Burr Walnut Bureau Cabinet by Maple and Co.

A very good Queen Anne style burr walnut bureau cabinet by Maple and Co. of London. Of excellent construction in solid walnut and attractive burr walnut veneers onto a solid oak carcas. The domed top upper section has a pair of glazed doors (lockable) which open to access a shelved interior. The bureau itself has a lockable fall which opens to reveal a fitted interior with stationary compartments, a central cupboard and a series of small drawers. Beneath the fall are three serpentine fronted drawers all fitted with their original brass handles. All standing on elegant cabriole legs in solid walnut with carved decorations to the knees and terminating in pad feet. Sympathetically refinished in our workshops and now offered for sale in excellent condition, with a great colour and patina, ready to go straight into the home. Splits into two sections for ease of installation.

Dimensions:

Width 79cms

Depth 49cms

Height 192cms

Height of writing surface 77cms

Maple & Co was established by John Maple, a shopkeeper from Horley, Surrey, who later opened a furniture shop in Tottenham Court Road. However it was his son, John Blundell Maple , who made Maples & Co a success. With exceptional business skills, John B. Maple took over the company while still a young man. By the 1880s they were the largest furniture store in the world, exported their fine furniture to every continent.

Maples manufactured their luxury furniture entirely in-house, at a huge modern complex. A timber importer and furniture exporter, they landed prestigious contracts furnishing fine houses, hotels, embassies and palaces in Europe; among them Tsar Nicholas’s Winter Palace and the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna . With his own empire established, John Blundell Maple achieved further fame in politics and horseracing – some lines, such as the Atherstoke antique cabinet, having racing connections in the titles.

Never compromising on quality, Maples produced a huge catalogue of fine furniture, covering every avenue of interior design. A Maples & Co sale today would cover everything from Chippendale Revival antique dining chairs , to Aesthetic style carved oak dressers, to Art Nouveau tulip carved antique dining tables – all from the same catalogue.

The exclusivity and high quality of craftsmanship of Maples’ antique cabinets, dining suites and bedroom furniture made them highly popular with Britain’s social elite. Today, they appeal to anyone who appreciates fine craftsmanship.