Gillows was a celebrated firm of English cabinetmakers founded in Lancaster by Robert Gillow in the first half of the eighteenth century. The business grew into one of the most important furniture makers in Britain, with workshops in Lancaster and a showroom in Oxford Street, London, supplying fine furniture to country houses, town houses and overseas clients.
Gillows was known for excellent materials, especially high-quality mahogany imported through Lancaster's trade with the West Indies, and for sound, restrained design and meticulous construction. The firm worked in the prevailing Georgian, Regency and Victorian styles, producing everything from dining tables, sideboards and chairs to desks, wardrobes and billiard tables. Its surviving estimate sketch books and records, an unusually rich archive, allow many designs to be identified, and the Davenport desk is traditionally linked to an order recorded by the firm. From the late eighteenth century much Gillows furniture was stamped with the firm's name, often on drawer edges, and stamped pieces command a significant premium. In the early twentieth century the firm merged with Waring of Liverpool to form Waring & Gillow. Collectors should be cautious of attributions without a stamp or documentation, as the firm's style was widely followed.
