Antique French Vernis Martin Bureau de Dame, circa 1880

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Antique French Vernis Martin Bureau de Dame, circa 1880

About the Item

This is a superb antique French mahogany and ormolu mounted Vernis Martin cylinder bureau de dame, Circa 1880 in date. The shaped frieze drawer opens and rotates the cylinder to reveal a mahogany three drawer interior. The cylinder is decorated with a beautiful Vernis Martin painting depicting two ladies being serenaded by a musician playing his lute and the painting bears the signature "Martin". The fall opens onto the drawer front for support and is lined with a beautiful burgundy velvet writing surface with blind tooling. The top with an attractive three quarter brass gallery and three useful drawers below. The whole standing on cabriole legs with further ormolu adornments. Complete with working lock and key. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully restored in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Heig ht 108 x Width 79 x Depth 56 Dimensions in inches: Height 3 feet, 6 inches x Width 2 feet, 7 inches x Depth 1 foot, 10 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. Mahogany is probably one of the largest ‘families’ of hardwood, having many different varieties within its own species. Mahogany has been used for centuries in ship building, house building, furniture making etc and is the core structure of just about every 19th century vanity box, dressing case or jewellery box. It became more of a Victorian trend to dress Mahogany with these decorative veneers, such as Rosewood, Kingwood, Burr Walnut and Coromandel, so that the actual Mahogany was almost hidden from view. Mahogany itself is a rich reddish brown wood that can range from being plain in appearance to something that is so vibrant, figured and almost three dimensional in effect. Although Mahogany was most often used in its solid form, it also provided some beautifully figured varieties of veneer like ‘Flame’ Mahogany and ‘Fiddleback’ Mahogany (named after its preferred use in the manufacture of fine musical instruments). Cuban Mahogany was so sought after, that by the late 1850's, this particular variety became all but extinct. 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). Our reference: 06744

Dimensions:
Height: 42.52 in (108 cm)Width: 31.11 in (79 cm)Depth: 22.05 in (56 cm)
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
Late 19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU95063158202