Regency standard-end brass inlaid sofa table in kingwood with fine ormolu mounts and ebony and boxwood inlay; 2 oak-lined drawers with boxwood cockbeading.

Kingwood is often used in small pieces for cross-banding and inlay but it is rare to find a large piece of furniture made almost almost entirely in this timber. I have just been reading up on it in Adam Bowett's new book, Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400-1900. The wood is native to northern South America and the tree is low and slender, producing logs 3-6ft long but only 4-8" in diameter.
This narrow diameter would explain why the top is made up of thin strips of kingwood.
Kingwood is certainly a lovely honey-coloured timber and this table still retains its original colour and patina and is very smart with the brass inlay, but I particularly like its long flaps which give the table its elegant long and shallow proportions.

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