CIRCA 1780, POSSIBLY BY MAYHEW AND INCE

Delicately rendered marquetry with engraved details and the use of natural and figured timbers, with a prominent use of yew wood, typify the work of pre-eminent London cabinet-makers Mayhew and Ince. The idiosyncratic bird heads with foliate brows that embellish the corners of the top are reminiscent of the fantastical beasts with similar acanthus-scrolled tails that appear on a group of furniture with documentary links to the firm (as discussed by Lucy Wood in her Catalogue of Commodes, no. 27, pp.226-235). An upright secretaire attributed to the firm from Lord Leverhulme's collection exhibits similar beasts and was sold in these Rooms, from the Collection of the Late Nelson and Eloise Davis, 18 October 2001, lot 359. Similar foliate scroll inlay can be found on a dressing table illustrated in D. Fitz-Gerald, Georgian Furniture, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1969 figs. 106a & 106b. A related table, with scalloped-patera medallion and flowered ribbon guilloche border was sold from the J.P. Morgan collection, Christie's London, 22 March 1944, lot 85.