Walnut Marquetry Secretaire Cabinet in Louis XV Style
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.
- 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.
- Bombe Front - More commonly associated with a dome shaped dessert, "bombe" in furniture parlance means "puffed out". In profile the piece is serpentine shaped, narrow at the top, swelling out towards the middle and continuing to the floor, though sometimes it narrowed again at the foot. Drawer fronts are curved in section. Bombe pieces are often highly decorated with marquetry inlay, or veneered and set with brass or ormolu mounts. The most common use of the word, is in the description of the 'bombe commode'.
The bombe design was particularly popular in the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XIV, when it was used to create furniture pieces with a curved, rounded bulging shape. This design was used on furniture in many styles, including Baroque, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. The bombe chest is one of the most iconic furniture piece featuring this design. They were usually made of precious woods like mahogany, rosewood, and walnut, and feature elaborate inlay, gilded ornaments and ormolu. Other items of furniture where the bombe design can be seen include cabinets, commodes, and desks. - Fall Front - Furniture with a hinged flap, usually associated with desks and secretaires, that opens or 'falls' to provide a flat writing surface. The flap may be supported by chains or brass quadrants and rest on wooden supports or runners, known as lopers, that pull out from a recess in either side of the piece. The interior of a fall-front desk is usually fitted with small drawers and pigeonholes.
This item has been included into following indexes:
- cabinets, material - walnut 670
-
cabinets, period or style
- French 728
- Louis XV style 193
- cabinets, type - secretaire 34
Visually similar items
A French Louis XV style kingwood secretaire - abattant, with floral marquetry decoration, circa 1900, the rectangular marble top, above an inverted cornice, below a fall front with floral marquetry decoration, enclosing leather writing surface pigeon holes
A French Louis XV style kingwood and marquetry fall front desk. 130 cm high, 75 cm wide, 35 cm deep.
A French Louis XV style walnut bombe shaped two drawer marble top commode. 85 cm high,119 cm wide, 54 cm deep.
A decorative French Louis XV style walnut and floral marquetry three drawer bombe shaped commode with shaped marble top. 85 cm high, 110 cm wide, 53 cm wide.