Gilded Japonaiserie Coffee Table with Glass Top

• Provenance - A term used to describe the provable history of an antique or work of art, and thus an additional aid to verifying its authenticity. Provenance can have an inflating effect on the price of an item, particularly if the provenance relates to the early settlement of Australia, a famous person, or royalty. Less significant are previous sales of the item through an auction house or dealer.
• Japonaise - In 1853, Japan ended the long period of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world and trade with Europe and America gradually developed. Impetus was given by the Meiji Revolution of 1867-8 which began the ruthless Westernization of Japan. As the Japanese enthusiastically embraced all things western, there was a corresponding appreciation of traditional Japanese art forms in the west. This led to traditional Japanese designs being incorporated into furniture, ceramics, and silverware in the third quarter of the 19th century.
  
  Examples of the Japanese influence are Japanese motifs, faux bamboo, fretwork and lacquer work.
• Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
  
  For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
  
  Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• furniture, material or decoration - lacquered 260
• tables, French - French, wine and ocasional 563
• tables, purpose or type
  • coffee, pre 1950 91
  • gilt 86