Object Description
This is an elegant early Victorian top quality burr walnut marquetry and ormolu mounted table top jewellery/ collectors’ cabinet / humidor, in the manner of Holland & Sons, circa 1840 in date.
The rectangular cabinet is finished on all sides, the panelled doors are lined with ormolu, framing the satinwood marquetry design, they enclosing seven graduated drawers with cedar linings, flush brass handles and interior divisions enclosing on a plinth base.
The top drawer has a retailers label verso:
‘JOHN BRYANT/SUPPORTER OF WINES & CIGARS, 286 REGENT ST LONDON AND ORIEL STREET OXFORD’
It is a lovely and practical piece which can add character to your stylish interiors.
Complete with Bramah lock and key.
Condition:
In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 55 cm x Width 49 cm x Depth 32 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 1 foot, 10 inches x Width 1 foot, 7 inches x Depth 1 foot, 1 inch
Bramah
is London’s oldest security company. Established at 124 Piccadilly, London in 1784, and today based in Marylebone, London and Romford, Essex.
Bramah made their first lock in 1784 and the patent was awarded in 1787. The designer was Joseph Bramah. Joseph Bramah was a leading inventor of the industrial revolution, patenting over 18 new ideas, including a new valve for the water closet (toilet), the hydraulic pump, a fountain pen, and a fire engine.
Bramah also introduced a beer hand pump for use at the bar, to prevent fluid loss when barmen went downstairs to pour a new jug! Due to the quality of his manufacturing, his name became a by-word amongst British Engineers for engineering excellence and many of his inventions are on display in the Science Museum in London. You can find one of his original toilets still working in Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s home on the Isle of Wight.
The Bramah lock was unique and advanced property and valuables protection enormously. Indeed it was 50 years ahead of any Chubb lock and 70 years ahead of Yale. Original Bramah locks are most often found on the highest quality homes and furniture.
Holland & Sons
The firm of Holland & Sons (1803–1942) became from 1843 one of the largest and most successful cabinet makers, and a rival to Gillows of Lancaster and London.
The company’s labelled Day books are now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum Archive of Art and Design where they present a virtual ‘who’s who’ of nineteenth century society.
Established in 1803 by Stephen Taprell and William Holland, a relation of the architect Henry Holland. Always on the leading edge of fashion, Holland & Sons employed some of England’s foremost designers and participated in all of the International Exhibitions of 1851, 1855, 1862, 1867, 1872 and 1878. Holland and Sons also participated in many of the leading international exhibitions including London in 1862, Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1867 and 1872.
After a brief period in which the company was known as Taprell, Holland & Son c.1835-43, William Holland gained sole command after the senior partner Taprell’s retirement. From 1843 onwards they were known as Holland and Sons. The relationship between builder and cabinet maker is similar to another leading Victorian firm, Trollope and Sons.
Their earliest known commission was to furnish the Athenaeum Club, London, 1824- 1838. They also worked alongside the prestigious firm of Thomas Dowbiggin at Osborne House, and eventually took over their premises and business at 23 Mount Street, London in 1851 and 1853 respectively. In 1851, when the company was based in Mount Street and employed 351 people, they won a prize at the Great Exhibition for a bookcase. By then, after being granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment (United Kingdom) early in the reign of Queen Victoria, they had already taken a leading part in the decoration and furnishing of Osborne House, Sandringham House, Balmoral Castle, Windsor Castle and the apartments of the Prince and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House, executing numerous exceptional pieces of furniture. Holland and Sons also executed over three hundred separate commissions for the British Government, including the Palace of Westminster, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and oversaw the State funeral of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. One of their celebrated private commissions was a suite of bedroom furniture for the late Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet at Luton Hoo. During the latter half of the 19th century, Holland and Sons also supplied furniture for such notable London clubs as the Reform Club and the Oxford and Cambridge Club. Along with Gillows they shared the commission for the new Palace of Westminster.
Walnut & Burr Walnut
Walnut is a hard, dense, tight- grained wood that polishes to a very smooth finish. It is a popular and attractive wood whose colour ranges from near white in the sapwood to a dark hew in the heartwood. When dried in a kiln, walnut wood tends to develop a dull brown colour, but when air-dried can become a rich purplish-brown. Because of its colour, hardness and grain, it is a prized furniture and carving wood. Walnut veneer was highly priced and the cost would reflect the ‘fanciness’ of the veneer – the more decorative, then the more expensive and desirable.
Burr walnut refers to the swirling figure present in nearly all walnut when cut and polished, and especially in the wood taken from the base of the tree where it joins the roots. However the true burr is a rare growth on the tree where hundreds of tiny branches have started to grow. Burr walnut produces some of the most complex and beautiful figuring you can find.
Walnut “burrs” were often used to make fabulous furniture. Veneer sliced from walnut burl is one of the most valuable and highly prized by cabinet makers and prestige car manufacturers and is also a favourite material for shotgun stocks.
Our reference: A4793