Harlequin table
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1790
Materials
Satinwood veneers on mahogany, ebony, oak, ivory, brass
Measurements
72 x 39 x 46 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 871378
Summary
A satinwood and mahogany 'harlequin' table, English, circa 1790. Probably intended as a breakfast-cum-writing table. Branded with the initials 'IRC' to the underside of the table, and to the underside of the pedestal's lower block. The significance of these initials is not clear; they are reminiscent of 17th and 18th century ownership brands quite commonly found on piece of oak furniture. The top inlaid with ebony lines and with a pair of drop-leaves, adjustable on struts. Each end frieze faced as four false drawers flanked by a pair of upright proper drawers, all fitted with turned ivory handles. These upright drawers with shaped side lining boards which have a concave profile. The centre of the top rising on a mechanism (now either lacking or incomplete) to reveal a bank of drawers and compartments. All raised on a vase and ring-turned column and three rectangular-section downswept legs fitted with brass caps and castors.
Provenance
Date of acquisition not recorded but at Saltram by 1951 and accepted by HM Treaury in lieu of full payment of Death Duty from the Executors of Edmund Robert Parker (1877 - 1951), 4th Earl of Morley.
Marks and inscriptions
Underside of both top and pedestal: Initials 'IRC' [possibly of maker]