A carved and painted, marble-topped George II side table was the big hit with collectors and investors at Bonhams' Fine English Furniture and Works of Art sale in London on March 2.

The table, which has been in residence at Brightling Park in Sussex for more than 250 years, realised £216,000.

£216,000 of Georgian elegance

Believed to have been designed by the celebrated cabinet maker William Hallett (1701-1781), it had attracted a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 - 60,000.

The table was commissioned by John Fuller (1707-1755) for the drawing room at Brightling Park, then known as Rosehill House, in around 1747. From him, it passed by descent until 1879, when the house was purchased by Percy Tew, who renamed the building Brightling Park. The house and table have stayed within the Tew family until the present day.

According to family photographs, as well as those published in the Sussex County Magazine in 1955, the table was situated in the drawing room at Brightling Park in the 1950s. Soon after these pictures were taken the house's Georgian wing, which contained the drawing room, as well as the bedroom and dressing room above, was demolished to pay off death duties. The table was relocated to the remaining part of the house, where it has been ever since.

The sale achieved £1,248,804 in total.