Victorian Inlaid Writing Desk by Jas Shoolbred

A fine quality late Victorian period inlaid rosewood writing desk by Jas Shoolbred of London. Well constructed in solid rosewood with attractive rosewood veneers. Decorated throughout with. Decorated throughout with floral marquetry inlaid detailing. The super-structure with a central mirror fitted with its original beveled plate glass (some minor foxing), flanked by two short drawers and all surmounted with a solid brass gallery and a central crest. The table is fitted with a sumptuous red leather writing surface decorated with gilt tooling to the surround. To the freeze there are 3 drawers, each fitted with their original solid brass pulls. All standing on elegant cabriole legs which terminate in their original brass and ceramic caps and castors. Sympathetically refinished in our workshops and now offered for sale in excellent condition, with a warm colour and patina, ready to go straight into the home or office. 

Dimensions:
Width 106cms
Depth 58cms
Overall height 117cms
Height to writing surface 75cms
Knee-hole clearance 59cms

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.