An inkstand comprising a burr yew case with a long drawer along the front. Fitted with a lion mask and ring handle and mounted on four gilt bronze scrolled paw feet. The bronzes are attributed to Alexis Decaix (British, active 1778-1811), the inkstand possibly supplied by Dupasquier. With a hinged top and bull's-head cornucopia, flanked by a pair of bronze kneeling Egyptian priestesses holding cylindrical inkwells with pierced removable covers, fashioned to resemble incense burners.

The same inkstand model, but with an ormoulu garniture, was acquired in 1810 by George, Prince of Wales, later George IV (RCIN 3237, Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017). It was illustrated in the ‘Jutsham’ Pictorial Inventory of 1827-33 (RCIN 934831). The inventory was originally created as a record of the clocks, vases, candelabra and other miscellaneous items from Carlton House, as well as selected items from the stores at Buckingham House, the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, Hampton Court and Kensington Palace for consideration in the refurbishment of Windsor Castle. This inkstand was recorded as having been sent from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton to The Admiral’s Room, Carlton House, on 24th March 1810, by M.C.F. Dupasquier, Groom of the Chamber to the Prince of Wales (Jutsham, vol. I, p.113). See Inkstand, English 1800-10, Burr yew wood, gilt and patinated bronze, RCIN 3237, Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017; https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/3237/inkstand.

A related bronze figural inkstand was acquired by the Prince and listed by the court goldsmith Thomas Garrard in his ledger of 21 June 1803, as ‘an inkstand of yew Tree with female figure in bronze holding cornucopia’ (M. Levy, ‘Taking up the Pen’, in ‘Country Life’, 23 April 1992, pp.60-62).

The French patterned monopodia is also featured on clocks, such as that supplied by the Parisian ébéniste Martin-Eloy Lignereux. However, this inkstand’s bronzes are likely to have been executed by Alexis Decaix ‘bronze and ormolie [sic.] manufacturer’ of Rupert Street, who invoiced the Prince of Wales for ‘bronze manufacturers’ in April 1803.

Other inkstands of this pattern, but with ormolu rhyton and undecorated altars, were sold anonymously at Christie’s South Kensington on 25th October 1989, Lot 249; and in The Humphrey Whitbread Collection Sale at Christie’s, London on 5th April 2001, Lot 384.

‘Egyptomania’ was the term used to describe a renewed European interest in ancient Egypt following the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801), led by Napoleon Bonaparte. Admiral Nelson's success at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 promoted ‘Egyptomania’ which was popularised, inter alia, by Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Hope, leading to a new decorative style. At the beginning of the nineteenth Century this campaign led to extensive scientific study of ancient Egyptian remains and culture and inspired ‘an attempt to naturalise Egyptian motifs and symbolism’. Egyptian detail became the vogue and Egyptian motifs pervaded not only nineteenth Century interior design and decorative arts, but also influencing literature, architecture, politics and park design. The use of this decoration was restricted to those who could afford expensive ‘objets d’art’.