HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung | Part II: Day
HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung | Part II: Day
A George I burr walnut-veneered and walnut adjustable writing table, circa 1720-30
Auction Closed
December 8, 05:58 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A George I burr walnut-veneered and walnut adjustable writing table, circa 1720-30
the quarter veneered hinged and folding top inset with a later gilt-tooled leather writing surface, with ratchet mechanism to underside, above a single drawer to each side, one fitted with compartments for inkwells and pens, the drawers retaining the Untermyer collection inventory number 64.101.1084
74.5cm. high, 38cm. wide, 48cm. deep (closed); 2ft. 5½in. 1ft. 3in., 1ft. 7in.
The form of this adjustable writing table relates to a design shown in a large engraved sheet in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, possibly intended for a cabinet-maker’s trade label, and is signed ‘Potter London’ (V&A Museum No. E. 2320.89), possibly for Thomas Potter (d.1782), the cabinet maker recorded as working in High Holborn in 1737.
The table once belonged to renowned collector Judge Irwin Untermyer whose passion for furniture, silver, needlework and porcelain led him to amass one of the greatest collections of English decorative art. Much of his collection was generously bequeathed to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and remains an important part of the institution’s holdings of English furniture.