拍品專文
The card-table is veneered with an unusual timber called cocus-wood, a hard, dense wood with a chocolate brown heart and a yellow sapwood, often referred to, erroneously, as laburnum. It was imported from the West Indies and was often known as West Indian ebony. It was used as a cabinet wood between 1660-1740 and in the present instance, a section of cocus wood has been sawn lengthways to provide a decoratively striped veneer (A. Bowett, 'Myths of English Furniture History: Laburnum Wood Furniture', Antique Collecting, June 1998, pp. 22-23). A cocus-wood card-table of this form is preserved at Ickworth, Suffolk and is illustrated in R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, 1964, London, p. 519, fig. 7.
A related cocus-wood card-table was sold from the collection of the late Humphrey Whitbread, Christie's, London, 5 April 2001, lot 365. A further pair, with Greek-key frieze was sold anonymously, Christie's London, 10 July 2003, lot 55.
A related cocus-wood card-table was sold from the collection of the late Humphrey Whitbread, Christie's, London, 5 April 2001, lot 365. A further pair, with Greek-key frieze was sold anonymously, Christie's London, 10 July 2003, lot 55.