This is a beautiful antique French ormolu mounted King Wood Louis Revival bijouterie table, circa 1860 in date.
The shaped top fitted with glass and the frieze with glass panels, the whole with elaborate decorative ormolu mounts and lined with burgundy velvet. It is raised on tapering cabriole legs applied with exceptional foliate and torch design ormolu mounts that terminate in ormolu sabots.
Complete with working lock and key.
Bijouterie tables were designed to store and display a collection of small valuable items, they are also called table vitrines, and display tables.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 78 cm x Width 93 cm x Depth 63 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 3 feet, 1 inch x Depth 2 feet, 1 inch
King wood
is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fi
...ne furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by John Parris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similar colour to sapwood.
The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. it turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also has a tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasive properties.
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: A4866
Internal Reference: A4866
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1186057
Dateline of this antique is 1860
Height is 78cm (30.7inches)Width is 93cm (36.6inches)Depth is 63cm (24.8inches)
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