A REGENCY ROSEWOOD, MARQUETRY AND EBONISED CENTRE TABLE

This 'altar' table on tripod plinth with bacchic paw feet derives from a pattern popularised by T. Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807 (pl. XXXIX); while its French-fashioned inlay reflects the robust style of George Bullock (d. 1818) popularised by R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 1816. A related 'Circular table...with running border of flowers and foliage...' featured in Christie's 1819 sale of Bullock's stock held on the premises in Tenterden Street, Hanover Square. (C. Wainwright, et al., George Bullock, London, 1988, no. 33). The curled lilies, which comprise the running flower border of the present table, feature amongst tracings of Bullock's inlay. These tracings, preserved amongst the Wilkinson papers in the Birmingham City Art Gallery, also bear the inscription 'J. Burton Esq. Draw. Room' and may refer to the architect James Burton (d. 1837) of The Holme, Regent's Park, London.