λ A HARDWOOD MOTHER-OF-PEARL-INLAID LIBERTY & CO. OTTOMAN-REVIVAL ORIENTALIST CUPBOARD
Attributed to Leonard F. Wyburd, London, England, late 19th - early 20th century

Of typical rectangular shape, resting on bracket feet, divided in two main levels, the bottom designed as two faceted octagonal occasional tables split in half, the wooden panels inlaid with thin mother-of-pearl tesserae laid out as intricate arabesques and vegetal scrolls, and coloured and ebonised wood tesserae as fretwork bands, the centre with two rectangular mirrors surmounted by a frieze of four polylobed arches all clad in mother-of-pearl mosaic, the top with a central red velvet-lined glass cabinet, framed by a coloured woods-inlaid geometric band, the sides with raised shelves and further mother-of-pearl-inlaid vegetal and geometric decorative motifs, surmounted by lobed friezes with ebonised wood arabesque triumph against a mother-of-pearl ground, 191.3cm x 120cm x 38cm.

Leonard Francis Wyburd (12 June 1865 – 17 January 1958) was a British painter, interior and furniture designer, broadly involved and inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. He was appointed Head of Liberty's Furnishing and Decoration Studio from its foundation in 1883 until he left in 1903. Under his supervision, the Studio spearheaded the production of Spanish Moorish and Arab-influenced furniture designs, which proved to be both fashionable and popular.

For further examples of Orientalist furniture commissioned by Liberty and Co., London, please see J. Sweetman, The Oriental Obsession: Islamic Inspiration in British And American Art And Architecture 1500-1920, p. 188, fig. 115.

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