Louis XV Style Marquetry Chest with Ormolu Details
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.
- 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. - 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.
- Marquetry - In marquetry inlay, contrasting woods, and other materials such as ivory, shell and metal are inlaid either as panels or in a single continuous sheet over the surface of the piece. The design may be straightforward, such as a shell pattern or a basket of flowers, or it may be infinitely complex, with swirling tendrils of leaves, flowers and foliage, such as one finds, for example, in the "seaweed" patterns on longcase clocks of the William and Mary and Queen Anne periods.
- Corbel - An architectural term for a support for a projecting bracket, ostensibly supporting a beam or horizontal feature, but used in bookcases, sideboards and chests as a decorative element. Corbels are often carved with acanthus or other scrolling decoration.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
A Louis XV style inlaid tulipwood semainier, circa 1930s, of typical form with a shaped purple and ochre marble top above seven even drawers with feather veneer reserves and floral inlay, quarter veneer strung panels to the sides, bold high hipped edges fl
A Louis XV style tulipwood semainier, early 20th century, with a serpentine cream marble top above seven full-width drawers with feather banded and inlaid reserves, hipped and curvaceous edges to splayed feet, with gilt bronze mounts and sabots, height 147
A French Louis XV-style walnut Semainier, circa 1950, a serpentine cream and purple marble top above seven full-width draws each with feather banding within shaped reserves, quarter veneered panels to the sides, with a shaped apron and shaped edges flowing
A Louis XV style Semainier, of tapering serpentine form in walnut, kingwood and satinwood surmounted with a caramel marble top, with seven drawers each with stringing and floral inlay, foliate brass pulls, escutcheons, the sides with herringbone parquetry,