The Among the withdrawals from Bonhams’ November furniture sale was this Regency larchwood, banded and rosewood marquetry centre table. Restorer Dennis Buggins provided a photograph dated January 15, 1997 showing the template he had used to inlay the base.

Bonhams withdrew 16 lots, with a combined top estimate in excess of £200,000, from a recent Bond Street furniture sale after they had good reason to believe the consignor was connected with disgraced dealer John Hobbs.

"We have withdrawn the lots to investigate further a number of issues which have recently come to light", said the auction house in a statement. "The background to the lots in question has not been established one way or the other. We will continue to investigate until we get to the bottom of the matter." Bonhams was supplied with a list of 14 items on the morning before the sale, after Hobbs' former restorer Dennis Buggins provided evidence to suggest that four of the lots on the list had undergone significant alteration in his workshop in the 1990s. The auctioneer, unhappy with the response from their female vendor, acted promptly and removed all 14 items, as well as two others, from sale.

The embellishment he carried out for his client went well beyond the confines of acceptable restoration – but has proved very hard to spot. In respect of "a Regency larchwood, banded and rosewood marquetry centre table, attributed to George Bullock", originally offered for sale by Hobbs at £37,000. Buggins turned 'whistleblower' following a bitter financial dispute with his long-term employers.