Summary:
• Item: Pair of bedside cabinets
• Circa: 1920
• Style: Queen Anne
• Provenance: England, UK
• Cabinet Maker: Maple & Co.
• Wood: Burr walnut
• Clean / simple design
• Moulded carved frame
• Canted corners
• Single open compartment
• Single enclosed compartment
• Lovely rich burr walnut mirror matched veneers
• Original brass drop handles & escutcheons
• Straight edges & clean lines
• Cabriole legs
• Shell carved knees
• Pad feet
• Excellent quality
• Original condition
• Lovely colour & patination
• Free delivery to England, Wales & southern Scotland*
• Free 14-day UK returns
Description:
Here is a fine quality pair of antique English Queen Anne style burr walnut bedside cabinets, constructed by Maples & Co., circa 1920, in excellent original condition. The bedsides are constructed with lovely mirror matched burr walnut veneers on a solid moulded canted frame. The bedsides comprise mirror matched veneer moulded tops, above a single open compartment shelf with an enclosed cupboard below. The cupboard doors retain their original elegantly designed brass drop handles on foliate escutcheons, with a moulded panel. On the inside of the doors, it retains the Maple & Co cabinetmakers’ badge. The bedsides stand on elegant cabriole legs, which also feature shell carved knees and terminate on pad feet. They are solid in joint and ready to use.
These bedsides boast a mellow brown walnut colour. They have a lovely colour and patination; this can only be achieved through age and years of care and cleaning they have received.
These bedsides would look superb in a variety of rooms from the living room to the bedroom. They would certainly grace any home, in either a traditional or contemporary setting; they are a great investment as they are extremely functional. So, don’t miss out on your chance to own a lovely piece of furniture.
Provenance:
Sir John Blundell Maple (1845-1903) was a furnishing storeowner, perhaps the most successful of all Victorian retail entrepreneurs. He achieved great wealth, became a politician, a horserace breeder and a member of the Prince of Wales’ set, and his emporium in 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, furnished everyone who was anyone in Victorian society.
Maple was born in 1845. His father, John Maple, had come from Horley, Surrey, where he had been apprenticed before opening a small shop there. John Maple senior moved to London, working first as a shop assistant, and then moving to Tottenham Court Road where he set up in business with James Cook. Within a few years the partnership had split and John Maple decided to run the business on his own. He began to succeed with what was at first a very small business, despite a fire and a building collapse. In fact, he was so successful that he was able to afford a good education for his son, John Blundell Maple (Blundell was his wife’s maiden name).
At the age of 16, John Blundell Maple joined his father’s business, which began to take off in ways never before imagined. John Blundell Maple had exceptional business skills and while still a young man was running the company. The British Empire was spreading round the world and Maples seized the opportunity – by the 1880s it was the largest furniture store on the planet. John Blundell Maple’s skills and vision were crucial and the moment was right for expansion.
Maples manufactured their own luxury furniture in a complex eventually so vast that by the 1880s it occupied an area where once stood 200 houses. They were timber importers, and exporters of furniture and fittings to all parts of the world. They used steam power and electricity, had a fleet of horse-drawn vans, depository and showrooms, and employed a vast workforce.
Maples’ market was the middle class and upwards – anyone anywhere who had money. They furnished palaces all over the world, including Tsar Nicholas’s Winter Palace, the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, all the great hotels, and town and country homes. Maples furnished all prestigious British embassies, even if it meant carrying a grand piano up the Khyber Pass on packhorses.
After the end of World War II and the change in tastes and the manufacturing cost factors, the decline started. In 1980 the furniture maker Warring & Gillow joined with Maple & Co., to become Maple, Waring & Gillow. It subsequently became part of Allied Maples Group Ltd, which includes Allied Carpets. In 1997 it went into administration and was taken over by the retailer Allders (Source: BBC & Wikipedia).
Condition Report:
This pair of bedsides are in excellent original condition. There are no marks, scratches or stains to the tops of the bedsides. Nominal old use marks to the leading edges and tops but nothing significant considering the age of the item. The burr walnut veneer is in excellent condition. The doors close flush to the frame. There are no breaks to the legs or chis to the glass tops. These bedsides are solid in joint; they do not wobble and are ready to use.
Dimensions:
Height = 74.1cm or 29⅛” or 2ft 5⅛”
Width = 41.6cm or 16⅜” or 1ft 4⅜”
Depth = 40.6cm or 16” or 1ft 4”
Terms & Conditions:
Before you purchase this item, please ensure you have read and are in agreement with our Terms & Conditions of Sale. If you have any questions regarding our Terms & Conditions of Sale, please contact us to discuss them, before purchasing this item.
Ref. 34794