Journal antiques columnist and Brown & Co auctioneer Craig Bewick appreciates a wonderful period card table that may be the work of the most famous Scottish furniture maker . . .

The swivel-top card table thought to be by William Trotter of Edinburgh

There are some things that just ooze class and the Regency card table we feature this month is just such a piece. It is a fantastic thing. Furthermore, not only is it a wonderful object, created in the finest materials by a great craftsman of the period, but it has come from the large house in the region where it has been for the past 200 years.

Card evenings apart, it might actually have been standing in virtually the same place for most of the past two centuries. For sure it has never ever been seen in an auction room before, which for enthusiasts adds considerably to its interest.

Had we got the matching table – a tea table – that did once exist, then it would have been perfection. That was apparently sold in the 1960s. A real pity.

Regency card tables, very fine pieces, are not uncommon in the auction room but what is special about this particular example is the superior quality of the design, the craftsmanship and the materials.

We believe the maker could have been William Trotter of Edinburgh (1772-1833), one of the most renowned furniture designers of the Regency period. His firm was based at 9 Princes Street, which is where the Balmoral Hotel, the poshest hotel in the Scottish capital, now stands.

A descendent of John Knox, Trotter was not only a successful furniture designer and businessman but he also played a prominent role in the city, rising to become the Lord Provost of the city, the Scottish equivalent of an English Lord Mayor, although actually with more powers. He is widely regarded as the most eminent of all Scottish cabinetmakers.

We can only say that we believe the table to be Trotter’s work because he did not normally mark his pieces. That was not unusual for the time; Regency furniture makers very rarely did put their names on their work. It is a fact, for example, that not a single piece of furniture has ever been found with the name Chippendale stamped on it.

We have been over the piece meticulously – because the presence of a mark or name would have a huge impact on value – but there is nothing. For that reason, when it comes to be auctioned it will be described as being “in the manner of William Trotter”.

Among the things that point us in Trotter’s direction are the date (1815-20), the design, features like the baluster column pillars, and the spectacular use of coromandel wood.

Coromandel is a type of ebony also known as makassar ebony. Native to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, the wood was rare and expensive even in the 19th century. After two centuries of felling, it has all but disappeared and today is one of the highest priced timbers in the world.

As the table illustrates, the wood is a variegated, streaky, brown and black, absolutely beautiful. Woodworkers loved it but because of the scarcity of supply and the cost, it was used in the making of only the very best quality furniture.

The card table’s features include a top that lifts and then swivels into position. It has a baize top, which might have been renewed at some time in its history. If it has been replaced, it will have been at least a hundred years ago. That is very common with card tables and will not impact on the value of the piece.

The tea table would have had a coromandel top, rather than baize, which must have been quite extraordinary.

Under the table top there is a well for the storage of cards and chips that, in terms of colour and condition, looks much as it must have done when the piece came out of the workshop.

The two central baluster column pillars are above sabre legs that have gilt metal lion’s paw feet and gilt metal castors.

The condition of the piece is exactly what you would expect with a fine piece of furniture that has been in a good house for a couple of centuries and that has been used to play cards. It is not mint but then there is no way a piece of Regency furniture could be perfect, unless somebody has been at work on it.

So what would something like this make under the hammer at auction? I would suggest a pre-sale estimate of £800-£1,200 and if the room liked it as much as me, then it could do considerably better than that.

If we could find a mark or a stamp, tucked away in some obscure spot, that indicated that it was indeed the work of William Trotter, then the value would instantly more than double. We would be looking at £3,000-£5,000 – and that’s a conservative estimate.

If we had the matching tea table and were selling them as an unmarked pair we would again be looking at a hammer price of £3,000-£5,000. If we had a matching pair that was marked or stamped then we would be looking at a value of £15,000-£20,000.

As readers might have gathered, I just love the piece, as would anyone who has any sort of eye for period furniture. The market for run-of-the-mill antique furniture is difficult at the moment but high-value quality small pieces like this are in an altogether different league.