Very Fine English Centre Table of Macassar Ebony & Amboyna with Floral Marquetry of Exhibition Quality c.1840

A very fine English centre table of macassar ebony and amboyna with floral marquetry of exhibition quality. It is of outstanding quality, this fine table is more than good enough to have been designed as a piece for one of the international exhibitions of the 19th century but its manufacture predates the establishment of those events. Veneered primarily in highly figured book-matched macassar ebony, an extremely exotic timber and rarely used in such quantity due to the costs involved, the ebony contrasts with amboyna mouldings and even turned amboyna drawer pulls. The dual end support base, connected with a single low stretcher, has carved corbel detailing and the finely made drawers, with beautiful dovetailing, have locks marked C&C for Cope and Collinson. These are crucial to the dating of the table as many features of the piece suggest a somewhat earlier construction but Cope and Collinson succeeded the firm of Cope and Austin in around 1833 when the newspapers record the dissolution of the former partnership. By 1841 the new firm of Cope and Collinson was advertising in defence of the old Cope and Austin patents and it is likely that the locks on this table were early examples of production marked with the new name. The naturalistic floral marquetry on the top of the table is very clearly influenced by continental antecedents, being very different from the more standard designs seen on many English pieces of the period. Although it is not possible to attribute this superb table to a specific maker at this time it can only have been produced in one of the leading workshops at the time with access to top quality specialist marqueteurs and a stock of highly figured exotic timbers. It is almost certain to have been produced as a bespoke commission, the cost of this piece making it highly unlikely that it would just have been made for stock. An outstanding and important piece of 19th century English furniture .