拍品專文
Leonard Daneham Cunliffe was a wealthy financier, serving as Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England as well as an early shareholder of Harrods department store. Having spotted the Cornish estate of Trelissick whilst sailing in his boat Loranda, he initially rented the property before purchasing the estate in 1918. On his death it passed to his step-daughter Ida Copeland who served as MP for Stoke-on-Trent from 1931 to 1935. Ida and her husband Roland gifted Trelissick to the National Trust in 1955.
The form of this desk present relates to patterns for 'Library Tables' published in both Thomas Chippendale's, Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1763, 3rd Edition, pl. LXXIX and Ince and Mayhew's Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762, pl. XXIII. For a desk of similar form attributed to Thomas Chippendale see Christie's, London, 22 November 2007, lot 610 (£96,500, including premium).