What is an antique vitrine cabinet?

A vitrine is a glazed display cabinet intended to display and protect small curios, porcelain, or silver items. Emerging in 18th-century France, vitrines typically feature glass panels on three or four sides and decorative woodwork or metalwork.

What materials were traditionally used to construct 19th-century vitrines?

Late 19th-century vitrines were constructed using fine hardwoods such as walnut, rosewood, or mahogany, often finished with decorative veneers like burr walnut or kingwood. They feature glass glazing, cast brass or bronze ormolu mounts, and interior fabric or velvet linings.

How can you identify an authentic 19th-century French-style vitrine?

Authentic pieces often exhibit hand-cut glass, natural surface wear on the timber, cast brass mounts showing slight oxidisation, and traditional mortise-and-tenon or dovetail joinery techniques.

How can a Victorian vitrine cabinet be incorporated into modern interior design?

A glazed vitrine serves as a focal point in a hallway, living room, or study, providing a secure space to curate modern ceramics, books, or natural history specimens alongside contemporary furnishings.

How should antique timber veneers and ormolu mounts be preserved?

Dust timber regularly with a soft dry cloth and apply a clear beeswax polish occasionally to preserve the finish. Avoid abrasive metal cleaners on ormolu mounts, as they can remove the original gilt plating.

for sale €2,282 $2,477

£1,950

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Brown Wooden Vitrine

French Style Display Case

Id #SA1186823

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Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

Name: Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century
Brand: Antique
SKU: SA1186823
Price: 1950 GBP
Availability: InStock

19th century

For Sale by Regent Antiques

Description

This is an understated elegant antique Victorian burr walnut vitrine of square shaped form with serpentine glazed sides and fabulous ormolu mounts, circa 1870 in date.

This cabinet is elegantly crafted from fabulous burr walnut, the shaped top over four serpentine glazed panels that are framed with banded ormolu.

The cabinet with hinged door enclosing a pair of glass shelves. The base has been lined in a sumptuous gold fabric and the cabinet is raised on concealed brass castors.

This elegant display cabinet will soon become the centerpiece of your furniture collection and can suitably house your most valued collectibles.

Condition:

In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 104 cm x Width 50 cm x Depth 50 cm

Dimensions in inches:

Height 3 foot, 5 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 8 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.

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.

Our reference: A4579

Physical Dimensions

Height

104cm (40.94")

Width

50cm (19.69")

Depth

50cm (19.69")

Declaration

Regent Antiques has dated this Burr Walnut Vitrine Cabinet to the 1870s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA1186823

Dealers Internal Reference

A4579

Description

This is an understated elegant antique Victorian burr walnut vitrine of square shaped form with serpentine glazed sides and fabulous ormolu mounts, circa 1870 in date.

“

This cabinet is elegantly crafted from fabulous burr walnut, the shaped top over four serpentine glazed panels that are framed with banded ormolu.

Regent Antiques

fig 1. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 1. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

The cabinet with hinged door enclosing a pair of glass shelves. The base has been lined in a sumptuous gold fabric and the cabinet is raised on concealed brass castors.

This elegant display cabinet will soon become the centerpiece of your furniture collection and can suitably house your most valued collectibles.

fig 2. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 2. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

Condition:

In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 104 cm x Width 50 cm x Depth 50 cm

Dimensions in inches:

Height 3 foot, 5 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 8 inches

fig 3. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 3. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

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.

fig 4. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 4. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

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.

fig 5. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 5. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

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.

fig 6. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 6. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

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'.

fig 7. A late 19th-century burr walnut vitrine display cabinet featuring glazed curved sides, gilt-metal ormolu mounts, and internal glass shelves. — fig 7. Antique Ormolu Mounted Vitrine Display Cabinet C.1880 19th Century

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: A4579

Physical Dimensions

Height

104cm (40.94")

Width

50cm (19.69")

Depth

50cm (19.69")

Date of Manufacture

Regent Antiques has dated this Burr Walnut Vitrine Cabinet to the 1870s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Ref