Item Description:

Italian Baroque period ebonized wooden cabinet with bone inlay on stand. Main construction of coniferous, with ebony veneer and moulding of drawers in ebony. Comprising of 16 drawers, 4 of which are behind a central door, flanked by two columns. Topped with a heavily decorated architectural drawer.  Cabinet has a decorative top frieze sitting on a stand with turned tapered legs with inlay stringing, turned stretcher with central finial. Various scrolls, grotesques and fantastic animal motifs decorate the cabinet, some of which are carved into bone with black highlight detailing and others carved into ebony with gold highlight detailing.

 

Dimensions:

Height x Width x Depth

Dimensions in mm

 

Overall: 1840x1310x430

Top Cabinet: 850x1240x380

Base Stand: 1000x1310x430

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Conservation process:

Having been in storage for many years the piece was in huge disrepair, with virtually all the inlay stringing either loose or missing, a lot of the ebony mouldings were either loose or missing and veneer was lifting especially the side panels. Thankfully all the drawers were intact along with the carved motifs. Some earlier repairs were attempted however not to an acceptable level so in turn these areas needed some attention. The main work was consolidating any loose pieces and replacing missing sections keeping in mind to respect the age and integrity of the piece.  Consolidation of loose/ missing inlay and mouldings, frame joint reconstruction, minimal preventative conservation measures taken. Conservation grade materials, processes and techniques used. Documenting steps with progression of works.

 

The cabinet first went through a dry dusting then a warm damp cleaning process to remove any loose dirt and dust. The original bone inlay needed care as over the years the layers of polish had built up on the bone causing a staining and a yellow film to form. This had to be carefully cleaned back by cotton swab and a diluted alcohol solution. This cleaning really showed up the black and gold detailing on the motifs. After some investigation and discussion with a colleague in the Buckingham Palace Conservation workshops we sourced some natural casein imitation bone for the missing stringing. Slicing this into thin banding lengths for inlay. Using all original banding where possible. Missing ebony mouldings were all hand carved from an ebony wood and fitted to match seamlessly to the original.

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The drawers were virtually untouched after a light cleaning as to preserve the integrity and age of the piece showing the original paper drawer linings, possibly for storing such items as tea. Tea was considered a luxury item in times past, which was commonly kept behind locked doors and away from any servant’s hands.

The base section needed some light repairs mainly to the joints, re-gluing where needed ensuring the strength of the stand. The replacement mouldings and missing pieces were hand stained to match the colour and tone of the original. The cabinet was then finished with a conservation grade microcrystalline wax to bring out the natural shine.

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An interesting fact is seen in the back of the base cabinet, some small tacks are visible some with traces of a cloth material in places. This may have been the original cloth used for packaging the piece for delivery, day one.

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Inspection of the cabinet shows traces of woodworm, under carful investigation this proves to be old and inactive.  We did not see the cause to treat by in-house shock freezing technique due to the age and fragile state of the piece.