A Louis XVI style ormolu mounted kingwood bureau plat, by…
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A Louis XVI style ormolu mounted kingwood bureau plat, by Edwards and Roberts, London, late 19th century, the leather top above frieze drawers raised on tapering legs with rosette terminals, stamped 'Edwards & Roberts/Wardours/London, 73 cm high, 133 cm wide, 75 cm deep, The firm of Edwards & Roberts was founded in 1845, and had premises at 21 Wardour Street, London. By 1892 they occupied more than a dozen buildings in Wardour Street, where they continued to trade until the end of the century. Known and feted as one of the leading London cabinet makers and retailers, they worked in a variety of styles, both modern and revivalist especially furniture in the neo classical Adam revival, as well as the French furniture of the ancien regime, and exhibiting a range of ability in their products, from ?very good to astonishingly good?. Their marquetry work, as in this example, is of a quality that equals the creations of the French ebenistes of the eighteenth century. The business involved making and retailing their own output, as well as adapting and restoring both English & Continental antique furniture

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  • Neo Classical - The period or style, known as "neo-classical", was based on Greek and Roman designs and motifs, and is usually associated with the influence of the four Adam brothers, but principally Robert Adam, the second oldest of the brothers, who were architects and designers, active in the latter half ot the 18th century (1760s to 1790s).

    Born in Scotland in 1728, Robert Adam spent time in Italy studying and his designs are influenced by the finds made during the excavation of Pompei.

    When he returned to England he became the Court Architect to George III (1738-1820).

    In turn, designs by Adam then influenced Hepplewhite.

    Neo-classical ornamentation is characterised by use of classical urns, palmettes, mythical creatures such as the sphinx and griffin, ram's heads, swags, scrolling foliage, and use of the Greek key pattern.
  • 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.
  • Signed or Stamped - A signed piece of furniture may mean that the maker has signed (and hopefully dated) the piece in the same way that we sign a cheque, but more likely, that it bears evidence of the name of the maker, wholesaler or retailer as a paper label, metal plaque, impressed into the timber or in later pieces after about 1880, stamped onto the timber with an ink stamp.

    The 'signature' or stamp will always be in an unobtrusive position: under the top of a table, on the underside of the rails of a chair, inside a drawer or on the back.

    The fact that a piece is 'signed' considerably enhances its value. Signed Australian furniture is extremely rare, and for imported furniture, it is a mark of quality of the item, as only the items by the top makers or retailers were 'signed'
  • 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.
  • Frieze - An architectural term denoting the flat, shaped or convex horizontal surface of furniture, between the architrave and the cornice, usually found on a cabinet or bookcase, or on desks and tables where it may include drawers, the area between the top and the legs. In ceramics, the term refers to the banding, of usually a repeating pattern, on the rims of plates and vases.
  • Rosette - A stylised circular-shaped disk with turned or carved decoration decoration applied to a surface, or carved into the surface, especially used in ceramics, jewellery, furniture, sculpture and textiles. Also known as a boss or a paterae or patera.

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