Fine Victorian Goncalo Alves & Marquetry Centre Table Attributed to Blake & Co + E. H. Baldock c.1845

A fine Victorian Goncalo Alves and marquetry centre table attributed to Blake and Co and E. H. Baldock c.1845. It is of circular form with a sophisticated rounded tripod base with pillar support. The top enhanced with fine floral marquetry with a central panel incorporating flowers and insects including a beautifully-realised butterfly. The marquetry continues on to the three sides of the base, the incurved scrolling feet ornamented with applied carved paterae and with fine scroll carving. The table top tilts upwards to allow the piece to be stored against a wall when not in use if required. The basic form of this outstanding table relates to a design by Richard Bridgens and was published in 1838 as plate 16 in his Furniture with Candelabra. Edward Holmes Baldock and the Blake Family: E. H. Baldock seems to have begun his career c.1805 as an antique dealer, selling everything from china and bronzes to Oriental art and, later, furniture. He was initially a specialist in china and glass, and was “purveyor of earthenware and glass” to William IV and “purveyor of china” to Queen Victoria. By 1821, his trade adverts began to reflect an interest in “antique….and ornamental furniture”. Baldock appears to have supplied antique pieces as well as acting as something of a 19th century machand mercier in commissioning new pieces of exceptional quality, frequently incorporating fine ormolu mounts and marquetry of the highest standard. Martin Levy has argued convincingly that the fine marquetry on pieces supplied by Baldock was likely to have been created in the workshops of the Blake family of marquetry specialists (see M. Levy E.H.Baldock and the Blake Family: Further Evidence in Furniture History Society Newsletter No. 158, May 2005). The Blake dynasty of inlay specialists was founded around 1820 by Robert Blake and then continued through various changes of name and location until, by the 1840s, their workshops were based in the Tottenham Court Road area and Mount Street in Mayfair.