STYLE: Private Collections
STYLE: Private Collections
A pair of Louis XIV style gilt-bronze mounted calamander and hardwood breakfront side cabinets, English, last quarter 19th century
Lot Closed
November 13, 02:27 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 50,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A pair of Louis XIV style gilt-bronze mounted calamander and hardwood breakfront side cabinets, English, last quarter 19th century
the Algerian brèche sanguine marble tops above a cupboard door incorporating Japanese lacquer panels, Edo period 17th century, opening to reveal a single adjustable shelf, on later spiral fluted tapering feet
92.5cm. high, 124.5cm. wide, 41.5cm. deep; 3ft.½in., 4ft. 1in., 1ft. 4½in.
These opulent English cabinets, conceived in the Louis XIV style, employ an array of exotic materials which when coupled with the finely chased gilt-bronze mounts point to a commission of some importance. The vivid brèche sanguine marble tops were mined in Algeria - a source of exceptional marbles championed by British diplomat and naturalist Sir Lambert Playfair (1828 –1899) following a visit in 1880 – and the highly prized Japanese lacquer panels would have originally formed part of an Edo period chest. Tantalizingly, these cabinets do not bear a maker's stamp although it is worth comparing them to a similarly conceived Louis XIV style cabinet with Butchoff Antiques which is stamped Gillows 1866 and relates to the firm's designs for 1874.