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Early 20th Century Partners Desk by Harrods "The Gillows Model"

$8,866.30List Price

About the Item

This is a fine piece of Harrods furniture in the form of an antique mahogany partners pedestal desk, "The Gillows Model", which was originally sold by and possibly also manufactured by Harrods at around the turn of the twentieth century. Each drawer and cupboard bears the old Harrods logo on each of the high quality brass locks that were specially manufactured for Harrods. Typical of all good quality Harrods furniture, this fine desk has been made to the highest standard from top quality materials – mahogany in this case – and features a lovely gold tooled and delightfully faded burgundy leather insert. The desk features three frieze drawers with three drawers to each pedestal on one side, the reverse with three frieze drawers and a cupboard in each pedestal and this provides plenty of storage space for your stationery and office items. The drawer linings are made from solid mahogany and are complete with expertly hand cut dovetails and other indicators of the kind of top quality craftsmanship that you would expect from a prestigious retailer like Harrods. It is fitted with the original brass handles and locks, and stands on beautifully carved mahogany swept bracket feet. The makers were very thoughtful to ensure that this desk can be split into three separate parts for ease of transportation. Complete with working locks and original keys. Condition: In excellent original condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 74 x Width 169 x Depth 110 Height 58 x Width 61 - Kneehole Dimensions Dimensions in inches: Height 29.1 x Width 66.5 x Depth 43.3 Height 22.8 x Width 24.0 - Kneehole Dimensions Harrods In 1824, at the age of 25, Charles Henry Harrod established a business at 228 Borough High Street in Southwark. He ran this business, variously listed as a draper, mercer, and a haberdasher, until 1831 at least. During 1825, the business was listed as 'Harrod and Wicking, Linen Drapers, Retail', but this partnership was dissolved at the end of that year. His first grocery business appears to be as ‘Harrod Co.Grocers’ at 163 Upper Whitecross Street, Clerkenwell, E.C.1., in 1832. In 1834 in London's East End, he established a wholesale grocery in Stepney, at 4 Cable Street, with a special interest in tea. In 1849, to escape the vice of the inner city and to capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby Hyde Park, Harrod took over a small shop in the district of Brompton, on the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod's son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruits and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880. However, the store's booming fortunes were reversed in early December 1883, when it burnt to the ground. Remarkably, in view of this calamity, Charles Harrod fulfilled all of his commitments to his customers to make Christmas deliveries that year—and made a record profit in the process. In short order, a new building was built on the same site, and soon Harrods extended credit for the first time to its best customers, among them Oscar Wilde, Lillie Langtry, Ellen Terry, Charlie Chaplin, Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Sigmund Freud, A. A. Milne, and many members of the British Royal Family. A chance meeting in London with businessman, Edgar Cohen, eventually led to Charles Harrod selling his interest in the store for £120,000 via a stock market floatation in 1889. The new company was called Harrod’s Stores Limited. Sir Alfred James Newton became chairman and Richard Burbidge managing director. Financier William Mendel was appointed to the board in 1891 and he raised funding for many of the business expansion plans. Richard Burbidge was succeed in 1917 by his son Woodman Burbidge and he in turn by his son Richard in 1935. On Wednesday, 16 November 1898, Harrods debuted England's first "moving staircase" (escalator) in their Brompton Road stores; the device was actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like unit with a mahogany and "silver plate-glass" balustrade. Nervous customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them after their 'ordeal'. The department store was acquired by House of Fraser in 1959, which in turn was purchased by the Fayed brothers in 1985. In 1994 Harrods was moved out of the House of Fraser Group to remain a private company, prior to the group's relisting on the London Stock Exchange. Our reference: 08638

Dimensions:
Height: 29.14 in (74 cm)Width: 66.54 in (169 cm)Depth: 43.31 in (110 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
1900-1909
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1900
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 086381stDibs: LU95069529261

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