VIENNA TABLE CABINET. WOOD, ENAMEL. 19TH CENTURY.
Antiques -
Reference: ZE433
Viennese tabletop jewelry box or chest. Wood, enamel, bronze. Austria, second half of the 19th century. Requires restoration. Rectangular table or writing desk with four rectangular projecting corners and a finial projecting from an openwork railing, forming an architectural composition and ending in a gilt-bronze child figure. The four corners of the piece feature semicircular arches with gilt-bronze twisted columns, sheltering bronze female figures in a dancing pose, with other children above. In addition to a series of gilt-bronze appliqués throughout the piece, there are a series of hand-painted enamel plaques with mythological scenes in pastel tones. Two doors on the front give access to three interior drawers, with handles and enamel plaque decorations depicting landscapes. Note that the doors are also decorated with scenes inside. These types of cabinets were highly prized in courtly settings, and were used in private women's homes to store jewelry or other valuables, while also being highly decorative. The shape, materials (ebony or ebonized wood, bronze, etc.), and enamel plaques follow the style of the 19th-century Viennese school, which specialized in this type of cabinet (the most important were made in Vienna). It was unusual to feature corners with architectural shelters, as can be seen in this example (there are two other examples in private collections, one with plain bronze columns and the other with porcelain and twisted columns, both dating from around 1880).
· Size: 47x44x56 cms.
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