Antique Edwardian Mahogany Marquetry Bookcase c.1900

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About the Item

This is a stunning antique Edwardian four door bookcase in the Sheraton style, circa 1900 in date. The piece features a rich and striking grain, and has been accomplished in mahogany, a highly desirable wood and is smothered in a fabulous marquetry of urns, garlands, flowers and ribbons, as well as having crossbanded decoration. It has elegant thirteen pane astragal glazing to the top doors. The book shelves are adjustable so you can easily fit books of differing sizes. The bottom half is centered with a useful bank of five capacious drawers. The top two are half width and they are above three full width drawers. The drawer linings are of solid mahogany and the top right hand drawer has a useful slide with a gold tooled leather inset writing surface. There is a fabulous inlaid door on each side and each opens to reveal a cupboard with a central shelf. It is topped with a fabulous shaped cornice which is decorated with beautiful scrolling inlaid foliate decoration and it stands on a shaped plinth base. It has the original brass handles and locks. The brass locks are stamped with the name of the renowned locksmith Hobbs & Co of London, and have their original keys. Instill the elegance of a bygone era to a special place in your home with this fabulous antique bookcase. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully restored in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 219 x Width 230 x Depth 62 Dimensions in inches: Height 7 feet, 2 inches x Width 7 feet, 7 inches x Depth 2 feet, 0 inches Thomas Sheraton (1751 - 1806) was an English cabinetmaker and one of the leading exponents of Neoclassicism. Sheraton gave his name to a style of furniture characterised by a feminine refinement of late Georgian styles and became the most powerful source of inspiration behind the furniture of the late 18th century. His four-part Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterers’ Drawing Book greatly influenced English and American design. Sheraton was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker, but he became better known as an inventor, artist, mystic, and religious controversialist. Initially he wrote on theological subjects, describing himself as a “mechanic, one who never had the advantage of collegiate or academical education.” He settled in London c. 1790, and his trade card gave his address as Wardour Street, Soho. Supporting himself mainly as an author, Sheraton wrote Drawing Book (1791), the first part of which is devoted to somewhat naive, verbose dissertations on perspective, architecture, and geometry and the second part, on which his reputation is certainly based, is filled with plates that are admirable in draftsmanship, form, and proportion. In 1803 Sheraton, who had been ordained a Baptist minister in 1800, published his Cabinet Dictionary (with plates), containing An Explanation of All Terms Used in the Cabinet, Chair and Upholstery Branches with Dictionary for Varnishing, Polishing and Gilding. Some of the designs in this work, venturing well into the Regency style, are markedly unconventional. That he was a fashionable cabinetmaker is remarkable, for he was poor, his home of necessity half shop. It cannot be presumed that he was the maker of those examples even closely resembling his plates. Although Sheraton undoubtedly borrowed from other cabinetmakers, most of the plates in his early publications are supposedly his own designs. The term Sheraton has been recklessly bestowed upon vast quantities of late 18th-century painted and inlaid satinwood furniture, but, properly understood and used in a generic sense, Sheraton is an appropriate label recognizing a mastermind behind the period. The opinion that his lack of success was caused by his assertive character is hypothetical. Mahogany is probably one of the largest ‘families’ of hardwood, having many different varieties within its own species. Mahogany has been used for centuries in ship building, house building, furniture making etc and is the core structure of just about every 19th century vanity box, dressing case or jewellery box. It became more of a Victorian trend to dress Mahogany with these decorative veneers, such as Rosewood, Kingwood, Burr Walnut and Coromandel, so that the actual Mahogany was almost hidden from view. Mahogany itself is a rich reddish brown wood that can range from being plain in appearance to something that is so vibrant, figured and almost three dimensional in effect. Although Mahogany was most often used in its solid form, it also provided some beautifully figured varieties of veneer like ‘Flame’ Mahogany and ‘Fiddleback’ Mahogany (named after its preferred use in the manufacture of fine musical instruments). Cuban Mahogany was so sought after, that by the late 1850′s, this particular variety became all but extinct. Alfred Charles Hobbs (1812 - 1891) born in America, when Alfred was only three years old his farther died leaving the family destitute. Beginning at the age of ten, A. C. Hobbs worked at a variety of jobs ranging from farm help to wood carving, carriage building, tinsmithing, and harness making. While an apprentice at the Sandwich Glass Company, he learned to make doorknobs and became interested in locks. For a while he was a partner in a small firm of Jones & Hobbs, lock makers. About 1840 he became a salesman for the Day & Newell Company - one of America's foremost lock makers. Here he earned a reputation as an expert lock picker. He found that the best way to sell his Companies locks was to pick the locks of his competitors. In 1851 he was sent to the Great Exhibition in London where he successfully picked the famous Chubb and Bramah locks. ( "Great Lock Controversy" .) Assisted by his newly won fame and publicity, he founded Hobbs & Co., London, in 1852. Our reference: 06252

Dimensions:
Height: 86.23 in (219 cm)Width: 90.56 in (230 cm)Depth: 24.41 in (62 cm)
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
c.1900
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU95062123632

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