A gilt-bronze-mounted brass inlaid ebony and blue stained horn première-partie boulle marquetry desk attributed to George Blake & Co., London, circa 1855

with a rectangular gilt-bronze banded embossed leather top with the cypher `H’ beneath a Crown, above a frieze inlaid in première-partie  boulle marquetry with three frieze drawers  decorated with arabesques within gilt-bronze borders interposed by bacchic masks, with a female mask on the side, the top resting on pied de biche, on twelve tapering legs joined by stretchers on toupie feet, the interior of the central drawer with a paper label inscribed Boulle Table / Huntingdon / 61 / Page 106, the underside with a faded paper label

Collection of Baron Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918), (see fig. 2), in the Billiard Room, circa 1883, then the Red Room, Halton House, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, circa 1888 (see figs. 3 and 4).
Collection of his nephew Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942), Exbury House, Hampshire;
Christie, Mason & Woods Ltd., Catalogue of Fine Foreign Silver, Important Sèvres Porcelain, Objects of Art and Old French Furniture, Formerly the property of the late Alfred de Rothschild, Esq., of Halton and the late Lionel de Rothschild, Esq., of Exbury House, Southampton, Thursday 4 July 1946, 151;
Collection Archer M. Huntington (1870-1955), USA and gifted to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (fig. 5).
Sold as`The Huntington Boulle Bureau Plat’, Christie’s, New York, 29th-30th November 2012, lot 220.

Listed in the inventory after the death of Baron Alfred de Rothschild, `£100 0 0 A writing table, inlaid with arabesques in brass on blue enamel ground and mounted with ormolu’, in the Red Room, Halton House, Buckinghamshire (RAL 000/174,The Estate of Alfred C. de Rothschild, Esq., C.V.O., deceased, Halton House,Tring, Christie’s valuation, 1918, p. 9).
Barbara Lasic,`A display of opulence:Alfred de Rothschild and the visual recording of Halton House’, Furniture History: The Journal of the Furniture History Society, XXXX, 2004, p. 141, fig. 4, illustrated in a photograph of the Red Room, Halton House, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, circa 1888 (J. Thomson Photographer to the Queen 70A Grosvenor St. New Bond St).
Recorded on the death of Lionel de Rothschild in Christie’s valuation of March 1942 in the Dining Room at Exbury House, Hampshire, page 19, item 3:`A Boulle writing table, with three drawers, inlaid with arabesques in brass on blue enamel ground in ebonised borders, mounted with Bacchanalian masks and goats heads of ormolu and the top covered with stamped and gilt brown leather.’ (The Rothschild Archive London ref 000/920), valued at £60 for probate. Next to the entry is written 'Lot 151. £441'.

This impressive bureau is in excellent restoredcondition and is ready to be placed. There is one hoof foot that is a recent cast, to replace a missing one. Minor replacements of brass inlays. The original leather has marks and scratches consistent with age and use, and retains remains of the original gilt tooling. There is one area of the leather previously damaged and now filled. This bureau has been recently conserved by a professional and a conservation report is available upon request.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Christopher Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, pp.112-113.
Christopher Payne, European Furniture of the 19^th century, Woodbridge, Suffolk, reprinted 1989, p. 59.
Martin Levy, E.H. Baldock and the Blake Family: Furniture History Society Newsletter, n° 158, May 2005, p. 1-3.

This impressive and sophisticated desk in striking blue horn simulating lapis lazuli set off by sumptuous gilt-bronze mounts, the top resting on pied de biche on twelve legs, was part of the revival of furniture conceived in the manner of the 18^th century Parisian ébéniste and major exponent of the boulle technique, André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732). It once belonged to Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918) and then his nephew Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942). Its illustrious provenance is further confirmed by its once having been in the personal collection of Archer Milton Huntington (1870–1955), of the celebrated Huntington Collection in the United States.

A related contre-partie desk was once owned by Baron Meyer de Rothschild (1818–1874). Purchased by him in 1853 one might speculate it was supplied by the same workshop, though the provenance of that desk was reputedly from the Château de Neuilly and given to the Duc d’Orléans by Louis XVIII. It was eventually sold on behalf of the Executors of the 6^th Earl of Rosebery and his family, at the Sotheby’s Mentmore sale, Vol. I, 18^th May 1977, lot 52, reproduced here in fig. 5.

Alfred owned several pieces of furniture in the style of Boulle, which included a table made in 1862 by Louis-Auguste Alfred Beurdeley, (1808-1882) and a pair of commodes:`£150 0 0 A pair of Boulle dwarf commodes, inlaid with arabesques in brass and white metal on tortoiseshell ground, and mounted with ormolu friezes and borders, surmounted by veined red marble slabs’. (RAL Inventory Halton, p.55)- and a pair of boulle  pedestals,` £800 0 0 (E) A pair of bronze figures, emblematic of Fire and water, French 17th Century, on Boulle pedestals.’ in the Bronzina Room at Halton (RAL Inventory Halton, p. 53).

This desk was obviously highly regarded by Alfred as it was in the Red Room at Halton and according to Lasic, op. cit., p. 140,`The room that mostly closely echoed the richness of the London interiors was perhaps his inner sanctum, the Red Room, where he conducted his private business affairs when in residence.’ The furniture in this room was set off by Netherlandish paintings and included two circular tables surmounted with porcelain plaques, one of which was attributed to Martin Carlin and there was a garniture of Sèvres vases on the chimney-piece. Lasic also states that the table in the centre of the room appears to be in `the Boulle idiom’ and that the inventory for probate described it as being `in the style of Boulle’. It was listed in the inventory after the death of Baron Alfred de Rothschild,`£100 0 0 A writing table, inlaid with arabesques in brass on blue enamel ground and mounted with ormolu’ in the Red Room at Halton House in Buckinghamshire. However, as Lasic op. cit., also states `An interesting aspect of Halton’s Red Room and Library which was also seen at Seamore Place (his central London residence) was the presence of nineteenth-century furniture ….and it indicates that Alfred de Rothschild did not intend Halton to be a series of faithful reproductions of eighteenth–century French interiors. In fact, nineteenth-century furniture was ubiquitous at Halton’. 

The desk was subsequently recorded on the death of his nephew Lionel de Rothschild in Christie’s valuation of March 1942, in the Dining Room at Exbury House in Hampshire, page 19, item 3:`A Boulle writing table, with three drawers, inlaid with arabesques in brass on blue enamel ground in ebonised borders, mounted with Bacchanalian masks and goats heads of ormolu and the top covered with stamped and gilt brown leather.’ For the goat’s heads one should probably read goat’s feet. It was valued at £60 for probate and next to the entry is written 'Lot 151. £441', which must refer to a subsequent sale of the desk which most likely was when it was probably bought by the Huntington heir, Archer Milton Huntington.

Blake of London:
There is no other comparable piece by Blake to this desk other than its pendant which was unattributed and sold at the Mentmore sale in 1977 (see ante). However, it is worthwhile comparing the treatment of the mounts and marquetry on this desk to that on a pair of cabinets possibly made for the 4th Marquess of Hertford, sold in these Rooms, sold 12^th November 1992, lot 56. Furthermore, the male mask on a drawer of the cabinet is very similar to that of the female mask on the side of the offered desk in terms of the treatment of the drapery and the gilt-bronze scrolls at the base of the mask. The rosettes and laurel leaf wreath escutcheons on the Hertford cabinets are identical to those on this desk.

In the Rothschild Archive there only exists receipts for supplying and restoring furniture from Blake and the Bond Street dealer John Webb and it appears that Blake and Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808-1879), Alfred’s father, enjoyed a close working relationship, as attested by the running account that the latter had with the former confirmed by the existence of eight receipts signed by Charles Blake for work carried out for Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild between 1857 and 1865.

The creations by Blake tended to follow the great pieces of French 18^th century furniture that were being collected in the early years of the 19^th century by such francophile collectors as George, Prince of Wales, later George IV, George Watson-Taylor, William Beckford and Francis Seymour-Conway, 3^rd Marquess of Hertford.

Relatively little is known about the work of the Blake family although their work is known for its finely cast mounts and cabinet-work, although very few signed pieces of boulle furniture executed by the firm are recorded:

-a circular table was ordered by the 4th Duke of Northumberland for Alnwick Castle in 1853.
- a Louis XV style marquetry table labelled by Messrs. Blake is in the collection of the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House, Sussex .
-a pair of commodes in the Frick Collection, New York (Accession number 1916.5.02).
-a tray by Robert Blake exhibited at Grosvenor House by Asprey & Co. in 1976.
-a pair of signed commodes, the companion to those in the Frick collection, possibly made for the 4th Marquess of Hertford, sold in these Rooms, 2^nd November 1990, lot 231.
- a table of walnut and ebony with marquetry was made by George Blake & Co. for Corsham Court, Wiltshire (Victoria & Albert Museum inv. W. 20-1995).
- a magnificent piano in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 59.76).
- a bureau plat in the collection of James Graham Stewart.
- an identical bureau plat from the collection of the Earls of Lucan.
-a cabinet  incorporating a 17^th century Dutch mother-of-pearl panel, sold in these Rooms, 11^th December 2002, lot 36, once owned by Lionel de Rothschild and in the Red Room at 148 Piccadilly, London, which also incorporated blue stained horn in the boulle work as on the offered desk.

The Blake family are listed at 8 Stephen Street, Tottenham Court Road between 1826 and 1881. Robert Blake is listed as a `cabinet inlayer and Buhl manufacturer’, between 1826 and 1839. Charles Blake was born to Robert and Ann, on 17<sup>th</sup> March 1814 and another son was christened Henry in 1821. From 1842, they are listed as Blake; Geo & Bros. as `Blake, Charles, James & Henry…’ As well as manufacturers they are also listed as `buhl cutters’ from 1847 onwards and there are no references at this date to the Blakes as cabinet-makers. In 1845, Geo. Blake & Co. is listed at Stephen Street as `cabinet inlayers’ and in the same year the firm of Geo. Blake & Co. is listed as `cabinet-makers’ at 130 Mount St. Berkeley Square in the heart of Mayfair as well as keeping the workshops in Tottenham Court Road.  

Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918):
He was the second son of Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808-1879) and Baroness Charlotte von Rothschild and studied at King's College, London before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he formed a lasting friendship with the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. At the age of 21, Alfred was employed at the N M Rothschild Bank in London where he learned the business from his father and made valuable contacts in European banking circles. In 1868, at the age of 26, Alfred became a director of the Bank of England, a post he held for 20 years. A patron of the arts, he also donated funds for acquisitions to the National Art Gallery, London and he was trustee of both The National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. On the death of his father in 1879, Alfred inherited 1.400 hectares at Halton in Buckinghamshire, where he constructed Halton House, from 1880 to July 1883.  At the end of the 19^th century he was considered`the finest amateur judge of French eighteenth–century art in England’ as together with Sir Richard Wallace was one of the most important collectors of French paintings, ceramics and furniture from the 18^th century.

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942):
Lionel Nathan de Rothschild OBE was a banker by profession and Conservative politician, one of whose greatest achievements was the creation of Exbury Gardens by the New Forest in Hampshire. He was the eldest of the three sons of Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) and Marie née Perugia (1862–1937) and a scion of the English branch of the Rothschild banking family and a nephew of Alfred.                                                                  

He was born in London and educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected to the House of Commons for the constituency of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire on 25th January 1910. In 1912, he married Marie Louise Eugénie Beer (1892–1975) and they had four children. His father, Leopold, died in early 1917 and Lionel and brother Anthony became the managing partners of N M Rothschild & Sons bank. In 1919, he purchased the Mitford estate at Exbury in Hampshire where he transformed it into one of the finest gardens in all of England. In the 1920’s, he built Exbury House around an existing structure in a neo-Georgian style. Lionel died in London, aged sixty, in 1942.

Archer Milton Huntington (1870–1955):
Archer Milton Huntington was the son of Arabella Huntington and the stepson of railroad magnate and industrialist Collis P. Huntington. A lifelong patron of the arts. Archer Huntington inherited life rights to the mansion at No. 2 East 57^th Street, New York and upon his death, if he had no children, the property was to go to Yale. Within the year he donated the extensive Huntington art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Archer Huntington was himself a major collector and benefactor. His collections were of staggering size and quality and he gave his mother’s magnificent collection of eighteenth-century French decorative arts to the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Archer Huntington donated an initial collection of 327 objects that formed the basis of the museum's collection. The collection included French 17^th and 18th century decorative arts, furniture and sculpture in addition to porcelain, tapestry, and textiles, and paintings, amongst them the offered desk with the label in the drawer:`Boulle Table Huntington 61 Page 106’.