Pair of Victorian period amboyna cabinets with Sèvres style porcelain plaques

Pair of Victorian period amboyna cabinets with Sèvres style porcelain plaques
English, late 19th Century
Height 108cm, width 77cm, depth 47cm

This unusual and superbly crafted pair of cabinets are made from ormolu mounted amboyna wood, and are decorated with painted porcelain plaques in the Rococo style.

Each cabinet is supported by four tapered feet with ormolu mounts. The top and bottom of each cabinet features protruding canted corners adorned with Neoclassical mounts, including rosettes, foliate scrolls and womanly-formed figures. A scrolled gilt bronze and Sèvres bleu celeste porcelain frieze runs around the top entablature, decorated further with gilt foliate detailing.

The doors feature gilt bronze beading and a geometrical marquetry border, while the sides of the cabinets are similarly decorated. On the front of each cabinet is a large oval-shaped porcelain plaque, matching the Sèvres style upper frieze. Each plaque is painted with an 18th century Rococo style scene, surrounded by an ormolu-mounted laurel wreath frame and tied ribbon. Both paintings depict figures and animals in a charming countryside landscape.

The cabinets each feature a lockable door, opening to reveal a cupboard with two shelves. The inside lockplate of each cabinet is signed 'Hobbs & Co. / London'.