Archive for July, 2009

FILLERS AND CEMENTS
Fillers and cements arc used for the repair of china, glass, wood and occasionally metal. Adhesives are also used as fillers and cements, with the addition of a little colouring matter or powder to give them colour, body or both.
Plastic Padding. Described in the section on adhesives, this makes a useful filler for metalwork because of its colour, and it needs no further additives for this work. It is not usually used for china restoration work.
Wood fillers. There are several makes of plastic wood which are used as fillers for small holes in woodwork.
Wood filling compounds of various kinds and in various colours can be bought, in proprietary brands, and these are tenacious and excellent. When dry, fillers can be sanded to a smooth finish. Epoxy resin fillers such as Araldite, suitably coloured with dry powder pigments or oil paints, can be used as fillers for rebuilding small missing sections of woodwork. The slow drying of sonic types
makes them rather difficult to use, and care must be taken that, in larger repairs, shrinkage does not leave hair cracks between the new pieces and the old.
Various compounds are used for filling, and making casts and pressed moulds, and for modelling new pieces where it is not possible to make moulds.
Bondapaste. This is an excellent adhesive filler which can be built up on itself in layers, and when hard can be worked with files and gravers. It is a good filler and cement for china restoration needing no additive. It dries quickly so any moulding or modelling must be done fast.
Isopon. This is a paste filler which is mixed with a hardener. It dries quickly and doesn’t shrink under heat, and it needs no parting agent to separate it from the mould. It can be fined and abraded with glass paper and other abrasives. It sticks to itself so it can be used in layers, but it does not stick to china, so after hardening and removal of the mould, it must be stuck to the china with Araldite, exactly as if it were an ordinary broken piece. It can only be worked for about ten minutes before it becomes too tacky, but this is an advantage when you are fairly practised and it can be used for quite large pieces without internal support as it sets fast, so will not sag so readily as a slower setting filler. The fact that it will not adhere to plasticine also allows props and pads of plasticine to be used to support it while it is drying.
Plaster of Paris. Widely used for the making of moulds, it is quick drying and easy to handle, but it is not suitable by itself as a filler, being too soft and porous.
Seccotine with dental plaster. A hard setting adhesive mixture which is very useful for small repairs to gesso where the object is never going to come into contact with water.
Cascantite with dental plaster. Another good mixture, which can be cut and shaped with woodworking tools, provided it has not dried out completely (see Adhesives for details of Cascamite). It has the disadvantage that it must be stuck into place as it is not self-adhesive. It is most useful for filling Alabaster which it matches perfectly.
Araldite. The two tube epoxy resin adhesive described in the section on Adhesives is the most versatile filler, having but two disadvantages. It is rather sticky to use, and it dries very slowly so cannot be used for large unsupported pieces. However, it sticks so well to the object being mended, and, when set, it approaches so closely the appearance of biscuit china, that many restorers prefer it to the quicker setting compounds. It can be mixed with whitening, or kaolin or titanium dioxide to make a filler for china. Mixed with these same materials, it is also an excellent cement for use when dowelling.
Sawdust, stone powder, metallic powder, colouring pigments, either dry powder or oil paint, will all mix with Araldite to simulate almost anything you like to name.
will
It blend and adhere to the whole piece and strengthen it enormously. In the old days, plaster of Paris was used for this kind of building and restoration, but it was not strong or waterproof, whereas epoxy resins are both. Ali example mentioned in the section oil Aniis and Armour is the building up of an old worm-eaten gunstock with epoxy resins coloured to match. It can be injected by hypodermic syringe into wooden holes or cracks where it will strengthen and preserve. Unfortunately it will not take a very high Polish which may limit its use.
Fillers for Glasswork. Modern acrylic resins, which are usually powders with which a liquid is mixed, are ideal for glass restoration and repair, as if mixed with care so that there are no air bubbles present, they set to a trans- parent, very slightly yellow material which is as near to glass as you can get. Acrylic resins call be coloured with dry powder pigments to simulate coloured glass or china, and sonic can be bought already coloured.
Tensol Cement No. 7 and Aertilite Cold Curing Resin are two excellent products in this range. his is another versatile acrylic resin mentioned several times in this book. It can be used, mixed fairly thinly, to coat things made from cane or wickerwork to strengthen or preserve them, and to mend glass or certain types of china. With care it can be mixed with dry powder pigments to simulate jasper (`Wedgwood’) ware. Acrylics are not particularly difficult to handle, and in fact they are great fun to experiment with. They make excellent solid `glass cases’ for small objects which you wish to preserve. The technique for doing this is not within the scope of this book, but it is easy enough to work out for yourself, bearing in mind normal casting techniques!
Use acrylics according to makers’ instructions in so far as mixing etc. is concerned.
Gilder’s Coinpo. Invented by the Adam brothers, it has ever since been used for all kinds of moulding work instead of woodcarving, and is still a most excellent material for repairing moulded picture frames or some types of nioulding on furniture and fittings.
Recipe I.
i lb. Scotch glue 2 lbs. resin
i gill real turpentine T pint linseed oil whiting
Dissolve die glue in a gallon of water. Boil the resin, the turpentine and the oil together, and then add to the glue and water. Boil the whole lot together until the liquid has reduced a little, so that the mixture is not too runny. Add this to the whiting powder in a bucket, stirring constantly until the whole has the consistency of dough.Boil all the ingredients together for half an hour, and then add to a bucket containing whiting, rather as one adds milk and eggs to a bowl of flour when making batter. Mix until the compo has the consistency of dough.
FLY MARKS
Fly marks call be scratched offmany objects with a sharp knife or even with the point of a needle. Chalk mixed with a little ammonia will remove fly blows from a hard surface such as stone. Fly blows on glass or any surface which will
can
not be damaged by it ca be removed by washing with a five per cent solution of caustic soda, followed by rinsing. Solvents such as petrol or benzine will remove fly marks, but will also remove varnish, so be careful.
Fly marks on prints call sometimes be removed by alternate baths of ]lot and cold water in that order, and then drying out between pieces of blotting paper.
FRAMES
Painting and Texturing. Picture frames come in all shapes and sizes, complicated and simple, and there are just as many techniques for restoring and renovating them. They can be cleaned and painted with varnish or matching paint, gilded, given two-tone or antique finishes, textured or spattered. It depends a great deal on the type of frame which of these methods is used, and also oil the picture, which could well be killed by all over-weight frame or one coloured incorrectly. The frame should never be lighter in colour than the lightest part of the painting. Don’t put a white frame round a picture which does not contain white. If the frame is too glossy, the highlights distract the eye from the picture itself. Frames can also be made into trays, by adding a suitable centre, or into mirrors. Frames for watercolours, pastels, or photographs, which have glasses, should be as simple as possible so as not to overpower the picture.
First clean the frame thoroughly. Oil a simple wooden one, detergent, water and sandpaper all carefully used should remove old grease and grime. While the frame is drying, the type of repainting or decoration ion can be decided upon. If it is a plain frame in good condition, a light rub down with a fine grade of sandpaper will probably be all that is needed before a new coat of varnish is applied. Of course the varnish call be taken off, and the frame left in its natural wood state and just lightly rubbed with wax Polish, but if the old surface is stained or badly scratched, the new coat must be opaque, and some kind of paint is the answer. Ordinary household paint or plastic emulsion in a suitable colour looks quite well, but with a little more trouble, really exciting finishes call be obtained, and in most cases a broken finish definitely  looks best.
Polymer colour water based paints made either by Rowney under the trade name of Cryla, or by Reeves under the name of Polymer colours, are particularly useful, as they can be applied very thinly producing a pickled effect over stained wood, or else thick as squeezed from the tube, and then figured, or used for two-tone work. Polymer paints contain water and should be water thinned to the required consistency, not with turps or white spirit. They dry very rapidly, but if you want to slow down the process, use the special retarder. The colours, which conic ili the full range of artist’s oil paint colours, mix very well, and when dry will have a slight sheen, which is excellent for frames. A gloss medium is obtainable, or, although it is not really necessary as the paint is quite waterproof when dry, it can be overpainted with a polymer varnish to keep the frame in first class condition for years. Any tools or brushes used to apply the polymer paints should be washed thoroughly in water before they dry out, but if this is forgotten, a soaking overnight iii methylated spirit will the trick. Acetone will also dissolve these colours.
Texturing with polymer colours is not too difficult. The paint should have the consistency of thick cream. It should be painted on to the frame fairly thickly and, while it is still sticky, textured with a comb, toothbrush, an old wire brush, or anything else you caii think of that would scrape interesting patterns in the paint. A little practice on an odd scrap of wood painted with polymer, will give you some idea of texturing. Another method is to put oil different coloured layers of polymer, letting each one dry before adding rile next, and cut through these with varying pressures to get the colours showing through at different levels. Diagonal, cross, mitre or lengthwise strokes can be used, and if you get really ambitious, all sorts of curved lines and squiggles. Another way of texturing is to paint the frame with polymer, and then while it is still sticky, sprinkle on a little sand, or rice, or any other small hard grained substance, shake off the surplus, and when dry overpaint with another thinner layer of polymer, and then finish with polymer varnish. A small sponge gently pressed into sticky paint will also give an interesting finish, especially if the two-tone effect is desired, using a double layer of paint. Spattering gives a nice spotty effect and should be applied over the plain basic colour oil the frame by gently tapping a water paint brush loaded with the colour you want to apply. To make large spots hold the brush near the surface, and with a little experimentation the size of the spots can easily be adjusted.
One very useful process for finishing off plain frames or parts of ornamental ones is to rub on colour. This gives a nice soft finish and it is particularly good for insets, which can look far too hard and glaring against a light toned picture. Any oil based paint call be used and a handkerchief should be lightly smeared with this, and then the surplus paint rubbed off on an old piece of newspaper. The lightly charged cloth is rubbed gently 01, the frame, and the pressure increased until the right effect is obtained. The cloth should be recharged as necessary, but never too much as the more sparingly paint is applied tile softer tile finish will look, and it is not necessary to work it in too evenly. Burnt sienna is a particularly good colour for insets. If you want a simple gilded effect a paste made by Reeves called Restoration or an American product called Treasure Wax Gilt do an excellent job. They come in many roues of gold, bronze or silver, and are very easily applied with a cloth or finger oil to tile cleaned surface. If a bright finish is required, it should be put on fairly thickly and allowed to dry completely before being rubbed down with a soft cloth. This method is by far the best way to touch up any old gilding as the application of gold leaf is really an expert’s job (see Gilding).
heavy piece of chain, are common enough practices with disreputable dealers, but any old frame bought in a junk shop will probably have enough natural blemishes to make this unnecessary, and it all sounds rather too violent. Applications of different paints can make almost any frame look a lot older mid more interesting than it really is. Coats of paint are rubbed oil in, irregular patches and then smoothed down lightly with fine sandpaper. Deep depressions can be left dark, and bright colours should be put on sparingly. Yellow ochre, chrome yellow, raw uniber, venetian red and bumf sienlia, are all suitable colours, and when they have dried out and been sanded down, a thin coat of burnt sienna diluted with turpentine is overpainted, and later spots of gold or silver Restoration or Treasure Gilt call be rubbed oil in small areas, or tile whole frame spattered. The effect of old gold leaf call be obtained by painting the frame with a thick layer of venetian red, and then repainting with a good quality bronze paint such as Treasure Gold Liquid Leaf When it is dry, it should be rubbed with steel wool until the red shows through in places. Restoration wax call be used instead of the bronze paint, just put on rather unevenly, but it must be remembered that genuine gold leaf gets rubbed off in natural wear and tear on the raised surfaces, while tile depressions will keep the gold, and it is not so easy to get a natural finish without any rubbing off.
Mending. Old picture frames get pretty knocked about in junk shops, especially when tile pictures have been removed and tile glass broken. Usually it is the corners which go, the whole frame wringing in all directions. Corners can be strengthened quite easily (see Fig. 17)_ If the glue and the tacks which secure the frame have gone, take the frame to pieces, and remove the remains of the tacks and clean off  Sand the faces of the comers down to the natural wood, so that you have a clean surface to work on, and then put an impact adhesive, on both faces of the comers and leave it for the time specified by its makers before bringing the two faces together. In order to get good right-angled corners, use a comer cramp. These c.-ui be bought at hardware stores and arc so useful that I really do suggest that you get one and do not try to square the comer any other way, although it can be done. One method is to work with the frame on its face. Put the two faces together and square the comer using a try square to measure it and then tack a thin piece of wood diagonally across, so that the frame is held rigid until the join has set. This will hold the corners accurately, but will not put any tension on the join. To hold the comer, in addition to the adhesive, drive tacks in diagonally across the join, making sure that you don’t use tacks so long that they come right and also try to get them into the through the other side, and
thickest section of the frame. Small holes can be drilled across the corner, and a woodc’, peg inserted. If you mean to do this, it is best to drill the hole with the frame held tight in the corner cramp, before putting on the glue.
If it is not possible to mend the frame iri this way, or if you do not want to dismantle it entirely, the corners can be dowelled, or a plate can be screwed on to the corners, at the back. Depending on how big and heavy the frame is, put in a strip or triangular corner plate (see Fig. 17). If a strip is used, sink it into the frame by cutting right across the corner to the depth of the strip with a tenon saw, and then chipping out the piece with a chisel. Wooden strips and plates are better than metal ones, and plywood is fine for the job.
If you wish to make a frame smaller, this can be done without separating all the covers. Measure opposite sides to the correct lengths, at opposite ends, then cut through the two corners using a mitre box, and rejoin (see Fig. 18). When measuring frames, always remember that the edge of the frame overlaps the glass and the picture, and that you must allow for this when measuring. It is easier to measure your picture and/or glass, and then measure the frame at the inside edge of the rebate which takes the picture.
Mending Mouldhnq. If the plaster moulding of a picture franc is really badly damaged, you can always strip it all off and just use the basic wooden frame. A power drill with a rough sanding disc will take off a lot of the old plaster quickly, but some of the awkward angles will have to be done with a hand scraper.
Clean all mouldings with a hog’s hair paint brush, a sponge mid methylated spirit. Never make a frame too wet or the plaster may dissolve.
plaster mouldings are all too often broken off in great lumps. Replace these quite simply by making a moulding from an identical, but unbroken section of the frame. This is done in the same way as pressed moulding for china (see Fig. rg). Make a mould with Plasticine for small sections, and then cast a piece by pouring plaster of Paris in the mould, or preferably for small sections by making a filler with Araldite mixed with kaolin powder (use a parting agent in this case), or Cascamite and dental plaster, and pressing this into the mould. The pressing is allowed to harden and then, before it is so hard that it will not stick, is carefully put in place on the break. A little straight Araldite adhesive on the face of the broken part will help adhesion. To make a mould of a large section, or one which has any undercutting which would hook round a plasticiric pressing, use dental impressioncompound (Paribar) and make a pressed mould with this, first greasing the moulding with vaseline. Paribar can be reused many times, and no parting agents are needed before putting in
the plaster of Paris filler.
Gilder’s Compo can be used (see Fillers) and this is recommended for extensive work. It has many other uses for moulding of all kinds and is the traditional material—superseded, but not necessarily improved upon, by plastics and resins.
The mouldings can also be made in Isopon or Bondapaste filler, which dries much more quickly than Aralditc. It is a matter of personal preference, really. All these materials make mouldings which when set can be cleaned tip with needle files and abraded with glass paper until they are satisfactorily smooth.
ruler with a bevel edge and a Stanley knife (see Tools), and cut the board with a bevel. Special mat trimmers can be bought from artists’ suppliers. The secret is to cut the bevel the same all the way round and to get the comers neat. The knife must be perfectly sharp. It is difficult to stop the ruler from slipping about, and a strip of very fine sandpaper stuck oil will the bottom of it wihelp. The bevel edge can be gilded if liked.
The mat is placed oil the picture, which in turn has been put on a mount which is bigger than the hole in the mat. Photographic mountant is excellent for this job, either the paste type, or, if there is no danger involved in heating your picture, the type which is painted on with a brush and then bonded by pressure with a warm iron.
Mounts arc just pieces of cart{    which the picture is stuck; the mount being big enough to fit the frame exactly.
Linings are rather more complex, and call be most effective, both for bringing a frame down in size, and for making a picture look better. A lining may be just a strip of gilded wood inside the main frame, or it may be a wider inner frame covered with material such as linen or velvet or sheet metal. The wood inner frame is made exactly to fit the rebates of the main frame, and is mitred at the corners. The covering material may be stuck or pinned to the lining. In order to make a neat job at the corners, it is usually best to cover the pieces before joining them.
One last word—always check wire, cord and screws used for hanging up pictures—more often than not the wire is rusted, the string is rotten, and screw rings are rusted or loose. It call be a little disappointing if two weeks later all your hard work oil painting, moulding and mending together with that expensive piece of glass end up in a shattered heap on the floor.

Cupboards, Wardrobes and Small Hanging
Cupboards
Evolution of the cupboard—development from a chest form—the Gothic hutch or livery cupboard—origin of the “cup board” or buffet—the court cupboard and press—lasting popularity in Wales of the deuddarn and tridarn—armoires, cloak cupboards and the linen press—later appearance of the wardrobe—hanging dole and medicine cupboards—various fronts of the corner cupboard—painted interiors—Victorian buffets antique porcelain tea pot made in france .
The cupboard may have evolved from a chest form because a chest, when placed on its end, would serve as a narrow cupboard or locker sabino marks . Again, the chest on legs with an overhanging top and hinged doors beneath, like the counter mentioned in Chapter 3, could also have been an ancestor of the cupboard gateleg table imperial furniture .
The counter was sometimes referred to as a hutch in old documents but nowadays the latter name is usually only given to a wired cage for tame rabbits value of antique rectangular drop leaf pedestal dining . In the Gothic period the hutch was a small planked cupboard used chiefly as a food larder antique harlequin figure . The door and front were perforated with frets of an architectural character to allow air to circulate and so keep the food fresh cheap art neuvou side tables . Pieces of loosely woven horse-hair were nailed to the inside of the frets to keep flies and insects away from the contents art deco chairs mahogany . While the horse-hair has long since perished the remains of the small nails which held it in position are sometimes still to be seen antique oak drawleaf trestle table .
Many books on antique furniture show an illustration of Prince Arthur’s Cupboard, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique glass “la granja” . It dates from around 1500 and is one of the finest pieces of English Gothic furniture in existence the most expensive silver tray . It is unique and the chances of discovering a similar piece are negligible king george 1v furniture . However, it is possible that the smaller planked hutch, although very rare, may still be found by the discerning seeker after antique oak peter behrens side chair . I know of one in the possession of a Cotswold antique dealer but he says that f1,000 would not buy it satsuma pottery thousand flower . On the other hand, there are a considerable number of hutches at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire l shaped sideboard . In that part of the house open to public view I have counted nearly a score, so it is not beyond a reasonable possibility that there are hutches lying in old barns and attics elsewhere which might turn up one day and offer themselves to a knowing buyer inlaid moorish bone .
Apparently, it was a custom in the Middle Ages to keep a small supply of food in private rooms for use at any time antique epergnes . This would be stored in hutches which in time came to be referred to as livery cupboards lusterware made in czecho-slovakia . This term was in use until a few years ago and I remember an inn near my home where there was a painted notice over the entrance to the inn-yard, now given over to car parking, which bore the legend “livery and bait” french style porcelain gilded weight driven clock . This indicated that change of horses and refreshments for the journey were always readily available italian spider leg table .
Aumbry is another old name for a hutch or livery cupboard 16th century spanish trunk . There are some antiquaries, however, who maintain that the aumbry was not a standing cupboard but was essentially a recess in a wall which was enclosed by a door in a frame antique drop leaf side table furniture makers mark england . It may be that in different times the word was used to describe several types of cupboard 18th century rococo copper candlesticks .
The “cup board” proper was originally a side table or buffet which was a fitment with two or three shelves made to stand against the wall in the proximity of the dining table aimone mfg co new york . On this were kept the wooden trenchers or platters for use at meal times antique austrian furniture . In the 16th century and later it was used to display the silver or pewter table-ware, according to the opulence of the household georgian kneehole cabinet .
Early buffets vary in the amount of decoration, some being merely a set of shelves with some simple carving on the rails supporting the shelves classic furniture drawing . Others were larger and more elaborate with bulbous turnings on the front uprights and sometimes the centre and top rails concealed long shallow drawers which fitted under the shelves chippendale gateleg table . These were used for storing spoons and knives only as forks had not been adopted for table use at this time cheap art neuvou side tables .
Towards the end of the Elizabethan period it became the practice to construct buffets with the upper staging enclosed with panels and doors old antique sofa tables . This piece of furniture was known as a court cupboard from the French word court, meaning short or low origins art deco . Eventually, the lower stage of the court cupboard was enclosed as well during the early years of the 17th century and the cupboard form became really established from then onward chippendale style coffee table tilt value . In recent years the term court cupboard has been quite often misapplied to these completely enclosed cupboards late 1920s patek winged lugs . The late R american made ceramic french figurine . W christian mayer furniture . Symonds, who was probably one of the most authoritative furniture historians of the 20th century, has been able to confirm by much diligent research into old house inventories and wills that the correct name is actually a press renaisance design dining table made .
The press was invariably made in oak and a considerable
number were produced during the 17th century gate leg table 17thc . They were
built as a rule with three tiers of cupboard doors showing
on the front, two doors being on each of the top and
middle tiers and one on the bottom antique bread rack . The rails were decora-
ted with low-relief strapwork carving and ornamental
mouldings were sometimes applied to the panels and
door frames dining habit tendency . Carved initials of the owner and his wife,
together with a date to commemorate some family hap-
pening, were favourite additions to the design napoleon leather and steel campaign chair . Many of
these cupboards had large pendant turnings on either
side of the overhanging top george 3 style . These were the vestiges of the original bulbous turnings used on the front uprights of the buffet and court cupboard collectors glasgow school of art . The small doors are, for the most part, found with wrought-iron butterfly hinges but early presses had upper doors which turned on wooden dowel pins dutch plate family dining . Small turned wooden knobs were used as handles on the door frames cantagalli marks .
The early press was essentially a cupboard for storing food and table-ware and should not be confused with the linen press of the following century, details of which will be given later in the chapter antique tea set - rh macy . For the most part it was of fairly large size being 6 to 8 feet in length and would have been found in the dining or living rooms of the more prosperous Stuart and Commonwealth farmers dressing a tea table . Consequently, it can seldom be accommodated in a present-day house myott,son&co. .
However, there are smaller and rather attractive versions of the press which were made in Wales and enjoyed a degree of popularity during the 18th century, although the press in England had been superseded by the dresser mother of pearl coffe table fake antique egypt . These Welsh pieces were of two very similar types and were known as the deuddarn and tridarn, the former being constructed with two tiers or stages only while the latter had three pictures of 5 drawer antique library desks and tables . The top tier of the tridarn is seldom a fixture and can usually be lifted off, should this be necessary louis sue . These small press-type cupboards are seldom ornate but being comparatively small, often only 4 to 412 feet in length, the breaking up of the front surface with doors and panelling permits the mellowness of the old oak to be appreciated to the full new york city 18th century pembroke tables . In the deuddarn, drawers are sometimes included between the lower and upper tiers vases ceramic antique carved figures on front .
Tall cupboards for hanging clothes had been in use on the continent since the early 16th century chicken coops shelves . There they were referred to as armoires and it is thought that they were probably used for storing armour and weapons as well as clothes 17th century dutch silver . The few early armoires to be found in Britain are nearly always of French or Flemish origin, and cupboards designed for holding garments were rarely to be found in these islands until the beginning of the 18th century kneehole dressing table styles .
Hitherto, the accepted method of storing gowns and suits of clothes was to use a chest or a large chest of drawers “perspectiva cabinet” . Now a large cupboard with double doors was adopted for the purpose antiques furniture,josef hoffmann . It was mounted on a chest of drawers but a closer examination of the two top drawers will show them to be merely false fronts which do not open antique centre pieces for dining table . Behind them the space is used to afford greater hanging room for the clothes in the cupboard above art deco candle sticks . The lower drawers were made to function in the normal way oak draw refectory table . Before the invention of clothes hangers the contents of the cloak cupboard or clothes press were hung on a series of wooden pegs placed along the back and sides of the cupboard interior 18th century knife boxes .
Sometimes, the cupboard space above the drawers was fitted with wide trays for the storage of linen large rectangle dropleaf table . Although the exterior would be identical to that of a cloak cupboard, the article in this case would be called a linen press and the top drawers would be real ones as a deeper hanging space for clothes would not be necessary candelabrum .
Taller wardrobes without dummy drawers were pro-
duced by Chippendale, Hepplewhite and other cabinet-
makers type of wood used for roman furniture . These were very elegant in appearance with
finely veneered doors and sometimes with bow-fronts 18th century mahogany drop leaf table cabriole legs .
In mid-Victorian times some huge wardrobes were con-
structed in three or four separate sections kashgai carpet . These were
screwed together when assembled in position and included
bays for hanging clothes, long dressing mirrors and sections
with trays for keeping linen wear drop leaf table with spiral legs . Today, these well-made
mahogany and satinwood edifices are indeed white
elephants for they are much too large ever to go into a
modern house or flat royal staffordshire by clarice cliff nancy . Usually they are bought very
cheaply and then taken apart so that the fine wood in them can be used in the manufacture of reproduction pieces, sometimes advertised as “made from genuine old wood”  . I suppose that if one cannot acquire the authentic article then these are the next best thing five legs two leaf oak antique dining table .
Since the late 16th century, small hanging cupboards have always appeared among the more usual furnishings george speight porcelain . Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and in early Stuart times wall cupboards with, fretted fronts or with the door frames filled with rows of baluster shaped spindles were in general use barley sugar twist pillars timber . Nowadays they are referred to as dole, or food, cupboards and were once hung inside churches to contain the bread doles provided by charity bequests antique 19th century nesting tables birds-eye maple . They were probably used as food larders in the kitchens of private houses as well art deco writing sets . Although this cupboard form is rarely found as an antique in England these days it is not an uncommon discovery in Wales social origins of art deco .
In the 17th and 18th centuries when doctors and apothecaries were few and far between, every housewife kept a store of medicinal herbs and remedies for administering to her family in times of sickness care of antique tortoiseshell . These were preserved in small cupboards which hung on the wall or stood on a chest of drawers and contained a number of pigeon-holes and small drawers for separating the various herbs antique paper mache trays . I always regret having failed to acquire one of these little spice or herb cupboards which a dealer friend of mine had in the shop meissen figures dating . Other dealers had passed it by, saying that it was only an old top from a grandfather clock which had been converted into a little cupboard vintage wooden card table . Actually, it was a genuine Queen Anne medicine cupboard with a finely panelled door and a neat compartment of drawers inside maccasar modernism france . However, the question had then arisen, as it does for all collectors sooner or later, of just where it was going to fit in with all the other things, and the opportunity had to be missed the revival of the games in the 19th century .
Corner cupboards, like tripod tables, are probably more numerous than any other type of antique furniture and are still to be had very reasonably antique table footed clock . They were in general use throughout the Georgian period and served many purposes antique dutch coffee table 17th century . Nowadays a corner cupboard with the doors left open makes an attractive setting fora small collection of china or Staffordshire chimney ornaments antique sideboard with built-in pendulum clock . Oak corner cupboards are usually flat-fronted with canted corners but occasionally they are found with bow-fronts patek philippe, 1930s, rectangular, hinged back . This is the pattern which was more often adopted for the mahogany cupboard and with an inlaid frieze at the top and a couple of small drawers beneath, this would make a very desirable acquisition to any modest collection of antique furniture antique dressers yorkshire .
Some flat fronted corner cupboards have glazed, astragal doors, that is with little panes of glass set into a framework of thin bars or beads robinson and leadbeater figure . These are usually original but a door with a single sheet of glass in it has probably had the wooden panel removed and glass substituted for the display of china or silver oak draw leaf table 18. th . Do not be in a hurry to strip or paint over if the interior of your cupboard is decorated in a faded olive green colour american antique slant front desk . This is probably the original finish as the Georgians were very fond of green linings to their cupboards and cabinets and a little toilet soap and warm water will most likely restore the paintwork very nearly to its original condition decoupage on veneer .
Finally, some mention should be made of the reappearance of the buffet in mid-Victorian dining rooms late 1800’s dining table european . Much lighter in design than its Tudor counterpart, it usually consisted of three quite deep shelves supported on four slim mahogany, turned corner uprights renaissance dining tables . These buffets, like the 17th-century press, are often too large for the modern house moser, austrian furniture designer . Occasionally they are to be seen, laden with dish covers, cutlery and cruets, in the spacious dining rooms of those old-fashioned but comfortable coaching inns which have survived into the day of the motor car art deco dresser inlaid wood .
Beds, Day-beds and Cradies
Early beds—rest for the rich and not-so-rich—misnomer of the “four-poster”—characteristics of 17th-century bed construction—development of the tester—beds of the mid-Georgian era—foreign influences on late 18th-century bed design—truckle and folding beds—origin of the day-bed—Restoration and early 18th-century types—Regency elegance of the chaise-longue—the Victorian sofa—cots and cradles padded antique library wood arm chair .
Early beds were looked upon as the most important items in any household 18 century porcelain placks louis xvi . They were handed down from father to son and were always mentioned with some degree of pride of possession czechoslovakia porclian . They were often very heavy, monumental constructions and the occupants depended for their comfort on enormously thick, feather mattresses 19th century parian busts . These were laid either on a network of ropes which passed through holes in the framework or on a foundation of wooden slats scroll planter table y chair .
There must have been a general fear of draughts and fresh air at night or the bedrooms were very cold and draughty because it was the practice to enclose the beds with panelling or heavy curtains until the end of the 18th century antique tea caddies, penwork . It is hardly likely that many people nowadays would sleep in a 17th or 18th-century bed for choice, although I have an old collector friend who nightly repairs to his Georgian four-poster neo classic bookcase maple tuscany . I should add that it has been fitted with a box-spring mattress of the latest slumber-inducing design antique half leaf table .
In medieval times the wealthy slept on free standing
frame beds overhung by a tent-like canopy which was suspended from the ceiling 19th century desk cabinet . Servants and attendants slept on the floor or on straw palliasses antique oak dressing table with mirror . For information about beds in the time of Elizabeth 1, we look again at William Harrison’s Description of England narrow entryway chest of drawers . In it he wrote: “Our fathers have lain full often upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered with a sheet and a good round log under their heads for a pillow 18 century wooden novelty pipes . If the goodman of the house had purchased a mattress or flock bed, and thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, that peradventure lay seldom in a bed of down or whole feathers charles neo classism boulle . As for servants, if they had any sheet above them, it was well, for seldom had they any under their bodies to keep them from the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet and rased their hardened hides inexpensive french desks furniture .”
The “four-poster” bed of antiquity is a well-known term but few have stopped to think that the four-poster, at any rate until the early Georgian period, was in fact only a two-poster, the back or bed-head which supported the top, or tester, being a panelled framework without posts dressoir antique . In the 17th century these beds were known as tester or posted beds staffordshire porcelain rococo revival period . Medieval beds are so rare as to be almost non-existent but there are a number of beds with testers which can be dated from the late 16th century 18th century boulle cabinet . Some of these were excessively large like the Great Bed of Ware, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique sideboard styles and makers . It was made about 1595 and is 10 feet 9 inches wide antique gate legged side table . The great majority of beds, however, were between 5 and 6 feet in width art nouveau dresser .
Posted beds all followed a similar pattern, having a strong rectangular frame to carry the mattress and at the head a panelled screen, often elaborately decorated with carving and inlaid woods antique american tilt top pedestal table . This screen and two turned pillars at the foot of the bed supported a panelled ceiling or tester from which hung the curtains, to be drawn at night are william and mary chest of drawers rare? . The pillars at the bed-end were usually incorporated in the bed framework and acted as feet for the mattress franl;ng characteristics of english medieval gateleg table . On larger beds, however, the framing would have separate feet and the posts supporting the tester would be freestanding on rectangular pedestal bases period art nouveau galle bronze table lamp .
Some smaller beds were made with panelled screens erected at the bottom end as well as at the head so that they formed, in effect, large panelled boxes with curtained sides american spoonback armchair . They must have been very stuffy and altogether unhealthy japanned bracket clocks . Whether it was a reaction against the unhygienic properties of the enclosed bed or just a simplification for economy’s sake, a plainer type of bed appeared about the middle of the 17th century 19th century lacquered japanese cabinet with paintings . It consisted merely of a framework on short legs and a low panelled bed-head deco porcelain spanish dancers female . It is usually referred to as a farm-house bed victorian renaissance revival credenza . For those who have an ambition to equip their homes with antique furniture entirely, this type of bed, with a box-spring mattress fitted, can be quite an interesting acquisition wileman/shelley vases . They are not uncommon and I have seen them from time to time in several sale-rooms drop leaf table oak uk antique .
The tester undoubtedly developed from the tent-like covering of the medieval bed and during the 16th and 17th centuries was a very heavy structure which demanded a strong supporting bed-framework cupboard design for keeping cockery . During the time of William and Mary and Queen Anne it became fashionable in the noble households to install beds which were most luxuriously appointed antique chairs 1600 s all wood carved . In keeping with the tendency to build houses with higher ceilings to the rooms, these beds were also very high with elaborately decorated testers and the entire framework upholstered with quilted silk and velvet george jones majolica ware . Such beds were usually installed to commemorate the stay of some royal visitor antique chamber cabinet .
Beds of the mid-18th century became altogether lighter in construction and appearance and although in some cases the bed-head screen to support the tester was retained, the more ordinary run of beds had lower bed-heads and four posts to support the tester arabic style lambrequins . By this time the tester consisted only of four curtain poles placed across the tops of the posts with a light covering of material stretched Over them antique telescopic dining tables . Thomas Chippendale made a bed for the Duke of Beaufort about 1750 in the Chinese taste draw leaf tables . It has a pagoda-like top with flying dragons a6 the corners and, finished in black japan and gold, has a very attractive appearance carved oak draw-leaf refectory table . Another bed, painted in the Chinese manner, was made for David Garrick about 1770 antique oak drop leaf table american . It also has a light wooden tester with embroidered silk curtains and like the bed of the Duke of Beaufort indicates the tendency for greater delicacy in construction of furniture during the second half of the 18th century myott son & co hanley 1880 .
For some time during the 18th-century Italian and French beds were imported into the British Isles and although the numbers were small they influenced the design of the English type considerably regency mahogany settee hairy paw . The Italians seem to have been the first to do away with the tester and its hangings sheraton gateleg card table . Probably in a warm climate common sense overruled fashion and tradition maggiolini furniture . French patterns of the late 18th century were very elaborate in the decoration of bed-heads and here also the tester seems to have been abandoned entirely antique dutch desk . Only in England, and the climate was probably the chief reason for its retention, did the use of the tester linger on into the 19th century end tables tall spindle leg antique . Wooden canopies, from which side curtains were hung, were still being fitted over the bed-head about 1850 19th century english sideboard .
Lightly constructed beds, rather like the folding kind used for camping today, became fairly common during the Georgian period red delft tiles religious 17th century value . They were small enough to be kept under th;, posted beds when not required and were used by nurses or servants attending sick people or as extra accommodation for an unexpected visitor bone handled fork converted to knive . I have seen small chests of drawers with dummy fronts which swung open like a cupboard door antiquegames writing table . Inside were folding beds which could be pulled out when wanted heals pair oak tables . All these lighter types were generally known as truckle beds and were fitted with small wheels or castors so that they could easily be moved around dutch marquetry sutherland table .
I have already mentioned in a previous chapter how chests were used as seats in early times and it is evident that the larger ones also served as beds or couches porcelain wincanton . Some years ago in a sale-room I saw a panelled oak chest with raised ends antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . Although I did not realise it at the time I had come across an archebanc couchette, probably of early French design which had been made to serve both as a chest and a couch inlay antique serving trays . I have never seen another since and only hope that one day the opportunity to acquire such a rarity might present itself again 17 century dining tables .
From these bed-chests probably developed the more lightly constructed single bed or day-bed which appeared towards the end of the 16th century etruscan pottery oriental . Shakespeare has referred to them in his plays and, by the Restoration, day-beds had reached a pleasing standard of design meissen porcelain antic . They were made in walnut with six or eight legs and had an adjustable end frame which, together with the main framework of the bed, was equipped with woven splitcanework to give some resilience to the overlay cushions types of table legs 19 century . Day-beds with double ends are found occasionally but they are very rare antique perpetual calendar .
The day-bed continued in use throughout the 18th century conforming to the fashionable characteristics of the time, but it is rather difficult to separate its development into that form known as the chaise-longue from that of the settee, couch or sofa corbusier furniture vintage . Although all these types were used for lying or for sitting upon, I think it should be remembered that the day-bed was designed primarily for resting during the day-time while the settee or sofa was made to enable a number of people to sit together on the same seat mahogany kommode . Perhaps the best way to remember the difference is that the day-bed or chaise-longue was never made with a back like a couch or a settee kilian brothers carved fruit and bird inlaid table . In its later form, as used in the 19th and 20th centuries, it has become known as the divan having neither end supports nor back antique table drop leaf raise .
The chaise-longue of the late Georgian and Regency periods became the symbol of elegant repose, typified perhaps by Jacques Louis David’s portrait of Madame Wcamier fauteuil art deco brandt . The beautiful piece of furniture with its gracefully curving ends was said to have been designed by the artist himself value of gateleg tables . It was in all probability among the finest of the adaptations by the late 18th and early 19th-century designers from the sources of classical Greece and Rome sideboard turns into dining table . A shorter form of seat which is often identical in appearance to the chaise-longue is the window seat bassano maiolica . Like the former, it has no back but is too short for reclining upon and as its name implies was just a small seat made to fit into a low window bay without obscuring the view causes of the reign of terror in france .
The type of Victorian sofa which has just the one scrolled end and a short back-piece running only half its length is really in the tradition of the day-bed rather than that of the couch or settee antique bread making cabinet . Those made in walnut about 1850 with small cabriole legs are attractive pieces of furniture and become increasingly rare as time goes on sheffield shovels .
Children’s cots and cradles are really among the few antiques which are not normally put to their original use and would hardly be considered suitable for the modern baby regency waterfall bookcase . Nowadays, babies are put to bed and left to sleep or lie awake as they will but in olden times an essential of all cot and cradle design was that they should be able to be rocked 1930s antique square table . The two swinging cots illustrated have basically the same structure although they are separated by more than 300 years dressoir timber . The Gothic cot is just an oak box suspended from a well-made stand while the late Georgian version, dating from around 1820, is a much finer affair in turned and needed mahogany pollard elm furniture . It has a clockwork mechanism incorporated in the suspension of the cot which will actually cause it to rock for nearly an hour lusterware made in czechoslovakia . It might be that the steady ticking of the clockwork also acted as a further soporific josef originals+ballerinas+value .
The more homely cradle of the farmhouse and cottage had a small hood at one end century furniture chinoiserie dining table chair credenza . It was mounted on a pair of rockers so that the mother could rock the baby to sleep with her foot while her hands were busy with some sewing or the preparation of food metal plates and trays from iran .

Stools, Chairs and Settees
Early forms of stools—development of the chair—scarcity of chairs before the 17th century—etiquette of the joined stool—upholstered farthingale chairs—”monk seats” and Commonwealth chairs—Restoration chair design—characteristics of William and Mary chairs—Queen Anne cabriole legs and the fiddle splat—wing chairs—Chippendale chair designs—chair backs of Hepplewhite—Adam’s classical shapes—Sheraton elegance—Regency and early Victorian chairs—the mystery of the Windsor chair—harlequin sets—the emergence of the settle—love seats and the development of the settee two tiered tables .
On a marble panel in Athens which dates from around 400 B serving tray antique tea table for sale .c antique butler type ashtrays . a woman is to be seen seated on a chair which has all the characteristics of a British chair of the Regency period antiquing furniture . The designers of Regency furniture, like Thomas Hope and Henry Moses, went to the ancient civilisations for their inspiration and this chair in the Athenian sculpture is an interesting case of “it has all happened before” 6 legged table antique .
After the disorders of the Dark Ages when so much of art and craftsmanship was lost, the way of making beautiful and serviceable things had to be rediscovered or reinvented antique regency revival sideboard . At the beginning of the early Tudor period it can be said that in any house, even of the greatest importance, most people had to be content to sit on stools blacks, meissen, porcelain . Sometimes these were of the planked type as illustrated in Chapter 1, but more often they were made of turned wood with triangular shaped seats women brass lamps . This type of stool was common throughout northern Europe and when they are encountered it is difficult to say what may have been their country of origin painted romer glass .
Small chests were also used as seats in early times and formed one of the sources from which the chair developed, the other being the triangular-seated stool japanese black lacquer round tea table . In both these instances the need to provide additional support for the body brought about the addition of backs and arms to the stools antique french office chair . The first box or chest chairs were very heavy and cumbersome and it became evident that there was little advantage in constructing chairs in this way antique half circle dropleaf table . For a short while this type of chair was made without the lower side and back panels but with the front panel still included staffordshire figure lovers couple . By the middle of the 16th century the oak armchair, without any lower panels in the framework, was to be found in most houses of the reasonably well-to-do antique porcelain +swan +painted .
A custom, lasting for many years, delayed the employment of the chair for general use black stinkwood table sale . During the second half of the 16th and for the greater part of the 17th century it was commonly accepted that only the head of the family or the master of the house should occupy a chair 2 tier adams style table lid . In some homes a thoughtful husband might provide a chair for his wife but as for the rest of the household, they had to use stools or remain standing wiener werkstatte chair . The modern word chairman, to denote the head of a committee, is probably derived from this ancient practice earthenware mixing bowls antique with handles . On a point of etiquette, observed in Britain during the 17th century, a host and his wife would vacate their chairs when entertaining an important guest and would sit on joined stools, as a mark of deference, while the guest occupied a chair american spoonback armchair .
The heavy oak arm-chair of the late Elizabethan and the early Stuart periods was of very much the same pattern with turned legs and a carved or inlaid panel in the chair-back candlestick 17th century church . The only marked difference in construction was in the top rail of the back antique display cabinet half round . While the Elizabethan chair had the top rail jointed between the uprights, the Stuart version had the uprights jointed into the top rail which projected at the sides and was supported by “ears” or small brackets 18th century card table .
The joined stool must have been made in considerable numbers during the 17th century as it was frequently referred to in bequests and inventories empire pier table . Nowadays, it is sometimes called a coffin stool which is rather a misnomer breakfast serving tables . It is true that in many old churches joined stools are to be found carrying piles of hymn books or collecting boxes and occasionally they may have been used for supporting a coffin during a burial service, but they were certainly not designed for that purpose european porcelain marks 1742 . A joined stool was the average person’s seat in the 17th-century household, either at the dining table or around the fire kidney shaped tables antique . It is likely that those found in old churches today were banished there from the vicarage when custom and funds permitted the parson to provide himself with the more comfortable chairs botanical antique ceramics collectors .
While chairs with wooden seats were in use throughout the 17th century and also during the 18th in the houses of country-folk, upholstereed chairs did appear in the early Stuart period antique extend side table . These, like the farthingale chairs, have already been mentioned in a previous chapter but during the Commonwealth somewhat heavy oak dining chairs were taken into use about the same time as the gate-leg table appeared thomas sheraton games table . These were similar to the farthingale chairs but had lower seats and higher backs which were upholstered in thick leather and edged with large brass round-headed nails antique empire pier table .
An interesting, dual-purpose piece of furniture was developed about this time satsuma pottery thousand flower . Known as a table-chair, it was constructed so that when the table-top was tilted to a vertical position it formed the back of a chair kidney shape dressing table . It is sometimes referred to as a monk’s seat, but the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the consequent banishment of the monks from the British way of life had occurred over a hundred years before the table-chair was invented 19th century tables .
The chief characteristic of Restoration chair design was the spiral twist for legs and backs english refectory table . A favourite motif of the wood-carver for chair decoration was the device of two cherubs, or amorini, supporting a royal crown c 1840 antique pedestal card table . This was inspired by the return of the monarchy after the Commonwealth and remained in popular favour until the close of the century antique secretaire . Chairs of the better quality were usually made in walnut but in the provinces many dining chairs were produced in oak 18th century chamber pots . Two varieties of these are usually referred to as Yorkshire and Lancashire chairs antique chair tall skinny back . They were quite heavily made and the former had two shaped and rounded back-rails, decorated with carving and bearing a small bearded mask century hepplewhite walnut card table . Traditionally, this was said to represent the death mask of the martyred Charles I and earned for this Yorkshire type the name of mortuary chair antique soup terrines . The Lancashire chairs, on the other hand, have panelled backs and I have an example in my possession on which the carving is very similar to that on a set in the ancient Chetham’s School, Manchester, which dates from the mid-17th century royal sheffield candlesticks . The finials on the uprights of my chair are the same as those on a settle which appears in Brueghel’s painting The Village Wedding meissen scattered flowers tea sets . The Brueghel picture was painted about 1530 and so we realise the slow movement of continental influence showing itself in the north of England over a hundred years later 16th century japanese tables .
Portuguese and Spanish characteristics, entering England directly through royal marriages or more deviously through France and the Netherlands, considerably affected the design of William and Mary chairs scriptoire . Here is found the tall, narrow back and the scrolled foot which during the reign of Queen Anne was to develop into thy, cabriole leg art deco polished matte lost-wax castings o nude women in bronze by viennese artisans . On these chairs the design of the upper back rail is often repeated in the lower front rail antique chippendale dining chairs with bronze leg decoration .
The type of chair which evolved during the first decade
of the 18th century was very pleasing to the eye antique brown staffordshire . The first cabriole legs were quite plain but the chair-makers of the lime did not consider that the chair legs were sufficiently strong to be made without connecting stretchers antique dining room with bulbous legs . However, by introducing a deeper seat rail it became possible to make a stronger joint at the top of the chair leg and eventually the stretchers were dispensed with altogether antique dresser names . The chair-backs of the Queen Anne period were of a pleasantly rounded appearance with a fiddle-shaped central splat, curved to support the sitter’s back meissen figures .
During the early Georgian period the cabriole leg remained in favour and without the stretchers was more sturdily fashioned than the finer Queen Anne shape 17th century writing desk . Moreover, it became the custom in the better class of chair to ornament the knees of the cabriole legs with carved shells, acanthus leaves or satyr masks american art deco bar furniture . Instead of a simple pad at the bottom of the leg, the ball and claw foot was adopted 19th century pennsylvania furniture prices . This was a pattern derived from a Chinese dragon motif which clasped in its claw a celestial pearl 19th century antique hall table . All-over upholstery of chair backs now became fashionable, but it was a vogue which died out when Chippendale and his contemporaries introduced the elaborately carved chair backs of the mid-18th century duncan phyfe table and buffet .
Chippendale included a straight, square sectioned leg among the designs for his chairs and when made in the Chinese taste these were covered in low-relief carving to simulate lattice work edward round drum tables . As if there was some doubt as to the structural efficiency of these legs, the use of stretchers was re-introduced art deco round glass chinese painted coffee table value . Chair backs were generally rectangular, whether the style was Gothic, Chinese or one of the many rococo patterns which decorated the pierced splats antique bedside toilet . Some of these complicated designs from Chippendale’s Director were rather pleasingly simplified by country craftsmen, e antique silver fish knives ivory handle .g english knife box . the well-known rush-seated ladder-back chair early american wall mirror .
Around the beginning of the 18th century the wing-wardly curving upholstered arms and cabriole feet antique german breakfast table . Later in the century the arms were made more upright and the side wings larger victorian cherry drop leaf table . The wing-chair is deceptive both in size and comfort small antique dressing table with cabriole legs . It often looks smaller than it really is and care should be taken before buying one to ensure that it will really fit in wherever it is intended to go early 19th century mahogany desks with lion feet . Although the winged chair marked a great advance in human comfort at the time, the unsprung seating feels hard compared with the resilience of 20th-century upholstery antique inlaid marquetry dutch chairs .
While George Hepplewhite was known to have made a considerable quantity of furniture to the designs of Robert Adam, he himself was probably responsible for many well-known types of chair such as the shield-back, the oval-back and the feathers pattern sofa table mahogany antique . The backs of Hepplewhite’s chairs were more rounded than those of his predecessors and he also favoured tapered legs which were often fluted utensils used in britain for cooking . His furniture generally was of a lighter appearance than that which had gone before occasional tables painted india . Sets of dining chairs usually consisted of ten or twelve single chairs and two arm-chairs or carvers antique rectangular drop leaf dining table . These latter were designed to accommodate the broad figures and full frock coats of the l8th-century gentlemen and the seats were made proportionately wide rue la la . The curve and sweep of the arms is also noteworthy for they were cut from solid blocks of mahogany of a size which would make it uneconomic to employ in modern reproductions “myott, son & co” .
Robert Adam designed his chairs to match the classical interior decoration of the houses he built vintage wooden card table . They had turned and fluted or tapered legs and the lyre-back pattern was typical 19th century glass fronted cabinet . He contrived some elegant gilded chairs whose backs were adorned with small painted medallions on which appeared figures from Greek and Roman mythology georgian dressing tables . These were painted by contemporary artists like Angelica Kauffmann and Zucchi lenci mermaid figurines . Adam also introduced the fashion for painted beechwood furniture, and chairs in this style were often finished in black or white paint, neatly lined with gilding kem weber furniture designer prices .
For some time previously gilded furniture had enjoyed considerable popularity art deco reproductions clock . It is said that it was first introduced according to the wishes of the wives of those Georgian gentlemen who were filling their Palladian mansions with the rich but somewhat sombre mahogany furniture rare antique drop leaf . Quite a large proportion of this gilded furniture was imported from France and it is very difficult to identify English made chairs from the French originals german antique work tables . French chairs are believed to have upholstered pads on the arms and small peg-like ends to the scrolled feet while English gilded chairs are supposed not to have had any upholstery on the arms while the scrolls reached right down to the end of the legs bauhaus style furniture +scale . 1 have, however, seen both English and French chairs with variations of all these characteristics oriental writing bureau cabinet .
The rectangular chair-back returned with Thomas Sheraton, who of all the 18th-century designers could probably claim to have the greatest delicacy of taste antique chamber cabinets . He owed this success to a lightness of construction, hitherto unattained, and to his use of the natural beauty of the mahogany and satinwood grain directoire sofa . This he left without embellishment except for a slight amount of inlay and some boxwood stringing along the edges antique 18th century cedar chest . Sheraton was very close to the 20th century in his chair designs and I have seen dining chairs produced by well-known designers of the present day where the influence of Thomas Sheraton has been very strong indeed andre delatte .
Regency chairs have a distinctive elegance of their own, and although they could be bought quite cheaply in sets before the 1939-45 War, today they are very much in demand nest of 20 drawers . They are rather simply shaped with slender, turned legs and attractively scrolled backs antique art deco fixture . The back rails are often inlaid with ebony or brass and the lower rail is sometimes found carved like a rope length silver forks made in london . It was during this period that the top back rail was constructed so that it protruded on either side of the uprights, this design often being associated with the so-called sabre-shaped leg small sterling silver clocks .
The Restoration spiral twist now re-appeared in the Abbotsford furniture of the early Victorian period antique kayseri silk carpet pictoral niche . These chairs were usually made of walnut or rosewood but could never be mistaken for late 17th-century pieces antique oakchamber pot chair with hinged top . In spite of their rather fussy character and beadwork upholstery they are attractive and well worth acquiring bone handled fork converted to knive . About 1860 the cabriole leg returned to favour and many sets of attractive chairs, designed for the drawing room or parlour, were produced walnut escutcheons . Country-made rush-seated chairs with turned spindle backs and club legs date from the early 19th century and are still made in some northern counties french table stretcher draw leaf .
The origin of the Windsor chair is shrouded in mystery, as is also the name antique dresser with drawers stamped 54 . The tale that George III discovered this turned-wood type of chair at a house in the Chilterns and found it so to his liking that he had it sent to Windsor for his personal use may be accepted with that degree of credulity accorded to many fables concerning antiques cabinet makers antique work bench . Some authorities date the Windsor chair from the late 17th century and others from the mid-18th edwardian wardrobes . It is more than likely that in areas such as the Chilterns, where there are extensive beech forests, turned-wood stools and chairs have been produced for a very long time, even as far back as the 16th century desk boulle style . The Windsor chair as it is known today was really a product of the 18th century and it was probably during that time that it reached that very high degree of functional design for which it has become famous william kent eagle console table . Traditionally, these chairs have legs and spindles of beech which until a short time ago were shaped on crude lathes in the beechwoods by turners known as bodgers antique draw leaf dining table . The hooped backs and arms were made of ash which could be easily steamed and bent to shape while the seats were of elm because they could be cut in one piece from the broad elm boards silverware sets real fake . Some Windsor chairs have yew-wood arms, backs and spindles but are rather more rare and consequently more expensive to acquire italian provincial furniture . Those which have a shaped central splat in the back with a small wheel-like figure incorporated in the design are usually referred to as wheel-back chairs german antique sideboards and buffets fluted .
I have already mentioned sets of Georgian dining chairs and these command a high price, even when country-made russian porcelain antique . Due to a 19th-century custom of dividing sets of chairs among the beneficiaries of the will on the death of the owner, it is quite common to find single specimens or pairs of chairs of almost any period in sale-rooms and antique shops 18th century victorian toilet in dining room . Accordingly, it is not a difficult matter to collect what is sometimes referred to by the antique trade as a harlequin set of different chairs, either of the same or various periods empire curved bureau . In my dining room I have a very pleasant example of the Hepplewhite period, a pair and one single chair of Sheraton design, and two Regency carvers song dynasty bluish green glazed earthenware . None of these cost more than £5 and some much less countries that art deco was very popular .
High-backed oak settles look cosy and attractive before an open fire in a country inn but they are not really very comfortable and seldom fit in with a modest collection of antique furniture 18th century king george red velvet arm chair value . They often have a chest beneath with a hinged lid in the seat and sometimes shaped wings at the sides to combat the draughts pilaster bookstand price . The low-back settle or panelled settee with cabriole legs and a long overlaid cushioned seat are a better proposition and can be bought for under E10 antique cherry drop leaf table claw foot .
Of much rarer vintage is the double seated settee or love seat, designed according to tradition for the use of courting couples “desk”+”antique” . I believe that this is just another fable as these seats are not infrequently found in pairs, the second one provided, perhaps, for the chaperone simple design dressing table . More likely these love seats were merely part of the seating accommodation provided in a large salon or ballroom for the assem-blies and routs so much beloved by the Georgians ornate antique silver roast serving platter .
Longer settees with cabriole or square Chippendale type legs, and with padded arms and upholstered seats and backs, made an appearance in the second half of the 18th century francaise antique . Apparently they did not develop in popularity as there are comparatively few about and their places were taken by the sofa and couch swansea duck egg .

Tables, Dressers and Sideboards
Medieval boards and trestles—survival of the term “board”—the Tudor refectory table—pull-out or draw-leaf tables—the cre• dence and origin of the gate-leg table—long period of the gate-leg—occasional joined tables-18th-century patterns with club legs—the composite “D” end table—tripod tea tables with dished and pie-crust tops—dating by shape of feet—early games tables-18thcentury card tables–Sheraton quartette or nest tables—variations of the Pembroke style—sofa tables and early 19th-century folding tables—early dressers—dressers developed from side tables—Welsh dressers—appearance of the sideboard—Victorian chiffoniers mason’s patent ironstone china .
In the communal life of medieval times the servant ate with his master and his place at the table was a kind of status symbol regency revival furniture . The master would sit at the head with his guests and family; next would come the retainers of importance such as the steward and the priest and finally the servants expensive antique plates . Accordingly the table was a very long one and as the great hall was also used for recreation and even for sleeping the table had to be constructed so that, in spite of its size, it could be easily dismantled and put to one side when not required furniture+scallop+wheat .
Tables of the Gothic period were referred to as boards and trestles and were made in a variety of styles edwardian c19th construction buildings . Sometimes the supports were as those illustrated in the Luttrell Psalter and later they took the form of pedestals french words for dinner stand . Until the middle of the 16th century the table top consisted of a massive board of oak or elm boards nailed together 1600 century scroll back chair . When laid over the trestles or pedestals the very weight preserved its stability table consoul antiques caried or gold “rococo” . Even to this day, landladies advertise “board and lodging” and we still speak of a board of directors, a board room and a board of governors flemish trestle table . It is interesting to note how this term, used to describe a council of men and women meeting around a table, is a survival in our language from a very distant past catherine the great of russia plates .
By 1550 the communal life of the hall had begun to disappear john bell, porcelain, value . Houses were being built with a greater number of rooms and master and man took their meals apart kent silversmiths bread basket . There was no longer a need for the long trestle table and so a smaller table with a permanent underframe and legs was taken into general use writing cabinet officers antique . It was probably a smaller adaptation of the joined tables used in the abbey refectories and nowadays the term, refectory table, is used to describe it, although it was a purely domestic piece of furniture types of bureaux .
The refectory table, which was in everyday use from about 1550 to 1660, was usually 8 to 12 feet in length art deco brass stool . It was stoutly constructed with four, six or eight legs with bottom rails between them, and the top permanently fixed 19th century chairs’ . The underframing was made of oak but the top was often of elmwood, because of the wide boards which could be obtained from that tree antique neoclassical .
During the reign of Elizabeth I a variant of the refectory table, known as a draw-leaf table, appeared on the scene earthenware mixing bowls antique with handles . It enabled a comparatively short table to be extended to nearly twice its length by pulling out under-leaves from both ends dinnerware silver tureen . It was a design introduced from Flanders and France and it enjoyed an equal popularity with the refectory table botanical whimsies are considered some of the finest examples of art nouveau glass . Both of these types were displaced by the gate-leg table after the Restoration but the draw-leaf table has been revived during the 20th century and many modern homes possess similar, but lighter versions of the Elizabethan prototype steel dining table germany .
During the second half of the 16th and the early years
of the 17th centuries, table legs were massively made and often took the form of heavy bulbous turnings english creamware marks . On Flemish tables these swollen shapes are often spherical, like a melon, but the English versions were considerably more elongated with rounded tops and bottoms dresden german antiques . It has been said that these bulbous legs were functional in that they were designed to prevent rats climbing on to the table tops ant cherry antique dictionary tables . I have it on good authority from a biologist friend that any self-respecting rat could easily leap on to a table without any climbing aids 19th century gothic bedside tables .
Between 1600 and 1630, a small but sturdily constructed kind of side table was developed antique chippendale “solid mahogany” dining table lions paw . It must be considered a somewhat rare example of early Stuart furniture as examples these days are seldom encountered ernst archibald furniture . The tabletop was of the folding type, that is, it consisted of two halves hinged together and normally kept closed cherry ladies writing desk by pennsylvania house . When required for use, the upper leaf would be opened outwards and this would be supported by a fifth leg, which could be swung out as in a gate-leg table serpentine pembroke table . Actually, this small table was the forerunner of the gate-leg pattern turkish style sideboards uk . It is sometimes referred to as a credence table, which was placed at the side of the altar in the churches and on which the wine vessels and plate were arranged for use in the Communion service antique “trestle table” kent .
The gate-leg table, as already mentioned in Chapter 1, became generally fashionable after the Restoration and, in one form or another it is the one type of table which has been in continuous service ever since art deco polished matte lost-wax castings o nude women in bronze by viennese artisans . Usually made with a gate on each side, some larger tables are to be found with quadruple gates “art deco dresser” and “marble top” . These were of the period when spiral twist legs were in vogue and were made of walnut or, occasionally, of oak louis xv antique french commode .
A small type of side table, with a drawer and bobbin turned or baluster legs, must have been made in large numbers towards the end of the 17th century as they are frequently to be found in sale-rooms and antique shops antique music cabinete with mirror at the top . The finer versions are sometimes veneered and have curved stretchers as illustrated in Chapter 2 federal style table with brass paws . A more common and probably country-made variety is the so-called tavern table with its top overhanging the ends to a more than usual degree trent potteries designs by george jones . The drawers of these tables are sometimes found with joiner’s slides on the sides porcelain wincanton .
After being generally adopted as a dining table during the Restoration period, the gate-leg table was given a variety of leg shapes over the next hundred years rene lalique nude woman art deco lamp . Baluster and spiral twists gave place to scrolled legs and eventually to a type of cabriole shape known as the club leg italian,furniture,maker,address . Except for use on extending card tables, the cabriole leg was not ideally suited to larger table design, but the club leg variation remained in vogue until the introduction of the Chippendale square leg and the tapered legs of the Adam and Hepplewhite eras deco style dressing table .
It was customary during the late Stuart and William and Mary periods for a host to seat his guests at several gate-leg dining tables if the company was a large one sheffield rote iron . By the mid-18th century, however, long mahogany dining tables at which all the company could be seated, began to appear in the more important households antique wood cutlery urns . For over fifty years, these long dining tables consisted of one or several gate-leg tables, with rectangular side-leaves, which were joined together and semi-circular “D” end tables were placed at each end to make up the piece ruhimann table . The wide mahogany boards, introduced during the previous decades, rendered the construction of the broad table-tops a relatively simple matter antiques antique oak sideboards dutch style .
When only a few people were at dinner, the “D” ends would be placed against the wall to serve as side tables and only the gate-leg would be in use new york antiques light art deco . These “D” end tables are quite often to be seen in antique shops, either singly or in pairs, and it is not always realised that they have originally been part of a long Georgian dining table antique mahogany handkerchief table . When placed together, a pair of these tables make a very attractive circular dining table, which would be admirably suited to a present-day flat or smaller modern house http://antcollectors.com . The long “D” end tables continued in use well into the 19th century but the tapered legs were in time replaced by centre pedestals, each supported on four long curved feet antique furniture spanish art nouveaux . These were usually reeded and had brass-capped ends with castors or brass leopard-paw ends wheat antique dresser .
Designed during the closing years of the 17th century, but not becoming generally popular until fifty years later, the small, snap-top, tripod table with a circular top is probably one of the commonest pieces of antique furniture to be found today walnut escutcheons . The hinged top of the simpler country-made examples is usually flat but a tea table with a dished or slightly hollow top is not uncommon reproduced oval shaped dinnig table with lion’s paw . The dished top was designed to prevent spilt tea or milk running over on to the carpet campaign furniture pottery furniture . A more elaborate type of the dished top was known as a pie crust early 19th century mahogany desks with lion feet . Here the edge was carved into a series of scallop shapes, but genuine pie-crust tops are rare and there are many reproductions about value of george iii english mahogany gateleg card table? . Some tripod tea tables have an open, box-like structure fitted underneath, known as a birdcage and into which the single, central pillar is made to fit dutch silver 17th century . With this device, the table top not only folds upwards but can also be rotated so that any dish upon the table may be brought within reach of the guests period antique mahonany dining table with lions paw pedestal legs .
It is possible to date a tripod table, to within twenty years, by the shape of the feet tilt-top birdcage tea table . As illustrated on p small antique pembroke table fold-over . 63, the feet of around 1750 to 1770 have a flatter curve with a wider spread, while those of 1770 to 1790 have a more pronounced hump at the knee antique imari porcelain . From 1790 to 1810 approximately, the curve of the feet was reversed and by the time of the Regency, slender, concave shaped feet had been introduced toilet habits during 1800th century . The early Victorian period saw the revival of the “S” shape, but this was usually rather thick in proportion and decorated with elaborate carving bassano maiolica .
Tables which were specially designed for playing games were rare during the 17th century but an interesting piece, known as a shuffleboard table, is sometimes to be found in the long galleries of our greater country houses 18th century antique american gateleg . The long galleries were built for leisure and relaxation so that during the winter months, while the gentlemen went hunting, the ladies could take more gentle exercise indoors dressing table with small tables . The shuffleboard table can best be compared with a shove-ha’penny board, save that large brass discs were used instead of coins and the table top was often very long rh vase austria . There is one at Astley Hall in Lancashire which has twenty stout legs and is 2712 feet long jennens and bettridge . It must have been prefabricated and then assembled in the long gallery as it is far too large ever to have been brought up the staircase in one piece botanical antique ceramics collectors .
During the reign of Queen Anne and the Georgian period, card games were extremely popular and folding top tables with cabriole legs were in general use during that time finmar alvar aalto stool . These tables were, mostly made of walnut and had small recesses near the edges of the top to hold the guineas or counters while small circular platforms were provided at each corner to hold candlesticks for the night’s play fashion in the 16th century netherlands .
Card tables and tea tables, particularly the folding, semi-circular variety with tapered legs, were made to an almost identical pattern, the only difference being that the games tables had inset baize tops while the tea tables were of polished wood how a goldsmith made a candlestick . The early 19th century saw the production of many small games tables with tops inlaid for chess and backgammon and with drawers beneath to hold the apparatus for the games end tables lions head table with brass eagle claws on legs .
To Sheraton must be given the credit of designing the nest of tables, the idea for which appeared in his Cabinet Directory in 1803 antique kidney shaped dressing table . The nest comprises four small, separate tables which all fit one under another splay leg sofa table . They were originally referred to as quartette tables and being very lightly con-structed and somewhat fragile, it is uncommon to find an original, complete set of four istoriato china . Luckily, I have such a set in my possession which I believe was made by Gillow of Lancaster old gateleg wooden drop leaf tables . It was salvaged from a second-hand furniture shop, the tables being scattered around among the jumble and the shopkeeper having no idea, apparently, that they formed a unique set kakiemon bow price .
Small Pembroke tables with side flaps supported by hinged brackets and said to have been designed originally at the request of the Duchess of Pembroke for occasional use, appeared about 1775 mahogany french dining chairs . They were common in late Georgian homes and in the early part of the 19th century a larger version was made to serve as a supper or breakfast table rectangular drop leaf table antique .
Sofa tables were designed to stand behind a sofa and to carry such things as reading and writing matter, trays of refreshments and candelabras rococo display cabinet . A few years ago, they were fairly common but are now in such great demand as bedroom dressing tables, that they have become a somewhat rare and expensive item pop up cigarette deco dispenser .
The Regency and early Victorian periods saw a vast number of tables with folding tops, made to stand on a central pedestal with three or four feet value of clawfoot cabriole legged dressing table? . In this type, the double top, when opened out, could be rotated so that it was supported by a rectangular underframing odiot tureen . These tables were used for games, writing, serving tea and a whole host of leisure activites french scrolling art nouveau style chairs .
A necessary adjunct to every dining room is a sideboard and to every kitchen or living room, a dresser trestle draw leaf table . The sideboard, as its name implies, was a small side table in those far off days when a dining table was referred to as a board gateleg drop leaf table 19th century . As the piece of furniture we know, it did not appear until the second half of the 18th century 18th century french fashion . The dresser, on the other hand, is of far more ancient lineage and in the painting of the More family by Holbein, referred to in Chapter there is shown in the background a high-backed, canopied Gothic dresser, or, as it was called in that period, a dressoir dutch rococo walnut cupboard . These dressers were really related to the cupboard or buffet and further reference will be made to them in the chapter on Cupboards vintage porcelain plate with brass pedestal .
Dressers with a high back were out of fashion during the early Stuart and Commonwealth times but there were two simpler types in general use aaron burr antique furniture . One was made in the form of a long, narrow side table with three or four deep drawers refectory tables trestle . It stood on four or six legs and had an under shelf, as wide as the dresser top, near the floor level antique epergne glass . This was, no doubt, used for the display of brass and copper ware what were wood tables with porcelain tops used for . The other type was a development of the chest and presented a more solid appearance, the entire front being filled with drawers and small cupboards demilune chiffonier . This second kind of dresser was not generally adopted until after the Restoration but both types were used then until the end of the 17th century drop leaf table with lion claw feet .
By the beginning of the Georgian period most dressers were fitted with a set of plate shelves which stood at the rear of the dresser top poole pottery est. 1873 . This version was usually referred to as a Welsh dresser and while it may have been popular in the Welsh farmhouse kitchen, it was undoubtedly made throughout Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries drop leaf table with spiral turned legs . Occasionally dressers are found made in walnut but more frequently in oak with the edges of the drawer fronts and the cupboard doors cross-banded in walnut or mahogany antique cabinets coat of arms .
Long sidetables were normally used as sideboards in early Georgian dining rooms and on these would be placed the knife and fork boxes with the cellaret for wines underneath antique french ormulu furniture . It was about 1775 that the first sideboards were designed with drawers for the silver and cutlery and deep cupboards on either side to hold the wines boulle table . Sheraton is supposed to have added the low brass rail with a small silk curtain at the back to the designs for bow-fronted sideboards, which had originated during the Hepplewhite period goldscheider staffordshire myott .
In Victorian times, some monstrous sideboards were created with the addition of the most elaborate carving chamber pot cabinet . In the great dining room at Charlecote Park, near Stratford upon Avon, there is installed such a piece of furniture with carved effigies of every variety of edible fish, animal and fowl hanging in great swags from every point and corner chestnut tables antique . This monument to the questionable good taste of the Victorians is all meticulously worked in varnished oak, a spectacle which must have made the shade of Grinling Gibbons sadly shake its head turn a silver tray into a table .
On the other hand, it was during the mid-Victorian period that a very attractive little sideboard, known as a chiffonier, made its appearance antique claw foot table . It was equally useful as a sideboard for a small dining room or as a cabinet for a drawing room fish tail knife 16th century fruit knife 15th . Made in mahogany or veneered with burr walnut, it was certainly one of the more commendable inspirations of the designers during the Victorian era american antique slant front desk .

Chests, Chests of Drawers and Various Small Boxes
Origins of the chest—cofferers and arkwrights—the carpenter’s planked chest—chip-carving decoration—the panelled chest of the joiner—development of the mule chest—early enclosed chest of drawers—the chest in two stages—the joiner’s slide—veneered chests—chests on stands and tallboys—bachelor, dressing and linen chests with presses—commodes and military chests—later forms—drawer construction and dating by feet and handles—Bible and ruff boxes—knife and candle boxes—tea caddies, cellarets and portable liqueur cases—sewing boxes antique christening shell .
Chests belong to the very beginning of domestic furnishing antique drop leaf painted table 1800 . Blanket chests, hope chests, even treasure chests—they served as wardrobes, as safes, as seats and sometimes even as beds antique french campaign chair . A chest is probably one of the earliest pieces likely to come the way of anyone starting to collect antique furniture in a modest manner porcelain vases czechoslovakia . Those belonging to the early Stuart period are not difficult to find and may be had for under £10 everest patent for two-seater sofa . They are not always large and a length of 3 feet or very little more is fairly common antique porcelain and china clocks .
Very early chests, some of which may date from Saxon times, were primitive but served their purpose well antique occasional table pie crust top . Usually they were made from rough hewn logs which were sawn down the middle and hollowed out classism semicircular arc . Then the two parts were hinged together and encircled with strong iron bands to which locks could be attached small antique dresser with cabriole legs . The French word trove, meaning a collecting box, and the English trunk have the same origin and refer to this tree-bole type of chest china made in czechoslovakia . I have seen one in the church at Llan Eilean, near An-ilwch in Anglesey, with three locks furniture + finmar ltd . It was customary for the keys to be held by the priest and two churchwardens so that the chest could not be opened without all three being present chamber pot chair value .
Medieval chests for transporting money and valuables were known as coffers semichina blue ware . They were comparatively small and often covered with leather and studded with nails warm entree dish . The man who made them was known as a cofferer and another craftsman who made chests was called an arkwright antique bombe commode louis the xv with marble top . He made them with bevelled lids and wooden pins served as hinges mahogany gateleg table . These belong to the Gothic period and are very rare art deco game tables .
The early Tudor chests, made for the smaller household, were known as planked chests silver flatware wood handle . They were made by a carpenter and consisted of a number of boards or planks held together with nails or wooden pins creamware tureen neoclassical acanthus . Planked chests had thick iron wire or wrought-iron strap hinges and were often decorated with chip-carving or architectural motifs in low relief antique italian pottery marks . Some of these planked chests were quite small and make interesting acquisitions for those who like old oak antique drop leaf gateleg dining room table .
The joiner’s panelled chest appeared about 1550 and the
panels were usually decorated like the example shown in
Chapter 1 baltimore neoclassical sideboard . The panelled chest, in various sizes, was an
essential chattel in every Tudor household and the larger
establishments seem to have had a chest in every room japanese imari 18th .
Visitors to Haddon Hall in Derbyshire may care to count
the great number and variety of chests which are to be
seen there chiffonier 19th century . A type of chest, made about this time, which
is now very rare and really a collector’s piece, was one
constructed with fairly long legs, about table height soup turrene . It
was known as a counter and used by house stewards and
clerks for paying out or collecting money 17th century chairs . The modern
word counter, as in a shop, derives from this long obsolete
piece of furniture space saving rectangular drop leaf tables . In a slightly different form, with doors
opening at the front and with the top fastened down, the counter was known as a hutch 1920s draw leaf dining set turned legs . Further details of this are given in Chapter 6 small antique dressers from montgomery wards .
The ordinary planked or panelled chest had one great drawback in that only the contents at the top were readily accessible antique 19th century daybed and brass feet . To reach anything carefully tucked away at the bottom of the chest necessitated the removal of all the other things lying above how high above a sideboard should a mirror be hung . Early in the Stuart period, some ingenious joiner invented the mule chest 1930’s austrian furniture . This was a shallower type of panelled chest, under which were situated two or three drawers brass dolphin triple dining table base . This design was extremely popular and mule chests continued to be made in the country towns and villages until around the year 1800 indian antique tea kettles .
The mule chest proved to be a great improvement in its capacity for storage antique round oak dining table claw and ball feet . Not only were the bottom drawers available for the separation of items, but inside the chest itself it is not unusual to find a small box or till with a lid, situated at one end near the top myott son compagnie . This was used for keeping letters and documents and these little tills often repay a closer examination, for on several occasions I have found that the front of the box will slide upwards to reveal two or three secret drawers beneath antique chinese chamber pot . In some of the larger chests, intended for storing blankets or linen only, the till would be merely a shallow tray on which the good housewife could place a spray of lavender to sweeten her sheets and pillow slips clear glass trinket boxes or powder boxes .
To the student of woodwork history, the mule chest is particularly interesting because there can be little doubt that the chest of drawers developed from it finial silver flatware . This process was not a swift one and for a space of time, roughly between t620 and 1660, there was a type of chest of drawers in use which was really a cupboard full of trays or drawers, surmounted by one large deep drawer creamware bird on pedestal . The cupboard doors with one lock prevented unauthorised access to any of the lower drawers but this must have proved unworkable as this pattern new deco furniture . ceased to be made shortly after 1660 and the chest of drawers assumed the form by which it is known today 17th century trestle table with claw feet .
For ease of removal the first chests of drawers were made in two stages or sections english wedgewood . The upper stage of two small and one long drawer fitted on to four pegs on top of the lower section of two long drawers secretaire desk antique . These early chests in two stages also had drawers with grooves cut in the sides, known as joiner’s slides earliest tilt top tea table . They were designed mainly to prevent wear on the drawer bottoms and also to prevent the drawer from tipping downwards when more than half open inlaid silver black bone china antique . It was found, however, that the slide grooves required disproportionately thicker linings to the drawers so that the cabinet-maker, with his improved ideas of jointing and finer standard of craftsmanship, caused the joiner’s slide to become obsolete about the year 1690 dutch rococo cupboard . Any antique chest of drawers with joiner’s slides may be safely said to be earlier than this date although this ancient construction has been revived in the last few years for modern kitchen units and office furniture milanese ebonized antiques .
Cabinet-maker’s chests with their broad, flat surfaces provided suitable subjects for veneering antique glass top tea table bird . By the end of the Restoration period, chests with marquetry decoration were in fashion and it is not uncommon to find country-made oak chests of this time with panelled oak sides and the top and drawer fronts veneered scottish chest drawers . Smaller chests of drawers, of 3-feet width and under and covered with oystershell veneer, are scarce and in good condition might be worth up to £80 and more antique mahogany french bedside commode .
During the William and Mary period, the chest of drawers on a stand made its appearance and shortly after developed into a chest on a chest or tallboy what are japanese black laquer screen made screen . The chest on a stand did not last long as a furnishing piece but the tallboy remained popular throughout the greater part of the 18th century german antique romer drinking glasses . It is difficult to understand this, as access to the upper drawers of a tallboy is very awkward and necessitates standing on a chair or stool antique west indies console table . Perhaps, for this very reason, they were considered safer for the storage of valuables revolvong bookcase .
Bachelor chests and dressing chests were brought into use during the first half of the 18th century 19th century commode with chamber pot . These were intended primarily for bedrooms, the former having a folding top which opened outwards on lopers, or pull-out supports vintage mahogany drop leaf table 1940 . Sometimes, instead of the folding top, a pullout slide for brushing clothes was included in the construction turkish sofa design . The dressing chest had a top drawer fitted with a toilet set and further reference will be made to it in Chapter 9 antique french drawleaf table .
Another type, adapted for a special purpose, was the linen chest with a press 17th century marquetry bombe commode . It was usually about 3 feet long and had several small drawers near the top art deco writers . Its particular feature was a wooden screw-press, mounted on the top for the purpose of compressing the linen before putting it away in the drawers french 17th century cabinent makers . On several occasions I have come across these chests, with rectangular pieces of wood let into the top at each end to fill the spaces left where the screw-press uprights had been removed antique chippendale display cabinet .
Two other varieties belong to the Chippendale and Sheraton periods 1930s frankart lamps . One was the commode, a very elaborate chest of drawers which was raised on shaped legs engliosh design consoles furniture . It often had a convex or bombe front and later types were embellished with ormolu mounts in the French style value of 18th century dressing table . The other was the military chest, used during the campaigns of the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century 17th century dining tables . It was made in two stages for ease of transport and is easily recognised by the clean-cut rectangular shape, the addition of brass corner pieces and the sunk handles on the drawers japanese art nouveau desk . A design usually associated with Sheraton was the bow-fronted chest and these continued to be made well into Victorian times portois fix .
Certain details of drawer construction, handle design and feet are invaluable in dating a chest of drawers antiques marks on furniture . Dovetailing of a rather crude nature had been used for the corners of boxes and small chests before the Restoration kidney shaped antique furniture . During the years between 1660 and 1750 the technique of making fine dovetail joints was brought to a high degree of craftsmanship latter carving on pembroke table . Large tails and widely spaced pins are indicative of early or country production roccoccoware . Herring-bone stringing, set in walnut veneer, was used for drawer front decoration during the Queen Anne period but became obsolete soon after 1720 spanish marquetry dining table .
Oak chests of drawers, belonging to the second half of the 17th century and the early years of the 18th, are sometimes found with the corner joints lapped and nailed world market carved brass charger plate . This is, of course, the mark of a poorly made piece georgian sideboards and serving tables . I believe the idea of nailing drawer fronts was adapted from cheap, imported furniture and the practice was undoubtedly followed by our own country joiners, of whom a few were prepared to produce shoddy furniture, even in those days 1940’s decco furniture .
Until the time of Hepplewhite, drawer bottoms consisted of thin boards, fitted into a rebate on the inside of the drawer front and nailed along the under edge of the back lining earth driven electrical clock bentleys . About 1775, a new method of securing the bottom appeared whereby a centre batten running from the front to the back of the drawer held the bottom boards in grooves whilst the boards, instead of being placed from front to back, now ran parallel to the drawer front meissen porcelain blumen design .
Bun feet were the normal means of support for chests until around 1700 when bracket feet were introduced art deco kneeling dancer lamp . At first, bracket feet were high and appeared out of proportion but by 1750 they were made lower and continued so until the end of the century early imperial ming porcelain . Cabinet-makers during the Chippendale era used bracket feet of an ogee shape on the better class of work, but these lent a heavy, baroque appearance to the chest amphora czechoslovakia . A lighter type of foot, known as the French foot and associated with Sheraton furniture, is usually found on the earlier bow-fronted chests antique cabnit barley twist legs . After the Regency, this design was displaced by an uglier, turned foot which remained in use until the mid-Victorian period wooden cylinder pedestal .
The first chests of drawers had brass, drop handles which were pear shaped or flat with split ends 19th century ceramic wooden clock . These handles were fixed to the drawer by means of a split pin, which passed through the drawer front and was then opened out on the inside and the ends driven into the wood louis 16th sofas . Small wooden knobs were also in use at this time but these became obsolete and did not reappear until they were adopted by Hepplewhite for his mahogany chests about 1775 antique paper mache card table . Drop handles were succeeded by a ring type around 1700 and these are sometimes referred to as Dutch drops inlaid wood chinese duncan phyfe occasional table . From these developed loop handles with brass back plates which were first seen from about 1710 meissen porcelain marking . To begin with, back plates were simple butterfly shapes but by 1730 had become very elaborate, in a variety of fretted and saw-pierced patterns art deco lamp globe . By 1750, the back plates to drawer handles had disappeared, being replaced by small circular discs behind the handle mounts antique card table 1920 fold over top . Towards the end of the century knobs of cast brass or wood superseded the loop type of handle and were in use well into the Victorian period regency day bed . Back plates, either round or octagonal in shape and with longer loop handles attached, were revived during the time of the Regency repair antique dresser drawers .
Among the more diminutive chests and boxes which were made during the 17th century was one type, about 20 inches long and 14 inches wide 16th century antique refectory tables . It was used for storing the large, black letter family Bible or for documents antique calamander . Another box, not quite so long and narrower, was used for keeping lace and neck-ruffs victorian cedar drop leaf table . It was really an early form of collar box dinning table carved like an animal . These boxes were usually made in oak with hasp locks and were decorated with chip-carving and gouge-cuts meissen cris de paris . These small chests should not be confused with the sloping topped table desk which will be dealt with in the chapter on desks and bureaux antique octagonal tilt top tea table .
Candle and salt boxes were in everyday use in the kitchens during the 17th and 18th centuries, those for candles being long and comparatively narrow to accommodate tapers as well as candles antique monks chair . Later examples were often made in oak with mahogany cross-banded edges scottish dresser .
Table knives, particularly those with silver handles, were carefully safeguarded in the dining room furniture ornaments ny . In the Chippendale period, beautifully veneered and inlaid knife-boxes were made to stand on the sideboard, while similar boxes were provided for spoons and forks 1930 art deco french armchairs . Servants of the 18th century must have been notoriously dishonest or masters and mistresses of an equally suspicious nature, for it was the practice never to allow the cutlery and silver to be removed from the dining room gate leg table english oak antique . After a meal the knives, forks and spoons would be washed at the sideboard and the butler would then count and lock them away in their respective boxes english ironstone pottery .
Tea was an expensive commodity between 1700 and 1800 and here again a special little box or coffer, which could be kept locked, was used to hold the precious leaves rectangular drop-leaf table . Tea was always made at the tea table and the mistress of the house would keep the key of the tea caddy among the other housewifely belongings which hung on the chatelaine from her waist victorian dome revolving re serving dishes .
Tea caddies usually had two compartments, lined with lead foil to preserve the tea, but those dating from the early years of the 19th century are sometimes found with a cut-glass sugar bowl of Irish glass, situated between the compartments antique draw leaf dining table . A collection of wooden tea caddies is an admirable way of getting together, in a small space, examples of all the different types of wood and the decorative processes used by the cabinet-makers of the 18th century 19th century mechanical desks .
Reference must be made to the wine cellarets and portable liqueur cases, which were in general use between 1775 and 1830 gabriel viardot . The cellaret was a heavy, strongly made coffer about 2 feet square and lined with lead antique pemproke tables . It stood on feet and was placed beneath a side-table in the dining room andrea baccetti . Cellarets were nearly always made of mahogany with large brass ring handles at the sides barocan roll furniture .
The portable liqueur case was essentially a travelling companion and contained four or six square shaped decanters whose contents would fortify the traveller on the long coach journeys of those days sideboards . It was often finely veneered in walnut or mahogany and strengthened, like the military chest, with engraved brass corner pieces enterprise porcelain italy . These, in the finer examples, were sometimes of chased silver northern song dynasty ru ware . I have seen these little chests made in oak, shaped like a trunk and reinforced with wrought-iron bands antique table from a monastery in europe . As these oak types usually contain Liege glass decanters I think they must be of French or Flemish origin 1620 plate british cobalt blue .
Ladies’ sewing and needlework boxes, particularly those of the first half of the 19th century, can still be purchased for a pound or two chenghua foot rims . They are usually veneered in walnut or mahogany with ebony or brass inlay or with rosewood inlaid with ivory carlo zen furniture . A popular form of decoration at this time consisted of a very fine parquetry in various coloured woods, known as Tunbridge ware tables with chamber pots . These work boxes can be included, to advantage, with a collection of tea caddies and other small boxes chippendale drum table 2 drawers .

FRENCH FURNITURE
Louis XIV, 1643-1715
T is desirable for the man interested in English furniture
to have at least a working knowledge of the French styles,
if for no other reason than that of appreciating their influence on English work seventeenth century english stoneware . To understand them thoroughly is a study equally as wide and intricate as that of English furniture (if not more so) and to do justice to the subject would call for a separate volume as large as the present one antique porcelain tea pot made in france . In these few pages one can hope to do little more than point out the salient features 19th century floral paintings .
Historically speaking the subject goes back farther than our own, for the continental craftsmen were far more advanced than the English, and have left more and better examples of their work to posterity antique table 8 legs with brass feet . For the present purpose, however, the reigns of the three Louis, XIV, XV, and XVI are all that we are concerned with, for when speaking of French furniture it is the work produced during the period of these monarchs that one invariably calls to mind antique blue and white earthenware jug with zigzag pattern .
Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643, a time when the French Renaissance had lost much of its Italian origin and had developed a strong individual character lenci wall masks . Whatever his merits or demerits as a king may have been, the world of art certainly owes much to him for the encouragement he gave to all arts and crafts antique french tier table . He was a man of most extravagant tastes, and, living in a time when France was one of the strongest and wealthiest of European Powers, he was able to give full play to his fancies antique drop-leaf end tables . His court was probably the most magnificent that Europe has ever known, and the daily extravagant ceremonial called for a setting for which nothing but the costliest and richest would do napoleonic campaign chairs . Fortunately, this great impetus to fine work came at a time when men of considerable talent were seeking expression, and it required only this talent on the one hand and the wealth and encouragement on the other to produce a style which (in its own particular way) has never been excelled theodore haviland 1958 pattern .
Period of Louis XIV
Of the capable craftsmen whose names are outstanding probably the greatest was Andr6 Charles Boulle who was born in 1642 and died in 1732 dresser accessories . He had experimented with a form of marquetry which had originated in Italy, and when the great tide of building and furnishing came he took it at its flood, and developed this marquetry into a distinctive kind which for sheer exquisite workmanship, coupled with fine design, stands unique antique card table with one flap . It is often termed ” Buhl,” and was carried out in brass or copper, and tortoiseshell, ebony, and horn drop leaf table wall semi circle .
A brief explanation of how marquetry was produced was given in Chapter V chamber pot in cabinet . Two sheets of dissimilar materials were fixed together temporarily and the design cut through both with a fine saw gillows three hinge . The two sheets were then separated and the parts interchanged so that in the one there would be a design of, say, brass on a background of tortoiseshell, and in the other the exact reverse antique “la granja” glass . Thus it was possible to produce two cabinets of precisely the same outline and design, but the one the reverse of the other in the material of the design and background designer extending round dining tables in kent . The one was the (4 counter ” of the other, hence the terms ” Buhl ” and if counter black lacquer dining chairs .”
A typical Boulle cabinet is shown in Fig silver fish slice . 165, in which this rich marquetry work is an outstanding feature figural silver antique candlesticks . In addition to the scrolling design of the inlay itself the whole of the brasswork is richly engraved, producing an effect which almost approaches the work of the jeweller rather than that of the cabinet maker antique english dressing table . A point to note is that wood carving is almost entirely absent, the decorative effect, apart from the marquetry, being obtained entirely with rich brass mounts antique mirror back sideboard 1920’s . Some of the leading artist-craftsmen of the time were engaged in the production of these mounts wooden arm chair pedestal castor antique oak .
It was for the decoration and furnishing of the Palace of Versailles that the finest and richest work was produced, and the Palace, even as it stands to-day after the ravages of the Revolution, leaves one gasping at its sheer extravagant splendour origins and development of arts . One has to remember that the furniture maker then was regarded as an artist, and certainly the results seem to justify such a status edgard brandt . It is with something like a shock that one realises that the cabinet in Fig antique table round drop leaf claw foot . 165 was produced at the same time as the simple early walnut furniture in England art nouveau . It is true that a colossal amount of money was spent on the production of such pieces, but it has to be admitted that the French cabinet makers were far in advance of our own staffordshire figures of royalty . It is points like this that help one to realise why it was that a revolution of ideas took place when Charles II came to reign in England after years of exile spent in France georgian telescopic silver candlestick .
The famous Gobelins factory for the production of tapestry was purchased by Louis XIV, and cabinet-making workshops were established in it art deco upholstery . Charles Le Brun became the director, and the world of art owes a great deal to his energetic leadership perpetual calendar 18th century . :Much of the finest work at Versailles was produced at the factory carlo bugatti furniture antiques .
In general form the surfaces of cabinets were flat—at any rate early in the period west indies antique paintings . This is mentioned in particular because we shall see that in the next phase curved surfaces were introduced everywhere art nouveau origins . The general decoration took the form of Boulle marquetry of brass or copper on a background of ebony or tortoiseshell, the design consisting of elaborate scroll work richly chased, allegorical figures, fruit and floral motifs, swags of husks, and acanthus leafage, the whole in a somewhat free interpretation of the Renaissance daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . Bold ormolu mounts heavily gilded were fitted, these taking the form of lion masks, scrolled consoles, acanthus scrolls, human masks, and deep nullings royal sheffield silver . Both straight and curved legs were used, the last named becoming more popular towards the end of the period in harmony with the tendency towards shaped work generally william kent console table .
COMMODE IN KINGWOOD WITH INLAYS queen ann gate leg table .
Laois XV antique prohibition table example .
This cabinet, made for the King’s chamber at Versailles, is a design of SIodtz and was made by Antoine Robert
Gaudreau In 1738 antique fluted gateleg table legs . The gilt bronze mounts were by Jacques Caffiere booths pearlware marks .
FRENCH FURNITURE
Louis XV, 1715-1774
T0 appreciate the underlying causes of the changes in the type of furniture produced in Louis XV’s reign
it is necessary to know something of the historical events of the period 18th century forks . Louis XIV had died in 1715 when his heir «as but five years old, and it became necessary to appoint a regent antique decorative motif . The Duke of Orleans took the office, and he was virtually monarch until his death in 1723 directoire consulat empire . There was thus a break in the extravagant court grandeur which was so essentially a feature of the reign of the late king art deco antique furniture makers . The wild expenditure of the seventy odd years of le Grand i1lonarque, too, had left its mark on the finances of the court and aristocracy antique pouch table . No country, no matter how powerful and prosperous, could continue for an unlimited time to spend money on pure aggrandisement to such an extent, and as a result there were but two alternatives : to live in a quieter way, or to find fresh sources of income mid 17th century foods france . In the event a sort of compromise was effected 17th century french fashion . The aristocracy began to contract marriages with humbler but wealthy classes, bankers, merchants, and so on ; and in place of the grandeur of the great salon so beloved by Louis XIV came the rise of the smaller boudoir photos of antique chambersticks . In fact the two periods are often referred to respectively as the periods of the salon and the boudoir jupe table mechanism .
Its effect on the furniture was that it was in its way equally rich, but was on a smaller scale how much is a claw foot table worth . Then, too, the masculine grandeur gave way to an effeminate prettiness, a change quite in keeping with the general conduct of life emile galle furniture . People began to look for elegance rather than grandeur, and to use ornament purely for its own sake boulle console table with marble tops with elaborate friezes .
We have had occasion to note in earlier chapters in this book that an idea, once it takes root, frequently is carried to extremes, and it thus happened that the tendency to introduce shaped work towards the end of Louis XIV’s reign reached such a height in the succeeding reign that many cabinets were made with scarcely a straight line or a flat surface in them regency antique mahogany dining table styles . This extraordinary use of curves is the keynote of Louis XV furniture when was art deco furniture stated in france . The skill shown in overcoming the difficulties that such work presented is amazing octagonal brass & silver table . One may’ or may not admire this flamboyant phase of French furniture, but no one can but admire the excellence of the workmanship augsburg marquetry table cabinet . The fronts and sides of cabinets, bureaux, and so on were curved in both plan and elevation, and some idea of the difficulty of veneering over such a surface can be obtained by trying to lay a flat sheet of paper around a ball barrel leg oak dining table . Added to this was the fact that the whole was usually elaborately inlaid or given a decorative effect by the use of designs in which the varying, direction of the grain of the wood was made to play a part round rosewood breakfast table .
So far as furniture was concerned the preference for gilded mounts in place of wood carving continued, and the workmanship of these was of an extremely high order table octagon marquetry drawer . One may not care for the effect as a whole—it frequently appears restless and overdone, but regarded individually the work was extremely fine i.i.e. exclusive capodimonte . The love of curves developed to an extraordinary extent, resulting in its fulness in what is known as the Rococo decoration thonet rocking chair . The term comes from two French words meaning rocks and shells, to which the ornament bears a certain resemblance antique porcelain czechoslovakia wall face . It is exemplified in Fig austrian mirrored tables . 166—in which the elaborate scrolls and acanthus leafage can be seen antique collector’s cabinet . The chief exponents of the rococo were Meissonier and Slodtz palissy patterns .
The French version of the cabriole leg reached its zenith during this period side table black hand painted birds and flowers made in italy . It was essentially suited to the general and wide use of shapes antique metal tables with drop leaves . In a limited sense it bore a resemblance to the English version, but it had an entirely different spirit telescopic glass tables . The English leg at its best had a high, well-pronounced knee running abruptly into a square at the top, and terminating at the bottom with one or other varieties of the club or claw and ball foot can antique dressers pair with modern furniture . An example was given in Fig flemish refectory table . 116 at E meissen figures . The French variety was of a more flowing shape steuben stemware deco . There was no square at the top, the shape either flowing naturally into shaped rails at the sides, or continuing with a concave curve upwards antique english dressing table . At the bottom the foot was usually scrolled italian buffet decorations . The cabinet in Fig antique english rhenish ware . 166 shows the typical French shape black lacquer china cabinet .
A great many varieties of woods were used ; mahogany,amboyna, tulipwood, boxwood, rosewood, sycamore, ebony, and amaranth are amongst the commonest antique cabinets coat of arms . Satinwood too was used towards the end of the reign, though this is more usually associated with the following reign of Louis XVI antique console table carved wood . Gilding and lacquering were popular meisen hand painted plates 1920 allegorical . At first the lacquer work was imported from the East, or panels were prepared and sent to China to be lacquered, but later it was imitated in the French factories, though the detail in it was often faulty, western motifs being introduced in a somewhat incongruous manner brislington delftware . A firm of the name of Martin paid special attention to this lacquer work and produced a preparation known as Vernis-Martin towards the middle of the century 1945 mahogany desk . In its final stage this originally Oriental decoration became almost wholly westernised, the decorative artists painting allegorical subjects in natural settings on a lacquered background patent imperial dining table gillows .
Towards the end of the reign a reaction against the elaborate Rococo work set in, and there came a revival of the classical spirit which was the keynote of the work in the Following reign canterbury music stand .
FRENCH FURNITURE
Louts XVI, 1774–1793
THE financial difficulties of the reign of Louis XV have already been noted reproduction 18th century tea bowl . They still existed, in fact
were increased, when the ill-starred Louis XVI came to the throne in 1774 hand blown romer glass . The clouds were already gathering for the storm which was to break close on twenty years later antique empire and biedermeier periods 1800 to 1848 . This, combined with the reaction against the Rococo work of the middle of the 18th century, produced a type of furniture in which the shaped work was largely, if not wholly, eliminated daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . Design became altogether more refined and returned again to the classical spirit, prompted largely by the excavations of Herculaneum which had been begun seriously in the middle of the century table paw feet antique .
Then again the Queen of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, favoured simple country life ; the elaboration of the preceding reign made no appeal to her, and although the movement towards simpler lines began before she was Queen, her influence undoubtedly encouraged the new feeling mirrors antique british chevron . It should be realised, however, that the term ” simple ” is used relatively antique neoclassical . Compared with the English, French cabinet work of Louis XVI was vastly more ornate hunt roskell silver auction . French furniture always was, It was just the natural national expression, but when it is compared with the full shaped work of the preceding reign the simpler and more refined feeling is apparent small dressing table cupboard .
The chief characteristics of Louis XVI are the use of straight lines and flat surfaces with a delicate and refined treatment of the detail floral ornaments art nouveau . Mouldings are small and the carving light and delicate old cantagalli pottery . Gilded mounts are widely used (they were still largely preferred to wood carving) and the quality is of a very high order reverse serpentine sideboard . The subjects take the form of rural, natural, and conventional objects ; scythes, spades, lutes, pipes, birds, cupids, torches, ribbons, swags of husks, flowers, medallions, and acanthus scrolls ormolou decoration . The last named are altogether less flamboyant than the ornament of Louis XV
time antique card table flaps . The woods used were the same as those of the previous reign with an increasing popularity for satinwood 18th century wine cooler brass feet . Lacquer work was also still widely used, and was often bounded by gilded mouldings antique mahogany drop leaf work table .
With the disappearance of the shaped work the cabriole leg lost much of its popularity, especially for cabinets and commodes, though it still was used for small bureaux and console tables in a lighter form cantagalli pottery . The light turned and square tapered leg was used largely, the last named often being recessed on its faces and decorated with gilded mounts fixed in the recessed panels 1930s antique square table . The chief designers were Riesener, Gouthiere, and Roentgen slant front desk antique .
All design is largely a matter of personal taste, but it is usually conceded that the work of Louis XVI shows French design and workmanship at its best 17th century oak side table . The furniture of Louis XIV had a certain grandeur tending to heaviness at its worst, this developing into an overdone elaboration in the following reign antique bombe commodes for sale . In the last of the three reigns there was a reaction against the worst features, and the result shows a welcome restraint scotish chest of drawers .
Readers wishing to study French furniture at first hand should examine the fine specimens at the Wallace collection, and the Jones bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington oak art deco scandinavian furniture . Those who are able to visit France should see the magnificent collection at the Palace of Versailles cheverton machine .
UPHOLSTERED CHAIR WITH BRASS MOUNTS josef maria olbrich furniture . French Empire gustavian chairs pierced splats,fluted legs .
The chair was made in about 1810 column empire style bedside tables . The wings of the beasts are in brass
and are screwed beneath the seat rails provincial furniture number drawers . The feet too are brass, being
socketed to fit over the stub legs antique french saxon china flowers with gold .
FRENCH FURNITURE
EMPIRE
THE period of the French Revolution during which Louis XVI and large numbers of the French aristo-
cracy were executed was scarcely a time in which cabinet making could be expected to flourish antique bedside toilet . Wealthy people went into hiding or fled the country, and there was nobody left to order the fine quality and expensive furniture one usually associates with France of the second half of the eighteenth century gateleg table antique . In fact, some of the famous ebenistes themselves were prosecuted for their close connection with the royalty and aristocracy george serving table fluted . It was not until conditions had settled down under the forceful government of Napoleon that any revival of the making of fine furniture was possible makers of silver table ware in late 1800’s .
It was then that was evolved the style which has become known as Empire chair 18th queen rococo revival . If Louis XIV furniture be characterised as solid magnificent grandeur, Louis XV as flamboyant elegance, all shapes and curves, Louis XVI as delicate refinement, sometimes verging on the effeminate, then the Empire can be reckoned as stately and dignified with a strong influence of the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian dutch silver octagon trinket box . Compared with the elegant style preceding it, Empire furniture is considerably more restrained, mostly with straight lines, usually in mahogany, and invariably mounted with brass or gilt ornaments meissen/cabinet plate/19th century . These ornaments took the form of the Greek honeysuckle and vases, laurel wreaths, caryatid figures, martial helmets, torches, winged animals, and so on english furniture toilet chest .
Presumably the style was a tribute to the leadership of Napoleon, the Emperor who had marched through Europe and beyond antique tray table white . It scarcely outlasted his final downfall in 184, though its influence continued to be felt in this country during the Regency period antique enamel top table .
UPHOLSTERED CHAIR WITH BRASS MOUNTS new england antique dining tables .
‘The chair was made in about 1810 1920s draw leaf dining set turned legs . The wings of the beasts are in brass
and are screwed beneath the seat rails 3 leaf antique extending dining table . The feet too are brass, being
socketed to fit over the stub legs scandinavian octagon dining table .

FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY
1800-1850
THE year i800 is a convenient date in the history of furniture only in the sense that it marked the begin-
ning of a new century antique hexagon ladles . Apart from that it showed no sudden change in style any more than the start of any other century countries that art deco was very popular . The same king was on the throne and was to live for another twenty years, although for the last ten the Prince of Wales was to act as regent lion feet table . Furthermore, Sheraton, who published his first furniture book in the last decade of the eighteenth century (see p jennens and bettridge . 181), brought out his Cabinet Dictionary in 1803, and lived until 18o6 elephant mahogany antq . Change was taking place, but no more quickly than at any previous period j s henry furniture .
At the same time, the period 1800-1850 is momentous in that it saw the beginning of the industrial age in which the machine began to replace hand labour hinges leaves antique table . At first its effect was scarcely felt, for the machines themselves were crude and unreliable and had not stood the test of time “holland & sons” cabinet . Furthermore, no one had had sufficient experience in their use to use them to the best advantage hammered flatware crest urn . In any case, their early use was largely confined to Government departments such as shipyards 18th century rococo copper candlesticks . Being individually built, they were necessarily expensive 4 foot walnut drop leaf table .
The use of machines speeds up work and reduces costs, and that was largely the reason for their introduction scottish art nouveau inlay furniture . There was, however, another and, in the long run, a deeper-reaching effect 18th century soup urn . This was the influence on design itself circular extending dining table . When you install a machine its first use is invariably to quicken and ease the more back-breaking jobs, such as converting logs, ripping out parts, rough planing them, and so on wileman ironstone coffee pot . Very soon, however, other possibilities are realised, and you see that it can be used for other work which would be difficult or at least expensive by hand craftsman for wooden vitrine . Then comes the idea of adapting the machine for other operations, so that more and more handwork is avoided sheffield plate candelabra . At last hand work becomes a thing to be avoided, and then is born that insidious idea of making the design to suit the machine silver candlestick dated 1750 . In a broad sense this is inevitable because any change in technique of
FIG french drop front desk . 156 antique table porcelain top . MAHOGANY CHAIR WITH BRASS INLAY pre war veneer antique bureau . 18io-i815-
This is of special Interest in that the back legs are not set square with
the front but line up with the slope of the side rails (see plan) brass frame girandole images . This is a
feature not found in chairs of earlier date anglo-chinese furniture . See also F in Fig first antique table de chevet . 157 decorating with a pie crust antique table . Owing
to the pronounced side curvature this results in the bottoms of the legs
converging value of mahogany marble side table .
manufacture is bound to have its repercussions on design, but the evil comes when sound construction and form are sacrificed to suit the limitations of a machine poole pottery streamline coffee sets .
However, up to 1850 there had not been any serious sacrifice in this sense, and during the fifty years we are speaking about there was a great deal of sound and delightful furniture made, especially in the first twenty years of the century brass sideboard gallery .
For those interested in the subject the following few notes
FIG identifying furniture makers bookcase oak . 158 cassone with pastiglia . BLACK JAPANNED CHAIR WITH INLAY two tier rectangular victorian table . Mid antique square to round drop leaf table . i9th century mahogany tea caddy tripod leg .
The entire back is in papier mficU screwed to the
lower framing early tables . The back, legs, and seat rail are
inlaid with mother of pearl dresser with kneehole .
on early machines may be of value antique wood trestle table with leaves . It should be realised, however, that machines were not of necessity power driven black bone inlay dressing tables . Many of them required human labour to turn them aimone mfg co furniture . Even in 1914 some circular saws and bandsaws were still being made which were fitted with handles, and sometimes pedals, which either the operator or an assistant had to work antique maple desks . Some-times larger saws were propelled by horse labour, the animal being yoked to bar which revolved a centre pillar, which in its turn was geared to the saw rh vase austria . Water and wind power too were used antique sideboard with desk .
As early as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries machine saws had been devised, these generally being reciprocating saws worked by cranks antique gate leg tables . They were exceptional, however, most cutting being done by pairs of sawyers over a saw pit italian 18th century cabinet makers .
FIG satin birch bow chest . 160 jacobean antique furniture . FULLY UPHOLSTERED COUCH sheraton period cutlery urn . About i85o marquetry tray brass handles .
This sketch was taken from a small model made about the middle
of the 19th century, and is typical of the period 18th century amboyna card table .
No doubt the reason for the development of woodworking machines in the nineteenth century was largely due to the tremendous importance of wood as a basic material for all purposes was there a change in arts in italy between 1920 and 1940 . It was needed for ships, vehicles, houses, some bridges, engineering, agricultural appliances, furniture, and so on antique continental porcelain . It was in fact in Government shipyards that the first serious and really practical machines were made american 19th century side boards .
Samuel Bentham developed the rotary system of cutting as distinct from the reciprocating, and designed saws, planers, boring machines, tenoners, and veneer-cutting machines antique swedish armchairs . These were mostly patented between 1791 and 1793, but it would have been many years after that such machines became generally available to the woodworking industry generally art deco harlequin fine china . Marc Isambard Brunel had also much to do with early machines, and had in fact patents on circular saws in 1805 and i8o8 czechoslovakia vases . A bandsaw was patented by Newberry in 1808, but its success was hampered by poor quality saws, and it did not become really practicable until 1850 when reliable saws were made round oak table dragon legs . Many planing machines were invented in the first fifty years of the nineteenth century, some in U antique gateleg table small .S antique divans .A pictures of expensive antiques . Most early machines had wood frames chinese qing porcelains . It was, in fact, not until the turn of the mid-century that all-metal frames were made 18th century marquetry bow front commode .
The refined and somewhat delicate style as exemplified in Sheraton’s works continued during the opening years of the century craftsman for wooden vitrine . The deterioration in his last designs, as shown in his Encyclopedia, 1804-1807, mentioned in Chapter X, was little more than a pandering to a passing fashion, and it is fortunate that the more grotesque items were not made in greater numbers antique william and mary oak dining room sets .
Other influences were at work, however, and to trace these we have to turn to France, where the Consulate and Empire periods in which Napoleon was the dominant figure was producing a marked style known as Empire russian chair lion . This is dealt with more fully in Chapter XV, but it had its counterpart here in a style sometimes known as English Empire wedgewook stonewear white . Its chief exponent was Thomas Hope, who published his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration in 1807 19th century lion claw pedestal table . This, like the French Empire, went back to Greek and Roman forms for its inspiration, and produced some rather severe designs, mostly in mahogany with brass mounts in the form of vases, laurel wreaths, helmets, honeysuckle, lyres, and so on antique oak draw leaf table . The style owed little to tradition, however, and, although much of it was well made and of good proportions, it seems to strike a foreign and somewhat jarring note antique writing box . Many of the shapes, especially chair and settee legs, seem curiously unsuitable for making in wood antique refectory tables .
An attractive chair of about 1810 is that in Fig french word for chasing . 155, and shows a high degree of skill in its manufacture pedestal dumb waiter . The shaping of the members at the back, which necessarily have compound curvature owing to the plan curving combined with the elevation shaping, is beautifully worked out gate leg vintage drop leaf tables . The back-ward curve of the front legs is characteristic of the period and suggests Hope influence biedermeier antique de .
Another chair of about ten years later in date and of somewhat similar style is that in Fig aristide colotte . 156 and is given because it embodies a feature not found in chairs of earlier date drop leaf table rectangle vintage . If any of the earlier chairs are examined, it will be seen that if a section is taken through the back legs at seat level the wood from which they are cut is invariably square with the front king george iv side board .

FIG bambocci antique . 161 drapery designs for dressing table . CIRCULAR DINING TABLE OF ROSEWOOD, BRASS
MOUNTED antique oval dutch table .
1810-1820 antique dealer furniture iron louis xvi .
The lyre motif of the centre pedestal was a common feature of the period egyptian figurine manufacturer in spain .
The ” strings ” are brass rods drop leaf table gate leg . A brass line is inlaid around the top
an inch or so from the edge antiquevenercoffeettableclawfeet . The latter is cross-veneered; also the
framework edging arabesque vertical plate racks - 2 tier .
Thus the chairs in Fig william france furniture maker . 4o are as shown at A, Fig what antique furniture maker marks under drawer front with number . 157 bureau bookcase writing desk display cabinet 1930s . Even when curved as in Figs 18th century plate racks . 77 or 107 they are still set square as at B and C, Fig fiddleback walnut louis xiv reproduction desk . 157, any convergence at the feet being arranged by reducing the length of the seat rail and cutting the shoulders at an angle sauce boats . Much the same applies to the chairs in Fig antique carved trestle table . 142 and to that in Fig neo-rococco cabinet . 155 tulip porcelain chamber pots . The only exception is in some Adam and Hepplewhite chairs, which have either round, oval, or hooped-shaped seats (see Fig antique half round side table mermaid . 132) chiffonier 19th century . In such chairs, owing to the shape, the rails are tenoned into opposite sides of the leg instead of into adjacent sides as in all other examples sheffield plate candelabra . As a consequence the back legs, owing to their backward curvature, are further apart at the bottom than at seat level forks and spoons in the 18th century . This is made clear at E, Fig french dining draw leaf table stretcher . 157 plain serving table .
Turning now to the chair under discussion, Fig colbolt blue plates and antique . 156, note from the plan that the legs are not square with the front, but are parallel with the sloping sides as at F, Fig marquetry roll top desk . 157 antique refrectory trestle table . As a result the legs are closer together at the feet than at the seat,
FIG chamberpot flap . 162 american oak drop leaf table antique . VICTORIAN DINING TABLE IN WALNUT queen anne antique dressing table . Mid johnstone and jupe table . 19th century 18th century metal chamber pot .
The top is veneered with figured walnut arranged in a quartered pattern cage leg antique table .
A huge bolt passes through the centre, Joining the tripod stand to the
pillar and sub-top framework art deco and exotic leather .
this being produced without any side curvature in the leg antique gothic table grotesque . The shape looks more elaborate than it actually is, the shaping being confined to the side elevation of the back iron and wood refectory tables .
The chair in Fig wedgwood keith murray slip two tone . 158 dates from about I85o and is more interesting than beautiful photo antiquities furniture in france . The entire back is in papier mftche, this being compressed to shape and fixed to the back of the seat, probably with screws antique sheffield piece marked “royal sheffield” . There is in fact considerable dishing and shaping in the back and, when it is realised that it is no more than I in scandinavian art deco furniture . to $9 in antique wrought iron candle sticks . thick in parts, it becomes obvious that such a back would be impracticable in wood “art deco” “dining table” french walnut extension . It is, in fact, an early example of a mass-produced chair and bears the marks of deterioration in design four pillar trestle table . As a matter of passing interest, note how the rails are tenoned into opposite sides of the back legs owing to the hooped shape, hence the divergence at the feet (see also E, Fig age of jazz shelley vases . 157) walnut gaming table with pillar legs .
A couch showing the classical influence of Greece is that in Fig antique replica, french victorian mahogany empire desk writing table . 159 napoleon leather and steel campaign chair . It belongs to the Hope period of the early
FIG heal and russell art deco antique furniture . 163 16th century small tables . SOFA TABLE VENEERED WITH AMBOYNA AND
MARQUETRY hongwu copper red .
About 1815 delatte nancy .
The flaps were invariably supported by brackets pivoted on knuckle or
finger joints cut in wood drop leaf table with pembroke leg value . The legs were usually dovetailed to the base,
and it was common practice to strengthen the joints with metal plates
screwed to the underside 19th century regency dwarf parlor cabinet value .
nineteenth century 19th century leather chest . Fig george speight porcelain . 16o shows the rather heavy and stuffy appearance of a fully-upholstered couch in the middle of the century antique serpentine swedish chest of drawers .
An interesting contrast in dining tables made within about thirty to forty years of each other is shown in Figs drop leaf sofa table . 161 and x62 lyre based sheffield candlesticks . The former, of the Regency period, has a certain grace and charm about it empire sideboard antique value . Here again we see the old classical Tables of the Mid-Nineteenth Century
influence in the lyre motif wooton chest . Light though it looks, the table is strongly built since the lyre-shaped pillar is not pierced right through, but is recessed at the surface only antique red stoneware spittoon . The legs are dovetailed to the base john widdicomb desk . The whole top pivots, so that the table takes up little space when not in use longcaseclocks chinoiserie 18.century .
In Fig vintage wooden handled three tined dinner forks . 162 we pass to a typical Victorian table of about 185o which, whatever one may think of the design, is beautifully made ashtray daum nancy france antique . To us it may lack the refinement and grace of the earlier table, but it is an interesting speculation as to what folk of A daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches .D pilaster bookstand price . 2oo0 may think of it 17 century english stoneware . For years it has been the practice of people to speak of Victorian furniture with something like contempt (though no one really familiar with it would ever deny its soundness of craftsmanship) furniture canape antiques italian . Already, however, it is appearing in antique shops, especially early Victorian pieces, and it is quite on the cards that folk of the future will see beauty in what we now call heaviness and vulgarity 1925 antique floding desk . Fashions change, and nearly all generations are contemptuous of the works of their immediate forbears “myott son & co”+oriental . Presumably the Victorian designers did not intentionally design things they knew to be ugly—and for a matter of that who are we to talk in these middle years of the twentieth century r
A type of table popular during the period under discussion was the sofa table, an example of which is given in Fig antique pier tables . 163 name a piece of furniture that begins with v . It was a type made popular by Sheraton and had hinged flaps at the ends supported by pivoted brackets furniture + finmar ltd . There were invariably drawers beneath the top standing silver mirror candlestick styles . As the table was intended for use away from the wall the ” back ” frequently had dummy drawer fronts small dressing table with cupboard and drawers . Its form during the Regency period is shown in Fig queen mary mother ship tea dish antiques . 163, which shows the Greek influence of the period in the ornament antique 17th century gentleman’s dresser .
The Regency version of the sideboard generally had cellaret pedestals reaching down to the floor and joined by a centre table portion quite open beneath torror in france . There was generally a drawer beneath the top as in Fig small antique french writing cabinet . 164 yabu furniture . Tapered pedestals too were becoming popular, and the scrolled back shows the beginning of a feature which was often to assume quite gigantic proportions in the late Victorian period, and was often surmounted by an elaborate piece of carving, frequently of extremely fine craftsmanship antique wash stands .
Bedsteads in the late eighteenth century were generally of the four-poster type, but by the turn of the century two SIDEBOARD IN ROSEWOOD WITH BRASS INLAY
1810-X820 staffordshire figure home .
The tapered form of pedestal was popular in the Regency period how much is an oak butler’s tray table worth . The relatively large size of room in which
it would have been used is shown by the great depth, which is 29 in greek neoclassical porcelain . over the centre portion, and 251 in richard ginori doccia 1924 platter .
over the pedestals art deco console table black .
Bedsteads of the Nineteenth Century
kinds developed rectangular drop leaf sofa table . In the one the head-posts with abbreviated tester were retained and the foot-posts eliminated early ming porcelain . Frequently head curtains were used, and these could either be drawn right back or pulled a foot or so down the bed antique tilt top dinner table photos 1800 century . The other type owed its origin to the Empire style of France english refectory table . In this the bed was intended to stand with its side to the wall vintage wooden handled three tined dinner forks . There was a head and foot often sloped and having rather the appearance of a couch—the couch in Fig chinese porcelain shards . 159 is in fact suggestive of the general form, though this is necessarily on a smaller scale 19 century inventions . In some cases curtains were carried on to a shaped tester art nouveau origins .
CABINET WITH BOULLE MARQUETRY empire furniture.com .
Louis XIV antique tea table glass serving tray .
The work is carried out in brass and tortoiseshell, and is
decorated with some particularly fine mounts of brass 19th-century swedish table . The
top is of marble antique chippendale breakfast table . The accommodation consists of a centre
cupboard with door and four drawers at each side 19th century, federal mirror .

SHERATON PERIOD
THE last of the eighteenth century designers, Thomas Sheraton, came to London from his native town of
Stockton-on-Tees about 1790 rare antique marble . Although he had undoubtedly been a practical cabinet maker, there is no evidence that he ever made any furniture in London myott son & co from the 1920s . Certainly he never had a prosperous business such as Chippendale and Hepplewhite had had antique gilt wood mirror frame . His fame in the furniture world rests upon his book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book, published in 1791-1794, and appearing in further editions in later years antique mahogany tea table with glass tray .
It was essentially different from Chippendale’s book, the purpose of which was mainly that of a catalogue to appeal to wealthy patrons 1700’s trestle table . Sheraton’s drawing book was primarily a trade book intended to help the practical man, not only in providing designs but also in supplying a treatise in geometry, perspective, and drawing eighteenth century tripod table . In the long run it brought him posthumous fame, but as a commercial proposition it was a failure 17th/18th century style, open-rack oak dresser . Probably few practical men were interested in learning to draw in perspective or to know of the problems in geometry (except in the limited way it affected the setting out of their work), and in looking back the whole thing certainly seems an ambitious undertaking wellinton chest of drawers .
So far as the designs were concerned, Sheraton certainly showed originality in many of the mechanical movements he introduced, and in the design of his chairs, but it must be confessed that the general run of furniture was little more than a representation of the general style prevailing at the time antique oak drawleaf trestle table . It was noted in Chapter VIII that Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture (excepting chairs) had a great deal in common ; so much so that it is often impossible to say to which it belongs for sale louis 16th walnut sideboard cabinet . It will be realised then that in speaking of Sheraton furniture it represents for the most part the work of a school of craftsmen working in a certain style sheraton 18th century dresser .
antiquegames writing table . BEECHWOOD
ARMCHAIR antique tripod tilt table .
About 180 mahogany bow fronted chest of drawers scottish .
The chair is painted In
black and gilt, and the
rails of the back have
small decorative panels
painted with floral and
musical Instrument sub-
jects masons patent ironstone chinese peony .
FIG english antique reproduction dining table round with add on leaves . 142a carved seating . MAHOGANY
ARMCHAIR where can i buy a rennie mackintosh table with brass lion paws .
Late 18th century thonet bentwood rocker .
The backs of Sheraton chairs were usually lower than those of other contemporary work cutlery boxes . The sweep of the arms into the back is a characteristic Sheraton touch central part of the library has a display cabinet .
Details found in Sheraton Chairs
In his chairs, however, he undoubtedly did strike an original note georgian kneehole cabinet . They are lighter than the majority of other late eighteenth century examples, the backs are lower, and instead of the top rail forming a more or less continuous sweep with the uprights (see Fig french console table 1830 . 131) it was frankly a separate item tenoned between the uprights dining tables art deco . The legs were either turned or square tapered (see Fig antique 2-tier pedestal table . 151), and the arms, instead of bowing out sideways, were usually shaped in
FIG antique maple desks . 143 arts and crafts +jupe table . MAHOGANY CHAIR art deco kneeling dancer lamp .
Late 18th century georgian peat bucket .
Sheraton used both square tapered and turned legs horses as allegorical figures in art . The cabriole
type was never used old english pattern forks with four tines .
side elevation only, generally springing from the back in a continuous sweep fine porcelain arc .
A good example is given in Fig smith furniture gateleg drop leaf table . 142 empire hall bench . Note the obvious way in which the back rails fit between the uprights (compare with Fig fake brass antiques . 131), and the sweep of the arms into the uprights spanish lacquered cabinet inlaid . The whole thing is different from anything else being made at the period art deco console and germany . The curve of the arms into the turned uprights, the curved turned legs, and the graceful design of the pierced back are typically Sheraton 19th century american rosewood rococo console table . It is painted all over (something else that no other designers SIDEBOARD DECORATED WITH SATINWOOD INLAY BANDINGS catherine the great of russia plates . Late i8th century charles neo classism boulle .
The bow front sideboard became extremely popular at this time antique trestle refectory table . Sometimes the space between the centre
legs was title in with a cupboard having a tambour front made to slide sideways pottery german weimar art deco .
Tapered Legs in Sheraton Chairs
attempted), and some extremely fine art work is put into the small panels of the back florence lamps giuseppe antique .
Another Sheraton chair, this time with tapered legs, is given in Fig who sells maggiolini furniture . 142a decoration metal bureau table desing . In this case the arms meet the turned uprights more or less at right angles, but they sweep into the back as in the previous example extending glass table with wrought iron legs . The back is practically square, and the uprights which continue down to form
II how drop leaf table evolved .C; antique serving cabinet . 1 a & s smee finsbury .15 round “dining table” “six legs” . WHEEL BACK CHAIR irish cabinet makers antique wine coolers .
About i800 antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware .
The finest chairs of this kind came from Norfolk and Suffolk value of primitive antique work bench . They became popular towards the end of the 18th century, and into the 19th century lowenfink . Earlier models had curved arm supports at the front instead of turnings antique drum shaped table .
the legs are shaped only in side elevation wood furniture legs clawfoot . They are straight when looked at from from the front art glass vases antique . This is another feature invariably found in Sheraton chairs, and never in contemporary work of other designers scriptoire . All these features also appear in the chair in Fig oak table 5 legs built in leaves rectangular antique . 143•
Sheraton died in i8o6, and it is unfortunate that towards the end his designs suffered severely decorative spindle legs from antique card table . Probably no man, no matter how individual, is quite free from extraneous circumstances bread/cake baskets 17th century . Prevailing fashions exert their sway, and designers
146 varguenos . TWO WRITING DESKS IN MAHOGANY WITH SATINWOOD BANDINGS antique pedestal mahogany table .
Late i8th century bauhaus style furniture +scale .
The Importation of Ykirious foreir4n fancy woods, satinwood, am boyna, rosewood, ebony, and so on led to the free use of
these for use in inlay bandint!s art nouveau antique drinking cabinet . Satinwood, too, was freely used in the solid, entire pieces being made up in it antique 17th century dresser .
Deterioration of Late Sheraton Work
are often faced with the choice of either following them or retiring from the scene antique mahogany card table, imperial . Many things were happening in Europe at the close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century which were to affect design gilt metal mounted pier table . The French revolution, culminating in the establishment of the First Empire, produced a style in France which rapidly found its counterpart this side of the Channel, and the naval victories of this country had an extraordinary effect on furniture 1800 hundred french mantel and candle clock .
FIG antique art deco furniture black lacquer . 147 maurice adams art deco . MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE WITH BANDED DRAWERS anglo indian cabinets .
Late i8th century vintage buttterfly dropleaf tables .
A prominent feature of the Sheraton school was the very limited use of
carving antique 17th century dresser . Probably it was a reaction from its free use in the Chippendale
period dutch cabinet marquetry 18 .
Just as topical events of thirty or forty years ago were commemorated in fretwork designs, so the furniture of the early nineteenth century showed its reaction to the events then happening gillows bow front mahogany chest drawers .
Sheraton fell into the general line and published his E’?IcYc10P,Tdia of 1804-1807, in which was one of the most extraordinary collections of furniture designs ever put together regency occasional table . Naval emblems of all kinds—anchors, lifebelts, pulley blocks, ropes, and so on—abound, and it is a mercy that more of them were not made up,
To revert to his earlier and happier period, Sheraton’s chief form of decoration was inlay 19th century parian busts . Cross-bandings of fine
MAHOGANY WARDROBE WITH BUILT-UP VENEERED
DOORS
Late i8ti century antique chinese circular revolving bookcase .
The fine mahogany imported at this time led to the revival of the built-up
patterns in veneer as the grain had splendid decorative value 17 century elm gateleg table .
foreign woods, such as satinwood, rosewood, tulip wood, ebony, amboyna, and so on, were inlaid around the edges of drawer fronts and panels, and various built-up patterns in veneer were made use of with great effect period style display cabinets . The bow front sideboard in Fig antique ceramic tambour german mantle clocks . 144 shows the use of this cross-banding italy spoons that might be antiques . Painting also he used considerably, naturalesque floral subjects and panels in the style of Angelica Kauffman being the chief forms it took nicholas sprimont solid silver . Carving he used
E; <
FIG value of an antique pembroke table . 152 antique mahogany french bedside commode . MOULDINGS OF THE SHERATON PERIOD dutch 18th century walnut chest on chest .
Mouldings were invariably small and delicate islamic influence furniture . Occasionally carving and inlay
were introduced, though they were usually plain dining tables with wood inlay work .
sparingly and never in the full scrolling form favoured by Chippendale french console table 1830 .
A small Sheraton side table is given in Fig arts and crafts furniture, antique collectors . 147 flemish refectory table . Here again the drawers have an inlaid cross-banding around the edges antique german breakfast table . The turned legs are reeded down their length dresser accessories . Two other Sheraton pieces are given in Fig russian chippendale trays . 146 silver candleabras made in england . Note the inlay again decorative writing styles . Desks of this kind were often fitted with elaborate secret contrivances in which stationery boxes, drawers, and cupboards rose up at the touch of a spring how common is walnut drop leaf table .
The Sheraton Wardrobe
Fig antique chinese chamber pot . 148 shows a fine inlaid wardrobe in which built-up patterns in veneer are used effectively myott son&co hanley 1880 . The dentils in the cornice and the flutes in the frieze are carried out entirely in inlay american crafts armchair upholstered . The curved bracket feet are a typical feature of the late 18th century 17th century oak side table .
CHAIR WITH SABRE LEGS AND
CANED SEAT rococo style flower arranging .
About i8io pembroke style end tables .
This is an extremely fine example of the chairmaker’s craft 18th century marquetry . Despite the somewhat complicated curvature of the back the construction follows conventional methods, the tops of the back legs being tenoned into the cresting rail and the moulded shaping worked across the joints mark vezzi porcelain . The curved rails fit together with a form of halved joint cylindrical crock eared handles cobalt blue .

THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
HEPPLEWHITE PERIOD
HEPPLEWHITE began his career as a cabinet maker
at a time when the art of cabinet making was at its ifullest tide kakiemon porcelain . The second half of the eighteenth century is often called the golden age of cabinet making, and by I- `6o, when Hepplewhite settled in business at Cripple-gate, the standard of design and craftsmanship was at its zenit1h walnut tripod tea table . The Chippendale school was still in its prime, and they was a strong group of craftsmen who had ingrained in the — a fine trade tradition, a thing which implies something more than a mere ability to use tools antique card table collectors . It means a sense of appreciation and a certain element of originality, tempered with the convention that belongs to a workshop where everything is done by hand silver tripod table .
George Hepplewhite was one of these practical men english bristol teapots . He was scarcely a designer in the sense that Robert Adam was antique english stoneware identification . He did not sit down at his drawing board and sketch out purely original designs, but his work had characteristic features that can usually be recognised andre’ japaneese porcelain . As a cabinet maker he knew his job perfectly, and, in addition, he had a keen appreciation of fine line which enabled him to give his work a certain individuality in a way that would be beyond a man of no imagination eighteenth century women dressing in front of men in their bedchamber . In this sense he no doubt influenced the trade considerably, but beyond this he simply worked in a certain style which a group of cabinet makers was following angouleme guerhard . His name has come to be attached to that style probably because of his book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, and that was not published until 1788, two years after his death antique wooden pot cupboard .
It is apparent, then, in speaking of Hepplewhite furniture a general style popular from about 1760 until practically the end of the century is implied rather than the work of Hepplewhite himself as an individual dutch antique furniture . A great deal of furniture no doubt was made in the workshop at Cripplegate, but except in a few rare instances it is impossible definitely to identify it antique drop-leaf bread table .
Taken generally, Ilepplewhite furniture was comparatively simple antique blue glass kidney shaped end table . There were a few touches of decoration (usually applied), but even the most ornate specimens had nothing like the elaboration found in the richer Chippendale pieces english porcelain parian . Several new forms of decoration were introduced or revived, for whereas Chippendale work had little other form of decoration besides carving, Hepplewhite furniture had
FIG (chineseexportporcelaincoffeeservice) . 130 tambour commode . SHIELD BACK CHAIR french art deco porcelain jaguar .
1770-1780 spoonback armchair .
One of the finest chairs produced in the 18th century “antique collectors blog” .
For all their lightness these chairs were extremely strong art nouveau jugendstil jugs .
being made in the finest mahogany and of the best work-
manship multipurpose dressing table .
inlay, painting, and gilding in addition to carving glass table antique ceramic legs . The inlay usually took the form of bandings and strings in satinwood, rosewood, ebony, and so on, and was in fact very similar to the inlaid work usually associated with Sheraton glass boudoir lamp deco . Carving was of small classical subject, vases, festoons, draped cloth, and swags of husks, an entire departure from the elaborate scrolling acanthus leafwork of the Chippendale school duke extendable dining table .
It is perhaps in the chair that the Hepplewhite charac-
HOOP BACK
CHAIR antique empire or regency style mahogany bookcase .
1770-1780 english seventeenth century cabinets .
A favourite motif of Hepple-
whitewere the ears of wheat ball and claw tripod table antique . These appear at
the top of the pierced splat
in the back 18th century wardrobe .
11
FIG carved japanese tea table . 132 edgar brandt reproductions snake lamp . OVAL BACK
CHAIR pennsylvania house antique sideboard .
1770-1780-
The French influence is
strongly marked In this
chair world market carved brass charger plate . Except for this
French form the cabriole
leg was never used by
the late 18th century
designers antique silver sphinx .
SIDEBOARD WITH BREAK FRONT DECORATED WITH INLAY pembroke end table .
Late i8th century,
It was not until towards the end of the 18th century that the sideboard with drawer and cupboard accommodation
was made epergne antique for sale . It was evolved from the side table with separate pedestals recipe for “soft paste porcelain” . It is difficult to distinguish between
Hepplewhite and Sheraton pieces as both had a great deal in common italian deco furniture .
The Shield Back Chair
teristic is most marked de coene freres . Probably the most famous type is the shield back, of which an example is given in Fig small sutherland table . 130- A really fine example of a shield back ranks amongst the most beautiful things ever produced, but, like the cabriole leg, first-rate examples are rare antique folding “coaching table” . The truth is that it takes a first-class chair maker of considerable experience to make one properly, the difficulty being that the shaping runs in three directions 16th century english joyned table . There is the shield shape seen from the front, the backward rake, and the concave plan shape antique table turned legs . To incorporate all these to form one harmonious whole is something that calls for a great deal of skill and experience antique inlaid table birds .
As a rule the main back framing had a channelled moulding worked all round it, and the probable reason for this was that it helped to emphasise the shield shape steuben stemware deco . It will be realised that, although the lower part of the shield appears to be in one piece, it is in reality in three dresser with mirrors & teardrop pulls & ogee bracket . The side portions in fact continue down, forming the back legs, and a curved bottom rail is fitted in to complete the shape between them 18th century marquetry . By channelling the wood the shield appears to be in one unbroken piece william iv jupe extending circular . The front legs of these chairs were invariably tapered louis sue .
The chief outside influences of Hepplewhite were the Adam and the French raoul dufy, plates ceramique . Of the latter there was Louis XV, which showed itself in the cabriole leg exemplified in Fig classical work/sewing table mahogany,3 drawers,carved legs, pedestal paw feet . 132 olive green and iron red oriental porcelain . Note the French scrolled foot and the flat shaping which continues along the front seat rail in an unbroken sweep arabisque furniture in ny . Another French influence came from the Louis XVI, and one result was the use of the turned leg 18th and 19th century silversmithing . An example of this is the settee in Fig antique spoons italy silver ornate . 129 papier mache tray-c19th .
Other typical Hepplewhite chair backs are the hoop back, of which Fig antique drop leaf or gate leg tables, ,ny . 131 is an example, the oval back (Fig antique 5 leg oak drop leaf table . 132), heart shape, and that with the serpentine shaped top rail curving into the uprights mackintosh wooden chairs .
Pieces such as sideboards, writing tables, bureaux, chests of drawers, tallboys, wardrobes, and so on were, as already mentioned, extremely like Sheraton furniture, and are dealt with more fully in Chapter X curved back chair from 1940s . The bedstead in Fig french chamber pot bed tables . 129 is a four-poster, very like one appearing in Hepplewhite’s book, and shows the general restraint in treatment walnut tripod tea table .
Fig clawfoot dresser . 133 is a sideboard belonging to the last few years of the eighteenth century trestle table double column . It has characteristics of the Hepplewhite style, but there are others which belong equally to Sheraton, and, as we are dealing with what might be termed schools of design rather than the work of individuals, it is apparent that one can do little more than term it late eighteenth century antique french empire . It is probably the work of a cabinet maker whose name has not come down to posterity, and who worked in the traditional style of the period edwards & roberts furniture .
THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
ADAM PERIOD
N one important sense Robert Adam was entirely
different from the other outstanding characters with
-whose work this book deals serpentine top breakfast table . He was an architect by profession, not a practical cabinet maker, and in turning his attention to furniture he was not in any way fettered by any convention which a tradesman might have 19century british armschairs . It is not suggested that the convention of a good trade tradition is bad ; it is one of the healthiest influences a craft can have ; but it simply is a statement of fact that Adam was able to approach the subject from a fresh angle italian inlaid tea table . He worked from his drawing board and passed on his designs to be carried out by a practical cabinet maker porcelain spanish dancers .
He had travelled a good deal in France and Italy, and on his return in 1758 he set himself up as an architect and rapidly became very successful antique furniture prohibition bar examples . As a result of his foreign studies he was influenced considerably by the classical school, but he had a strong individual turn, and as a result his work had a characteristic touch which made it different from that of other architects working in the classical style antique drop leaf table for sale . It was delicate and refined (some term it effeminate), abounding in small intricate detail, and it superseded largely the rather heavier work of such architects as Sir William Chambers “empire designer, best known for pedestal tables with curved legs .
His connection with furniture was that in designing an interior he included the furniture as an essential part of the scheme blue china tea set with silver inlay england . To the average architect the work was finished when the walls and ceiling had been decorated, but Adam required every detail, even to the ornaments on the sideboard, to harmonise with his ideas japanese portable cherry wood tea tables . Perhaps the most notable example is that of Harewood House, in which the furniture was designed by Adam and executed by Chippendale antique ball and claw desk .
Although there were marked characteristics in Adam furniture, one has to be wary in accepting a piece as genuine Adam Characteristics
Adam chinese furnture form mid 19th centuary . The fact that he had to employ practical cabinet makers, combined with his great success, soon led to a great deal of imitation simple european furniture . In fact, of all the ” Adam ” work that has survived only a very small part can be identified as owing its origin to Adam himself regency period casters .
FIG porcelaine antique motif ming . 137 louis the 14th chair . DINING TABLE WITH FLAP AND PIVOTED BACK LEG japanese laqure tea table .
Abotd 1775•
This is one of a pair of tables Intended to be placed together when used
for dining silver flatware wood handle . The front rail is in reality a drawer front brass ornaments for furniture empire style . It now stands In
the Victoria and Albert Museum South Kensington 1828 sideboard buffet .
self was an individual and original designer, ” Adam ” furniture was, for the most part, the work of a school working in his style antique wood drop leaf table .
Adam used many methods of decoration in his furniture antique oak dropleaf gateleg table . The carving had definite characteristics shearers cupboard heavy . The acanthus leafage was finer and more delicately treated than in the full scrolled form which Chippendale had favoured, and, in addition, he used chains of husks, the honeysuckle device, Greek key, vases, drapery, plaques carved with mythological subjects, rams’ heads, and grotesques antique empire furniture . Inlay and marquetry, too, were revived, and were carried out in satinwood, tulip-wood, rosewood, amboyna, harewood, and so on biedermeier antique de . The subjects were similar to those of the carving furniture designersgerman . Another form of decoration was painting in the style of Angelica Kauffman meissen porcelain antic . A popular treatment was to make these painted panels the main feature of a design of scrolling acanthus leafwork
FIG antique dishes germany pastels with scallops . 138 henry clay bed and furniture . SEMI-CIRCULAR ADAM SIDE TABLE ferniture leg in itali .
T770-1780 antique table in europe .
An extremely fine piece of cabinet work carried out In mahogany antique vase markings newcastle.. on. tyne 1762 . The
curved top rail is veneered, the grain running crosswise 17 century elm gateleg table . The centre
panel and the oval pater2e are typical features brass frame girandole images .
and husks 17th and 18th century french silver marks . In some few instances, too, Wedgwood plaques were introduced bidet square .
A typical Adam sideboard is shown in Fig lion antique mahogany dining table . 136 royal sheffield silver . Properly speaking, it is a side table with two pedestals, but the three pieces were intended to stand together and form a whole In some cases the pedestals were actually joined to the table, though the result never seems quite so successful furniture of meiji period . It gives one the impression that the three pieces were actually separate at one time and were fixed together antique silver candelabras made in england . It is true that there was a general tendency to make the sideboard a single unit, but it was only when the pedestals lost their indivi-The Adam Sideboard
duality as such that the result was really a success labels under boulle furniture . The Sheraton sideboard in Fig makers of antique tea tables . 14 wheat shaped dining table base .4 exemplifies the point furniture  finmar ltd . The origin of the pedestals can just be traced, but they are essentially a part of the design as a whole “art, nouveau”"chiparus”"deer” .
The pedestals owed their origin to the lack of accommodation in the side table andres rosewood solid wood . If one refers back to the side table of Chippendale’s time in Fig chromed trestle table leg . 11 5 it is obvious that its only use was to provide standing space on its top directoire phyfe sofa . There were no drawers or cupboards in which table furniture could be kept opalescent glass perfume france . It fell to Adam to introduce the pedestals antique walnut telescooic dining table . Sometimes they were fitted up with metal grids to enable hot irons to be placed in the cupboards, so providing ? means of warming plates The urns at the top either had metal containers in which iced water was kept, or they were fitted up to hold cutlery antique rosewood armoire with claw feet . The more ornate specimens were often carved with rams’ heads, drapery, husks, and other devices selling japanese tea tables antique .
Towards the end of the century the cabriole leg practically died right out 18th century chippendale dresser . Adam never used it upholstered wood chairs from 1930s . In most cases he preferred the square tapered leg with small square feet fashion 17th century . They were usually recessed in their tapered portion, a pendant of husks often being carved in the recess near the top old gate leg table ball feet . The leg at C, Fig second hand old oak table in staffordshire . 139, shows this detail antique ladik rug . Another common treatment was to carve a series of flutes along the length, the lower part often being filled in with reeds (see A in Fig french antique occasional tables . 139)•
A particularly fine example of an Adam dining table is given in Fig important american girandole mirror . 137 english hepplewhite dressing table . It is one of a pair napoleon antique campaign chair . In use the two would be placed together, flap to flap, so forming one large table meals in eighteenth century england . The flap is supported by a single leg made to pivot frosted glass vase with smokey streaks . Thus when not required for dining the tables could be placed flat against the wall and become useful side tables antique chinese circular revolving bookcase . The decorative treatment is well worth noting antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . The tapered legs are fluted on all sides except one, this being carved with a crisscross design set in a recess antique table round drop leaf claw foot . At the top are paterx carved with leafwork theodore haviland 1958 pattern . The fluted top rail with the plain centre part carved with swags of husks is typically Adam english stoneware marks . He invariably introduced this centre panel french meals17th century .
An example of a small side table with turned and carved legs is given in Fig furniture cupboard design,side board,wood . 138 george hepplewhite bottle case . It exemplifies well the delicate treatment of which Adam was so fond meissen porcelain animalsfrederick augustus . Note the use of the centre panel again, this time of quite plain form see a silver sauceboat with a heated base . Other kinds of Adam legs and feet are given in Fig antique glass top tea table bird . 139•

BUREAU BOOKCASE AND WRITING TABLE cabinetmakerthomassheraton .
Typical features in the left-hand example are the barred doors and shaped
pediment with fretted detail beneath antique dining table sutherland . The writing table is of a kind that
became popular early In the century scalloped folding antique table .
Gothic was really one of contempt), but it appealed to a passing fancy to pick isolated details here and there and to weave them into the work staffordshire pearlware figures french revolution . At best the result was a mere travesty, and it fell out of favour as quickly as it had come decoupage cabinets .
Our last example of a chair is that in Fig mortlake salt ware stoneware . 112, which shows a small upholstered armchair of about 1755—176o antique spiral leg oak dropleaf table .
Chippendale Period
An interesting feature here are the small fretted corner pieces fitted in the angles of the front legs oval . ‘These were often used on the square leg type of chair and of other pieces having similar legs square walnut and burr elm coffee table .
Settees porcelain table casters .—The Queen Anne settee NN,itb double or triple back has already been mentioned gate leg fold over antique tables . In Fig george i folding card table antique . 113 is its development in the early Chippendale period “biedermeier candelabra” . There is a great deal about it that is strongly reminiscent of the walnut period, especially in the rounded shaping of the back and the arms with their acutely scrolled front corners octagonal oak carved table . The
FIG antique meissen clock . 120 brandt mahogany 2 tier table . SIMPLE MAHOGANY CHEST OF DRAWERS,
1760-,770 collectors of paul frankl .
Although of plain form this simple furniture was thoroughly well made
as a rule gateleg drop leaf table 19th century . It was the sort of thing that the merchant class would have
used spiral legs on drop leaf table .
shell detail, too, is retained in the top rail of the back, and the splats, although pierced, have in their general outline something that can be traced back to the Queen Anne urn shape davenport “pattern numbers” .
It will probably be felt that there is something unsatisfactory about the back marqueterie cabinet . The centre section is well balanced enough, but those at the sides are uneven because the main side uprights are different from the curves of the wide inner uprights identify - shaped pedestal or pillar leg . This difficulty was sometimes overcome, especially in latter Chippendale models, by making the inner uprights double, each part being a replica of the main outer upright refectory wood .
Revival of Veneering
CHIPPENDALE TABLES
We saw in the last chapter that, apart from the William Kent productions, side tables had usually cabriole legs and were often fitted with marble tops antique porceline candle sticks . A tendency was to introduce an elaborate apron piece between the front legs, this being usually pierced right through and carved with acanthus leafNvork intricately scrolled and intertwined art deco inspired bookcase . It rapidly began to grow out of all proportions until the beginning of the Chippendale period why are pier tables called .
Fig kitchen antique furniture deux corps cupboards . 114 shows a small table of simple form, and of special
FIG antique inlaid occasional table . 121 art nouveau porcelain marks . SERPENTINE SHAPED COMMODE telescopic supports for tables .
i76o-1770 antique brass and marble cocktail table 1950 .
This shows strong French influence both in general form and in the detail
of the carving mallard tester bed . It would have been extremely expensive to produce and
be made for only the wealthiest classes antique dressing table 1925 .
interest in that it shows a revival of veneering bernard palissy . In fact it may be mentioned here that a great deal of veneering was done in Chippendale pieces, probably as an economy in the finely-figured woods then being imported century italian provincial cherry bombe armoire . It was, however, usually of a different spirit from that of the Queen Anne period, when the veneer usually hid entirely the construction antique table wooden hinge drop leaf . In Chippendale work no attempt is made as a rule to hide the construction, and any detail is usually subservient to obtaining good strength antique dinner services .
The difference came about in this way antique adams and sons company england ironstone . A Queen Anne cabinet maker would make the framework of, say, a door and would veneer it so that the latter ran right across the joints, concealing them entirely chinese precious stone and laquer cabinets . In Chippendale’s time the
cabinet maker used far thicker veneer (about I in italian nlaid bronze marble table tops .) and 8
generally veneered his parts before jointing and putting them together what is a chamber pot of 1800s . In this way the joints were bound to show, and it involved no practical difficulty because the veneer was thick enough to allow the joints to be levelled with the plane after being put together, a thing which would have been quite impracticable when the veneer was thinner flemish ivory inlay furniture antique .
The table in Fig spode ironstone china . 114 is rather an exception to this general rule in that the top rail was veneered after it had been jointed to the legs george serving table fluted . It is easy to tell this because the veneer runs across both rail and legs what is antique library table worth . Cross-grained veneer is the exception rather than the rule in Chippendale work, though in a case like this advantage was taken of the fine figuring to show it at its best refectorytables . The legs are of the straight moulded type already noted, and are deeply chamfered at the inner corners to lighten the appearance tripod table marble .
Use of Frets black desk curved legs .—Another table showing typical Chippendale features is that in Fig antique crofters cottage antique . 115 antique draw leaf table . It has the square moulded legs with deep chamfer, and the rails are decorated with frets antique cherry dictionary stand . This form of ornament was originally derived from the Chinese style north west antique dresser . In its purely Chinese form it consisted of intersecting straight lines somewhat in the form of lattice work (see the chair back in Fig antique mahogany drum tables library tables writing tables . III), but the idea once prompted soon developed into a purely Western conventional design consisting of curves and scrolls nabeshima antique . On p classic white bombe drawers maker . 157 is given a group of typical Chippendale frets, some still distinctly Chinese in character, and others of the conventional English form empire furniture company .
These frets, where similar positions to that in the table in Fig copper brass tray coffee table . 115, were later applied—that is, they were not carved out of the solid wood, though often enough the ends of scrolls and other small details were touched up with carving tools to give a more realistic appearance of carved work spaanse 17de eeuwse antieke tafel . In some cases the frets had no backing lidded urn with hole underneath . For instance, little galleried edgings were often fitted to small tables george hunzinger chairs . These were pierced right through in the form of a fret meissen whiteware animal . The cabinet makers soon found that these had little strength when cut out of a single thickness because the grain was necessarily short in certain parts small round chippendale center hall table . Consequently they hit upon the idea of glueing together three or more pieces of veener, the grain of the centre layer running at right angles Chippendale Side Tables
to those outside french design desk . Frets cut in this were considerably stronger graduated drawers formula . This is probably the first example of the use of plywood, though of course it had little in common with the large plywood panels produced to-day daghestan prayer rugs .
Side tables, such as that in Fig antique walnut settee chairback . 115, would be placed in

FIG chamber pot . 124 writing table with bookshelf design . CHIPPENDALE FRETS german antique card table .
,760-,775•
A, B and C are conventional patterns of Western form antique book ends . D and E show the Chinese influence dating meissen figures .
the dining-room, and their purpose was to provide a useful standing space for the dishes art nouveau antique drinking cabinet . The day of the sideboard with drawer and cupboard accommodation had yet to come classical column drawing . The reader may care to turn to Fig antique drop dresser with marble top . 116 to see examples of other kinds of legs used in tables of this kind french console table 1830 . The second example is interesting in that it is pierced right through, a detail which came from the Chinese influence what is a chippendale ring . One entirely new form of leg is the fourth example, which is composite, that is, built up of a number of small separate pieces antique gilded table glass . It consists of a series of clusters of turned columns fitted between squares antique chamber pot chair . Quite light tables had this form of leg mallard tester bed .
Many new kinds of occasional tables made their appearance at this time, and amongst them was the small tripod form also shown in Fig chippendale pinecone . I15 regency side chair with brass motif . The simpler examples were quite plain, consisting of three legs (like that at F, Fig antique gateleg table and chairs center drawers . I16), joined to a turned centre upright, and a circular top love seat pietro piffetti . Finer specimens as that in Fig antique vitrine table . 115 had acanthus carving on the knees of the legs and on the turned upright chinese export porcelain wall plaque . The edge of the top, too, was often ” pie-crusted antique book ends .”
BURFAUX AND WRITING TABLES
We saw in Chapter V how the
great increase in writing led to the
introduction of pieces intended
specially for writing antique dressing table w/mirrors . Of these the
bureau (usually with the bookcase
above) and the writing table
remained popular palissy patterns . The secretaire
in its original form, with huge fall
writing top, lapsed, though a certain
number of pieces with compara-
tively small falls were made antique mahogany rent table . These
were similar to the bureau except
that the fall when closed was
upright antique “duncan phyfe side chair” . When opened out flat the
whole writing arrangement was
made so that it could be pulled forward, so giving easy
access to the stationery nest and providing ample knee space harlequin pattern commode for sale .
CHIPPENDALE GRANDFATHER CLOCK checkoslovakian figurines .
1760-1770 red and yellow rose czechoslovakia china .
The domed shape of the hood
with a pediment above was
Invariably used markings on antique candelabra .
Writing ng Bureaux
A simple Chippendale bureau is given in Fig chippendale rosewood table . 117 art deco modern deco antique furniture . It is similar in general form to its predecessor of Queen Anne’s time, though, apart from being in mahogany, the decorative treatment is entirely different tub chair design . Sometimes the sides, drawer fronts, and so on were veneered (about 8 -1 in antique oak table trestle drop leaf . thick), but there was no ruling on the subject duncan phyfe drop leaf buffet table . In any case, when veneer was used the front was simply regarded
as a solid piece with a facing of mahogany ; that is to say, there was no attempt to use the veneer to give a decorative effect as in walnut work collector’s table . No quartering or crossbanding was used lenci artist signature . Drawers were usually surrounded by a cocked bead, as in the present example “lion feet” wardrobes . For interior parts, drawer sides, etc chinese wooden tables with brass leaves inlay ., oak was generally used value susie cooper tea set yellow with blue dots .
Another bureau similar in form, but with bookcase above, is shown in Fig antique jacobean dropleaf desk . iig antique pembrook game tables . The bookcase has many typical features, of which the pediment with carved rosettes and fretted underpart, and the barred doors are the most obvious antique duch east india company plates . These barred doors were a continuation of the Queen Anne type (see Fig elements of art value . 84), whic h probably owed their origin to the comparatively small sizes in which glass was first available fine bohemian china made in czechoslovakia compagnie . All the panes are separate and fit between bars consisting of a moulding, usually an astragal, with a thin flat bar at the back to form rebates for the glass . A few other Chippendale patterns of barred doors are given
in Fig antique upholstered chair curved side . 122 italian wood armchairs . Both these bureaux are Note the use of bracket feet in both flatware 17th century .
almost universally in these pieces, though in finer specimens they were often finely carved chinese influence to rococo . More elaborate specimens had pilasters flanking the doors with fine carving in them, and had altogether more elaborate pediments victorian cherry drop leaf table .
A writing table is shown in Fig antique desks/captain’s davenport . 118 napoleon antique chests . In this we have a variation of the bracket foot, the solid plinth theodore haviland 1958 pattern . Note that POLE
SCREEN parts of chambersticks .
About 1765•
The screen portion was
made so that it could
be adjusted at varying
heights kakiemon bow price .
of simple form delicate trestle table .
certain of the mouldings are carved amakusa candlesticks . This was a revival which took place in the mahogany period recipe for “soft paste porcelain” . In the earlier oak days carving was used to decorate mouldings to a considerable extent, but it lapsed entirely in walnut furniture because in this the mouldings were invariably cross-grained italian inlaid sideboard . This produced a decorative effect in itself, but it was not practical to carve them because the cross-grain was simply a thin layer glued over a solid groundwork spider leg circular dining table . With the return
FIG, 127 15th century chamber pots . TYPICAL MOULDINGS OF THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL vizagapatam furniture .
1750-1775•
In his finest work Chippendale invariably used carved mouldings spanish revival walnut console table . It was prob-
ably the result of his being a carver by trade value of 19th century silver apostle spoons .
to the use of solid wood in the first half of the eighteenth century carving was once again possible, though it was on altogether finer lines than that of oak work tambour commode . A smaller writing table with knee hole space is given in Fig vintage wooden handled three tined dinner forks . I ig antique collectors cabinet for sale .
BEDROOM FURNITURE
The chest of drawers, established by Queen Anne’s time, was a recognised part of the furnishing of a Georgian bedroom antique spanish cabinet marble top . In its simplest form it was often severely plain with no decoration 4 foot drop leaf table . The drawers usually had a surrounding French Influence
cocked bead, but even these were primarily utilitarian, since their chief purpose was to protect the edges of the veneer antique walnut writing table with pillar (post) legs . An example of this simple furniture is given in Fig tripod side table . 120 barometre du style directoire . The chamfered front corners are worth noting because, although in this particular example they are quite plain, in better class pieces they were often developed as an important feature, carving, fluting, or frets often being used as decoration antique shop slovakia . A chest of this kind would have been used in the house of one of the middle classes or in one of the lesser bedrooms in an important house burr walnut tallboy with sunburst inlay .
In contrast is the fine chest of drawers or commode shown in Fig marble dining table antique oval modern . 12I antique wooden oval french music stands . A piece of this kind represents the high water mark in cabinet work, and is obviously the product of a first-class workshop silver pillar candlestick . It is distinctly French in character, and is probably taken from a Louis XV commode, except that, whereas the latter would be largely gilded (probably the mountings of the legs would be of metal), in the present example they are entirely in mahogany, showing its natural surface english bone handled knives and silver forks . A feature adding considerably to the difficulty of making such a piece is the fact that it has compound shaping ; that is, in addition to being of serpentine shape in plan, it is shaped in its height antique escritoire desk . This double shaping was often used in Louis XV work for the French were a long way ahead of us in work of this type—possibly because very elaborate work has never specially appealed to us drop leaf walnut table gate legs . Other features in the chest definitely of French origin are the scrolled legs, with their Rococo ornament and the handles daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . An enlarged detailed drawing of one of these French type of handles is given on p how much did porcelain cost in the 1500s . 02 antique french drum table .
Bedsteads england biedermeier chest of drawers .—The Queen Anne bedstead was for the most part the four-poster type, entirely covered with soft materials, as in the example given in Fig antique bureau writing desk . 96 candle sticks antique porcelain victorian couple . A few were made with head and foot and no upper tester, these having a typical Queen Anne shaping at the top of the panel and cabriole legs below “jean luce” arzberg . A great many modern reproductions of the type are made to-day 19th century native american pottery . The majority, however, were four-posters, with every part of the woodwork (except possibly the feet) covered entirely up with velvet and other materials 18th century worcester porcelain . It was scarcely a thing fit for everyday use in an average house, though it might be well enough in a palace french chippendale dining table library desk . It was not like a four-poster with curtains only that could be taken down and washed dressoir timber . Once the material became faded Chippendale Bedsteads
or worn nothing short of stripping off the whole would be of the slightest use 18th century french silver makers .
In Georgian times came a return to the all-wood bedsteads burslem yellow trellis ceramics . In a sense these were similar to the four-posters of Jacobean times, but were altogether lighter and were in mahogany instead of oak walnut and glass coffee table, italian . A Chippendale example is given in Fig 19th century. mahogany buffet . io6, P- 136 historismus beakers . In some cases the Chinese character was used entirely writing bureau “sliding” . There stands in the museum at South Kensington a bedstead of this kind, in which the tester follows the form of a pagoda roof, whilst the back is decorated with lattice work drawing furniture by michael thonet . The whole thing is in gold and black lacquer and was probably made in Chippendale’s own workshop name a piece of furniture that begins with v .
The development of the grandfather clock is shown in Fig french/belgian art deco table for sale . 125 where can i buy antique candlesticks in dorset? . Note the scrolled pediment above the rounded heading of the hood door antique coaching table .