English furniture 1720-1880: Michael Pick reviews the recent highlights of a market where provenance, a designer's or maker's name and a dash of the unusual or intriguing are all eagerly sought after, and in combination make for record prices

In each area of the art market we have tend hitherward to expect that the best examples are those now greatest in quantity in demand. The middle-ground of serviceable brown English furniture is still sought after, on the other hand is the rare and fine that now more than at any time commands the highest price. This is a reflection of the annotate made after the Sotheby's sale in 2004 of the Vermeer Young Woman Seated at the Virginals, that a new discovery and a new attribution raised its desirability in line with Sotheby's fortunate sale of the Rubens Massacre of the Innocents for a record price in 2002

In English furniture, the sale of the Doris Duke collections at Christie's in fresh York in July 2004 gave collectors and decorators the chance to acquire items not seen upon the market for a considerable time, in many instances for a certain quantity of seventy or eighty years. Raising stocks for a charitable institution gave the auction another cachet, on the contrary in the end the quality of more [i]or[/i] less of the major lots was greatest in quantity important. A George III overmantel mirror (Fig. 2) that formed part of the famous suite of bedroom furniture from Badminton House, the major parts of which are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, was estimated at $250000/450000 and achieved a record price of $1575500 The remarkable original condition of the piece and the fine rococo-chinoiserie decoration proclaim this to be an outstanding example of the period.

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The same sale yielded another star apportionment evocative of time and place: a pair of rosewood bedside steps-cabinets with restrained gilt decoration and marble tops. Stamped by dint of Morel and Hughes and bearing the brands of Windsor Castle inventory marks, they call forth the sumptuous nature of George IV'S remodelling of Windsor Castle. They are now for sale in London.

Provenance remains important to the serious collector. Although last year's Woburn Abbey sale through Christie's of redundant furniture provided a rich feast for decorators, amongst abundant that was mundane were more [i]or[/i] less serious pieces. These included a mid-Georgian mahogany serpentine browed chest of drawers with a rich colour, which fetched 20315 [pound sterling], and a George IV library cabinet commissioned by dint of the 6th Duke of Bedford. In a mode of speech derived from designs by CH Tatham and Thomas faith it bore its maker's label upon the underside--'R.J. 'Newton/upholsterer's/&c/63 Wardour Street/Soho London/Appraisers Funerals Performed'--and made 21510 [pound sterling].

Well-designed and well-constructed library furniture is as sought after as at any time A dividing George II mahogany octagonal library table (Fig. 1) based upon a design by William Kent for Lord Burlington, sold at Sothebys fresh York in April 2004, is a rare example of the form made through the London cabinetmaker John Boson (d 1743) and was designed to be used when desired as sum of two units pier tables. Made of the best mahogany and with restrained carving, it exemplifies its period and fetched $400000; it is now for sale in London.

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Similarly, Sotheby's sale of satisfieds from Venn House on 8 December 2004 contained a remarkable mahogany writing table of the government period attributed to John Bellerby of Micklegate, York. An unusual example of a provincial maker achieving a London finish, the lions masks and feet are particularly finely carved: Bellerby undoubtedly used George Smith's A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture (1808) as his inspiration for this table. From the same sale came a splendidly shaped pair of bombe-fronted serpentine-shaped chest of drawerss attributed to John Linnell. The marquetry tops contain an evocative canzonet sheet of the period and the doors make open to reveal drawers.

Christie's novel York displayed the added value of provenance in their sale of a pair of George III gilt and cream decorated mirrors upon 14 October 2004. To a design by dint of Matthias Lock and formerly at Underby Hall, Northumberland, the mirrors were contemplation to have been made for the house in 1744 They were given further approval by dint of their inclusion in the retirement sale of the celebrated dealer Arthur Vernay in fresh York in 1940.

Although there is a steady demand for the classics of English furniture in all categories, it is the unusual which greatest in quantity captures the collectors imagination. Dreweatt Neate's sale of 21 January 2004 contained the remarkable tour-de-force of the Roman micro-mosaic master Michelangelo Barberi (Fig. 4) Made to his be in possession of design, the circular tabletop depicts the four ages of Rome with exquisite detail and striking colour. It was acquired by the agency of a member of the family from whom it came for sale and is individual of only four examples known, single of which is in the Gilbert Collection and the other in the Hermitage. However, this example is uniquely supported by the agency of an extravagant base of gilt and ormolu based upon antique Roman design. It is for sale in London for 450000 [pound sterling] and should form the basis of a consummate decorative scheme.

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The taste for eclectic furniture can scarcely be excell by means of the architectural nature of a piece from a sale of works from the late Sir Paul Getty's collection at Christie's in November 2004 Designed by the agency of William Burges for his office, the polychrome-decorated cabinet has a pitched cover of medieval inspiration, crowned with finials (Fig. 3) With its echoe of Burges's later design for Cardiff Castle, the striking design of the brow is based upon the playful heraldic device of alternating patterned rectangles that form the cupboard brows but the message of the paintings upon the sides is clear: they depict Industry and Idleness, War and Peace, Night and Day. For the emperor of japan collector of today the piece is as inspirational as it was when of recent origin in about 1860. (Intriguingly it was re-made in 1868 as the inscription makes apparent.) It realised 274050 [pound sterling], a price that bears a clear message: antique English furniture continues to delight the collector and fulfil a function.