A Regency japanned chinoiserie decorated writing table, circa 1810, the design attributed to Frederick Crace

the rounded rectangular tôle top and sides decorated with Chinese views, above three drawers on ebonised simulated bamboo legs

Crewe House, London, Inventory, 1913, Vol. I, p.289, in The Yellow Drawing Room; An oblong Chinese lacquer [sic] Writing Table with gilt decorations, the top painted Figures and Carriage, Trees and Bridges in colours, fitted with 3 drawers, black knobs, on quadruple cluster bamboo supports, locks & 2ft. wide;
West Horsley Place, Surrey, Inventory, 1938, Vol. 1, p.13, in the Morning Room; A 3”antique black and gilt japanned bamboo style Table with 3 drawers and wood knobs, painted in the Chinese style. £30;
West Horsley Place, Surrey, Inventory, 1938, Vol. 2, p.136, in Lady Crewe’s Boudoir; A gilt egg and tongue frame Wall Mirror. £15. 

Losses to mouldings. Surface scratches to surface decoration.
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The style of the present table it is traditionally associated to father and son John (1754-1819) and Frederick Crace (1779-1859), whose commissions included work for the Prince Regent at Brighton Pavilion between 1800 and 1804, where they designed interiors in the Chinese style. Their accounts for this period show that from the start the Craces were involved in much more than merely the applied decoration at Brighton. Not only did they amuse the Prince with a variety of Chinese curiosities, including costumes, ivory junks, and even ‘seven pounds of Chinese tobacco', but large quantities of furniture were supplied by them too. Most of it seems to have been either Chinese - especially bamboo furniture - or English in the Chinese manner.

The japanned panels found in Crace furniture were outsourced and although sometimes attributed to the Pontypool factory, their style is more consistent with the work of japanners based in London and in the Midlands, closer to Craces’ workshop.

A red papier mâché tôle and japanned centre table, sold Sotheby`s London, 28th April, 2010, lot 624 (£55,250) from the collection of the late Francis Egerton and Peter Maitland, has related chinoiserie decoration as have two cabinets, one from the Dukes of Devonshire collections sold at Sotheby’s, London, ‘Chatsworth: The Attic Sale’, October 5-7, 2010, lot 370. (£127,250), the other, from the Estate of Andrew Gordon, sold Sotheby’s London, 22 October 2014, lot 123 ($53,125).