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Bureau bookcase
Oakley, George - Enlarge image
Bureau bookcase
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
1808-1810 (made)
1808 (painted) - Artist/Maker:
Oakley, George (probably, designer and maker)
Baynes, James, born 1766 - died 1837 (painter (artist)) - Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany, veneered with zebrawood and other woods, with gilt-bronze mounts
- Museum number:
W.15:1 to 14-1930
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 120, case 16
Object Type
A bureau bookcase combined two functions, storage for books and a writing desk. Shelves for books are fitted inside the upper and lower cupboards of this example. Below the upper doors, there is a false drawer, which drops down, supported on brass quadrants, to form a writing surface. The interior is fitted with small drawers and pigeonholes.
People
George Oakley was a very fashionable cabinetmaker with a shop at 8 Old Bond Street, London. The bureau bookcase is very similar in design to other pieces of furniture that were made by his firm, Oakley & Evans. In 1801, the London correspondent of Journal der Luxus und der Moden, a German magazine, wrote that 'all people with taste buy their furniture at Oakeleys [sic], the most tasteful of the London cabinetmakers'.
Materials & Making
By 1810, when this bureau bookcase was made, combinations of different styles and contrasting materials had become fashionable. The mounts are Egyptian figures while the glazing bars in the doors are Gothic. The exterior is covered with zebrawood, a dark and patterned wood from Brazil, while the interior is veneered in satinwood, which is light in colour and came from Ceylon.
