Huge Bespoke Marquetry Dining Table 16 Chairs Extending Walnut

This is a fantastic bespoke handmade Victorian style marquetry dining set, comprising a gorgeous burr walnut and marquetry dining room table with the matching set of sixteen chairs.

This stunning set would also be appropriate for a conference room, whatever its function it will make a profound impact on your guests and will receive the maximum amount of attention wherever it is placed.

The table is made from burr walnut which has a really beautiful grain and to highlight the grain it has been French polished by hand. French polish is an alcohol and shellac polish for wood, it takes a lot of patience and hard work, but it is one of the most beautiful finishes available, producing an exceptionally high gloss.

It has four leaves which can be added or removed as required to suit the occasion by a special double winding mechanism. When completely wound in, the table is transformed into a circular table six feet in diameter.  There are six elegantly carved legs for stability and they terminate in brass cup castors.

The table top has a band of exquisite floral marquetry and this regal decoration includes bouquets of beautiful flowers.

The matching set of 16 chairs comprises fourteen side chairs and a pair of armchairs. The chairs are made of solid walnut, have been beautifully French polished and upholstered, and the exquiste marquetry decoration is hand cut to match the table. The drop in seats can be removed in hot weather so that the cane seats below can be utilised.
 

Condition:

This is a new set of bespoke handmade chairs.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 79 x Width 495 x Depth 180 - Fully extended

Height 79 x Width 180 x Depth 180 - When completely closed

Height 105 x Width 56 x Depth 53 - 2 Armchairs

Height 105 x Width 48 x Depth 46 - 14 Side chairs

Height 53 - Seat Height

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 feet, 7 inches x Width 16 feet, 3 inches x Depth 5 feet, 11 inches - Fully extended

Height 2 feet, 7 inches x Width 5 feet, 11 inches x Depth 5 feet, 11 inches - When completely closed

Height 3 feet, 5 inches x Width 1 foot, 10 inches x Depth 1 foot, 9 inches - 2 Armchairs

Height 3 feet, 5 inches x Width 1 foot, 7 inches x Depth 1 foot, 6 inches - 14 Side chairs

Height 1 foot, 9 inches - Seat Height

The making of a marquetry masterpiece

The making of a bespoke marquetry dining table involves many phases - carried out with the highest level of attention to detail - by third generation master craftsmen in our workshop in Italy.

First the design of the marquetry is drawn on paper.

The paper is then glued on to a sheet of plywood and the veneers are attached to the underside with pins.

There can be a maximum of 16 sheets of veneer.  In this case, there are 8 for the burr walnut and 8 for the marquetry.

With a fret cutter, using a very fine blade, the marquetry is cut out, using the burr walnut and various coloured veneers to compose the flowers. Today we use an electric fret cutter, although in the 18th and 19th centuries the cutters were operated by treadles.

All of the cut out pieces of veneer are then placed on a large tray.

They are then singed by being placed in hot sand in a red hot crucible. This singed effect gives different shades to the various veneers, depending on how deep and how long they are left in the hot sand.

The various items of veneer are then inserted into the burr walnut one by one. After they are inserted, tape is placed over them to keep them in place. They are then turned over and a sheet of glued paper is placed over them all, after which the tape can be removed.

The prepared solid mahogany table is then veneered with mahogany - twice on the under side, horizontally and vertically, and then once on the top side.

The prepared marquetry and burr walnut sheet is then placed on top and the whole table top is placed into a hot press, which glues the sheet to the top.

The backing paper can then be sanded off.

The table top is then veneered 4 times to prevent the top from bowing or warping.

Once the assembly is complete, the table is French polished by hand using natural products, resulting in a stunning bespoke masterpiece of marquetry.

Burr Walnut
refers to the swirling figure present in nearly all walnut when cut and polished, and especially in the wood taken from the base of the tree where it joins the roots. However the true burr is a rare growth on the tree where hundreds of tiny branches have started to grow. Burr walnut produces some of the most complex and beautiful figuring you can find.
 

Marquetry
is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, mother of pearl, pewter, brass silver or shell) of different colours are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers.

The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian "Cosmati"-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the "hardstones" used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique.

Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs.

  Winding Mechanism for extending tables

A man by the name of Samuel Hawkins applied for a patent on a screw expander on June 6th, 1861. Presumably, Mr. Hawkins either died or retired because his business was taken over by a young machinist named Joseph Fitter  in 1864.
Joseph Fitter operated a machinist shop where he produced winding mechanisms for extending tables as well as screw expanders for piano stools and other applications at 210 Cheapside, Birmingham England by the name of Britannia Works.