A Victorian walnut veneer marble toped credenza, with mirrored…
click the photo to enlarge
A Victorian walnut veneer marble toped credenza, with mirrored back and inset panel doors, marble top with crack 151 cm wide, 48 cm deep, 190 cm high

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.

    The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
  • Veneers - Veneers are thin sheets of well-figured timber that are glued under pressure to the surface of a cheaper timber for decorative effect, and then used in the making of carcase furniture.

    Early veneers were saw-cut so were relatively thick, (up to 2 mm) but is was realised that saw cutting was wasteful, as timber to the equivilent of the thickness of the saw was lot on each cut.

    A more efficient method was devised to slice the timber, either horizontally with a knife, or in a rotary lathe.

    Flame veneer, commonly found in mahogany or cedar furniture, is cut from the junction of the branches and main trunk. So-called fiddleback veneers, where the grain is crossed by a series of pronounced darker lines, is usually cut from the outer sections of the tree trunk.

    During the 17th and 18th centuries, and in much of the walnut marquetry furniture made during the latter part of the 19th century, the veneer was laid in quarters, each of the same grain, so that one half of the surface was the mirror image of the other.

    The use of veneer allows many other decorative effects to be employed, including stringing, feather banding, cross banding, and inlaid decorative panels in the piece. The carcase over which veneer is laid is usually of cheaper timber such as pine, oak or, sometimes in Australia during the first half of the 19th century, red cedar.

    The important thing to remember about veneers is that prior to about 1850 they were cut by hand, and were consequently quite thick - ranging up to about 2mm deep.

    From the mid-19th century veneers were cut by machines and were almost wafer-thin. This is a critical point when trying to judge the approximate age of veneered furniture.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Visually similar items

Fine antique mirrored back and marble top figured walnut credenza with fret work to doors

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A Victorian period burr walnut cabinet whatnot, with turned, carved and fluted column supports, the base with single glazed door and internal shelf, intricate floral inlays and boxwood stringing, standing on short turned legs with original white china cast

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A burr walnut music cabinet, c. 1860, condition: in overall excellent condition, including original flawed glass, 105 x 60 x 36.5 cm

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A rare Victorian burr walnut pop-up desk c.1870's the top with slide action having concealed pop up section with six drawers and stationery compartments the lower having two side drawers with stretcher type base carved with lion paw feet and castors height

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.