This is an elegant antique English Victorian marquetry inlaid demi-lune cabinet, circa 1880 in date.
This splendid cabinet is made of flame mahogany and features beautiful satin wood line inlay with marquetry decoration featuring Cornucopia, floral garlands and foliate scrolls.
The cabinet has two doors above a pair of drawers, and is raised on decorative shaped legs.
Add a touch of unparalleled elegance to your home.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 104 cm x Width 92 cm x Depth 55 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 3 foot, 5 inches x Width 3 foot x Depth 1 foot, 10 inches
Cornucopia Has Latin Origins and Greek History
Cornucopia comes from the Latin cornu copiae, which translates literally as “horn of plenty.” A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek
...mythology. According to legend, it was from this horn, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished, that the god Zeus was fed as an infant by his nurse, the nymph Amalthaea. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits, and given as a present to Zeus. The filled horn (or a receptacle resembling it) has long served as a traditional symbol in art and decoration to suggest a store of abundance. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of “an overflowing supply.”
Flame Mahogany
Thomas Sheraton - 18th century furniture designer, once characterized mahogany as ''best suited to furniture where strength is demanded as well as a wood that works up easily, has a beautiful figure and polishes so well that it is an ornament to any room in which it may be placed.'' Matching his words to his work, Sheraton designed much mahogany furniture. The qualities that impressed Sheraton are particularly evident in a distinctive pattern of wood called ''flame mahogany.''
The flame figure in the wood is revealed by slicing through the face of the branch at the point where it joins another element of the tree.
Marquetry
is decorative artistry where pieces of material of different colours are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers.
The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian ''Cosmati''-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the ''hardstones'' used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.
Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.
Our reference: A4055
Internal Reference: A4055
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1102583
Dateline of this antique is 1880
Height is 104cm (40.9inches)Width is 92cm (36.2inches)Depth is 55cm (21.7inches)
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