Antique French Kingwood Vernis Martin Vitrine, circa 1880

View Similar Items

Antique French Vernis Martin Decorated Kingwood & Ormolu Bombe Vitrine c1900

Antique French Vernis Martin Decorated Mahogany Vitrine, Circa 1890

French Vernis Martin Style Vitrine

Antique French Classical Vernis Martin Giltwood Mirrored Vitrine Circa 1890

Linke Style Verni Martin Vitrine, circa 1900

19th Century French Verni Martin Vitrine

Beautiful French Kingwood Vitrine, circa 1890

Louis XVI Style Verni Martin Vitrine, circa 1890

Antique Louis Style Vitrine, France, circa 1880.

19th Century Napoleon III Style Kingwood Vernis Martin Paul Sormani Vitrine

Louis XV Style Kingwood with Bronze and Painted Vitrine Cabinet "Vernis Martin"

Palatial Louis XVI Style Ormolu Mounted Kingwood and Vernis Martin Style Vitrine

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 11

Antique French Kingwood Vernis Martin Vitrine, circa 1880

About the Item

This is an impressive antique French Vernis Martin vitrine in the Louis XV style, circa 1900. The cabinet is made from kingwood and features beautiful hand painted decoration with exquisite ormolu mounts and caryatid. The five panels have been hand painted with country scenes by a French 19th century artist. This elaborate vitrine is glazed on five sides - note the serpentine shape - has a capacious cupboard in the bottom and is smothered in gorgeous gilded bronze mounts. The interiors are finished in golden satin. There are two glass shelves to display your ornaments. It is a spectacular piece with remarkable attention to detail. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully restored in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 203 x Width 133 x Depth 53 Dimensions in inches: Height 6 feet, 8 inches x Width 4 feet, 4 inches x Depth 1 foot, 9 inches Vernis Martin - is a lustrous lacquer substitute widely used in the 18th century to decorate furniture and such personal articles as brisé fans, snuffboxes and clocks. The process of adding bronze or gold powder to green varnish was perfected by the French brothers Guillaume and Etienne-Simon Martin, hence its name “Vernis Martin”, as Vernis is French for varnish. It is said to have been made by heating oil, copal and amber and then adding Venetian turpentine and the Martin brothers perfected the process with inclusions in the varnish, sprinkling spangles of silver plated copper wire into the wet varnish ground. Highly praised by Voltaire, it was developed to imitate East Asian lacquerware which was being imported into France during the Louis XV period. Vernis Martin was made in several colours, green, black and a golden red being the most characteristic. 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 colour 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. 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). Caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese. Karyai had a famous temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "As Karyatis she rejoiced in the dances of the nut-tree village of Karyai, those Karyatides, who in their ecstatic round-dance carried on their heads baskets of live reeds, as if they were dancing plants" . It was a frequently used motif in architecture, furniture, and garden sculpture during the Renaissance, the 18th cent., and notably, the classic revival of the 19th cent., when caryatids were popular as mantelpiece supports. The motif appeared in Egyptian and Greek architecture; the most celebrated example extant is the Porch of the Caryatids, forming part of the Erechtheum. Male supporting figures are called atlantes.

Dimensions:
Height: 79.93 in (203 cm)Width: 52.37 in (133 cm)Depth: 20.87 in (53 cm)
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
Late 19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 064881stDibs: LU95062709542