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Lot Essay
The library table belongs to a distinct group featuring exotic timbers, extravagant brass mounts and sometimes brass ('buhl') inlay which are associated with the oeuvre of Louis le Gaigneur, a French immigrant cabinet-maker who had established his 'buhl manufactory' at 19 Queen Street, Edgware Road, by 1815. Le Gaigneur was among a group of craftsmen who were patronised by the Prince Regent, later George IV, when furnishing Carlton House between 1783 and 1814. At first Carlton House reflected the Prince's francophile taste, but by the early 19th century he was employing English manufacturers who favoured a heavy 'neo-antique' manner. In 1815, the Prince made advance payment of £500 to le Gaigneur for two library writing-tables heavily decorated with 'buhl' marquetry, now at Windsor Castle (G.F. Laking, The Furniture of Windsor Castle, 1905, p.114). Other makers working in a similar style who were employed by the Prince included Tatham, Bailey and Saunders who supplied the magnificent ormolu-mounted mahogany desk for Carlton House in 1811, and Thomas Parker (fl. 1805 - 1830) who supplied 'buhl coffers with stands richly ornamented with with chased brass mouldings' and 'two round buhl tables' in 1817 (G. Beard & C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660 - 1840, Leeds 1986). Many such tables and cabinets display a similar wreathed river-god mount.
An almost identical table was exhibited by Peter Francis, Beauchamp Place, in Fanfare for Europe - The British Art Market, London, January 1973 (illustrated on p. 188 of the brochure), while another similar which had been at Painshill Park, Surrey, in the late 19th century was sold Christie's, London, 2 February 1995. Another with the same bronze mounts on an ebony-veneered and ebonised carcase, was sold anonymously Christie's, Paris, 7 November 2012, lot 364.
An almost identical table was exhibited by Peter Francis, Beauchamp Place, in Fanfare for Europe - The British Art Market, London, January 1973 (illustrated on p. 188 of the brochure), while another similar which had been at Painshill Park, Surrey, in the late 19th century was sold Christie's, London, 2 February 1995. Another with the same bronze mounts on an ebony-veneered and ebonised carcase, was sold anonymously Christie's, Paris, 7 November 2012, lot 364.