Posts Tagged ‘Baroque’

Globes
Pair of early nineteenth-century mahogany library globes by Newton, published in 1838 and 1836. The tripod frames with out-scrolled legs ending in brass castors, 3 ft 8 in high        780 0
Large pair of terrestrial and celestial globes by Newton; published 25 March 1875. Supported in mahogany frames on triple curving legs 205 0
Pair of terrestrial and celestial globes in turned stands by James
Wyld, Charing Cross East; published 1847 185 0
Knife Boxes
A pair of mahogany urn-shaped knife boxes, stamped W. Johnston, with domed lids and bodies inlaid with flowers and stripes, 2 ft 5 in high 115 0
Sheraton  inlaid  mahogany serpentine-fronted knife box in
original condition 32 0
Mirrors—Mantel
Empire-style giltwood overmantel with triple mirrored panels
and decorated with classical figures 105 0
Rectangular mantel mirror in a giltwood frame carved with
acanthus and shell motifs, 31 in by 25 in 60 0
Mirrors—Toilet or Dressing
Sheraton serpentine-fronted box-frame toilet mirror fitted with
two drawers, 17 in wide 36 0
Sheraton box-frame shield-shape toilet mirror with two drawers,
18 in wide 30 0
Mahogany box-frame toilet mirror with three drawers, 15 in
wide 15 0
Edwardian   mahogany   box-frame   toilet  mirror   with three
drawers to base, 22 in wide 9 0
Mirrors—Wall
Pair of Chinese-Chippendale giltwood girandoles of rococo outline mounted with phoenix-birds and clusters of flowers from which issue two scrolled candle branches. The base enriched with acorns and oak leaves, 38

in high 650 0
Mid-Georgian wall glass in a giltwood frame carved with scrolls
and foliage and pierced, 44 in high 200 0
Chippendale mahogany mirror with gilt gesso beading
George IV convex mirror in a gilt frame enriched with spherical ornament with two scrolled candle sconces. Crested with a gilt eagle with outspread wings 76 0
Regency giltwood convex mirror with ball encrusted moulded
frame and ebonised slip, 1 ft 11 in diameter 15 0
Settees, Couches and Chaise Longues
Small carved mahogany sofa, the arched back carved with
rococo motifs. Curved arms, carved seat rail and cabriole legs        135 0
some auction room prices ‘. 1968-69
Decorated satinwood cane-panelled settee with loose seat
cushion, 4 ft 4 in George III painted settee with flat rectangular back and arms,
on turned legs. The arms, seat rails and legs are painted
with husks and flowers on a cream ground, 6 ft wide Early George III mahogany settee with stuffed back and arms.
The seat rail and legs are carved with blind fret, 5 ft 8 in
wide, (some restoration) Victorian rosewood frame serpentine-fronted chaise longue on
short cabriole legs
Settles
Eighteenth-century oak settle, 5 ft 5 in wide Seventeenth-century panelled oak settle with box seat, 4 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century carved and panelled tall-back hall settle, 5 ft 7 in wide
Sideboards
Small nineteenth-century sideboard inlaid with ebony lines. Raised back, the centre drawer flanked by a cupboard and deep drawer. Supported on six turned and tapering legs, 4 ft 8 in wide
Hepplewhite-style mahogany serpentine sideboard of rich mellow colour, cross-banded in kingwood and fitted with a napery drawer and cellaret cupboards with octagonal gilt metal handles and supported on chamfered

legs, 7 ft 2 in wide
Georgian mahogany half-moon sideboard with two cupboards to the sides and two drawers with lion ring handles in the centre. Four tapering legs, 4 ft wide
Large mahogany Sheraton-style sideboard fitted with two long drawers and flanked by two deep drawers, supported on tapering legs
Regency Empire mahogany sideboard of architectural form, with a reverse breakfront with two shallow drawers to the centre flanked by deep cupboards. Supported by two curved and four simulated bamboo legs

terminating in brass paw feet. The whole mounted with ormolu and brass griffins, lions’ masks and sphinx and with Adams-style garlands and patera, 7 ft 6 in long
Late Georgian mahogany sideboard with shaped front, the top back rail fitted with three tambour slides. Two cupboards and a centre drawer to the base over a waved apron. Supported on six slender tapering legs, 5 ft

7 in wide
Early nineteenth-century mahogany bow-front sideboard on spiral-turned legs, 6 ft 1 in wide
Tables—Break fast
Regency mahogany breakfast table with brass stringing on the banded top and a turned pillar ending in a reeded quadruped, 5 ft by 3 ft 5 in
Georgian mahogany oval breakfast table with reeded edge and
Tables—Card
Chippendale mahogany card table with shaped folding top on boldly carved cabriole legs ending in claw and ball feet, 2 ft 7 in wide 370 0
Late George II mahogany card table with border of carved flowerheads and legs and frieze carved with blind fret, 3 ft wide 250 0
Regency card table in figured rosewood inlaid with brass flowers and leaves, the D-top on a ringed stem and quadruple brass capped legs, 3 ft wide 190 0
Sheraton mahogany card table inlaid with satinwood lines and
on tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 180 0
George II walnut card table with rectangular top on turned legs
with mantled knees and club feet, 3 ft wide 95 0
Regency mahogany card table with green baize interior on curving quadruple support, ending in brass claw feet. The top is cross-banded 65 0
Victorian mahogany card table with double Sap top supported
on four tapering shafts, terminating in curved legs 44 0
Tables—Centre
Regency painted centre tabic, the circular top simulating green marble, the border with brass mouldings hinged to a carved turned central support on a curved triangular base with lion’s paw feet, 4 ft diameter 120 0
Edwards and Roberts eboniscd centre table with ormolu beading on cluster column and quadruple base, 5 ft 6 in wide 38 0
Red Buhl shaped centre table with heavy ormolu mounts, two
drawers and on cabriole legs. (Poor condition) 11 0
Tables—Dining
Charles I oak dining table with a triple-plank top and the frieze carved with leaves and interlaced arcading, on column legs, 6 ft 5 in long by 2 ft 7 in wide 360 0
Large late George III mahogany dining table, the top richly carved with acanthus, ribbon motifs, satyr masks and a coat of arms. Supported on ten tapering spiral-twist legs with five loose leaves, 12 ft 4 in long 185 0
Georgian mahogany two pillar dining table with triple curving
legs ending in brass-capped feet 122 0
Georgian mahogany oval drop-leaf dining table on turned legs
and pad feet 75 0
Eighteenth-century mahogany oval drop-leaf cottage dining table
on taper legs with pad feet, 3 ft 6 in wide 44 0
Mahogany gadrooned oval dining table with cabriole legs and
claw and ball feet 40 0
Georgian mahogany drum library table with leather top and four real and four dummy drawers. On triple curving legs with brass-capped feet, 3 ft 3 in diameter 680 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
George III mahogany library table fitted with seven drawers and dummy drawers with gilt metal lion ring handles, the top with gilt tooled green leather and the whole raised on a curved quadruple support with

brass-capped feet
Tables—Games and Sewing
Eighteenth-century mahogany, shaped folding top, games table on nutcracker frame with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 34 in wide
William IV games table with sliding and reversible top inlaid as a chess board opening to reveal a backgammon board with two drawers to the side. Central pillar supported on quadruple curving feet
Nineteenth-century mahogany sewing table with rising top and drawers below. The slender tapering legs ending in brass-capped feet
Tables—Gate-leg
George I elmwood gate-leg table, the oval top with flaps on
cabriole legs carved with scrolls and leaves and ending in
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 9 in wide Seventeenth-century oak oval gate-leg dining table with double
flaps supported on bobbin turned legs with plain cross
stretchers, 4 ft 9 in wide Late George II mahogany gate-leg table, the oval top with two
flaps, on unusual legs fluted and ending in paw feet, 3 ft 9 in
wide
Oak oval gate-leg table on turned underframe with drawer, 4 ft wide
Tables—Occasional
Late George II mahogany piecrust table with bird-cage support on fluted stem with carved legs and claw and ball feet, 2 ft 2 in diameter
Large mahogany piecrust tripod table with baluster stem and
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 5 in diameter Mahogany tripod table, the circular top with raised rim, on
cabriole feet, 1 ft 10 in diameter
Tables—Pembroke
Late Georgian mahogany oval Pembroke table with drawer, on
square tapering legs, 2 ft 7 in wide by 3 ft 6 in long Late Georgian mahogany Pembroke table painted with a floral
border and on turned and fluted legs Georgian mahogany Pembroke table with folding flaps and
single drawer, inlaid with satinwood lines and fan motifs, on
tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide
Tables—Refectory
Seventeenth-century oak refectory table of slender plain form, the base having square ends united by a single stretcher, 7 ft 3 in long
Oak refectory table on bulbous end supports with central
stretcher, 7 ft 7 in by 3 ft wide 130 0
An exceptionally long oak refectory table with triple curving
supports, 18 ft 6 in long, 3 ft 3 in wide 90 0
Tables—Side
Queen Anne banded walnut side table with two deep and two
shallow drawers on square legs, 3 ft 3 in wide 170 0
Chinese-Chippendale mahogany side table, the frieze carved with
blind fret. Moulded legs, 3 ft wide 88 0
Oak side table with drawer, on turned legs, 3 ft wide 64 0
Walnutwood side table with cabriole legs carved with acanthus
leaves 31 0
Tables—Sofa
George III satinwood sofa table cross-banded with acacia, fitted with two drawers and false drawers opposite on trestle supports with splayed curved feet and brass castors, 2 ft 10 in wide        750 0
Regency banded mahogany sofa table with tulipwood stringing with two drawers on end supports and central stretcher with brass claw feet, 5 ft 10 in extended 380 0
Late George III mahogany sofa table with two drawers in frieze and raised on flat trestle supports with out-curved legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 270 0
George III mahogany sofa table banded in rosewood and with two drawers. It has trestle supports with tripod splayed legs and brass feet, 3 ft wide 250 0
Tables—Sutherland
Mahogany Sutherland table on turned underframe, 2 ft 9 in
wide 42 0
Victorian walnut-veneered Sutherland table on turned supports,
2 ft 6 in wide 36 0
Tables—Tea
Regency mahogany tea table with folding top on a turned pillar and four curved legs, the whole inlaid with brass stringing, 3 ft wide 120 0
Late George II mahogany tea table, the top with a border of flowerheads and ribbon and the frieze and chamfered legs carved with Chinese blind fret, 3 ft wide 60 0
George III mahogany tea table with folding top, a drawer in
the frieze and square tapering legs, 3 ft 8 in wide 38 0
Tables—Wine
Hepplewhite mahogany wine table, the inlaid octagonal top
supported on triple concave curving legs 105 0
Victorian mahogany wine table on pillar and tripod base, 21 in
diameter 10 0
Tables—Writing
George III mahogany pedestal writing table, the gilt tooled leather top with three drawers at each side of the frieze and
the pedestals with cupboards and drawers at either end, 4 ft wide
Early eighteenth-century banded fruitwood writing table, fitted
with three drawers, a shaped apron and on cabriole legs with
pad feet, 2 ft 4 in wide Victorian lady’s mahogany writing table with two short drawers
on lyre end supports, 3 ft wide Carved mahogany writing table with fitted drawer, the top lined
with leather, on cabriole legs, 2 ft 5 in wide
Tallboys and Lowboys
George II walnut tallboy, the top with reeded and canted corners and three small and three long drawers. The base having three long drawers and bracket feet
Queen Anne small walnut tallboy of mellow colour, the upper chest fitted with two small and three long drawers over a brushing slide, and three long graduated drawers
William and Mary lowboy inlaid with scrolls and motifs. The top fitted with two small and two long drawers and two long drawers to the base, 4 ft 3 in high
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice and two small and three long drawers to the top and tliree long drawers to the base which is supported on bracket feet
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice, the top fitted with two small and three long drawers, the base with three long drawers and supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 1 in high
Waiters
Mid-Georgian mahogany dumb waiter with turned and carved columns supporting three trays. The whole on cabriole tripod feet, 4 ft high
George III mahogany dumb waiter with two revolving tiers and baluster centre on three curved and moulded legs and castor feet applied with roundels, 3 ft 2 in high
George II mahogany dumb waiter with three graduated revolving tiers and spiral fluting on turned central support. Plain cabriole legs, 3 ft 6 in high
Wardrobes
Mahogany breakfront wardrobe fitted with sliding trays, four
drawers and panelled cupboards Small Georgian mahogany wardrobe enclosed by two panelled
doors with three drawers in the base, 3 ft 9 in wide George III mahogany gents wardrobe with pierced swan-neck
cresting, a pair of doors banded in satinwood and two short
and two long drawers below, 7 ft high by 4 ft 4 in wide Regency mahogany wardrobe the upper part with sliding trays
with four drawers under on splay feet, 3 ft 11 in wide
Washstands
Late George III mahogany washstand, the top hinged and opening to form a back, the front with a pair of cupboard doors above one small drawer, on square splayed legs, 2 ft wide
Edwardian three-tier corner washstand with basin 18 0 George III mahogany corner washstand, the slender legs joined
by a stretcher with a drawer, 2 ft wide                                      14 0
Wine Coolers
Georgian inlaid mahogany sarcophagus wine cooler with lion
mask and ring handle on paw feet 65 0
Georgian mahogany octagonal wine cooler with lifting top and
short square moulded legs, 18 in wide 55 0

Like Romanesque furniture, Gothic furniture was decorated by means of carving and painting. The rails and stiles of the panels were often cut in the form of mouldings, and the panels themselves were usually carved. The motifs of the carving were those of the Romanesque style, except for the Gothic character of the tracery and the addition of the linen-fold motif and animal and foliage themes. The Gothic style of the first half of the fifteenth century, under Charles VII, was called ‘flamboyant’, because the carved tracery looked like flames.
RENAISSANCE (1500-1650)
Renaissance—rebirth—is a term used to cover the wide changes that occurred in medieval Europe during the fifteenth century, when the pace of life began to grow quicker. (The invention of printing about 1440 was one expression of this revival of energy.) Medieval Europe had for some time been undergoing changes—the oppressive power of the Church had
Two French Gothic panels
already been questioned, for instance. But it was in the middle of the century that the changes became obvious and manifested themselves in many sides of life.
The ideals of the Holy Roman Empire and the medieval church had become too narrow for the general enlargement of life that was gradually taking place. New ambitions were form-
Renaissance Carved Details
Figure
Palm
Acanthus leaf    Table support (griffin and Corinthian column)
ing, and there was an increased self-confidence in people. The
study of ancient Greek and Roman authors provided a more
sympathetic background of ideas than the teachings of the
churchmen. The new spirit showed itself in expanding activity,
and in a growing dissatisfaction with absolute monarchy, feudal restrictions and the impositions of the Church.
People were trying to free themselves from the influence that
Renaissance Carved Details
Cartridge
Rose of acanthus leaves
Ribbon
the Church exercised over all the activities of life, and their
Gothic furniture, looking like small pieces of church, was a
constant reminder of ecclesiastical domination. Furniture-
makers sought to create a new style. The appearance of the new
furniture was suggested by surviving fragments of Greek and Roman architecture. Furniture-makers were accustomed to modelling their work on architectural ideas, but the supply of Greek and Roman examples was limited—in France more so than in Italy. They therefore went on constructing their furniture in the conventional Gothic way, superimposing on the Gothic framework, however, Roman arches, Greek pilasters, and acanthus leaves. They combined the three Greek orders of architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian (as the Romans had done), and from the combination developed their own style. The rarity of the examples of genuine classical architecture, and the complete lack of examples of classical furniture, left the Renaissance designers free to invent for themselves—which they did energetically and profusely.
Early Renaissance furniture, of the time of Louis XII, was still made principally of oak; for the method used in its construction was the same as that used for Gothic furniture, and oak was the wood best suited to this method. But the carved motifs of the Renaissance—the acanthus leaves, the curious images called ‘grotesques’, the figures out of classical legends—required a smoother workmanship than is easily possible in oak; and so walnut became popular, being closer-grained, as the style developed.
In the first half of the sixteenth century, Francis I started a school of arts and crafts at Fontainebleau. He imported Italian artists, architects, designers, and craftsmen and installed them there, to train the Frenchmen. The school of Fontainebleau was a great commercial success; it was through its productions that Paris first acquired renown as an artistic centre. But Fontainebleau had a disastrous influence on the development of French furniture styles. It was as if the king had said: ‘Take these foreigners as your masters and try to surpass them. Found a great French school of design, that will easily triumph over all foreign competition.’ As a result, French designers grew over-fastidious in matters of style; and in all French furniture since Fontainebleau there has been more thought for stylishness of effect than for genuine beauty of design.
The masters of Fontainebleau published engravings of build-ings, and furniture designers everywhere became more accurate in their use of classical models. The later Renaissance furniture, of the second half of the sixteenth century, in the reign of Henri II, shows the influence of these engravings. Furniture was made in imitation of classical buildings. Cupboards, for instance, were usually surmounted by a classical pediment, and tables were held up by Ionic or Corinthian columns. This does not mean that there was yet any change in the method of structure. The joiners still made the furniture; and, although it was more elaborate, the joints were still of the same type, except that they were now sometimes glued.
During the second half of the sixteenth century, life in France became less disturbed than it had been during the Middle Ages. There were frequent wars and fights between lords, but a more stable domestic life was possible. The kind of furniture we use today began to be made in this period. Medieval tables, apart from a few examples in monasteries, were composed of boards laid on trestles : tables of the second half of the sixteenth century are permanent tables. At this time chairs with arms were first made, and cabinets, and cupboards composed of two parts, one placed on top of the other—called armoires a deux corps. The cabinet was a small cupboard with two doors behind which were rows of very small drawers. Cabinets were originally placed on small tables, but later they often formed the top half of an armoire d deux corps. They were used to hide away important papers and precious objects, and were highly valued.
The furniture made in the first half of the seventeenth century, in the reign of Louis XIII, was the last furniture made by joiners. During this period the Renaissance style grew stale. Independence was not encouraged by the school of Fontainebleau, and so the designers crowded more and more classical detail into their work. The furniture was overcharged with carving—not a square centimetre was allowed to remain undecorated. The mouldings became heavier and heavier and the reliefs higher and higher, till the underlying structure was almost entirely hidden.
It was at this time that ebony was reintroduced into Europe.
People were beginning to travel more: ships brought back cargoes of unfamiliar materials—from Africa, and from Madagascar, cargoes of ebony. At first ebony was very rare, and was used only for the most precious pieces of furniture—the cabinets. For the use of ebony a new technique was developed, requiring a special class of woodworker : cabinet-makers. The chief cabinet-maker to Louis XIII, Laurent Stabre, was described as a ‘joiner and carpenter in ebony’. This title was later shortened to jbiniste, the name by which cabinet-makers are still known in France today.
The technique of veneering used with ebony resulted in a completely new technique of decoration: inlay and marquetry. Marquetry designs can be fairly simple geometrical patterns, but usually the designs have been very complicated—sometimes whole pictures carried out in woods of various colours, or other materials. The marquetry cabinets of the middle of the seventeenth century were extremely elaborate. Their form was necessarily simple, for the technique of veneering a curved surface had not yet been invented; but every precious material obtainable, except precious stones, was introduced into marquetry. Some of the materials employed were ebony, ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, copper, brass, silver, and tortoise-shell.
Another change in furniture-making in the first half of the seventeenth century was the wider use of turning. In Gothic furniture there was very little turning, apart from turned chairs, and early Renaissance furniture differed from it only in the detail of carved motifs. All this furniture was based on Gothic architecture, which, with its carved mouldings and clustered columns, did not provide models for turnery. Later Renaissance furniture embodied more of the elements of classical architecture than the earlier. The round columns of Greek buildings suggested designs in which turnery could be used; and the veneered furniture, free from carving, increased the opportunities for turning. Table legs, the legs and stretchers of chairs, and legs for cupboards, were all turned. The French turners got some of their ideas from the turners of the Low Countries, where turning was highly developed.
French furniture of the first half of the seventeenth century shows the boredom of its makers with the Renaissance style, and their interest in purely technical problems. But they were not sufficiently sure of the new techniques to use them to create a new style. This was left to the designers of a later period.
BAROQUE (1650-1750)
The French designers had acquired the habit of working to dictation from a higher authority. Louis XIV was the authori-
Louis XIV Carved Details
Acanthus leaf    Shell
tative patron of furniture-makers of this period, and he had, unfortunately, very dull tastes. He was determined to make France great, and considered that greatness and magnificent furniture went together. He therefore demanded magnificence from his designers. But Louis XIV furniture is remarkable for its magnificence alone. The personal influence of Louis XIV on the style of his time was stronger than the influence of any other important person on the style of his period. In 1662 Louis XIV founded the Manufacture Royale des Meubles de la Couronne at the Gobelins, later to be famous only as a tapestry factory. Here were made all the furniture and furnishings of the royal apartments at Versailles. These were first occupied in 1682.
When a country tries to become a leading nation, it tends to regard itself as capable of every kind of excellence. This attitude lessens the interest in the achievements of other peoples. In the period of Louis XIV, French designers did not look to the monuments of ancient Greece for inspiration, as their predecessors had done: they looked to Louis XIV. The motifs that had been imported during the previous century were regarded as national property; furniture-makers went on carving, and representing in their marquetry designs, the acanthus leaves and Cupid’s heads of Renaissance furniture, but they felt themselves thoroughly French in this. They carved the Renaissance motifs in a more elaborate way, as may be seen by compa -ing the Louis XIV acanthus leaf on page 129 with the Renaissance acanthus leaf previously illustrated. But in the larger details of their furniture they altogether abandoned Greek forms. Everything that was not veneered with precious materials or made of solid silver was covered with gilt, for grandeur.
All the accessory furnishings at Versailles were as lavish as the furniture itself. Claude de Villiers and his sons, Alexis Loir, Pierre Germain, Dutel and Ballin made stands for candlesticks, orange baskets, vases, chandeliers—all out of solid silver, decorated with bas-reliefs of the tasks of Hercules, the four seasons, and other mythological or symbolic themes. Louis sent these pieces to the mint in 1689, to help pay for the army, so they lasted only seven years.
All Louis XIV furniture is strictly symmetrical in form and in decorative detail. In early Louis XIV furniture straight lines predominated, and the effect was stiff and formal. For decoration, elaborately carved and symmetrically grouped trophies of ancient weapons were often used, in honour of Louis’s martial exploits. Chairs were upholstered in a variety of expensive fabrics—velvets, brocades, brocatelles, silks, satins, and damasks, embroidered fabrics and tapestries, and fabrics woven with metal threads. Beds were so covered up with fabrics that there was little or no woodwork to be seen, and so enormous that they were nearly all destroyed when the taste for smaller beds came in. There were thirty-three parts to the textile covering of a State bed; groups of ostrich and heron feathers surmounted the corner posts. Moliere had an Imperial bed, with an azure dome and eagle feet of green bronze.
The carved and gilded furniture—chairs, marble-topped tables with gilded supports, and day-beds (chaises-longues)—was all mixed up with the veneered furniture. This was even more splendid that the late Louis XIII veneered furniture; in it were employed many other woods besides ebony, to give more varied colour effects to the marquetry. Veneered furniture was frequently ornamented a l’or moulu: that is to say, with mounts of bronze, moulded and chiselled and then gilded. Charles Andre Boulle, who was lodged by the king in the Louvre, made much of this veneered furniture; his four sons carried on the work after him.
In the later Louis XIV furniture slightly curved lines were introduced, and fewer martial themes were used in decoration. Louis was now spending more of his time in the boudoir: the straight lines and trophies of arms did not suit the softened background. The chairs and tables had S-shaped or `cabriole’ legs, sometimes ending in doe’s feet.
Many pieces of furniture that we still use were invented during the reign of Louis XIV, such as bookcases, commodes, sideboards, card-tables, bureaux, sofas and comfortable upholstered arm-chairs. A house furnished in the style of Louis XIV would seem to us very magnificent, but we should find there types of furniture corresponding to most of those in use today.
It was during the reign of Louis XIV that the split between French Court furniture, the furniture of Parisian society, and the bourgeois furniture of the provinces first became important. From Louis XIV onwards there were two distinct sets of styles in France, the Court styles and the group of styles known as French Provincial. The French Provincial styles were generally derived from somewhat out-of-date Court styles. Their decoration, however, was much more sober. During the reign of Louis XIV the Provincial furniture was mostly of natural wood, oak or walnut; it was based on Louis XIII furniture, with a few of the innovations of the Louis XIV style. There are great differences in the styles of the various provinces, those in the south showing Italian and Spanish influence, and those in the north the influence of the Low Countries. But we shall not stop to examine these French Provincial styles, since the Court styles are more expressive of the typical French attitude towards style. Yet it should be remembered that by far the best French furniture—the most domestic and personal in character—is French Provincial furniture.

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.

Antique 19th Century Spanish and Portuguise Furniture.
ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, styles from
countries that had close relationships with Spain and Portugal, in particular, Morocco, were fused with a dominant French aesthetic. This resulted in
distinctive, solid furniture peppered with lighter touches.
SPANISH FUSION
“Isabellino” furniture was the Spanish interpretation of the French Second Empire style. Richly decorated with contrasting colours, it was more
exuberant than its French counterpart, and its symmetry allies it more closely with the Baroque than with the Rococo revival that swept across the rest of
Europe. Pieces made for the court of Isabella 11 (1833-68) were the most sumptuous of all and set the agenda for the aspiring merchant classes.
The use of mother-of-pearl inlays, frequently in geometric patterns, was very widespread. Other fashionable decorative elements included mounts of bronze or gilded wood, and painted decoration applied directly to the timber. Classical motifs, including carved putti and acanthus leaves, were also commonly used.
Openwork carving often made use of themes drawn from Morocco, Spain’s closest neighbour to the south, and one that has lent a distinctive
Islamic twist to the Spanish decorative arts for centuries. Moorish forms and decoration, such as woven upholstery and turned spindles, were widespread throughout Spain during this period. In fact, Moroccan influence was by now so well established that it broadened to include elements from other Islamic cultures.
Isabella It’s bedroom at the Palacio Real, Aranjuez The solidity of the dark wood furniture and fittings is offset by the sumptuous gilded carving that adorns the bed.
SPANISH MOORISH DRESSING TABLE
This walnut and ebony dressing table is inlaid with intarsia. The cabinet is surmounted by an arched mirror, at the base of which are two small drawers. A frieze drawer sits above a pair of panelled doors, which enclose a fitted interior. The case stands on block feet with casters. Mid 19th century.
SPANISH CABINET
The parquetry top of this tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and walnut cabinet has projecting corners. The case has seven drawers, flanked by free-standing columns, and arranged around a central door and two drawers below. The Moorish influence is apparent in the Arab-style
design. Mid 19th century.
PORTUGUESE COMMODE
This is one of a pair of carved Rosewood petite commodes. The exaggerated waisted shape is a very common Portuguese form during this period. The ball-and-claw feet on cabriole legs are taken from mid 18th-century English designs. Late 19th century.
PORTUGUESE CENTRE TABLEPORTUGUESE SIDE TABLE
This centre table is made of rosewood and is in the style of those popular in the late 17th century. The rectangular table top has brass mounts at the corners and the frieze is fitted with drawers and dummy drawers. It stands on bulbous, twist-carved legs joined by twisted stretchers. c.1880.
This side table is made of stained walnut. Beneath the plain top is a single frieze drawer. The overall form, with its H-stretcher and central uprights, is 17th-century French, but the style of carving gives it a Portuguese provenance.
Cyrillic script betrays the central Asian provenance of some Moorish furniture constructed in Spain at this time. Carpets used as upholstery were sourced from the Tekke of Turkestan, for example. Heavy silver adornments were another decorative element borrowed From this part of the world.
The drawing-room suite, usually comprising a sofa and a pair of armchairs, became extremely popular in Spanish homes during this period. The occasional table continued to enjoy the popularity it had won in the earlier “Fernandino” period. Around 1870, Ater a period of civil war that Followed the end of Isabellas reign, designers
began to seek inspiration in traditional Spanish furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries.
PORTUGUESE ASSIMILATIONS The Portuguese had suffered greatly Lit the hands of Napoleon’s Forces but had been impressed by a system of government that freed them from the yoke of a repressive monarchy. Rebellion and civil war plagued the reigns of Maria 11, Pedro V, and Luis 1, the rulers of Portugal during the mid 19th century.
French influence had declined after liberation From Napoleon, and designers began to follow the work
of British cabinet-makers more closely. As a result, features such as the cabriole leg and paw foot became widespread in Portuguese furniture. Another important outside influence came from Germany. The Portuguese embraced the Fading Biedermeier style through Maria 11, who had a number of German consorts.
Towards the end of the century, Spain began to embrace styles based on the more distant past of their own peoples, while Portugal embarked on an
enduring affair with designs from the Joao V period (1706-50). Rosewood continued to be the favoured wood because of Portugal’s colonial interests.
LATIN AMERICAN NEOCLASSICISM The thriving Latin colonies in Central and South America had never been exposed to the French Empire style that had pervaded Europe and from which the bulk of European mid 19th-century furniture had developed. The widespread diaspora of patterns originally drawn by 18th-century masters, such as Chippendale and Hepplewhite, did reach these distant western outposts and were the basis for a Latin American Neoclassical revival. Latin American furniture in the mid 19th century was, therefore, far closer to British forms than that produced on the Iberian mainland.

Antique Engraved Glass

Engraving, whereby a decorative pattern is finely cut onto the surface of the glass, dates back to Roman times. The very earliest types of engraving were diamond-point engraving, which involves scratching fine lines into the glass with a sharp instrument (usually a diamond stylus), and wheel engraving, where the design is cut into the glass by means of a rotating
wheel. Stipple engraving, a more sophisticated form of diamond point engraving, where patterns of tiny dots rather than lines at used to create a shaded design, was first used from c.1621 acid etching, which involves burning a design out of the top layer of glass with acid, evolved with the invention
hydrofluoric acid c.1770 and was widely used in Britain.
Although glass was engraved from Roman times, and examples of fine engraving exist on 15th–century Venetian glass, the widespread use of such techniques as diamond-point and stipple engraving dates mainly from the second half of the 16th century. These techniques were introduced to decorators in the Low Countries by itinerant Venetian glassworkers. Wheel engraving was first used in Germany in the late 16th century.
DIAMOND-POINT AND STIPPLE ENGRAVING Diarnond-point engraving, in which the design or decoration is scratched onto the surface of the glass by a sharp diamond stylus, is particularly suited to thin-walled glass too hard to withstand wheel engraving. It was the only engraving technique suitable to
be used on delicate cristallo glass. Diamond-point engraving was therefore quite common on 15th-century Venetian and later facon de Venice (”in the style of Venice”) glass. However, the technique did not reach its apogee until it was taken up in the Low Countries during the 17th century, where it was carried out by both amateur (those who decorated glass as a hobby) and professional glass decorators. Anna Roemers Visscher (1583-1651) was an amateur glass decorator in Amsterdam, where she engraved delicate designs of flowers, fruit, and insects, as well as lines of poetry in calligraphic script, on beakers and Romer (a type of drinking glass). Another distinguished amateur glass decorator, Willem Jacobsz van Heemskerk (1613-92), in Leiden, produced most notably free-flowing calligraphic designs on such wares as bulbous serving bottles and jugs. Among the best-known professional engravers was Willem Mooleyser (active 1685-97), from Rotterdam, who used diamond-point engraving on bowls, flasks, goblets, and Romer.
In stipple engraving, which is a development of diamond-point engraving, a stylus is very gently tapped on the glass to make a design built up of small dots; these dots create areas of light (dense areas of dots) and shade (sparse areas of dots) to create the delicate design. The detail may be so fine that the design will Only be seen clearly when the glass is held to the light. Common designs include portraits and allegorical Subjects. Examples of stipple-engraved glass are rare,
as the technique is slow, extremely difficult, and requires great skill and patience.
As with diamond-point engraving, the most notable designs were produced by glass decorators from the Low Countries. Visscher introduced the technique to The Netherlands c.1621, but perhaps the best-known exponent was Frans Greenwood (1680-1761), an amateur glass decorator in Dordrecht who employed the technique exclusively from c.1722. He incorporated floral and fruit motifs and also copied designs from contemporary mezzotints and paintings. One of his followers was David Wolff (1732-98),
), a painter who
produced his own designs and portraits. Some of Wolff’s pieces are signed and his style inspired other artists towards the end of the century; such pieces are commonly known as “Wolff” glass. Another follower of Greenwood was the painter and engraver Aert Schouman ( 1710-92). Greenwood, Wolff, and Schouman all mainly worked on glass thought to have been made in the factories around Newcastle-upon-Tyne in northern England, which made a soft glass that was better suited to the stippling technique than the more brittle soda glass.
WHEEL ENGRAVING
In wheel engraving, a mechanical wheel fed with an abrasive paste (typically a mix of oil and emery) is used
cut a design onto a glass surface. The technique, which has been used since Roman times, is best suited
thick-walled pieces, because the depth of the cut is an essential part of the design. The modern technique was probably developed between c.1590 and 1605, at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph 11 in Prague, by the gem engraver Caspar Lehman 15-0-1622), who engraved plaques and beakers with portraits and allegorical subjects.
In Bohemia a new type of glass known as “lime” glass, in which chalk lime carbonate was added to the batch to give a strong, colourless crystal suitable for deep engraving, was developed c.1683. At about the same time water power was introduced to drive the wheels, and this also enabled deeper cutting. Especially notable is the work of Dominik Biemann (1800 1857), whose training at the Prague Academy of Drawing is reflected in his fine engraved portraits on beakers and medallions. Of particular note are the Baroque pokals lidded goblets) decorated with Hochschnitt (”high cut”) engraving by the Silesian Friedrich Winter (d.C. 17 12). One of Lehman’s pupils was Georg Schwanhardt the Elder 1601-70), who left Prague for Nuremberg where he established a workshop and founded a dynasty of skilled engravers, including his son Heinrich (1624l
The technique was further developed in the 19th century, as Bohemian craftsmen pioneered a process whereby glass was overlaid with a layer of glass in a different colour and then wheel engraved to show the design in the colour of the first laver. Two lavers of glass were standard, but sophisticated pieces were composed of up to four layers. Such pieces demanded great expertise, as each coloured layer cooled at a different rate, and with each additional colour the risk of cracking increased. Common decoration included forest and hunting scenes, rural views, and castles. However, most sought after are special commissions such as portraits of famous people, battle scenes, and important buildings. Highly skilled Bohemian craftsmen travelled across Europe, so many pieces of this type were produced in various countries.
Towards the end of the 19th century some fine wheel-engraved pieces with Hochschnitt and Tiefschnitt (incised or intaglio) decoration were designed by J. & L. Lobmeyr (est. 1823) in Vienna. The firm produced copies of 18th-century designs and worked in Classical and contemporary styles. Leading engravers who worked for Lobmeyr included Karl Pietsch ( 1826-83), Peter Eisert ( 1828-94), and Franz Ullmann (1846-1921 ).
Engraved glass was also produced in Sweden. In the 20th century some outstanding pieces were made at the Orrefors factory (est. 1898) in Orrefors, in the Sul Aland region. In 1916 Simon Gate ( 1883-1945) was brought in as a chief designer, and he was joined the following year by Edvard Hald (1883-1980). Gate’s designs typically feature elegant Neo-classical figures,
while Hald’s figures are more caricatured and are mostly shallow engraved. Between 1928 and 1941 Vicke Lindstrand ( 1904-83) also worked for Orrefors, producing stylish and elegant designs.
Diamond-point and stipple engraving
• CONDITION diamond-point engraving should be shallow, with ragged, slightly broken lines, minor damage will not greatly affect value of early pieces
• BEWARE copies were decorated by
enthusiastic
amateurs in the I 9th century; when dated there is no Confusion, but undated older glasses can be misleading
Marks
Diamond-point pieces may he signed on the foot or in the design
Wheel engraving
• TYPES OF GLASS 19th-century Bohemian coloured glass Was a popular base; this glass should feel heavy
• DECORATION late 18th-century pieces feature formal designs; heavy, ornate engraving is typical; high-quality pieces have elaborately cut, ornate feet

Longcase clocks
The weight-driven longcase clock, regulated by a pendulum, was introduced c.1660. The long case may have developed as protection for the pendulum and weights – they hung below the movement, which was held with the dial in a hood. Cases were mostly made by cabinet-makers and so reflect the style of contemporary furniture. Longcases are especially linked with Britain, but fine versions were also made in continental Europe and in the USA, where they are known as “tallcases”.
EARLY BRITISH LONGCASES
The earliest British longcases, made from the 1660s mainly in London, had cases of ebony-veneered oak with architectural pediment tops, but walnut-veneered clocks, typically with flat or crested tops and Baroque twist columns on the hood, were fashionable toward the end of the 17th century. The square brass dial had a narrow, applied and silvered chapter ring, applied spandrels of cherubs’ heads, scrolls, or foliage, a roughened or matted brass centre, and heat-treated, durable, blued-steel hands; most examples also had a seconds dial. Perhaps the leading clockmaker of this period was Thomas Tompion (1639-1713).
Marquetry decoration was very popular on the best longcases from the 1680s to c.1710. Before the 1690s this usually consisted of panels of birds and flowers, or geometric patterns, or parquetry, on the trunk and base. Later examples are decorated all over with elaborate designs of arabesques, scrolls, flowers, birds, and figures. Another common feature of late 17th-century longcases k the lenticle: a small, oval, glass window in the trunk
door, revealing the pendulum. With the fashion for larger rooms in the early 18th century, very tall longcases –up to 2.5m ( 8ft 2m) in height – were popular. Classical hood columns that were influenced by contemporary architecture replaced Baroque twists. Dials increasingly became larger and c.1715 the arched or break-arch dial was introduced.
Japanned decoration reflected the European interest in Chinese and Japanese art from c.1700 to the 1770s. Japanning was a European version of the costly, time-consuming process of lacquering. Japanning – usually black and green but occasionally red, yellow, blue, or cream – was painted all over the case on a layer of gesso; gilt chinoiserie designs were then added to the ground.
DUTCH LONGCASES
Longcase clocks were produced in the Netherlands from c. 1670 to the end of the 18th century. Although in many ways they resemble contemporary British clocks, some features are distinctively Dutch. These include the bombe base, sometimes with projecting scrolls; C and S scrolls at the top and bottom of the trunk door; a cast-metal Ienticle surround; large paw
or ball feet; and gilded figural finials. Cases were typically veneered in walnut, with ebony or light-coloured wood stringing or marquetry decoration. Musical work and automata in the dial arch were common features.
The earliest dials were square and had narrow, sometimes skeletonized, chapter rings. Around 1715-20 the break-arch dial came into general use the addition of the arch allowed more
elements to be displayed, such as the maker’s name, a strike/silent lever, the phases of the moon, or even automata. After c1800 the minutes were numbered only every 15.
LATER BRITISH AND AMERICAN LONGCASES In the 18th century high-quality longcase clocks were produced in English cities outside London and in Scotland, especially in Bristol, Oxford, Liverpool, and Edinburgh. From c.1750 the majority of fashionable London makers used mahogany for cases, while oak was popular elsewhere in Britain; makers in the USA, where the industry was well established on the eastern seaboard, preferred indigenous woods such as maple and cherry, although mahogany was also used. London cases of this period typically feature an elaborate pagoda top, two or three brass ball-and-spire finials, and sometimes quarter columns at the corners of the trunk and base, with decorative brass stop-fluting.
The arched brass dial with applied chapter ring and spandrels remained popular and some dials from the 1770s also featured a subsidiary calendar dial, instead of
an aperture. Engraved one-piece brass or silvered-brass dials appeared between 1750 and 1770. Iron dials,
painted with floral motifs, portraits, or mythological and allegorical figures, were introduced in the 1770s and used extensively on British provincial longcases and in the USA, where supplies of brass were limited.
In the Victorian period longcases suffered a decline in quality: painted dials, broad, flimsily constructed cases, and mass-produced movements were common. Novelty and bracket clocks were more popular than longcases, although longcase regulators remained in fashion.
FRENCH LONGCASES
Weight-driven longcases were never made on a large scale in France. More popular at the beginning of the 18th century was the pendule stir socle, a spring-driven bracket clock on a matching tall pedestal or plinth. Cases were made by such leading French cabinet-makers as Andre-Charles BOUlle (1642-1732). Examples by Boulle are typically surmounted by a gilt-bronze figure. In the mid-18th century the best French makers produced a type of longcase which, although not a true regulator or precision clock, was known as a it regulateur. With its outward-curving, bombe trunk, it was very different in style from British longcase clocks. Cases were finely veneered in walnut or rosewood, with rich ormolu mounts and details in mahogany, sycamore, tulipwood, and olivewood.
Production of the pendule stir socle and the regulateur was confined mainly to Paris, but other major centres of clockmaking in the 18th and 19th centuries included the Jura region and the Franche-Comte, the latter renowned for its Comtoise longcases. Most late Comtoise clocks
featured an elaborate pressed-brass pendulum, visible through a teardrop-shaped, glazed trunk section where the case was at its most bulbous; these pendulums were matched by elaborate pressed-brass dial frames.
• WOODS Britain: ebony-veneered oak was used in 1660s, walnut and olivewood veneers in 1670; walnut-veneered cases were used c.1715; mahogany first appeared in 1720s and by c.1750 had largely supplanted walnut, oak remained popular in the provinces in the 1 8th century; USA: indigenous woods Such as cherry and maple gave a distinctive style; some mahogany was also used
• DIALS square dials were typical until c.1715; thereafter the break-arch dial, often featuring a rolling moon or the maker’s name, was popular; silvered dials appeared c.1760, white dials c. 1770, circular dials c.1800; painted metal dials are typical on American pieces
• CASES earliest British cases are in simple architectural style; after 1670s marquetry decoration was used, also on Dutch clocks; lacquer was used in the Netherlands mid- to late 17th century and was popular in Britain c.1720-70s; chinoiserie designs were very popular
• MARRIAGES dials and movements -,veto often removed from one case and placed in another: look for a pendulum that appears too large for its case, a dial that does not fit the hood, or any parts that are not original
• CUT-DOWNS longcases that have been shortened are known as “cut-downs”; peg holes will be visible if feet have been removed; outline of removed cresting or finials may be visible; proportions may look awkward

Classicism, Empire, and Biedermeier
England
English furniture makers between the sixteenth and eighteenth century adopted both the ornamentation and forms of continental furniture, although with a British tendency towards modesty and simplicity. There are three main periods of English furniture. The first is the Elizabethan era in which solid oak dominates. This lasted into the reign of the Stuarts. At this time Dutch furniture, which had much in common with the character of the English pieces, was imported together with luxury Flemish and French furniture.
The first new era of a distinctive English style was that of William and Mary when walnut was widely used.
The form of chairs brought over from the Dutch republic were adapted. The fretwork backs were raised in height and given scrolls. Fabric upholstery was replaced with harder woven seats and chair backs. Other types of chairs also evolved from this original type. A bench with a back was also created (a settee), a two-seated bench (double stool), and small sofa, known as a lover’s seat. These types were made well into the eighteenth century.
Oak furniture was often covered with walnut or other veneers and decorated with inlays. The Dutch example of tulips, other flowers, and birds was also adopted.
Both the cabinet and secretaire on turned legs were important pieces of furniture, which were fitted with drawers. Both marquetry and lacquer along the Dutch lines were popular between 1680 and 1720. Things continued in this vein until 1750.
The most important piece of furniture though was the chest of drawers, made in the form of a low or taller commode.
The wide and curved cabriole leg was very popular during the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714) but was being replaced by 1710 with the bull and claw foot. The ubiquitous English Windsor chairs has neither of these characteristics.
THOMAS CHIPPENDALE
English furniture making was significantly altered in 1754 by Thomas Chippendale. He preferred to work in mahogany and had taste preferences drawn from French and Asian examples. But he was also inspired by native English Gothic. He brought together Rococo shells for instance with late Gothic elements.
Chippendale produced a number of types of table including reading tables, bookcases closed at the bottom and enclosed with glazed doors above, card tables, glazed dressers with a taller central section, three-part cabinets, a small table on bowed legs, a round folding table, and bureaux or writing commodes.
His commodes shared a curved front with those of France. But his greatest love was probably for chairs. Following on from his Chinese and Gothic influences he produced chairs with square legs and the merest hint of decoration. All his creativity went into the decoration of the backs of his chairs.
The curved central `splat’ of the back was fretcut and carved in the form of woven leaves and flowers, with curls, scrolls, `ribbons’, and loops.
ROBERT ADAM
Robert Adam gained great fame in the subsequent stage of English furniture design. Adam used Classicism in a very decorative way.
His semi-oval commodes have their front decorated with painting and extremely fine marquetry. The painting took the form of banding, garlands and laurel wreaths, mounted trophies, oval forms, urns, and columns.
Robert Adam’s storage furniture with its geometrical lines was made solely using light-coloured timber. This was mainly sandalwood. The top leaf and stringers of tables were decorated with either carved or burnt in patterns. These too utilised simple geometric motifs.
SHERATON AND HEPPLEWHITE
Thomas Sheraton and George Hepplewhite differed from Adam. Both made different types of cabinets but instead of using carving they preferred to see the natural figure of the grain of the wood.
Both Sheraton and Hepplewhite had a hand in the development of several types of table and they also made bureaux with cylinder locks, dressing tables, tables for placing against a wall, and bedside tables.
In common with Robert Adam they gave considerable attention to the backs of the chairs they made. Sheraton made the simpler type of chair, using sober, fitted for the purpose, and geometric designs. After 30 years as a furniture maker he reintroduced the use of rush seats for his chairs.
Hepplewhite in turn introduced the Prince of Wales feathers or ears of corn designs into the oval framing of his chair backs. More pointed oval forms and heart shape panels were also used by Hepplewhite.
ENGLISH REGENCY
The great flourishing of English furniture making drew to a close at the end of the eighteenth century. The English Regency period is considered by some as a mere variant of the French Empire style. It was not again until the 1860’s that English furniture once more emerged with fresh ideas.
France — Louis XVI and Empire
A new style arose in France out of the Louis XVI style known as Empire. It was directly derived from the Napoleonic ideal of a Roman Empire.
French ebenistes were not greatly inspired by theexamples from classical antiquity given by wealth of treasures uncovered by excavations.
Fortunately it was an era of artists with vivid imaginations and this included the architects P. Fontaines and Christian Percier who drew on the classical past for their designs for interiors, covering walls with carpet or colourful silk. Classical
Early 19th century mahogany half-moon table.Antiquity was glorified at this time so that artistic concepts of these idealistic days gained a romantic heroic overtones. This expressed itself through an almost pathetic level of ostentation, which was revealed in interior furnishings.
It is striking how similarly Empire furnishings are worked, making them readily distinguishable and rather uniform in appearance.
The furnishings were uncluttered and derived their form from architecture. The solid looking furnishings are strongly symmetrical with straight lines.
The Empire style also expressed itself in the design of furniture for the rooms. Important elements for Empire furniture are the cornices, pilasters, and columns
The decorative mouldings of acanthus stems, dolphins, egg and tongue mouldings, nymphs, laurel wreaths, lions, palmettos, sphinxes (which referred to Napoleon’s Nile expedition), urns, and swans created their own identity.
Empire style tables were fairly lavishly made for a range of purposes. Many four-legged tables served as writing desks but there were also bureaux with shutters and desks with pedestals.
Ordinary tables were round as was the case in ancient Greece and Rome. But tables were also made in various polygonal forms. Initially the table top was borne by a carved figure but this was later replaced by a plain columns with inlay and bronze capitals The wash stand also evolved.
A separate leaf was added for a water jug and the wash basin was often supported by a swan. The sliding drawer of the dressing table was often fitted with a mirror for hair styling.
Secretaires were an enclosed but compact piece of furniture. Commodes were simples and without curves, with two drawers or two doors. A new item in the bedroom was a large swivel cheval glass mirror or psyche set in a frame on a stand. Considerable attention was given during the Empire period to the design of beds. Although these no longer had canopies they still remained pretentious. Furniture makers happily used a boat form for beds, known as lit de bateau. Matching style bedside cabinets and night cabinets with decorated fronts were also made for such beds.
Chairs and other seating from the Empire period is characterised by an emphasis on woodworking skills and heavy construction.
At first these had round turned legs but later these stood on arched sabre legs. Interiors were also furnished with dumb waiters, plus flower and sewing tables and a bird cage. The strong love of music also meant that pianos were increasingly found that were mainly imported from London and Vienna.
Germany
German furniture making reached a crescendo in style shortly after the French Revolution. It is entirely unfair to compare the German style of this period with the style of Louis XVI.
New directions in art in Germany generally arose from philosophers rather than practitioners. The Louis XVI style had reached Germany by 1760 by way of the Rhineland. German copies lack the same finesse of the French originals and did not fully implement the style.
Furthermore Baroque influences still endured in Germany and affected this new style import.
Furniture from the area around Liege and Achen was much closer to the French examples. Further north in Germany, along the North Sea coast and around Lubeck, the Louis XVI style was diluted by traditional Scandinavian styles.
The heavy in scale white furniture from this region was influenced by the simple beauty of furniture from Sweden and Denmark. German furniture makers were increasingly influenced as the years passed by their English compatriots. Wide use was made in Berlin and Hamburg and other major cities of veneer.
In addition to the use of native wood from cherry, conifers, walnut, and pear, mahogany was imported on a greater scale. Eventually the native timbers were forced to yield to the imports. Types
of furniture dating back to the time of Queen Anne were copied from Britain, such as double commodes, sawing and dressing tables, and bureaux.
These were later followed by bookcases and glazed-fronted cabinets. English style tended to rule until the emergence of Biedermeier.
Display cabinets though were mainly inspired along French lines, largely due to David Roentgen. These pieces were largely made of course for the palaces and castles of the ruling German princes. These were decorated with inlays of animals, birds, and floral still life designs at Roentgen’s instigation.
After some time these designs were supplemented with allegorical scenes and chinoiserie along Dutch lines. The sober way in which ordinary German folk furnished their homes stood in stark contrast with the overwhelmingly ornate interiors of the palaces.
It is impossible to over-emphasize the longevity of the influence of Baroque throughout the whole of Germany. We have seen how English style influenced the north. In Prussian Berlin Karl Friedrich Schinkel was open to both high classical and emancipated popular classical examples. In the south, in Munich, Leo von Klenze was rather more inspired by French style. Vienna in Austria was another matter though. Furniture makers there combined decorative tastes with comfort.
GERMAN BIEDERMEIER
The first tendency towards more approachable furniture for the ‘ordinary’ home could be seen in the work of Klenze of Munich and these were popular with the generations leading up to the revolutionary year of 1848.
Biedermeier style became popular in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Biedermeier style was a counter to the rigid and pathetic Empire. It was inspired by furniture design that was popular with ordinary people around 1800.
The ordinary citizen preferred more approachable furniture with rounded corners and lightly curved surfaces, circles, ovals, and curved broad lines. The popular notion of comfort meant for instance wide sofas and divans. Sets of tables and chairs were given pride of place in the ‘ordinary’ home. Little use was made of bronze encrusted decoration or fittings in Biedermeier furniture. This was restricted to small turnkeys, horns of plenty, and key escutcheons.
In Germany, as in England, bookcases consisted of three parts.
Wardrobes, linen cupboards, and china cabinets had pilasters at their corners and otherwise were entirely glazed. secretaires managed to stay in existence during the Biedermeier period but their style varied from area to area.
The tops of these secretaires were sometimes reminiscent of a cathedral. The inside of a secretaire was subdivided along architectural lines with small drawers, mirrors, and small columns. It is fun to find all the secret cavities.
The most widely used woods were native elements. beech, ash, cherry, and pear plus ‘exotic’ mahogany. Most secretaires were decorated with paintings or veneer.
Furniture was often covered in floral cretonne with intensely coloured roses or with cotton rep. The walls were hung with plain wallpaper or with paper with floral or vine patterns. This made the rooms look busy even before the many items of furniture were added. These included sewing tables, dumb waiters for books and china, and wastepaper baskets.

Furniture and the Renaissance
There was a revolution in thinking in the fifteenth century which was much apparent in the visual arts but fed through more slowly to the design of furniture. Most of what was made was just a reworking of old themes and styles, even in Italy which was the forerunner of new forms of arts at this time. It was in Italy that late Gothic elements were first replaced by architectural forms such as pilasters, rounded arches, and columns. These designs were decorated with motifs borrowed from classical antiquity.
A 16th century carved cupboard attached to a wall.
This included rosettes, toothed friezes, parallel, and egg and tongue mouldings. Where the structure of the furniture had previously been obvious it was now less obvious and greater emphasis was placed on the beauty of the shape of the piece itself.
Interior furnishing of the home was further extended during the Renaissance with hat stands, mirrors, busts, and bookcases. The choice of furnishings were largely dictated by the architectural character of Renaissance homes.
The functional form of the furniture was partly determined by aesthetic considerations.
CHESTS
This new style was found in chests of the time which became one of the main decorative pieces in the homes of the era. At first the chests were assembled from framing and panels which were initially solely decorated with simple geometric patterns. Subsequently the tops of these chests were embellished with human figures placed at the corners and the panels were often supplemented with mythological or historical scenes.
Chests changed shape in the second half of the fifteenth century, becoming more cubic.
The geometric shapes of the surfaces were now enhanced with figurative decorations and also with plant forms. The feet of these chests were strikingly decorated.
CABINETS
Cabinets and cupboards became increasingly more important in the furnishing of homes. At first these had appeared in town halls and sacristies but they now started to turn up in private homes.
A credence table was used as a dresser. This is a two-door cupboard with sliding leaves beneath a folding leaf with quite limited decoration.
Two cupboards were placed one on top of another in less important rooms that were decorated even less. Cabinets sometimes also possessed a slide out or fold-down leaf which could be used as a surface to write on so that they could act as a bureau.
There were also bookcases, with and without doors and chests of drawers.
A 17th century oak pillow cabinet inlaid with walnut and palisander from the southern Netherlands.
BEDS
A higher standard of living brought a further showpiece into homes — the bed. This formed part of the fitted furniture, attached to the walls. The principal end of the bed was raised and at first sat on a chest-like base but this disappeared around 1500.
During the high Renaissance the bed featured superb examples of sculpture. The richly embellished pillars bore a canopy.

TABLES
Ancient stone furniture inspired Italian craftsmen in their construction of tables leading to two or three highly decorative side-pieces, with caryatids, acanthus scrolls, and winged fantasy animals.
SEATING
Great value was placed upon elegance and comfort by people in this era and this is apparent from their stools, backed chairs, and other seats. Regional variations now arose in the different types of seating.
France
The French were the first to be influenced by Italian arts — because of their eager meddling in Italian politics. Hence the first foreign country to adopt elements of the Italian Renaissance was France. The French were attracted by the reverence for classicism and the humanist attitude of the Italians. Italian artists were attracted to their court circles by the French aristocracy and yet the Gothic influences lived on long after this.
The early French Renaissance period saw development of the Frans I style, which saw late Gothic furniture acquire baluster legs, Corinthian capitals, friezes, pilasters, and decorative mouldings mixed with late Gothic characteristics. Chests, buffets, and benches retained an upright Gothic appearance.
Hence chests remained unchanged for a long time but dressers were used to store cutlery, tableware and other valuables.
The centre section was provided with a drawer for storage or was used to set out the cutlery and tableware. The top sat on Gothic pillars. Early dressers had the corners set back at an angle but later examples were more cubic in form as a result of the pilasters and pilaster legs.
The Gothic form of chair was retained but the armrests were raised and new ,architectural’ details were added. Despite the tremendous influence of the Italians, a new generation of French artists emerged who smothered furniture with a wealth of mouldings. These artists were mainly active in south-western France for in the north there was greater interest in functional design with both form and geometry arrived at logically. This found expression in an harmonic blend of neutral framework with modest decoration.
Cabinets were increasingly constructed with ever more slender legs. The body changed and was decorated with rich reliefs depicting the four seasons, the four elements, and ancient gods. Further south the form remained altogether more plump and cabinets still comprised two parts of equal size.
France already led the way in terms of style for the building of palaces for Royalty and the aristocracy by the sixteenth century. These needed to meet the increasingly refined way of life of the nobility. France also led the way in the style of the interior decoration and furnishings of such aristocratic dwellings. High-backed chairs are very characteristic of this era.
By the late sixteenth century, the shape of people was once more a consideration in the design of chairs and chair backs were lightly curved in order to make them more comfortable. Armrests ending with ram’s heads or scrolls rested on small turned column-like legs.
The high back of the Low Countries was exchanged for the low back of Italy. This development ended though when the Louis XIV style prescribed high chair backs. Very few chairs from this time have survived.
The bed with canopy established a firm place for itself in interior design in France in the sixteenth century. These used upright posts in the form of pilasters or caryatids (female muse forming a pillar) in the Italian manner and for the design of their tables too the French looked to Italy. The leaf was carried by two moulded side-pieces in the form of chimeras or Hermes. There are often column supports between the side pieces and the table leaf. Column legged tables were very popular. These had horizontal stretchers linking them in the form of a double T.
The centre of large halls were often filled with tables with six, eight, or nine legs. It is difficult to differentiate between Louis XIII and Louis XIV tables. This often makes it difficult to date such a piece.
Germany
The Italian Renaissance style die not make headway in Germany before 1500. Its adoption is largely due to the German artists Holbein and Durer. A great deal of work was done between 1525 and 1550 with drawings of ornamentation by the so-called ‘minor masters’. Their influence only extended though to the decoration of the surfaces while form and function remained unchanged.
Only the aristocracy really adopted Italian examples. The citizenry continued to use furniture with Gothic style elements until the arrival of Baroque.
Furniture increasingly became more centrally made in France during the Renaissance but this did not happen in Germany, which was largely fragmented at the time. Furniture in Germany therefore differed from region to region.
NORTHERN GERMANY
The greatest response to the new style was in northern Germany, largely due to examples in the engravings of Heinrich Aldegrever. Yet here too the field was not
wide open for greater ornamentation. There were two important types of cabinet: a large one with a Gothic style front with symmetrical mouldings, and a cabinet on tall legs that resembled a French dresser. The first of these types was decorated in a manner also found with chests from the Rhineland and Westphalia where the Gothic style endured. These chests were often decorated with long panels with lettering.
Most northern cabinets were made of oak while the preference in most other parts of Germany was for ash, larch, or deal (pine).
These timbers remained popular until well into the seventeenth century. High relief carving is particularly characteristic of northern German furniture of the time. The carcass was also decorated with allegorical or religious representations such as fertility rites and scrolls on the top moulding and also with sculptures of female muses as pilasters. This type of cabinet was made in Schleswig-Holstein until late in the Baroque era. Another type of piece that is typical of northern Germany is the small but tall ‘farmer’s’ cabinet.
There were a number of variations in type of northern German chests of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The variant originating from Luneburg was the least changed of these from its predecessors. This type was made by joining planks together and it stood on tall legs.
Those from Holstein were supported on chest-like bases and were decorated in the same manner as cabinets from this region. Chests from Bremen had the form of cube that is slightly taller than it is wide.
SOUTHERN GERMANY
There was a marked preference for fine inlay in southern Germany. Italian architectural features were introduced via Augsburg where the local cabinetmakers were very active in the use of exotic woods such as palisander and ebony and also native timbers like maple, beech, cherry, and poplar for inlaying. A characteristic of late Renaissance furniture is the thoroughness of its making. Decorative designs were made by famous artists such as Burgkmair and Holbein. The plinths, centre parts, and cornices of these cabinets gave them a somewhat horizontal appearance. The main lines of southern German cabinets are largely lost beneath a welter of ornamental and architectural detail.
In reality they still consisted of two pieces. The decoration comprised Doric friezes, vines, symmetrical grotesque motifs, egg and tongue mouldings, and triglyphs. The sculptor and architect Peter Flotner exerted considerable influ-
This early 18th century southern German or Czech trois corps or three part cabinet is of amboyna over deal. These cabinets incorporating a secretaire were made from Strasbourg to the Balkans.
The grain of the wood was also allowed its full expression. Southern German chests often had drawers in the bottom and the lids featured decoration divided into panels. The status of chests gradually reduced until eventually they were only found as furniture in farmhouses. Despite this chests were still made in southern Germany, with walnut being increasingly used.
Tables based on chests arrived in southern Germany from France and remained until late into the Baroque period. The influence of Gothic continued to be readily apparent.
Beds were free-standing with canopies mounted on posts with short valances or curtains. Very few chairs of this period from southern Germany have survived and those that have show clear signs of Italian Renaissance and German Gothic.
The ‘farmer’s chair’ with square seat is the simplest form. Extensively carved chair backs and angled legs were adopted from Italy. This type of chair continued in existence until well into the eighteenth century in the Alps and southern Germany. In addition, there were many chairs with square rear legs that extended upwards to form the uprights of the back of the chair. Richly carved horizontal stringers were placed between the legs to make the chair more rigid.
Another widely found type of chair has arms, leather seat, and scissor-legs. A new type of ‘Dutch’ armchair appeared around 1600 with turned legs or moulded balusters that became very popular in the seventeenth century. Folding chairs also continued in use, especially in Switzerland.
The Low Countries
The Catholic southern part of the Low Countries was mainly influenced by the French but the north went its own way. Furniture makers in the north were influential upon sculptors in Mecklenburg and Lubeck.
The preference in the Dutch Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was for inlay with contrasting coloured woods, especially with ebony and rails, balusters, and carved pilasters were greatly favoured. Chests of this period exhibit the same features. Between 1725 and 1750 there was a marked preference for richly carved pieces.
By the late sixteenth into the seventeenth century many homes had a two-storey cabinet with protruding cornice. The upper part of the cabinet was slightly set back.
There were many regional variants on this theme with cabinetstypical of North and South Holland, Zeeland (with tall legged underframe), and Gelderland. This type of cabinet was also much desired in Cologne where they developed their own richly embellished style.
England
There was some small but increasing influence from the European mainland on England during this period. The dominant style was Elizabethan, after the name of Queen Elizabeth, characterised by simple interpretation of French but mainly Flemish Renaissance. Gradually the Gothic pointed arches and rosettes were replaced by heavy baluster legs, friezes, and other classical architectural elements.
The solid oak ‘four-poster’ canopy beds of this era are famous and many can still to be seen in castles and great stately homes.

Easy chairs before 1840
As the Baroque movement swept through Europe during the late 17th century, the design of seat furniture became increasingly luxurious, elaborate, and more importantly comfortable. Caned and leather chairs, which until this time had sufficed, were largely abandoned in favour of richly upholstered easy chairs as stiff upright backs were discarded and were replaced by sloped and subsequently shaped backs. The number of types of chairs also increased enourmously.
ITALY AND FRANCE
It was in Italy, particularly in Venice, Florence, and Rome, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, that the Baroque style found its clearest expression. The most elaborate open armchairs of this period are usually of either boxwood or giltwood. They are carved with scrolling acanthus, espagnolette masks, and even mythological figures emblematic of the four seasons. Some Venetian examples feature seahorses in deference to the city’s seafaring tradition. Such pieces were usually the work of trained sculptors who had turned their hand to furniture-making; the most celebrated of these was undoubtedly Andreas Brustolon (1662-1732).
In France, under the influence of Cardinal Mazarin, the court of Louis XIV (1643-1715) became increasingly hungry for foreign luxuries and fashions, especially those from Italy. In the mid-17th century French easy chairs became increasingly comfortable and elaborate, owing to their generous proportions, richly turned decoration, and lavish use of velvet upholstery from Genoa or Utrecht.
The Regence period (1715-23) saw significant developments in the design of seat furniture. Although the menuisiers (joiners) were slow to abandon the traditional Louis XIV fauteuil (armchair) form, they were increasingly lavish in their carving. Chairs were decorated with gadroons, shells, and rosettes, and even richly upholstered in velvet or lavish textiles made at the Savonnerie in Paris (est. 1604 in the Louvre for the production of textiles; from 1627 at the Savonnerie). The stretcher became more sinuous, and was abandoned by the 1720s. Further changes in form and design were
dictated by the fashion for wearing hooped dresses, introduced c.1720, which resulted in the arms of easy chairs being set back by a quarter of the length of the side-rail. The introduction of upholstery it    allowed the loose covering to be changed according to the season.
Under Louis XV (1715-74) the fashion
for placing chairs around the sides of the room was abandoned in favour of a more relaxed arrangement that encouraged intimate conversation and gave birth to the fauteuil en cabriolet, with its Rococo form and exuberant carving in the round. Louis XV seat furniture is usually made of either walnut or beech, the latter wood
always either gilded or painted; a
pegged construction was used, and pieces are very often stamped by the menuisier responsible, in accordance with the strict rules of the furniture-
makers’ guild (Corporation des Menuisiers-Ebenistes). During the 1730s numerous styles of informal easy chair emerged, all of them richly carved. The most luxurious was the bergere, which was popular throughout the 18th century and characterized by its deep seat, padded back and sides, and squab cushion. Widely copied throughout Europe, it was to prove inspirational to chair-makers during the Regency period (c.1790-1830) in Britain, and was also much copied in the late 19th and
20th centuries.
BRITAIN AND NORTH AMERICA
The earliest-recorded wing armchairs, known as bergere en confessionnal because the identity of the sitter was hidden by the side wings, are French examples from the early 1670s. Invariably of walnut, this form was rapidly adopted in Britain. The wing armchairs made during the late 17th and very early 18th centuries were usually of walnut or, in more provincial examples, of beech stained to simulate walnut. These armchairs are characterized by the exaggerated scroll of the arms, the high, slanted back flanked by high wings, and the stylized carving of scrolls and foliage on the legs and stretchers.
The most celebrated form of wing armchair was made from the early 18th century until c.1750. Examples are usually of walnut, and are
supported on cabriole legs, which, unlike their 17th-century prototypes, are rarely joined by stretchers. Wing armchairs made in Britain during the reigns of Queen Anne and George I are often carved with trailed husks and scallop shells on the top of the knees and stand on pad feet, although some later examples have hoof or claw-and-ball feet. The most refined wing armchairs of this period were upholstered in gros and petit point needlework, often with figures on the back (but never on the seat) within a flower-strewn border.
Wing armchairs continued to be made throughout the 18th century in mahogany, and were widely copied in walnut in the 19th and 20th centuries. North American early 18th-century wing chairs were generally of walnut or maple, with a high arched crest, and block and vase turned legs joined by a stretcher. During the 1720s short cabriole legs with “Spanish” feet, were used and front stretchers were eliminated. From the mid-18th century mahogany was used. Stretchers continued to be used in New England, while easy chairs made in Philadelphia generally did not have them. In 1760 the serpentine crest design was introduced, modifying the verticality, and it was used along with the rounded profile until the 1780s. Between 1780 and 1800 American chair-makers used George Hepplewhite’s design for a “Saddle Check Chair”, an easy chair with serpentine contoured wings, straight legs, and “H” stretchers, a chair design also associated with Thomas Chippendale (1718-79). There are regional differences in construction and upholstery. Maple was often used for the one-piece rear legs and stiles in New England chairs, stained to match the mahogany of the front legs.

A Library bergere or “Uxbridge” chair
This British armchair is of a style introduced in the early I8th century for use in the library. It has a cane-filled back and sides, and leather-covered cushions, the best examples have reeled or fluted front legs (early 19th century; ht 1.2ml3ft 1 lin; value 1)
Other types of late 18th-century easy chair were based on designs in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1802) by Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) including “conversation” chairs, with deep upholstered seats and padded toprails on which the sitter, facing backward, could rest his or her arms. In Sheraton’s The Cabinet Dictionary (1803) there is a reference to a “curricle” chair, so-called after a tub-shaped carriage, which was popular in libraries at the time. About 1810 to 1820 bergere-type armchairs with deep, upholstered or leather seats and backs, and cane or upholstered sides, were also widely used in libraries.
SCANDINAVIA
Trade between England and Scandinavia was well established by  the mid-17th century, and some English furniture had been exported to Scandinavia by the end of the century. Craftsmen in these countries produced good copies of English furniture; the joiners (although not the cabinet-makers) were very conservative, with the result that early 18th-century styles continued to be produced until c.1800. Around this time, too, mahogany was introduced; before this, walnut was used for expensive pieces. More commonly employed, however, were native light-coloured woods such as birch, ash, and pine; these were left bare, stained, or painted in colours.
By the late 1730s French designs had become increasingly popular at the Swedish and Danish courts and also with the upper classes in these countries; the middle classes did not generally adopt the new fashions until the end of the century. French styles were particularly influential in Sweden, and from the Rococo period court architects were trained in Paris. One of the most influential Swedish designers of the period was Jean Eric Rehn (1717-93). Danish court architects learned their trade in Germany, but this situation changed after the reign of Louis XVI, when both countries adopted the French Neo-
classical style. In Sweden the cabinetmaker Georg Haupt (1741-84), who had trained in both Paris and London is well known for his work in the Louis XVI style. This style developed into the Neo-classical Gustavian style during the I 770S.

AMERICAN “CHIPPENDALE”
The carvers of the most elaborate American Rococo furniture were immigrants from England, Scotland, and Ireland, who had served their apprenticeship in London before going to North America. The first of them arrived in the 1740s, but the great wave of craftsmen tsmen was in the 1760s. Philadelphia was the city most hospitable to immigrants, and more Rococo furniture was produced there than in other colonies. The major cities in America developed distinctive furniture styles, due to the taste of the gentry, the mix of native born and immigrant craftsmen, and the availability of imported
furniture and English pattern books. It is known that there were copies of Chippendale’s Director in Philadelphia. The Library Company of Philadelphia acquired a copy between 1764 and 1769, and two cabinet-makers Thomas Affleck (1740-95) and Benjamin Randolph, owned copies. In America furniture was mostly made of solid pieces of primary wood, rather than veneers over a seconday wood carcase as in England.

RUSSIA
Throughout the 18th century Russian furniture was inspired by French and to a lesser degree English designs; by c.1815 German influence is also apparent. Generally the timbers used for Russian furniture were indigenous; during the early 18th century, when designs were dictated by early Georgian furniture from Britain, they included oak, beech, and walnut. By the 1720s Russian armchairs had tall curved backs with a vase splat and cabriole legs. By the mid-18th century, the taste for Rococo and Chinese ornament had spread to Russia due to the publication of such influential pattern-books as The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754-62) by the English cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale (1718-79). English-style chairs with pierced splats and sweeping cabriole legs with claw-and-ball feet, usually made in mahogany, were increasingly popular.
However, from the beginning of the 19th century the clearest influence on Russian furniture manufacture was that of France. Particularly favoured was the Empire style of the cabinet-maker Georges Jacob (1739-1814), who was based in Paris. About this time, light-coloured woods also became popular, anticipating the Biedermeier style in Germany and Scandinavia. From c.1815 chairs were executed in indigenous woods such as Karelian birch, maple, and poplar, decorated with restrained stringing.
HALL CHAIRS
Hall chairs (and also hall benches) were introduced in Britain from the late 17th century. They may have been inspired by similar chairs known as sgabelli, which were popular in the great Italian palaces during the 16th century. Hall chairs were designed to be placed in the entrance hall or passageways used by servants and tradesmen waiting to be called into one of the main rooms. Consequently such chairs were never upholstered, and generally they lacked arms; however, they were increasingly made of mahogany, with solid backs and dished or shaped scats. The designs were bold and simple and were frequently embellished with the painted crest or coat of arms of the family who commissioned them. In some cases they were carved with motifs intended to impress guests and to emphasize the social status of the owner. The importance given to hall chairs is suggested by the fact that there are six designs for such chairs in The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director by Thomas Chippendale, three in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788-94) by George Hepplewhite (d.1786), and two in The Cabinet Dictionary (1803) by Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806).

THE BIEDERMEIER STYLE
This decorative style was popular in Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia between c.1815 and c.1848. The name was invented by two German poets who wrote under the pseudonym Gottlieb Biedermeier, formed from a combination of bieder (meaning conventional or honest) and Meier, a common German surname. The solid, comfortable appearance of Biedermeier pieces was thought to mirror the unpretentious elegance of the German bourgeoisie. The simple, geometic designs, which eschewed ornate decoration, were inspired by French furniture of the Empire period. Function and comfort were of supreme importance to the Biedermeier craftsmen and to achieve this end they used coil-spring upholstery.

•    UPHOLSTERY gros and petit point arc very rare and greatly contribute to the value of a wing armchair
•    REGILDING well-executed regilding should not dramatically affect the value of an object; French Louis XV beechwood chairs were usually originally gilded or painted and traces are often found in the crevices
•    HALL CHAIRS these arc usually found in sets of four or more, although it is possible to find single chairs; they are often decorated on the back with a cartouche featuring the armorial of the family who commissioned them; they are generally very good value for money
•    COPIES AND FAKES Brustolon-style chairs were widely copied in the 19th century; Biedermeier chairs have been been widely faked in the 20th century, with many side chairs converted into armchairs – this should be obvious if the proportions seem wrong

Seat furniture
Until the 17th century most seating was provided by the stool; box-settles were also common in wealthier households. Side chairs and armchairs were introduced in the 16th century and the settee in the mid-17th century; this evolved over the next 200 years into the fully upholstered sofa. The demand for comfortable seating increased throughout this period, with upholstery gradually
eclipsing wood carving and decoration, especially after the introduction of the coiled spring in the 1820s. Over the centuries seating has been profoundly influenced by a succession of styles and forms, from the extravagant Baroque to the austere Neoclassical, all of which have been revived by later generations of craftsmen. The interest in historical design continues to this day.
Stools
The stool has been in use for thousands of years, and was and is common in one form or another to all civilizations. Its often simple construction and its portability have ensured its lasting popularity. Until the 17th century, seat furniture with backs and arms was scarce, and the chair was reserved for the head of the household; most seating was provided by the stool.
17TH-CENTURY JOINED STOOLS
Inventories from the 17th century show that stools existed in large numbers and were reserved for members of the household who had sufficient status to sit at formal occasions. This hierarchy persisted in court circles well into the 18th century. Most stools found today were made from the 17th century onwards. As with all types of furniture, examples of stools before 1600 are rare and those that come onto the market can be valuable. The simple, pegged, oak stool with carved decoration is probably the most common type. Called a joined or joint stool, it was made by a joiner, with mortise-and-tenon joints secured by pegs. Although regional variations exist, the design was basically the same throughout Europe. Generally only those pieces that were well made in good-quality wood have survived, and many stools intended for everyday use have long since disappeared.
Joined stools could be extended in length to become benches and were occasionally made with a small drawer underneath the seat. Even at this early date they were often made in sets, a practice that was to become widespread in later centuries. Originally the seat would probably have been softened with a squab cushion but during the 17th century padding became an integral part of the stool as the demand for comfort increased.

LATER STOOLS Because stools were perennially popular they tended to keep up with fashion trends. In the late 18th century British stools were made after designs in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide ( 1788-94) by George Hepplewhite (d.1786) and French stools after designs by Pierre Fontaine (c.1762-1853) and Charles Percier (1764-1838), as well as those in Receuil de decorations interieures (1801-12). Shapes diversified as the interest in historical styles and forms, whether real or imaginary, took hold. For example, the X-frame form, first made in ancient Egypt and common in Europe during the Renaissance, was revived in Europe and North America during the early 19th century.
The 19th century saw an increased use of mechanization, which enabled carving to become extremely elaborate, and stools were made in a variety of bizarre forms with carved and moulded decoration. From the third quarter of the 19th century a new type of upholstered seating, the pouffe, was introduced. The upholsterer played an increasingly prominent role in furniture-making as comfort became an ever more important criterion.

•   COPIES OF JOINED STOOLS during the 1920s and 1930s
many copies were made of the joined stool; signs of a genuine example include wear in the right places, such as the stretchers; irregular pegs that stand proud due to shrinkage and are visible on both the inside and outside of the frame; “dry” wood underneath the seat
•   GEORGIAN STOOLS look at the colour of the wood under the seat rail (the drop-in seat should lift out) – this should be “dry” and unstained; exercise caution with small stools, which are popular with collectors – fakers may have used the front pair of legs from two damaged chairs and fixed them into a seat rail; check for odd proportions and for tops of legs hidden by the seat rail