20. A Cabinet On Stand Of Rare And Unusual Form
SOLD
Ceylon | c. 1830
A CABINET ON STAND OF RARE AND UNUSUAL FORM
Satinwood and ebony with ivory inlays
Ceylon
Circa 1830
Height: 82” (208cm)
Width: 54” (137cm)
Depth: 22” (56cm)
The cabinet having two panelled satinwood doors, each door with two square panels, framed by ebony uprights inlaid with ivory in a Greek-key pattern and with an ebony cornice above, the cornice frieze ivory inlaid in a scrolling wish-bone pattern, the panelled cabinet sides also of satinwood with two panels, the ebony plinth with ivory vertical inlays, on a two stage stand, the first stage with three drawers, all with satinwood drawer fronts, the second stage with two satinwood fronted long drawers centred by a short ivory inlaid ebony drawer front, the drawers on both levels framed by ivory inlaid ebony surrounds and deep ebony mouldings, on ebony legs with a finely reeded vase shape body and ring turnings above and below.
The particular design of the ivory inlay to the frieze of the cornice is apparently unrecorded. The prominent pierced scrolled wish-bone design may have been devised, or adapted, especially for this cabinet, underlying the importance of the piece. A contemporary viewing the cabinet would have been immediately struck by the unusual nature of the design and duly impressed by the ingenuity of the commission.
