TWO IVORY AND EBONY-INLAID HOSHIAPUR TABLES, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1900 |

of octagonal form, with Mughal arched sides, one with detachable table top and foldable legs, each decorated with inlaid ivory foliate designs, one with facing birds, the other with carved central leafy bands

Both tables in good condition, they appear to have had few minor consolidations and replacements to the ivory and some pieces possibly bone, as viewed.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

As Dr Amin Jaffer notes in relation to a very similar table at the Victoria and Albert museum, 'octagonal tables of this form were made in several places in late nineteenth-century India, principally in response to the growing fashion in Europe for 'Moorish' and 'Arab' furnishings and decorative accessories'.  (Jaffer 2001, p.288). The present tables were inspired by examples imported into India from Cairo which derive ultimately from sixteenth-century Ottoman models used for ground-level communal eating. Islamic interiors were an ever more popular part of international design exhibitions in the second half of the nineteenth century. They were replicated in numerous paintings and publications, and re-created in English homes such as Lord Leighton's Holland Park mansion and William Burges' Arab Room at Cardiff Castle.