Burr Walnut, Amboyna & Parcel Gilt Cabinets with Mirrors from Gillows, Set of 2

Details

Description

A superb decorative pair of 19th century burr walnut pier cabinets with mirrors above. Featuring amboyna burl, ebony inlays and … Read more A superb decorative pair of 19th century burr walnut pier cabinets with mirrors above. Featuring amboyna burl, ebony inlays and parcel gilt detailing. Made by the world renowned English firm Gillows. Maker's stamp: Gillow & Co. Circa 1880.

Showing beautiful warm colour and patina, and striking figuring in the wood, the cabinets have inverted breakfronts on turned and carved columns, with a central glazed door. The mirrors continue with the turned and carved columns, with added acanthus decoration, terminating to an inverted breakfront cornice. The cabinets also feature boxwood and fruitwood line inlays.

The blown glazed doors and the mirror plates are all original. The glass plates are in very good condition, showing some light scratch marks and very light silvering as expected.

These cabinets have been altered at some time in the past, as there would have been a central part. The sympathetic alteration is to the plinth, and only on one side of each cabinet. A vertical walnut facing has also been added to the backs. Photographs 19, 20 and 21 show the sides that have had alterations, and the back vertical walnut added upright. Setting the alterations aside, these cabinets exude quality, and would make a great statement piece.

The interiors are lined in velvet, and the shelves are removable. There are some signs of standing object marks as expected. There are no keys for the lock and the lock plates are missing. The velvet lined interiors would be very useful to hold wine glasses, and the pair would make a superb addition to a hotel or hospitality sector.

There are marks and light knocks commensurate with age around the pieces, and some historic veneer repairs. The tops have some very slightly raised areas and indentations marks. Please refer to all of the photographs.The cabinets are free from any woodworm. The mirrors are separate from the cabinets, as shown, each having four original screws to fit.

The name ‘Gillow’ has been associated with furniture making from the 1730s until the end of the 20th century, and was regarded as a leading furniture maker of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gillow’s furniture conceived a broad range of historicist styles designed by a host of named and anonymous architects and designers. The firm continued to engage craftsmen skilled in hand-finishing, carvers and marquetry specialists. These labour-intensive practices were employed in conjunction with a measured approach to new technology in the form of wood-working machinery.

Gillow’s used freelance architects and designers together with the development of its internal ‘Artists’ Department’, which was perhaps the most visible and important contribution to the firm’s legacy and demonstrated its enduring allegiance to the principles of art manufacture.

Additional dimensions information:

The interiors are 37cm deep. The shelves have 26cm in height at the top, 19cm in the middle, and 25.5cm at the bottom. The cabinets are 99cm high. This piece has an attribution mark,
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