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Lot Essay
This type of table worked in the 'boule' fashion originates from a small group of emigrant cabinet-makers attracted to London during the reign of George II. One known maker to have produced such tables is Moravian cabinet-maker and embellisher of musical instruments Johann Friedrich Hintz (d. 1776). Hintz (also spelled Hinz, Hints and Hinds) traded at 'The Porcupine', Newport Street, and on 22 May 1738 advertised a sale of 'A Choice Tea-Boards, etc. all curiously [finely wrought] made and inlaid with fine Figures of Brass and Mother of Pearl. They will be sold at a very reasonable rate, the maker Frederick Hintz, designing soon to go abroad' (G.Beard and C.Gilbert, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 434).
Twenty-five 'pillar and claw' tables with engraved-brass inlay and lobed, dished or scalloped tray-top design have been recorded to date (see C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, 'Channon Revisited', Furniture History, 1994, p.75). While the number of conjoined circular depressions to the top can vary from eight to ten or even twelve, the form and style of the stands vary indefinitely and are often associated. The decorative inlay to the top with its budding flowers and splayed leaves is most comparable to a table at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London illustrated in C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, John Channon and Brass-Inlaid Furniture 1730-1760, 1993, p. 199, pls. 155-156) as well as one sold from The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Saul P. Steinberg, Sotheby's, New York, 26 May 2000, lot 196 (illustrated op. cit, col. pl. XXVII). Another of this design in the The Edward James Collection, West Dean Park, was sold from Christie's house sale, 2,3 and 6 June 1986, lot 205. The continental influences on Hintz's furniture may have been related to his extensive travels throughout England and Germany on behalf of the Moravian church. (For an extensive discussion on the Moravian community see L. E. Graf, 'Moravians in London: A case study in furniture-making, c. 1735-65', Furniture History, 2004, pp. 1-52).
Twenty-five 'pillar and claw' tables with engraved-brass inlay and lobed, dished or scalloped tray-top design have been recorded to date (see C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, 'Channon Revisited', Furniture History, 1994, p.75). While the number of conjoined circular depressions to the top can vary from eight to ten or even twelve, the form and style of the stands vary indefinitely and are often associated. The decorative inlay to the top with its budding flowers and splayed leaves is most comparable to a table at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London illustrated in C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, John Channon and Brass-Inlaid Furniture 1730-1760, 1993, p. 199, pls. 155-156) as well as one sold from The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Saul P. Steinberg, Sotheby's, New York, 26 May 2000, lot 196 (illustrated op. cit, col. pl. XXVII). Another of this design in the The Edward James Collection, West Dean Park, was sold from Christie's house sale, 2,3 and 6 June 1986, lot 205. The continental influences on Hintz's furniture may have been related to his extensive travels throughout England and Germany on behalf of the Moravian church. (For an extensive discussion on the Moravian community see L. E. Graf, 'Moravians in London: A case study in furniture-making, c. 1735-65', Furniture History, 2004, pp. 1-52).