Object Description
A superb Edwardian marquetry inlaid mahogany writing table, circa 1900 in date.
It features superb satin wood and boxwood crossbanded decoration and the top is fitted with a striking inset gold tooled green leather writing surface.
It has two frieze drawers decorated with satin wood banding and ‘S’ leaf marquetry with shaped latticework detail below. It features a unique pull-out pen and ink drawer holder to the side and is raised on four square tapering legs that terminate in their original brass castors.
It is finished all round so it is freestanding if required.
Condition:
In really excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 73 cm x Width 100 cm x Depth 50 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 5 inches x Width 3 foot, 3 inches x Depth 1 foot, 8 inches
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 by craftsmen has medieval parallels in Central Italian 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 coloured marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a coloured marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.
Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centres 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 and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.
Our reference: A4753