A Regency Gilt-Mounted Ebony, Pollard Oak and Mahogany Work Table attributed to George Bullock circa 1815

the hinged rectangular top with stylized foliate border and opening to a well, the paneled frieze flanked by fluted columns headed by gilt-metal flowerheads, the ring-turned legs joined by stretchers and ending in casters. Lacking interior fittings.

Phillips and Harris, London

Sold in these rooms, October 24, 1992, lot 405

Anthony Coleridge, 'The Work of George Bullock, Cabinet-Maker in Scotland 1', Connoisseur, April 1965

Clive Wainwright et. al., George Bullock, Cabinetmaker, London, 1988

Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, ed., Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986

Overall fair restored condition. Top with one long horizontal age crack with inpainting and a smaller horizontal age crack also with inpainting. Surface with slightly glossy finish. Interior formally fitted for sewing instruments and compartments now removed. Perishing to finish of the legs in places. Top of front left leg with replaced metal flower head. Overall with some scratches, nicks and wear.
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.

The offered work table can be attributed with relative certainty to George Bullock.  Bullock (n. 1777/78-d.1818) a brilliant Regency cabinet-maker and sculptor, worked in London and Liverpool.  Much of what is known of Bullock today comes from bills of sale, house inventories and more importantly, a group of designs know as The Wilkinson Tracings.  These tracings, now in the City Museum and Art Gallery of Birmingham, relate directly to Bullock's inlaid motifs.  The tracings are assembled in the form of a scrap book with additional loose inserts and inscribed on the first page 'Tracings by Thomas Wilkinson from designs of the late Mr. George Bullock, 1820'.  It is not known if Mr. Wilkinson worked for Bullock.  He may have been a metal worker in Birmingham responsible for executing elements for Bullock's furniture or he may be the Thomas Wilkinson, a London cabinet-maker, working in Brokers Row, 1812-1828, who was also familiar with Bullock's designs.

Bullock specialized in neoclassical style furniture and often incorporated exotic woods, with brass inlays, metal mounts and marble tops. He favored the use of highly figured indigenous woods.  Bullock was more assertive than his contemporaries in creating furniture in the Louis XIV style and was instrumental in the development and promotion of the mediaeval or Gothic style which romanticized Jacobean and Elizabethan inspired furniture.

The offered table relates directly to two documented tables made by Bullock.  The first is a brass-inlaid oak work table with a green marble-inset top at Blair Castle, made for the Duke of Atholl, 1814, which cost £ 14.14.  The circular and block-turned supports with similarly turned stretcher and foliate-cast brass rosettes are almost identical to those on the offered table. (Coleridge, op. cit. pp. 249-252, fig. 3)  The second example is a pollard oak games table with ebony moldings, supports and stretchers similar to those of the offered table and the example at Blair Castle. (Wainwright op. cit., p. 110, fig. 47.)  The inlaid banding on the hinged lid of the offered table bear a close resemblance to many inlaid designs executed by Bullock.  Currently it is not know if ths design relates directly to any of the Wilkinson Tracings.