Lot Essay
A George II East Indian (Vizigapatam) writing-desk, richly inlaid with similar trompe l'oeil floral-arcaded pigeon-holes, was formerly at Mersham-le-Hatch, Kent and was mounted on a new Gothic stand in 1767 for Lady Knatchbull by Thomas Chippendale (d. 1779) (P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing of Mersham-le-Hatch', Part I, Apollo, June, 1970, p. 277, fig. 13). Another, with fitted dressing-mirror of a type known as a 'Union suite' in the early 18th Century, formed part of the collection of Indian furniture displayed at Clive of India's Mayfair house in Berkeley Square and listed in an inventory of 1774 as 'A real Rosewood Dressing Glass inlaid with Ivory and silver mounted' (M. Archer et al, Treasures from India, the Clive Collection at Powis Castle, London, 1987, no. 101).