Photo Credit: Yesteryear-Antiques-of-Oregon
Antique Wood Panels from Brittany
Buy It Now Price: $125 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This pair of antique wood panels from 19th century Brittany features a rosette motif and are hand-carved from solid European chestnut timber.
-Each one of these old French wood panels measures 12.25 inches (31.1 cm) tall by 7.55 inches (19.2 cm) wide by 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) thick.
-These antique wood panels are made from European Chestnut (scientific name: Castanea sativa), which is also known as Sweet Chestnut. European Chestnut, a distant relative of the commercially extinct American Chestnut, is renowned for its light weight, high-strength and rot-resistant timber.
-These architectural wood panels are salvaged material. This means that they have been recycled, which is much better for the environment than if they had simply been burned or allowed to rot in a local dump.
-Brittany, a peninsula in the extreme northwest of France, has a tradition of architecture characterized by half-timbering, stone walls and thatched roofs. These two panels have a distinctly rustic architectural feel and would have matched quite nicely in a classic half-timbered Breton house of the 1800s.
-European Chestnut timber, much like its American Chestnut counterpart, is a rather expensive and difficult wood to source today. Prices typically start at around $10 a board foot, but can easily go to $20, $30 or even $40 a board foot depending on a board’s dimensions and quality.
-These chestnut panels probably began life as interior decorative elements in a well-to-do Breton home or perhaps as cabinet doors in a piece of old French provincial furniture.
-These hand-crafted antique wood panels would look great on a fireplace, mounted on a wall or incorporated into a custom-built piece of furniture.
-At a buy-it-now price of only $125, I think this superb pair of antique chestnut wood panels is well worth the asking price. The patina and wear are lovely and completely consistent with a 100+ year old antique. This is the kind of old piece that you simply can’t replicate convincingly today, regardless of how much money you’re willing to spend.
Cons:
-If old wood and provincial French craftsmanship are your thing, then there is absolutely nothing negative to say about these exceptional panels.
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