The double bow-front with three long drawers is inlaid in similar style to the top and sides, with Bérainesque designs in engraved brass and red shell, raised on hoof feet, 103cm wide.
The term Bérainesque, describing a style of light arabesques and playful grotesques, derives from the name of Jean Bérain the Elder (1640-1711).
He was a draughtsman and designer, a painter and engraver of ornament, who was a pre-eminent artist in the Royal office at the French court and responsible for the design elements of the various court spectacles.
The 1867 Burghley Inventory records: ‘No. 63 State Dressing Room or First George Room…A 3.4 buhl and tortoiseshell bouffet of 3 drawers with chased handles.’
