Large English Open Break Front Bookcase of Inlaid Mahogany

A fine English open-face bookcase of mahogany, with three adjustable shelves, featuring a moulded top and frieze with dentil trim, standing on a plinth base.

A fine English waterfall style open bookcase of oak, featuring a serpentine top gallery, with moulded panel sides, enclosing five open shelves of asc...

A fine English two-tied bookcase cabinet of mahogany from the 19th century, featuring an upper tier with crown moulding over two glazed doors, opening to three shelves of adjustable ...

A fine Scottish two-tier bookcase cabinet of mahogany, featuring a canopy top over two glazed locking doors with key, opening to four adjustable shelves,...

A handsome large French bookcase cabinet of cherry from the 19th c., featuring a moulded crown top over a frieze of two glazed paneled doors, the...

A fine English bow-front chest of mahogany featuring a bowed top over four beaded drawers with brass pulls, and set upon an apron base with splay feet.  

You are viewing a gorgeous double fronted English mahogany openfront bookcase with Sheraton inlay. I hope the photos do this stunning piece some justice...

English mahogany break front bookcase Georgian style, circa 1920s-1930s.   

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...

Mahogany inlaid corner bookcase. The well-figured large rectangular lipped top above carved freeze, to the adjustable shelves. Flanked by cupboard ends, all raised up on shaped apron...

Mahogany breakfront bookcase in the manner of Edwards and Roberts, having rectangular-shaped top and moulded edge. To the freeze with floral swags and ribbons. Above three bays of ad...

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