A pair of neoclassical kingwood corner cabinets, 19th century,…
click the photo to enlarge
A pair of neoclassical kingwood corner cabinets, 19th century, with chocolate and cream marble bow tops above well figured book end veneer doors with stringing and narrow borders, having restrained ormolu pendants, pierced ornaments to the apron drops and sabots to the waisted stile feet, height 83 cm, width 46 cm, depth 36 cm

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Pierced Decoration - Ornamental woodwork with part of the background cut through and removed to produce an open-work pattern.
  • Veneers - Veneers are thin sheets of well-figured timber that are glued under pressure to the surface of a cheaper timber for decorative effect, and then used in the making of carcase furniture.

    Early veneers were saw-cut so were relatively thick, (up to 2 mm) but is was realised that saw cutting was wasteful, as timber to the equivilent of the thickness of the saw was lot on each cut.

    A more efficient method was devised to slice the timber, either horizontally with a knife, or in a rotary lathe.

    Flame veneer, commonly found in mahogany or cedar furniture, is cut from the junction of the branches and main trunk. So-called fiddleback veneers, where the grain is crossed by a series of pronounced darker lines, is usually cut from the outer sections of the tree trunk.

    During the 17th and 18th centuries, and in much of the walnut marquetry furniture made during the latter part of the 19th century, the veneer was laid in quarters, each of the same grain, so that one half of the surface was the mirror image of the other.

    The use of veneer allows many other decorative effects to be employed, including stringing, feather banding, cross banding, and inlaid decorative panels in the piece. The carcase over which veneer is laid is usually of cheaper timber such as pine, oak or, sometimes in Australia during the first half of the 19th century, red cedar.

    The important thing to remember about veneers is that prior to about 1850 they were cut by hand, and were consequently quite thick - ranging up to about 2mm deep.

    From the mid-19th century veneers were cut by machines and were almost wafer-thin. This is a critical point when trying to judge the approximate age of veneered furniture.
  • Apron - A decorative wooden panel that sits underneath the top surface of a table or chair, and unites the top of the piece with the legs, running at right angles to the underside. On carcase furniture such as a chest or wardrobe, the apron sits below the drawers or doors and attaches to the legs.

    On carcase furniture without legs the panel under the drawers or doors sits on the floor and is termed a plinth.

    An apron can provide a decorative touch to an otherwise unadorned piece of furniture and at the same time provide structural support and strength. They can be carved or pierced and quite elaborate.
  • Figured - A descriptive term to describe the patterns in the grain of timber. An object may be described as "well figured" or "highly figured" if the grain on a section of the object is highly patterned, as with flame mahogany or burr walnut.
  • Ormolu - Ormolu was popular with French craftsmen in the 18th and 19th century for ornamental fittings for furniture, clocks and other decorative items. True ormolu is gilt bronze, that is bronze that has been coated with gold using a mercury amalgam. Due to the health risks associated with using mercury, this method of creating ormolu was discontinued in France in the 1830s. A substitute was developed consisting of about 75% copper and 25% zinc, however it was inferior to the bronze version. It was often lacquered to prevent it tarnishing.
  • Stringing - Fine inlaid lines, in contrasting colour to the carcase timber, found mainly on furniture made in the styles of the later 18th and early 19th centuries. Stringing, which may be of satinwood, pine, ebony, horn, brass or occasionally ivory, is found principally on drawer fronts, around the outer edges of usually tapered legs and French bracket feet, around the edges of inlaid panels and between the joint of the cross banding and carcase timber on table tops, chests of drawers, cabinets etc. The effect is to emphasize the line of the piece and add to the impression of lightness and elegance. Stringing also occurs in Sheraton-revival-style furniture of the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Stile - A cabinetmaker's term that refers to the vertical end members of the framework in a panelled item of furniture. The vertical mid-members are known as muntins.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Visually similar items

An inlaid Louis XVI transitional style tulipwood corner bookcase, circa 1900, with a marble top, canted edges and a fine diaper pattern to the frieze above a pair of glazed and floral inlaid quarter veneer panelled doors, similarly decorated to the sides,

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A transitional style marquetry and rosewood corner cabinet, circa 1900, having a richly mottled serpentine marble top above a pair of doors of conforming profile decorated with quarter veneer reserves, with marquetry decoration, stringing and cross banding

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A walnut sideboard with applied ribbed decoration to the door panels, French, 18th/19th century. 82 cm high, 250 cm wide, 50 cm deep

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A William IV flame mahogany sideboard base, the rectangular top with thumb moulded edge, the two panelled doors each with wide banding enclosing the central flamed panels, fine carved details to the corners, flanked by tall column type panels with acanthus

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.