GEORGE WASHINGTON JACK (1855-1931) FOR MORRIS & CO. ARTS & CRAFTS LIBRARY TABLE, CIRCA 1890 mahogany

(167cm long, 73cm high, 97.5cm deep)

Literature: Morris & Co catalogue, Specimens of Furniture, Upholstery and Interior Decoration, circa 1900, p. 27, no.557; Cooper, Jeremy Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors: From the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau, Abbeville Press, 1987, pl. 464 (variant with carved twisted legs and decorative table top edge). Note: George Washington Jack was the chief furniture designed for Morris and Co. from 1890. Prior to this in 1879, he had undertaken some work for the architect Philip Webb and by 1882 was a full-time employee of Webb’s. From 1885 Jack was working for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. as well as Philip Webb. There is a similar example of this table held in the William Morris Gallery Collection in Walthamstow (cat. no. G37). It is of comparable form, with hay-rake stretchers in the same arrangement and brackets supporting the overhanging table surface.