Antique Square Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880

This is an exquisite antique French bois violette vitrine of square shaped form with glazed sides and fabulous ormolu mounts, circa 1880 in date.

This cabinet is elegantly crafted from fabulous bois violette, otherwise known as violetwood with exquiste ormolu mounts, the top with a bevelled glass panel over a four panel glazed cabinet with hinged door enclosing a single glass shelf and mirrored base, on a table style stand with four tapering cabriole legs.

This elegant display cabinet will soon become the centrepiece of your furniture collection and can suitably house your most valued collectables.

Condition:

In excellent condition having only been beautifully cleaned and waxed in our workshops As a vintage item, the cabinet show signs of use commensurate with age, these minor condition issues are mentioned for accuracy and, as seen in the accompanying photographs, it displays beautifully.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 110 x Width 46 x Depth 46

Dimensions in inches:

Height 3 foot, 7 inches x Width 1 foot, 6 inches x Depth 1 foot, 6 inches

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.

No true ormolu was produced in France after around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury. Therefore, other techniques were used instead but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing ormolu method for sheer beauty and richness of colour. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt (also known as vermeil).

Our reference: A3426