Object Description
This is a stunning 19th century antique French Louis XV Revival ormolu mountd kingwood and floral marquetry shaped rectangular card table, circa 1870 in date.
The shaped top has banded marquetry inlay encompassing an exquisite floral marquetry bouquet of country flowers with musical instruments and a stunning gilt bronze border. The shaped frieze is profusely inlaid throughout with sprays of flowers, leafy stems and musical trophies.
It has decorative ormolu cast mask bosses to the sides and is raised on serpentine legs terminating in leafy ormolu sabots.
The hinged top opens to reveal a green baize lined interior for playing cards framed with equisite floral marquetry decoration.
It is a really superb piece which is sure to get lots of attention wherever it is placed.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished, waxed and the baize relined in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 74.5 x Width 94 x Depth 50 – Closed
Height 72.5 x Width 98 x Depth 94 – Open to play cards
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 5 inches x Width 3 feet, 1 inch x Depth 1 foot, 8 inches – Closed
Height 2 foot, 4 inches x Width 3 foot, 3 inches x Depth 3 feet, 1 inch – Open to play cards
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, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian “Cosmati”-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 colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.
Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers 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 (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.
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.
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.
Our reference: A3263