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).