The kidney-shaped top inlaid with a central ribbon-bound wreath with a spray of flowers, flanked by fruiting olive branches, the edge mounted with a spirally turned band, above a plain frieze fitted with a drawer and on lyre-shaped trestle supports joined by a shaped stretcher and with brass casters, the underside with Tsarskoe Selo palace inventory label, numbered in red paint 'L.9319' and inscribed in pencil 'N3479 M', restorations to the veneers, the top originally with three-quarter gallery, previously with further mounts
28 in. (71 cm.) high; 38 in. (97 cm.) wide; 21½ in. (55 cm.) deep

Catherine Palace, Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg.
Anonymous sale; Christie's London, 9 December 2004, lot 98,
where acquired by the present owner.

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Lot Essay

With its marquetry in light woods and distinctive kidney shape with lyre supports, this elegant table demonstrates the English influence in the Russian neo-classical style of circa 1780-1790. It was part of the furnishings of Catherine Palace, Tsarskoe Selo, and was probably commissioned for Catherine the Great (d. 1796), as her successor, Paul (d. 1801), left few traces at the palace. A related example in the Hillwood Museum, Washington, D.C., is illustrated in A. Chenevière, Russian Furniture, London, 1988, p. 41.