Pair of Large William IV Bookcases in West Indies Mahogany, England, circa 1830

A beautiful American Empire card or games table in West Indies mahogany with hinged top opening to a square over a rectangular base with turned column that rests on a quatre-form bas...

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 In the cabinet lock trade, lever locks became available circa 1855 and superseded the earlier tumbler and back-spring locks.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...

A handsome pair of Art Deco bookcases with sleek lines and understated refinement in fine mahogany with blown-glass panels that cover the length of each of the doors. Each bookcase ...

A handsome early American empire/classical pembroke table in fine West Indies mahogany with solid rectangular top offering two hinged drop-leaves with "S" shaped, rounded corners. Ta...

A very fine Napoleon III cabinet or bookcase in the Louis XVI style with original marble top, bronze doré ormolu, antique 18th century French book bindings on the end doors and a bra...

A very beautiful and finely-crafted secretary in West Indies mahogany with book-matched crotch mahogany along the entire front. There are three gr...

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this absolutely sublime highly collectable, fully restored, solid hardwood William IV Library Folio cabinet with drawers and bookc...

A WILLIAM IV MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE, CIRCA 1830. The breakfront secretaire drawer enclosing drawers and recesses. 272cm high, 263cm wide, 56cm deep.

A fine early William IV mahogany breakfront bookcase firmly attributed Gillows of Lancaster, in four sections, the top with astragal glazed doors enclosing four adjustable shelves between reeded pilasters with anthemion scroll corbels, the base with four panelled arched doors between acanthus scroll and reeded pilasters, the frieze with two short drawers and a central secretaire drawer fitted with a reading slope and two slides above small compartments, decorated throughout with rich book-matched veneers. The secretaire drawer stamped ‘Preston’. English, circa 1835. Footnote: Many closely related acanthus carved terminals, anthemion corbels and other typical Gillows features can be seen on the pair of bookcases, on this website, made by Gillows & Co for the library at Dallam Tower, Cumbria in 1829, and on a bookcase shown in Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Antique Collectors’ Club, 2008, vol. I, p.379, pl.450. A similar large breakfront bookcase...

This William IV mahogany fitted bookcase was made circa 1830. It is a rare piece as not only is it of a lovely small size, but the base cupboard is also fitted with drawers and pigeo...

Bookcases with grill doors on plinth bases, English, circa 1835.

Irish bookcase in mahogany and mahogany feather, with carved capitals on the uprights of the doors, central flap drawer with internal drawers. Furniture of extreme beauty and proport...