March Interiors
Timed Online Auction, 20 March - 2 April 2025
Furniture
Lot Estimate
ZAR 1 200 - 1 500
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 4 104
Location
Cape Town
About this Item
A walnut bombé apprentice chest of drawers, 19th century
the serpentine crossbanded top above three conforming drawers fitted with brass escutcheons, on bun feet, 24cm high, 35cm wide, 21cm deep
Notes
Apprentice pieces were used by travelling salesmen as prototypes for the full-size version. Workshops would send out salesmen on lengthy country-wide tours, with a miniature of each piece on his sales cart. This meant the cabinet maker could use the smaller form to show off his skills, without the salesman having to lug a full size piece of furniture wherever he went. Using exactly the same skills and techniques as used on the full sized pieces, the miniatures offered a fantastic way of potential buyers being able to get a feel of the quality of goods the workshop produced, before committing to a purchase… much like a real life catalogue.
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