Harlequin Writing Cabinet

Much late 18th-century English furniture was both practical and elegant.  This writing and dressing table, a fanciful interpretation of a design in Thomas Shearer’s influential Cabinetmakers’ London Book of Prices (1788), is an unusually versatile, compact piece.  The top opens to reveal a leather-lined writing surface which lifts to form a sloping bookrest.  The harlequin, a box-like compartment of pigeon- holes and drawers, rises from the cabinet like a ‘jack-in-the- box’ by a spring mechanism.  The partitioned dressing drawer with mirror pulls forward, while the louvered tambour in the base slides to reveal a cupboard.

The elegant table is veneered in many different woods in the manner of the finest 18th-century cabinetry.  Yellow-hued West Indian satinwood contrasts with the reddish-brown rosewood, and is accented by ebony and green harewood stringing.  The mottled East Indian amboyna reserves in the top and on the tapering legs provide an exotic touch.