This elegant mahogany stand, whose columnar legs have foliate-wrapped cabrioles and pad feet, is likely to have formed part of the furnishings commissioned around 1730 from George Nix of King Street, Covent Garden by Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart (d. 1770) following his inheritance of Ham House, Surrey in 1727 (see The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, p. 649). It might be identified with the 'neat mahogany tea (kettle) stand ... £0.16.0.' invoiced by Nix on the 8th August 1730, or else the 'Mahogany Bason stand ... £2.2.0.' invoiced on the 11th June of the same year (Furniture Department archives, Victoria and Albert Museum, London). A related table of this period may also be the work of Nix (illustarted M. Hall, 'Watts & Company', Furniture History, 1996, fig. 10). The stand bears an 1886 label that was applied when alterations were made to the house following the marriage in the previous year of William John Manners Tollemache, 9th Earl of Dysart (d. 1935) and Cecilia Florence. It may also have been among the furnishings inherited by his niece Wenefryde Greaves, Countess of Dysart (d.1975), who lived at Stobo Castle, Scotland.