IN THE MANNER OF MARSH AND TATHAM, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

The husk-inlay on the top of the table relates to those on a side cabinet in the possession of the playwright Edward Knoblock, one of the earliest collectors of Regency furniture. The side cabinet was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 18 November 1993, lot 109. Knoblock owned several pieces that had belonged to Thomas Hope and which were sold from his country house, The Deepdene, in 1917. After the First World War Knoblock bought Beach House, Worthing, which he furnished with magnificent pieces of Regency furniture, including the bookcase from Deepdene that is now in the Bowes Museum, Co. Durham. A similar tripod table can be seen in The Painted Library (F. Collard, Regency Furniture, Woodbridge, 1985, p. 264). His London flat at 11 Montague Place was photographed in 1931 and two of these photographs are illustrated ibid., pp. 265-266. The leaf-carving on the shaft is similar to that found on furniture supplied by the Royal cabinet-makers Marsh & Tatham, favoured by the Prince Regent.