A GEORGE II MAHOGANY MECHANICAL BACHELOR'S CHEST OF DRAWERSIN THE MANNER OF THOMAS POTTER & JOHN KELSEY, CIRCA 1745The hinged top opening to a baize inset surface the rising sprung mechanism till with pigeon holes and drawers and released by brass knops to each side, with a lock to the back, above two short and one long false drawer front and two long drawers, one short false drawer hinging open to form a support for the top73cm high, 74cm wide, 37cm deep (when closed) It is possible that the maker is Thomas Potter of Holborn, who is recorded as being in partner from the late 1730s with John Kelsey. It is believed that Potter & Kelsey made an eccentric repertoire of multi-purpose mechanical 'harlequin' furniture with sophisticated sprung mechanisms normally associated with German and continental production.See Christopher Gilbert and Tessa Murdoch, John Channon and brass-inlaid furniture 1730-1760, plate 11, for an advertisement print, signed Potter, showing related pieces with sprung mechanisms, including intricate designs including related side struts to the till and the brass release knops. The advertisement records ambitious designs showing that the maker was capable of producing highly specialised furniture, the detail with which the pieces are shown may suggest that they were Potter's own invention. See also plate VIII for a harlequin games table with a related mechanism.See Christie's, November 1990, Executors of the late Colonel William Stirling Keir, lot 59, for a table with a similar sprung mechanism rising till.