Desk c.1695
Tortoiseshell, pewter, brass, gilt bronze and ebony | 86.0 x 198.5 x 92.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 31347
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Red-ground Boulle (tortoiseshell and brass) knee-hole writing desk, veneered with grotesques, birds, animals and arabesques in première and contre-partie, with a leather-lined top. The desk is fitted with seven drawers, the outer ones convex, the central one concave, and is raised on eight baluster legs, joined by serpentine stretchers, on peg-top gilt bronze feet.
Provenance
This desk is said to have belonged to William III. It appears in J. Stephanoff's 1817 watercolour of Queen Caroline's Closet at Kensington Palace. The desk was sent to Morel & Seddon for cleaning and repairs on 1 November 1827 (Jutsham Deliveries III, p.144) as part of the group of furniture and furnishings restored between 1827 and 1829 for King George IV by the partnership of Morel and Seddon for the Library (now the Green Drawing Room) at Windsor Castle. Nicholas Morel had formerly worked for The Prince of Wales, later George IV, on Carlton House and the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Subsequently, he was commissioned to design and furnish Wyatville’s newly built apartments for the King at Windsor Castle. In order to fulfil the contract he entered into partnership with George Seddon III whose family had large and long established furniture workshops in Aldersgate Street in the City of London.
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Creator(s)
(nationality)(restorer)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Tortoiseshell, pewter, brass, gilt bronze and ebony
Measurements
86.0 x 198.5 x 92.5 cm (whole object)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Laking FR : Laking, G.F., 1905. The Furniture of Windsor Castle, London – Laking FR p110,pl.28