Object Description
An Ormolu-Mounted Mahogany Secrétaire
In the manner of S. Jamar
The Central Panel Inset with
A Rare Hand-Painted Porcelain Plaque
On Vienna Porcelain
After the original by Franceschini
Constructed from the finest flamed Cuban Mahogany and dressed with cast and fire-gilt bronze mounts, the fall-front secretaire posed on a rectangular plinth and supported on two columns with an open-arched backboard beneath a single lockable frieze drawer, the central door set with a central hand-painted porcelain plaque depicting Venus and Cupid within an ormolu border and flanked by fluted solid bronze Corinthian columns with acanthus leaf capitals; the hinged panel opening en abattant and incorporating a gilt-tooled leather writing surface as well as an arrangement of pigeon holes and six drawers with fine bronze rosette handles; the cabinet surmounted with a fine Carrara marble top finished with an ormolu three-quarter gallery. The plaque inscribed to the back “Copy from a Picture by Franceschini / in the Collection of Count Czernin in […]/ in Vienna Porcelain.”
English, Circa 1820