A PAIR OF VICTORIAN GILT AND POLYCHROME-PAINTED OCTAGONAL OCCASIONAL TABLES

The octagon-compartmented tray-top tables, with Grecian urn-based pillars raised on tripod-altar plinths, reflect the 'Modern Greek' style popularised by the Finsbury firm William Smee through publications such as their 1850 'Designs for Furniture' catalogue and contributions to the 1851 London Exhibition. The present tables' colourful Turkish embellishment derives from embroidery and other works exhibited at the Great Exhibition and illustrated in Owen Jones', Grammar of Ornament, 1856 to which Wyatt was a contributor (Owen Jones, ibid, pl. 36). The firm of John Gregory Crace (d. 1889), who served as an 1851 special commissioner for furniture and paper hangings, was amongst the leading manufacturers of such decorative furniture.