Carved Walnut Buffet-a-Deux-Corps with Seasonal Depictions

• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
• Important - Important is a word used in the antique trade to indicate an object should be ranked above other similar objects, and is therefore more valuable.
  
  The object could be considered important because it is by a famous designer or maker, has been shown at a major exhibition, is of exquisite workmanship, is rare or is a "one-off", was made for an important patron, and so on.
  
  Even further up the pecking order are objects that are described in catalogue descriptions as highly important or extraordinarily important.
• Escutcheons - An escutcheon is a plate, made of brass, wood, ivory or ebony, which fits into or over the h keyhole, to protect the edge of the timber keyhole from damage by continual insertions of the key. As a general rule you would expect these escutcheons to be sympathetic in design to the handles of the piece. From the early 19th century escutcheons were sometimes made from ivory, ebony, bone or contrasting wood, often cut in a diamond or shield shape and inlaid into the front. Ivory, in particular, will tend to discolour with age, and certainly should not show up as brilliantly white.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• cabinets, material - walnut 670
• cabinets, period or style - French 728
• cabinets, type - buffet a deux corps 20