Suite of Regency Games Tables and Sofa Table

SUITE OF REGENCY BRASS MOUNTED INLAID FURNITURE COMPRISING A PAIR OF GAMES TABLES AND A SOFA TABLE
CIRCA 1830

The games tables: Width 36” (91.5 cm) Height 29 ½” (75cm)
The Sofa Table Width 5 feet (152cm) when fully extended Depth 28” (72cm)

Constructed from Goncalo Alves timber the pair of card tables have fold over tops with canted corners enclosing baize lined playing surfaces, each swivel action revealing a compartment, above stylised central lyre supports on a platform with four leaf capped scrolling legs terminating in brass castors. The sofa table has a rectangular top with canted drop leaves above two frieze drawers above an identically designed and decorated base.

Provenance:  Sir Johnston Forbes-Robinson (1853-1937) Actor and Impresario, son of John (1822-1903) and Frances Forbes-Robinson, the former a theatre critic and journalist from Aberdeen.
 Sir Johnston was born in London and married Gertrude Elliott, an American Actress.

Coming from an extremely creative family, one sister and three brothers were actors while another brother was a celebrated artist, Sir Johnston was widely acclaimed as the greatest Shakespearian actor of the era. Probably due to his wife being a celebrated American actress in her own right, he travelled and performed extensively in America, culminating in his much-vaunted New York performance as Orlando in ‘As you like it’.

This suite of furniture formed part of the furnishings of Sir Johnston’s house, 22 Bedford Square WC1

Closely associated with Apollo the Lyre represents Harmony, Music, Wisdom, Balance and the Divine and bridges the gap between Gods and Mortals through celestial music’s association with Orpheus and Homeric tales.