Circular table on four legs, supported on a low base, veneered in rosewood, with inlay of brass, the four corners of the base set with rams' head mounts in lacquered brass

A circular, tilt-top table veneered in rosewood on a carcase of mahogany (?) and pine, all ebonized underneath, with brass marquetry and lacquered brass mounts to the base in the form of rams' heads.
The table is raised on a square, concave-sided base, supported on four plinth feet which end in the rams' head mounts. The sides of the feet are each inlaid with a roundel in brass, showing six formal flower-heads in rosewood against the brass ground, and are fitted underneath with recessed castors. The base is veneered with rosewood, that on the vertical surface with grain running vertically and each side inlaid with a circular roundel similar to that on the feet, flanked by trails of formal leaves (ivy?) ending in bell flowers. The top surface of the base is plainly veneered. It supports four inward scrolling legs, tenoned down into the base and up into four triangular spandrel brackets set within a rectangular frame which forms the support for the top. This is constructed of mahogany (?), entirely ebonized and is veneered on the top and outer surfaces with rosewood. The sides of the legs are each inlaid with a single line of brass stringing, ending with a roundel identical to that on the feet, set in the lower scroll of the leg.
The circular top, with a shallow, recessed frieze, is braced underneath with 2 parallel struts running across the table, joined by two cross-struts (all ebonized) forming a frame slightly larger all round than the frame on the top of the base section, and sitting outside it when the table is closed. The longer struts are fixed to the frame at the top of the base with brass captured bolts, screwing through the struts and into the side of the frame. The table top is kept in the closed position by a spring bolt fixed to its underside, which engages with a plate on the outside of the opposite cross-strut.
The top surface of the table is veneered in rosewood, the centre with twelve wedge-shaped sections meeting around a roundel identical to those on the sides of the feet. Outside this is a cross-banded border in rosewood, between brass stringing, set with twelve further versions of the roundel. The outer edge of the top is cross-banded in rosewood, the grain not continuous with the inner banding. The inset frieze is cross-banded with rosewood, with two lines of brass stringing, the grain of the rosewood continuous through the height of the frieze.

Given by Mrs Penryn Milsted

In the first thirty years of the 19th century it became fashionable to use drawing-rooms and parlours in a much more informal manner than they had been used in the eighteenth century. Chairs and settees, had earlier been set very strictly against the walls and only brought forward for use, before being returned to the walls. By 1810, leaders of fashion were arranging their furniture in a much more relaxed fashion, and it soon became standard to have a large, circular table such as this in the centre of the room, round which people might gather to look at prints or watercolours, read, draw or do needlework. As trade with South America increased, rosewood (often imported from Brazil) became very fashionable. It's strong, rich colouring was often enhanced with brass inlay.

On loan to Cliffe Castle Museum.

W.35:1-1934