 cm Leg room Height 64 cm Width 55 cm.