Antique French Rosewood and Parquetry Kidney Table, circa 1900

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Antique French Rosewood and Parquetry Kidney Table, circa 1900

About the Item

This is a delightful antique French rosewood and parquetry kidney shaped occasional table with ormolu mounts, in Louis XV style and circa 1900 in date. This beautiful table is made from rosewood and features geometric parquetry inlay with floral marquetry. The table stands on slender cabriole legs that are united with an undertier. There is no mistaking the unique quality and design and it is a lovely piece which can become a finishing touch to your interiors. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully restored in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 73 x width 55 x depth 33. Dimensions in inches: Height 2 feet, 5 inches x width 1 foot, 10 inches x depth 1 foot, 1 inch. Rosewood is a rich warm reddish brown wood that has a distinct grain with dark brown and black outlining. One variety of Rosewood can vary significantly from another even though it is of the same species. These Rosewoods, native of India, South East Asia and Brazil, were dense and awkward to work with. It was renowned for quickly bluntening cutting tools and visibly darkening in colour when over prepared. Parquetry - is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring. Parquetry patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The word derives from the Old French parchet , literally meaning "a small enclosed space". Large diagonal squares known as parquet de Versailles were introduced in 1684 as parquet de menuiserie to replace the marble flooring that required constant washing, which tended to rot the joists beneath the floors. Such parquets en lozange were noted by the Swedish architect Daniel Cronström at Versailles and at the Grand Trianon in 1693. Timber contrasting in color and grain, such as oak, walnut, cherry, lime, pine, maple etc. are sometimes employed; and in the more expensive kinds the richly coloured mahogany and sometimes other tropical hardwoods are also used. Marquetry is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, mother-of-pearl, pewter, brass silver or shell) of different colours 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-seventeenth 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-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: 28.75 in (73 cm)Width: 21.66 in (55 cm)Depth: 13 in (33 cm)
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1900
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 070481stDibs: LU95064216843