Octagonal table, ca. 1940, English, possibly made by Edward Holmes Baldock and possibly decorated by Robert Blake with scenes of Aesop's fables

Octagonal marquetry centre table inlaid in ivory, mother of pearl and stained woods with Aesop's Fables in cartouches.

This table, from the collection of the Earl of Stair, was purchased at Christie's, London, April 20th 1978, lot 29. It is one of a group of very similar tables, all with marquetry decoration on the top. E.H. Baldock, a distinguished dealer in furniture and other objects, supplied two octagonal tables of this type, one to George Lucy of Charlecote (National Trust) in 1837 and another to the Duke of Buccleuch in 1840. The Charlecote table is still in situ and the Buccleuch table is now at Lotherton Hall (Leeds Museums). Other examples are at Penrhyn Castle (National Trust) and at Carlton Towers, Yorkshire. This table, stamped by Edwards & Roberts, a Victorian firm of cabinet makers, may have come from the Duke of Norfolk's London home, Norfolk House. Other examples of the table are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

The marquetry decoration is attributed to the Blake firm, makers of inlay and buhl, whose members included Robert Blake, active 1826 until about 1840, and Henry Blake who supplied the marquetry for another of the octagonal tables (Alnwick Castle), designed by C.P. Slocombe in 1853 for the Duke of Northumberland and completed in 1865.

W.36:7-1978