Posts Tagged ‘base’

Dishes
Pair of George III oval meat dishes by Frederick Kandler, London, 1765, 73 oz 2 dwt Pair of Victorian octagonal entree dishes and covers with
vegetable dividers for each and ball finials, Sheffield, 1880,
120 oz 14 dwt 450 0
George III circular vegetable dish with ivory grips, pierced sides and four scroll and foliate feet, by W.S., London, 1809, 80 oz 2 dwt 360 0
William IV shaped oblong entree dish and cover with engraved armorials and foliate ring handle, by J. C. Eddington, London, 1835, 61 oz 5 dwt 260 0
George III muffin dish and cover, the domed cover with urn
shaped finial, by Henry Chawner, London, 1791, 15 oz 1 dwt        210 0
Jugs—Cream and Milk
George III helmet-shaped cream jug with ‘bright-cut’ engraving, loop handle and square pedestal foot, by George Smith, London, 1790, 3 oz 7 dwt 80 0
George II cream jug of conch shell type with serpent handle and
three coral-like supports. Circa 1755, 3 oz 5 dwt 80 0
George III oblong milk jug engraved with crests and with gadroon lip and scroll handle, by R. and S. Hennell, London, 1808, 6 oz 2 dwt 70 0
Victorian baluster milk jug chased with flowers and scrolls and on three feet. Possibly by William Brawn, London, 1845, 5 oz 7 dwt 52 0
Jugs—Water
George III pear-shaped hot-water jug, stand and lamp, the jug with rams’ masks and laurel festoons, the stand on three claw feet with female bust terminals, by Andrew Fogelberg. The jug 1776, the stand 1775, 40 oz

780 0
George III vase-shaped hot-water jug, plain with wood handle and on circular foot, by William Fountain, London, 1801, 25 oz 11 dwt 460 0
George II baluster hot-water jug chased with scrolls, leaves and flowers, raffia-covered handle and rim foot, by Gurney and Cook, London, 1755, 19 oz 15 dwt 270 0
Jugs—Wine and Ale
Queen Anne ale jug, die ground embossed with foliage and flowers and a satyr spout, by John Wisdom, London, 1712, 35 oz 280 0
Victorian wine ewer with baluster body and engraved with Grecian figures and leaves, entwined snake handle and butterfly finial, by E. and J. Barnard, London, 1862, 27 oz 11 dwt        170 0
Marrow Scoops
Queen Anne scoop of typical form by Charles Jackson, 1713,
1 oz 10 dwt 68 0
Early George III scoop, the larger bowl engraved with initials,
probably by William Tuite, London, 1767, 1 oz 12 dwt 20 0
Mustard Pots
George III drum mustard with moulded borders, flat hinged lid and simple scroll handle, with spoon of earlier date. Pot by Ernes and Barnard, London, 1813, 5 oz 10 dwt 165 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
William IV mustard with ribbed baluster body and hinged domed lid with floral finial, scroll handle and shell thumbpiece and spoon of same date but different maker. Pot by C.G., London, 1830, 6 oz 17 dwt
George III oblong mustard with domed cover, urn finial and angular handle on four bun feet, London, 1813, 3 oz 11 dwt
Salts
Four George I plain oval trencher salts with incurved sides, by
Mary Rood, 1723, 6 oz 15 dwt Pair of George III boat-shaped salts, reeded at the lips and
pedestal feet, gilt interiors, by Peter and Ann Bateman, 1792,
4 oz 6 dwt
Pair of George II compressed circular salts, with plain engraved bodies below gadroon lips each on three shell-headed hoof supports, possibly by Isaac Cookson, Newcastle, 1747, 8 oz 1 dwt
Salvers
George II large circular salver on four lions’ mask and shell bracket feet, the shaped border pierced and chased, by George Wickes, 1744, 137 oz
George I plain circular salver on central foot with moulded border, by W.P., 1720, 13 oz 12 dwt
George III circular salver, engraved with initials, chased wave border and gadroon rim, on three claw and ball feet, by Robert Rcw or Rugg, 1766, 24 oz 3 dwt
Victorian salver engraved in the centre with an initial and also with scrolls and foliage, moulded border, by J. and J. Angell, London, 1845, 25 oz 14 dwt
Sauceboats
Pair of George II plain sauceboats each on three shell and scroll feet with gadrooned rims and double scroll handles, by Peter Archambo and Peter Meure, 1754, 29 oz
George II two-handled plain double-lipped sauceboat on collet foot, with double scroll handles and waved rim, with a moulded drop beneath the spout, by Peter Archambo, 1732, 17 oz 5 dwt
Pair of George III sauceboats, each on fluted shaped lozenge foot, with gadrooned borders and double scroll handles, by William Sampcl, 1766, 25 oz
Snuff Boxes—See Small Decorative Antiques Sugar Basins—See Baskets—Sugar Tapersticks—See Candlesticks Tankards
William and Mary tankard on three lion couchant feet, scroll handle, cylindrical body and moulded base, by Robert Cooper, 1692, 31 oz
George II baluster tankard with domed cover, openwork thumb-piece and double-scroll handle, on moulded spreading foot, by William Grundy, 1755, 34 oz 5 dwt 650 0
George III baluster tankard, with domed moulded cover and heart-shaped lower terminal to the scrolling handle, by William Caldecott or Gripps, 1765, 27 oz 15 dwt 570 0
Tea Caddies
George III oval caddy, the body with two bands of bright-cut engraving in beaded borders and the plain hinged lid with urn finial, by Hester Bateman, 1781, 14 oz 10 dwt 900 0
George III shaped oval caddy, the body fluted at intervals, decorated with bright-cut engraving, hinged domed cover with wood finial, by Robert Hennell, 1787, 14 oz 17 dwt 480 0
Teapots and Stands
George II bullet teapot with engraved shoulder decoration of satyr masks, leaves and flowers, straight spout, loose lid, ivory handle and finial, by Isaac Liger, 1729, 15 oz 1 dwt 2,100 0
George III teapot stand on four fluted panel supports, by Hester
Bateman, 1789, 4 oz 15 dwt 280 0
George III oval teapot with moulded girdles and a matching stand, supported on four feet, by Crespin Fuller, London, 1800, 16 oz 15 dwt 270 0
George III oval, semi-lobed teapot, with swan-neck spout, ivory handle and finial, by P. A. and W. Bateman, 1799, 17 oz 3 dwt 170 0
George IV teapot, compressed circular body, ivory handle and
finial, curved spout, by Eley and Fearn, 1823, 25 oz 16 dwt        150 0
William IV compressed circular teapot with moulded girdle, wood finial and similar wood handle, by E. E. J. and W. Barnard, 1830, 14 oz 2 dwt 135 0
Early Victorian bullet-shaped teapot with engraved body, Edinburgh, 1840, 24 oz 82 0
George III oval teapot stand, gadroon border on four panel
supports, but George Fenwick, Edinburgh, 1806, 5 oz 14 dwt 80 0
William IV small melon-shaped teapot, with slightly domed cover and ivory finial, scroll handle and curved spout, London, 1833, 13 oz 18 dwt 60 0
Tea and Coffee Services
Victorian tea and coffee service of compressed circular form, decorated with embossed flowers and foliate handles and on scrolled feet with shell motifs, by Rawlins and Sumner, London, 1838, 72 oz 600 0
George IV three-piece melon-shaped tea service with scroll handles and shell decorated panel supports, by E. E. J. and W. Barnard, London, 1829, 44 oz 7 dwt 500 0
George III circular three-piece tea service with curved lobes, gadroon rims and leaf decorated handles, on paw supports, the pot with rose finial, by John Angell, 1819, 41 oz 6 dwt 380 0
Victorian three-piece tea service of compressed circular form,
the plain ground richly chased, by I. J. Keith, London, 1840, 48 oz
Vinaigrettes—See Small Decorative Antiques Waiters
Pair of George III plain oval waiters each on four shell and beaded bracket feet, beaded rims, by John Scofield, London, 1777, 27 oz
George II plain shaped square waiter on four hoof feet, moulded border, by Thomas Farren, London, 1734, 6 oz 17 dwt
Early George II square waiter with raised border incurved at the angles, 1727, 3 oz 18 dwt
SHEFFIELD PLATE Candelabra and Candlesticks
Pair of candelabra, each for three lights, with reeded scrolling arms, gadroon bordered knops, detachable nozzles and circular bases, 17i in high to centres
Pair of three-light candelabra, the tapering vase stems, circular bases and campana-shaped sconces decorated with chased borders, each fitted with two detachable scrolling branches, one converting to form a

five-light and bearing flame finial, 20 in high
Pair of table candlesticks with V-shaped stems, gadroon shoulders, circular bases and detachable nozzles, llj in high
Pair of table candlesticks with circular bases, vase-shaped stems and gadroon borders, detachable nozzles, 11 in high
Coffee Pots
Vase-shaped coffee pot on pedestal foot with reeded borders, ball finial and wood handle, 13 in high
An oval coffee pot on pedestal base, with reeded shoulder, gadroon borders and angular wood handle, 9] in high
Urn-shaped coffee pot, body semi-lobed between ribbed panels, on pedestal base, ball finial and wood handle, 27 in high
Coasters—Wine
Four circular wine coasters with lobed sides below gadroon lips, the wood bases centred by crested bosses, 5J in diameter
Pair of circular coasters with beaded and ovolo rims, wood bases, 6 in diameter
Caddies—Tea
Two caddies of bombd form embossed with shell motifs Serpentined caddy with hinged lid and beaded borders
Dishes
Set of four entree dishes and covers on heater bases, oblong with scrolling foliate borders, 14 in wide over handles
Pair of entree dishes and covers with gadroon borders and
detachable foliate handles, 11 in wide 22 0
A rectangular entree dish and cover complete with liner, gadroon and leaf borders, wood end handles, on four supports, 141 in wide 20 0
Teapots
An oblong teapot, body semi-Iobed between gadrooned borders, short spout, ivory finial and angular wooden handles, 5J in high 25 0
A compressed circular teapot engraved with swirling leafage,
fruit finial and scroll handle, 5J in high 18 0
Tea and Coffee Services
Oval three-piece coffee service with vase-shaped pot, oval jug and basin decorated with bands of sprays and foliage, 10 in high the pot 160 0
Three-piece tea set with compressed circular bodies, fluted,
foliate collars, scroll handles and foliate panel supports 38 0
Tea Trays
Oblong two-handled tray, engraved with armorials within a chased surround of scrolls and floral sprays, gadroon border, 30 in wide 220 0
An oblong tray, gadroon bordered and reeded end handles
springing from chased foliage, 28 in wide 95 0
Tea Urns
An inverted compressed pear-shaped urn, the body engraved
with a crest, foliate handles and flower finial, 16 in high 75 0
An oviform urn with an applied plain shield, the cover with vase finial, reeded loop handles, on square base with ball feet, 221 in high 45 0
Tureens
Large shaped oval sauce tureen on four feet below heavily
chased floral motifs, detachable liner, 16J in wide 230 0
Pair of oval sauce tureens and domed covers with gadrooned rims, decorated with acorns and oak leaves at the handles, 8Ј in wide (end handles missing from one tureen) 120 0
Wine Coolers
Set of four coolers, the campana-shaped bodies engraved with contemporary armorials above lobing reeded handles and gadroon borders, on pedestal bases, 9i in high 520 0
Pair of coolers with campana-shaped bodies, reeded handles and
on pedestal bases, 9J in high 200 0
NON-PRECIOUS METALS
Brass
Pair of eighteenth-century andirons, with spherical finials, and
masks, 29 in high 100 0
SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES ! 1968-69
A club fender
A Corinthian column floor standard
An embossed fire kerb
A two-handled log tub on paw feet
An alms dish with lobed centre and inscription border, the rim
with punched rosettes, 15} in diameter Pair of spirally-turned candlesticks on domed feet, 20J in high A hanging oil lamp Pair of chambersticks, with snuffers A heavy log tub with lion mask handles on paw feet Brass

and steel semi-circular fender
An oval fire insurance plate with a crest of a stag, dated 1774 Pair of carriage lamps A helmet coal-scuttle
A warming-pan with turned wood handle Pair of baluster candlesticks, 9 in high
Bronze
Figure of a racehorse and jockey after Isadore Bonhcur, I0j in
high
The Capture of Alexander by G. Halse. Two warriors hold a
struggling youth. Signed and dated 1860, 24 in high Eighteenth-century Italian figure The Dying Gladiator signed
Canova
Figure of a dancing fawn, holding up a bunch of grapes and
balanced on his left foot, 14 in high Figure of an infant satyr playing a set of pipes, 9j in high Pair of busts of Henry IV and Sully, three-quarter length, both
wearing ruffs and decorations, on rouge marble socles, 20} in
high
Pair of Art Nouveau winged figures stamped A. Moreau, 9J in
high
Pair of five-light candelabra on bulbous stems Italian figure of Venus, 7 in high
Copper
Early nineteenth-century tea urn on a square base
A street lamp
Three large saucepans (one with lid) Two coal scuttles A large kettle
Coal helmet with swing handle
Large two-handled urn and cover
A copper and brass tea urn with tap
A long turned wooden-handled warming-pan
Iron and Steel
Steel and brass basket grate with pierced frieze and baluster
uprights, 20 in wide Seventeenth-century Sussex wrought-iron fireback, 2 ft 10 in
by 1 ft 8 in and a log fork Wrought-iron shaped fire-back Regency iron and brass stick stand on paw feet
Victorian cast-iron corner stick stand 5 10
Victorian cast-iron oil heater 3 10
Pewter
A charger with secondary touch of Thomas Lanyon, circa 1730,
20 in diameter 36 0
Five quart tankards 35 0
A four-branch candelabrum, 24 in high 22 0
Eighteenth-century circular charger, 20 in diameter 22 0 Pair of altar candlesticks, baluster-shaped stems on triangular
bases, 20 in high 16 0
Pair of baluster and cup candlesticks, 18 in high 15 0
A hot-water meat dish with two handles and a grill, 22 in wide 15 0
A travelling chamber-pot, stamped Jas. Dixon 14 0
Two tankards and a mug 6 0

BOWL IN DARK RED GLASS, ENAMELLED AND GILT
Byzantine, i ith-t2th century A.D.Ht. 79 mm (3*13 in.)
Theophilus, describing ‘how the Greeks
embellish with Gold and Silver’, said ‘they
take the white, red and green glass, whicb
are used for enamels, and carefully grind
each one separately with water on a
porphyry stone. With them they paint
small flowers and scrolls . . .’. He went on
to describe the furnace in which they fired
window glass, including painted glass, and
specified that the glass be bedded down on
quick-lime. Vasari, who wrote an account
of the stained glass technique of Gugliel-
imo de Marcillat (d.1529) stressed that
‘this burning in of the colours requires the
greatest caution, for if the heat be too great
it will cause the glass to crack, and if
insufficient it will not fix the colours’. To
test the enamel, Theophilus suggested
that you should ’see if you can scratch off
the colour with your nail’. Glasses of the
type described by Theophilus are known,
dating from the 1 ith to the 12th centuries;
one of them is illustrated.
VASE WITH ENAMELLING AND GILDING
Syria, Ј.1320-30 A.D. Ht. 302 mm (11 88 in.)
(See also colour photograph 11)
Not until the 13th and 14th centuries was
the next high point in the history of
enamelling reached, with the great Islamic
mosque lamps and other vessels produced
in the near East, particularly in Syria.
Besides the weli-known lamps which
adorned Moslem holy places, the Syrian
enamellers decorated such objects as
footed bowls, sprinklers, globes, beakers
and long-necked bottles. The vase illus-
trated is decorated with golden arabesques
and fish motifs finely outlined in red. The
inscription round the widest point of the
vessel repeats the words ‘The Wise’
(referring to the God of Mohammed). The
medallions around the neck of the vase
probably contain the armorial symbol of
the nobleman who commissioned the
object. The glass itself is not clear and
colourless, for most of the Islamic glass of
that time is of a brownish or greenish tint,
often clouded with bubbles.
Adding: The Skill of the Decorator
In Islam the art of enamelling came to
maturity from the 13th century, the finest
work being done in Syria. The lamps in
Egyptian mosques exported from Syria
are the most famous examples of all the
Islamic enamelled glass. Strictly speaking,
these objects are lamp-holders or lanterns
rather than lamps, for they enclosed an
oil-vessel which provided the illumination.
They were suspended from the roof of the
mosque by chains which, when the roof
was high, passed through a glass globe or
ball, from where the chains radiated to the
handles of the lamp. Enamelled glass was
used for these lamps, not only for its
obvious decorative effect, but because the
Koran said, ‘God is the light of the
Heavens and the Earth: His light is as a
niche in which is a lamp, the lamp in a
glass, the glass as it were a glittering star’.
Many reproductions of mosque lamps
were made at the end of the 19th century.
Unfortunately, like the Romans, the Is-
lamic glass-making artists left no written
record of the craft which they practised
with such very great skill. It is not until
the 15th century that a contemporary
record of enamelling techniques is found,
but from that time, especially with the
advent of printing, there is no lack of
written evidence. Enamelling on glass was
a speciality of the Venetian glass-makers,
a technique which they developed during
the 15th century, probably reaching tech-
nical maturity by the middle of the
century. In all essentials their enamelling
technique was similar to that of the
Islamic artists, yet it would appear that the
Venetians independently re-invented en-
amelling on glass—possibly borrowing the
idea from the Italian worker in metal. By-
tradition the invention has been ascribed
to the glass-maker Angelo Baroviero.
Throughout the 15th century the coloured
glass the Venetians had invented—blue,
green, white, purple and turquoise—was
richly enamelled and gilded.
GOBLET IN  COLOURED GLASS
ENAMELLED DECORATION
Venice. Italy, late 15th 10 early 16th century
By the beginning of the 16th century the
fashion in Venice for coloured glass had
given way to a desire for clear colourless
glass. Enamelling, along with other forms
of decoration, was usually found on clear
glass specimens from this time, although
the clear metal was far less suited to the
technique. The pictorial work which had
been used so much on coloured glass soon
disappeared, and enamelling was restricted
to a few simple motifs. A favourite of these
was a form of scale pattern in bead-like
dots of enamelling and light gilding,
through which lines were scratched, al-
though simple bands of coloured dots were
sometimes the sole decoration of the piece.
Another familiar motif of the late 15th-
and early 16th-century glasses resembled
a lily-of-the-vallcy or a small fruit with a
calyx attached, as on the goblet illustrated.
This goblet also helps to show how the
Venetians combined their coloured and
clear glass in one vessel.
Although representational painting was no
longer the fashion by the beginning of the
16th century, a transitional phase is
represented by a series of glasses enamelled
with grotesque ornamentation built up
from patterns of flowers, leaves, animal
and human-like forms. Armorial glasses
were probably among the latest Venetian
work in the technique of enamelling. A
shield of arms or an emblem would be
added to the few simple decorative motifs
that were now in use on clear colourless
glass, and at their best, these were very
well drawn, as in the dish illustrated.
However, in some cases there is reason to
suspect that the shields were later addi-
tions. Venetian taste, now inclining to-
wards the new, clear colourless metal,
began to appreciate glass for its own sake
and to be interested more in its quality and
beauty of shape than in its added decora-
tion. By the middle of the 16th century the
technique of enamelling, apart from wares
made for export, had virtually passed out
of fashion in Italy.
beaker with enamelled decoration
Made in Venice for the German market, 1603
Ht. 267 mm (105 in.)
Reuhsadlerhumpen, pale green glass with
enamelled decoration
Bohemia, 1654. Ht. 200 mm (11-4 in.)
Although enamelling became unfashion-
able in Italy, it remained a favourite form
of decoration in Germany until the second
half of the 18th century. The earliest
enamelled glasses thai might have a claim
to being German are some cylindrical
beakers commonly bearing German arms,
but it is now thought that these were
ordered from Venice by German buyers.
The beaker illustrated, inscribed ‘Roccho
Grasl’, is a typical late example of the type.
The most productive enamelling work-
shops in the late 16th and early 17th
centuries were situated in Bohemia,
whence the craft was carried to Germany
by emigrant workmen. German enamel-
ling, with its bold colours, has the attrac-
tiveness of a peasant art, but the enamels
used were not of fine quality nor were the
drawings of any distinction. The glass
itself was relatively poor, and only a few
shapes were attempted: the tall Stangen-
glas, the cylindrical Humpen, jugs, beakers,
and screw-topped spirit flasks.
The subjects used by the German enam-
ellers for the most part belong to peasant
art. Gonventional portraits, simplified
landscapes, scenes of artisans at work,
guild processions, satirical subjects, alle-
gories and inscriptions, usually illiterate
and sometimes obscene, are common.
Biblical subjects, the Emperor and the
Seven Electors and the Reichsadler are also
depicted on these glasses. The Reichsadler
is the Imperial double-eagle, bearing on
its wings the arms with names of a fanciful
hierarchy of the Holy Roman Empire; the
arms are arranged in groups of four in the
so-called Quaternion system derived from
Schedel’s Wellkronik of 1483. They begin
with those of Rome and the three spiritual
Electors (Treves, Cologne, Mayence),
balanced by the four temporal ones
(Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saxony, Palatin-
ate), ending with four ‘Dorffer’ and four
‘Birg’. The Reichsadlerhumpen may have
had some contemporary significance, since
they originated during the strife of the
Thirty Years’ War. The Retchsadler and
the ‘Elector’ glasses remained popular for
a long period.
Adding: The Skill of the Decorator
In the guild regulations of the glass-
makers of Krcibitz in Bohemia (1669) one
of the tasks set the aspiring craftsman was
to ‘prepare with colours an Imperial
Eagle, with all its members, in one and a
half days’. This referred to the Reich-
sadlerhumpen, which most likely had to be
fired more than once, those enamels which
required a higher temperature being fired
before the ones which fluxed at a lower
heat In all essentials the contemporary
descriptions of enamelling agree with each
other, the cakes or beads of enamel being
pounded on marble or porphyry, [he
powder thus resulting being washed and
applied to the already annealed glass vessel
and the glass being carefully reheated so
that the enamels fused to it successfully. It
would seem that enamelled vessel-glass
began to be fired in special ‘muffle kilns’
rather than in the glass furnace itself by
the end of the 17th century. As in ordinary
coloured glass, metal oxides were used to
give the enamels their various colours.
‘SchwarzloT, or black enamelling on glass
was a Dutch invention originally used lor
the decoration of windows; it spread into
Northern Germany, and was developed b\
Johann Schaper in the third quarter ol the
17th century. Schaper was born at Ham-
burg in 1621, was at Nuremberg from
1655, at Ratisbon in 1664 and died in 1670.
Originally a painter of stained window-
glass, he was the first of the South German
llausmaler or independent artists, obtain-
ing undecorated glass and pottery and
decorating it to Ins own invention. I le used
copper oxide mixed with black enamel
pigment, painting this on to the glass ahd
then scratching his design through it with
a needle in the manner of the stained-glass
painter. He painted mainly in black, with
slight touches of red and gold. In the
beaker illustrated he used for inspiration
an engraving of a gypsy procession by
Jacques Callot (1592-1635; Callot’s work,
depicting scenes of Italian life with fan-
tastic caricature, was very popular in the
17th and 18th centuries).
Adding: The Skill of the Decorator
Johann Schaper gained some followers,
one of whom, like himself, was a window-
glass painter. This was Johann Ludwig
Paber, who also painted faience. Herman
Benckcrtt of Frankfort-on-Main was an-
other of Schapers known followers. The
Humpen illustrated is a remarkably fine
example of the Schwarzlot technique,
probably the work of one of Schaper’s
imitators. The scene shows a man being
pushed into a pigsty by a laughing and
gesticulating crowd—presumably for
drunkenness, for the Latin inscription on
the reverse is a diatribe against drinking.
After 1700 the Schwarzlot technique was
carried on in Bohemia and Silesia by
independent decorators. Though they
were using the same medium, in style and
subject their work was very different.
They concentrated on landscapes, hunting
scenes, warriors and scenes from peasant
life, then replaced these by scroll-and-
strap-work, Chinese figures, putti and
fantastic animals.
In Spain a distinct style of enamelling
glass emerged in the late 15th, 16th and
early 17th centuries. It originated in
Barcelona, where glass-makers were in
considerable rivalry with Venice towards
the end of the 15th century. The most
important product of the Barcelona crafts-
men was their enamelled ware, which
surprisingly showed a complete inde-
pendence of Venetian models. The colours
they used for their enamels were notably a
light yellowish-green, in combination with
yellow, white and lavender blue, and
occasionally they used touches of black,
red and brown. Their style of enamelling
has been described as primitive, but also
as powerful in design. The motifs they
used were Near-Eastern in feeling, such as
stylised trees, arabesque foliage, running
animals and pairs of birds. Occasionally,
figures in 16th-century European costume
were used. The vase illustrated was a
favourite shape, showing a typical motif
resembling a small fruit with calyx attached
which was also found on Venetian glass.
Enamelled decoration on glass, though
familiar on the Continent from the 15th
century onwards, was apparently never
attempted in England until the middle of
the 18th century. Two types of enamelling
emerged in the third quarter of the 18th
century, one practised by the Beilby
family of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the
other practised on the opaque white glass
of the period (see Opaque White Glass).
William Beilby (1740-1819) and his sister
Mary (1749-97) were recorded by Thomas
Bewick, the wood-engraver, to have ‘had
constant employment of enamel-painting
of glass’. William had learned the art of
enamelling in Birmingham, and proceeded
to enamel glasses from about 1762. At
what point Mary joined him in his work is
not known, for their glasses are signed
simply ‘Beilby’. Their brother Ralph
Beilby (1743—1817), to whom Thomas
Bewick was apprenticed, may have had
some influence on their work through his
knowledge of heraldic engraving.
The first Beilby enamelled work was of an
heraldic nature, in both white and coloured
enamel on glasses or goblets with ogee or
bucket-shaped bowls. The Beilbys’ style
changed about 1774, and subjects such as
scenes of hunting, fishing and shooting,
pastoral scenes including ruins, and Chin-
ese subjects appeared, the shapes of the
glasses becoming more diverse. Colours
were not always used on these glasses, and
the subjects were often rendered in white
monochrome, sometimes with a faint tint
of blue or pink. Occasionally they followed
the motifs found on engraved glasses of the
period, such as hops, barley and the flower-
ing vine. Beilby glasses more often than
not have an opaque white enamel-twist
stem. Thomas Bewick became attached to
Mary Beilby, who unfortunately in her
early twenties suffered a paralytic stroke.
The brother and sister left Newcastle-on-
Tyne after the death of their mother in
1778, and went to Fife in Scotland, where
apparently they did not continue their
work.
Hi. 105 mm (4-15 in.)
BEAKER WITH CUTTING, GILDING AND
ENAMEL PAINTING
By Anton kothgasser, Vienna, Austria, r.1825
Hi. 115 mm (4-5 in.)
Many drinking and souvenir glasses with
translucent enamelling still exist which
were decorated by Samuel Mohn (horn
1762 in Weissenfels, died 1815 in Dresden)
and his son, Gottlob Samuel Mohn (born
1789 in Weissenfels and died 1825 in
Vienna). Their chief technical innovation
was the preparation of transparent enam-
els, in contrast with the heavy opaque
enamels used particularly in the 16th and
17th centuries. Samuel Mohn had pre-
viously been a painter of silhouettes on
porcelain. His son, who secured the
patronage of the Emperor, painted sil-
houettes on glass tumblers, as well as views
and allegorical figure-subjects. The Mohns
were among the first to cater for the market
for mementoes caused by the revival of
travel for its own sake, after the finish of
the Napoleonic wars. They worked on a
large scale, helped by apprentices, and
using transfer printing for outlines to
speed up the process, but the delicacy of
their paintings, usually on glasses in the
Ranfthecher form, makes these a worthy
item for collectors.
The Mohns’ discovery of transparent
enamels was further improved by a Vien-
nese porcelain and glass decorator, Anton
Kothgasser (1769-1851). He was a painter
from the Imperial Porcelain Factory, who
started working on stained glass with
Gottlob Mohn. He managed to make his
colours more brilliant than the Mohns’,
and made full use of yellow stain, or the
stain made from a compound of silver, as
used on stained glass windows. His glasses
are usually waistcd, with a heavy cut base
and sometimes lavishly gilt, as in the one
illustrated. Views of towns, portraits,
genre scenes and flowers, sometimes
copied, are featured in his work. His
glasses have been described as the finest
examples of the Viennese Biedermewr
style. Kothgasser and the Mohns had
many pupils and many imitators. In the-
same movement was Franz Anton Siebel
(1777-1842) of Lichtenfels in Upper
Franconia.
PERFUME BOTTLE IN COLOURLESS GLASS,
ENAMELLED AND GILT
Emile Galle, France, dated 1880
I li 157 mm (613 in.)
‘CROWN MILANO’ EWER WITH ROPE HANDLE
Ml. Washington Glass Company, U.S.A.
Ht. 254 mm (10 in.)
Emile Galle (1846 1904) the great French
glass-maker, is less well-known for his
enamelled work than for his work in the
field of cameo glass. Yet he was an expert
in the art of enamelling, and showed this
gift in his first major exhibition in Paris in
1878. It was there that he established his
reputation as an inventive and original
glass artist, using—among other tech-
niques—enamelled decoration on triple-
cased glass with gold leaf insertions. At the
exhibition in Paris in 1884 he showed
examples of clear colourless glass decorated
with enamelling, cutting and engraving.
At the 1889 Exhibition in Paris he showed
his finest works. His colours had taken on
a new softness, and a fresh note of lyricism
could be sensed in his work. The decisive
factor in his work seems to have been
Japanese art, and after 1889 he developed
to maturity the ‘nature-style’ that was to
epitomise his thoughts and ideas and was
to bring him his greatest fame. The
singular lyricism ol his work can be seen in
the enamelled perfume bottle illustrated.
An elegant painted and enamelled glass-
ware was produced by the Mt. Washington
Glass Company, New Bedford, Mass.,
towards the end of the 19th century. It was
first called ‘Albertine’, though a ware that
was the same in texture, shape and
decoration was advertised more cxotically
as ‘Crown Milano’ in about 1890. Unless
the perishable paper label survives, ‘Al-
bertine’ cannot be differentiated from
unmarked ‘Crown Milano’. Frederick S.
Shirley and Albert Steffin of that firm were
issued with a patent in 1886 for a means of
decorating an opal glassware. The articles,
which had a convex ribbed body, were
treated as follows: a perforated corrugated
stencil was laid against them; pulverised
carbon was dusted against this, which left
a design for the enameller to follow when
the stencil was taken away, so that there
was no distortion in the finished product.
When ‘Crown Milano’ was made, a blank
in white opal glass was shaped by free-
blowing, moulding or press-moulding.

MODERNISM
ITALY
MODERNISM IN ARCHITECTURE and
furniture design first emerged in Italy in 1926 under the banner o I Razionalismo, or Rationalism. Most prominent among the Rationalists, all of whom espoused a functional, pared-down approach to architecture and design, was Gruppo 7, a collective that included Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, and Giuseppe Terragni.
Mussolini’s government, whose rise to power coincided with the emergence of the Rationalists, initially embraced the nascent design style. Gruppo Ts
advocacy of industrial progress, clean living, and moral reform appeared to [it well with the Fascists’ own ideals. Indeed, such was the relationship between the Rationalists and the Fascists that in 1934 Giuseppe Terragni completed both the building and the fittings for the Fascist headquarters in Como, near Milan. Needless to say, the architecture was unremittingly stark, with equally uncompromising furniture. Employing primarily tubular steel, Terragni
produced a range of tables and chairs that owed much to Marcel Breuer’s work at the Bauhaus, although the furniture was more expressive in its lines than Breuer’s deliberately
anonymous-looking pieces.
THE USE OF TUBULAR STEEL Italian designers would have seen the tubular-steel designs developed in Germany at the regular Triennial exhibitions, held for the first time in Monza in 1923. Ten years later, the
exhibitions were moved to Milan under the title of International Triennial of Decorative and Modern Industrial Art. The Triennials showcased the latest developments in design from Italy and across Europe. The idea of using tubular steel, which Italian designers first saw in 1930, struck a chord, as Italy was, in the interwar years, suffering a severe wood shortage. Mussolini’s hard-line approach to rule had seen the country fall from favour with more liberal governments across the world, and Italy was suffering under sanctions. As a result, tubular-steel designs by the likes of Terragni, Piero Bottom, and Gabriele Mucchi were developed during these years, although they rarely met with popular success. Designed as prototypes for mass production, many designs of the era were only produced in significant numbers much later.
The Rationalists eventually fell out with the Fascists after Mussolini deemed their approach “too
international”; Mussolini opted to support the Neoclassical style of the Novecento group. But where Hitler hounded all Modernist architects and designers from Germany, Mussolini took a far more lenient view. Indeed, the 1930s and 40s was a time in
which many of Italy’s most celebrated manufacturers and designers got their start. The likes of Cassina and Fontana Arte were not to gain until the 1950s, but they put down roots in
the interwar period. Although the years 1925-45 were not the most distinguished in Italy’s remarkable design history, they certainly paved the way for much of what was to come.
Detail of leather straps
Tubular-steel frame
The lounge chair The Modernist era saw many pieces made for sanitoriums. The lounge chair was a favourite, with versions made that could be easily moved from inside to outside or
transformed from a seat to a day bed.
The chair’s frame is made from laminated beechwood. On each side, the arm and legs are one continuous loop of wood; joined beneath the seat by a cross-stretcher. The seat has a beech frarne with a woven cane seat and back. Designed by Giuseppe Pagano. 1938. H:71crr? (271,m), W.61clo (,?4il?): D:68cm (26,Xin).
TELEPHONE STAND
OCCASIONAL TABLE
The most striking feature of this side, or occasional, table is its thick plate-glass top, which has a bevelled edge. The circular glass table top collects light like a lens, producing a brilliant reflection below. The table top rests on a walnut support from which emerge four splayed legs, that taper sharply towards the bottom. The legs are made of lacquered walnut. Designed by Pietro Chiesa, the table was manufactured by Fontana Arte. c.1950. H:48.25cm
09in): D:66clo (26in).
This occasional-table-cum-telephone-stand was designed by G. Levi Montalcini and Giuseppe Pagano. It has a chrome-plated, tubular-steel frame. Two circular, black-laminate shelves sit at the top of the stand and are cantilevered over the base. 1932, re-issued by Zanotta In 2004. H:80cm OIAW; W.37.5cm (14A17). ZAN
COMACINA DESK
This writing desk has a simple, tubular-steel frame. The rectangular, white-laminate top offers a plain work surface; a storage unit with four drawers is below, to the right. Designed by Piero Bottoni in 1930; this example was re-issued by Zanotta in 2004. H:75cm (291in); W.130crn (511n); D:65cm (251in). ZAN
FOLLIA CHAIR
The cylindrical headrest is strapped to the chair o minimize bulk.
LOUNGE CHAIR
Made from tubular steel and slung fabric, this innovative piece can be used as a chair or a chaise longue, depending on which end it stands (see above). Designed by Battista and Gino Guidici. 1935. F1:98cm (38in); L113cm (451n); W.49crn
WKA
The black-painted, rectilinear wooden seat and back of this Giuseppe Terragni chair are connected by chrome-plated spring supports.
1934, re-issued by Zmoh’t in 2004. 1 I:Wcm (311,in); W.50cm (191in); D:60cm (931,si). ZAN
The armrest padding is kept to a bare minimum so as not to disturb the clean lines of the chair
Tubular steel is used to form the chair’s frame.
Simple, black upholstery covers the mattress on the footrest.
The chair’s seat appears suspended, giving it a sense of weightlessness.
Cushioning on the ottoman is strapped to the tubular steel base, accentuating the contrast of natural and synthetic materials.
GENNI LOUNGE CHAIR
This lounge chair’s seat sits within a tubular-steel frame and is adjustable, having two positions. The upholstered mattress and headrest match the black elbow rests. The footstool echoes the chair’s rectangular frame. It was re-issued by Tecta in 2004. H:82cm (321′irl) (Max); W.41cin (161n); D:109cm (43in). Footstool: f-1:41cirt (161n); W.45cin (171in); D:55cm (211in).

THE TRIUMPH OF THE GIRANDOLE
The other most characteristic form of earring of the i 8th century was the girandole, which was fashionable throughout the whole of Europe. In the early
j 8th century it tended to have a horizontal shape, the three drops more or less of the same size and at the same level, and the central motif clearly defined and simple in design. Later it became more vertical in emphasis with a longer and larger central drop and a more elaborate central motif.
Above and opposite right: Late i 8th-century girandole earrings from Spain, set with emeralds and diamonds, a characteristic feature of Spanish jewellery. The elaborate central motif combines leaves and spray of flowers.
Centre top: French, circa I 76os, set with foiled rubies and diamonds, the drops and the central motif articulated. The combination of rubies and diamonds and the elaborate bow motif place it in the second half of the century.
Middle: English, second half of the T 8th century, set with foiled garnets. Note the rather stiff design and the clearly defined ribbon motif. The colour of the garnets is enhanced by bright pink foiling.
Bottom: Portuguese, circa 1750, set with foiled topazes. The choice of the gemstones — topazes from Brazil, then a colony of Portugal — and the linear and flat design are typical of Portuguese jewellery.
THE ELEGANT PENDELOQUE
A collection of late i 8th-century silver and diamond pendeloque earrings. These examples show some of the many variations of the pendeloque design, from the cluster, ribbon bow and pear-shaped drop (right and opposite above) to the articulated and elaborate swing centre (centre and opposite below). Note the use of silver as setting metal to complement the whiteness of diamonds. As is normal at this time, all gemstones are mounted in closed settings.
IBERIAN STYLE
Right: A gold and hessonite garnet earring, Catalan, probably early i 9th century. The striking design is a development of the traditional pendeloque design with a cluster surmount, an elaborate floral spray centre and an elongated pear-shaped drop. Many examples are extremely long and heavy, requiring special mounts to support their weight.
Opposite right: A collection of i 8th- and i 9th-century gold earrings, Portuguese and Spanish. These earrings exemplify the persistence, in the Iberian peninsula, of the pendeloque motif based on
surmount, ribbon bow and elongated drop. The great variety of design includes the traditional pendeloque conceived as a cluster surmount set with emeralds or rose diamonds supporting a bow and a pear-shaped drop; the ‘Brincos a Rainha’ with its wide, almost circular, drop with swing centre, entirely pierced in high carat gold; the elongated spindle-shaped earrings chased in gold with scroll motifs known as ‘Fuso’, and the bow pendants (centre of page).
Detail of a portrait of Mary, Countess of Macclesfield, by Francis Coates, exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1763 and much admired by Horace Walpole. The Countess is wearing fashionable diamond girandole earrings.
REFINEMENTS OF THE 18TH CENTURY
Opposite far left: A Portuguese silver and white topaz earring of girandole design, first half of the i 8th century, and (below) front and back view of a diamond girandole earring mounted in silver. The back view shows three typical features of the girandole: the closed setting of the stones; the articulated and detachable drops that allow the earring to be worn in a reduced form; and the additional hoop, through which a ribbon was threaded and secured to the hair.
This page:
Illustrations from 18th-century literature on earrings. Top: An extract from the ‘Discours Preliminaire’ of the Recueil des Dessins by A. Duflos, 1744, where the author expresses his concern about the excessive weight and elaborate design of girandole earrings. Above, left to right: French engraved designs of two girandole earrings and one pendeloque earring by F. LeFebvre (active circa 1635-57); a page of French engraved designs for six girandoles by Pouget, 1762; six engraved designs for pendeloques and girandoles by J. Quien, 1710, published posthumously in London in 1762; and two designs for a two-stone or double-cluster earring, by Duflos, 1744, a fashionable form that cannot be classified as either girandole or pendeloque.
Centre left: A page of French designs by Maria,
175 1-70, engraved by Babel, illustrating fashionable pendeloques and girandoles.
Below left: Four engraved designs for pendeloque and girandole earrings, by an anonymous Italian, circa 1770.
THE PENDELOQUE: Centre right: An unusual and colourful pair of earrings, late T 8th century, set with
THEME AND VARIATIONS cornelian plaques within diamond borders.
Right: A pair of diamond pendent earrings, Russian, mid-i 8th century. The interest in large cushion-shaped brilliant-cut diamonds mounted in closed silver settings is a typical i 8th-century feature.
Opposite: Four pairs of pendeloque earrings mounted in silver or gold and silver with colourless gemstones such as white topazes and rock crystal.
Opposite far right: A pair of diamond pendeloque earrings, English, late i 8th century. Note the large rose diamonds in silver closed settings and the rather severe design typical of many English creations of the time. And (bottom far right) a pair of topaz pendeloque earrings and a matching devant de corsage, Portuguese, mid-i 8th century, interesting for its combination of light yellow and foiled orange stones.
Below: A collection of English diamond jewellery, late i 8th century, comprising typical pendeloque earrings and a flowerhead dress ornament.
OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM
Below: A mid i 9th-century portrait by Joaquin Argasot y Juan of a Spanish lady wearing a pair of large gold and gem-set earrings of girandole inspiration, proving how long earrings of this type continued to be popular in the Iberian Peninsula. Their size explains why additional fittings were required.
Right: Silver and rose diamond pendeloque earrings, probably Flemish; and gold Iberian earrings set with topazes, of modified girandole design, similar to those in the portrait above.
Opposite, top left to bottom right: Gold and gem-set Spanish earrings, a variation of the Catalan type but with a much more slender outline; Catalan earrings; gold Iberian earrings set with emeralds; and garnet Catalan earrings. All on this page late i 8th/early i 9th century.
PEARLS, GEMS AND GLASS
Below: A pair of seed pearl and ruby girandole earrings, Southern Italian, mid-18th century. The use of minute seed pearls threaded on a filigree structure is a typical feature of many Southern Italian and Adriatic jewels of low intrinsic value. Even so the design presents the most typical features of the girandole: cluster surmount, bow and detachable drops.
Opposite: A pair of gilt-metal and glass girandole earrings, probably Italian mid- i 8th century, using copper coloured aventurine glass with gold spangles cut and faceted as if it were a precious stone. Glass paste of various colours was frequently cut and set in i 8th= centuryday jewellery, and even aristocratic ladies who owned precious jewels did not disdain to wear it. The smaller pictures show two pairs of Iberian earrings set respectively with rose diamonds and emeralds, late i 8th century. One is modelled on the traditional girandole, the other on the pendeloque form, which in this region retained their popularity well into the 19th century.
A pair of spectacular Southern Italian gold and seed pearl pendent earrings, late i 8th century. Although this particular type seems to be confined to Southern Italy and the Adriatic regions, its structure conforms to the contemporary pendeloque design. The use of seed pearls had been a typical feature of jewels of this area since the I 7th century, providing an extremely successful and decorative alternative to jewels set with precious gemstones.

MODERNISM TABLES
AS WITH MOST FORMS of furniture
during the interwar period, tables were subjected to a radical process of reduction. All details deemed superfluous were stripped away to leave what designers considered to be a pure, practical form.
Marcel Breuer, the Hungarian-born student-turned-teacher at the Bauhaus, was the designer who most successfully achieved the desired, pared-down look. Utilizing tubular steel, a material that he is said to have borrowed from the bicycle-making industry, he produced tables that expressed little beyond their own function.
Eileen Gray’s tubular-steel and glass side tables, now known as the E1027 tables in reference to the house for which she designed them, may not be as rudimentary as Breuer’s tables, but they display more invention. The tops of the tables can be adjusted to sit at differing heights, and the table’s stem
is placed at the side to allow the table top to come over air item of furniture (which, in Gray’s case, was her own bed). Such versatility was to become a key feature in table design of the Modern era.
Since many designers in the interwar years were reacting to the excesses of the Art Nouveau style, most table tops were either a simple, unadorned circle or square. It wasn’t until after World War 11, with the advent of a more organic style, that this strict design principle was relaxed and irregular shapes came into use.
Glass, plywood, and tubular steel were always considered the most cutting-edge materials from which to make tables (due to their close association with industry), although some designers did use solid wood. If this was used it was considered important to avoid all efforts to carve or decorate it, thereby keeping its surface as clean to the eye as possible.
The tables “nest” so as to save space in small apartments.
The black-painted tops hide the wood grain and give the tables
an industrial look.
Chrome plating g) ves the tubular steel an alluring gleam.
NESTING TABLES
This series of four nesting tables fits neatly, one above the next, in a stack. They all have the same depth, but increase in width and height as they grow in size. Each table has a simple, rectilinear, chrome-plated tubular-steel
frame and a black-painted wooden top. The top sits flush with the table frame. Designed by Marcel Breuer at Bauhaus Dessau in 1925-26, it is thought that they were initially designed as stools. This example was re-issued by Toots in 2004. Largest table: H:60cm (231-,in);
W.66cin (26in); 0:38cm (151n). TEC 2

GLASS DINING TABLE
Made of tubular steel, the frame of this table consists of a rectilinear base. At the top, at each end of the table, is a semi-circular support for the glass table top that interlocks the base. There are rubber pads on the
supports, where they come into contact with the table top, to cushion the glass and prevent slippage. The glass top has been ground at the corners to produce smooth curves. Attributed to Emile Guillot and produced by Thonet, Paris. 1930. H:79cm (311m): W:120.5cm (471in); D:725cm (281in). WKA 4
BLACK-ENAMELLED TABLE
The chrome-plated tubular-steel frame of this dining table offers a support for the black-enamelled rectangular table top, before dropping to the floor in each corner to form the legs. Each leg is made from two parallel
lengths of steel. As the legs reach the floor, they join in the centre to form one single length of tubular steel below the table top. Designed by Wolfgang Hoffmann for Howell. W.147.5cm (581n). SDR 1
EXTENSION DINING TABLE
This extension dining table was made in America. The simple, straightforward design consists of a plain, rectangular wooden top with two pullout leaves. The leaves, which are concealed
underneath the table top, increase the table’s
width by 45cm (18m) on each side when extended. The top rests on a trestle base that ends in tubular-steel stretchers and bracket feet. Designed by Gilbert Rohde. Closed: W.152.5cm (60n7). SDR 2
SUNSHADE TABLE
This two-tiered end table is one of a pair. Each black laminate table top has a chrome trim. The smaller, top table sits flush with the tubular-steel frame, and the larger, bottom table is supported by the table base and legs. Designed by Gilbert Rohde for Troy. W.45.5cm (17Yin). SDR I
PALADAO DINING TABLE
This flip-top, wooden dining table has a simple rectangular top with rounded corners. It has two additional leaves for extending the table size and a fifth leg for extra support. The legs taper sharply as they reach the floor. Designed by Gilbert Rohde for Herman Miller. H:91.5cm (3617). SDR 1
TABLES 447
MODEL 91 TABLE
The rectangular top of this table is made from unlimed oak and has a black-linoleum surface. The corners have been slightly rounded. The table top rests on four rigid, chrome-plated tubular-steel legs. Designed by Marcel Breuer for Embru. c.1933. W.120cln (48io). DOR 4
SIDE TABLES
These side tables are made from chrome-plated tubular steel, where the table’s stand is placed to one side can be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the circular glass table lop to still a range of purposes. Designed by Eileen Gray. c. /9`/. 1) !z/( m (20in). DOR I
CAFE TABLE
The square top of this table has a black-linoleum surface with a riveted, plate-steel surround. It rests on four chrome-plated tubular-steel legs, which bend to meet each other in the centre above an X-shaped, tubular-steel base. The linoleum top is new. Produced by Thonet Mundus. (-.1930. H:75cm (291m). DOR 3
GAMES TABLE
The square, orange-laminate table top rests on a chrome-plated brass base. The base hinges in the centre, making the table collapsible. At each corner is a swivel plate for holding a glass. Designed by Boris Lacroix. c.1930. H:70cm (271in). DOR 3
BEECH SIDE TABLE
Designed and manufactured in Sweden, this small side, or occasional table has a circular, white laminate top above three bent-beech legs. The legs taper slightly as they reach the floor. Designed by Bruno Mathsson. 1936. D:44.5cm (17Yin). SDR 3
ROSEWOOD TROLLEY
The circular, rosewood top of this trolley table has hinged sides and rests on a chromium tripod base. The front wheels are also made from rosewood. The caster at the rear of the table is used to stabilize the trolley. H:56.5cm (221in); D:80ca) (311in). L&T
BAUHAUS SOFA TABLE
The table’s frame consists of a rectilinear, nickel-plated tubular-steel base, with a rectangle of tubular steel suspended below the circular, plate-glass table top. Designed by Marcel Breuer in 1929 and produced by Thonet. This example is a Tecta re-issue from 2004. H:60cn7 (231,in): D:80cro (311in).

During the last years of the reign of Louis XIV and the first years of the reign of his great-grandson Louis XV, France was governed by a regent, Philip of Orleans. The furniture made in this period (from about 1710 to 1735) was Baroque in character, but somewhat different from Louis XIV furniture; this division of the Baroque is called the Regency style. The principal cabinetmaker of the Regency period was Charles Cressent (1685-1768). In Regency furniture the tendency towards informality was further developed: it was a style of transition between the Louis XIV style and the Louis XV style that was to follow. The slightly curved outlines of the later Louis XIV furniture were replaced by freer, more graceful curves—the S-shaped legs were not so stiffly upright. But the strict symmetry of the Louis XIV style was retained. Martial motifs were no longer used. Sometimes little monkeys were introduced, suggested perhaps by the paintings of Gillot and Watteau. Not only were the outlines more curved, but the surfaces as well became bombe, or slightly bulging. The typical Regency commode has a slightly bulging front.
It was at this time that the cabinet-makers learned the technique of veneering curved surfaces. Mahogany and rosewood drove out ebony, though gilt was kept for the carved furniture. These woods, imported from the tropics, were found excellent for veneering. Much of the carved and gilded furniture was made, as it had been to some extent under Louis XIV, in beech. This is a wood very suitable for such treatment. It is hard and close-grained enough for delicate carving, and tough enough for a strong joint; and since its grain is uninteresting nothing is lost by gilding it. Moreover it is easily obtainable in Europe, and consequently cheap. For the construction of chairs there are few better woods than beech. It is not often used for carving where strength is not required—for picture frames, for example, a softer wood such as lime is used.
The style known as Louis XV was fashionable from about 1735 till 1750. Louis XV went on reigning till 1774, but there was a complete change of style at about 1750. In Louis XV furniture the symmetry characteristic of the Louis XIV style at last disappears. A general balance was kept in the design of carved decorations, but the parts were not strictly symmetrical. The motifs of the carving included shells, garlands of flowers, musical instruments and gay figures from Greek mythology. Furniture was still partly gilded, but white paint was used with gilt for a lighter effect. Ormolu mounts were placed wherever possible: on the ends of table legs as doe’s feet, on the corners of table-tops and round the edges of commodes. In the search for gaiety of style lacquering was adopted; cabinets were lacquered in the Chinese manner, but there was no general `Chinese style’ as there was at about the same time in England.
The furniture of this period shows the unnatural curves into which ingenious cabinet-makers and joiners can shape wood, a fairly straight-grained material. Everything that could be curved was curved—not only the legs of tables and chairs, but drawer-fronts, the sides and fronts of cupboards, the edges of table-tops. The style was nicknamed Rocaille, or Rococo, from a type of fancy pebble-work fashionable in garden decoration at the time. In the end, the curves became so exaggerated that inventiveness could go no further, and designers began to seek for a new style.
The authority for the change of style did not come from the king, who was a person of weak character, but from Mme de Pompadour, who had great influence at the Court. In 1748 the ruins of buried Pompeii were dug up, and in the same year Mme de Pompadour sent a mission to Italy to study ‘the true beauty of ancient art’. The mission consisted of her brother, the Marquis of Marigny, the architect Soufflot and the engraver Cochin; these envoys were expected to find ideas for a new furniture style.
Louis XVI Carved Details
Acanthus leaf (cf. Renaissance) and Louis XIV acanthus leaves)
Rose of laurel leaves
Egg and dart moulding
CLASSICAL REVIVAL (1750-1815)
The new style which resulted from the researches of this mission came later to be known as the style of Louis XVI, although it began some years before his accession. All the Louis XV curves were now abolished, and chair legs and table legs became straight, and were usually turned and fluted. Gilt was used in smaller quantities, and much of the furniture was painted in pale colours. The decorative detail—the profiles of Carved roses
Arm-chair
with
fluted leg
Ribbon decorating a moulding
also used as decoration, for the chief cabinet-maker of the time, Jean Henri Riesener (1734-1806) worked for Marie Antoinette, and she was very fond of roses. The early Louis XVI furniture, as compared with the grossly elaborate furniture of the end of the Louis XV period, was graceful and light in appearance; yet it was soberly made and gave an effect of dignity and strength.
In the time of Louis XIV the people of the Court had thought of themselves as conquering heroes; and in the time of Louis XV as dallying nymphs and shepherds. They now played the parts of Greek gods, and looked down upon ordinary human affairs with haughty indifference. They indulged themselves in simple tastes and manners, and pretended to be preoccupied with virtue. Superficially they had purer customs than their predecessors; and their furniture was superficially simple. In spite of their affectations, they made their rooms very comfortable indeed. The furniture, smaller than that of any preceding style, was more home-like and gentle.
Towards the end of the reign of Louis XVI more Greco-Roman remains were dug up. Classicism now dominated furniture-making to such an extent that all the natural French graces were suppressed. Ancient designs were exactly copied rather than used as ideas on which to base a native style.
Although the French Revolution was accompanied by many social changes in French life, it had little effect on furniture style: furniture continued to be made in the unnatural late Louis XVI style, except that for a short time revolutionary emblems (clasped hands, workmen’s tools) were used in the decoration. The new rulers, who called themselves friends of `the people’, were as arrogant in their airs as the Court had been, and took over all the trappings of monarchical pomp. There were a few affectations of lower-class simplicity, but there was not sufficient interest in general welfare for the daily habits of life to be much affected. There was no modernization of furniture: it remained ‘antique’. The furniture style of the last years of the reign of Louis XVI and of the First Republic is called Directoire—after the Directorate by which France was governed for the four years preceding the Napoleonic period. Directoire style can be regarded as a version of Louis XVI style.
Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign produced a new kind of antiquity to imitate. The expedition was accompanied by archaeologists, who made drawings of everything they could find. There was immediately an Egyptian fashion in furniture. The Empire style, which lasted from about 1800 till 1820, was perhaps even more pompous than the Louis XIV style. Most of the furniture was of dark red mahogany, decorated with ormolu mounts. Designers sought an Egyptian effect in everything—stern and impressive simplicity. Gilded sphinxes held up the arms of chairs : Egyptian motifs were symbols of Empire. With the imperial manner went the martial manner. France was an armed camp, and the Parisians played at being world conquerors. Stools were made in the form of drums, beds in the form of tents, and ormolu spearheads were stuck on to mahogany panels. So much energy was spent in making furniture express national glories that comfort was neglected. Empire furniture was more uncomfortable to use than any furniture made since the Renaissance, when comfort began to be an important consideration.
NINETEENTH CENTURY
With the fall of Napoleon and the end of the Empire, France relaxed from the efforts and responsibilities of greatness. There was a strong back-to-the-good-old-times movement, but some difficulty in deciding which good old times were best. In the eighty years from 1820 till 1900, France revived all her old styles one by one. There was a Gothic revival, a Renaissance revival, a Louis XV revival, a Louis XVI revival, and then an Empire revival—all in quick succession. Towards the end of the century nearly all French houses contained pieces of imitation period furniture from all the periods. Most of the imitations were rather bad copies of old pieces; many of them were machine-made, and delicacy of detail was therefore lost. Much of the furniture was not even copied from models, but designed ‘in the spirit of the style’ by designers who were too busy to have a very accurate knowledge of any one style. There was no uniformity of fashion; a designer might be working on Renaissance one day and Louis XVI the next.
At this time the production of fake antiques was a flourishing business. The fakes were very well made, often exactly copied from museum pieces—experts are sometimes deceived by nine-Empire Carved Details
Rose from the cradle of the
King of Rome
Arm-chair
Arm-chair
Bed
teenth-century fakes. One enterprising manufacturer pretended
to have discovered a hitherto unknown Louis XV cabinet-maker
and supported the story with faked documents giving the details
of his life. When people became interested in the discovery, the
manufacturer had pieces of Louis XV furniture made in his workshops and offered them for sale one by one as genuine examples of the work of this imaginary cabinet-maker.
Towards the end of the century, French pride reasserted itself. Designers at last grew disgusted with copying and decided to create a new style, one that would take nothing from the past. Nature was to provide the inspiration. The teachings of William Morris were partly responsible for this break with tradition: he attacked the bad taste of machine-production and made designs, for furniture and house furnishings, suitable to hand-production. The French designers, however, were more eccentric than Morris and his English followers, but equally sincere in their resolution to develop a natural beauty of design. They studied the forms and pattern of nature, making careful drawings of roots and twigs to guide them in their work. The furniture they designed is known as Art Nouveau, or ‘Style 1900′. In the furniture made from their designs natural wood was used, without paint or gilt, and it was all hand-made. Forms undreamed of even in the period of Louis XV were imposed on wood; not being furniture-makers themselves, the designers took little thought for the appropriateness of their designs to construction in wood. The style flourished from 1900 to 1905, and then went completely out of fashion. Although this furniture was too eccentric looking for domestic use, it represents the first attempt to abolish the nineteenth-century custom of copying, and, more important, the first realization in France of the bad effects of machine production on style. The Art Nouveau designers tried to solve the machine problem by ignoring machines and designing furniture that could only be made by hand. A better solution still remains to be found.
We have followed, briefly, the history of French furniture styles from the twelfth to the twentieth century. We have studied the way in which the various styles have developed one from another, and we have seen how the impact of new materials and technical advances has influenced furniture-makers in their creation of new styles. But such influences are common to furniture-makers in all countries—they do not explain why particular styles have been evolved in France different from the styles of other countries. The French quality of the styles is due, not to the furniture-makers, but to the people for whom the furniture was made. To complete our picture of the succession of French styles, it is necessary to show why each style in turn became inadequate from the point of view of the users of furniture, and what each new style offered them to satisfy their changing needs.
The first furniture was made in the Romanesque style, which was derived from the remnants of Roman architecture. It was the only possible style at the beginning; in seeking a respectable appearance for their furniture, the first carpenters naturally chose the conventional forms popular at the time.
This style could not long satisfy a people that was gradually coming to be conscious of itself as a distinct nation. A style based on what was to them a dead past, a past during which their country was occupied by foreign conquerors, was not one in which they could take pride. They therefore found a new, French, style : the Gothic style. The principles of Gothic architecture were first worked out in France; the Gothic style is truly French.
The Gothic style became identified with the Church. The desire for freedom from Church authority expressed itself in the Renaissance. Renaissance furniture, in superseding the Gothic, corresponded with a change in domestic life to freer, livelier habits.
Renaissance furniture, though much more elaborate than Gothic furniture, was not gorgeous enough for the Court of Louis XIV. In his attempts to make France the centre of the world, and himself the most conspicuous world figure, he insisted that everything around him should be dazzlingly magnificent. Baroque furniture was designed to flatter the vanity of Louis and his Court.
But the enthusiasm for Baroque furniture declined when people grew weary of the strain of keeping up a constant show of grandeur. In the two later Baroque periods, Regency and Rococo, there was a general relaxation from grandeur. Rococo was not merely informal, but vulgar; there was no discipline of design—the decorations were piled on in a deliberately untidy way.
Rococo became so chaotic in design that it had to be abandoned. The French are fundamentally a very sane people; and in the styles of the Classical Revival they reaffirmed their sanity. Louis XVI and Directoire furniture expressed restraint and self-possession. It avoided the ridiculous errors of taste of Rococo furniture, and had a delicacy that was altogether lacking in the furniture of those periods in which France was striving for national glory.
But Classical Revival was greatly modified during the Empire; all its gentleness was suppressed. Empire furniture was pompous, like Baroque furniture, and designed to dramatize impressive public and martial achievements. There was a new sternness—the pride of a nation of campaigners could not be expressed in Baroque magnificence.
The strong public emphasis of Empire furniture made it impossible for ordinary private use. A domestic version of the Empire style followed. Furniture became heavier, its lines rounder. The period of public glories was over and people turned to domestic pleasures. But private happiness throughout the whole nineteenth century meant chiefly physical comfort, and the furniture showed it. The public dignity characteristic of the Empire style was lost; and the mixed styles that succeeded it did not have private dignity, only a look of prosperity.
Art Nouveau furniture was an attempt to escape from the deadening hold of the traditional styles. People were feeling that in the new century all the stale customs of the past must at last be got rid of, and completely new ways found of doing things—ways so right that they would never need to be changed. The Art Nouveau designers hoped to create an original and perfect style, safe from corruption by outside influences. The style was supposed to be so natural that, like nature itself, it would not degenerate, no matter what changes took place in life. But these designers only succeeded in isolating furniture from the normal activities of life. The style was a failure—because any solution of furniture problems must relate furniture to the world in which it is being used.
Traditional French furniture was closely related to Court life, which was, however, itself isolated from the daily affairs of the world. Much French furniture is beautiful, and the standard of craftsmanship has always been high, but it is like stage furniture. Its chief purpose was to provide a dramatic setting for the Court. French Provincial furniture, although much better than the Court furniture, was too homely in character to be accepted by the French as a standard of good style.

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