Early 19th Century Writing Table, Attributed to John McLean

Exceptionally rare early 19th century Regency period writing table with black leather top, almost certainly by John McLean. London, circa 1805-1810.

Attribution

This 'Etruscan' black table, designed in the Louis XVI 'antique' manner, belongs to a group of eight known tables of this form. The most widely recorded of this group is the labelled example supplied for the Earl of Morley at Saltram, Devonshire (NT 871334) (https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/871334), which has slightly different decorative features and is illustrated in G. Willis, 'Some Labelled Furniture at Saltram', Furniture History, 1966, pl.XVIII. A more closely related example, with a number of features identical to the present table, is preserved in another National Trust property, Berrington Hall, Herefordshire (NT 617708). Another labelled example is illustrated in C. Gilbert, The Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, 1996, p.316, fig. 599. A further related table is illustrated in S. Redburn, 'John McLean & Son', Furniture History, 1978, pl. 43a. This or a virtually identical table was sold at Christie's, New York, 14 October 2004, lot 101 ($71,700, including premium). Another example of this model was sold at Christie's, London, 11 September 2019, lot 17.

John McLean and Son (1770-1825) had workshops at Upper Terrace, Tottenham Court Road and 34 Marylebone Street, Piccadilly, and was mentioned in Thomas Sheraton's list of cabinet makers in the Cabinet Dictionary, 1803. Redburn writes 'McLeans firm advertised that it specialised in 'Elegant Parisian Furniture', although the six surviving pieces which bear their trade labels are undoubtably English. However, they owe much to Gallic influence not only in their design, but in their lavish use of metal mounts...' (Simon Redburn “John McLean & Son.” Furniture History, vol. 14, 1978, p. 33.). McLean supplied wealthy patrons such as George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, for whom he nearly completely furnished Middleton Park, Oxfordshire, with pieces not documented but attributed to the firm recorded at Grimsthorpe Castle and Harewood House. 

Design

Informed by Classical Antiquity, this form of table follows the profile of Ancient Roman ‘curule’ seats, usually made in bronze or ivory. The sella curulis is said to have been used at Rome from a very remote period as an emblem of kingly power, having been imported, along with various other insignia of royalty, from Etruria. However, much earlier stools supported on a cross-frame are known from the New Kingdom of Egypt. A related design, along with two other ancient fragments from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, Italy, is illustrated in John Murray, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London, 1875, p.520.

The curule form was revived and found its way into fashionable decoration in the late 18th – early 19th century, promoted by the designers Charles Percier and Pierre-François Fontaine, while the finest specimens were produced by the French maître ébénistes Adam Weisweiler (one illustrated in P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p. 88) and Jacob-Desmalter, who supplied a table à travaillerin August 1810 to the Empress Marie-Louise for the salon des jeux of the Grand Trianon. it was described as having '…les pieds en X sont arrondis, ornés de chapiteaux en bronze doré…’ (D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon Tome I, Paris, 1975, pp. 42-3).

Dimensions

Height: 29 in / 74 cm
Width: 35 in / 89 cm
Depth: 21.5 in / 55 cm