Antique Victorian Walnut Credenza Sevres Plaque c.1860

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Antique Victorian Walnut Credenza Sevres Plaque c.1860

About the Item

This is a superb antique Victorian burr walnut credenza, circa 1860 in date. Oozing sophistication and charm, this credenza is the absolute epitome of Victorian high society. The entire piece highlights the unique and truly exceptional pattern of the burr walnut grain. It has elegant glazed bow end doors on either side. It has a panelled door in the centre with a beautiful hand painted Sevres porcelain plaque which depicts a beautiful pair of cherubs. It has wonderful kingwood crossbanding and boxwood inlaid decoration. There are fabulous ormolu mounts and an elegant pair of burr walnut half columns flank the central door. It opens to reveal a shelf and plenty of storage space for drinks, glasses, crockery, etc. This is a stunning piece which is sure to attract a lot of attention. Dimensions in inches: Height 42.1 x Width 53.9 x Depth 16.1 Burr Walnut refers to the swirling figure present in nearly all walnut when cut and polished, and especially in the wood taken from the base of the tree where it joins the roots. However the true burr is a rare growth on the tree where hundreds of tiny branches have started to grow. Burr walnut produces some of the most complex and beautiful figuring you can find. Sevres Porcelain traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738. French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumoured relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles. From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colours and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed. 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-coloured 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. No true ormolu was produced in France after around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury. Therefore, other techniques were used instead but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing ormolu method for sheer beauty and richness of colour. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt (also known as vermeil).

Dimensions:
Height: 42.13 in (107 cm)Depth: 16.15 in (41 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Walnut
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
c. 1860
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully restored and the interior relined, in a beautiful gold fabric, in our works hops, please see photos for confirmation.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 043891stDibs: LU9506859819