Also referred to as walnut pedestal dressing-tables, these small desks were probably used for both purposes. This differs in style from lot 236, in that it has re-entrant corners to the top and the earlier lip moulding to the drawer edges, more elaborate handles and back-plates, while the shape of the bracket feet are echoed in the feet under the kneehole and the apron under the frieze, which is not, as one might expect, a drawer.
The plain handles and brass back-plates, as well as the hinges are typical of early Georgain design and relate to those illustrated in N. Goodison, 'The Victoria and Albert Museum's Collection of Metal-Work Pattern Books', Furniture History Society Jounal, Leeds, 1975, p.26 and pl. 1. and 4.