Antique Edwardian Marquetry Inlaid Satinwood Writing Table Desk C1900

This is a elegant antique Edwardian satinwood and marquetry- crossbanded lady's writing desk , Circa 1900 in date.

This gorgeous desk is freestanding and has been crafted from beautiful satinwood which has been masterfully inlaid with a marquetry of ribbons, swags and garlands..

The desk features a central shelf with a shaped bevelled glass mirror below, flanked by cupboard doors with turned handles and two secret cylinder compartments. One can be opened by pressing a small button on the side, the other by pulling out a slide in the frieze.

The hinged leaf below opens to reveal a gold tooled black leather writing surface above four small drawers and an arched apron drawer. The desk is raised on square tapering legs that terminate in brsaas caps and castors.

Complete with the original handles and working locks and keys.

This elegant desk will make a wonderful addition to your home or office.

Condition:

In really excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 110 x Width 99 x Depth 44

Dimensions in inches:

Height 3 foot, 7 inches x Width 3 foot, 3 inches x Depth 1 foot, 5 inches

Satinwood

is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.

The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.

It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.

Marquetry

is decorative artistry where pieces of material 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 brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.

Our reference: A2933