This table type was described as a 'Breakfast Table' in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754 (pl. 33). One such table was described in the 1765 inventory of Hackwood, Hampshire as a 'Mahogany Pembroke Table', while its 1795 inventory also noted it as having a 'wire closet under it' (sold from Hackwood Park, Christie's house sale, 20-22 April 1998, lot 250).
The present table's inlaid stringing features on a 'Secretary' pattern in Thomas Sheraton's The Cabinet-Maker's and Upholsterer's Drawing-Book, 1791-1794 and also appears on a closely related table sold anonymously, Christie's London, 11 November 1999, lot 76.