Antique French Kingwood Tall Chest Semainier

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Antique French Kingwood Tall Chest Semainier

About the Item

This is a beautiful antique French semainier, or tall chest in Louis XV revival style and circa 1880 in date. This piece was skillfully crafted in kingwood with rosewood cross banding and fabulous ormolu handles and mounts. It has seven drawers all with original locks and handles. It is surmounted with a beautiful "Marmo di Brescia" marble top, and the chest stands on elegant short cabriole legs with pierced and scroll cast ormolu sabots. Kingwood is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fine furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by John Parris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similar color to sapwood. The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. it turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also has a tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasive properties. Rosewood is a rich warm reddish brown wood that has a distinct grain with dark brown and black outlining. One variety of Rosewood can vary significantly from another even though it is of the same species. These Rosewoods, native of India, South East Asia and Brazil, were dense and awkward to work with. It was renowned for quickly bluntening cutting tools and visibly darkening in color when over prepared. The Brazilian species of Rosewood was by far the most beautifully figured and therefore it became the most sought after and rare. This was the wood of choice for the great box makers, David and Thomas Edwards who used it to veneer some of their finest pieces. Ormolu (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold colored veneer known as "gilt bronze." The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object.

Dimensions:
Height: 59.85 in (152 cm)Width: 31.89 in (81 cm)Depth: 21.66 in (55 cm)
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 058001stDibs: LU95061232332