This beautiful side table is a remarkable example of the eclecticism of Victorian taste in decorative art. The table, thoroughly English, evinces something of the Transitional Style, that period between the French Rococo and Neoclassicism that occurred in the late 18th Century.
The table, the surfaces of which are adorned with parquetry of kingwood and tulipwood, is raised on four relatively spare cabriole legs, each leg terminating in a scrolled acanthus leaf ormolu sabot. The legs are joined below by a shelf-form stretcher, the shelf encompassed by a pierced ormolu gallery. The apron of the table is superbly shaped and is set to each corner with a Rocaille-like ormolu mount. The front of the apron is centred by a circular porcelain plaque decorated in the manner of Sèvres, which is encompassed by a foliate ormolu frame. The tabletop, enclosed with a moulded ormolu border, is hinged, opening to reveal a velvet-lined interior compartment.