Representative secretary with a drop-front writing surface, richly inlaid with various fine woods, set on a tall stand adorned with engraved pewter bands, in the style of Thomas Pistor, London circa 1690. The interior was fundamentally altered in the early 19th century to reflect the prevailing neoclassical taste in writing furniture, and possibly includes Italian arte povera elements from the 18th century brought back from a Grand Tour.

Provenance: Private collection in the Rhineland until 2024.

Thomas Pistor Senior (ca. 1630–1706) and his son and apprentice Thomas Pistor Junior (1652–1710) operated workshops in London — the father in Moorfields, the son on Ludgate Hill. Little is yet known about their work, but furniture attributed to either father or son was once part of the collection of Sir Basil Jonides (1884–1950) at Levens Hall, Cumbria. These pieces were originally commissioned for James Grahme, a courtier and friend of (the future) King James II (1633/1685–1701).

See: Adriana Turpin, “Thomas Pistor, Father and Son, and Levens Hall", Furniture History, Journal of the Furniture History Society, vol. 36, 2000, pp. 43–60.

Comparable pieces referenced in:

Percy Macquoid, A History of English Furniture, vol. II, London 1905, figs. 53/54.

H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, vol. IV/1, London 1920, p. 136, figs. 186/7.

Percy Macquoid and Ralph Edwards, A Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. I, London 1924, p. 126.

A Catalogue and Index of Old Furniture and Works of Decorative Art from Late Sixteenth Century – Early Nineteenth Century, vol. I, London [n.d., 1938], p. 55.

Adam Bowett, English Furniture 1660–1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne, Woodbridge 2002.