The Famintsyn family were descended from Khristof Tobias Tomson originally from Scotland who settled as landowners initially in Poland and subsequently in Russia where they received a fiefdom and a monetary grant in 1681 for services to the Russian throne. The family adopted first the name Famintsov and subsequently Famintsyn and continued to serve the throne in noble positions and were granted hereditary estates by the Tsars (see D. Mandich and J. Placek, Russian Heraldry and Nobility, 1992, p.259).

Distinctive geometric marquetry of this kind, influenced by contemporary English designers such as John Linnell, became popular in Russia in the 1770's. A roll top desk with trailing vine marquetry closely related to the table offered here, designed by Nikifor Vasilyev, is illustrated in The Art of Marquetry in Eighteenth Century Russia, 1989, figs. 97 & 99. A corner cupboard by Christian Meyer with similar geometric panels is illustrated op. cit., fig. 122.