Object Description
This is a fabulous dining set comprising an antique Queen Anne Revival burr walnut dining table, by the renowned retailer and cabinet maker Maple & Co, and bearing their engraved brass label, and a set of ten French Walnut dining chairs, both circa 1880 in date.
The rounded rectangular figured walnut top with moulded edge above a walnut frieze carved with rope-twist moulding. It has it’s original winding mechanism with winding handle and has four leaves which can be added or removed as required to suit the occasion.
Its raised on four cabriole legs carved with foliate cartouches terminating in ball and claw feet with a central support leg for extra stability. The table is fitted with a Joseph Fitter Patent wind-out mechanism, bearing his brass label.
The set of ten walnut and black leather upholstered-back dining chairs, are also late 19th Century in date.
These chairs have been masterfully crafted in beautiful solid walnut and feature brass studded rectangular backs with stuff over seats. The tapered fluted legs and castors are united by moulded and shaped X stretchers.
The chairs have been beautifully upholstered in top quality Italian black leather with brass studs..
The table has been French polished to revive it and bring out the beautiful grain of the burr walnut.
It is a beautiful dining set which is sure to receive a lot of attention during your dinner parties.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and the chairs reupholstered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 75 cm x Width 363 cm x Depth 137 cm – Fully extended
Height 75 cm x Width 150 cm x Depth 137 cm – Leaves removed
Height 96.5 cm x Width 50 cm x Depth 53 cm – Side chairs
Height 50 cm – Seat height
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 5 inches x Width 11 foot, 11 inches x Depth 4 foot, 6 inches – Fully extended
Height 2 foot, 5 inches x Width 4 foot, 11 inches x Depth 4 foot, 6 inches – Leaves removed
Height 3 foot, 2 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 9 inches – Side chairs
Height 1 foot, 8 inches – Seat height
Maple & Co
the renowned furniture retailer of London, Paris and Buenos Aires, were famous for top quality furniture.
They were by Royal Appointment and became one of the leading furniture manufacturers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. They used only the finest quality timber which was imported directly from all over the world.
Maple and Company were founded in 1841 in Tottenham Court Road, London and had premises there until 1997. By the 1880s they were the largest and most successful furniture makers in the world, their huge emporium having become a tourist attraction in its own right. In addition to their middle class clientele, they furnished Embassies, hotels, beautiful homes and palaces all over the globe, including Tsar Nicholas’s Winter Palace, the Hoffburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, and many of Britain’s country houses.
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.
Winding Mechanism for extending tables
A man by the name of Samuel Hawkins applied for a patent on a screw expander on June 6th, 1861. Presumably, Mr. Hawkins either died or retired because his business was taken over by a young machinist named Joseph Fitter in 1864.
Joseph Fitter operated a machinist shop where he produced winding mechanisms for extending tables as well as screw expanders for piano stools and other applications at 210 Cheapside, Birmingham England by the name of Britannia Works.
Our reference: A5157a