Carved ebony chairs and tables of this type have been recorded in English collections from as early as the mid-18th century, and much of the confusion about their origin is due to the belief held in the second half of the 18th and most of the 19th century that they were surviving examples of early English furniture. This idea was supported by the rigid, rectilinear forms of the furniture, which looked antiquated to 18th century eyes; the use of twist-turning, which was believed to be typical of Elizabethan furniture; the bizarre, intricate carving, which often included mythic beasts and figures; and the colour, black, which was commonly associated with furniture of great antiquity.

For Horace Walpole, who appears to have been responsible for this attribution, notions about the age of such furniture based on its physical attributes were confirmed by the existence of examples in houses with Tudor associations.

By the early 19th century Walpole’s views that carved ebony furniture of this type was both English and of early date had become firmly established. In actual fact this type of ebony furniture was made in South India, Ceylon and the Dutch East Indies in the late 17th and 18th centuries.