A Regency ormolu mounted rosewood two drawer writing table in the manner of John McLean and Gillows of Lancaster

A Regency ormolu mounted rosewood two drawer writing table in the manner of John McLean and Gillows of Lancaster, the shaped rectangular top inset with tooled blue leather, with two cedar lined frieze drawers decorated with matching veneers and boxwood stringing, all raised on slender tapering legs turned with three pairs of rings, applied with brass edging, anthemion panels and collars.  English, circa 1815.

Footnote: This interesting table is veneered in the finest rosewood. The design seems to be based on a Thomas Sheraton card table, featured in his Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book  first published in 1791.  Some details resemble the known work of John McLean, one of the premier London makers of the regency period. The gilt brass collars to the legs sometimes feature on bonheur du jours attributed to McLean and the gilt brass banding around the table top features on some of the best secretaires by the same maker. McLean also had a particular fondness for rosewood and the quality of this piece is certainly equivalent to his known work. McLean seems to have drawn from a relatively small number of gilt brass mounts for his pieces, however, and the fine mounts on our table do not seem to match those on any documented piece by the firm. It is for this reason that a Gillows attribution is tentatively suggested for this piece. The overall design of the legs is very much in the Gillows manner and the mounts look much more like the pieces the firm used on its better pieces during the period concerned.