An exceptionally large and documented Charles II joined oak ten-leg refectory-type table, circa 1660


The impressive top of three planks, fitted in two-sections, one 665.5cm long, the other 171.5cm long and with an end-cleat, above a plain frieze with applied ovolo-moulded lower edge rail, on inverted-baluster turned legs, joined by robust plain stretcher all round, 838cm wide x 87cm deep x 90cm high, (329 1/2in wide x 34in deep x 35in high)
|Provenance:- At Rufford Abbey in 1938, and sold by Knight, Frank & Rutley in conjunction with Christie, Mason etc. 11 - 22 October 1938. Described in Country Life as a 'noble refectory table 26ft long' (Country Life, Vol. LXXXIV, No. 2173, 10th September 1938, p. 244). Described in a report of the result of the sale as 'a late 17th century English oak refectory table, on ten baluster legs, joined by plain stretcher foot-rails £126' (Connoisseur Vol. 10, 1938).- At Thame Park by 1957, where illustrated in Country Life, Vol. CXXII, No. 3176, and described (p.1151) as from Rufford Abbey.Rufford Abbey was founded in 1146 by Gilbert de Gaunt, Earl of Lincoln, as the Cistercian abbey of St Mary the Virgin. It was suppressed in 1536. The whole estate was quickly acquired by George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury. The conversion of the west range of monastic buildings into a house (1560–90) was undertaken by the sixth earl, who was the fourth and final husband of the indomitable Bess of Hardwick, from whom he was then bitterly estranged. In 1610, a new projecting wing was added to the northern end of this range. The estate was inherited in 1626 by Mary Talbot, sister of the 7th and 8h Earls of Shrewsbury, and it passed to her husband, George Savile. In 1679, the Savile family constructed a new north wing on the site of the abbey church, containing reception rooms and a long gallery. They also built the large stable block to the right of the house. The surviving roofed southern service wing (currently used as offices) was also added by the Saviles in the 17th century. In 1938, the 3rd Baron Savile inherited the Rufford estate as a minor, but his trustees split it into lots and sold it off.