Antique French Marquetry And Ormolu Stationary Casket . 19th Century

This is a wonderful antique French Gonalo Alves marquetry and ormolu mounted casket, circa 1860 in date.

The casket of bureau form has a lift up top and is inlaid with a marquetry flower vase which opens to a plain interior lined with marbled paper, above a single drawer with conforming marquetry front and sides, and raised on a shaped plinth base with decorative acanthus ormolu mounts.

It has fully working locks and is complete with its original key.

This is a highly decorative casket which will make a statement once placed on any period desk.

Condition:

In really excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 21 x Width 30 x Depth 22

Dimensions in inches:

Height 8 inches x Width 1 foot x Depth 9 inches

Gonalo Alves is a hardwood (from the Portuguese name, Gonalo Alves). It is sometimes referred to as tigerwood a name that underscore the woods 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 woods color deepens with exposure and age and even the plainer-looking wood has a natural luster.

Two species are usually listed as sources for gonalo 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.

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 wi

Internal Ref:

A3376

Date of manufacture : 1860