A Regency giltwood and painted tilt top occasional table

the rectangular top with canted corners and a carved giltwood border painted to simulate specimen marbles, raised on a spiral, foliate carved stem supported on three carved giltwood dolphins and reeded bun feet, the small central platform and stretchers with concave sides and painted to simulate porphyry

The dolphin employed as a decorative motif was popular in the baroque period and was revived during the Regency period. Perhaps one of the most well known examples of this is the celebrated Dolphin Suite exhibited at The Royal Pavilion, Brighton, which was commissioned in the wake of Nelson's victory at the battle of the Nile in 1798. The leading neo-classical architect and designer C.H. Tatham also incorporated dolphin supports on a pair of  marble topped console tables which he designed for Cleveland House, illustrated, Christopher Proudfoot, 'The Furniture of C.H. Tatham', Country Life, June 8, 1972, p. 1484,  fig. 7.