A George II parcel-gilt Black-Japanned and Chinese black lacquer Tripod Table in the manner of George Nix Circa 1730

The present table is nearly identical to another japanned 'pillar & claw' table at Ham House, most probably used for taking tea. (Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740, Woodbridge, 2009, pp. 248-49, pl. 5:90)  The present table with its lacquered top and japanned base is rare, the top being made in China to fit an English base.  One lacquer table with scalloped edge and tripod base made for the English market follows the English prototype very closely without Chinese embellishment, save for the lacquer. (Carl Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Woodbridge, 1991, pp263-65, c. pl. 97)

George Nix's name is found in the bills at Ham House from 1729-1734 charging the Lauderdales for some 150 items including '...makeing a Table of the top of a Cabinett and a Neat Japaned frame for the Table £2. 15. 0'  This refers to a Japanese cabinet from which a table top was made placed onto a japanned base, as is with the present table.  Another tray or tea table with lacquer top and japanned frame and legs attributed to George Nix, from the collection of Simon Sainsbury, sold at Christie's, London, June 18, 2008, lot 238.

A number of pieces of Chinese export lacquered furniture exist including a set of eight black lacquer 'parlour' chairs, one of which was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1978, and two of which were most recently sold at Christie's, London, Simon Sainsbury, The Creation of an English Arcadia, June 18, 2008, lot 185 (£75,650); a pair of lacquer armchairs with original gilt-tooled leather seats also from Warkwick Castle, sold in these rooms, October 22, 2010, lot 70 ($62,500).