H.W. Batley Gillows & Co an Aesthetic Movement Walnut & Gilt Secretaire Bookcase

Henry William Batley. Illustrated in his book 'Series of Studies for Domestic Furniture Decoration'.

Made by Gillows & Co.

An important Aesthetic Movement secretaire bookcase in walnut, parcel gilt and thuya wood.

Stamped 'Gillows 13165'

Last image from

Hand painted Polychrome and Gesso with The Fables of Aesops' nursery scenes 'The Hare and the Tortoise'.

To the upper left is a flower in a pot which has intricate basket weave details and below is a Pre Raphaelite style woman on a balcony tying back a young tree.

Measures: Height 82 1/2 inches, width 39 1/2 inches, depth 20 1/2 inches, Depth when the writing slope is open 32 inches, retaining the original tooled leather inside and out. Some minor losses.

Henry William Batley (1846-1932) was an artist and furniture, wallpapers, carpets and textile designer and interior schemes most widely associated with the Aesthetic Movement. A pupil of B. J. Talbert, Batley designed furniture for Collinson & Lock. He published furniture and designs in his Series of Studies for Domestic Furniture Decoration (where this drawing is illustrated). His furniture was exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876. He designed the interiors for Doulton’s terracotta house, which was exhibited at the Paris Universelle Exhibition in 1878 for which he received the Legion d’Honneur and also exhibited in the Chicago Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893. His work was reviewed in the Building News, British Architect, Furniture Gazette.

n the 1870s Arthur Silver was apprenticed to Batley, who went on to found the Silver Studio supplying Arts & Crafts fabrics to Liberty and Co.