CIRCA 1810

Thomas Sheraton's Cabinet Dictionary (1803) featured a related patten for this useful piece of furniture, entitled a 'dumb waiter' as it served 'in some respects in place of a waiter'. Four dumbwaiters of this pattern were commissioned by George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll (d.1835) for Inverary Castle, Scotland in 1806 (see John C. Rogers, English Furniture, rev. ed., London, 1967, p. 239, fig. 197). They were executed en suite with the banqueting room tables which have been attributed to Gillows as the pier tables relate to those at Tatton Park and Shugborough. Two dumb-waiters remain at Inveraray Castle (see J. Cornforth and G. Hughes-Hartman, Inveraray Castle, Derby, 1994, pp. 3-6).

There is a pattern for this form of dumbwaiter in Gillows Estimate Sketch Book dated 14 February 1803 (for Le Gendre Pierce Starkie Esq at a cost of £7 3s 7d).