the rectangular top inset with a gilt tooled leather writing surface flanked by two hinged compartments opening to fitted interiors, on twin pedestal bases with foliate-inlaid brackets and cupboards opening to drawers, 76cm high x 201cm wide x 94cm deep
| Estimate: | £30,000 - £50,000 |
| Hammer price: | £46,000 |
In 1815 George Bullock was instructed by the Prince Regent to supply the furnishings and furniture to Napoleon's house in exile, New Longwood, St. Helena. This is perhaps his most exciting commission and the one that has most assured his influence and legacy in the tradition of British cabinet makers. It is recorded in a newspaper of the same year that 'B. (Bonaparte) should be furnished in his banishment with every possible gratification and comfort' and the order was issued to 'one of the most tasteful and ingenious artists of the metropolis' to comprise 'every species of furniture, linen, glassware...'. (Wainwright, 1988, pg.37).
Within this catalogue produced is mentioned a 'Library Table inlaid with Ebony with Cupboards at each end for Portfolio's and Drawers. £68.5s.' (Levy, Appendix 3). This model is the same as that recorded in Martin Levy's 'Napoleon in Exile', figure 49. The design of this desk bears striking similarity to the example offered here and shares the same pattern. In Ackermann's 1815 article on the House and Furniture for Bonaparte it noted that 'the library table is particularly elegant and mechanical ingenuity has been laboriously applied to furnish it with desk and drawers'.
The desk incorporates many of the most fashionable themes of Regency design, embracing neoclassical elements after the antique fashion in the manner of George Smith and Thomas Hope, which were sure to please the tastes of the deposed French Emperor. The ebony inlay is restrained and ordered and is testament to the skill of the workshop. Only a handful of library desks of this form are known, three of which are in mahogany. One similar was sold at Christie's, The English Collector, 14th November 2013, Lot 100. This lot appears to be recorded in the Inventory of the Contents of The Mansion Bridehead by Messrs Phillips Son & Neale as a 'Pollard oak writing table enclosed by four cupboards'.
Literature: Levy, Martin. Napoleon in Exile, Leeds, 1998.
The Times, 'House and Furniture for Bonaparte', 25 October 1815
Wainwright, Clive. Napoleon and His Circle, London 1988.
