CIRCA 1760

Details

A CHINESE EXPORT BLACK AND GILT-LACQUERED KNEEHOLE DESK OR DRESSING-TABLE
CIRCA 1760
Decorated overall with landscapes of pagodas within traditional landscapes, the shaped top above a long drawer, two banks of three drawers and three drawers to the kneehole, on a plinth with bracket feet, with carrying handles to the sides, restorations to the lacquer
30 ¾ in. (78 cm.) high; 46 in. (117 cm.) wide; 24 in. (61 cm.) deep

Provenance

Property from Kingston Lisle Park; sold Dreweatts, Newbury, 31 October 2018, lot 46.

Special notice

Following the auction, this lot will be stored at Crozier Park Royal and will be available for collection from 12.00pm on the second business day after the sale. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Crozier Park Royal. All collections from Crozier Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 I Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com.

Brought to you by

Charlotte Young Associate Director, Specialist

cyoung@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2730

Lot Essay

A related dressing-table, with a hinged divided top, is in the King's Bedroom at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton (D. Rogers, 'Recreation of Brighton's Royal Pavilion', Connoisseur, August 1968, p. 224, fig. 14) and another is in the collection of the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, illustrated in Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Woodbridge, 1991, p. 272, pl. 149. The latter was brought to Salem by Captain William Gray before 1800. Another desk similar to the present lot is illustrated in H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts of Georgian England 1660 - 1780, London, 1923, fig. 38.
A related George II lacquer dressing-table was ordered in the mid-18th Century through the East India Company by Francis Child (d. 1761), and was listed in the Childs' bedroom at Osterley Park, Middlesex in the 1782 Inventory as 'a handsome Japanned chest-of-drawers' (M. Tomlin, 'The 1782 Inventory of Osterley Park', Furniture History, 1986, p. 116.
A related desk from the collection of connoisseur and gallerist Peter Zervudachi was sold Sotheby's, London, 10/11 June 1998, lot 300 (£32,200 including premium).

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