A GEORGE II MAHOGANY METAMORPHIC READING TABLE, ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS POTTER, LONDON, CIRCA 1730

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY METAMORPHIC READING TABLEATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS POTTER, LONDON, CIRCA 1730With a ratchet adjustable top and a telescopic stem75.5cm high, 77cm wide, 54cm deepProvenance: Private Collection, HampshireFor a closely related metamorphic reading table (butwith plain legs) see Christie’s, London, 15th November 2017, Lot 108(£4,000).This metamorphic 'harlequin' reading and writing-table is designed in the 'Modern' fashion of the 1730's and with its tripod base with pad feet and ratcheted adjustable top, it relates to a design on the trade-sheet issued in the 1730's and inscribed 'Potter London'. Now held at the Victoria and Albert Museum (no.E2320-1889), this trade sheet is almost certainly that of the cabinet-maker Thomas Potter (d.1782), recorded as working in High Holborn in 1737 and thought to have had connections to John Channon, the prominent St Martin's Lane `Cabinet-Maker and Frame-Maker', who supplied expensive brass-enriched furniture for Powderham Castle, Devon in 1740.A related table was sold anonymously Christie's, London, 4 July 2002, lot 24 (£22,705 including premium) and was recently acquired by Temple Newsam Museum, Leeds.