Writing table, of oval form, on tapering, square legs, veneered with floral marquetry on a ground of maple, cross-banded in tulipwood. German, by the workshop of David Roentgen, 1774-80.

Design
An oval-topped table with a deep frieze, raised on four tapering, square-sectioned legs, the top and frieze set with marquetry of flowers, a pruning knife and with swags of ribbons tied with bows, the ribbons and bows appearing to lace through trompe l'oeil rings on the top and trompe l'oeil holes in the frieze. These give the appearance of ribbons encircling the table fully, threading in and out of the carcase. The marquetry is inlaid into a ground of maple, probably originally stained grey, with cross-banding of tulipwood on the top. The legs of this table were originally removeable and attached with metal screws but are now glued in place. The table top and legs are edged with lacquered brass mounts, with similar mounting forming flutes above the legs. The legs are mounted on their outer faces at the top with gilt-brass mounts in the form of pendants bell-like flowers.

On the top the ribbons are tied with bows to rings at the centre of each side. A loose wreath of foliage and flowers (including roses and tulips) is apparently tied with twine to the mid-point of each swag of ribbon. The twine crosses the centre of the wreath and there suspends a pruning knife, wound round with a trail of small flowers and foliage. The frieze panels are inlaid with small bouquets of flowers (including roses and, possibly, harebells), hanging from the centre of the ribbons swags, which are apparently threaded into holes in the corners of the the panels (all in trompe l'oeil). Each panel is outlined with double stringing in green and white, inset at the corners to house the 'holes' through which the ribbons appear to pass. These are outlined with a triple banding, of black (ebony) and red and green-stained maple.

The four tapering legs are veneered in maple, the edges inset with rounded brass mouldings. The block feet are set on the top edge with a rounded moulding in brass. The top of the outer face of each leg is set with a gilt-brass drop of husks, held at the top by a ribbon bow, below a plain, stepped architrave in brass. Above each leg, the outset block at frieze level is set with two flutes lined with brass and with 4 gilt-brass guttae or drops, hanging below the lower moulding of the frieze. At either side of each leg are spandrel brackets veneered in maple.

The centre of one long side of the frieze is set with a large drawer of solid cherry, veneered inside with cherry of more decorative figure, the top edges veneered with maple. The back of this drawer is set with a nest of four drawers, the framework faced on the front edge with veneers of green-stained maple. The drawers are of cherry, veneered on the front with tulipwood, the grain set vertically, and each set with a small, gilt-brass drop handle of axe form. The sides of the large drawer are cut on each side on the inside with a groove just below the top edge, in which slides a panel, set centrally with a leather panel for writing, in brown, mottled leather (of the pattern known as 'tree calf' or 'tree marble'), the edges with particularly fine gilded stamping of scrolls, with fleur-de-lys at the corners. The framing to the recessed writing surface is veneered with cherry, set with longitudinal grain on the front edge and with cross-grain at the sides. The panel is set on its front edge with a short steel rod that locates in a recess in the front of the drawer when it is closed, protecting against warping of the panel. This is a 19th-century device, replacing a groove on the inside of the drawer-front (now filled), into which the front edge of the writing panel would have fitted.

To either side of the table is a hinged, shaped compartment, opening to show an upper compartment, lined with cherry veneer and, below, a nest of two drawers, the frame faced on the front with veneers of green-stained maple, the drawers of cherry, each set with a small gilt-brass drop handle of axe-head form. The drawers are asymmetrically shaped to fit the crescent shape of the compartment.

Construction
The carcase section of the table is composed of a base-board of oak, the grain running laterally, edged with ebonized fruitwood, moulded on the top edge and inset with a brass moulding below. The underside of this board is stained to look like mahogany (this presumably done in 1868). The base is set with two oak cross partitions forming a central compartment and the two crescent-shaped recesses for the side compartments. These are glued down to the base. On their outer faces these are each cut with two recesses to accommodate the handles of the drawers within the side compartments. At front and back, each cross partition is cut away to provide a housing for the upper part of the trapezoidal blocks of cherry, set vertically, that form the core of the upper leg and the division between the frieze panels. These run down to the lacquered brass collar beneath the spandrels. The angle between these is set in each case with a small triangular section of oak and the inner face (forming the side of the side compartments) is faced with oak, the grain running vertically. The exterior of each block at frieze level is set with thick facings of maple and inlaid with two lacquered brass flutes.

The back of the table, cut in the solid from oak, is not jointed to the cross partitions but merely held in place by the veneer on the frieze section. This change must have been made in 1868. Inside the back and screwed to it is a solid, arc-shaped section of oak, to which the two springs that activate the central drawer are screwed.

The top of the table is in two layers, both now of mahogany with the grain running laterally (the change, presumably from oak or cherry, possibly dating from 1868). The sub-top is screwed down to the top of the cross-partitions and the top of the blocks above the legs. Short screws then run up into the mahogany substrate of the marquetry top, along the edges of the front and sides, but not along the back. The top is edged with a semi-circular moulding in lacquered brass, over a wooden core. At the centre front there is a replacement section of approximately 20 cm, of a slightly differently coloured brass.

The central drawer is of dove-tailed construction. It is made of radially cut cherry, with a back of the same wood, tangentially cut. The front is cut from the solid, following the curve of the table and with small, triangular-sectioned pieces of wood attached at either end, outside the sides of the drawer, to complet the curve of the front. The bottom is of four boards, with the grain running laterally. It is chamfered underneath at the sides and back.The sliding panel is composed of a single drawer with grain running laterally. The thick veneers that form the framing to the writing panel are simply glued on.

The nest within this drawer is of oak, with a top board of cherry and is of dove-tailed construction, with a single divider in the centre of each level, set into a groove in the three horizontal boards. The drawers within the nest are of dovetailed construction. The bases, with the grain set laterally, are set in a rebate cut in the front, back and sides and are glued up. The nest has no back-board and is screwed into the compartment from the side.

The writing slide is of softwood, with two boards, the grain running laterally.

The crescent shaped side compartments are made of oak, veneered inside and out in cherry, and with bases in solid cherry. The curved outer edge of each is cut in the solid, with the grain running laterally. It is dove-tailed at either end into almost triangular blocks, with vertical grain. A single mid-shelf of cherry divides each compartment into an upper, open section (the inner edge a solid board of cherry, slotting into recesses cut in the side blocks. The lower half of each is set with a nest of two drawers, the nest of maple, of glued and pinned construction, the centre dividers simply set into grooves cut in the base and centre board of the compartment. The drawers are of irregular shape, following the shape of the compartment. They are of solid cherry. They are dovetailed and the bases are glued up beneath the front, sides and back.

The main drawer is released by pressing a button under the front edge of the table. Pressure from a spring inside the back of the case causes the drawer to spring out. The hinged compartments to either side are similarly spring-loaded (the springs are visible in the recesses when the compartments are open). The catches (also visible within the recesses) are released when a steel plate on the underside of the main drawer is pulled against a bar within the carcase section, when the main drawer is partly pulled out. A modification, presumably dating from 1868, allows the side compartments to be opened without opening the main drawer. At either side, the base of the table compartment has been cut through to allow circular brass ring pulls to work the catches from the underside


The legs of the table are veneered in maple and inlaid down each corner with an inset, quadrant moulding in brass. The recesses for these are visible under the front feet, where the blocks are made of thick facings of cherry, mitred at the corners. The spandrel brackets of the legs, of which 5 survive from 8, are of laminated construction, mostly of two thicknesses but the spandrel on the outer side of the left (PR) front leg and the inside of the left (PR) leg show three layers, the outermost originally stained green. The legs are now glued in place but originally attached with long iron screws, the break coming just below the gilt-brass collar below the frieze. X-ray photographs show that the screws are still in place, each a long bolt, with areas at top and bottom threaded to locate in captured, square nuts set within the leg and within the block at frieze height. The similar table from the Kress Collection at the Metropolitan Museum, New York (which has almost identical measurements), has been similarly altered in the 19th century. The castors, entirely of brass, are presumably replacements of 1868

Repairs
The table was comprehensively restored in 1868 as the inscription testifies. Two holes have been cut on the underside of the carcase to allow brass ring pulls, brazed to the catches that regulate the side compartments, to be released without pulling the central drawer forward.

There have been a number of later interventions. Several lacquered mouldings have been replaced in gilded wood (e.g. on the inside, inner edge of the front left (PR) leg. The dentils on the left (PR) front leg have been replaced in resin.

The ironwork stops under the drawers have been lifted and moved, to adjust the working of the catches/springs.

The recess on the inside of the front of the main drawer, in which the writing slide originally located, has been filled and the centre set with a metal pin that locates in a small, circular hole drilled in the front edge of the writing slide.

Bequeathed by John Jones

From the collection of Captain Charles Spencer Ricketts (1788-1867). Charles Spencer Ricketts RN (1788- 27 February 1867) went to sea at the age of 7 (in 1795) and served with Nelson, being promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 14 December 1809, finally attaining the rank of Commander before retiring as a Captain. On 3 February 1814 he married and heiress, Elizabeth Sophia, daughter of Thomas Aubrey and neice of Sir John Aubrey, 6th Bt., from whom she inherited in 1826. Charles Spencer Rickett lived at Dorton House near Thame, Buckinghamshire and on 6 February 1834 because High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire. He maintained a house in London. From at least 1843 until after 1854 his London house is listed in the Post Office Directory as 2 Hyde Park Terrace. In 1866 Mrs Ricketts was listed as living at 5 Grosvenor Square and Dorton House. Capt Rickets was a noted collector, particularly of French furniture.

Sold Christie's, London 13 June 1867, lot 105. Described as 'Another, of similar form, by David de Luneville, inlaid with festoons of ribbons and bouquets of flowers'. It was sold to Durlacher Brothers for £200.

In the collection of John Jones before 1882. This small table stood with four others in the Front Drawing Room at Jones's house at 95 Piccadilly.

Bequeathed to the Museum in 1882 by John Jones

Wolfram Koeppe has suggested that the design of the marquetry on this table was inspired by the engravings of Pierre-Gabriel Berthault (ca. 1748-1819), which included decorative trophies of flowers and musical or gardening instruments, often after designs by the artist Pierre Ranson (1748-1819). See Wolfram Koeppe, Extravagant Inventions. The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, no. 20, pp. 100-101, 246 and 257, with reference to Charles Packer, Paris Furniture by the Master Ebenistes: A Chronologically Arranged Pictorial Review of Furniture by the Master-Ebénistes from Boulle to Jacob, Together with a Commentary on the Styles and Techniques of the Art. Newport, 1956, p. 90.

A number of versions of this table are known, made in the second half of the 19th century and bearing the stamp 'L. Bontemps'.This name is not recorded in the standard history of French cabinet makers of the nineteenth century: Denise Ledoux-Lebard, Les Ebénistes du XIXe Siècle, 1795-1889. Paris, 1984

A table of this pattern appears to have been owned by the painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). It appears in a number of portraits, for example the portrait of Margherita Goldsmid, later Mrs Raphael, painted in 1906 (Private Collection) and the portrait of Lady Eden painted in the same year. In 1900 he had painted Sir George and Lady Sitwell with their family, shown apparently at Renishaw with the famous Chippendale commode in the background. This may have given him the idea of lightening his portraits with a piece of furniture showing marquetry against a light ground and may have encouraged him to purchase a suitable piece as a studio prop.

Small, oval tables of this pattern were made in large numbers by the Roentgen workshops in the 1770s. Such tables were known as 'tables à La Kaunitz' [or Caunitz] in the eighteenth century, named after Prince Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg, who served as Austrian ambassador to France from 1750-1752 and may have popularized the oval shape, which was close to that of many classical cameos.

The straight, tapering legs are in the new neo-classical style, in contrast to the curving, gently cabriole legs used on some slightly earlier oval tables with similar marquetry. The marquetry is still in a naturalistic, floral style, showing flowers and a pruning knife with swags of ribbon tied in bows. This pattern of marquetry had been used by the workshop since about 1770 and was described as 'en camaïeu' because of its use of a relatively small number of colours, each dyed in three shades by varying the time of exposure to the dye for adjacent pieces of marquetry. This created a particular shaded effect, set against a maple ground that now appears almost like mahogany in colour but which was probably originally tinted a light grey colour (for the original effect of such marquetry, see the portrait of Susanna Maria Roentgen David Roentgen's mother), holding a box decorated with blue flowers 'en camaïeu' on a grey ground, illustrated in Wolfram Koeppe ed., Extravagant Inventions. Princely Furniture of the Roentgens. New York, 2012, p. 19). The stain used to create the grey background favoured by the Roentgen workshop at this time was a compound of iron nitrate. The intention may have been to create the effect of marble. Alternatively, the choice of curly maple as the background timber, with its grey stain, may have been intended to give the impression of moiré (watered) silk. The marquetry was covered with a very clear varnish layer, of isinglass or parchment glue. It is thought that it is the iron compound of the stain that has caused the colour to turn to a dark brown, so that the wood is sometimes identified as walnut or mahogany.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, fashionable people began to seek greater comfort and privacy. The preoccupation with splendour and display, which had dominated the design of interiors for centuries, gave way to a desire for spaces that were smaller, lighter and prettier. New forms of furniture were rapidly developed to suit this new taste. In particular, light, moveable tables, used for writing, needlework and card games, became popular. They could be re-arranged easily to allow for small sociable groups or personal use.

This delicate table was made in the workshops of the most inventive cabinet-maker of the late-eighteenth century - David Roentgen. He was quick to pick up and exploit new ideas. He developed an entirely new form of marquetry, using tiny pieces of wood, often stained, to create complex designs or ‘mosaics’. From his workshops in Neuwied, Germany, he sold pieces throughout Europe. He even designed them to be taken apart for packing. In this case, the legs originally unscrewed but they have since been firmly glued in place, possibly when it was restored in 1868

1059:1 to 9-1882