Antique Victorian Burr Walnut Sevres Plaque Mirror Back Credenza Cabinet 19th C

This is a monumental fine and rare antique Victorian burr walnut and amboyna, Sevres porcelain and ormolu mounted breakfront mirror backed credenza, Circa 1860 in date.

The well figured burr walnut top with perfectly matched veneers above a rectangular door centred with an oval Sevres porcelain plaque superbly painted with a Watteauesque courting couple on a bleu celeste ground with gilt highlights, flanked by a pair of glazed doors divided by acanthus grasped fluted ormolu mounted columns.

The credenza with boxwood line inlaid decoration, amboyna panels, striking ormolu mounts and raised on a plinth base. Amazingly the interior of the credenza is lined with the original sumptuous burgundy leather. The large mirror back features a gilt mask on top and th mirror is framed by a pair of Corinthian Columns with beaded egg and dart moulding, the out-set corners are decorated with acanthus leaves.

Complete with working locks and keys.

This is a stunning piece which is sure to attract a lot of attention wheever placed.

Condition:

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

Dimensions in cm:

Height 295 x Width 187 x Depth 48

Dimensions in inches:

Height 116.1 x Width 73.6 x Depth 18.9

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 produces some of the most complex and beautiful figuring you can find.

Amboyna

is a type of wood which has its origins in Indonesia (the preferred veneer comes particularly from the Andaman Islands). The grain texture is one of the most seldom and exclusive on earth.

The burls are often very small, which is why the sheets of veneer come in small dimensions. The colours range from deep yellowish-orange to dark red.

After finishing the surface, the grain texture of amboyna wood has a depth and richness unmatched in other textured woods.

Sevres Porcelain traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738. French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumoured relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles.

From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colours and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed.

The Sevres Porcelain manufactory always seemed to be in dire financial straits despite the incredibly fine works it produced. In fact, the king's insistence that only the finest items be created may have contributed to the difficulties. Only a limited number of European nobility could afford the extravagant prices demanded for such works. King Louis XV and eventually

Internal Ref:

A1324

Date of manufacture : 19th Century