Italian Dining Table and Chairs by Umberto Mascagni Retailed Harrods C.1950s

Ref: A3802

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Gorgeous Mid Century Italian dining table and chair set by Umberto Mascagni,
originally retailed by Harrods in the 1950s.

The set features rectangular dining table with rounded corners features a cinnnabar red chinoiserie top covered in cream and textured vinyl with
hand painted chinoiserie designs that include Japanese Geisha girls, and raised on circular tapering anodised aluminium supports.

The set of six dining chairs feature conforming oval backed with shaped pad seats upholstered in cream textured vinyl, on circular tapering legs with integral foot glides.

Very on trend look perfect for interior designers and discerning individuals.

Condition:

In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 76 x Width 142 x Depth 82 - Table

Height 97 x Width 45 x Depth 53 - Chairs

Height 46 - Seat Height

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 foot, 6 inches x Width 4 foot, 8 inches x Depth 2 foot, 8 inches - Table

Height 3 foot, 2 inches x Width 1 foot, 6 inches x Depth 1 foot, 9 inches - Chairs

Height 1 foot, 6 inches - Seat Height

Umberto Mascagni
founded Mascagni in 1930. Surprisingly there is very little scholarship to date on this highly original and innovative designer who broke new ground with his experimentation in the use of unorthodox materials, particularly anodized aluminum, a process where the aluminum is strengthened many times over, leaving it immune to chipping, peeling or flaking. Mascagni’s faux leather upholstered case goods were another significant innovation. Together these seemingly incompatible materials form mixed-media works of art, offering up distinctive visual cues from the Atomic Age.
His goods were only sold in Harrods in the UK, as Harrods had exclusvive rtights.

Harrods founder Charles Henry Harrod first established his business in 1824, aged 25. The business was located south of the River Thames in Southwark. The premises were located at 228 Borough High Street.

He ran this business, variously listed as a draper, mercer and a haberdasher, certainly until 1831. During 1825 the business was listed as 'Harrod and Wicking, Linen Drapers, Retail', but this partnership was dissolved at the end of that year. His first grocery business appears to be as ‘Harrod & Co.Grocers’ at 163 Upper Whitecross Street, Clerkenwell, E.C.1., in 1832. In 1834 in London's East End, he established a wholesale grocery in Stepney, at 4, Cable Street, with a special interest in tea.

In 1849, to escape the vice of the inner city and to capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby Hyde Park, Harrod took over a small shop in the district of Brompton, on the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod's son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880.

However, the store's booming fortunes were reversed in early December 1883, when it burnt to the ground. Remarkably, in view of this calamity, Charles Harrod fulfilled all of his commitments to his customers to make Christmas deliveries that year—and made a record profit in the process. In short order, a new building was built on the same site, and soon Harrods extended credit for the first time to its best customers, among them Oscar Wilde,Lillie Langtry, Ellen Terry, Charlie Chaplin, Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Sigmund Freud, A. A. Milne, and many members of the British Royal Family.

On Wednesday, 16 November 1898, Harrods debuted England's first "moving staircase" (escalator) in their Brompton Road stores; the device was actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like unit with a wood and "silver plate-glass" balustrade. Nervous customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them after their 'ordeal'. The department store was purchased by the Fayed brothers in 1985.
In 2010 Harrods was sold to Qutar Holdings.

Harrods was the holder of royal warrants from 1910 till 2000 from the following:

* Queen Elizabeth II (Provisions and Household Goods)
* The Duke of Edinburgh (Outfitters)
* The Prince of Wales (Outfitters and Saddlers)
* The late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (China and Glass)

The store occupies a 5-acre (20,000 m²) site and has over one million square feet (90,000 m²) of selling space in over 330 departments making it the biggest department store in Europe.

The UK's second-biggest shop, Selfridges, Oxford Street, is a little over half the size with 540,000 square feet (50,000 m²) of selling space, while the third largest, Allders of Croydon had 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of retail space.

By comparison Europe's second-largest department store the KaDeWe in Berlin has a retail space of 650,000 square feet (60,000 m²).

Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741 - 1807)

was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.

While Kauffman produced many types of art, she identified herself primarily as a history painter, an unusual designation for a woman artist in the 18th century. History painting, was considered the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during this time period. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Royal Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes.

Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, held in higher esteem and patronized.

The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait. There were other pictures by her at Paris, at Dresden, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, in the Alte Pinakothek atMunich, in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn (Estonia).

Satinwood

is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.

The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.

It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.

Our reference: A3802

Please feel free to email or call us (+44 20 8809 9605) to arrange a viewing in our North London warehouse.

Shipping:

We ship worldwide and deliver to Mainland UK addresses free of charge.

A shipping cost to all other destinations must be requested prior to purchase.

UK shipping times are typically 3-5 business days.

Buyers are fully responsible for any customs duties or local taxes that may be incurred on items sent outside of the United Kingdom, and we are not responsible for any delays in shipping or in the customs procedures of any jurisdiction, which are completely beyond our control.

Delivery and return policy:

We require that someone be home on the agreed delivery day if applicable, otherwise a redelivery fee will apply.

In accordance with Distance Selling Regulations, we offer a 14-day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the item.

The item must be returned in its original packaging and condition.

Unless the item is not as described in a material way, the buyer is responsible for return shipping expenses.

Buyers are fully responsible for any customs duties or local taxes that may be incurred on items sent outside of the United Kingdom, and we are not responsible for any delays in shipping or in the customs procedures of any jurisdiction, which are completely beyond our control.

Please be advised that claims for damage with certain carriers can sometimes take several months to resolve, and we would be grateful for your patience and cooperation throughout the process.

Returns will be processed and refunds issued within 2-3 business days of receipt.

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