A George IV parcel-gilt, brass mounted, pewter, tortoiseshell and mother of pearl inlaid burr maple octagonal centre table, attributed to Morel & Hughes, circa 1828

the base with inlaid rosewood on brass volute feet concealing castors

in excellent restored condition. The satinwood top is slightly sun faded. The brass probably re-lacquered. Re-gilt wood. Veneers laid on an oak and mahogany carcase, The piece is ready to place.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This table bears relation to a center table supplied by Morel and Seddon in 1828 for a bedroom, Room 243, part of a suite of rooms (241-246) at Windsor Castle, illustrated by Hugh Roberts, For the King's Pleasure, 2001, p. 360, fig. 441. That suite of rooms included a sitting room, two bedrooms, two closets and Lancaster Tower Lobby, the furniture variously veneered in satinwood, amboyna and mahogany, with ormolu and gilt embellishments. The table is thus described in Morel and Seddon’s Account Book: To a circular table of fine amboyna wood highly polished with ormoulu tauras moulding on the edge, with frieze and cornice, supported by a large pillar in the center, and 3 smaller do with richly carved foliage, capitals, bases and collars, gilt in the best manner in mat and burnished gold, terminating on a shaped plinth with chased ormoulu scroll and foliage feet and improved casters. The present table also has an ormolu torus molding to the edge, an almost identical central shaft and scrolled feet on casters. The Windsor center table has three amboyna and giltwood supports on a tripartite plinth without marquetry, the present table with four ormolu supports on a quadripartite plinth with foliate marquetry. The influence of fashionable French design motifs and techniques is seen in the Boulle marquetry banding on a red tortoiseshell ground of this table, found on other tables at Windsor, including a center table and a sofa table in the Crimson Drawing Room, Room 188; ibid., 92, figs. 83-84, and p. 97, figs. 95-96, and again in the foliate marquetry to the base of the present table, similar to marquetry employed by Parisian furniture makers of the period; see a view of a bedroom, Room 227, the ‘couch bedstead in the French style of fine birds eye maple & purple woods . . .’, ibid.,p. 287, fig. 365 and p. 289, pp. 309-311, figs. 366- 370, figs. 373-376. The furniture supplied to George IV by Morel and Seddon was part of a full-scale reconstruction of Windsor Castle between 1824-30. The architect Sir Jeffry Wyattville created a new sequence of Royal Apartments on the east and south sides of the Upper Ward and the cabinet maker Nicholas Morel was given the task of making the furniture for them. Morel had already worked for George IV at Carlton House and was especially favored by the King. However the furnishing of Windsor was such a large scale contract that in 1827 Morel entered into partnership with the firm owned by George Seddon, at that time the largest furniture making business in London. An almost identical octagonal center table with identical mounts, stem, feet and profile sold in these rooms, October 21, 2005, lot 296.  A circular center table with an identical central support, three ormolu supports and scrolled feet, was sold, Christie’s, London, November 19, 1993, lot 188.