This elegant cabinet is one of several stepped-top cabinets of this distinctive form made by the brilliant and innovative Regency cabinet-maker George Bullock (c.17781818). Also characteristic of Bullock’s work is the use of exotic woods framed by ebony fillets. The pattern of the gilt brass grilles also recurs through Bullock’s documented oeuvre, whilst the simple ebonised mahogany of the interior is also typical. (see Clive Wainwright, George Bullock Cabinetmaker, London 1988).

A brass-inlaid amboyna and ebony sofa table by Bullock also with a  provenance in the Balfour family was sold by order of the Trustees of the 1st Earl of Balfour, Christie’s London, 8 June 2006, lot 105 (£54,000).