antique french louis revival ormolu mounted kingwood bureau plat desk 19th c

This is a gorgeous antique French Louis Revival gilt bronze mountedkingwoodbureau plat, Circa 1860 in date.

The rectangular top has a decorative gilt bronze border, raised corner cartouches and a superb inset gold tooled black leather writing surface, above three frieze drawers on one side and dummy drawers on the other.It is freestanding, has fabulous decorative ormolu handles and mounts, working locks and keys and three capacious oak lined drawers for all your storage needs.It is raised on four elegant cabriole legs, each of which has decorative ormolu mounts and beading. The legs terminate with elegant ormolu sabots.This is a truly lovely piece which will display beautifully in any interior.
Condition:In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:Height 79 x Width 154 x Depth 83Dimensions in inches:Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 5 feet, 1 inch x Depth 2 foot, 9 inches
Our reference: A2173
Kingwood
is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fine furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by JohnParris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similarcolourto sapwood.The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. it turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also hasa tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasiveproperties.
Ormolu -(from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-caratgoldin amercuryamalgamto an object ofbronze.The mercury is driven off in akilnleaving behind a gold-coloured veneerknown as'gilt bronze'.The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding orfire-gilding, in which a solution ofnitrate of mercuryis applied to a piece ofcopper,brass, or bronze, followed by the application of anamalgamof gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object.After around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead.Electroplatingis the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used onsilver, to producesilver-gilt..

Antiques.co.uk Ref: K2GUQWMPD

Width (cm):

154

Height (cm):

79

Depth (cm):

83

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