Rococo Period Collection
Rococo Furniture (France, Italy AND Germany, 18th century)
Rococo was an aesthetic movement in the fine and decorative arts that found its inspiration in nature and fostered an overall lightness and delicacy of form, construction and ornament in interior design.
Though greatly influenced by trends in Italy and Germany, Rococo is often called Louis XV-style — the movement having reached its best expression during that sybaritic French king’s reign. The term “rococo” is thought to be a portmanteau of the French words rocaille and coquilles — “rock” and “shells” — organic motifs frequently used in architecture and design of the style.
Rococo furniture is above all sensuous and social. The furniture of earlier eras in Europe had been heavy in every sense; the Rococo period saw the appearance of light-framed upholstered armchairs, side chairs, and occasional tables that could easily be moved to form conversational circles.
The signal detail of Rococo furniture design is the gently curved cabriole, or S-shaped chair-, table-, and cabinet-leg. It imitates the bend of a tree limb or a flower stem. In a further reference to nature, furnishings were often asymmetrical and painted white, or in soft, pastel shades. Rococo has become a timeless style, and as the furniture pieces presented on 1stDibs demonstrate, its playful, sculptural forms can provide visual excitement to contemporary, clean-lined spaces.
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An Important George III Mahogany Writing Table
Located in Hudson, NY
This very fine mahogany writing table made in England in the French taste would have been for only the most current and fashionable people of the time. The table has a serpentine top...
Category
Late 18th Century English George III Antique Rococo Period Collection
Materials
Ebony, Mahogany
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Antique George III Mahogany Library Writing Table Desk, 18th Century
Located in London, GB
This is a fine antique George III mahogany and marquetry library table, circa 1780 in date.
The table features beautiful floral and scrolling foliate marquetry throughout, with flame mahogany marquetry panels and gonçalo alves crossbanding.
The rectangular top is fitted with the original emerald green gold tooled inset leather writing surface above a pair of crossbanded frieze drawers, raised on square tapered legs.
It is freestanding, finished on all sides, so that it can stand freely in the middle of a room, making it extremely suitable for a large home or office.
Complete with original brass handles, working locks and keys.
THE BOTANICAL NAME FOR THE MAHOGANY THIS ITEM IS MADE OF IS SWIETENIA MACROPHYLLA AND THIS TYPE OF MAHOGANY IS NOT SUBJECT TO CITES REGULATION.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, and only shows minor signs of wear commensurate with age and use.
Please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 76 x width 144 x depth 84
Dimensions in inches:
Height 29.9 x width 56.7 x depth 33.1
Marquetry
is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, pewter or brass silver) of different colours are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers.
The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian "Cosmati"-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the "hardstones" used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.
Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.
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Leather, Mahogany
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