Object Description
This is a superb antique Late Victorian Flame mahogany string inlaid and satinwood crossbanded pedestal kneehole desk, circa 1880 in date.
It is made from fabulous flame mahogany, the rectangular top with an inset olive green gold tooled leather writing surface, and it features an elegant ogee moulded edge with a striking brass three quarter gallery.
There are three drawers in the frieze as well as three graduated drawers in each pedestal. It has it’s original brass swan neck handles and brass locks.
Instill the elegance of a bygone era to a special place in your home with this fabulous antique desk.
With working locks and key.
Condition:
In really excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 78 x Width 122 x Depth 66
Height 99 – Rail
Height 62 x Width 49 – Knee hole
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 4 foot x Depth 2 foot, 2 inches
Height 3 foot, 3 inches – Rail
Height 2 foot x Width 1 foot, 7 inches – Knee hole
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.Mahogany
is probably one of the largest ‘families’ of hardwood, having many different varieties within its own species.
Mahogany has been used for centuries in ship building, house building, furniture making etc and is the core structure of just about every 19th century vanity box, dressing case or jewellery box. It became more of a Victorian trend to dress Mahogany with these decorative veneers, such as Rosewood, Kingwood, Burr Walnut and Coromandel, so that the actual Mahogany was almost hidden from view.
Mahogany itself is a rich reddish brown wood that can range from being plain in appearance to something that is so vibrant, figured and almost three dimensional in effect.
Although Mahogany was most often used in its solid form, it also provided some beautifully figured varieties of veneer like ‘Flame’ Mahogany and ‘Fiddleback’ Mahogany (named after its preferred use in the manufacture of fine musical instruments).
Cuban Mahogany was so sought after, that by the late 1850′s, this particular variety became all but extinct.
Alfred Charles Hobbs
(1812 – 1891) born in America, when Alfred was only three years old his farther died leaving the family destitute. Beginning at the age of ten, A. C. Hobbs worked at a variety of jobs ranging from farm help to wood carving, carriage building, tinsmithing, and harness making. While an apprentice at the Sandwich Glass Company, he learned to make doorknobs and became interested in locks. For a while he was a partner in a small firm of Jones & Hobbs, lock makers. About 1840 he became a salesman for the Day & Newell Company – one of America’s foremost lock makers. Here he earned a reputation as an expert lock picker. He found that the best way to sell his Companies locks was to pick the locks of his competitors.
In 1851 he was sent to the Great Exhibition in London where he successfully picked the famous Chubb and Bramah locks. ( “Great Lock Controversy” .)
Assisted by his newly won fame and publicity, he founded Hobbs & Co., London, in 1852.
Our reference: A3023