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Lot Essay
Zebra wood refers to about a dozen species of trees that originate in central and South America and its use in furniture is discussed in detail in Adam Bowett, Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400 - 1900, Wetherby, 2012, pp. 269 - 271. The weight of timber imported was recorded each year from 1816, with peaks in 1835 (428 tons) and 1845 (599 tons), though the quantities are relatively small compared to the weight of rosewood imported at the same time.
George Bullock (d. 1818) advertised the sale of zebra wood and other furniture in the Liverpool Mercury in January 1812 and it was also listed in his stock-in-trade when it was sold off in 1819 after his death. Writing in 1820 of a visit to Aston Hall near Birmingham, Maria Edgeworth described `a modern dressing-room with fine tables of Bullock's making, one of wood from Brazil - Zebra wood....' (Virginia Glenn, ' George Bullock, Richard Bridgens and James Watt's Regency Furniture Schemes', Furniture History, vol. XV, 1979, pp. 54 - 67) The table itself relates to the known work of Bullock stylistically in the turnings at the top of each leg which correspond closely to the feet of the commode stools supplied in 1817 to Matthew Robinson Boulton for Tew Park (see Clive Wainwright et al, George Bullock: Cabinet-maker, London, 1988, no. 29, p. 92), and in the use of a black wash applied to the underside which is characteristic of his workshop practice.
Bullock's fame as a cabinet-maker was sealed when he was engaged by the British government in 1815 to supply furniture for Longwood, the home-in exile of Napoleon on the island of St Helena; the commission is well documented in Martin Levy, `Napoleon in Exile', Furniture History, vol. XXXIV, 1998, pp. 2 - 211. Among the items listed in Bullock's detailed account are two Zebra wood cabinets (ibid., pp. 109 and 112), no tables conforming to the description of the present lot are specified. Nothing closely similar is listed in the Inventory of Stores belonging to the Longwood establishment, May 1821, prepared after Napoleon's death by Andrew Darling (which did flag a number of items claimed as relics [or perks] by Lowe), in accounts relating to items that Lowe took back to England, nor even in the Auction Catalogue of Effects at Longwood, April - August 1822, though it should be stated that the descriptions of items vary in their degree of detail, and a card table whose whereabouts is presently unknown is included.
East India Company records suggest Lowe had been arranging for furniture from St. Helena (probably Plantation House and Longwood) to be shipped back to England during his governorship in addition to that which travelled back with him on board the Dunira in 1821, and some of the furniture from the Inventory of Stores, which he finally acquired in 1825. In 1823, Brigadier General Walker (Governor of St. Helena, 11 March 1823-13 April 1828) noted that `Sir Hudson Lowe recalled the order that he had given for many things, observing that he had taken so many articles home he was afraid it would be taken amiss’ (IOR/F/4/766/20727). Furthermore, according to Darling, and General Walker (both of whom were attempting to justify their own actions), Lowe had a tendency to forget exactly what furniture he had agreed to be shipped; on 12 July 1823, Darling wrote to Lowe, ‘perhaps it has escaped your Excellency’s memory that from the large size of the package of the Library Table, and for the reason of storage on board the Dunira you preferred the Loo Table and chairs, one of which with the Table had been much used by General Bonaparte' (ibid.). Therefore, it is entirely feasible that the present table was transported back to England at an early date. However, while the tradition and label attached to the table infer that it was used by Napoleon, it is as likely that it was actually acquired by Lowe himself, possibly from George Bullock's establishment, before or during his governorship. When Lowe left St. Helena he was in possession of £20,000 and much valuable property including a fine and extensive library but no inventories or accounts appear to be extant for his London townhouse, no. 10 Hereford Street, or another house, and by the time of his death on 10 January 1844, aged seventy-four, at Charlotte Cottage, near Sloane Street, Chelsea his circumstances were greatly reduced. His will and codicils of 1825 shows that he left his estate to his surviving children.
George Bullock (d. 1818) advertised the sale of zebra wood and other furniture in the Liverpool Mercury in January 1812 and it was also listed in his stock-in-trade when it was sold off in 1819 after his death. Writing in 1820 of a visit to Aston Hall near Birmingham, Maria Edgeworth described `a modern dressing-room with fine tables of Bullock's making, one of wood from Brazil - Zebra wood....' (Virginia Glenn, ' George Bullock, Richard Bridgens and James Watt's Regency Furniture Schemes', Furniture History, vol. XV, 1979, pp. 54 - 67) The table itself relates to the known work of Bullock stylistically in the turnings at the top of each leg which correspond closely to the feet of the commode stools supplied in 1817 to Matthew Robinson Boulton for Tew Park (see Clive Wainwright et al, George Bullock: Cabinet-maker, London, 1988, no. 29, p. 92), and in the use of a black wash applied to the underside which is characteristic of his workshop practice.
Bullock's fame as a cabinet-maker was sealed when he was engaged by the British government in 1815 to supply furniture for Longwood, the home-in exile of Napoleon on the island of St Helena; the commission is well documented in Martin Levy, `Napoleon in Exile', Furniture History, vol. XXXIV, 1998, pp. 2 - 211. Among the items listed in Bullock's detailed account are two Zebra wood cabinets (ibid., pp. 109 and 112), no tables conforming to the description of the present lot are specified. Nothing closely similar is listed in the Inventory of Stores belonging to the Longwood establishment, May 1821, prepared after Napoleon's death by Andrew Darling (which did flag a number of items claimed as relics [or perks] by Lowe), in accounts relating to items that Lowe took back to England, nor even in the Auction Catalogue of Effects at Longwood, April - August 1822, though it should be stated that the descriptions of items vary in their degree of detail, and a card table whose whereabouts is presently unknown is included.
East India Company records suggest Lowe had been arranging for furniture from St. Helena (probably Plantation House and Longwood) to be shipped back to England during his governorship in addition to that which travelled back with him on board the Dunira in 1821, and some of the furniture from the Inventory of Stores, which he finally acquired in 1825. In 1823, Brigadier General Walker (Governor of St. Helena, 11 March 1823-13 April 1828) noted that `Sir Hudson Lowe recalled the order that he had given for many things, observing that he had taken so many articles home he was afraid it would be taken amiss’ (IOR/F/4/766/20727). Furthermore, according to Darling, and General Walker (both of whom were attempting to justify their own actions), Lowe had a tendency to forget exactly what furniture he had agreed to be shipped; on 12 July 1823, Darling wrote to Lowe, ‘perhaps it has escaped your Excellency’s memory that from the large size of the package of the Library Table, and for the reason of storage on board the Dunira you preferred the Loo Table and chairs, one of which with the Table had been much used by General Bonaparte' (ibid.). Therefore, it is entirely feasible that the present table was transported back to England at an early date. However, while the tradition and label attached to the table infer that it was used by Napoleon, it is as likely that it was actually acquired by Lowe himself, possibly from George Bullock's establishment, before or during his governorship. When Lowe left St. Helena he was in possession of £20,000 and much valuable property including a fine and extensive library but no inventories or accounts appear to be extant for his London townhouse, no. 10 Hereford Street, or another house, and by the time of his death on 10 January 1844, aged seventy-four, at Charlotte Cottage, near Sloane Street, Chelsea his circumstances were greatly reduced. His will and codicils of 1825 shows that he left his estate to his surviving children.