A GEORGE II MAHOGANY BOOKCASE

A mid 18th century carved mahogany bookcase having an exceptionally fine carved moulded cornice with three dimensional acanthus leaf decoration above a glazed single door retaining the original escutcheons with five adjustable shelves behind, above two banks of three graduated drawers retaining the original pieced brass plate handles and escutcheons; on cabriole legs to the front and bracket feet to the reverse.
Note: This rare example of an early bookcase has survived in almost untouched condition. The form of this bookcase follows an even earlier type, which was usually made of oak or walnut. Comparable examples are the well documented bookcases in Magdalene College, Cambridge, originally made for Samuel Pepys in the 1660s.

Literature: Ralph Edwards & Percy Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, revised edition, Vol. I, London 1954, p. 81, fig. 5.

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