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Lot Essay
Vizagapatam, a port to the north of the Eastern Coromandel Coast of India, was renowned from the late 17th century for its craftsmen's skilled inlaying and veneering of ivory over wooden carcasses. Inspired by Indian chintz and textile patterns, the intricate designs produced there were aligned to Western forms and often engraved with Western scenes. Furniture and objects manufactured in Vizagapatam were considered luxury goods and retailed in Madras and Calcutta. Their popularity spread further by examples brought back to England by leading officials of the East India Company such as Clive of India and Warren Hastings. A group of furniture brought back by Alexander Wynch, an official of the East India Company who served as Governor of Fort St. George from 1773-5, comprising two small bureau-cabinets, two settees, two corner armchairs and fourteen side chairs, was bought by George III at the sale of Wynch's estate at Christie's in 1781 and is now at Buckingham Palace.
The plaques of densely scrolling foliage re-used in this table relate to several pieces dated to the mid-18th century and illustrated in A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, pp. 187-193, nos. 40-42. Whilst furniture and objects produced in the early 18th century were wholly inlaid with complex patterns and designs in ivory, fashions and techniques evolved and items produced in the late 18th century were often veneered in their entirety in engraved ivory. The ivory veneers employed on this table almost certainly were re-used from a transitional piece of furniture from the mid-18th century, such as a small bureau or commode, which possibly would have had its drawers and surfaces bordered with such veneers.
The plaques of densely scrolling foliage re-used in this table relate to several pieces dated to the mid-18th century and illustrated in A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, pp. 187-193, nos. 40-42. Whilst furniture and objects produced in the early 18th century were wholly inlaid with complex patterns and designs in ivory, fashions and techniques evolved and items produced in the late 18th century were often veneered in their entirety in engraved ivory. The ivory veneers employed on this table almost certainly were re-used from a transitional piece of furniture from the mid-18th century, such as a small bureau or commode, which possibly would have had its drawers and surfaces bordered with such veneers.