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
Internal Reference: A4579
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1186823
Dateline of this antique is 1870
Height is 104cm (40.9inches)Width is 50cm (19.7inches)Depth is 50cm (19.7inches)
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