Posts Tagged ‘18th c’

Desks, Bureaux, Bookcases and Cabinets
Table•desks—desks on stands—the fall-front scrutoire—development of the bureau—secret drawers—knee-hole and partners’ desks –escritoires and military chests—boudoir desks and the “bonheur du jour”-19th-century davenports—Samuel Pepys and the first bookcases—the bureau bookcase and origins of the china cabinet—wall shelves and small standing bookcases.
Even in the 16th century life must have been starting to become a little complicated for the average individual. For the professional man and even for the farmer there were records to be kept and letters written and it was probably due to these facts that by the closing years of Elizabeth’s reign small table-desks began to appear in many households. The steward and the merchant would have to employ a counter and chests as well but for the average man the table-desk was sufficient.
These small antique boxes, almost invariably constructed in oak, were very personal belongings and during the Stuart and Restoration periods it was the custom for the owner to have his name and some commemorative date carved upon the front. Although these table-desks vary in size from the rarer 3 feet in width to the more common 20 inches, they nearly all have the same basic construction. A box shape with a gently sloping lid, hinged with wrought-iron butterfly hinges, contains a small compartment of three drawers. A hasp lock was a normal addition.
These little desks are sometimes mistakenly referred to as bible boxes, as mentioned in Chapter 3. I think it was not unlikely that they contained the Bible in some homes, but there would have been little room left for documents accounts and valuables. I have a table-desk which belonged to a George Lowe who had his name and the date 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London, carved on the front. In it I keep a large bible which has been in my wife’s family since the 17th century. The bible has the date 1668 imprinted with the dedication on the cover and it is an interesting coincidence that bible and desk should be so close together in time.
For anyone requiring an antique desk, it is possible to buy a table-desk for under £10 and placed on a small tavern type table with a drawer in the front they make an excellent substitute for the larger and far more expensive bureau. As a matter of fact, it was rather in this way that the bureau developed. During the latter years of the 17th century two types of desk were in evidence. There was the desk on a stand, which was a development of the table-desk, and a much larger and important piece of furniture called the secretary or scrutoire.
The desk on a stand marked an elementary but noteworthy stage in desk development. Hitherto it had been difficult to gain access to the contents of a desk when the desk lid was already covered with letters and documents. Accordingly, the hinges were changed over to the lower edge of the lid which now opened outwards and was in future referred to as the desk-fall. The fall was supported in the open position by pull-out battens called lopers and in some early stands it was the practice to incorporate two small gate-legs which could be swung out to support the fall instead of using lopers. The fitted interior of small drawers and added pigeon-holes was now much more accessible and it became possible to enlarge the number of drawers with the corresponding increase in the size of the desk.
The scrutoire was a much bigger item than the desk on a stand, being frequently over 5 feet in height. It consisted of a flat-fronted rectangular cabinet mounted on either a stand or a chest of drawers. The whole front of the scrutoire folded outwards and was supported by chains or metal stays. It offered a vastly bigger working area than the desk lid and contained many more drawers and compartments for holding documents and ledgers. Although used in the larger establishments with their corresponding need for more administrative storage space, the scrutoire enjoyed only a short existence and by 1700 was more or less obsolete. Strangely enough it returned to favour about 100 years later in a smaller and more compact form. It was produced in France during the post-Revolution Empire period and re-introduced into this country as the secr&aire a abattant or fall-front desk.
What is rather interesting now is that the furniture designers of the Queen Anne period took the better features of the desk on a stand and the scrutoire and incorporated them in a new form of desk which became known as a bureau. The early bureaux were made in two separate parts, the upper desk section being mounted on a base consisting of a chest of drawers. The sections were provided with carrying handles at the sides so that when being moved each part could be carried separately.
The fall was no longer supported by stays or gate-legs but by lopers. These were almost square in section in the earlier bureaux but by the middle of the 18th century it was found that lopers of greater depth were less likely to sag. Later desks have two small drawers instead of lopers which are pulled out to support the fall when in use. Another characteristic of early 18th-century bureaux was the well or space below the interior pigeon-hole compartment. The well was covered by a sliding panel and was only accessible when the fall was in the open position.
Being rather difficult to get at when the open fall was covered with documents its use was abandoned and it had disappeared from the design of most bureaux by 1750.
The charm of many early desks is enhanced by the Georgian love of secret drawers. It is always the fond dream of the antique furniture collector that one day he or she will buy a bureau and, during that first exciting examination when the new piece has been delivered to the house, a hitherto undiscovered secret drawer will be found. Alas! I have never had the luck although a friend once bought a small wooden casket which proved to have a secret drawer and when this was opened after much patient searching for the secret locking device it was found to contain a gold brooch which had lain hidden for nearly 200 years. The remains of a quill pen, jammed in the back of the well, has been the only personal relic of a previous owner which I have ever found in an old desk.
On the whole, secret drawers were seldom as ingeniously secretive as one could have wished. They follow a certain set pattern of variations; the document slides behind the half pillars on the front of the interior compartment; a false bottom to one of the small drawers; a shallow drawer concealed behind part of the shaped border above the pigeon-holes; the drawer behind a drawer which pulls out on a long handle like a church collecting box. I think the best one I have ever come across was the secret drawer which had a false bottom, a sort of double-bluff. I only hope that the designer never felt the vexation of having it burgled.
Large knee-hole desks with flat tops were made about the middle of the 18th century. Some, being very large and double sided, were known as partners’ desks. They were so designed that two people could work as they sat facing one another. A smaller version of the knee-hole desk appeared during the early Georgian period and is very much sought after today. One in walnut and in good condition might cost anything up to £200. There is some doubt, however, as to whether these smaller kneehole desks were actually made to serve as desks or were really designed as small dressing tables. Further reference will be made to this point in the following chapter.
Another type of desk which was made during the later Georgian period was the secretaire. This has all the appearance of being just a chest of drawers but it is recognisable from the outside when it is recalled that the drawers in an ordinary chest become progressively deeper as they near the floor. The deepest drawer of an escritoire is located at the top and is in fact the fall of a desk. When the top section of the chest is pulled out, pressure on catches at either side of the front will allow the false drawer front to fold outwards when it is normally supported by brass stays. The secretaire has the usual fitted interior of small drawers and pigeon-holes and was a favourite form of writing desk until well into the 19th century. The two stage military chest referred to in Chapter 3 sometimes has an escritoire drawer fitted into the upper part.
A number of small desks, intended specifically for the use of ladies, were designed by Sheraton and his contemporaries. They were lightly made and were referred to as boudoir desks or writing tables. Among them was a revival of the smaller desk on a stand which was called a cylinder top desk. Instead of the usual desk-fall it had a curved top which was made to slide backwards to reveal the fitted interior.
Another version was adapted from a French design and was known as a bonheur du jour. This is a title for which there is no suitable English equivalent; literally it means “the happiness of the day”. As letter writing was one of the chief relaxations of ladies of the more leisured classes in the later 18th century perhaps “bonheur du jour” means just what the name implies.
A little desk known as a davenport was very popular among the Victorians until about 1860. It was supposed to have been first made by Gillows of Lancaster to the design of a Captain Davenport. Early examples were made in mahogany and were rectangular in shape, the desk-top being constructed to slide forward over the knees of the user when required. After 1830 the davenport was usually made in walnut and the desk top was designed to overhang permanently, being supported by carved legs or brackets. Until recently, davenports could be purchased for a few pounds and may still be acquired very reasonably.
Bookshelves have been in use ever since books have been collected into libraries but it was not until the Restoration that the bookcase with glazed doors appeared in this country. Credit for the design is given to the great diarist, Samuel Pepys who was an ardent book-lover. In the Pepys library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, are the original bookcases which Pepys had made for his own use and which he bequeathed with his books to his old university.
At approximately the same time as features of the desk
on a stand and the scrutoire were combined to produce
the bureau, a bookcase was superimposed on some exam-
ples to form the bureau bookcase. It was first made about
1700 and is still being produced in a variety of forms.
Some early bureau bookcases had doors fitted with
mirrors instead of plain glass. These were fashionable
during the Queen Anne period and are very rare today.
Some small walnut bureaux with a single mirrored door
were made to fit between the long sash windows of the
early 18th-century drawing rooms and their value at pre-
sent might be £700 or £800 each. An interesting feature
of the bureaux with mirrors in the doors were the little candlestick slides fitted into the rail just under the doors and above the desk proper. When lighted candles were placed upon them at night the illumination was doubled by the reflected light from the mirrors.
Plain glass doors through which the gilded leather binding of the books could be seen superseded the mirrored doors by 1720. The glazed variety were known as astragal doors from the beading or astragals which formed the framework for the glass. There is a story that all genuine old bookcases have thirteen glazed sections in each door. This would appear to be yet another legend without foundation because I have not infrequently seen genuine old doors with fifteen astragal panels.
Another of the many pieces of furniture which originated during the Restoration was the china cabinet. Collecting the attractive new porcelain from the far east with its translucent body and fine decoration became very popular in London and the larger sea-port towns. To preserve their fragile specimens, lacquered cabinets from China were imported and mounted on heavily carved wooden stands of British manufacture. These were sometimes coated with silver or gilding and were quite a decorative feature of Restoration and William and Mary period furnishing. The fact that the contents of the lacquered cabinets were not visible probably brought about their replacement by the glazed china cabinets of the Queen Anne period. These were usually mounted on a lower stand furnished with the cabriole legs of the times.
For some reason, perhaps because an 18th-century bookcase may be too overpowering in the 20th-century house, it has become the practice in recent years to separate bureaux from their bookcases. The result is that the latter may often be obtained for under £10 and mounted on a small stand or side table they make very attractive china cabinets.
Sets of wall shelves were in use during the 16th and 17th centuries but apart from small racks for holding pewter spoons, few have survived. Small fitments of wall shelves were reintroduced about the middle of the Georgian period. Normally, they consisted of two or three shelves with two small drawers beneath and those of the later Chippendale school had delicately fretted sides. Being very lightly made they could be used only for small books but in all probability they were designed to display ornaments. The later types were of thinly cut mahogany with pleasantly shaped sides and a little boxwood stringing inlaid along the edges of the drawers.
The late Georgian period saw the production of standing bookshelves or bookcases without doors, many made to the designs of Hepplewhite and Sheraton. They were comparatively small, being only about 3 feet in height and width and, as well as being made in mahogany, quite a number were constructed in pine. These were then painted either white or black with gilding and though not particularly common can sometimes be bought quite cheaply at house sales.

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 .

19th Century Chests of Drawers. NORTH ITALIAN SIDE CABINET, FRENCH COMMODE, AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS, DANISH MAHOGANY COMMODE

THE CHEST OF DRAWERS is limited in
scope by the rectangular shape of its drawers. Whilst its more elaborate cousin, the commode, might contrive to contain them within serpentine or bombe shapes, the chest of drawers shows little stylistic development.
With the exception of plain British pieces, which often bowed at the front, chests of drawers tended to be box-like in the early 19th century. Meanwhile- the status of the commode as the seminal item of drawing-room furniture was on the decline. Also on the wane were chest-on-chests and tallboys, although the occasional bowed example does survive.
A smaller version was developed resembling a miniature tallboy and similar to the French semanier. Called the Wellington chest after the famous commander, its drawers were locked by a hinged pilaster to one side.
A particular type of French Empire chest of drawers was popular throughout Europe. It was rectangular,
usually with a marble top, below which was a projecting frieze drawer supported on either side by a pair of architectural columns. Set back were two or three drawers above a plinth base. The piece in flamed, or plum pudding, mahogany was decorated with Neoclassical ormolu mounts, particularly on the frieze drawer and around the capital and column bases.
Another type of chest, which had its origins in the Louis XVI style, also featured a marble top but, instead of the projecting upper drawer, all the drawers were flush. The piece had a more delicate look, possibly because it was raised on square-section, tapering legs. It was especially popular in Italy, and was known to be produced by Maggiolini, sometimes in walnut.
Due to their widespread use and relatively simple carcase construction, chests of drawers had a huge range of surface decoration from veneering in exotic timber to painting, which was useful for disguising cheaper woods.

NORTH ITALIAN SIDE CABINET
This side cabinet, or commode, has a slightly overhanging top above a straight frieze, and a rectilinear case with two large cupboard doors at the front. The front and sides of the cabinet
are richly decorated with inlays of figured walnut and other contrasting, stained woods, forming a strong, colourful geometric design. The cabinet is supported on short, tapering legs.

Inlays of walnut and other stained woods create a strong, geometric design.
A straight frieze emphasizes the rectilinear shape of the case.
Escutcheon and geometric inlay detail
Short, tapering legs support the case.
The side cabinet has two large front cupboard doors.

AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Federal inlaid chest of drawers is made of mahogany. The piece has a rectangular top with an applied, inlaid edge which rests above four long, graduated drawers, each one with
crossbanding, stringing, and a beaded edge, and brass, oval drawer-pulls. The case is supported on a moulded base with straight bracket feet. Although American, the design closely follows British prototypes. Early 19th century.
AMERICAN EMPIRE CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Empire carved mahogany and mahogany veneer chest of drawers is stamped “Wm Palmer/Cabinet Maker/Catherine St./New York”. The moulded top is set over three outset short drawers, with carved attached columns flanking four drawers. The case sits on leaf-capped hairy-paw feet. Early 19th century.
FRENCH COMMODE
This case of this provincial commode is made of walnut and the piece is designed in the Empire style. It has a rectangular, dark-grey marble top which is set above a deep,
rectangular frieze. The three drawers have glass handles and matching escutcheons and are flanked by ogee scrolls. The piece is supported on block feet. Early 19th century.

This Neoclassical walnut and marquetry commode has a marble top above a frieze drawer inlaid with foliate swags and flaring urns. Below are two further drawers, similarly
inlaid sans traverse and centred by a panel inlaid with two maidens and a cupid. The sides are decorated to mirror the front, and the case is raised on square, tapered legs. c.1800 (the marble top is later). W. 132.5cm (53in). FRE 4
This rectangular top of this late Gustavian commode has canted forecorners above three long drawers. The drawers are flanked by fluted and canted sides, and the commode is raised
on short, tapering, fluted legs. The whole commode is painted in a typical Gustavian pale grey. c.1820.
ITALIAN COMMODE
SWEDISH COMMODE

DANISH MAHOGANY COMMODE
This Danish Louis XVI commode has a rectangular top above a fluted frieze drawer and return with roundel corners. The three lower drawers are flanked by fluted quarter pilasters. The commode is raised on bracket feet. Late 18th century.
This walnut and parquetry inlaid commode has a top with a projecting concave front set above four corresponding long, graduated drawers. It stands on bun feet and the case and drawer fronts are inlaid throughout with geometric walnut, mahogany, and boxwood panels.

SWEDISH CHEST OF DRAWERS
This is a late Gustavian chest of drawers, with a shaped top and curved corners. There are three graduated drawers with brass roundels and the case stands on turned, tapering feet. It is
probably veneered in    mahogany. Early 19th century.

19th Century Mirrors. Wall Mirrors, Picture Frames. ENGLISH WALL MIRROR, ENGLISH GILTWOOD MIRROR, AMERICAN GIRANDOLE

EARLY 19TH CENTURY MIRRORS
MIRRORS, LIKE PICTURE FRAMES, are decorative so are rarely subjected to much wear. As a result, they are often gessoed and gilded. Painted examples from this period also exist, as well as Empire pier glasses, which often have mahogany frames and ormolu mounts.
From the late 18th century larger plates became available, so early 19th-century mirrors with a divided plate became less common. Although not new, convex plates became especially fashionable in Britain and the United States, and were used in dining rooms to give servants an all-round view of the table. The convex mirror plate was usually framed by an ebonized and needed slip with a gilt frame echoing the shape of the mirror. The frame
The acanthus leaves are pierced and scroll-carved.
was often surmounted with an eagle or similar motif and frequently had candle arms attached to it.
Also fashionable was the use of verrc eglomise in which glass was back-painted in black and then engraved with a design before gilding. Verne eglomise plates were frequently inserted above normal plates. Mirrors with a more rectilinear design were also popular, particularly those intended to stand above pier tables between windows. From the late 1820s, revival styles led to the reintroduction of Chippendale-style mirrors in Britain; these are often difficult to distinguish from the 18th-century originals. In Florence, boldly carved foliate frames were introduced in imitation of the Baroque originals.
The guilloche motif is stylized.

ITALIAN WALL MIRROR
This rectangular giltwood wall mirror has a carved softwood frame featuring guilloche and stylized, scrolling acanthus leaves. The whole frame has been covered in white gesso and then given an undercoat of red paint, before
being gilded. The ornate, sculptural form of the mirror frame is reminiscent of the Baroque style of the 17th century, and harks back to the designs of Andrea Brustolon and the work of the Genoese carver, Filippo Parodi.

REGENCY MIRROR
This giltwood mirror has a moulded cornice with ball decoration above a panel with a shell cresting flanked by latticework. Columns flank both sides of the mirror. Early 19th century.
ENGLISH PIER GLASS
With a concave cornice above a ring-and-leaf frieze, this giltwood and gesso pier glass has 11 plates of varying sizes divided by astragals and flanked by half columns.

AMERICAN LOOKING GLASS
This simple, late Neoclassical maple looking glass has a rectangular mirror plate set within a relatively unadorned rectangular frame. The top and sides of the mirror frame have corner blocks joined by half-section balusters with
gilded and moulded ends. Like the mirror above, this type of overmantel mirror is sometimes erroneously referred to as “Adam”, perhaps because of its rectilinear Neoclassical styling, or perhaps because such mirrors frequently featured in Robert Adam interiors. c.1835.

This giltwood and ebonized girandole has a convex mirror plate with a reeded slip. The frame is decorated with carved leaves, has four candle arms, and is surmounted by the Federal eagle. c.1825.
The circular, mirrored plate sits within a reeded ebonized slip and a ball-moulded frame. The frame is surmounted by a dragon flanked by two sea serpents. Below is a leaf-carved apron. c.1815.
This mirror is set within a moulded gadrooned frame, surmounted by a painted figure of Neptune. At the base is a giltwood figure of Triton, and foliate arms that end in candle nozzles.
This simple Regency giltwood mirror has a convex mirror plate within a circular leaf-moulded and reeded border. It might originally have had candle arms or cresting. Early 19th century. Diarn:58cm
ENGLISH WALL MIRROR
ENGLISH GILTWOOD MIRROR
OVAL MIRROR
AMERICAN GIRANDOLE

AMERICAN LOOKING GLASS
This tall, narrow, carved mahogany looking glass frame has a moulded cornice above a veneered frieze. The mirror plate is flanked by projecting blocks linked by carved urns and slender pilasters. c.1825.
AMERICAN LOOKING GLASS
The moulded cornice of this giltwood mirror is hung with ball decoration above a wreath-andacanthus moulded frieze. Below this is a tablet. The colonnettes are rope-turned. c.1800.
IRISH OVAL MIRROR
This oval mirror, one of a pair, has its original plate set within a copper frame, which is decorated with applied, alternating blue and clear crystal facets. Late 18th–early 19th century.
BIEDERMEIER PIER GLASS
The rosewood-veneered frame of this southern German pier glass has an architectural pediment above an ebonized panel depicting the Goddess Diana in gilded brass. c.1820.
AMERICAN LOOKING GLASS
This Classical mahogany and carved giltwood looking glass has an architectural pediment above a carved eagle tablet and a mirror plate flanked by colonettes. Early 19th century.
This carved and gilded looking glass has a moulded, projecting cornice above a carved frieze, with a verre tablet, and reeled pilasters. Early 19th century.
AMERICAN GILTWOOD MIRROR
This Federal mirror has a broken pediment with ball decoration above a verre eglomise panel depicting Hope with an anchor, flanked with festoons. The columns have spiral beading.

BRITISH VERNACULAR,
THE VERNACULAR FURNITURE of the
first 20 years of the 19th century has more in common with the light, elegant furniture of the late 18th century than with high-style furniture in the style of Thomas Hope. It was usually made of mahogany, either solid or used as a veneer, or the newly popular rosewood. Pieces were also constructed of inexpensive timbers, such as beech, and then painted to simulate rosewood or more exotic timbers. Penwork, often the pastime of young ladies, was also used to decorate cheaper woods. Here, once again, the Regency pictorial fascination with surface pattern and large, flat expanses of timber is evident.
It was also during the early 19th century that oak re-emerged as a wood suitable for use in public rooms, and it was popularized by the work of George Bullock. However, oak really came to prominence in the antiquarian interiors of the 1820s and 1830s.
SUBTLE MOTIFS
Although plainer than the classic Regency furniture destined for the Prince Regent’s circle, furniture made for middle-class homes or country-house bedrooms still displayed all the inventiveness and exoticism of the period. Subtle lotus-leaf carvings evoked the cultures of the Nile, while Greek-key patterned friezes on tables and bookcases echoed the ancient culture of Athens. Similarly, thin crossbandings of an exotic timber such as calamander or amboyna were often used on even the humblest furniture. These were contained within boxwood or ebonized stringing, although it was often replaced with ebony on more expensive pieces. Shiny brass was also back in fashion, utilized as inlaid line decoration, cut patterns, or pierced galleries. The cabinet-maker George Oakley is often associated with the use of cut-star motifs in brass.
NEW FORMS
One of the characteristics of the period was the increased variety of furniture types that were made for a range of everyday needs. This is evident in the wide variety of tables designed for specific functions. For example, sofa tables with side flaps, central pedestals, or side standards —
sometimes of Classical lyre form —stood in front of sofas, while library tables, often with leather-inset tops and fixed ends, were designed to be used in libraries. Kidney-shaped, occasional, and worktables (for sewing equipment) were all new types of furniture, as was the nest of tables. Sometimes called quartette tables, these were designed so that three, four, or five tables fitted into one another.
Chiffoniers — a type of side cabinet —were also invented around 1800. Games and dining tables, both Georgian inventions, remained popular and were often designed with central, turned pedestals and reeded, downswept legs.
The so-called Trafalgar chair is probably one of the archetypes of Regency vernacular design (see p.242). Its sinewy line, with sabre legs at the front and back, epitomizes the gracefulness of the era. These chairs usually had a drop-in seat, although some seats were caned.
Caning, with its overtones of the Far East, came back into fashion at this time, and was used both in seats, and the sides and backs of library bergeres.
The Davenport desk was another new form of this period. It owes its name to a Captain Davenport, who commissioned the design from the firm of Gillows.
GILLOWS STYLE
Vernacular furniture production in England in this period is dominated by Gillows, which started in Lancashire in the 1830s and later opened in London. Famous for high-quality mahogany furniture, often characterized by carefully matched figured veneers, it is also associated with particular motifs. On furniture, it would frequently gadroon the edges or add lobes to the legs. Unlike designers such as Hepplewhite, Gillows never produced a pattern book, but its Estimate Sketch Books provide a valuable index of its evolving style and are preserved in the Westminster City Archives. Unusually for this period, it frequently stamped its furniture (often on the front upper edge of a drawer) with its name. Although this would become more standard practice later in the century, Gillows
is known to have left its mark on furniture from the 1790s.
SCOTTISH CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Scottish, bow front chest of drawers is made of mahogany and decorated with boxwood stringing. The piece has a reeded, D-shaped top above a shallow frieze drawer with compartments and a writing slide.
Below the frieze are four long graduated drawers flanked on either side by pollard elm panels. The piece has a curved apron. The chest of drawers is raised on tapering, square-section legs with reeded decoration. Early 19th century.
GEORGE IV TEA TABLE
This elegant tea table is made of mahogany. The rectangular top has rounded corners and opens out to create a larger surface. The top sits above a flame-veneered frieze with a carved border. The table top is raised
on a baluster column, which is decorated with carved acanthus leaves. The table is supported on four outswept, moulded legs decorated with a carved reeded pattern. The legs
terminate in brass, leaf-cased terminals and casters. Early 19th century.
PENWORK SIDE CABINET
DAVENPORT DESK
MAHOGANY TALLBOY
This Regency side cabinet has a shaped back panel with a narrow shelf supported on miniature columns, set above the main shelf. A single drawer is raised on turned, column supports and a plinth base. All the surfaces are decorated with penwork. 1810
The hinged top of this mahogany desk has a gallery to the rear, above a small pen drawer. Below this are four graduated side drawers. The desk front is panelled, with a shaped, crossbanded border. The case stands on carved and moulded bracket feet. c.1810.
This tall chest of drawers, or tallboy, has a domed, panelled cornice above six long drawers. All of the drawers are lined with mahogany and have brass shell ring-handles. The piece stands on sabre legs to the front. Early 19th century.
DECORATED BERGUE
This armchair has a richly carved and decorated frame, arm supports, and legs. The side, back, and seat panels are caned and have loose cushions. The armrests are padded. The seat is supported on turned and reeded legs with brass casters.
The square, tapering leg is inlaid with boxwood.
The frieze drawer is fitted with small compartments for writing implements.
This mahogany and marquetry bonheur du jour has a shaped upper section, two matching veneer cupboard doors, a writing surface, frieze drawer, and tapering legs with spade feet. c.1790.

EARLY 19TH CENTURY
BRITISH EXOTICISM
A RICH MIX OF BOTH FOREIGN AND HOME-GROWN INFLUENCES AFFECTED THE DESIGN OF BRITISH FURNITURE DURING THE REGENCY PERIOD.
FROM MOGUL DOMES to Islamic arches, Regency designers drew on a wide variety of exotic sources. When Napoleon invaded Egypt in July 1798, his invasion force included not only soldiers, but artists and poets, botanists, zoologists, and cartographers. The ensuing publication of Descriptions de I’Egypt established a vogue in France for all things Egyptian.
ANCIENT EGYPT
The Egyptian craze surfaced in Britain following Nelson’s subsequent defeat of Napoleon in 1798 at the Battle of the Nile. Sphinx heads appeared on the pilasters of bookcases and side cabinets and lotus leaves were carved on chair splats and printed on textiles and wallpaper designs.
Thomas Hope designed furniture based on the engravings of the French Egyptologist, Baron Denon, and Thomas Chippendale the Younger, who had inherited his father’s famous workshop, created a suite of furniture for Stourhead in 1805, resplendent with sphinx masks. These pieces were made in mahogany, but the foreign motifs of the period were often complemented by the use of highly polished, unusual, imported timbers: streaky salamander, dark ebony, or flecked amboyna.
CHINOISERIE REVIVAL
An integral part of the Rococo repertoire in Britain during the mid 18th century, Chinoiserie enjoyed a revival in the early 19th century. The Royal architect,
A DWARF GOTHIC CABINET
This lacquered cabinet has a crenellated
Lipper section with octagonal corner
towers. A deeper base with a pierced
quatrefoil gallery sits above a pair of
tracery panelled doors flanked by
clasping buttresses. The cabinet
stands on a plinth base. Early 19th
century.
REGENCY TORCHERE STAND This stand is made, of bronzed and gilded wood. Below the top is a guilloche moulded frieze and three gilt supports, with lion masks, joined by Cross supports with applied rosettes. The concave base rests on gilt paw feet.
A CHINESE EXPORT BUREAU This bureau has u fall front above three drawers, a shaped apron, and is raised on cabriole legs. All the surfaces are black and gilt lacquered with lake scenery and flowers.
19th century.
Henry Holland. was profoundly influenced by Sir
George Stauntons An Authentic Account of an Embassy
“M the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China n 1797: and interest in the Far East increased after Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, when further British envoys ere sent to the new emperor of China, Chia-Ch’ing.
Furniture was japanned black with gilt to simulate lacquer – as in the late 17th century – while lacquer cabinets (or lacquer panels reused from early screens) were incorporated into British cabinet work. Oriental bamboo was also echoed in the ring turnings on late Regency chairs. Many pieces of furniture were made out of genuine bamboo, while others were turned
and painted to simulate it.
The Prince Regent gave the royal seal of approval to this trend when he furnished several rooms at the Brighton Pavilion with bamboo furniture imported from China. Indeed, this architectural folly became the most famous mixing pot of all the exotic styles of the Regency period.
Western styles of lacquer and bamboo furniture were also imported from Canton. The trade in goods from China to Britain had been established since the early 17th century, but the scale of Chinese imports in the 19th century was unprecedented. As well as imported, Chinoiserie-style furniture, Oriental motifs such as dragons appeared on the crestings of convex mirrors, while latticework and Chinese panelling were applied to chair backs, commode friezes, or brass grills on side cabinets or chiffoniers.
STYLES FROM THE SUBCONTINENT
India, as well as China, influenced the decoration of the Brighton Pavilion. Nash was inspired by William and Thomas Daniell’s book, Oriental Scenery, and included pierced screens, copied from Indian jails (perforated stone screens from Madhya Pradesh), in his designs. The interest in India manifested itself more in the importation of Western-style furniture, than in the application of Indian motifs to British furniture. Exotic ivory-inlaid rosewood furniture and boxes came from Vizagapatam, and ebony chairs of Regency form were shipped from Ceylon.
HISTORICISM
Towards the end of the Regency period, designers and furniture-makers turned away from exoticism and towards their own traditions for inspiration. The Napoleonic wars and their subsequent victories spawned a surge in nationalist feeling. This, along with the historic novels of Walter Scott, inspired designers such as George Bullock and Richard Bridgens to include Elizabethan and Jacobean motifs in furniture for Abbotsford and Aston Hall in the late 1810s and early 1820s. Gothic motifs were always prevalent, particularly as tracery in glazing bars and in panels for cabinet doors. Pointed arches appeared as early as 1807 in the backs of hall chairs published by George Smith. This furniture, often commissioned by a new breed of antiquarian collectors such as William Beckford, was usually made in oak or other native timbers.

FOLLOWING THE REIGN OF TERROR in France, the Directoire was established in October 1795. It was followed by Napoleon’s first government, the Consulat, which he established after a coup d’etat in November 1799, appointing himself as First Consul. This survived until the declaration of the Empire in 1804. The styles that take their names from these political arrangements arc difficult to tell apart, and represent a transition between the light, aristocratic Louis XVI style and
the proud, austere Empire manner of the early 19th century. However, Directoire style or, as it was sometimes known, le style republicain, shows the effect of the Revolution on the style of Louis XVI, while the Consulat style lays the foundations of the Empire style.
DESIGN INFLUENCES
Directoire style shows the effect of a weakened economy and the position that cabinet-makers found themselves in after the period of the Convention (1792-95). The Revolution had deprived furniture-makers of their traditional patrons; furniture had even
been burnt beneath a Tree of Liberty in front of the celebrated Gobelins factory. The Corporation des Menuisiers- Pbenistes (Guild of joiners and Cabinet-Makers), which had regulated not only standards but the organization of the industry, had also been disbanded in 1791. As a consequence, the Directoire style is simplified, smaller in scale than Louis XVI, and less costly, with minimal decoration and usually no marquetry or parquetry
In the Consulat style the design became more confident, reflecting France’s pride in the new Republic and the slow return to stability and
prosperity. The style was formal and rectilinear, and often included symbols of the Revolution such as the Phrygian or Liberty cap, bound fasces, arrows, spikes, clasped hands, and wreaths.
PATTERN BOOKS
In 1801, the architects Charles Percier and Pierre-Francois-Leonard Fontaine published their Recited des Decorations Intericures. This became the seminal pattern book of the period, and
established them as the chief exponents of the nascent Empire style. The Recueil established strict and sober Classicism as the official style of the time: plain mahogany furniture with bold, antique-inspired gilt-bronze mounts became fashionable. Percier and Fontaine owed much to JeanDemosthene Dugoure, who had designed strict Neoclassical interiors for both royal and private residences during Louis XVI’s reign. Percier and Fontaine had both studied architecture in France and Italy and so had firsthand experience of the ruins of ancient Rome. In the very last years of the 18th century, they oversaw the redecoration of the Music Room and Library of the Empress’s house at Malmaison, and supervised the design of the furniture, which was made by Napoleon’s favourite furniture-makers,
the Jacob brothers. It was this commission that earned them the role of quasi-court designers.
ANTIQUE MOTIFS
The orators and pamphleteers of the Revolution praised the moral values of the ancient world, which found visual expression in the work of the great revolutionary artist, Jacques-Louis David. This filtered into the decorative vocabulary of the styled I’antique.
Consular furniture is full of Greek and Roman devices that became the stock repertoire of Empire designers. The purity of Classical design, epitomized in the work of Jacob-
Desmalter, became a hallmark of the Furniture of the period. As in Britain, this was occasionally combined with Egyptian motifs inspired by Napoleon’s campaigns and his victory at the Battle of the Pyramids. This was supplemented by Baron Denon’s publication, Voyage daps la Busse et Haute-Egypte, in 1802. The archaeologist and engraver (who later became director of the Musee
Napoleon at the Louvre) became the leading authority on antiquity, and had a considerable influence both in France and Britain.
This taste for all things Egyptian commonly manifested itself in sphinx heads, which were often used to top pilasters, terminate armrests, or
support console tables, as on a fine, mahogany example supplied to the Elysee Palace.

SECRETARIE A ABBATANT
This Consulat secr6taire j abbatant is made of walnut and is designed in the Egyptian-revival style. The body of the piece is flanked by Egyptian female masks above tapering pilasters in bronze brasses. The upper section has a grey
CONSULAT BERGERES
Each of this pair of mahogany and mahogany-veneered berg&es has an upholstered back, side panels, and seat. The chair backs themselves are slightly reclining. The loose cushioned seats are supported on square-
section, tapering legs, which are surmounted by stylized Egyptian female heads and terminate in outsplayed, square-section feet. Originally, the chairs would have been covered in silk and would have formed part of a large, similarly
styled suite. Early 19th century.
marble top above a long drawer. The fall front drops down to reveal a leather-lined writing surface. The lower section consists of three long drawers with lion’s mask handles. The secr6taire still retains its original bronze mounts. The piece terminates in carved claw feet. c.1800.
The surface of this mahogany desk is faced with gilt-tooled black leather. Below is a long kneehole frieze drawer, flanked by two deeper drawers; all are edged with ebony stringing. At each corner of the frieze is a mount in the form
of a satyr. The table is supported on four octagonal, tapering legs with ormolu collars and ball-shaped sabots. c.1800.

DIRECTOIRE RECAMIER
The shape of this carved, walnut recamier, or day bed, is essentially rectilinear. It has a padded, out-curved backrest, which is flanked on either side by leaf-capped, reeled cornucopias surmounted by finialed paterae. Below, the
cornucopias terminate in dramatically carved ram’s heads. The r6carrher has a panelled footboard surmounted by a barrel vault, while the padded, drop-in seat is raised on panelled rails. On either side, the panelled rail is centred by a tablet. The whole is raised on turned, leaf-capped feet, terminating in brass casters. c.1800.
The recamier is
decorated throughout
with pierced metal
mounts.
DIRECTOIRE COMMODE
This commode is veneered in rosewood, kingwood, and a number of stained tropical woods. The rectangular case has a veined grey-white marble top with rounded corners above three drawers with geometric filets and inlay, and gilt-bronze mounts. It is supported on short, tapering legs. c.1800.
DIRECTOIRE CHIFFONIER
This small table-chiffonier is made from walnut and has two drawers, with an additional shelf below. The rectangular case has brass filets and is supported on fluted legs joined by a shelf and terminating in small, toupie feet. c.1800.

MID 19TH CENTURY GARDEN FURNITURE
BOTANY WAS A HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE in the 19th
century, appealing to the rational, genteel, pious, and relentlessly self-improving Victorian mindset. Its popularity inspired an unprecedented interest in gardening that permeated the social strata. Jane Loudon’s 1840 publication Instructions in Gardening for Ladies advocated the pastime as one eminently suited to the disposition of the fairer sex, and was a runaway success. The terrarium, invented in 1827 by Dr Nathaniel Ward, allowed people to grow exotic plants in a cold climate — even on a window sill —and protected delicate specimens from harsh urban environments. The abolition of glass tax in 1845 made conservatories more affordable, and they became fashionable settings in which to entertain one’s guests.
Gardens of the period were generally bright and bold, with vast beds planted with swathes of colourful plants very much in vogue. Garden ornaments took many forms, but were rarely subtle. The era that witnessed the introduction of the garden gnome to Britain also saw householders hang brightly coloured
glass globes, called gazing balls, as decorative additions to their gardens. Urns, statues, birdbaths, obelisks, and even life-sized reproductions of animals, all in metal or stone, populated the gardens of the wealthy. The same ostentatiousness was at work in garden furniture design of the period. Where garden chairs and tables had been relatively restrained early in the century, they became increasingly elaborate as the 19th century progressed. Simple, wrought-iron forms gave way to industrial cast iron that mimicked the triumverate of styles — Greek, Gothic, and Rococo —that dominated interiors.
IRON CHAIRS FROM IRONBRIDGE Cast iron was far cheaper than wrought iron or bronze and was ideally suited to use in the garden, owing to its strength and resistance to rust. A number of iron foundries across Europe had been engaged in the production of garden furniture for some time when the Darby family owners of a large iron works at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, turned their attention to the manufacture of iron products. Taking their lead from companies such as Val d’Osne in France, they built the Coalbrookdale
TRAINED TREE
Heinrich Weber ’s engraving shows
a more unusual approach to garden
furniture. Instead of buying a canvas
sunshade for your garden table and
chairs, it suggests creating a natural,
yet rather formal, sunshade by
training the branches of a tree over
an umbrella-shaped trellis. The table
and chair are cast-iron. c 1850.
Company into the pre-eminent manufacturer of
garden furniture of the mid 19th century. Its
most popular designs are still in production
today The process was an industrial one:
iron was cast from moulds in a variety of different shapes, and then pieced together to produce furniture of various styles. At
the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, the company won a Council Medal, and Queen Victoria paid £300 for a statue of Andromeda made by them. The centrepiece of Coalbrookdale’s 1851 exhibit was its new range of Nasturtium chairs and benches, which epitomized garden furniture design of the period. The ironwork was elaborately pierced with floral designs and scrolling to give a Rococo look, yet the actual
construction of the furniture was simple and suited to mass production.
RUSTIC FURNITURE
A vernacular tradition of handcrafted garden
furniture persisted in tandem with the industrial cast-iron aesthetic. Local craftsmen fashioned and sold basic wooden benches and chairs, as well as more elaborate novelty forms. Unfortunately, few examples now survive due to wood’s tendency to rot, especially when exposed to the elements. In the United States, a celebrated form of rustic timber furniture started to gain popularity in the later part of the 19th century. Named after the mountain range – now a national park – in upstate New York from which it originates, Adirondack furniture used native timbers, such as oak, cherry, butternut, birch, and walnut, and often included the bark. It echoed the local Great Camp
style of architecture in that it assimilated the
natural contours of the branches and roots
from which it was fashioned.
CAST-IRON GARDEN CHAIRS AND TABLE
Each of these chairs has a pierced scroll back and circular pierced seat on four scrolling legs. The table has a solid top and stands on three scrolling legs. There is a lady’s mash at the top of each
table leg. 1880
CAST-IRON GARDEN SEAT The back of this green-painted, cast-iron garden seat for two features a lily-of-the-valley design. The seat is a scrolling cast, and there is leaf decoration on the legs. It may have been made by the American A.J. Mott foundry. Late 19th century.
SWAN GARDEN BENCH This garden bench with its simple board seat and back is transformed by the cast-iron ends formed in the shape of swans. There tire traces of old white and orange paint and repainting in places.
KEW GARDENS
The first gardens at Kew Park were laid out by the Capel family during the late 17th century In 1772, George III inherited the Gardens from his mother and, by the end of the 18th century,
many of the monuments and buildings familiar to generations of visitors were in place. The development of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew coincided with a revival of interest in Classicism, itself a consequence of the vogue among the landed classes to go on the Grand Tour. Expeditions by botanists throughout Britain’s expanding Empire unearthed myriad newly discovered plants, which were brought back and exhibited at the Gardens under the “kind superintendence” of Sir Joseph Banks, whom George III had established there in 1773. Banks, who became President of the Royal Society in 1778, established the Gardens as the
British centre for economic botany His death in 1820 coincided with George Ill’s, and Kew
Gardens lost its direction for 20 years.
Between 1841 and 1885,
father and son William and Joseph Hooker held consecutive directorships of the Gardens and contrived a renaissance in its fortunes. Among the developments they oversaw were the construction of the iconic Palm House and the Temperate House – the largest surviving mid 19th-century
glass structure in the world. William Nesfield, a watercolourist turned landscaper, designed a new arboretum for the Gardens as well as the cedar-lined Broad Walk and the parterres around the Palm House. The Victorian obsession with botany bequeathed the world an educational and recreational landmark – Kew Gardens became a World Heritage Site in 2003.
The Palm House This was built between 1844 and 1848 by Richard Turner, with Decimus Burton as architectural consultant. Light but strong wrought-iron “ship’s beams” were used to create a vast 15.2m (50ft) open, pillarless span.

MID 19TH CENTURY BUFFETS AND SIDEBOARDS

THE VICTORIAN PENCHANT for formal
social gatherings made the buffet and the sideboard very important items of furniture in more affluent households. Both were used in the dining room to display food and house crockery. They differed in that the buffet was a rather grand superstructure with two or more tiers, similar to the kitchen dresser,
whereas the sideboard was a less imposing, single-tiered cabinet.
DIFFERING STYLES
A wide variety of shapes were popular during this time, incorporating elements from various periods and styles. Arched tops and backs became more common as forms in general grew more rounded, although the traditional rectangular shape certainly persisted. The range of leg shapes used included cup and cover, square, tapering, and cabriole – all very different in style.
Woods used for buffets and sideboards tended to vary just
as they had in the late 18th century. Although these pieces of furniture were often made of mahogany or oak, many carried veneers of burr timbers.
From the mid 19th century. people wanted everything in a room to match in style and material. As a result, in many houses, all the furniture in the dining room, including the buffet or sideboard, would be made of a single wood, such as oak or walnut.
DESIGNED FOR STORAGE
As well as displaying and serving food, the buffet was used to store cutlery, dinnerware. and even decorative objets. Victorian households were Cluttered environments. and the sideboard was a reflection of this. They were peppered with various Compartments, cupboards, and drawers, each with their own specific purpose and many fitted with locks. Buffets in the grandest houses could be exceptionally large, with an average height of more than 183cm (6ft).
BRITISH SIDEBOARD
This early Victorian, possibly Anglo-Indian, oak sideboard has an elaborately shaped backboard surmounted by a number of finials and with an urn at its centre. Below the urn is an applied, carved coat-of-arms. The stepped, rectangular
top of the sideboard has a carved edge, above a gadrooned guilloche frieze and an elaborately carved strapwork apron. The sideboard is raised on carved cup-and-cover legs with gadroon
supports above plinth bases carved with paterae and pedestal feet.
FRENCH LOUIS XV-STYLE BUFFET
This Louis XV-style, cherry and burr walnut buffet has a moulded, gently arched top above a frieze carved with a flowering basket. The upper section of the buffet has a number of open shelves for displaying cups, plates, and decorative objects. These open shelves are
flanked by a pair of decorative serpentine panelled doors. The lower section of the buffet has two small frieze drawers and two further large panelled doors carved with swirling foliate decoration. The buffet has an ornamental shaped apron and is raised on short, slightly cabriole legs. Late 19th century.
BREAKFRONT SIDEBOARD
British mahogany breakfront sideboard is v decorated with satinwood banding and wood and ebony stringing. Two square,
doors flank the two graduated central
The case stands on six square,
tapering legs, terminating in spade feet. This elegant piece is Neoclassical in style and was probably based on a Sheraton example of around 1780. The deep cupboards would have been used for storing wine, and the frieze drawers for storing silver or cutlery. Late 19th century.
BRITISH MAHOGANY SIDEBOARD
This mahogany sideboard has a scrolling, arched backboard that is centred by a cabochon with mask surmount. The reverse breakfront top contains ogee frieze drawers and the four arched panelled doors enclose both sliding trays and shelves. The whole sideboard is raised on a plinth base.
FRENCH OAK BUFFET
The upper section of this oak buffet stands on turned supports and has a moulded cornice above two glazed doors, which open on to a shelved interior. The doors are flanked by fluted pilasters. The rectangular top of the lower section has two frieze drawers above two cupboard doors with applied carved decoration showing a Classical urn filled with flowers. It stands on squashed bun feet. Late 19th century.
BRITISH PEDESTAL SIDEBOARD
This fine George III-style mahogany, satinwood, and marquetry sideboard was made by Wright and Mansfield. The pedestals of the desk contain cellaret drawers for storing wine. The decorative motifs are strongly Neoclassical in manner, inspired by Robert Adam’s (1728-92) delicate interpretation of the style. The
elongated urns centred on each of the pedestals also serve to indicate their contents. Lightly drawn swags and striking anthemion motifs are used to define the individual drawers and cupboards, and to accentuate the essential symmetry of the piece with its carefully balanced use of curved and flat surfaces, sinuous lines, and geometric shape. c.1880.
ANGLO-INDIAN SERVING TABLE
The backboard of this hardwood serving table is elaborately carved with anthemion, acanthus, and birds. The rectangular top has bold, leaf-carved edging and rests on carved brackets with foliate fretwork to the back and sides. The table has a curved support with carved paw feet. Mid 1911) century.
ANGLO-INDIAN CABINET
The shelved upper section of this rosewood bookcase cabinet has leaf-moulded cresting above twin doors with elaborate pierced and carved panels, flanked by scrolling brackets. The lower section has two long, carved frieze drawers above two similarly carved doors. The piece stands on carved bracket feet.

FURNITURE: MID 19TH CENTURY CHINA

WOODWORKING AND cabinet-making
were advanced industries in the China of the late Qing dynasty (1644-1912). Although most authorities agree that the best Chinese furniture was made before the 19th century, traditional methods and forms persisted well into this period of greater communication and trade with the West.
A PERIOD OF DISTRESS
By the mid 19th century, China was home to British, American, Russian, Japanese, German,
Italian, and French colonies. Foreign influence in China was further extended when, in the aftermath of the first Opium War (1839-42), China was compelled to open five of its ports, including Canton and Shanghai, to foreign trade. This number was increased in 1860 following another Chinese military defeat. Far from being a welcome addition to the cultural diversity of China, these foreign incursions were resented
by the majority of the populace.
More pressing matters dominated political and social landscape during this period. China was beset with internal rebellion, fat-nine, and drought – a series of calamities that conspired to wipe out 60 million people in the course of the next 12 years.
Western powers were quick to help the Qing dynasty during these periods of crisis, yet their primary aim was always to open up Chinese markets to the West to improve Western economies. Consequently, Chinese Furniture of the mid 19th century; although predominantly based on Ming and early Qing ideals, bore the
stamp of Western influence to a greater extent than ever before.
A MIX OF OLD AND NEW
The last years of the Qing dynasty, though troubled, did produce some fine furniture. A deep reverence for the past kept the traditions and monumental forms of the early Qing period in production. Concurrent with this, there was a general softening of the strict rectilinearity that had previously characterized Chinese furniture. Rounded forms, such as spoon and horseshoe backs, began to proliferate, as did peculiarly European
shapes, such as the breakfront. Continuity came in the shape of plant stands, low tables, screens, and a variety of other forms that had been popular in China for many years.
Cabinet-makers continued to use lacquer to decorate a great deal of the furniture, although the quality Ming lacquer furniture was never surpassed. Three predominant styles of lacquer decoration date from this period. The most common were daqi, a thick lacquer coating applied to a paste undercoat, and ludqi, a thin wash painted directly on to the wood. Less
common and more elaborate was miaojin, which incorporated gold-coloured highlights on a ground of black and coloured lacquer.
Another traditional decorative element, the ceramic plaque, enjoyed something of a revival towards the close of the Qing period due to the work of porcelain masters, such as Liu Xiren, who worked in Jiangxi province.
ELABORATE DECORATION
The persistent admiration for Chinese furniture was due in no small part to the quality of the exotic woods
available to craftsmen. Hardwoods, particularly rosewood, were ideally suited to the profuse pierced and carved decoration practised by so many cabinet-makers. Huali, a type of rosewood, was found to fade to an attractive golden colour after prolonged exposure to light, and furniture with this hue became known as huanghuali during the late Qing period. Hard stones, either in the form of decorative inlays or inset marble table tops, appealed to the European taste and became staples of more ornate Chinese furniture of the period.
The export market was a prime source of commissions and revenue for many cabinet-makers, particularly those in the newly opened city ports, such as Shanghai. European markets demanded that this export furniture look as Oriental as possible, with the result that decoration that might be rejected as over-exuberant by the Chinese was carried out on some furniture purely to satisfy Western buyers. Intricately inlaid figural landscapes containing pavilions and other typically Chinese features are hallmarks of this new direction Liken by Chinese craftsmen in the second half of the 19th century.

INLAID LOW TABLE
This is one of a pair of rare horseshoe armchairs made of huanghuali, the Chinese name for rosewood. It has a U-shaped, bamboo form, a carved top rail, a cane seat, and a lattice splat. The top rail and legs have been carved to simulate the apperance of bamboo. S&K
HORSESHOE ARMCHAIR
This black-lacquered wooden low table of rectangular form is inlaid with mother-of-pearl and hard stones, depicting a rural scene. The image includes a pavilion and figures within a walled garden on a black ground. The table is supported on similarly decorated cabriole legs, terminating in paw feet.
ANGLO-CHINESE CENTRE TABLE
This Anglo-Chinese centre table is made from amboyna and ebony and has three drawers one long and two short – with dummy drawers at the back. It is raised on carved ebony
trestle supports, terminating in claw feet. The supports are joined by an ebony stretcher. Although it was made in 1840, the design of the table is closer in style to examples from about 1810. c.1840.
A cane seat is fitted into the rosewood seat frame.
The turned legs simulate the appearance of bamboo.
ANGLO-CHINESE SIDEBOARD
SPOON-BACK NURSING CHAIR
This Anglo-Chinese amboyna and ebony pedestal sideboard has a frieze containing two drawers. Each pedestal contains a cupboard door enclosing shelves, as well as a deep drawer for storing wine. Made in colonial style, the shape of the sideboard is Regency. c.1840.
This Burmese, carved hardwood nursing chair features ornate, pierced, carved decoration throughout. The shaped back has a deep, carved surround with bird and foliage motifs. The padded drop-in seat has a similarly carved seat rail and is supported on cabriole legs moulded as rampant lions. c.1900.
PLANT STANDS
These intricate plant stands arc, made of rosewood and have shaped tops with polished marble insets, The tops are supported on profusely carved frames and shaped legs, which are joined by stretchers and headed by mask motifs. The stands terminate in animal-paw feet. c.1900.
NEST OF TABLES
This set of four hardwood tables graduates in size, fitting one inside the next, making the tables easy to store when not in use. Each table has a tray top and a decorative pierced apron set above shaped legs, which are joined by similarly shaped stretchers.