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Antique French Bureau Plat Writing Table Desk 19th Century
About the Item
This is an attractive antique French ormolu mounted Gonçalo Alves and wood bureau plat, dating from Circa 1860.
As you can see from the photographs, this delightful French writing table features a very attractive wood top centred with an inset gold tooled green leather writing surface. The top is banded in goncalo alves and is mounted with stylish ormolu borders.
For storage of stationery and other items there are two very useful and capacious drawers, located in the frieze, together with a centralised lock that secures both of the drawers at once, the key is supplied.
The desk is raised on four elegant cabriole legs, each of which has decorative ormolu mounts and beading. The legs terminate with elegant ormolu sabots.
This is one of those pieces that can be placed anywhere and looks good in any room you care to put it into.
Condition:
In really excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 77.5 cm x Width 141 cm x Depth 100 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 6 inches x Width 4 foot, 7 inches x Depth 3 foot, 3 inches
Gonçalo Alves is a hardwood (from the Portuguese name, Gonçalo Alves). It is sometimes referred to as tigerwood — a name that underscore the wood’s often dramatic, contrasting color scheme.
While the sapwood is very light in color, the heartwood is a sombre brown, with dark streaks that give it a unique look. The wood’s color deepens with exposure and age and even the plainer-looking wood has a natural luster.
Two species are usually listed as sources for gonçalo alves: Astronium fraxinifolium and Astronium graveolens, although other species in the genus may yield similar wood; the amount of striping that is present may vary.
In the high tropical forests of Central and South America, well-drained soils furnish nutrients for a variety of dense, durable hardwoods sought for maritime use, heavyconstruction, and furniture. The Spanish began harvesting in Latin American forests in the early 1500s to provide timber for boatbuilding and repair. By the early 1900s, however, steel ships had replaced wooden ones, and the interest in tropical forests by both Europeans and Americans shifted to appearance-grade woods for furniture.
Although history fails to provide us with a shopping list of species from either harvest period, it's probable that the wood we know today as goncalo alves has always been sought. That's because goncalo alves, considered one of the most beautiful of tropical woods, has a tough reputation, too. Strong and durable, it's used for construction in its homeland and secondarily for fine furniture. Woodworkers elsewhere treasure the wood for decorative items and veneer accents.
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 - Gilt Bronze (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.
Our reference: 07105
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