This ‘Pembroke’ table with serpentine butterfly top is derived from Plate XIII in Ince & Mayhew’s Universal System of Household Furniture (1762). George Hepplewhite’s The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788) illustrated this type of mahogany table the comment that ‘Pembroke tables are the most useful of this species of furniture; they may be of various shapes’ and Sheraton adds that the name comes ‘from the name of the lady who first gave order of one of them’ . The design is thought to have evolved from the slightly earlier mid 18th century ‘breakfast’ table that furnished bedroom apartments. The brass handles are typically of the period.

The distinctive geometric parquetry veneered top relates closely to those on the cabinet doors of the magnificent breakfront bookcase supplied by Thomas Chippendale in 1754 to the Earl of Dumfries for Dumfries House . Other cabinet-makers also recognised for their use of distinctive geometric parquetry decoration including Henry Hill of Marlborough and Christopher Fuhrlohg.