The Harlequin writing-table with folding or 'turn-over' tops, relates in form to a 1770 dressing-table pattern illustrated in the Estimate Sketch Books of Gillows of London and Lancaster (illustrated in L. Boynton (ed.), Gillow Furniture Designs 1760-1800, Royston, 1995, fig. 29). However, with its concealed writing-flap with 'horse' support and its spring-operated 'harlequin' nest-of-drawers, it corresponds to a pattern in Thomas Shearer's The Cabinet-Maker's London Book of Prices, London, 1788, (pl. 19, fig. 3). A related dressing-table, whose top was also inlaid with medallions and trompe l'oeil flutes, was illustrated by Phillips of Hitchin (Antiques) in the catalogue of the British Antique Dealer's Fair, 1958.