Notes

"By tradition the first Cumberland-action dining-table was made for Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, fourth son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and brother of George III. He was a patron of John Linnell in the mid-1770s so it is possible that he was the first recipient of a sophisticated design which is a development of the double gateleg table, adapted so that the legs spread the weight without obstructing people sitting at it."

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4471214

Provenance

Sotheby Parke Bernet South Africa, Johannesburg, 3 March 1975, lot 156.

Stephan Welz & Co, Johannesburg, 18 & 19 August 2003, lot 53.

Stephan Welz & Co, Johannesburg, 30 August 2004, lot 117.

Stephan Welz & Co, Cape Town, 14 February 2007, lot 822.

Literature

cf. Edwards, R. (1987) The Dictionary of English Furniture Vol. III, Revised Edition by Ralph Edwards, Antique Collector's Ltd, Woodbridge, Suffolk, reprinted 1990, Spring Books, p. 222, fig. 31.

Stevens, C.C. & Whittington, S. (1983) 18th Century English Furniture, The Norman Adams  Collection, Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk,  p. 274, where a similar example is illustrated.