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A superb quality antique breakfront Regency Gonçalo Alves sideboard, circa 1820 in date.
It features a raised mirrored back with an elegant surmounted brass three quarter gallery that is raised on scrolling ormolu supports.
This is over a decorative ormolu mounted frieze above three silk backed and brass lattice work doors flanked by ormolu mounted Gonçalo Alves columns and standing on a plinth base.
Add a an elegant touch to a special place in your home with this beautiful antique sideboard.
Complete with working locks and key.
Condition:
In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned and polished in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 123 x Width 138 x Depth 36
Dimensions in inches:
Height 4 feet, 0 inches x Width 4 feet, 6 inches x Depth 1 foot, 2 inches
Our reference: 09621
Please feel free to email or call us (+44 20 8809 9605) to arrange a viewing in our North London warehouse.
Regency Period Furniture (1800 - 1830)
Furniture styles often bear the name of the historical periods in which they occur. For English furniture, this often means naming a style after the king or queen on the throne at the time. With the Regency Period of furniture, the naming convention only partially applies and reveals the complicated political atmosphere of England at the time.
Unlike prior periods, borrowing elements from Roman and Greek furniture, designers of the Regency Period often tried to recreate the actual furniture pieces found in the museums, vaults, and artwork of the time. The introduction of Egyptian artifacts also sparked a desire to bring those elements into the Regency Period style. Thematic motifs of ancient gods, sphinxes, lions, and griffins ornamented many pieces. Additionally, a revival of Eastern influence from China and Japan inspired the use of bamboo, wood carved to resemble bamboo, and lacquered finishes.
While all these cultural and historic influences helped determine the furniture of the Regency Period, the style itself used ornamentation for its elegance, rather than rich carvings and curved lines exhibited in earlier periods of furniture design. The woodworking of the pieces generally exhibited plain lines and surfaces with slender legs and right angles. In many ways, this helped highlight the ornamentation by providing a simplistic background to avoid distraction.
The components of Regency Period furniture include the selection of wood and the use of metals for accents. Mahogany remained the dominant wood for furniture design, while exotic wood like ebony was featured in many high-end pieces. Additionally, veneers of rosewood and zebrawood added visually striking surfaces or features to the clean lines of the style.
The addition of metal accents, however, gave Regency Period furniture its ornate elegance. Furniture makers primarily used brass, while occasionally including bronze or ormolu, an imitation gold. Brass inlays, accents along corners and legs, handles, and hinges, were popular. Of note, brass rosettes or lions' heads to hold rings on cabinet doors and drawers decorated many pieces, while the bases of furniture legs were often animal feet made of brass. Glass insets on cabinet doors would also be covered and protected by brass grills in lattice patterns or scrollwork designs.
Gonçalo Alves is a hardwood (from the Portuguese name, Gonçalo Alves). It is sometimes referred to as tigerwood — a name that underscore the wood’s often dramatic, contrasting color scheme.
While the sapwood is very light in color, the heartwood is a sombre brown, with dark streaks that give it a unique look. The wood’s color deepens with exposure and age and even the plainer-looking wood has a natural luster.
Two species are usually listed as sources for gonçalo alves: Astronium fraxinifolium and Astronium graveolens, although other species in the genus may yield similar wood; the amount of striping that is present may vary.
In the high tropical forests of Central and South America, well-drained soils furnish nutrients for a variety of dense, durable hardwoods sought for maritime use, heavyconstruction, and furniture. The Spanish began harvesting in Latin American forests in the early 1500s to provide timber for boatbuilding and repair. By the early 1900s, however, steel ships had replaced wooden ones, and the interest in tropical forests by both Europeans and Americans shifted to appearance-grade woods for furniture.
Although history fails to provide us with a shopping list of species from either harvest period, it's probable that the wood we know today as goncalo alves has always been sought. That's because goncalo alves, considered one of the most beautiful of tropical woods, has a tough reputation, too. Strong and durable, it's used for construction in its homeland and secondarily for fine furniture. Woodworkers elsewhere treasure the wood for decorative items and veneer accents.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 123 x Width 138 x Depth 36
Dimensions in inches:
Height 4 feet, 0 inches x Width 4 feet, 6 inches x Depth 1 foot, 2 inches
Shipping:
We ship worldwide and deliver to Mainland UK addresses free of charge.
A shipping cost to all other destinations must be requested prior to purchase.
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Delivery and return policy:
We require that someone be home on the agreed delivery day if applicable, otherwise a redelivery fee will apply.
In accordance with Distance Selling Regulations, we offer a 14-day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the item.
The item must be returned in its original packaging and condition.
Unless the item is not as described in a material way, the buyer is responsible for return shipping expenses.
Buyers are fully responsible for any customs duties or local taxes that may be incurred on items sent outside of the European Union.
