Research
Of mahogany. The rectangular top with ogee molded edge above a continuous shallow carved Greek key frieze with stipple-punched background. Within the frieze is concealed a long drawer with a sprung concealed wooden tongue that locks the drawer The two paneled doors each with a blind fret Chinoiserie panel. The whole raised on restored ogee feet. Presently lacking folio slides.
Marks:
Old chalk inscription to back:
HOWE / PENZANCE
Provenance:
A West Riding Collection
The taste for the chinoiserie style had reached a high fashion among the wealthy and cultivated in English society in the eighteenth century. Although oriental styles and forms had been known about in Europe from the Middle Ages it was only in the seventeenth century, with the expansion of trade with the Far East, that chinoiserie began to exert a real influence on the design of the applied arts.