The cabinet made in teak with decorative sunken panelled doors and strong brass binding around the edges to make it more durable when transported over long distances in difficult conditions. The strong carrying handles to the sides particularly heavy duty and of the finest quality. Internally, the cabinet contains the usual arrangement of small drawers and pigeon holes but the incorporation of a pull out writing slope, supported by folding the stand out to act as lopers, is highly unusual. The stand can be removed and folded flat for transport, making this piece entirely portable. It was designed to function as a mobile office for the soldier on the move and this piece, being widely documented and discussed, is particularly interesting.



This fine secretaire cabinet on stand has unbroken provenance from the day it was made until now and is one of the most interesting pieces of surviving campaign furniture. Made of teak with brass bound elements designed to protect the piece when being transported, the construction of the piece is likely to have been carried out in India but with the use of Chinese workmen, something that was not as uncommon as might be imagined by those without knowledge of this particular sort of furniture. When owned by the specialist campaign furniture dealership Christopher Clarke in 2005, the piece was described by Sean Clarke in the article by Huon Mallalieu in Country Life, 15th of September 2005, as 'of the highest quality for such furniture made in India. The attention to detail, such as all the steel screws lining up, suggests that it was overseen by a British foreman and the quality of work hints that a Chinese cabinetmaker may have been employed, which is not unknown'. In his article on campaign furniture in Australia, Warwick Oakman stated 



'The Balfour family cabinet, with its double fielded, sunk and panelled doors, is of a type more popular with the eighteenth-century Portuguese. Fitted with a very English scriptor and typically Chinese folding stand, it is of the highest quality, with fine Chinese cut-steel locks. It belonged to Lt Colonel William Balfour, stationed with the 40th Somerset Regiment in Sydney in 1825 and thence to the Launceston Commissariat, where he was instrumental in catching and hanging the outlaw and bushranger Mathew Brady. Balfour returned to Sydney in 1826, retired his commission and died in the UK in 1838. The cabinet was acquired by Mallett’s, London, from the Balfour family by descent, thence purchased by J B Hawkins, who now lives in Tasmania. It demonstrates the nature of the furnishings of the colonial officer class, as portable as the next assignment'. 



To summarise, therefore, the Chinese locks and the typically Chinese form of the folding stand, which, highly unusually, folds out in order to support the secretaire writing slope section inside the cabinet, certainly suggests that there was some sort of Chinese workmanship involved in the production of this piece though India remains the most likely place where the work itself was actually carried out.



Although the precise date of manufacture of the cabinet cannot be established, it is beyond doubt that the piece was taken by William Balfour to Sidney for his deployment there. Born in 1785, Balfour joined the 40th Regiment of Foot as Boy Ensign in 1799. He became Lieutenant by purchase in 1800 and then enjoyed a steady rise through the ranks to Captain by 1802, Major by 1808 and Lieutenant-Colonel in 1814. Amongst his battle history, Balfour served at the Battle of Copenhagen and was noticed and recognised for his service by Sir John Moore in the Peninsula campaign. He won a medal at Nivelle in the South of France. In 1824, Balfour and his regiment set sail in the Castle Forbes for Australia, reaching Sydney in January of 1825. Balfour was part of a detachment sent on to Port Dalrymple and he becamse civil and military commandant there in April of that year. He was immediately popular with the local people, seen as dutiful and fair and very good at his job. Tragedy struck when his wife died in August of that year meaning that Balfour had to raise several young children alone. 



It is rare to find pieces of furniture of any sort which are as well documented as the present piece but with campaign furniture, furniture that by its very nature was present when some of history's most famous battles took place, this sort of history is all the more compelling. The present piece has a fascinating history in Australia and, probably, Mauritius and it is fascinating to think about this piece acting as Balfour's command centre as he sought to counter the effects of the Brady gang and their raids on Launceston and the surrounding area. In addition to its history, however, this piece is also an exceptionally well-made, attractive and functional piece of furniture.