~ Pair Of Gillows Miniature Chests of Drawers ~
A lovely set of two chests of drawers in miniature by Robert Gillow (1704–1772), a prominent English furniture manufacturer who founded the luxury furniture and furnishings firm Gillow & Co. of Lancaster & London.
The pieces are made of oak with ebonized panels to the top and sides.
The drawers have ebonized wood fronts and have knob style handles made of bone.
Each sits on four splayed bracket feet made of horn.
Both pieces have the Gillows mark to the edge of the top right hand drawer
~ Dimensions ~
The pieces each measure 21.5cm (8 ½ inches) wide, 11.5cm (4 ½ inches) deep with a height of 20cm (8 inches).
Together they weigh 2.49 Kg.
~ Condition ~
One of the chests has a sliver of wood missing to the top edge. Both have light wear from age and use in the form of small scratches and the odd tiny nick.
The tops of each are a little crackled and could probably do with being re-varnished.
Overall both are in a good condition for their age with no major damage.
~ Robert Gillow (1704–1772) ~
Robert Gillow was an English furniture manufacturer, who founded Gillow & Co.
Robert Gillow was born on 2 August 1704 in Singleton, Lancashire. He served an apprenticeship as a joiner and cabinet maker.
He joined with a family of traders called Sattersthwaite and sailed with them to the West Indies as a ships carpenter. In Jamaica, he became interested
in mahogany and brought samples of the wood back to Lancaster in 1720. This may have been the first mahogany to be imported to England.
He founded the luxury furniture and furnishings firm Gillow of Lancaster in 1730. During the 1730s, he began to exploit the lucrative West Indies trade
exporting mahogany furniture and importing rum and sugar, in addition to fitting out ships cabins and doing finishing work in construction. The firm
rapidly established a reputation for supplying high quality furniture and furnishings to the richest families in the country. They also had a London
workshop in Thames Street.
In 1764, a permanent London branch of Gillow’s was established at 176 Oxford Road, now Oxford Street, by Robert’s son, Thomas Robert Gillow
(1745–1793), and William Taylor. Following Robert’s retirement in 1769, the business was continued by his two sons, Richard and Thomas Robert (his
other children were Alice, Edward and John. For over a century, the firm was known for its luxury furniture and furnishings. During the final years of the
nineteenth century, the company ran into financial difficulty and from 1897 began a loose financial arrangement with Waring of Liverpool, an
arrangement legally ratified by the establishment of Waring & Gillow in 1903.