Sécrétaire, oak and chestnut or ash,veneered in tulipwood and kingwood; brass mounts; marble top, one of a pair; the pair is stamped EHB for Edward Holmes Baldock.

Pedestal secrétaire (one of a pair) of oak and chestnut or ash, veneered with tulipwood inlaid with cross-banded bloodwood (bois satiné ) and with floral marquetry in end grain (bois-de-bout) kingwood; interior veneers of tulipwood, perhaps red-stained, inlaid with purplewood, and padouk. Brass mounts, oncolite limestone top. The top drawer has a shaped front and a brass knob in the form of a floral spray. Below the drawer is a fall-front with a writing surface of green leather, tooled and gilded, and two inner drawers with an open compartment above. The drawer-fronts are inlaid with a geometric pattern. Below the fall-front is a shaped door which opens to reveal a cupboard with a single shelf.

The fall-front and cupboard door have marquetry of flowers and tendrils, the wood used for the flowers and leaves cut across the grain to show the growth rings. The flowers are set against four panels of veneer, in which the grain of the wood is arranged to form a diamond shape. The fall-front and cupboard door have edging strips of brass, and the corner mounts are in the form of acanthus leaves and husks.

Bequeathed by John Jones

In the collection of John Jones before 1882

This secrétaire and its pair look as if they might have been made in Paris in the period 1755–1765. The lyre-shaped body was fashionable in France at the time for such small, delicate writing desks. The decoration of flowers in veneers cut across the grain of small branches (‘end-grain’ or ‘bois de bout’ marquetry) was also used at the time by makers of high-quality furniture.

However, some of the details of construction, particularly of the drawers, suggest that the secrétaire was made in London in the early 19th century. The branded mark ‘EHB’, found on the pair to piece, was used by the dealer and cabinetmaker Edward Holmes Baldock. He ran a profitable business in London selling antique furniture, glass and china and repairing and copying pieces of furniture made in Paris in the 18th century. This secrétaire was probably made between 1830 and 1845.

1012B-1882