Carlton House desk
George Oakley
(about 1760–1841)
about 1815
Medium/TechniqueCalamander, gilt metal, leather writing surface
DimensionsH: 35 3/8 in.; W: 42 1/8 in.; D: 23 3/8 in.
Checked furniture conservation lab 12/10/12 GH
Checked furniture conservation lab 12/10/12 GH
Credit LineGift of Horace Wood Brock
Accession number2012.1170
On View
On viewClassificationsFurniture
Collections
The design of this desk with a stepped superstructure is traditionally associated with Carlton House, the London residence of the Prince Regent, later King George IV. The fashion for furniture in the “Grecian” taste inlaid in the “buhl” manner was a specialty of the Bond Street cabinet-maker George Oakley, whose “Manufactory and Magazine for fashionable Furniture” was patronized by George IV, then Prince Regent. Exotic woods, such as calamander, or zebra wood, from the British colonies (most likely India) was popular during the Regency period in England.
ProvenanceAbout 2000, Hotspur, Ltd. (dealer), London. About 2000, purchased by Horace Wood Brock, New York and Gloucester, MA; 2012, year-end gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 27, 2013)
about 1810–20
about 1720
about 1720
about 1745–50 (?)
