LONDON.- A wide selection of quality furnishings and decorative pieces are set to go under the hammer in the sale of Fine English Furniture, Sculpture & Works of Art on 11 March at Bonhams New Bond Street salerooms.

The star lot is a late George III satinwood, rosewood and tulipwood Carlton House desk, estimated at £40,000-60,000. This distinctive design of writing table, with two or three tiers of small drawers rising from the back and curving around the sides, dates from the late 18th Century.

The term ‘Carlton House’ presumably came about as a result of a precedent at Carlton House in London, with the term then perpetuating. Carlton House on Pall Mall was the home of George III while Prince of Wales, and a rosewood Carlton House desk remains in the Royal Collection.

Another top lots is a mid-19th century Roman micro-mosaic circular table top with giltwood base, possibly by the workshop of Michelangelo Barberi. Estimated at £30,000-50,000, the tabletop features a central circular medallion depicting St Peter's Basilica, surrounded by eight further pictorial panels of famous Roman landmarks including The Colosseum, The Forum, The Pantheon, and the Temple of Vesta, inset into a Belgian black marble ground.

Michelangelo Barberi (1787-1867) was a leading micro-mosaicist of international acclaim during the 19th century. Barberi gained a position as apprentice to the celebrated micro-mosaicist Cesare Aguatti, after which he moved to the Vatican workshop in 1820. It was at the Vatican that he gained recognition for his detailed and spectacular compositions. His international renown led to demand for his work by the Nobility of Europe and in particular the Russian Royal family who commissioned some of his most ambitious work.

Also offered is a pair of George III carved gilt-wood Chinoiserie-style wall mirrors, in the manner of Thomas Chippendale, £25,000-35,000.