Large mahogany bookcase, the four upper doors glazed in a diamond pattern, the four doors below veneered.

Large mahogany break-front bookcase with a glazed upper stage and cupboards below. The four doors above are glazed in a diamond pattern; most panes appear to be original glass. The shelves are numbered with modern leather alphabetical stickers dating from its use in the National Art Library. The interior is stained reddish brown.The reeding on the edge of the shelves varies, suggesting that the shelves are of different dates; some were evidently added by the NAL. There is brass fillet down the edge of the central door which locks the proper right door in place. The bolt fits into a metal socket attached to the central divider. There are key-holes on both doors for symmetry though on ly the right-hand lock works. The horizontal shelf follows the line of the break-front and has rounded corners; this profile is matched by the plinth. The edge of the shelf is reeded.

The cupboard doors below are veneered in matched mahogany with a distinctive figuring and oval stringing lines in a paler wood, with rectangular stringing around the edges, indented at the corners. The central doors have a vertical brass fillet similar to the upper stage.There are splits in the proper right door panel and the proper left door panel is shrunk and bowed so that it is coming out of its frame. The key-holes are set a diamond-shape veneer The sides of the bookcase are veneered.

The upper and lower stages are screwed together and each comes apart into sections.

Bequeathed by Lady Henriques

Bequeathed by Lady Henriques, Normandy Park, Guildford. Her husband was Sir Philip Gutterez Henriques (1867-1950), a barrister and Civil Servant. Her only son Philip was killed in action in 1915 and she wished to give the best pieces of a collection she had formed over a long period to a public collection. The bookcase was in the hall at her London house, 37 Eaton Square, London SW1, which was in 1953 let to the Dominican Consulate. The V&A accepted several items including a dolls house in 1954. The bookcase was considered for disposal in 1966 because of its large size (RF.66/3207) but was requested for use by the National Art Library West Room to store part of the Clements Collection of Armorial Bookbindings. In 2008 the West Room was redeveloped and the bookcase was taken to store.

This large mahogany bookcase was bequeathed to the Museum in 1955 by Lady Henriques, of Normandy Park, Guildford. Her only son was killed in the First World War and she wished to leave her best pieces of her antique furniture, which she had collected over a long period, to a public collection. The bookcase had been used in the hall at her London house, 37 Eaton Square, London SW1. The V&A acquired a group of items from her collection including this bookcase and a dolls house. From 1967 to 2008 the bookcase was used in the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum to store part of the book collection.

W.19:1 to 40-1955