Object Description
A superb Napoleon III Ormolu Mounted Empire Revival Flame Mahogany Partners Pedestal Desk, Circa 1870 in date.
This imposing Empire Revival partners desk is mounted with fine ormolu neo-classical mounts including rosettes, palmettes escutcheons, ribbons and anthemion, on finely figured flame mahogany.
The rectangular breakfront top has round corners and has an inset gilt-tooled green leather writing surface. There is a decorative ormolu mounted column to each corner and the desk is raised on a plinth base with block feet.
It is a partners desk so it is freestanding and on one side there are three frieze drawers with three further drawers in each pedestal, the other side has two frieze drawers above a panel door in each pedestal. The doors each with superb decorative ormolu mounts open to a cupboard with a central shelf.
The desk comes complete with the original working locks and keys.
This desk will soon become the centrepiece of your furniture collection, there is no mistaking the sophisticated quality and design and it is certain to enhance the style and elegance of any living area, bedroom or reception.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished, waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 77.5 cm x Width 163 cm x Depth 84.5 cm – Desk
Height 60 cm x Width 69 cm – Knee hole
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 6 inches x Width 5 foot, 4 inches x Depth 2 foot, 9 inches – Desk
Height 2 feet x Width 2 foot, 3 inches – Knee hole
Empire style,
is an early-19th-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts followed in Europe and America until around 1830.
The style originated in and takes its name from the rule of Napoleon I in the First French Empire, where it was intended to idealize Napoleon’s leadership and the French state. The style corresponds to the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Federal style in the United States and to the Regency style in Britain. The previous style was called Louis XVI style, in France.
The Empire style was based on aspects of the Roman Empire. It is the second phase of neoclassicism which is also called “Directoire”, after a goverment system.
Furniture typically had symbols and ornaments borrowed from the glorious ancient Greek and Roman empires.
The furniture was made from heavy woods such as mahogany and ebony, imported from the colonies, with dark finishes often with decorative bronze mounts. Marble tops were popular as were Egyptian motifs like sphinxes, griffins, urns and eagles and the Napoleonic symbols, the eagle, the bee, the initials “I” and a large “N.”
Gilded bronze (ormolu) details displayed a high level of craftsmanship.
Flame Mahogany
Thomas Sheraton – 18th century furniture designer, once characterized mahogany as “best suited to furniture where strength is demanded as well as a wood that works up easily, has a beautiful figure and polishes so well that it is an ornament to any room in which it may be placed.” Matching his words to his work, Sheraton designed much mahogany furniture. The qualities that impressed Sheraton are particularly evident in a distinctive pattern of wood called “flame mahogany.”
The flame figure in the wood is revealed by slicing through the face of the branch at the point where it joins another element of the tree.
A partners desk
is an antique desk form, which is basically two pedestal desks constructed from the start as one large desk joined at the front, for two users working while facing each other.
This piece of furniture was first conceived in the United Kingdom to accommodate the work of banking partners. These gentlemen were usually senior bank officials who wished to work together while keeping the convenience and the prestige of a pedestal desk.
Ormolu – Gilt Bronze (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.
Our reference: A4006