George III Tambour Serpentine Sideboard, Early 19th Century

• George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
• Tambour - A form of folding shutter formed by narrow widths of wood with the flat side glued to canvas, and used on some writing desks, sideboards and other cabinets.
  
  The tambours may run vertically and enclose some stationery compartments, such as in a lady's writing desk. Or the tambours may run horizontally, such as in a Cutler desk, and form an enclosure for the whole of the writing surface.
• Serpentine - Resembling a serpent, in the form of an elongated 'S'. A serpentine front is similar to a bow front, except that the curve is shallow at each end, swelling towards the middle. The term presumably derives from its similarity to a moving snake or serpent. Serpentine fronts are usually veneered, with the carcase either being cut and shaped from a solid piece of timber, or built in the 'brick' method.
• Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.
  
  Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• cabinets, period or style - Georgian 274
• sideboards
  • Georgian 131
  • Victorian 404