Antique English Georgian Mahogany Glass-Front Bookcase, circa 1810-1820

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Antique Early 19th Century English Georgian Mahogany with Inlay Secretary Breakfront, Circa 1840. Secretary has a...

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Georgian Revival Mahogany Open Bookcase. Circa 1880 Standing Upon Bracket Feet The Bookcase Features 3 Adjustable Shelves. The Top of the Bookcase Having a Dentil and Shaped Moldings...

A handsome and very well crafted English break-front bookcase or bibliotheque in solid mahogany by S.E. & R. Johnson of Warrington, England, circa 1870. Features six doors with glass panels in the upper section over a base with ten drawers on each side, flanking a middle section consisting of three doors with wooden panels. There are two adjustable shelves in each of the three upper sections, with a total of ten interior drawers. Original tear-drop pulls on doors turn to release a lever allowing the doors to be opened with the pulls as well as locked, a most unusual and attractive feature. All of the hardware is original to the bookcase including the locks. Comes with working locks and keys. Measurements: 13' 8 1/2" long x 21 1/2" - 27 1/2" deep x 101" high (8'5" high) All of the drawers are stamped with the cabinetmaker's stamp, "S.E. & R. (Ralph) Johnson, Warrington". This fine bookcase was manufactured prior to 1880 in Warrington in Cheshire, England. While information is scant, it would seem that S. E. would have been Ralph's father's workshop listed at 78 Bridge Street in Warrington, England, circa 1878. Ralph would have likely been an apprentice at that time. He opened his own workshop, presumably when his father retired. By the Edwardian period, Ralph had become a cabinet maker of some renown. Drawer locks are original and stamped "Chance Son & Co. W Chance, Son, & Co" and are listed in the 1850s directories as "Merchants and Factors" in Birmingham, England. They would have been middlemen having various merchandise made for them, primarily for export to North America. The type of locks employed in this bookcase is a lever combination lock. In the cabinet lock trade, lever locks became available circa 1855 and superseded the earlier tumbler and back-spring locks. Some points about the breakfront to note are that it is made entirely out of solid mahogany which is unusual; there are no veneers. Even the drawer sides, backs and bottoms are made of mahogany. The interior wood, i.e., the back and the insides of the cabinet is pine. One of the great features is that the upper door hardware has a dead latch that operates with the tear drop pull. You can lock the doors, but if you don't want to lock them, you can use the tear drop pull to operate the dead latch to open and close by turning it to the right. There are 20 exterior drawers and 8 interior drawers. Lower cabinets each have 1 fixed shelf; upper cabinets have 2 adjustable shelves each. There are enough extra original cast iron shelf...

Wonderful Georgian Mahogany Bureau Bookcase. Standing on Bracket Feet with an arrangement of 2 Short and 3 Long Drawers. Each Drawer having front to back Oak Linings and Original B...

English mahogany breakfront with carved dental molding cornice, four upper case glass doors with arched serpentine mullions, adjustable interior shelving, flanking lower case oval in...