Neo-Renaissance walnut cupboard. Supported by 4 feet of which the frontal ones are shaped as spinning top. Two doors at the base surmounted by two drawers. The uooer part stands on two refined columns and is made of a central door at two smaller lateral ones. The dorrs have green glass embellished with Neo-Renaissance patterns. The cupboard is richly decorated with inlays: the two basal doors have tiles with fruit jars and grotesque dragons; the drawers and the tiles in the background are inlaid with phytomorphic patterns; pillars are decorated with leaves and grotesque masks while the cymatium is made of a big inlaid scroll. Melted bronze handlers shaped as grotesque masks.
Product Condition: Fair condition. Wear consistent with age and use.
Walnut wood comes from the plant whose botanical name is juglans regia , probably originally from the East but very common in Europe. Light or dark brown in color, it is a hard wood with a beautiful grain, widely used in antique furniture. It was the main essence in Italy throughout the Renaissance and later had a good diffusion in Europe, especially in England, until the advent of mahogany. It was used for solid wood furniture and sometimes carvings and inlays, its only big limitation is that it suffers a lot from woodworm. In France it was widely used more than anything else in the provinces. In the second half of the eighteenth century its use decreased significantly because mahogany and other exotic woods were preferred.