Irish or London, circa 1740, robustly carved in the Roman style with Vitruvian scrolls, egg and dart moldings and deeply rendered masks with lion's paw feet, set with a rare purple, green, and white fluorite top (probably Derbyshire Spar) with rouge and white marble border, 32-3/4 x 45 x 25 in.

Provenance: Percival D. Griffiths, Sandridgebury, Hertfordshire; Christie's London, 10-12 May 1939, lot 251;

Frederick Poke, Longholm, Parkside, Wimbledon Common and by descent; Sotheby's London, 13 June 2001, lot 75;

Clinton Howell;

Christie's, 17 October 2008 lot 20 (with copy of sale catalog); Alan Miller, Quakertown, Pennsylvania (with receipt);

The Jerold Krouse Collection

Exhibited: Coventry, The Herbert Art Gallery, on loan 1982-1997

Literature: R. W. Symonds, The Present State of Old English Furniture, 1921, fig. 68.; R. W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II, 1929, pp. 191 & 217, figs. 147 & 177.

According to Tim Corfield, "This extraordinary table has been in two of the most iconic 20th century collections- that of Percival Griffiths and later Frederick Poke. It has been featured in two books by R.W. Symonds, who was a noted furniture historian and curator. The carved decoration, which is very much in the manner of William Kent, who was largely responsible for the introduction of the Italian Baroque taste to Britain, would have been the height of fashion in the 1740s. The use of the satyr in the center of the frieze suggests that this might be an Irish table, but it could just as easily have been made in London. The lion masks on the legs of this table could be from the same workshop as the drop leaf dining table also in the Krouse collection. The felspar veneered stone top using book matched panels to create striking patterns is very beautiful but is probably associated."