Lot Essay
The inlay on this elegant writing table was clearly influenced by the French cabinetmaker Jacob Desmalter, whose use of amaranth inlay against a fruitwood ground was widely copied. This table relates closely to the work of Royal cabinet-makers Morel and Seddon who supplied furniture to George IV for a sitting room and four bedrooms in the South Apartments of Windsor Castle (H. Roberts, For the King's Pleasure The Furnishings and Decoration of George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London, 2001, pp.310-311, figs. 370, 374 and 375). A related writing table bearing the label of T. and C.Seddon (c. 1833-7) is illustrated in C. Musgrave, Regency Furniture, London, 1961, fig. 64.