It was listed by Regent Antiques. Sold pieces stay on Sellingantiques as a record of what has passed through, and the next one is rarely far away.
Regent Antiques has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
It is made of stunnning coromandel and features a pair of oval gilt brass mounts enclosing Sevres hand painted porcelain panels depicting figures in garden settings, and it is wonderfully decorated with stupendous gilt brass filigree mounts.
SELF CLOSING BOOK SLIDE/ 17849/ BETJEMANN'S PATENT
It is a delightful object which will display your favourite books beautifully.
Condition:
In excellent condition with only minor signs of wear commensurate with age and use, having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops,, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 17 x Width 52 x Depth 15 - Open
Height 17 x Width 34 x Depth 15 - Closed
Dimensions in inches:
Height 7 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 6 inches - Open
Height 7 inches x Width 1 foot, 1 inch x Depth 6 inches - Closed
Betjemann & Sons
From 1859, based at 36-40 Pentonville Road, London, George Betjemann amd his two sons took the art of cabinet, box and book slide making to new heights. They specialised in designs for operating the way that different compartments in vanity boxes opened and also the sprung system for book slides.
Coromandel wood or Calamander wood
is a valuable wood from India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia. It is of a hazel-brown color, with black stripes (or the other way about), very heavy and hard. It is also known as Macassar Ebony or variegated ebony and is closely related to genuine ebony, but is obtained from different species in the same genus; one of these is Diospyros quaesita Thwaites, from Sri Lanka. The name Calamander comes from the local sinhalese name, 'kalu-medhiriya', which means dark chamber; referring to the characteristic ebony black wood.
Coromandel wood has been logged to extinction over the last 2 to 3 hundred years and is no longer available for new work in any quantity. Furniture in coromandel is so expensive and so well looked after that even recycling it is an unlikely source. A substitute, Macassar Ebony, has similar characteristics and to the untrained eye is nearly the same but it lacks the depth of colour seen in genuine Coromandel.
Our reference: A2241
Regent Antiques has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
We specialise in english and continental furniture, silver, porcelain and decorative items.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Regent Antiques Profile Page
Regent Antiques is a registered member of LAPADA CINOA
Antique Victorian Betjemann's Pietra Dura Coromandel Book Slide 19th C
