Vintage Victorian Style Burr Walnut Kidney Shaped Desk
For weekly notifications of new arrivals in your categories of interest please click HERE.
The desk has nine drawers on one side and a useful pair of cupboards on the other. It has elegant brass drop handles, stands on a plinth base and has a 'modesty panel' at the rear. It is finished all round so it is free standing with working locks and keys.
This stunning desk is sure to become the centrepiece of your furniture collection and will receive the maximum amount of attention wherever it is placed.
Condition:
In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation of condition.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 79 x Width 160 x Depth 82
Height 62 x Width 58 - Kneehole dimensions
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 feet, 7 inches x Width 5 feet, 3 inches x Depth 2 feet, 8 inches
Height 2 feet, 0 inches x Width 1 foot, 11 inches - Kneehole dimensions
Burr Walnut
refers to the swirling figure present in nearly all walnut when cut and polished, and especially in the wood taken from the base of the tree where it joins the roots. However the true burr is a rare growth on the tree where hundreds of tiny branches have started to grow. Burr walnut produces some of the most complex and beautiful figuring you can find.
Victorian Furniture
(1830 - 1901) very popular today, probably due to its accessibility more than the esthethics. There was plenty of furniture made due to the change in history of methods of manufacture, the machine had taken over and was able to produce mass amounts of Victorian furniture to satisfy the vast demand by the middle class people that desired it.
Furniture history changed forever through the Victorian period. It became desirable to have a home laden with furniture to show your status to your peers.
Throughout history Queen Victoria identified herself with the middle class. Therefore the furniture of this period was made for an ever-increasing middle class population. The most popular woods used to produce furniture included: mahogany, burr walnut, rosewood and ebony. Thick, darkly coloured woods with ornate carvings, high-tone gloss, richly carved silhouettes and as many flourishes and ornaments as the surface of a piece of furniture would allow were typical for this period. They were designed to give the appearance of being owned by the wealthy.
Mahogany and rosewood were popular and rich colours, intensified by layering high-gloss lacquers over stained wood were highly desired. Comfort was an important consideration for purchasers who wanted their homes to be gracious reflections of their financial, so velvet cushions and brocade sofa fabric were often coordinated with velvet drapes for maximum impact.
Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741 - 1807)
was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.
While Kauffman produced many types of art, she identified herself primarily as a history painter, an unusual designation for a woman artist in the 18th century. History painting, was considered the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during this time period. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Royal Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes.
Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, held in higher esteem and patronized.
The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait. There were other pictures by her at Paris, at Dresden, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, in the Alte Pinakothek atMunich, in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn (Estonia).
Satinwood
is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.
The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.
It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.
Our reference: 01171
