Writing table
Jean Demoulin (1715 - 1798)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1780
Materials
Oak carcass, veneered with tulipwood, purplewood, leather and ormolu mounts
Measurements
73 x 50.5 x 37.5 cm
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1245941
Summary
A small writing table or "table à écrire", with an oval top lined with red leather within a three-quarter pierced gallery, above a writing slide and a side drawer, veneered with tulipwood and purple-heart, inlaid with trompe-l'oeil fluted panels to the frieze, on tapering square-section legs headed by paterae and terminated by shoes with castors, joined by a kidney-shaped under-tier. Jean Demoulin originated from Burgundy. He established a workshop in Paris in 1745 and moved to Dijon in 1779.
Provenance
Date of acquisition not recorded, but probably originally at 16 Charles Street, Mayfair, Mrs Greville's London home, and bequeathed by Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942) with Polesden Lacey, to the National Trust, in memory of her father, William McEwan (1827-1913) in 1942. This item found on the probate inventory record for Charles Street chattels at Polesden Lacey, found in the Dining Room, page 13.
Marks and inscriptions
Carcass: J.DEMOULIN JME (stamped twice)
Makers and roles
Jean Demoulin (1715 - 1798), cabinetmaker