Description: You are viewing a fantastic Sheraton style mahogany breakfront bookcase. The piece comes in two parts, the four door - four drawer base, and the glass fronted top. It's the perfect mix of aesthetic beauty and practical usefulness and will add a touch of style and elegance to any interiors scheme. The piece has the characteristic Sheraton style inlay to the front with the urns and garlands gracing the front of the two doors. There is also a thin strip bordering the doors, drawers and glass fronted doors. If you imagine how this inlay is created you can see how much skilled craftmanship and man hours goes into the making of this fine piece of furniture. Each piece of marquetry inlay design has to be cut out of the softer fruitwood and then embedded into the harder mahogany of the main structure. There is a lot of storage space. The doors on the bottom open out to reveal the large inner space. This door is lockable and comes with a key. The drawers at the top open out cleanly. Then of course there is the fantastic glass fronted top half again with keys. When this opens out you can see the shelves are adjustable so you can store various items. Being glass fronted its a great way to showcase your decorative pieces, such as porcelain, bronzes and other collectibles. Of course books also look great in this piece. At the top is the classical pediment. This fine piece of furniture is a design classic and will last you for generations and hence makes for a great heirloom. This piece is offered in perfect condition and has just come back from the restorers where it had a repolish and hence is ready for home use immediately. Sheraton furniture is characterized by its careful, rectilinear proportions and fine workmanship. Chairs with mainly straight rails and small decorative tablets in the backs are typical; seats are given generously deep upholstery, while legs are tapered, straight or turned: not a cabriole is to be seen. Cabinet pieces have rounded corners, convex or concave shaping, with pilasters and fluting. Mechanical contrivances and tambour doors were much favoured and so were silks —in festoons and swags for beds, and in pleats behind the glass doors of cabinets. Mahogany, satinwood, and other finely figured hardwoods were used; marquetry decoration is restrained, sometimes giving way to painted flowers or classical subjects on the most exuberant pieces. Sheraton's Cabinet Dictionary (1803) was in line with the stricter archaeological classicism of the early 19th century, while his most ambitious work, The Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer and General Artist's Encyclopedia had only reached the letter C when he died. Dimensions are in inches: 84 inch high x 72 inch wide x 18 inch deep

Antique Furniture
Antique Bookcases