Canabas, of German origin, settled in the famed Parisian Faubourg Saint-Antoine in 1755 as an ouvrier libre before becoming maître in 1766. Canabas specialised in restrained, small functional pieces devoid of any exaggerated ornamentation. He focused predominantly on practical tables or rafraichissoirs, which could be used for service, without the need for servants, and moved easily from one side of the dining-room to another.
However the present model is particularly rare and we know very few similar examples. One closely related pair sold Christie's Paris, 16 December 2004, another pair sold Sotheby's NY, Alexandre Benchouffi sale, 9 November 2006, lot 103 ($51,000).