Posts Tagged ‘Bauhaus’

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

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).

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).

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

Art Deco European Furniture: ITALIAN CABINET, WALNUT EASY CHAIR, ITALIAN BUFFET, SWEDISH CHAIR, BELGIAN DESK, ITALIAN COFFEE TABLE

TREMENDOUS UPHEAVALS came about
in Europe in the wake of World War 1. The need for change was keenly felt by architects and designers from Italy to Belgium and the Netherlands, and from Germany to Scandinavia.
At the heart of this longing for change lay a functionalist ideology and a desire for art to accommodate the exciting technological advances of the early 20th century Mass-produced, functional furniture designs became the order of the day, a philosophy that was realized by Alvar Aalto in Finland and with the formation in 1919 of the Bauhaus by Walter Gropius. Internationally acclaimed, the Bauhaus sought to
bring together the talents of creative artists, designers, and craftsmen, to create prototype designs suitable for industrial mass production (see p.426).
Although the Modernist Bauhaus style prevailed in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, there were also architects and designers working in a more decorative manner. Using vibrant colours, and drawing on the Rococo and Biedermeier styles for inspiration, German Art Deco furniture exhibited Oriental touches in its use of lacquer, together with Cubist detailing. Bruno Paul’s “Room for a Gentleman”, shown at Macy’s department store in New York in 1928, was typical of the
restrained form of Art Deco that was pursued by these German designers. The room contained lacquered furniture with inlay work, and a rug with a geometric design. Many German and Austrian – mainly Jewish – designers emigrated to America in the late 1.920s and early I 930s, and joined Paul Frankl (see p.397) in developing the Art Deco style there.
NORTHERN EUROPEAN TRENDS It was in the Netherlands that the concept of abstraction was first applied to furniture design. At the helm of this revolutionary artistic idea was the avant-garde De Stijl group, formed
in 1917 by the painters Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. The functionalist furniture designed by the group was conspicuously absent from the 1925 Paris Exhibition. The Dutch pavilion there was designed by J.E Staal, a member of the Amsterdam School, which favoured the use of theatrical, expressionist, and Oriental motifs in furniture designs. Among the exhibits was furniture by C.A. Lion Cachet, designed for a Dutch ocean liner. He used dark tropical woods inlaid with ivory and lighter woods in traditional-shaped pieces with Oriental decoration and parchment panels. Jaap Gidding’s cinema and theatre interiors also followed the French Art Deco style. The Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam (1918-21) was typical, with its decorative, opulent interior, and special light effects.
In Scandinavia, Art Deco took a more classical turn with an emphasis on elegance, proportion, luxurious materials, and hand-crafting. In 1930, British writer, Morton Shand, defined the Swedish restrained Neoclassical style prevalent at the 1925 Paris
Exhibition as a “line characterized by its slender and almost elfin grace”. Exhibiting a similar style, Otto Meyer’s and Jacob Petersen’s graceful, curving chairs crafted out A sycamore and
mahogany were superbly set off by the batik wall-covering of Ebbe Sadolin in the Danish pavilion.
ITALIAN BALANCE
Italian furniture designers struggled to find a balance between the demand for classical elegance and the language of the sophisticated modern style.
Although ill at case with the display of sumptuous luxury that was the hallmark of French Art Deco, Italian cabinets, tables, writing desks, and chairs made full use of the beauty of lustrous local and exotic timbers. Many of them were embellished with bronze mounts, or lightly carved or
inlaid patterns of flower baskets, garlands, or geometric motifs that were typical of Art Deco.
The Italian version of Art Deco reached its fullest expression in the hands of the innovative architect Gio Ponti. He successfully managed to combine the functional, geometric, spare structure promoted by the Wiener Werkstatte designers with the sophisticated and elegant refinements of the French Art Deco style.

ITALIAN COFFEE TABLE
This fine Italian coffee table has a rectangular glass-topped surface on tapering plank legs. It has been crafted from bird’s-eye maple and ebony veneer. Exotic wood veneers, such as the ebony used in this piece, were commonly used
in European Art Deco furniture. The dark ebony highlights the simple geometric structure of the coffee table.
This Swiss walnut desk has a rectangular top with rounded corners. The central drawer and two flanking cabinets have decorative “English-style” handles, and the whole piece is raised
on square feet. The grain of the walnut has been highlighted, providing additional visual interest. c.1925.
BELGIAN DESK
Designed by De Coene Freres, this Belgian desk has four drawers, tapering legs, and nickel feet, and is covered in black lacquer. The sleek black design demonstrates a relinquishing of unnecessary decoration in favour of pure functionality. c. 1930.
SWEDISH CHAIR
This Swedish Art Deco chair is upholstered in brown leather and supported upon tapering legs, with two slightly splayed rear legs, and curvilinear arm rests. The backrest has a
central panel with burr wood and satinwood details. c.1920.
This bridge chair is one of a pair designed by De Coene Freres. The curved armrests form a continuous “U” shape with the bowed seat frame. The chair is upholstered in a red, checked fabric and has tapering front legs.

The rectilinear structure of the buffet is emphasized by the austere placement
of the doors and drawers.
The ivory inlay used for the drawer pulls is a typical Art Deco detail.
ITALIAN BUFFET
The shelf structure of this Italian buffet is characteristic of Art Deco design, combining clean lines and asymmetry with a luxurious and decorative burr wood finish. The shelf structure contains a mirror on a case with four small drawers and a twin
cabinet door enclosing an adjustable shelf. Subtle, inlaid handles are attached to the four drawers and the cabinet doors. The geometric shape is typical of Italian Art Deco, which took its lead from the Wiener Werlkstatte. The use of exotic timber is more typical of the French style.
The burr wood veneer
makes a boldly
luxurious statement
ITALIAN CABINET
This rectangular Ulrich Guglielmo cabinet has two doors and is supported on a square plinth lined with goat parchment. The doors have ivory mounts and the plinth is veneered with kingwood. Round ebony knobs, with gilded bronze mountings and keys, are attached to the 14 interior drawers. c.1930.
WALNUT EASY CHAIR
This continental walnut easy chair is upholstered in cream, a popular colour in Art Deco furniture design. The chair has broad, curving armrests, each supported on three vertical fluted rods, and moulded sledge-like block feet.

Art DecoCeramics
In the 1920s and 1930s the Art Deco style filtered through into the designs of commercial ceramics manufacturers throughout Europe. Factories such as Sevres in France employed top designers to create fashionable pieces with such typical Art Deco motifs as stylized flowers, plants, female nudes, and exotic animals in bold colours. Commercially produced pieces survive
in larger numbers than those of artist-potters and are becomin with Geometric shapes an increasingly popular with collectors.
clean, functional forms were a legacy of the Bauhaus 1 Germany, being eminently suitable for mass production. British ceramics remained essentially traditional, but bold, bright Art Deco designs were produced by Clarice Cliff.
FRENCH ART POTTERY
Immediately prior to and following World War I, many potters continued to work in the tradition of the reform movements of the 19th century, in which the artisan was responsible for all phases of the production of his or her work. Most of these artist-potters were based in France and explored a wide variety of techniques, including
painting, sgraffito and crackle glazing. Many of them employed the typical Art Deco motifs of stylized female figures and animals, often representing episodes from Classical myths, or geometric forms.
An influential forerunner of the artist-potters was Andre Metthey (1871-1921), who produced richly coloured faience and stoneware vases with decoration designed by such well-known avant-garde artists as Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Edouard Vuillard. After World War I Metthey turned to painting his wares with pure geometric motifs of his own design, as well as stylized flowers, plants, and Classical figures in bright colours, usually in friezes or set in medallions.
In the early 20th century many French potters were strongly influenced by Oriental ceramics. Among these was Raoul Lachenal (1855–c.1930), who produced simple, symmetrical stonewares inspired by Oriental forms and painted with stylized floral or geometric patterns in strong, plain colours. Henri Simmen (18801969) was greatly interested in French peasant pottery, and worked with salt and flambe glazes before World War I. After the war he produced handmade stonewares, using natural products to create rich glazes. Simmen’s wares were sometimes incised with symmetrically placed
geometric motifs; ivory, precious wood, or horn lids, finials, and stands were carved by his Japanese wife, O’Kin Simmen. The early designs of Emile Decoeur (18761953) were in the Art Nouveau style, but in the 1920s and 1930s he rejected elaborate surface decoration in favour of pure, symmetrical, Oriental-style forms with a single, brilliantly coloured glaze.
One of the best-known figures in Art Deco French ceramics was Rene Buthaud (1886-1987), whose work is rare and highly collectable. In the mid-1920s he produced simple, bulbous vases and bowls with painted, crackle-glazed, or incised decoration, generally in brown tones. His designs of linear, stylized female figures were influenced by the paintings of Jean Dupas and by African art. Buthaud was among the artists who designed wares for Primavera, the design studio of the Printemps department store in Paris. The Longwy factory also produced wares for Primavera, including pieces with crackle-glazed grounds, which were used as a base for painted decoration.
The painter Jean Mayodon (1893-1967) turned to working in ceramics in 1912 but did not exhibit his pieces until after the war. His vases, bowls, and plates are painted in rich colours and decorated with Classical figures. As well as small decorative pieces, Mayodon produced panels and tiles, some of which were used for the French ocean liners of the 1930s. The French painter Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) collaborated with the Catalan potter Josep Llorens Artigas (1892-1980) on ceramic vases, fountains, and planters decorated with Duty’s trademark motifs of dancers, flowers, and nymphs.
COMMERCIAL WARES
Some of the highest-quality Art Deco ceramics were produced at Sevres from 1920, when the factory came under the direction of George Lechevallier-Chevignard. At the 1925 Paris Exhibition, Sevres displayed vases and tablewares with decorations designed by a number of eminent contemporary artists, including Suzanne Lalique (b.1899), daughter of the jeweller and glassmaker Rene Lalique 1860-1945), Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
933), and the painter Jean Dupas (1882-1964). These wares were traditional in form but were elaborately embellished with Art Deco motifs. The restrained use of gilding to highlight or outline motifs is also a familiar feature of Sevres wares.
The Limoges firm of Theodore Haviland & Cie (est. 1-9–) also employed Suzanne Lalique and Duty and consequently produced pieces similar to those of Sevres. Lalique designed plates depicting grapes and vines in a palette of black, silver, and green, while Dufy’s wares featured foliage and floral motifs in bright colours. Tableware for Haviland by the glass designer Jean Luce 1895-1964) is characterized by gold-and-platinum stylized clouds, angular sunbursts, and zigzags.
In the 1920s and 1930s the design studios of Parisian department stores produced a wide variety of Art Deco wares for the mass market. La Maitrise, the studio of Galeries es Lafayette, produced a range of household wares manufactured in Belgium. The Compagnie des Arts Francais (est. 1919) produced a variety of utilitarian and decorative wares in an architectonic style, as well as tablewares such as tureens and vegetable dishes with heavy scrolls and floral motifs.
The most important manufacturer of Belgian Art Deco ceramics was the firm of Keramis, owned by Boch Freres, in La Louvriere. Its artistic director from 1907
was Charles Catteau (1880-1966), who designed simple, ovoid-shaped vases, with thickly applied glazes on an often ivory, crackle-glazed background. Like Lachenal, Catteau sometimes used patterns imitating cloisonne enamel, although in the 1920s and 1930s his favoured forms of decoration included Such animals as leaping gazelles and stylized pendant flowers and plants.
In Italy the architect Gio Ponti (18911979) created a range of wares between 1923 and 1930 for the porcelain manufacturers Richard-Ginori (est. 1896) in Doccia. His range included tableware, vases, and urns, which were painted with strongly stylized geometric patterns, architectural forms,
figures, or drapery.
FIGURES
Most French figurative ceramics reflect the general trend for stylized forms. Among the earliest Art Deco examples are the porcelain tea- and coffee-sets (1916-17) designed by the Swiss sculptor Edouard Marcel Sandoz (1881-1971) for Haviland. The teapots, creamers, and other items are modelled as formalized, angular animals and birds. The Parisian firm of Robj produced useful wares in the form of brightly coloured, almost toylike figures in national dress or representing different professions.
From 1928 the Italian firm of Lenci (est. 1919) in Turin produced earthenware and porcelain figures, mainly of women, either nude or in contemporary dress. These figures are more naturalistic than most French examples and are distinguished by elongated limbs, bright-yellow hair, and a combination of matt and glossy glazes. Most Lenci designers are anonymous.
French art pottery
• DECORATION sgraffito, painting, and crackle glazing
• INSPIRATION Classical and Oriental wares
Marks
Buthaud: painted “R. Buthaud”, or painted or incised monogram “RB”
Primavera: Dufy/Artigas: each piece w0.V
should be individually numbered (1-110) C)
Sevres
• STYLE conventional forms based on 18th-century designs are typically decorated with stylized leaves and flowers, and geometric patterns; gilding is common
• COLLECTING pieces are high quality so are relatively expensive even though mass-produced
Keramis/Boch Freres
• FORMS simple, ovoid shapes
• DECORATION patterns imitating cloisonne enamel; stylized flowers, plants, or animals; colours: turquoise, also blue, black, green, and brown
France
• FORMS useful wares such as tea- and coffee-services and decanters, as well as decorative pieces, made in the form of stylized animals, birds, or human figures
Lenci
• FORMS figures of women, nude or in stylish modern dress, often wearing hats; mostly single subjects
• GLAZES matt often combined with shiny finish
• COLLECTING sophisticated pieces most sought after
COMMERCIAL WARES
In Germany, the Bauhaus (est. 1919) opened a ceramics workshop at Dornburg near Weimar, but ceramics were abandoned when the school moved to Dessau in 1925. However, the pure, functional forms used by Bauhaus designers did have some influence on mass-produced ceramics. In 1930, at the State Porcelain Factory in Berlin, Marguerite Friedlander-Wildenhaim (1896-1985), a former Bauhaus student, created the simple, geometric designs of the “Halle” service. Geometric shapes, with soft, rounded contours, were also used by Dr Hermann Gretsch for his designs for the “Arzberg 1382″ service of 1931, which was manufactured by the Carl Schumann factory in Arzberg.
Among the factory’s most collectable products today are its terracotta wall masks. These elongated, highly stylized female faces are hand-painted in bold colours, typically red, yellow, green, and black, and usually have
brightly coloured hair in ringlets. The firm also had a subsidiary in Paris, which at the 1925 exhibition displayed Cubist-inspired, angular statuettes with simplified features. In the late 1930s the British firm of Myott, Son & Co. Ltd produced Goldscheider figures. These pieces, clearly marked with their origin, are less collectable than Goldscheider figures made in Austria.
In Germany, fine-quality, detailed, naturalistic porcelain figures of dancers in colourful costumes, women in modern dress, and animals were produced by the firm of Rosenthal (est. 1879) in Selb. However, some of its most distinctive figures of the late 1920s and 1930s are very different in style; modelled by the artist Gerhard Schliepstein (b.1886) they depict svelte, elongated, and stylized women and greyhounds in pure-white porcelain. The Art Deco taste for the exotic was reflected in the figures of snake-charmers, Spanish dancers, and belly-dancers made by the Dux porcelain factory in Bohemia in the 1920s and 1930s.
Among the most distinctive Art Deco ceramics are those designed by Wilhelm Kage (1889-1950), artistic director of the Gustavsberg porcelain works in Sweden. His “Argenta” range of hand-thrown or moulded green-glazed vases, bowls, plates, and boxes (1929-52) is inset with chased silver in typically Art Deco motifs of mermaids, nude female figures, and flowers. Such wares are becoming more popular with collectors but are still relatively inexpensive.
FIGURES
Along with tableware, figures are among the most widely collected Art Deco ceramics today. While some factories continued to produce figures of traditional subjects, such as characters from the Italian commedia dell’arte, many Art Deco figures represent women, either nude or in contemporary dress. Some are accompanied by elegant greyhounds or borzois. Stylized human, animal, or bird figures and wall masks, influenced by contemporary Cubist abstract sculpture, were also popular during this period.
During the 1920s and 1930s the Vienna firm of Goldscheider (1885-1954) was one of the few Austrian producers of earthenware and porcelain in the Modern style. Figures made by Goldscheider include dancing couples in contemporary dress, ballerinas, and Pierrettes from the commedia dell’arte. Colours are typically rich and contrasting, and costumes are exotic.
German commercial waresSTYLE
• , usually influenced by the Bauhaus designs; simple, geometric shapes are typical, often with soft, round contours
Gustaysberg porcelain works
• STYLE Argenta tablewares, vases, and boxes with green-glazed grounds, inset with chased silver motifs; some with diaper-patterned or floral borders
• COLLECTING Argenta wares are increasingly collectable; hand-thrown pieces are more heavily moulded
Marks
Printed in black or gold ( 1910-40) 19
Goldscheider
• FORMS figures of couples in modern dress, dancers, and stylized wall masks
• COLOURS wall masks are painted in bright tones of red, yellow, green, and black
• CONDITION masks are prone to chipping as they are made of earthenware; paint may also be worn
American Art Deco ceramics were mainly inspired by European design, and today many collectors in the USA actually prefer French Art Deco porcelain or pottery to American-made pieces.
COMMERCIAL CERAMICS
Cleveland, Ohio, was the centre for progressive American ceramics during the inter-war years, owing to the influence of Julius Mihalik, a Viennese professor at the Cleveland Institute of Arts and follower of the Wiener Werkstatte. Several students and independent designers worked for the Cowan Pottery, founded outside Cleveland in 1913 by Reginald Guy Cowan 3. 19 30). Cowan designed most of the pottery’s early pieces himself; these consist mainly of inexpensive, slip-cast earthenware figures and figural “flower frogs” with matt monochrome glazes. The work of independent designers, generally made after 1927 for the Cowan Pottery Studio, was often issued in limited editions, and is most collectable. Some pieces show a distinctly Austrian influence, while others, particularly the work of Paul A “Jazz” punchbowl by Victor Schreckengost for the Cowan Pottery Studio
-,-is well-known design depicts scenes of New York City on New Year’s
and is glazed in “Egyptian Blue”. Each piece in the rare limited edition of 50 is slightly different A commercial, mass-produced edition also exists. (1931; ht 20cm18in; value of limited-edition bowl K)
Manship (1885-1966), are sculptural. The designs of Waylande Gregory (1905-71), who worked at Cowan from 1928 and later at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, near Detroit, Michigan, are often Neo-classical in inspiration.
A famous allegorical image, “Radio”, personifies the medium as a woman depicted in the Classical style, holding a lightning bolt.
The Rookwood Pottery (est. 1880) of Cincinnati, Ohio, produced an extensive range of Art Deco ceramics, mostly figures, bookends, and paperweights, in monochrome glazes. The Art Deco wares of the Roseville Pottery, in Zanesville, Ohio, are generally considered inferior to those of Rookwood, but such lines as “Futura”, introduced in 1928, are lively and attractive, which
makes them of greater interest to collectors. Most common in this line are well-marked vases featuring angular handles or “skyscraper” stepping.
In 1936 Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880-1942) introduced the “Fiesta” line for the Homer Laughlin China Co. (est. 1877) in East Liverpool, Ohio. This was a popular kitchenware in vibrant colours. Collectors are widespread, and Fiesta is sold at special auctions throughout North America. Comparable to Fiesta ware are the monochrome teapots and dinnerware in streamlined style made at the Hall China Co. (est. 1903) in East Liverpool; like the Fiesta range, these have been authentically reproduced.
STUDIO POTTERY
Studio potters active in the inter-war years in the USA include Susi Singer (1895-1949) and Vally Wieseltheir (1895-1945), who were both potters at the Wiener Werks6tte before emigrating in 1932. Typical . pica] of their work are hand-modelled earthenware figures, most of which are clearly signed. Wieseltheir produced designs for General Ceramics in New York. From 1923 to the early 1930s the designer Wilhelm Hunt Diederich (1884-1953) made a limited amount of pottery, rare and now highly sought after, at his studios in Woodstock, New York. Other potters of note include Henry Varnum Poor (1888-1971), Carl Walters, and Maija Grotell.
Cowan Pottery
• COLLECTING Cowan Pottery Studio is the most collectable commercial ware; pieces by independent designers after 1927 (especially limited-edition “Jazz” bowls) are more collectable than early
pieces
Marks
Most pieces are impressed or printed with marks showing artist’s name or monogram
Other commercial ceramics
• ROOKWOOD Art Deco pieces are less collectable and valuable than pre-1914 pieces, although colourful, abstract-patterned vases are popular with collectors
• ROSEVILLE more collectable than Rookwood; “Futura” is most popular; beware of modern forgeries, which arc difficult to distinguish from originals
• FIESTA made until 1972 and reintroduced in 1986; widely collected in USA; early pieces include red (most desirable), blue, yellow, green, and ivory (least popular); most new colours are pastel; modern versions are widely available
Studio pottery
• TYPES various pieces, including polychrome, hand-modelled earthenware figures, and platters hand-painted with stylized figures and animals
• VALUE pieces by independent studio potters are higher in value than mass-produced ceramics
• COLLECTING wares arc generally signed by the artist; work by Hunt Diederich is rare and very collectable
Art Deco had little immediate impact on the forms of commercial British ceramics; most firms simply added the newly fashionable, brightly coloured, geometric, and abstract designs to existing shapes. By the late 1920s the success of such innovative designers as Clarice Cliff (1899-1972) encouraged others to develop original shapes alongside traditional ranges, and by the 1930s the influence of Modernism was evident in the increasingly functional and geometric forms of tableware, minimally decorated in neutral matt glazes. A whimsical trend in ceramics continued in the range of popular ornaments, from Wedgwood’s sculptural animal designs to porcelain figures embellishing such items as dressing-table wares.
CLARICE CLIFF
British Art Deco ceramics are virtually synonymous with Cliff. In 1916 she joined the firm of A.J. Wilkinson Ltd (est. 1896), near Burslem, Staffordshire. In 1920 the firm acquired the nearby Newport Pottery and its range of old-fashioned white wares, and, recognizing Cliff’s talent, set her up in a studio there. Cliff and her team of decorators hand-painted biscuit-fired tablewares with brightly coloured enamels over a distinctive ivory-coloured glaze, known as “honey” glaze. In January 1928 the “Bizarre” range of inexpensive and cheerful pottery for or everyday use was launched; by October of the same year the range had become hugely successful. Cliff went on to design more than 500 shapes, including the “Conical”, “Bonjour”, and “Stamford” ranges, and 2,000 patterns, including “Inspiration” (now rare and desirable), “Applique”, “Tennis”, “Sunray”, “Solitude”, and “Mountain”. As well as traditional shapes, she designed many futuristic or otherwise innovative forms,
such as beehive-shaped honey-pots, cone-shaped sugar-sifters, and highly stylized, geometric versions of conventional items. The majority of her output was tablewares, but she also produced a range of novelty wares, among the most collectable being figures and the newly fashionable wall masks, which usually depicted the subject face-on and featured a floral headdress. Cliff also commissioned designs from other artists, among them Laura Knight ( 1877-1970), who produced the now highly collectable “Circus” series.
SUSIE COOPER
Although somewhat overshadowed by Cliff’s bright, flamboyant designs, Susie Cooper (1902-95) designed an equally distinctive and now sought-after range of shapes (including “Kestrel”,
“Curlew”, “Wren”, “Jay”,
“Falcon”, and “Spiral”) and
patterns (including “Dresden
Spray”, “Tadpoles”, “Scarlet
runner beans”, “Nosegay” “Polka
dots”, and “Cromer”). In 1922 she
undertook a work placement with
A.E. Gray & Co. Ltd (1912-61) in
Hanley, Staffordshire, and her success
in designing surface patterns in lustre
pigments and enamel colours for bought-in
white wares was such that she was given her
own mark. By 1929 she had established a ceramic decoration company at George Street Pottery, Tunstall, and by 1932 was designing her own shapes; these were produced at Wood & Sons, in Burslem, Staffordshire, where Cooper had her own production unit, Crown Works. Most sought after are her tablewares in traditional, rounded shapes such as “Kestrel”, “Curlew”, and “Wren”. Other early and desirable ranges include the more brightly coloured, abstract, geometric designs such as the banded patterns, polka dots, and exclamation marks produced for the large retail outlets of the John Lewis Partnership in the early 1930s. Her hand-painted designs were carefully adapted for transfer-printing, and the two methods of decoration are virtually indistinguishable and equally collectable. After World War II Cooper produced light, translucent, bone-china teawares made in Longton and sent to Burslem for decoration; these are less collectable.
WEDGWOOD AND DOULTON
The commercial giants Wedgwood (est. 1759), in Burslem, Staffordshire, and Doulton & Co. (est. 1815), in London, both produced ranges of functional tablewares and purely decorative Art Deco pieces. For Wedgwood the Modernist architect Keith Murray (1892-1981) designed a range of simple, geometric forms, including vases and bowls, with lathe-turned decoration and semi-matt glazes, often in soft grey, green, and ivory white. In complete contrast to Murray’s plain, functional designs were Wedgwood’s more conventional, intricately decorated lustrewares, the most popular and expensive of which was the “Fairyland” series.
Although the imagery on the “Fairyland” pieces bears no resemblance to that usually associated with Art Deco, the original shapes and bright colours are typical of the period, and the success of Wedgwood’s lustrewares inspired other manufacturers to produce more strictly Art Deco lustre ranges. From 1926 the modeller and sculptor John Skeaping (1901-80) designed a range of 14 stylized Art Deco earthenware animals and birds for Wedgwood in black basalt, cream, celadon, and tan glazes; these pieces proved popular and were produced well into the 1950s.
Doulton produced a range of Art Deco tableware –such as the “Dubarry” dinner service – but it is the company’s decorative bone-china figures of the 1920s and 1930s, many designed by Lesley Harradine (1887-1965), that are particularly collectable
toda.
These figures, most of which are full length, usually depict young, fair-skinned women in informal poses, and as such are celebrations of women’s increasing freedom and independence.
OTHER FACTORIES
The Art Deco wares produced by the Shelley Pottery Ltd (1872-1966; originally Wileman & Co.; trading as Foley 1892-1925, and as Shelley from 1925) owe their continuing popularity at least in part to the talented designers employed by the company in the 1920s and 1930s. These include the illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell (1879-1964), who in 1926 introduced a range of charming nursery wares. In 1930 Eric Slater (1).1902) introduced two new, Modernist forms – “Vogue” and “Mode” – in clean, streamlined, architectural shapes that were perfectly suited to Shelley’s fine bone china. However, more successful was the “Eve” range of
tablewares, introduced c.1932, combining practicality with stylish, geometric design; it featured cup rims narrowed to prevent heat loss, and
triangular handles pierced, rather than
solid, for easier handling.
The Poole Pottery in Dorset (est. 1873
as Carter & Co.; trading as Carter, Stabler
& Adams from 1921, and from 1963 as
Poole Pottery, the name now also used to
describe early wares) produced collectable
Art Deco tablewares during the 1930s. Designs include “Studland”, which has elaborate angular handles combined with a
plain body of mottled green or blue, or the fashionable leaf and floral pattern; “Picotee” and “Everest” in plain colours with solid diamond-shaped handles, and rounded and ribbed shapes respectively; and “Streamline”, which as the name suggests was influenced by the American streamlined style.
The Carlton Works at Stoke-on-Trent (est. 1890; from 1958 Carltonware Ltd) produced a distinctive range of ceramics during this period. Rare and highly sought after are their geometric-shaped vases, hand-painted in bright contrasting colours. The success of Wedgwood’s lustrewares inspired Carlton to produce a range of richly coloured pieces, featuring enamelled decoration
on a dark glaze and a pearlized effect on the interior. Most of the company’s production took the form of moulded tableware, with leaf-moulded dishes being especially common.
Clarice Cliff
• DESIGNS strong geometric forms in bold, bright colours; some traditional shapes
• BEWARE fakes proliferate: check for washed-out colour,
poor-quality painting, and an uneven or murky glaze
• COLLECING increasingly rare and expensive; pieces are collected by pattern or type; desirability is determined by pattern, shape, and condition; wall masks and “Age of Jazz” figures are highly sought after
Marks
Most pieces marked, with the pattern
name alongside the signature, and a 00″‘ stamped factory mark
Susie Cooper
• DESIGNS traditional, rounded forms; tea-sets usually in autumnal colours
• COLLECTING pre-1939 wares are most collectable; archive catalogues help to distinguish between pre-and post-war issues of the same designs; hand-painted, transfer-printed or lithographed designs
arc all equally collectable
Marks
Printed in brown on carthcnwares from c.1932
Major manufacturers
• DESIGNS Murray for Wedgwood: geometric, often ribbed pieces; Doulton figures: young women, typically bathing or dancing; Shelley: architectural forms with conical bodies and solid, triangular handles; Poole: streamlined shapes produced in combinations of subdued, two-colour glazes
• DECORATION Carlton: flowers, butterflies, chinoiserie, and silver-lustre lightning motifs are typical
• COLLECTING a wide range of tablewares is available; porcelain figures command premium prices;
Wedgwood: designs by Murray and Skeaping are highly sought after, particularly Murray’s lathe-turned wares, “Annular” teawares, and the “Bournvita” drinking set; Shelley: designs by Slater are highly desirable; Carlton: leaf-moulded forms are abundant but not popular with collectors
Marks
Poole Pottery: almost all pieces are impressed with this mark or the entwined initials “CSA” and will include the decorator’s monogram; few pieces are dated

The late 1920s saw the emergence of a Modern movement” of innovative American furniture designers. Inspired by European immigrants, including several key members of the Bauhaus, they explored new materials such as tubular metal. American Modernism was relatively small-scale, but it set the stage for a generation of industrial designers who from the mid-1930s reshaped interiors with enormous flair.
American Art Deco furniture falls into three broad categories: commercial copies of formal French pieces in exotic wood veneers and inlay; innovative and avant-garde work, which was never produced in large quantities and is scarce today; and industrially produced, mostly metallic and laminated wood furniture, based loosely on Bauhaus concepts. Produced from the 1930s until after World War II, this third category is much collected today.
PAUL T. FRANKL
Frankl (1886-1958), an Austrian architect and engineer, emigrated to the USA at the outbreak of World War I. He began designing and manufacturing furniture in New York City c.1920, working in a traditional European formal style. By the mid-1920s he was designing economical, compact, practical, modular furniture, inspired in part by the architect–designers Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and Le Corbusier (1887-1965). The best Frankl furniture (1925–c.1930), produced Linder the tradename “Skyscraper”, was inspired by the evolving New York skyline. Bookcases and tall cabinetry of stepped, rectilinear form are typical, often with a black, red, or pale-green lacquer finish with silver-leaf edging. Natural woods, including California redwood and oak, were also used, with a red, black, or silver trim.

Dressing tables, desks, and mirrors arc also found, often with mirrored-glass tops or shelving and Bakelite drawer-pulls, which suggest a slightly later date. Bookcase cabinets usually have simple wooden pulls. Skyscraper furniture was designed to be economical, and standards of cabinetry are basic.
During the inter-war years Oriental interiors were extremely fashionable in the USA, and Frankl produced lacquered furniture such as dining-chairs, cocktail bars, dressing-tables, and small tables, usually in black, pale green, or red with gold- or silver-leaf details, sometimes with brass fittings. This furniture is less popular than the Skyscraper range, because collectors prefer pure, Modernist lines, particularly if they evoke the works of the Dutch
painter Piet Mondrian, who was
also inspired by mid-1920s New
York architecture.
DONALD DESKEY
The designer Donald Deskey
(1894-1989) collaborated with Frankl during the late 1920s,
designing screens and large
cabinetry in lacquered and metallic-leaf finish with vivid, jazzy
decoration featuring zigzags. He also produced more mainstream designs for numerous other American manufacturers, working mostly in hardwood veneers. He is best known as the principal interior designer for New York’s Radio City Music Hall,
which preserves many of his pieces in situ. Pieces with Radio City provenance occasionally appear on the market and are eagerly sought.
Between 1927 and 1931 Deskey worked in partnership with Phillip Vollmer, designing furniture in Bauhaus taste, made of metal and glass, sometimes together with Bakelite and cork. Most of Deskey’s work is unsigned, but his designs are well recorded in contemporary catalogues, and many specialist dealers in the USA recognize them.
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is one of the best-known and most influential American architects and designers. Any designs attributed to him command a premium, particularly the Modernist oak creations from the first decade of the 20th century. However, his later post-war commercial furniture, mostly oak and maple tables and low, horizontal seating, is currently of little more than decorative value.
Most of Wright’s work cannot be considered Art Deco, but some of his furniture of the inter-war years appeals to Art Deco enthusiasts. The best examples were designed for Wright’s residential buildings, and are therefore extremely scarce. Pieces for commercial interiors were made in larger numbers and are more common today. Enamelled metal furniture, such as that made for Wright’s S.C. Johnson Administration Building (Wisconsin) in 1937, and several types of wooden chair are relatively common on the market.

THE CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART
In 1925 the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen (18731950) began work on the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, near Detroit, Michigan. In 1932 he became president and art director of the academy, serving there until his death. The building retains many of the original furnishings that he designed.
In most of Saarinen’s designs a formal, Scandinavian influence is evident in the elegant lines and relatively small scale, although some are comparable to the more organic style of the Wiener WerkstRte designer Dagobert Peche (1887-1923). Saarinen preferred rich wood veneers and natural materials, which he sometimes Used in combination with steel or polished metal.
The Cranbrook Academy, like the German Bauhaus school, is best known for its influential alumni. The most celebrated Cranbrook graduates from the 1930s are Florence Knoll (b.1917), whose name appears on much American Modernist furniture made under her direction; Charles Eames (1907-78), who designed laminated wood, leather, and fibreglass furniture for the Herman Miller Co. and others from the late 1930s; and Eero Saarinen (1910-61), Eliel Saarinen’s son, who collaborated with Eames as well as pursuing an independent career as both an architect and a furniture designer. Popular designs were produced over several decades (some are still made); earlier pieces can be identified by tags and generally higher-quality craftsmanship, as well as by wear and tear. Followers of Eames whose work is of interest to collectors include Gilbert Rohde (1894-1944), who designed Bauhaus-influenced tubular steel furniture produced by the Herman Miller Co., and George Nelson (1907-86).
OTHER AMERICAN ART DECO FURNITURE During the 1930s, American Modernism took root throughout the USA, partly because so economical a style of design was appropriate to a country in the grip of the Depression. Leading designers include Russel Wright (1904-76), Walter Dorwin Teague (1883-1960), and Raymond Loewy (1893-1986), who all specialized in industrial-style commercial products and lighting, using new materials such as aluminium, chrome, and plastic. Karl Emmanuel Martin (”Ke”) Weber ,1889-1963) studied under Bruno
Paul in Berlin before moving to California in 1914. He designed both individually commissioned and mass-produced furniture, typically in laminated wood, chromed metal, and sprung steel.
The architect Eugene Schoen 1880-1957) designed elegant furniture in Modernist materials including glass and nickel. Examples of tubular steel furniture influenced by the
Bauhaus include -pieces designed by Wolfgang Hoffman (1900-69), son of the famous Austrian designer Josef Hoffman (1870-1956), during the 1930s. Prestigious firms included John Widdicomb, Johnson Furniture, and Barker Brothers Furniture Co., all in Los Angeles, and S. Karpen of Chicago, all of which employed leading designers.

Paul T. Frankl
•    COLLECTING rarely found outside New York City; Oriental style is less popular than Skyscraper; collectors prefer signed pieces in unrestored condition; surface restoration is common as decoration is easily worn
Marks
Authentic Skyscraper pieces are stamped “SKYSCRAPER FURNITURE, Frank) Galleries, 4 East 48th Street, New York”
Donald Deskey
•    VALUE interesting provenance, such as Radio City Music Hall, adds greatly to value
•    COLLECTING Deskey-Vollmer signed pieces are more desirable than Deskey’s later, traditional designs; vivid, jazzy designs are very collectable – beware of fakes
Marks
Some pieces of Deskey-Vollmer have a metal tag
Frank Lloyd Wright
•    COLLECTING Art Deco style is less valuable than pieces from c.1900 to 1910, but more valuable than post-1945 pieces; original condition is all-important; provenance from notable interior schemes adds greatly to value
Marks
Wright furniture is rarely marked, but is well documented and easily identifiable through style
Saarinen and The Cranbrook Academy of Art
•    COLLECTING Saarinen: designs are scarce but well documented; Eames: very collectable, particularly early work
Other designers
•    COLLECTING identifiable pieces by lesser-known American designers are rare but still not greatly sought after; provenance is important in determining value; commercial furniture is less valuable than domestic
Marks
Pieces are rarely signed by the designer but may bear a maker’s or retailer’s mark; Weber pieces may bear a tag from Lloyd Manufacturing Co.