A WILLIAM & MARY WALNUT AND 'SEAWEED' MARQUETRY BUREAU POSSIBLY BY GERRIT JENSEN, CIRCA 1690The fall opening to an arrangement of small drawers and shelves above a velvet inset writing surface92cm high, 56cm wide, 45cm deep overallProvenance: Private Collection, LondonFor a remarkably closely related bureau see, Christie's, London, English Furniture, 8th July 1999, Lot 35 (£161,000). Born in Holland and trained in Paris before settling in London, Gerrit Jensen (fl. 1667 - d. 1715) was arguably the most important cabinet maker in England during the second half of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century. Based in Long Acre and St. Martin's Lane, London, his bills are the first to record floral marquetry and his stile was strongly influenced by the French taste of the period, two stylistic qualities seen on the bureau here. Numerous influential noblemen were among his clients and receipts for his furniture are recorded for some of the grandest country houses, including Burghley House (Lincolnshire), Chatsworth (Derbyshire), Arundel Castle (Sussex), Knole (Kent), and Petworth House (Sussex). Most notably, Jensen held the post of cabinet maker in ordinary to to successive monarchs from James II to Queen Anne and had hundreds of items commissioned for the royal residences at Whitehall, St James, Somerset House, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle and Hampton court. Provenance: Exhibited in Bath Assembly Rooms, International Treasures 1973, No.101.