Object Description
A George IV Amboyna Parcel Gilt Console Table
A stylish example of unusual narrow proportions combining gilt wood with amboyna, a highly exotic and expensive timber only used on the finest furniture of the period, surmounted by a white marble slab, supported on scrolled brackets with a mirror plate in between, the plinth equally veneered in amboyna to all sides with parcel gilding.
English, circa 1825
The combination of giltwood with a pale timber such as the expensive amboyna used here is a timeless aesthetic popularised by the furniture designer Nicholas Morel, who famously collaborated with several makers and craftsmen to furnish George IV’s residences, including Windsor Castle. While Prince Regent, Morel worked together with Robert Hughes on Carlton House, the future monarch’s London residence.
Nicholas Morel, of French extraction, infused his furniture with enlightened French neoclassicism which was considered the height of fashion. The carved lotus buds and flowers on the supports of this table are Egyptian motifs, introduced into the French decorative arts by Percier & Fontaine following Napoleon’s expeditions to Egypt.