South African Design, Past & Present
Timed Online Auction, 7 - 26 June 2024
Furniture and Metalware
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
Cape stinkwood and beefwood armoire, late 18th century
the moulded arched cornice centred by a foliate and floral key block above a pair of panelled doors and sides enclosing three shelves and two drawers and a later hanging rail, the lower half with three long conforming linenfold drawers, on turned bun feet, restorations
Notes
The armoire was introduced to the Cape in the late 1700's as wealthy burghers and landowners enlarged their homes, commissioning grandiose pieces of furniture for the interiors. The general styles followed the development of the Cape gable: starting off plain and simple , becoming more and more ornate through baroque into rococo, followed by the clean geometric lines of the neo-classical period.
The drawers of this armoire can be described as 'linen-fold' as they are shaped as folded linen which is typical of the Baroque period.