Writing and reading table by Martin Carlin, c. 1784

This little table is a supreme example of the exquisite perfection achieved by these pieces of furniture and would always have been intended as a collector’s item.  Martin Carlin produced several of this type, which were ostensibly reading or music stands with an adjustable book-rest, tiny drawers and space for writing implements but which were unlikely to have been in daily use.  They were bought by aristocratic and royal patrons, many of them women, including Marie Antoinette who was so passionate about hers that she consigned it to a dealer for safe-keeping in     October 1789 when the mob was clamouring at the doors of Versailles. 

(Source: wallacecollection.org)