ATTRIBUTED TO EITHER MAYHEW AND INCE OR JOHN COBB, CIRCA 1770

The folding table can be attributed to Mayhew & Ince on the basis of the extensive use of yew-wood in the table's construction, described as, 'the only wholly idiosyncratic veneer wood the firm used and possibly unique to Mayhew and Ince among London cabinet-makers of this date' (G. Beard & C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 593). It is closely related to a table of the same overall form supplied to George William, 6th Earl of Coventry (1722-1809) for Croome Court, Worcestershire and when the latter was described in Apollo in February 2000 it was attributed to Mayhew & Ince (A. Coleridge, 'English furniture supplied for Croome Court: Robert Adam and the 6th Earl of Coventry', Apollo, February, 2000, p. 12, fig. 8). However, the attribution was subsequently revised to the St. Martin's Lane cabinet-maker John Cobb on the discovery of an invoice raised by Cobb on 3 July 1772 for, 'an inlaide Handkerchief table and a carved pillar and claws... £6 6s' (A. Coleridge, 'John Cobb's 'Handkerchief' Table', Furniture History Society Newsletter, August 2007, p. 1).
A very similar table sold from the estate of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, Sotheby's, London, 27 May 2015, lot 226 (£32,500 including premium).