Antique Louis Revival Marquetry Triform Occasional Table C1870

This is a beautiful antique Louis Revival ormolu mounted mahogany and marquetry triform occasional table, Circa 1870 in date.

It has a shaped top and fall leaves inlaid with the most beautiful marquetry decoration of flowering stems and leafy scrolls.

The triform top has three flaps which can be raised and lowered as required to suit the occasion.

The quality and attention to detail throughout is second to none.

Condition:

In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation of condition.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 75 x Width 56 x Depth 52 - Flaps down

Height 75 x Width 68 x Depth 64 - Flaps up

Dimensions in inches:

Height 29.5 x Width 22.0 x Depth 20.5 - Flaps down

Height 29.5 x Width 26.8 x Depth 25.2 - Flaps up

Marquetry

is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, mother of pearl, pewter, brass silver or shell) of different colours are inserted into 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 shell and brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.

Ormolu - (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: 08459