A GEORGE III YEW WOOD AND MAHOGANY WRITING TABLE ATTRIBUTED TO INCE & MAYHEW, CIRCA 1780 81cm high, 106cm wide, 60cm deep Provenance: By repute purchased Mallet, Bond Street, London, 16th March 1954 The overall form and quality of craftmanship suggest this table is the work of one of the pre-eminent cabinet making firms of the second half of the 18th century. The crispness and confidence of the carving to the legs and patera terminals as well use of yew wood suggest this can be attributed to Ince & Mayhew. With its distinctive elongated 'Palmyreen' oval patera, this writing table relates to Mayhew and Ince's documented oeuvre. Similar paterae feature on the 'large mahogany semi oval sideboard curiously inlaid with different colour'd woods' bought by Henry Bankes from Mayhew and Ince on 30 August 1786 for £29.18s.3d (now at Kingston Lacy), as well as on the bowfronted corner table supplied to the 4th Duke of Marlborough (d. 1817) (H. Roberts, 'Nicely Fitted Up', Furniture History, 1994, fig.27). For a design for a similar wrythen fluted leg by Thomas Sheraton, dated 1793, see Peter Ward-Jackson, English Furniture Designs of the Eighteenth Century, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1984, figure 330. Condition Report: There are marks, scratches and abrasions consistent with age and use. The top with quarter veneered chevron yew; the underlying timber has bowed giving an undulating surface, there are some filled cracks and small holes to the veneers including to some old worm holes to areas on the false drawer fronts to the sides. The drawer linings are oak. The writing table is perhaps lighter in colour than the catalogue photograph might suggest, the top polished. Please see the additional photographs as a visual reference of condition. Condition Report Disclaimer