Lot Essay
This French fashioned and ormolu-enriched table resembles the Louis XVI tables of the 1780s executed by the likes of Paul Sormani in the 1870s (see C. Payne, 19th Century European Furniture, Woodbridge, 1981, figs. 669 and 681). A writing-table, stamped 'HOLLAND & SONS', supplied as part of the firm's refurbishment of the old house at Sandringham, has similar ormolu mounts at the tops of the legs (see M. Evans (ed.), Princes as Patrons - The Art Collections of the Prince of Wales from the Renaissance to the Present Day: An Exhibition from the Royal Collection', London, 1998, no. 146), while related tables and furniture of similar feeling was supplied by the firm in 1868 to Mr. R.N. Thornton (d.1876) of Portland Place, London and Knowle Cottage, Devon (see R.W. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture, 1962, pls. 166-168).