Object Description
This is a gorgeous antique Victorian burr walnut and marquetry inlaid enclosed Canterbury circa 1870 in date.
The grain of the burr walnut is truly beautiful. It features a hinged top opening to a divided interior. The sides are fitted with decorative panels and it sits on trestle supports fitted with brass and white porcelain castors
Antique Canterburies are extremely sought after and this item would be cherished by any collector of antiques. Used to store sheet music in Victorian times, today it can also be used to store papers, magazines and newspapers.
There is no mistaking its quality and unique design, which is certain to add a special something to your home, wherever you choose to place it.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 54 cm x Width 52 cm x Depth 45 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 1 foot, 9 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 6 inches
Canterbury is a piece of portable, occasional furniture, consisting of an open-topped rack with slatted compartments for sheet music, music books, magazines or newspapers and often a drawer underneath as well; rests on four legs, which are typically on casters.
It was developed in the 1780s in England (reputedly deriving its name from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who commissioned one), it grew increasingly ornate throughout the 19th century: Victorian pieces often have an upper galleried shelf, and panels shaped like lyres or treble clefs.
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.
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.
Our reference: A3774