Victorian Inlaid Two-Door Corner Cabinet, 19th Century

This is a fabulous antique English Edwardian, mahogany two door corner cabinet profusely inlaid with satinwood and ebony crossbanding with boxwood and ebony stringing. It dates from circa 1890, the end of the Victorian period and the start of the Edwardian period. The pair of astragal glazed doors in the top section open to reveal an interior with two shelves, there is a central shelf in the bottom section. The cabinet is raised on elegant bracket feet and is complete with working locks and keys. The item is not CITES pursuant. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully restored in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 203 x Width 101 x Depth 52. Dimensions in inches: Height 6 feet, 8 inches x Width 3 feet, 4 inches x Depth 1 foot, 8 inches. Mahogany is probably one of the largest ‘families’ of hardwood, having many different varieties within its own species. Mahogany has been used for centuries in ship building, house building, furniture making etc and is the core structure of just about every 19th century vanity box, dressing case or jewellery box. It became more of a Victorian trend to dress Mahogany with these decorative veneers, such as Rosewood, Kingwood, Burr Walnut and Coromandel, so that the actual Mahogany was almost hidden from view. Mahogany itself is a rich reddish brown wood that can range from being plain in appearance to something that is so vibrant, figured and almost three dimensional in effect. Although mahogany was most often used in its solid form, it also provided some beautifully figured varieties of veneer like ‘Flame’ mahogany and ‘Fiddleback’ mahogany (named after its preferred use in the manufacture of Fine musical instruments). Cuban mahogany was so sought after, that by the late 1850s, this particular variety became all but extinct. Satinwood is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia. The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies. It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.