It had probably been made by an obscure colonial cabinetmaker called Ralph Turnbull, who plied his trade in downtown Kingston, Jamaica, from 1820-40. The governor of Jamaica, the Marquis of Sligo, commissioned several furnishings from Turnbull and a near identical centre table by the cabinetmaker is in Westport House, the Sligo estate in Western Ireland.
Veneered in mahogany, palm and thuya wood, 4ft 41/2in (1.33m) diameter, the table had the usual splits, lifts and stains, but had survived in relatively good condition and sold at £22,500.
Tropical centre table
Just the thing to lift the spirits in the cold, dark, stock-deprived days of winter, this spectacular whorl of a tropical centre table received a warm reception at the Salisbury salerooms of Woolley and Wallis on January 8.
