This is a stunning antique Dutch marquetry walnut cabinet on chest, circa 1780 in date.
It has been accomplished in walnut with exquisite hand-cut boxwood and fruitwood floral marquetry typical of the period.
The cabinet has a single-glazed door and glazed sides and it stands on a bombe serpentine fronted marquetry chest of drawers. The chest features fabulous marquetry decoration of floral bouquets on each side which highlight the beauty of this piece.
It has chased ormolu handles and escutcheons and is complete with the original working steel locks and keys.
This exceptional piece represents a fantastic example of 18th-century Dutch marquetry cabinetry at its very finest.
Condition:
In really excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 192 cm x Width 113 cm x Depth 57 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 6 foot, 4 inches x Width 3 foot, 8 inches x D
...epth 1 foot, 10 inches
Fruitwood
is the wood of any of numerous fruit-bearing trees, such as the cherry, pear or apple used mainly in cabinetmaking. Most of the fruitwoods have fine, smooth texture and good shaping features and are considered to be the best cabinet woods.
Marquetry
is decorative artistry where pieces of material of different colours are inserted into the surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers.
The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th-century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian ''Cosmati''-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the ''hardstones'' used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.
Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.
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.
Our reference: 07076x
Internal Reference: 07076x
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1209220
Dateline of this antique is 18th Century
Height is 192cm (75.6inches)Width is 113cm (44.5inches)Depth is 57cm (22.4inches)
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