Lot Essay
Bamboo-framed and lacquer-mounted furniture in the oriental manner provided an exotic feature in the Marine Pavilion at Brighton created by the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in the early 19th Century. George Smith, upholsterer to the Prince, published a pattern for trestle-ended sofa-table with a 'foot-stool' stretcher of this type in his Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1826.
Frederick Crace (d.1859), who executed the pavilion's oriental decoration, has been credited with japanning a suite of bedroom furniture, including a cabinet, which is decorated with meandering lotus leaf panels, as appear on the frieze and ends of this table (see: M. Aldrich, The Craces, Brighton, 1990, p. 23).
This table formed part of the celebrated collection formed by the connoisseur Edward James (d.1985) at West Dean in Sussex. He and the decorator Rex Whistler added Regency pieces to the collection of earlier furniture formed by his father, William James (d. 1913).
Frederick Crace (d.1859), who executed the pavilion's oriental decoration, has been credited with japanning a suite of bedroom furniture, including a cabinet, which is decorated with meandering lotus leaf panels, as appear on the frieze and ends of this table (see: M. Aldrich, The Craces, Brighton, 1990, p. 23).
This table formed part of the celebrated collection formed by the connoisseur Edward James (d.1985) at West Dean in Sussex. He and the decorator Rex Whistler added Regency pieces to the collection of earlier furniture formed by his father, William James (d. 1913).