Antique French Marquetry Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Cabinet, 19th Century

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Antique French Marquetry Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Cabinet, 19th Century

About the Item

This is a beautiful antique French Louis Revival walnut, marquetry and ormolu mounted vitrine, circa 1880 in date. This beautiful cabinet has exquisite floral marquetry decoration with gilded bronze ormolu mounts. The shaped marble top and cornice above a glazed paneled door enclosing glass shelves, and raised on elegant shaped ormolu mounted feet. Complete with working locks and keys. It will add a touch of unparalleled style to your home and is perfect for displaying your collection of silver or porcelain. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 170 x width 93 x depth 47 Dimensions in inches: Height 66.9 x width 36.6 x depth 18.5 Kingwood is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fine furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by John Parris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similar color to sapwood. The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. It turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also has a tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasive properties. Marquetry is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, mother of pearl, pewter, brass silver or shell) of different colors are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers. The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian "Cosmati"-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as Pietra dura, for the "hardstones" used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique. Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-17th century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing shell and brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs. 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-colored 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. After circa 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt.

Dimensions:
Height: 66.93 in (170 cm)Width: 36.62 in (93 cm)Depth: 18.51 in (47 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Ormolu,Walnut,Marquetry
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1880-1889
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: A16231stDibs: LU950621993642