The Grecian window seat pattern was popularised by the firm of Morgan and Sanders of Trafalgar House, Catherine Street, Strand, whose related design for a window seat was published by R. Ackermann in 1809 in The Repository of Arts (P. Agius, Ackermann's Regency Furniture and Interiors, London, 1984, p. 39). Several similar window seats of this form are known, including one sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 11 April 1991, lot 45 (£2,800) that was thought to be Scottish and possibly by the Edinburgh cabinetmaker William Trotter on account of its secure Scottish provenance (Sir Lawrence Craigie (d. 1871), Glendoick House, Perthshire) and similarities to pieces supplied to Paxton House, Berwickshire by William Trotter in 1814. Other similar window seats include one sold from the Arthingworth collection, Sotheby's New York, 12 December 1996, lot 162 ($19,550) and one sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 13 April 2000, lot 89 ($9,500). Like the present lot, each was inscribed with the craftsman's name on the seat rail.

William Turnbull was recorded as a cabinet-maker in Baldwin Street, Bristol from 1814-19 (G. Beard & C. Gilbert (eds.), Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 909).