Thomas Moore
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Lot 105TP,Y
A Regency brass mounted rosewood, ebonised and fruitwood line-inlaid writing table attributed to John McLean (1770-1825) Circa 1805
Amended
1 July 2025, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £11,520 inc. premium
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Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
A Regency brass mounted rosewood, ebonised and fruitwood line-inlaid writing table attributed to John McLean (1770-1825)
Circa 1805
The rectangular top inset with a Greek key patterned tooled leather top, the frieze with a pair of real and opposing dummy drawers, on x-shaped, parcel-gilt end-supports headed by cornucopia shaped capitals, joined by a turned pole stretcher and with brass castors, inlaid throughout with stringing, 73cm wide x 90cm deep x 55cm high, (28 1/2in wide x 35in deep x 21 1/2in high)
The rectangular top inset with a Greek key patterned tooled leather top, the frieze with a pair of real and opposing dummy drawers, on x-shaped, parcel-gilt end-supports headed by cornucopia shaped capitals, joined by a turned pole stretcher and with brass castors, inlaid throughout with stringing, 73cm wide x 90cm deep x 55cm high, (28 1/2in wide x 35in deep x 21 1/2in high)
Footnotes
The present lot belongs to a group of tables associated with the London furniture-making firm John McLean and Sons, whilst it is designed in the Louis XVI 'antique' manner. The attribution is based on one of the most widely known of these examples supplied for the Earl of Morley at Saltram, Devonshire (ref. NT 871334) which retains the label of John M'Lane and Sons. It should be noted that the firm used this version of spelling on their trade labels between 1805 and 1815. Labels prior to this employed the spelling McLean (see C. Gilbert op. cit. p. 313 pls. 590 and 591). A further table of even more closely related form is held is also recorded in the collection of the National Trust at Berrington Hall, Hertforshire (NT 617708). However the latter example does not retain a trade label.
John McLean and Son
The firm 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. McLean's firm advertised that it specialised in 'Elegant Parisian Furniture', although the six surviving pieces which bear their trade labels are undoubtedly English. However, they owe much to Gallic influence not only in their design, but in their lavish use of metalmounts...' (S. Redburn, 'John McLean & Son', Furniture History, 1978, 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 (See. G. Beard and C. Gilbert eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture-Makers, 1660-1840, 1986, pp.'s 567-568).
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 J. 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, whilst the finest specimens were produced by the French maître ébénistes, Adam Weisweiler (See P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p. 88) and Jacob- Desmalter, who supplied a table 'à travailler' in August 1810 to the Empress Marie-Louise for the salon desjeux of the Grand Trianon. It was described as having '...les pieds en X sont arrondis, ornés de chapiteauxen bronze doré...' (See D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, Tome I, Paris, 1975, pp. 42-3).
Comparative Literature
C. Musgrave, Regency Furniture, 1961, pl. 76B.
G. Wills, 'Some Labelled Furniture at Saltram', Furniture History, 1966, pl.XVIII. (https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/871334).
G. Wills, Craftsmen and Cabinet-Makers of Classic English Furniture, 1974, pp.'s 128-129 fig. 116.
National Trust Collections, Berrington Hall, Hertfordshire, (NT 617708).
S. Redburn, 'John McLean & Son', Furniture History, 1978, pl. 43a.
C. Gilbert, The Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, 1996, pp.'s 315-316, pl.'s 598 & 599.
Christie's, NewYork, 14 October 2004, lot 101.
Christie's, London, 11 September 2019, lot 17.
Saleroom notices
Please note the correct measurements for this lot should be as follows: 90cm wide x 55cm deep x 73cm high; and not as appears in the catalogue.
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