French In The English Manner. Circa 1810. Of mahogany and gilt brass. Each of tub-back form, the shaped top rail carved with two rosettes, the upholstered back flanked by two downswept arms, each terminating in a scroll centred by a rosette, the seat resting above a frieze panelled to the front and flanked with two carved rosettes, the whole raised on four sabre legs, the front pair panelled, each leg terminating in a gilt brass lotus leaf foot raised on a castor.

Of gilt brass. The corona cast with lotus leaves above a canopy of acanthus leaves, the body, suspended on five supports, each with acanthine decoration, the five foliate arms, each arm terminating in a foliate drip-pan and nozzle, the whole centered by five oil reservoirs, each in the form of a Grecian urn, the whole terminating below in a lotus leaf final.

Of carved pine painted to simulate bronze. Each with a circular top edged with a tongue and dart moulding above a baluster shaped stem, the stem fluted above a collar carved with four lions heads hung with brass rings, the collar above stiff leaf and acanthine carving, the stem on a triform waisted socle carved with acanthus leaves, the whole raised on four paw feet and a triform marbleised plinth base.

Of finely figured mahogany. The rectangular ratcheted top above a plain frieze set with a single full length drawer fitted with a leather lined writing slide and lidded compartments. The front set with two rococo cast brass swan neck handles. The whole raised on four moulded and chamfered straight legs ending in a replaced block foot.

Of mahogany with gilt brass mounts. The rectangular top with tooled leather inset above a frieze fitted to the front and reverse with three drawers with gilt brass drop-handles, the frieze fully dummied to the sides, the top raised on two pedestals, each fitted with three graduating drawers with gilt brass handles, to the front a hinged flush paneled door to the reverse, each door opening to reveal an interior fitted with shaped folio divisions, the panels edged with ebony stringing, the sides similarly inlaid with two panels, each pedestal raised on a plinth base.

Of mahogany. The rectangular top with leather inset, rounded to the corners with a moulded edge above a plain frieze, the top raised on two curving X-shaped trestle ends with two foliate paterae to the centre, joined by two circular turned stretchers, the lower lengths moulded to the upper face, each leg terminating in a brass cap and raised on castors.

German. Circa 1800. Of tulipwood mounted with brass. The top centred by an oval convex tole plaque painted in grisaille with a resting warrior, the gallery with pierced linked ovals, above three graduated drawers and panelled sides on brass-fluted square tapering legs.

English. Circa 1810. The present elegantly conceived table can be attributed to the furniture designer Henzell Gouch, a sofa-table of whose is part of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and as such it represents an important contribution to the our knowledge of Gouch’s work. A closely related example of a piece known to be by Gouch’s is a sofa table, signed by the maker and dated 1815, illustrated in Christopher Gilbert’s Marked London Furniture 1700-1840. That piece follows the form of the present table with an ebony base conceived of lyre-shaped trestle ends, raised on curving legs and joined by a circular stretcher, supporting a rectangular top curving to the corners. In both pieces the top, above a plain broad frieze and framed in gilt brass, is set with oriental decoration surrounded by an elaborately patterned border. The use of brass inlay, however, distinguishes the present table from the example illustrated by Gilbert.

English. Circa 1800. Of rosewood with brass line inlay and gilt brass handles. Each bookcase with five graduated stepped fixed shelves divided by a center partition and all inlaid with a brass line to the front edge. The backboard of faux rosewood. The base set with paired drawers centred by finely cast oval drop handles. The whole raised on four turned bun feet. Provenance: Clivedon House, Bucks. The Astor Family.

English. Circa 1815. The design of the present cabinets, called 'dwarf cabinets' by contemporaries, exemplifies the influence of French taste on English design during the Regency period. Such cabinets drew on the Empire formula of a shallow cupboard with paired doors flanked by columns or pilasters. However, the typically stylised carved lotus capitals and the intensity of the design of the extremely fine gilt brass elements to the doors mark the cabinets out as distinctly English. The most striking feature of these cabinets is their beautifully figured maple surface. Known as Bird’s-eye maple because of its delicate mottling, evident in the present pieces, the wood was imported from Canada, where timbers were obtained from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

English. First Quarter Of The Nineteenth Century. The present cabinet is a superb example of the early 19th century taste in England for French-inspired furniture of the ancien régime. Led by George IV, the fashion quickly spread through the ranks of the British aristocracy and patrons from the very wealthy merchant class such as William Beckford and George Watson Taylor. Although the low-slung breakfront form of the piece is overtly English, all of the components that make up the cabinet are derived from the French vocabulary of ornament. There were a number of firms in London that specialized in French-inspired furniture, such as Robert Hume, Louis Le Gaigneur and Thomas Parker. Of those three firms, Parker would seem to be the most likely candidate for the cabinets' manufacture. Parker's name is synonymous with English boullework of the extremely high quality that is found on this cabinet.

Schwerin. Circa 1855. The Mecklenburg-Schwerin library desk undoubtedly ranks as one of the finest masterpieces in the canon of 19th-century European furniture, both on a level of quality and design. Although monumental in scale, the desk, due to its superbly calculated proportions and the extensive use of brass inlay which serves to alleviate the mass of the piece, retains a poise and elegance which strongly suggests that an architect of great gift, rather than a cabinetmaker, was responsible for its highly accomplished design. The desk, originally in the study of the Archduke at Schwerin Castle, was specially constructed for that space in the mid-19th century. According to the Castle’s Ammeublement-Plan, these pieces were in existence in 1855, providing evidence of the approximate date of their construction. The desk was built by the court cabinetmakers, the brothers C. and A. Reinholdt of Schwerin, whose signature appears on the locks.

Mosaics as an art form emerged in Rome in the 16th century, under the influence of the Pope, and were used primarily in a religious context as a type of "permanent painting," competing with more traditional forms of art. By the 18th century, the advancements in technology and craft, and the increase in patrons' wealth and demand allowed mosaic art to be be rapidly produced and commercialized. Private ateliers sprang up and began to produce mosaic work to supply the Grand Tourists of the 18th and 19th centuries with trophies, including tabletops like the present piece, to be taken back to England. The view of St. Peter's Basilica in the center of this top is strikingly similar to the one on a table in The Gilbert Collection, London. The present table's gilt-brass and ebonized base, which in true Regency fashion adapts classical elements like zoomorphic feet and a triform base, would have been specially constructed for displaying the top.

The present tabletop's inlaid design of colorful birds, flowers and branches with fruit comes from the distinct style of mosaic found in Florence from the 17th century well into the 19th century. While the base has many elements that point to English Regency design, such as the fine brass inlay on a contrasting ebonized ground, the zoomorphic feet, and the outsplaying trestle-ends, there are many constructional features that suggest an Italian origin. It is possible therefore to speculate on the English cabinetmaker Henry Thomas Peters as its author: Peters lived and worked in Genoa in the first part of the 19th century, and supplied furniture for King Carlo Alberto.

The design of this remarkable table, which is inlaid with the signature MAJORELLE NANCY on the inside of one of its legs, places its maker, Louis Majorelle, in the vanguard of the stylistic developments of the early 1900s. A table of the same form appears in a photograph of Majorelle's workshop, taken sometime between 1903 and 1908, when Majorelle and his contemporaries were mostly still working in the Art Nouveau style. The table's distinctive rectilinear design, with geometric inlay to its legs and the striking parquet pattern to its marble top, would have been extremely progressive for its time, and encapsulated a sense of modernity.