Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
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Lot 283W,Ψ
A William and Mary walnut, sycamore (or holly) and fruitwood 'seaweed' or 'arabesque' marquetry secretaire kneehole desk 1690-1700, in the manner of Gerrit Jensen
12 – 23 September 2025, 12:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £5,632 inc. premium
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Thomas Moore
Head of Department
A William and Mary walnut, sycamore (or holly) and fruitwood 'seaweed' or 'arabesque' marquetry secretaire kneehole desk
1690-1700, in the manner of Gerrit Jensen
Profusely inlaid almost throughout with scrolled foliage and stylised flowers, elaborate scrolled interlacing and shaped strapwork, bellflower trails and rosettes, largely encompassed by foliate tendril surrounds and sand-shaded overlapping acanthus pattern borders, the inverted breakfront superstructure comprised of four short end drawers flanking four slightly longer central drawers, above a hinged top and hinged drop-front frieze enclosing one central deep drawer and concealed slide flanked by two short drawers and one deep drawer disguised as two, over eight short drawers flanking the kneehole, the recess with one deep drawer above one door, on turned bun feet, 92cm wide x 58cm deep x 97.5cm high, (36in wide x 22 1/2in deep x 38in high)
Profusely inlaid almost throughout with scrolled foliage and stylised flowers, elaborate scrolled interlacing and shaped strapwork, bellflower trails and rosettes, largely encompassed by foliate tendril surrounds and sand-shaded overlapping acanthus pattern borders, the inverted breakfront superstructure comprised of four short end drawers flanking four slightly longer central drawers, above a hinged top and hinged drop-front frieze enclosing one central deep drawer and concealed slide flanked by two short drawers and one deep drawer disguised as two, over eight short drawers flanking the kneehole, the recess with one deep drawer above one door, on turned bun feet, 92cm wide x 58cm deep x 97.5cm high, (36in wide x 22 1/2in deep x 38in high)
Footnotes
Two pieces of William and Mary furniture with closely related marquetry to that of the offered lot recently sold Bonhams, New Bond Street, 1 July 2025, Fine Decorative Arts, lots 18 and 19.
Such furniture employs walnut veneering interspersed with intricate 'mosaiced' or 'mosaic' inlay configured by assorted shapes and proportions typically, but not always, emanating from some kind of central tablet or central decorative element. Often, as with the present desk, this work is replete with elaborate 'seaweed' or 'arabesque' marquetry largely comprised of filigreed stylised foliage.
This distinctive marquetry can be seen on certain types of furniture made during the period 1690-1700, and it appears frequently on pieces produced by Gerrit Jensen (d. 1715). Jensen operated as 'Cabinet-Maker in Ordinary to William and Mary' and is recorded as being the one responsible for providing the Royal rulers with a glass case inlaid with 'fine markatree' for Kensington Palace. This is illustrated in R. Edwards and M. Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet-Makers, 1955, London, p. 123.
Further comparables include; a 'princeswood' cabinet on stand forming part of the furnishings at Fairfax House, York, which features in A. Bowett, English Furniture, 1660-1714, Woodbridge, 2002, p. 7:12, p. 201; another cabinet on stand appearing in P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture, The Age of Walnut, 1989, London, fig. 334, p. 153; and a side table which sold Christie's, London, 5 April 2001, The Humphrey Whitbread Collection, lot 411. Also of interest is a writing desk of spectacular quality which was supplied in 1690 by Gerrit Jensen for Kensington Palace upon behalf of Queen Mary; this is also illustrated in A. Bowett, Ibid, pl.'s 6;23 & 6:24, p. 189.