Antique Pair French Louis Revival Burr Walnut Bedside Cabinets 19th C

This is an elegant Antique pair of French burr walnut, ormolu mounted, satin wood crossbanded and cylindrical Louis Revival bedside cabinets, circa 1880 in date.

The stunning pair of oval cabinets each feature Rouge Griotte marble tops above brushing slides with two drawers, shelf space and a cupboard door. They are raised on tapering feet terminating in ormolu caps.

Add an elegant touch to any room with this beautiful pair of cabinets.

Condition:

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

Dimensions in cm:

Height 80 cm x Width 47 cm x Depth 40 cm

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 1 foot, 6 inches x Depth 1 foot, 4 inches

Rouge Griotte marble - is named after the griotte cherry because of its remarkable bright red colour. The more red the marble, the higher quality it is. When the marble contains many goniatites full of white calcite the marble is called “Partridge eye”.

The quarries, still active today, are in the Herault region and the name “Griotte from Italy” is a marketing label. Red Griotte was the favourite marble for Royal apartments in the 18th century, particularly for mantles, like the one in the office of Louis XIV in Versailles.

Walnut & Burr Walnut

Walnut is a hard, dense, tight- grained wood that polishes to a very smooth finish. It is a popular and attractive wood whose colour ranges from near white in the sapwood to a dark hew in the heartwood. When dried in a kiln, walnut wood tends to develop a dull brown colour, but when air-dried can become a rich purplish-brown. Because of its colour, hardness and grain, it is a prized furniture and carving wood. Walnut veneer was highly priced and the cost would reflect the ‘fanciness’ of the veneer – the more decorative, then the more expensive and desirable.

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.

Walnut "burrs" were often used to make fabulous furniture. Veneer sliced from walnut burl is one of the most valuable and highly prized by cabinet makers and prestige car manufacturers and is also a favourite material for shotgun stocks.

Ormolu - Gilt Bronze (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: A4004