A RARE GEORGE III CHINESE LACQUER VENEERED AND PARCEL GILT JAPANNED WRITING TABLE circa 1800

with two drawers faced with Chinese lacquer, the tablets at each end with applied lion masks in giltwood, the sides and back similarly decorated and mounted.

Dreweatt Neate, Fine Art Auctioneers, Newbury, Berkshire

Overall good condition,the brass gallery with minor bend, the lacquer with cracquelure, areas of re-gilding and inpainting, one leg with old repaired break, overall with some old marks and scratches and some minor chips and losses to the painted surface.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This rare and unusual table belongs to a small group of similarly conceived tables which includes another writing table with trestle supports, formerly in the possession of Messrs. Mallett  & Son (Antiques) Ltd., of London (See: Catalogue, 1997, pp. 74,75), and a pair of rectangular center tables with trestle supports formerly in the Collection of the Earls of Warwick, Warwick, Castle (See:  Sotheby's, New York, October 11, 1996, lot 400).

Each dates from the early nineteenth century and is veneered with panels of eighteenth century Chinese lacquer, presumably cut from panels of screens. The fragmentary scenes on the present table are remarkably similar to those on the Mallett example, those on the Warwick tables depicting flowers and foliage and exotic birds. The practice of using Chinese lacquer, augmented with English japanning, was relatively common in the 1750s through the 1770s, the scenes, as on the present table, being somewhat haphazardly cut and jointed, although it was less common at the time this group was made. Thomas Chippendale is recorded as supplying pieces similarly veneered to a number of clients including Lord Dumfries and to Edwin Lascelles, Harewood House, who supplied his own oriental lacquer (See: Christopher Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978).