Oak 19th century double door - doors

Description

This Regence style oak door impresses by its imposing size and elegant proportions. The ornamentation on each door is subdivided into four levels, starting with at the base a protruding panel framed with molding. Above, a frame of braided molding enclose a high relief rectangular sloped motif itself framed by double volutes. The central panels, where the doorknobs were, are very plain - this emphasizes the craftsmanship of the top panels. Framed in braided molding, the two sculptures are set against a plain background, and are enclosed in a frame, which rests upon a console of double volutes and foliage, and is crowned by an engraved panel that comments the representation. Judging by the objects, the panels appear to praise science and technology, which was such an important emergence of the 19th century. One presents a music scroll, a globe for geography, a camera, a test tube for chemistry, a compass and protractor for geometry; while the other displays a saw for carpentry, cog wheels, an anvel and bellows for black smiths. The care given to illustrate these two themes in two separate panels is clearly artistic. The transom above the doors rests upon an elaborately carved scrolled foliage frieze ending on both ends with winged monster heads, which frame in symmetry a central shield with four fleurs-de-lys. The frieze is echoed in the light carving in the wood above. Finally, two panels framed with braided molding each bear the monogram of the owner of the house this door was made for. The reverse side of the door is decorated with paneling.