This is a superb antique late Victorian flame mahogany and satin wood pedestal desk, circa 1880 in date.
It is made from fabulous flame mahogany, the rectangular top is fitted with an inset olive-green gold tooled leather writing surface and has an ogee moulded edge. The desk features superb satinwood crossbanding with boxwood line inlaid decoration.
There are three drawers in the frieze and three graduated drawers in each pedestal. The desk stands on plinth bracket bases raised on brass and porcelain castors and it has its original brass handles and working locks and key.
Instil the elegance of a bygone era to a special place in your home with this fabulous antique desk.
Condition:
In really excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 79 cm x Width 138 cm x Depth 70 cm Height 62.5 cm x Width 52.5 cm - Knee Whole
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot,
...7 inches x Width 4 foot, 6 inches x Depth 2 foot, 4 inchesHeight 2 feet, 1 inch x Width 1 foot, 9 inches - Knee Whole
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 kingwood, burr walnut and coromandel, so tha,t 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: A4823
Internal Reference: A4823
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1190482
Dateline of this antique is 1880
Height is 79cm (31.1inches)Width is 138cm (54.3inches)Depth is 70cm (27.6inches)
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