ATTRIBUTED TO GEORGE BULLOCK, CIRCA 1825

Details

A GEORGE IV OAK, INDIAN EBONY, OAK AND EBONIZED GAMES TABLE
ATTRIBUTED TO GEORGE BULLOCK, CIRCA 1825
The square top inlaid with scrolling foliate border and gadroon-molded rim, the rotating central section inlaid with a chessboard to one side, the reverse inset with leather, on lotus leaf-headed scrolled legs and paw feet, joined by a concave-sided undertier with lotus boss, with recessed castors
29 ¾ in. (75.5 cm.) high, 37 7/8 in. (96.2 cm.) square

Special Notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country. Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Lot Essay

George Bullock (d. 1818) is one of the most recognized names in Regency cabinet-making, admired largely for his dramatic ‘Grecian’ forms, his use of indigenous English woods (such as British oak), and inventive ornamental patterns realized in brass or marquetry. Originally from Liverpool, Bullock had set up his business in London by 1812 and in 1815, he advertised as ‘Sculptor, 4 Tenterden Street, Hanover Square, Mona Marble and Furniture Works, Oxford Street’, where he worked until his death in 1818 (Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1680-1840, 1986, p. 127).

This library table of golden oak, embellished with Grecian-black ebony, is conceived as an altar in the early 19th century French or antique manner. It incorporates a games-box within its pivoting leather top. Honeysuckle enriches the top's ribboned border and is inlaid in the Louis XIV 'Roman' fashion. Palms and laurels embellish the serpentine and truss-scrolled pilasters and bacchic paws support the Ionic-scrolled and hollow-sided 'altar' plinth.
A closely related ebony inlaid oak games table attributed to George Bullock was sold, Christie's London, 9 June 2005, lot 239 (66,000 GBP).

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