A Regency oak and ebony kneehole table, attributed to George Bullock, 1815

Christie's London, 23rd May 2013, lot 232.

This table is a close stylistic match for a table that sold at Christie's London on 27th November 2003, lot 195, which was by George Bullock and was supplied for Napoleon at Longwood House for his exile on the island of St Helena. The London Packet gave a detailed room-by-room description of the British state-funded furnishings for Napoleon on 23rd-25th October 1815, noting that the former Emperor "should be furnished in his banishment with every possible gratification and comfort".¹ In his detailed article on the St Helena furnishings, Martin Levy illustrates the table sold at Christie's London in 2003 as fig.22 and cross references it with George Bullock's accounts for the St Helena commission as being either the 'Dressing table in Pier' supplied or the 'Dressing Table' (both £28 10s).2 He also mentions that an "identically designed, but unprovenanced dressing table is in a European private collection", which could potentially refer to the present lot. The label borne on the table sold in 2003, reading THIS CONSOLE TABLE WAS USED FOR THE TOILET OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON IN HIS BEDROOM AT ST. HELENA DURING HIS EXILE IT ... (F) ... COUNT DE LAS CASAS' PLAN OF LONGWOOD HOUSE, dates from its later time in the collection of Sir Hudson Lowe (1769-1844) and the furniture of Longwood House was not systematically labelled while on St Helena.

¹ Martin Levy, 'Napoleon in Exile, The Houses and Furniture supplied by the British Government for the Emperor and his Entourage on St Helena', Furniture History Society, vol. XXXIV, 1998, p.5.

2 Op. cit., p.92.