Lot Essay
The 'Trotter' plant-stand pattern derives from a 'tripod stand for flower basket' illustrated in George Smith's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1826 (pl. CXXXIX). The present stands, with their acanthus-wrapped brackets, correspond to a pair of rosewood stands, with painted baskets, thought to have been supplied circa 1815 to the Marquess of Tweeddale at Yester House, East Lothian, by William Trotter of Edinburgh (F. Bamford, A Dictionary of Edinburgh Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Furniture History Society, Leeds, 1983, pp. 115-116). An almost identical pair of jardinières was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 20 January 1996, lot 332, and a pair with rosewood bases was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 30 January 1993, lot 302.