Research:
Of Scottish laburnum veneer with mahogany moldings and flame mahogany. The circular tilt-top centered by an inlaid star pattern and incised circular laurel motif, from which issues a radial pattern of contrasting bookmatched veneers with flame mahogany border outer edge. The top raised on a square stem with square stepped base and mahogany knulling, upon a quatreform plinth raised on four downswept legs terminating in brass paw feet and castors. Old minor repairs.
Provenance:
A French Private Collection
The present table, of unprecedented scale in its medium, employs laburnum veneer in heavily contrasting grain (the yellow being the sap wood and the dark the heartwood) to spectacular effect. On the top this creates a striking radial book matched pattern, while the base also employs similarly contrasting effects in a more randomized composition. “Amongst the native Scottish woods used in furniture making, none is more lustrous and attractive than Scottish Laburnum” and it was “perhaps the most highly prized amongst the more unusual cabinet- and chair-making woods…which have been employed in the country.”
The present table was made in an age when rare and unusually marked timbers enjoyed the same classification as precious marbles, which would be displayed in arrangements on table tops and fronting drawers of cabinets. As such, the table may be considered an artefact in this mostly British tradition, where a focus is placed on the prominent display and creative use of wood specimens.
Full research report available on request.