Antique French Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

This is a gorgeous antique French Louis Revival gilt bronze mounted kingwood and amaranth bureau plat, Circa 1880 in date.

The rectangular top has a decorative gilt bronze border, raised corner cartouches and a superb inset gold tooled green leather writing surface, above three frieze drawers on one side and dummy drawers on the other.

It is freestanding, has fabulous decorative ormolu handles and mounts, working locks and keys and three capacious oak lined drawers for all your storage needs.

It is raised on elegant cabriole legs, with figural gilt bronze masks, ending in lion's paw sabots.

This is a truly lovely piece which will display beautifully in any interior.

Condition:

In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 78 x Width 163 x Depth 82

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 5 foot, 4 inches x Depth 2 foot, 8 inches

Kingwood

is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fine furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by John Parris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similar colour to sapwood.

The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. it turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also has a tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasive properties.

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.

After around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt..

Our reference: A2001