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Side table (one of a pair)

Designer After a design by Matthias Lock British
ca. 1740
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 511
This monumental pair of side tables (see also 2007.196.2a-c) was likely made after an unfinished drawing, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, by the designer and carver Matthias Lock (ca. 1710–1765). Although Lock is best known for his designs in an English version of the French Rococo style, this drawing is associated with the Palladian movement. Propagated in early eighteenth-century England by the architect and designer William Kent and his patron Lord Burlington, the large shell motifs, classical masks, lion's paws, curling acanthus leaves, and running Vitruvian scrolls on these tables are characteristic of Palladian furniture design. The varied surface treatment of the water gilding on portions of these tables, for instance, in the chiseled features of the satyrs, are particularly beautiful. Acquired for the Museum's dining room from Kirtlington Park, near Oxford, these tables were originally part of a larger set; a nearly identical pair is in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Side table (one of a pair)
  • Designer: After a design by Matthias Lock (British, London ca. 1710–ca. 1765 London)
  • Date: ca. 1740
  • Culture: British
  • Medium: Carved gilded pine with modern scagliola top
  • Dimensions: Overall: 33 1/2 × 73 1/2 × 35 1/4 in. (85.1 × 186.7 × 89.5 cm)
  • Classification: Woodwork-Furniture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Irene Roosevelt Aitken Gift, in memory of Russell B. Aitken; several members of The Chairman's Council Gifts; Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, Francis F. Randolph and Marion E. Cohn Foundation Gifts, and Bequest of Irwin Untermyer, by exchange; and Oscar de la Renta Ltd. Gift, 2007
  • Object Number: 2007.196.1a–c
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Side table (one of a pair), Matthias Lock British, Carved gilded pine with modern scagliola top, British
Side table (one of a pair)
Matthias Lock
ca. 1740
[A New Drawing Book of Ornaments...]
Multiple artists/makers
1752
A Book of Tables, Candle Stands, Pedostals, Tablets, Table Knees, etc., etc.
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April 10, 1768
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Matthias Lock
Robert Sayer
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A New Book of Ornaments for Looking Glass Frames, Chimney Pieces, etc. etc. in the Chinese Taste
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