Antique Victorian Four-door Flame Mahogany Library Bookcase 19th Century

This is a beautiful antique early Victorian four door flame mahogany library bookcase, masterfully crafted in rich solid mahogany, circa 1870 in date.

This magnificent bookcase has four glazed doors in the upper section,  each opening to a cupboard with four shelves which can be adjusted according to the height of your books. 

It features four panelled doors in the lower section, two of which open to reveal spacious cupboards each fitted with an adjustable central shelf, the third has three drawers fitted with the original brass handles and the fourth is fitted with three useful slides.

It has all its original working locks and keys, the shelves are all original and the drawer linings and bookcase back are also made from solid mahogany.

There is no mistaking its superb quality and very grand design, which is certain to make it a talking point in your home and stand proud in whichever room you choose to display it.

 

The bookcase breaks down for ease of movement - the base is one section, the upper section splits in half with two glazed doors to each half and then the cornice is one piece.

Condition:

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

 

Dimensions in cm:

Height 236 cm x Width 247 cm x Depth 54 cm

Dimensions in inches:

Height 7 foot, 9 inches x Width 8 feet, 1 inch x Depth 1 foot, 9 inches

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.

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.

Our reference: A4296