A PAIR OF REGENCY BRASS-INLAID TURTLESHELL CIRCULAR TRIPOD TABLES

In the early years of the 19th century, fashionable London was gripped by a passion for French-style coloured turtleshell (often red-stained) and brass-inlaid, in direct imitation of the technique perfected by the French maker Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732). It was his elaborate and sophisticated furniture - made largely until he retired in 1715 - which was veneered in this decorative way and led to his name merging with the technique. In Britain, the technique was anglicised (or perhaps Germanicised?) to ‘Buhl’ - and these tables reflect the technique and fashion of that time admirably. There were a great many practitioners of the art of brass-inlaying. One of the largest workshops was that of the Mount Street makers Tatham, Bailey and Sanders who made large scale brass-inlaid furniture for the royal palaces. Thomas of Air Street (1808-17) and Warwick Street, Golden Square (1820-30). Parker supplied brass-inlaid furniture to the Prince of Wales for Carlton House (RCINs 21624, 177, 35290, 33461), a pair of commodes for the 4th Marquess of Bath, Longleat and a pair of coffers on stand for the 6th Duke of Bedford, now at Woburn Abbey.