An important George II mahogany library table.
Note: The brass handles and the leather insert are of later date.
The table is fitted with five working drawers, two short and one long  to the front and two short and a dummy central drawer to the reverse side. The drawers each end are dummies also.
Chesterfield House, built between 1747 and 1752 for Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield was one of London's great mansions. The house stood on the north side of Curzon Street, and was demolished in 1937 to make room for a block of flats.
Stanhope was an influential British statesman, diplomat and a man of letters. He was known for his great oratorical skills and wit and he lent his support as a sponsor to publication of  Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language in 1755.
The opening party at Chesterfield house was attended by Horace Walpole.  It was said that the mansion rivalled great mansions in France for its beauty. The most important room in it was the library, housing the Earl's important  collection of books and his library table.
The table remained in the house until the contents were sold off in 1932 by the then owner, Henry George Charles Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood. Lord Harewood had  purchased the house in 1919 for himself and his wife, HRH Mary, Princess Royal and  Countess Harewood, as their London residence.