Rare Ebonized Aesthetic Decorative Antique Anglo-Japanese Japonisme Side Table
A beautiful and rare very fine antique ebonized Anglo-Japanese side table. Most likely made around 1870-90 in England, this strikingly attractive rare table has breathtaking lines and beautifully ornamental decoration and will add superb antique quality, charm and decorative appeal to any interior.
This gorgeous side table exemplifies the decorative principles of the Aesthetic Movement of the late Victorian era, typified by the motto ‘Art for Art’s Sake’, which was inspired by Japan’s artwork reopening to the West in 1861 after more than three-hundred years. Made of beautifully tubular solid wood ‘Japanned’ in black lacquer, it features an exquisitely hand-painted top and lower shelf, wonderfully angled legs and standout architectural stretchers.
The fabulous artwork shows scenes from nature and take their inspiration from Japanese woodcuts which were exported to the West from the 1860s onwards. With vibrant colouring and gilt detailing on black backgrounds, the table top shows a bird swooping down to a tree surrounded by beautiful foliage vignette, while the lower shelf has a rare two-part zigzag decoration, which was used to show contrasting aspects of nature: one side is a peaceful scene of beautiful demur foliage over a black background while the other depicts a bird of prey swooping from vibrant foliage.
The rarity and finery of the decoration, a joy to behold, is only matched by the design and craftsmanship of the table itself, which suggests it was made by a top creator of the period. The craftsmanship and stunning angles and horizontal and vertical lines ebonized in black lacquer ensure that, whatever angle it’s viewed from, you’ll see a wonderfully crisp and clean architectural silhouette of this fabulous piece.
The vertical stretchers below the shelf are angled inwards to match the legs and are very similar in style to those of Aesthetic Movement founder and master-craftsman of Anglo-Japanese furniture E.W. Godwin. Very much a rarity in Anglo-Japanese tables, along with the fine decoration to the shelves, they mark out this table as a particularly special and very attractive piece indeed.
All in all this is a very fine, extremely beautiful and rare ebonized antique Anglo-Japanese table. Versatile and timelessly stylish, it will make a refined, elegant and standout item in any setting.
CONDITION
This is in fair-to-good condition. Structurally sound, all the parts are original and in place and there is some lateral movement, common with tables of this design and age, and so it should be treated with respect and not knocked about or weighed down with excessively heavy items. There are the to-be-expected minor marks and bumps to the frame and areas of wear to the decorative top and shelf, with the top having two larger patches of wear where the papier-mâché canvas has worn away, but which doesn’t hugely detract from this spectacular piece. Overall it’s a fantastic table and a wonderful example of very fine antique craftsmanship and if well looked after it should be just as stunning in another century-and-a-half or more – please see the photos.
MEASUREMENTS
Height - 72cm, Width - 54.5cm, Depth - 39.5cm, Flat Table Top 51 x 35.5 - cm, Weight - 4kg.
DELIVERY
UK delivery price quoted, collection also available from Warwick UK. Please CONTACT US FOR INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY QUOTES - the current International delivery quote is just a place-holder.
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