Antique Ormolu Mounted Pietra Dura Jewellery Cabinet 19th C

This is an absolutely fabulous antique French engraved ormolu and Pietra Dura mounted jewellery cabinet, Circa 1860 in date.

The casket is in the form of a cabinet, with three fitted jewellery compartments on the top, the central compartment is superbly inset with an ornate oval inset pietra dura mount, with a lidded compartment to each side.

The bow-sided breakfront design with figural supports, with side doors each enclosing a blue glass perfume bottle with a pietra dura lid, and hinged doors fitted with further exquisite pietra dura panels that open to reveal two small drawers, the interior compartmnts of the cabinet have all been relined in grey silk.

This item is of superb quality with fabulous engraved decoration, is extremely rare and will instantly enhance any desktop.

Condition:

In excellent condition having been cleaned polished and relined in our workshops, with no dings, dents or signs of repair. Please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 22 x Width 22 x Depth 13

Dimensions in inches:

Height 9 inches x Width 9 inches x Depth 5 inches

Pietra dura is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished coloured stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art.

Pietre dure is an Italian plural meaning "hard rocks" or hardstones; the singular pietra dura is also encountered in Italian. In Italian, but not in English, the term embraces all gem engraving and hardstone carving, which is the artistic carving of three-dimensional objects in semi-precious stone, normally from a single piece, for example in Chinese jade.

The traditional convention in English has been to use the singular pietra dura just to denote multi-colored inlay work. However, in recent years there has been a trend to use pietre dure as a term for the same thing, but not for all of the techniques it covers, in Italian.

But the title of a 2008 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe used the full Italian sense of the term, probably because they thought that it had greater brand recognition. The material on the website speaks of objects such as a vase in lapis lazuli as being examples of "hardstone carving (pietre dure)"

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London uses both versions on its website, but uses pietra dura. "A method of inlaying coloured marbles or semi-precious stones into a stone base, often in geometric or flower patterns...."

Giovanni Montelatici (1864-1930) was an Italian Florentine artist whose brilliant work has been distributed across the world by tourists and collectors. Owners of Giovanni's work included Donald Trump.

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.

After around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt.

Our reference: A2707

Internal Ref:

A2707

Date of manufacture : 19th Century