Antique Victorian Burr Walnut & Inlaid Breakfront Open Bookcase 19th C

This is a superb antique Victorian burr walnut and marquetry inlaid breakfront open bookcase, circa 1860 in date.

The bookcase features beautiful satinwood crossbanding and four carved anthemion plaques, the breakfront central cupboard door encloses three adjustable shelves and is flanked by open bookcases each with three larger adjustable shelves. The whole is raised on an inverted breakfront plinth base.

Its attention to detail and lavish decoration are certain to draw the eye wherever you choose to place it in your home.

Condition:

In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 138 x Width 257 x Depth 46

Dimensions in inches:

Height 4 foot, 6 inches x Width 8 foot, 5 inches x Depth 1 foot, 6 inches

Burr Walnut refers to the swirling figure present in nearly all walnut when cut and polished, and especially in the wood taken from the base of the tree where it joins the roots. However the true burr is a rare growth on the tree where hundreds of tiny branches have started to grow. Burr walnut produce some of the most complex and beautiful figuring you can find.

Marquetry

is decorative artistry where pieces of material 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, Andr-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (bnistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.

Our reference: A2828

Internal Ref:

A2828

Date of manufacture : 19th Century