Antique French Ormolu Mounted Burr Walnut Cocktail Cabinet Circa1930

This is a stupendous vintage French burr walnut and ormolu mounted cocktail cabinet with a fitted mirrored interior, of the highest quality complete with a suite of cut crystal glasses, dating from Circa 1930.

The doors open to reveal a stunning fitted mirrored interior with a glass shelf above a marble base with three brass gallery shelves to each door, above two drawers useful for bottle openers and corkscrews etc.

The lower part has two doors that open to reveal a cupboard with a central shelf.

The cabinet is smothered in decorative ormolu mounts, is raised on ormolu feet and is complete with working locks and keys.

The cabinet comes with a suite of cut glasses to include:

6x Wine glasses

4x Champagne glasses

1x Cognac / Brandy glass

4x Sherry glasses

4x Port glasses

2x Cocktail glasses

As an added bonus we include 10 vintage whiskys in miniature bottles.

Condition:

In really excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 158 cm x Width 87 cm x Depth 42 cm

Dimensions in inches:

Height 5 foot, 2 inches x Width 2 foot, 10 inches x Depth 1 foot, 4 inches

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.

Inlay was commonly used in the production of decorative burr walnut furniture, where pieces of coloured veneers are inlaid into the surface of the walnut, adding delicate or intricate patterns and designs. Inlays normally use various exotic veneers, but other materials such as brass or bone were also be used.

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.

Our reference: A4064