Regency Diminutive Writing Table

Very fine English Regency period bonheur du jour attributed to John McLean & Son, the rectangular top having pierced gallery with turned and ring collared brass column supports with pierced diamond pattern panels of gilt-brass above a shelf fitted with two drawers, the extended lower part with a hinged shelf opening to a leather lined writing surface resting on a single fitted drawer, with inlaid brass ribbing above turned tapered legs with parcel gilt ring turned collars.
This bonheur du jour can be attributed to the workshops of John McLean and Son (1770-1825), its design and gilt-metal ornament conforming in design and execution to other similar labelled examples including an example illustrated in Furniture History - The Journal of the Furniture History Society, 1978, vol. XIV, Simon Redburn, 'John McLean and Son', pp. 31-37. A similar example was sold at Sothebys, April 24, 2008 TOM DEVENISH: THE COLLECTION - HIGHLY IMPORTANT ENGLISH FURNITURE.
From 1790 until the firm's demise in 1825, they are recorded at 55/58 Upper Marylebone Street (now New Cavendish Street) and from c. 1799-1805, later expanding to occupy premises in both Pancras Street and Upper Terrace and continuing in business until 1825. McLean and Son also gained a notable mention in Thomas Sheraton's Cabinet Dictionary in 1803. One of the "fashionable Pieces of Cabinet Furniture" included a "Pouch Table", whose design was taken and "executed by Mr. M'Lean in Mary-le-bone street, near Tottenham court road, who finishes these small articles in the neatest manner".[3]
John McLean (born 1770; died 1825) was a highly regarded English furniture and cabinetry maker and designer. Examples of his furniture can be found in the Victorian and Albert Museum, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Library at Saltram, Devon. The firm of John McLean and Son advertised that it specialised in "Elegant Parisian Furniture" and while the firm's furniture owes something to French taste, it is still quintessentially English.