It has long been thought that these elegant neoclassical demilune side tables were made for the London home of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4^th Baronet (1749 – 1789) at 20 St. James’ Square. Given that between 1771 and 1774 he commissioned the fashionable architect Robert Adam and his brothers to design and build his London residence, with the plans and elevations thereof issued in The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1779 (E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam, London, 2001, pp. 256-277), it is most plausible that these tables were designed by Robert Adam for the interior and executed by one of the leading cabinet makers he collaborated with at the t.mes , amongst others, Thomas Chippendale, Richard Collins, Samuel Norman and the celebrated London cabinetmakers Mayhew and Ince (1759 – 1803). The present pair of demilune tables strongly resemble the work of Mayhew and Ince. Whilst some accounts for the work carried out at 20 St. James’ Square survive, there is no surviving record of any specific payment to a cabinetmaker, (British History Survey - London, Vol. 29 – 30, version 5.0, accessed online 21.04.21).

Described as being of ‘pleasure loving temperament’, Sir Williams-Wynn was a Welsh landowner, politician and patron of the arts and he inherited the extensive Wynnstay estates in North Wales and Shropshire at a very young age. He intended his London home for lavish entertaining and inspired by his Grand Tour in 1768, his choice of interiors were further informed by the neoclassical style of Robert Adam.

The elegant design of each of the present side tables is enhanced by the beautifully painted central tablets thought most likely to have been painted by the Venetian artist Antonio Zucchi, after the history paintings depicting scenes from Homer’s The Odyssey, by the Swiss born neoclassical painter, Angelica Kauffmann. Antonio Zucchi was married to Angelica Kauffmann and both were part of a team of artists who supplied the painted decorations for the harmonious Adam-designed interiors. Zucchi is recorded as carrying out works at 20 St. James Square, such as the ceiling paintings, ornamental panels, bookcases and overdoors. He also worked with Robert Adam at Kenwood House, Newby Hall, Osterley Park, Nostell Priory, and Luton House.

A cabinet with matching design and decoration to the present pair of demilune tables from the collects ion of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bart sold at Christie’s in 1935, which suggests that these pieces were most probably supplied en suite. In 1920, the Williams-Wynn family sold 20 St James Square, together with most of the Adam furniture. To date, no auction or sale has been traced to these tables, but given the rarity of provenance references at the t.mes , they were likely sold privately and then only recorded when they arrived in the collects ion of Robert Livingston Gerry for his New York Georgian mansion, from where they were possibly acquired by French & Company, New York in 1953 – (inventory no. 53511X).

A pair of tables with similarly decorated tops and friezes formerly in the collects ion of Mrs. John E. Rovensky was sold by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York, 6-7 May 1960, lots 507 and 508.

Another pair of tables, virtually identical to those in the Walter P. Chrysler collects ion was sold at Christie's in London on 17 November, 1983, lot 97.