EDWARD WILLIAM GODWIN & WILLIAM WATT ANTIQUE VICTORIAN PARLOUR GOLF GAMES TABLE

Description

Royal House Antiques

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this lovely, super rare and highly collectable 1870 Parlour Golf table made by a collaboration between the great Edward William Godwin & William Watt which is tamped to the base WW

Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote, please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price.

This is our Editors choice piece, it is the only one I have ever personally seen of this type, as such it deserves special recognition 

This is a very decorative and well made table, it comes with the original club, balls and removable flag, this piece is full of Victorian whimsey, as soon as I saw it I new it need adding to our collection 

After some research, I have found that the maker’s stamp WW refers to William Watt, a cabinetmaker who worked with architect E.W. Godwin in the late 19th century, specifically around 1870. Their collaboration is documented on pieces like a mahogany bow-back chair. William Watt’s workshop was involved in the production of furniture designed by Godwin, I will include a brief biography below 

In terms of the condition there will be age related patina marks here and there, to be honest its exquisite and has the period finish, what more could you ask for!

Dimensions

Height:- 62cm

Width:- 43cm

Depth:- 43cm

Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point, if you would like any additional or specific measurements please ask.

Any questions please feel free to ask before you bid.  

Designers & Makers E.W. Godwin British 1833 – 1886

Over a period of twenty-five years Edward William Godwin is thought to have produced around four hundred eclectic designs, many executed in the Anglo-Japanese style which he is credited for popularising. During the mid-nineteenth century, British taste was dominated by ornately decorated furniture which created dark and heavy Victorian interiors.

 Looking to Japanese arts and crafts for inspiration, Godwin began to produce furniture which celebrated rectilinear forms devoid of ornament. He never visited Japan so relied on imported goods, amassing his own collection of Japanese prints, ceramics and furniture. 

His preference for elegant lines and undecorated surfaces resulted in lighter, sculptural forms, which looked forward to modern furniture design. Ebonised surfaces defined his Anglo-Japanese style, and Godwin regularly incorporated various floral and abstract motifs into furniture panels. Reducing decoration to series of turned spindles and ribbed grooves, a preference for light construction and utility dominates his work, adhering to principles of the Aesthetic Movement.

Although he is largely recognised for his Anglo-Japanese furniture, Godwin never tied himself to one style. As a result, many of his designs demonstrate an interest in Ancient Egypt and Greece, Gothic, Queen Anne and Jacobean furniture. His Anglo-Greek and Anglo-Egyptian furniture designs are characterised by inlaid and geometric-turned decoration, angled supports and splayed legs, yet retain an elegant and functional aesthetic. 

Another distinguishing feature of his work is the use of solid, structured lines, akin to those seen in Japanese woodblock prints. Godwin also had an interest in Chinese decorative arts, his grid-like forms and interplay of solid and void spaces likely being inspired by Chinese hardwood furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Further, these various influences played out in the materials used. Japanese or Japonesque ‘leather paper’ is frequently used on his furniture, although its use is not exclusive to him.

His preference for circular mirrors is again evident on various cabinets, as is the design for the finials and his trademark ring handles and keyhole pierced backplates, taken from the antique. 

Godwin’s designing was not confined to interiors. Winning the competition to build the new Northampton Town Hall at the age of twenty-nine established his reputation as a leading civic architect. He followed this with another winning town hall design for Congleton, a small town near Manchester. 

These successes prompted his move to London in 1865, and in 1866 Godwin, with his partner Henry Crisp, entered the competition for the building of the new Bristol Assize Courts under the nom de plume ‘1066’ or ‘Ten Hundred and Sixty-Six’. Their designs won first, second and third prizes. Despite this, and amid protestations, a second competition was order by the town council, which Godwin again entered, this time only achieving second place, beaten by a submission from Popes & Binden, which was the one finally built. 

Such was Godwin’s success that firms across the world replicated his work, including Cottier and Co. and the Bombay Art Furniture Company. Godwin drew from an extensive range of sources to form his own distinctive styles, all of which are rooted in the desire to produce functional furniture for modern living.

Watt, William (1834-1885)

There is to much information here to add but if you search William Watt Cabinet maker you will see a wonderful article by The Furniture History Society which details in great length Watts work and his link to Godwin 

 

ABOUT US

Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating, along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on     

 

PAYMENTS

We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the purchase 

If sold items aren’t collected within three months and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the item and payment

 

CONDITION

Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed

Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for clarity  

Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade   

 

DELIVERY OR COLLECTION

This item is available for collection from our Pulborough warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee

Please contact me via email, alternatively my contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France

Please be sure to include which item you would like to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the second and third item, for international shipping please view the below information   

  

COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED

We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances

Whomever delivers will always require help on the larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect the price to send a two-person team

Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you need help upstairs or in flats etc that’s absolutely not a problem, the couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee

All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior arrangement  

 

IMPORT DUTY

Most countries charge some kind of import duty however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt from tax due to the age and materials used

For European deliveries the price you will be quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so there won’t be any additional fees

For international deliveries such as the United States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for either

All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or factored in with additional retrospective discounts

 

RETURNS

Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy

We don’t offer a sale on approval service which means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer, perhaps look for a local gallery instead