THE BUREAU LATE 18TH EARLY 19TH CENTURY, THE REGENCY STAND CIRCA 1805

The lac-decorated dressing-table chest, with it's flowered festoon of tasselled drapery, is conceived in the manner of Roman-patterned bureau-cabinets illustrated in Messrs. A. Hepplewhite & Co.s, Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788 (2nd ed. 1794); while its tablets of villa landscapes wreathed in India-chintz garlands reflect mid-18th century taste. A pair of related dressing-table bureau-cabinets were acquired in the late 18th century by Sir John Dalling (d. 1798), while serving in the East India Company as Commander-in-Chief Madras (sold Christie's King Street, 23 September 2005, lot 451).