Antique French Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet 19th C

This is a beautiful antique French ormolu mounted mahogany vitrine, circa 1870 in date.

This beautiful cabinet is of slender form with gilt bronze ormolu mounts and a moulded cornice. The cornice sits above a glazed panelled door and glazed sides enclosing glass shelves, and raised on an elegant plinth base.

Complete with working locks and keys.

It will add a touch of unparalleled style to your home and is perfect for displaying your collection of silver or porcelain.

Condition:

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

Dimensions in cm:

Height 103 x Width 48 x Depth 34

Dimensions in inches:

Height 3 foot, 5 inches x Width 1 foot, 7 inches x Depth 1 foot, 1 inch

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 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.

Our reference: A3072

Internal Ref:

A3072

Date of manufacture : 19th Century