Antique Edwardian Revolving Bookcase Flame Mahogany C.1900

This an exquisite antique revolving bookcase attributed to the renowned Victorian retailer and manufacturer Maple & Co., circa 1900.

It is made of mahogany , revolves on a solid cast iron base, has inlaid boxwood lines to the top and bottom, the top with has an elaborate shell inlay to the centre as well as crossbanding and inlaid hatching around it.

The best quality Edwardian revolving bookcases had cast iron bases, as this meant that they would be sturdy and not tip when full of books, whereas the lesser versions had simple wooden bases.

The quality and attention to detail throughout is second to none.

Condition:

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

Dimensions in cm:

Height 87 x Width 50 x Depth 50

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 foot, 10 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 8 inches

Maple & Co

the renowned furniture retailer of London, Paris and Buenos Aires, were famous for top quality furniture.

They were by Royal Appointment and became one of the leading furniture manufacturers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. They used only the finest quality timber which was imported directly from all over the world.

Maple and Company were founded in 1841 in Tottenham Court Road, London and had premises there until 1997. By the 1880s they were the largest and most successful furniture makers in the world, their huge emporium having become a tourist attraction in its own right. In addition to their middle class clientele, they furnished Embassies, hotels, beautiful homes and palaces all over the globe, including Tsar Nicholas's Winter Palace, the Hoffburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, and many of Britain's country houses.

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 Rosewood, Kingwood, 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.

Edwardian Period (1900 - 1910)

The Edwardian era saw the beginning of a new century with a new king and a new style of interior design. The heavy, dark, cluttered look of the Victorian era was gone, and in its place, something much lighter and more cheerful.

Our reference: A3466a