Posts Tagged ‘bookcases’

SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES

FURNITURE
Bookcases, Bureau-Bookcases and Bookshelves
Sheraton mahogany bureau-bookcase, swan-neck pediment, 3 ft
3 in wide 1,650 0
George II walnut bureau-bookcase 650 0
Georgian mahogany breakfront bookcase, 7 ft  10 in wide,
7 ft 8 in high 450 0
Regency rosewood cylindrical swivel bookcase with shallow
pierced gilt metal gallery, 25 in diameter, 38 in high 284 0
Large Regency mahogany bookcase with dentil cornice, the upper part enclosed by four glazed astragal doors; the cupboards in the base enclosed by four doors with indented panels 160 0
Edwardian mahogany bureau-bookcase inlaid with ribbon, shell and urn motifs in satinwood. The top with swan-neck pediment with double-glazed astragal doors. The fall flap opening to reveal drawers and recesses.

Four long drawers below on bracket feet, 7 ft 5 in high 132 0
Georgian mahogany secretaire-bookcase, fitted adjustable shelving enclosed by glazed barred doors and cupboard below drawer, 2 ft 6 in wide 120 0
Georgian figured mahogany inlaid secretaire-bookcase, the upper part fitted with adjustable shelving, enclosed by glazed barred doors and fitted with two short drawers enclosed by panelled doors below, 4 ft wide 100
Small oak bureau-bookcase, the top with glazed astragal doors, the base fitted with a single drawer and double panelled doors, 5 ft 7 in high 95 0
A nineteenth-century mahogany bureau-bookcase with satin-wood lines. Top having glazed doors. Fall flap to base, which has four long drawers and is supported on bracket feet 56 0
Bureaux and Writing Cabinets
Early nineteenth-century marquetry inlaid cylinder-front bureau with pierced ormolu gallery, mounts and beading, having interior fittings, writing slide and three drawers, on taper legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 475 0
George III mahogany secretaire cabinet, the upper lancet panelled glazed doors above secretaire and panelled cupboard doors, 8 ft 4 in high, 4 ft 2 in wide 250 0
George II walnut bureau inlaid with boxwood lines. Interior having central well, drawers and recesses. Two small and two long drawers in base, on bracket feet 210 0
Eighteenth-century fruitwood bureau with three long graduated
drawers below the fall, on bracket feet, 3 ft wide 140 0
Georgian mahogany secretaire cabinet, the top drawer opening to reveal eight drawers and recesses inlaid with shell motif and a green baize writing panel. Three long graduated drawers to the base. The upper part

enclosed by panelled doors 95 0
Georgian  mahogany fall-front bureau having four drawers
under and on bracket feet, 3 ft 2 in high 70 0
Edwardian mahogany bureau-cabinet with pierced swan-neck pediment over glazed doors, sloping fall front over four drawers, bracket feet 66 0
George II oak bureau with fall flap and small drawers, two small and two long drawers below and supported on bracket feet, 2 ft 10 in high 60 0
Victorian mahogany bureau with sloping fall front over four
long graduated drawers, on bracket feet 58 0
Cabinets
Georgian mahogany bookcase cabinet with arched pediment surmounting astragal double doors. The base with double doors supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 6 in high 470 0
French display cabinet of Louis XVI design, mounted with ormolu female caryatids, the base with panels in the style of Vernis Martin, 3 ft 9 in wide 410 0
Regency mahogany display cabinet, the upper part enclosed by brass grilled and latticed doors, panelled cupboards to the base and supported on bold paw feet 290 0
Victorian walnut display cabinet in the Louis XVI manner, mounted with ormolu and inset with Sevres porcelain panels, two serpentine glass doors to the side and a door to the centre, 5 ft 1 in wide 126 0
Mahogany display cabinet of Chippendale-style with two glazed astragal doors below a swan-neck pediment and supported on cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 5 ft 3 in wide 80 0
Canterburys
George III mahogany Canterbury with drawer in frieze on
tapering legs, 1 ft 7 in wide 130 0
George III mahogany Canterbury with turned legs 115 0
Georgian mahogany four-section music Canterbury with drawer
in base 85 0
George III mahogany Canterbury with slatted sides and ringed
legs, 1 ft 4 in wide 60 0
Chairs—Open Arm and Elbow
George II mahogany open arm chair in the French manner. Rectangular back and serpentine fronted seat. Arm supports and cabriole legs carved with rococo foliage and with scroll feet 150 0
George III mahogany open arm chair forming library steps,
the arm supports and curved stretchers with rope twist 150 0
Two early stick-back Windsor elbow chairs
Edwardian inlaid rosewood open arm chair with pierced splats
Chair—Dining Sets
Ten Sheraton-period mahogany dining chairs with cross rail backs and satinwood crestings on turned and reeded legs. Two carvers
Eleven Regency rosewood dining chairs with carved and reeded back rails, caned seats and on reeded sabre legs
Set of eight Regency mahogany dining chairs with padded backs, sabre legs. All are strung with brass, with brass carrying handles on the cresting rails
Set of two carving and six single Hepplewhite mahogany chairs with shield backs and pierced vase splats carved with wheat ears, on tapering legs
Set of six single and one carving Hepplewhite mahogany chairs with shield backs and pierced vase splats, supported on tapering legs
A composite set of eight eighteenth-century Dutch walnut dining chairs, inlaid with marquetry depicting floral bouquets, urns, scrolls and birds. Comprising one carving and seven single chairs
Set of six Sheraton inlaid mahogany single chairs with triple splat backs and stuff-over seats, on tapering legs
Set of nine mahogany dining chairs, one carver, in the Hepplewhite style with triple vase splats and drop-in seats
Set of two carving and six single Chippendale style mahogany ladder-back dining chairs with pierced serpentine splats and moulded legs
Set of six Regency mahogany reeded frame single chairs on sabre legs
Set of six William IV single dining chairs with leather seats and sabre legs
Set of two carving and four single Chippendale style mahogany chairs with carved and pierced splats and loose stuffed leather seats, supported on cabriole legs and claw and ball feet
Set of six Victorian walnut single chairs on slender curving legs
Set of six small Victorian walnutwood single chairs with oval backs and pierced scroll splats, on curved legs
Set of four Georgian reeded mahogany wooden seat hall chairs, crested
Set of six elm rush seat chairs with spindle backs Set of six Victorian single chairs with slender curving legs and damask seats
Set of four Edwardian mahogany shield-back single chairs inlaid
with satinwood lines and a fan Set of six Victorian mahogany balloon-back dining chairs on
turned legs
Chairs—Dining Single
Pair of George III mahogany dining chairs with moulded and rounded arched backs and pierced splats carved with foliage
and husk pendants. Upholstered curved seats on square legs
with block toes 50 0
Sheraton mahogany chair with stuff-over seat 17 0
Three early Victorian yew wood standard chairs 17 0
Pair of Victorian rosewood chairs on turned carved legs 5 0
Regency mahogany standard chair on reeded sabre legs 5 0
Chairs—Easy
George III mahogany wing armchair with an arched back,
shaped sides and chamfered legs 140 0
Early Victorian mahogany frame wing easy chair 50 0
Papier m&chi nursing chair with cane scat and inlaid with
mother-of-pearl 30 0
Victorian button-back nursing chair 29 0
Chests of Drawers and Commodes
Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest with reeded and canted corners and with four graduated drawers, on wide bracket feet, 3 ft wide 980 0
Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest, the canted corners pendant with clusters of fruit and flowers in bold relief, 3 ft 3 in wide, 2 ft 8 in high 620 0
Georgian walnut bachelor’s chest with folding top and four long drawers having brass handles and lockplates; supported on bracket feet, 29 in wide, 13 in deep, 32 in high 165 0
Eighteenth-century walnut chest of three short and three long drawers with tulip wood stringing on stand fitted with two short and one long drawer with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 3 ft wide 105 0
Small Georgian mahogany commode with fluted and canted
corners and fitted with two small and three long drawers 66 0
George III mahogany chest of two short and three long drawers,
3 ft 2 in wide 28 0
Chiffoniers
Regency mahogany chiffonier with three stepped shelves above with gilt metal sides pierced in the Chinese style, the fronts with rope twist mouldings. The lower section enclosed by two doors panelled with radiating

pink silk, 3 ft 10 in wide        150 0
Regency rosewood chiffonier, the single shelf at the top with acanthus supports. The single drawer to the front containing writing panel and fitted compartments. The whole with double brass rail and flanked by scrolled

acanthus supports        110 0
Coffers and Chests
Early Charles II oak chest of four panelled drawers with
panelled sides and bun feet, 3 ft 1 in wide 65 0
Late seventeenth-century carved oak coffer with a domed lid. The front carved with four arches and surrounded by stylised carving of leaves, strapwork and birds’ heads, 3 ft high, 5 ft 3 in wide 60 0
Early seventeenth-century carved oak dower chest, 3 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century oak coffer with lifting top, the front panelled and carved in low relief with strapwork and foliage and the initials ‘HP,’ 4 ft 2 in wide
Cu pboards—Corner
Hepplewhite free-standing, serpentine-fronted mahogany corner cupboaid. Double glazed doors at the top enclose three display shelves. Base on square feet with double doors
Mahogany bow-fronted corner cupboard with glazed door enclosing shelves
Georgian standing corner cupboard with four panel doors enclosing shelves
George I blue japanned hanging corner cupboard with small open shelves above a pair of bowed doors. Decorated with chinoiseries, 3 ft 9 in high by 1 ft 11 in wide
Lacquer bow-fronted corner cupboard decorated in gilt with Chinese figures and buildings on a scarlet ground. The whole on cabriole-legged stand {not matching), 1 ft 10 in wide
Bow-fronted hanging corner cupboard with the door painted with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, 1 ft 11 in wide
Black lacquer bow-fronted corner cupboard with doors decorated with gilt Chinese landscapes, 1 ft 10 in wide
Davenports and Desks
Eighteenth-century partner’s desk in sabicu with tooled green leather top and fitted with eighteen drawers to the kneehole frieze, with rococo gilt metal handles; circa 1780
Queen Anne walnut kneehole desk crossbanded with fruitwood, with one long drawer and two tiers of three small drawers, 2 ft 5 in wide
George III mahogany tambour desk, the shutter enclosing fitted interior with leather-lined slope, pigeon-holes and drawers with two drawers below on square tapering legs with brass castors, 3 ft 1 in wide
Mahogany pedestal desk with leather-lined top and nine drawers around kneehole, 4 ft 8 in wide
Georgian mahogany Davenport with drawers and slide and with leather-lined fall and brass gallery, 1 ft 8 in
Victorian figured walnut Davenport with carved front supports
Dressers
Eighteenth-century oak dresser with three small drawers with brass handles and lockplates and cabriole legs ending in pad feet, 6 ft 2 in wide
Eighteenth-century oak dresser with three small drawers with brass handles over a waved apron, with cabriole legs on pad feet, 6 ft 2 in wide
Stuart-design oak dresser, the cupboards and drawers with geometrical raised panels with gilt metal drop handles
Oak dresser, the top with a shaped frieze, two cupboard doors
and three ihelvet over three moulded drawers to the base,
with cabriole legs, 5 ft 6 in wide, 6 ft 8 in high 105 0

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

WALNUT PERIOD
HAVING seen in the last chapter how new methods
of construction enabled a far more refined kind of
furniture to be made, we may now turn to the actual pieces that were produced from the Restoration up to the end of Queen Anne’s reign in 1714. Perhaps the first thing that strikes one is the multiplicity of types compared with what men had known in the first half of the seventeenth century.
It seems that people had come to have a new outlook on life and were demanding an altogether more luxurious way of living. Perhaps a fair comparison is the way that the average man’s point of view has changed since 1913. Not that the results have been the same, but the Great War and all that it brought with it set men’s minds working along fresh channels. In 166o it was the Restoration instead of war that prompted the change, and in comparison the changes were even greater.
For one thing there was the reaction from a stern, rigorous form of government to one of licence and laxity. For another there was the strong foreign influence which came as the natural result of the accession of a king who had spent most of his life abroad, soon followed by the reign of a king who actually was a foreigner. The remarkable thing is that the resultant style was not more extravagant than it really was. As it turned out, the walnut period was notable rather for its restraint and dignity, especially in its later stages. The probable reason was that William of Orange did a good deal to check the depraved condition into which the court of Charles II had fallen.
Amongst the pieces that made their first appearance during the walnut period were china cabinets fitted with glass doors, bookcases (also often glazed), writing cabinets, chests of drawers, mirrors, tall clock cases, card tables, and various cabinets elaborately fitted up with small drawers and cup-boards. To these may be added chairs with fully upholstered seats and backs. These introductions in themselves reflect the altered conditions, and show that people were no longer content with things which had to answer several purposes. Consider how in earlier days the chest had served as a seat, table, and travelling chest ; or the dining table for every possible purpose for which a table could be needed. By the end of the seventeenth century people indulged in the luxury of collecting china, hence the cabinets for the purpose ; they spent their leisure in playing cards and so needed card tables books were more plentiful, making bookcases essential and they required not one chair and a few stools in a room, but a full set so that everyone could be comfortable.
CHESTS OF DRAWERS
We saw in Chapter III how the chest developed into the chest of drawers, and it is interesting to make a comparison between the Jacobean type in Fig. 53, p. 66, and the Charles II example in Fig. 70. In date there are not many years’ difference between them, but whereas the former is entirely in oak and is made in the old traditional way, the other is of veneered walnut with a flat stretcher and legs of a kind that are not only entirely new in form, but involve a fresh form of construction. From the constructional point of view it is certainly not an advancement upon traditional methods in which the stretcher rails would be strongly tenoned into the legs. As it is the shaped legs have a hole bored at each end, the top one holding a dowel which passes into the bottom of the chest, and the other taking the projecting dowel of the foot, the stretcher fitting between. It is worth taking particular note of this flat stretcher with the foot beneath because it became very popular in the late years of the seventeenth century.
A glance at the chest itself shows that in construction and form it bears out the changes dealt with more fully in the last chapter. The drawer fronts are flat, and around the edges is a herring-bone banding, a typical ” walnut ” feature. One special note of interest is that along the drawer rails and front edges of the ends is a flat half-round moulding with the grain running crosswise. Charles II and William and Mary work often had this feature. Later it declined, its place being taken by a cocked bead fixed around the edges of the drawer fronts. The latter was really a more practical idea because the bead helped to protect the edges of the veneer, preventing the latter from being chipped away.
Cross-grained Mouldings.—Mention of the cross-grained bead brings us to another feature which was used almost exclusively in walnut work, the cross-grained moulding. It will be appreciated that to make a solid cross-grained moulding would not be practical. It would have no strength, it would be liable to twist, and it would certainly shrink. The plan was therefore adopted of applying a thin strip of cross-grained wood to a solid groundwork, the grain of which ran lengthwise. The groundwork provided the strength and the thinness of the layer had sufficient
give ” to overcome the shrinkage difficulty.
If the moulding were extra big the work would be allowed to stand until full shrinkage had taken place, when the inevitable splits would be filled in. All but the smallest mouldings were made in this way, and even these in the best work were cross-grained. It is a point to look for in an old piece. Fig. 71 shows how a cornice moulding was built up, and the plate on p. 125 gives a number of sections, in some of which the facing layer of walnut is also shown.
A rather later chest, dating from about 1690, is given in Fig. 72, and it will be noticed that, although it embodies many similar features to the chest in Fig. 70, it is of altogether better proportions and approaches a period when walnut furniture was at its best. The drawer fronts are veneered and have the herring-bone banding around the edges, and there is the half-round moulding on the drawer rails and cabinet ends. The frieze of flat rounded section veneered with cross-grained walnut should be noted because a great deal of walnut furniture had this detail. It was copied from the cornice and frieze built in many houses of the period. Turned legs with the inverted cup shape are peculiar to William and Mary pieces, and, although other shapes were used, they are usually a good indication of the period. Note that the flat stretcher similar to that in Fig. 70 is still used.
One other point to note is that the veneering has the effect of hiding the construction almost entirely. Take the stand, for instance. There is no indication of where the rails are joined to the legs. This is in contrast with the older oak furniture in which all the joints were apparent, and in which the grain always ran in the direction which strength demanded. The appreciation of points such as this enables one to understand the root of the changes that were taking place.
Tallboys.—Two other chests are given in Fig. 73. That to the left is late seventeenth century, but the other is of Queen Anne’s reign and shows the final development of the walnut period. It is a close approach to that delightful looking, but rather impractical, article the tallboy chest. Presumably men felt that the drawer was so extremely useful (and it undoubtedly was) that the more they could fit into a piece the more useful it became. It was like many another good idea, spoilt by being taken to extremes. Any reader who has possessed one of these tallboys will appreciate the nuisance of having to mount up on a chair to reach the contents of the top drawers.
In this chest we also have a feature which we shall frequently run across in Queen Anne work, the apron piece. This is the shaped rail joining the legs beneath the lower drawers. It appears in the chest in Fig. 72, and in the left-hand example in Fig. 73. It was the natural result of the introduction of veneering, or, to be more accurate, it was a detail which was made possible only by veneering. If, for instance, the veneer were stripped off, the joints of the various rails would be exposed with the applied apron piece showing beneath. Such an arrangement would be unsightly, but when covered with veneer makes an attractive and characteristic feature. Sometimes the shaped edges were covered with a cocked bead. The chest in Fig. 72 has this detail.
One other outstanding feature of this chest, Fig. 73, is that in it we have the first introduction to the cabriole leg which enjoyed so vast a popularity in the eighteenth century. We shall deal with this more fully presently when we come to speak about chairs, but it is worth while noting its use in pieces of this kind.
Drawer Construction.—In all these chests, the drawer sides, backs, and bottoms were invariably of oak. Walnut was still a comparatively rare wood—it was probably not planted in this country until Elizabeth’s reign—and on that account was costly. Furthermore oak was the better calculated to withstand the wear inevitable on the sliding surfaces. Oak was also used for the groundwork of the drawer fronts, though there was a tendency to use pine for the purpose, because experience showed that oak did not grip the glue as well as pine. Also, the figure in the oak was liable to show through the veneer eventually because of the shrinkage of the softer parts of the timber. However, it is no criterion, for both were used for the purpose.
When a walnut moulding was required at the edges (except in the case of the cocked bead) a slip of cross-grained walnut was first let in all round and the veneer laid over this. This enabled the moulding to be worked in the walnut at the edges. It was unnecessary in a cocked bead, for this could be applied afterwards in a rebate worked for the purpose.

FIG. 70. WALNUT CHEST OF DRAWERS ON STAND.
About 1670.
The upright grain of the veneered drawer fronts, the herringbone banding,
the cross-grained bead on the rails, and the flat stretchers are typical
of the period.

FIG. 71. HOW CROSS-GRAINED WALNUT
MOULDINGS WERE BUILT UP.
Strips of cross-grained walnut are glued to a
groundwork of pine or oak.

FIG. 72. WILLIAM AND MARY CHEST OF DRAWERS ON
STAND.
The inverted cup turned legs and flat stretcher were extremely popular at the period. The rounded frieze continued into the Queen Anne period.

Art Nouveau English Furniture: OCCASIONAL TABLE, TWO-TIER ETAGERE, DISPLAY CABINET, REVIVAL FURNITURE

WHILE SOME EDWARDIAN households
embraced the latest Art Nouveau forms, many returned to the furniture styles of the past and the latest Classical revivals. Designs from various historical periods were dusted off and reworked by companies throughout Britain. Inspiration ranged from the distant past – Renaissance, Elizabethan, Jacobean, and even Gothic – to the more recent Neoclassical work of Sheraton, Hepplewhite, and Robert Adam. The result was comfortable rather than cutting-edge, and less cluttered than the Victorian ideal.
Art Nouveau and Revival furniture were made in parallel to satisfy the needs of the less adventurous Edwardians as well as those who subscribed to
the latest fashions.
REVIVAL FURNITURE
The Revival trend had started in the late 19th century after a new series of interior design books, aimed at the middle classes, reignited the fashion for the three great names of British Neoclassical furniture. Then, in 1897, Sheraton’s The Cabinet-Maker and
Upholsterer’s Drawing Book and Hepplewhite’s The Cabinet-Maher and
Upholsterer’s Guide were reprinted and the Revival was confirmed. The result was a fusion of the work of these three designers, adapted to suit smaller
Edwardian rooms and a desire for comfort. It was also a rejection of the heavy, sombre furniture popular in Victorian times.
Revival furniture was often made from light mahogany, satinwood, or satin-birch, and decorated with stringing, crossbanding, and wooden inlays of fans or shells, set with bone, or painted with flowers and foliate scrolls. Decoration was often elaborate. Sometimes pieces were made from less exotic and expensive wood and
painted to resemble satinwood. Some designers slimmed down Sheraton’s designs to make them more delicate. This occasionally went too far and resulted in pieces that were spindly and out of proportion.
Others took the path of true imitation
and aimed to recreate Sheraton and
other Neoclassical designers exactly
Some of these pieces are so faithful to
the original that it takes an expert to tell them apart. Gillow of Lancaster and Edwards and Roberts of London are among the best of these furniture-makers, but many other firms made inexpensive copies for the mass-market. Many pieces were not marked by the makers, so attributing them can be difficult.
A STEADY DEMAND
Despite the volume of furniture made, much Edwardian furniture was of
good quality However, veneers were sometimes used to disguise poor construction. There was a great demand for desks; bookcases; chests-of-drawers; display cabinets; commodes; side, dining, and other chairs; tables including dining, occasional, and dressing; marble-topped washstands; bedside cupboards; and wardrobes that were frequently part of a bedroom suite.
Sofas were often based on Sheraton and Hepplewhite styles, but were less overblown than Victorian examples. Manufacturers made suites of chairs with matching sofas, usually from
mahogany, but sometimes walnut or satinwood. Seats were often upholstered in silk or damask, while the backs and sides were caned.
PRINCIPAL MAKERS
Important names in Edwardian furniture included Waring and Gillow and Maple and Co. Maples was based in Tottenham Court Road, London, and was the largest furniture store in the world. It made its own furniture
for sale at home and abroad, and drew its customers from both the middle and upper classes and even royalty – Tsar Nicholas of Russia furnished his Winter Palace with furniture from its workrooms. Maples also furnished British Embassies, even going so far as to arrange for a grand piano to be carried up the Khyber Pass on packhorses.
For those whose taste did not fit in with either the Revival or Art Nouveau movements, there was an opportunity to furnish their homes in an exotic
manner using the new bamboo and wicker furniture, or pieces with a Moorish or Japanese influence.

SIDE CHAIR
This is one of a pair of Sheraton Revival satinwood side chairs. The pierced, oval back is centred by a portrait of a young girl, and the seat is covered with caning. The front legs are turned. Early 20th century.
SATINWOOD VITRINE
The elegant proportions of this cabinet are characteristic of the Edwardian era, when furniture became more slender and delicate. Influences were diverse, but the painted swag decoration, medallions, and motifs typical of
Glass panels allow treasured objects to be displayed.
Painted swags and medallions are Classically inspired.
The casing and legs are slender and delicate.
the period, are Classical in style. The cornice and pediment are decorated with portrait-style paintings. Vitrines did not become common until the second half of the 19th century. This one bears a label from Maple & Co.
OCCASIONAL TABLE
This circular table is made from mahogany and has satinwood banding and floral marquetry. The square tapered supports are united by stretchers. Early 20th century.

LADY’S WRITING DESK
Probably made by Maple & Co, this rosewood and marquetry compact lady’s writing desk, or bonheur, du jour, has a raised, galleried back with lidded interior compartments. The inset-leather writing surface sits above three frieze drawers and the piece is raised on slender legs. c. 1905.
Elaborate drop handle
Classical inlay motif
ROLLTOP DESK
TWO-TIER ETAGERE
The lid of this satinwood marquetry-decorated piece opens to reveal a mechanical interior. Initially introduced in the 18th century, the rolltop desk was reinterpreted during the Art Nouveau period to meet changing tastes. Early 20th century.
This etagere is made of inlaid mahogany and satinwood banding. The top is formed from a later glass-based tray, and the piece stands on square, swept supports. Etageres were used for displaying objects or serving food.
Early 20th century.
This impressive mahogany cabinet has fine crossbanded decoration and an astragal-glazed door and panels. The cornice is centred with an architectural pediment and the base is decorated with fiddleback mahogany and satinwood lozenges on the central door and canted sides. The cabinet is supported on slender legs. Early 20th century.
DISPLAY CABINET

FRANCE: LOUIS-PHILIPPE
LOUIS-PHILIPPE WAS THE LAST monarch
to be recognized by the people of France. Descended from the House of Orleans, he faced opposition from the Legitimists who wished to see a Bourbon regain the French throne, as well as from Republicans and those in the Napoleonist camp. Aware of the
deep divisions that troubled his nation, Louis-Philippe strove to restore unity during his 18-year reign (1830-48). He adopted the populist title “King of the French” and founded the Museum of French History, which he dedicated to “All of France’s glories”. The king was also a significant patron of the arts
and his love of architecture can be seen today in the buildings he commissioned at Versailles.
A HAPPY DISARRAY OF STYLES Furniture of the period reflected Louis-Philippe’s reconciliatory agenda. Revivals of various historical styles remained popular, despite often having close associations with the Bourbon monarchy. Fashionable citizens and those wishing to show off their newfound wealth would furnish their dining rooms in the Renaissance
style and their living rooms with pieces imitating Louis-XIV taste. An altogether different tenor was struck by exponents of the Cathedral style, or gothique troubadour, which harked back to the Gothic era. Characterized by deep carving and moulding, frequently incorporating devotional motifs, the Cathedral style was architectural, and its heavy aspect suited to darker woods such as oak. There was a move away from the lighter woods that were popular during Charles X’s reign (1824-30), and manufacturers favoured walnut and more exotic hardwoods such as mahogany and rosewood, which were imported from France’s colonies.
REFRESHING AND MODEST Simple and sturdy, the Louis-Philippe style displayed a confidence that did not require excessive surface decoration. Instead, cabinet-makers asserted their assurance through large, hold forms with simple lines. Where materials other than wood were incorporated into the body of a piece, they were designed to blend into and complement the whole. Gilt-metal Mounts depicting mythological or grotesque figures and marble table tops were employed to bring out the colours and textures of the woods, sometimes accentuated with flame veneer Industrial cutting techniques reduced the amount of labour required in the manufacture of furniture. This resulted in a greater availability of pieces. New forms included the canape borne, or “sociable sofa”, which consisted of an upholstered scat with central cushions, allowing users to sit facing opposite directions, and a whole range of pieces made from wood and wrought and cast iron for furnishing the Jardins d`hiver or conservatories.
MAHOGANY COMMODE
This Louis-Philippe mahogany commode has a rectangular, grey, fossilized marble top with rounded corners, which rests on top of a concave frieze drawer. Below this drawer are
three long drawers all featuring matching flame mahogany veneers. The case stands on a plinth supported on four square, bun feet. c. 1840.
WALNUT TABLE
This walnut drop-leaf dining table features additional leaves (totalling five when fully extended). The table top is supported on six turned legs, which terminate in casters. c.1840.
DRESSING TABLE
This elegant ebony-inlaid dressing table is made of satinwood and decorated with foliate scrolls. The upper section has a rectangular mirror flanked by carved upright supports in the form of swans. Below the mirror are two real and three dummy drawers. The lower section of the dressing table has a dish top
above a frieze drawer, which is raised on lotus leaf carved pilasters supported on a shaped platform base and raised on turned feet. The back of this section is covered with mirror glass. This piece is more reminiscent of the style of furniture prevalent during the reign of the last Bourbon king, Charles X (reigned 1824-30), with its light wood veneers. c.1840.
GUERIDON
This Gueridon (French candlestand) has a marble top with a recessed centre. This top is supported on a baluster-shaped column, which terminates in a tripod base. The lion’s paw feet at the ends of the base rest on casters. c.1840.
BREAKFRONT BOOKCASE
The upper section of this walnut breakfront bookcase has a raised central door with applied cusped mouldings, flanked by corresponding doors with lower panels. The three doors of the upper section are divided by rung turned columns
with octagonal turrets and finials. The lower section of the bookcase follows the style of the upper section: the central door has an applied circular cusp panel and is flanked on either side by a door with arched panelling. The whole stands on a plinth base. c.1840
LOUIS-PHILIPPE
This walnut and gilt-brass vitrine has mahogany banding, and boxwood and ebony stringing. It is raised on a plinth with flattened, bun feet. The rectangular top has canted angles. The single glazed door has a frame inlaid with specimen woods and applied rosettes.

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

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

Stands and racks
The term “stand” is used in a wide-ranging sense and implies any kind of support. Although the word can be used for a piece joined to another item of furniture, such as a cabinet stand, this section looks at stands complete in themselves. Such stands were specifically designed to be both highly practical and easily portable. Although they were often embellished with the fashionable decorative qualities of the day, the common feature of these pieces was that function always prevailed over style.
FOLIO AND READING STANDS
The folio stand allowed the reader to store a heavy book temporarily, to browse through at leisure, rather than having to keep taking it down from a library shelf and replacing it. Folio stands were usually adjustable, often with hinged or ratchet actions, to allow for different thicknesses of books or to hold several at once. Before
the 20th century it was common practice to read standing up, but books were heavy to hold. A reading stand, designed for resting the book on, provided the solution. Some reading stands were also intended to hold Music scores, while others were more robustly constructed to take the greater weight of a book. Like folio stands, reading stands could be adjusted so that the reader was able to place the book at different heights and angles.
CANTERBURIES
Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) referred to two types of canterbury in The Cabinet Dictionary (1803): the music stand and the
supper tray. He described the first as “a small music stand”, or open-topped rack, with slatted partitions for the storage of loose sheets of music and bound music books. It generally had four short legs on casters, so that it could be moved or kicked away easily, and was short enough to be stored inconspicuously beneath the piano. Commonly used for the storage of magazines today, it was first introduced in Britain in the 1780s. It is thought that the canterbury was named after an Archbishop of Canterbury, for whom the first example was made. Two such stands were illustrated in A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1808) by George Smith (active c.1786-1826). He wrote that “they are intended for holding such music books as are in constant use and may be manufactured in mahogany, rosewood, or bronzed and gilt”.
Some stands had sides of wire latticework, and in these examples the slatted partitions were usually omitted. Others, for example some made for the International Exhibition of 1862 in London, were constructed of wood but decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on papier-mache, which was then overpainted with gilt and coloured varnishes.
The second type of canterbury to which Sheraton referred was “a supper tray, made to stand by a table at supper, with a circular end, and three partitions cross-wise, to hold knives, forks, and plates, at that end, which is made circular on purpose”. Much taller than the music-stand type of canterbury, the supper tray resembles a small table. It was used, like the dumb waiter, when service in the dining-room was dispensed with, especially particularly at informal parties. It too stood on casters so that it was easy to move around, and often had splayed legs which provided greater stability.
DUMB WAITERS
First invented and used in
Britain c.1725, the dumb waiter consisted of a central shaft with
circular trays, which often revolved. The trays increased in size from top to bottom, and
terminated in a tripod foot. In The Cabinet
Dictionary, Sheraton described it as “a useful piece of furniture, to serve in some respects the place of a waiter, whence it is so named”. The absence of a human attendant helped confidential dining, and the dumb
waiter was generally placed at the corner of the dining-table for diners to help themselves to
additional plates, knives and forks, pudding, and cheese. After dinner, bottles of drink and glasses were placed on the trays of the stand.
Toward the end of the 18th century, the use of the dumb waiter had spread to France and Germany in differing forms. At that time in Britain, the dumb waiter was elaborated, and new varieties were introduced. Plain elegance was eschewed in favour of such decoration as Gothic fretwork, leaf moulding, and curves. Quadruped supports often supplanted the traditional tripod base. In 1803 Sheraton gave two new designs in his Dictionary: the first was “partly from the French taste”, and on the top was a thin layer of marble “which not only keeps cleaner and looks neater than mahogany, but also tends to keep the wine cool when a bottle for present use is placed upon it”. There were knife trays, shelves for plates, and holes, lined with tin, for bottles and decanters. Sheraton’s second design had two levels, not three, although there were drawers underneath the lower for cutlery or dirty plates, and it rested on a quadruped, spider-legged stand.
In the early 19th century in Britain a Classical air, which had no prototype in antiquity, was imparted to many types of furniture, including dumb waiters. Grecian motifs such as lyres provided novelty, and by the Victorian era designs for dumb waiters were as eclectic as those for any other piece of furniture.
WHATNOTS
This type of stand was intended to display a variety of objets d’art, ornaments, curiosities, books, and papers. Generally rectangular in shape, with three shelves, and possibly one or two drawers beneath them, they were supported by turned columns at the angles. The first published reference to the whatnot occurred in 1808 in the Correspondence of Sarah, Lady Lyttleton, but it is also mentioned in the cost books of the firm of
Gillow (est. c.1730) of Lancaster eight years earlier. Whatnots were extremely popular throughout the 19th century. They were usually made of mahogany or rosewood, and were sometimes embellished with ormolu
mounts. In addition, the shelves of some pieces were
edged with pierced brass galleries.
ETAGERES
The French etagere, meaning “stand”, combined the qualities of the English dumb waiter and the whatnot. A two- or sometimes three-tiered table, it was intended either for displaying objects or for serving food. In some cases the top tier could be removed and used as a tray. Casters and handles on the lower tier enabled the piece to be pulled around a room. French etageres were more highly decorated and sinuous than their British counterparts. By the second half of the 19th
century there was an enormous variety of designs available, ranging from ones that recalled the Louis XIV and Boulle styles to those featuring ormolu mounts, gilding, naturalistic motifs, and exaggerated Rococo curves and scrolls.
MUSIC STANDS
While the Canterbury was for storing music, the music stand was designed for playing a score. Music stands were purely functional before c.1770. Professional musicians provided their own, utilitarian, stands and in any case often played sitting down. The development of the music stand as a decorative item marks the fashion in the late 18th century for private recitals, at which works by composers of the chamber form, particularly Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert, were played. Even then, function took precedence over adornment.
• ALTERATIONS often polescreens have been converted into music stands; ensure that all the platforms on dumb waiters match, and that a three-tier waiter has not been converted into a two-tier one: look carefully at the size of the tier, and the balance and proportions.
• COLLECTING canterburies arc generally very popular with collectors because of their small size, particularly Regency examples, which because of their delicate form have often had one or more of their divisions replaced; small whatnots with hinged tops are very commercial and are generally made in mahogany; the tiers of some dumb waiters were hinged at either side with two drop flaps so that they could be discreetly stored away; good-quality waiters have galleried tiers.

Bookcases and bookshelves
The early history of the bookcase is tied up with the development of monastic and collegiate book collections. Books were a great luxury long after the invention of printing, and even the wealthiest people who knew how to read were unlikely to possess more than a few, which Could easily be stored in a chest or cupboard. The bookcase developed both in its own right, as a piece of library furniture, and in conjunction with other pieces such as bureau bookcases. The first bookcases of any significant note date from the early 18th century.
18TH-CENTURY BOOKCASES
Early 18th-century bookcases are extremely rare, and were made in oak veneered in walnut, of simple design and proportions. Examples were flat fronted and of two sections: the upper section was glazed with simple rectangular panes, while the lower section had two doors behind which were drawers. By the mid-1730s the form had become increasingly heavy and architectural, in the manner promoted by William Kent (c.1685-1748). Features include a broken pediment, pilasters, and richly carved Classical decoration.
By the mid-18th century the severely architectural Palladian-style bookcase was displaced by the lighter Rococo style. A familiar bookcase design, comprising a main central break-front section and two side wings retaining its upper glazed section, was developed. The preferred wood for bookcases, as with all furniture of this period, was mahogany. The scrolled pediment above the break-front centre was often pierced after 1750. Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) included 14 designs for bookcases in the third edition of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1762). Until c.1750, solid glazing-bars were used to retain the rectangular panes of glass in the upper section. After this time they were largely replaced by astragals (glazing-bars with semicircular profiles), which could be arranged in more elaborate and varied patterns, including Gothic and chinoiserie designs. The astragal decoration usually conforms to that on the rest of the bookcase.
From c.1770, Neo-classicism became by far the most important influence on the design of fashionable bookcases. The architect Robert Adam (1728-92) specifically designed large bookcases to correlate with the architecture and overall decoration of the rooms for which they were intended; they were usually made to stand in recesses. Some bookcases were made in satinwood while others were made in inexpensive pine and painted in various colours with gilded enrichments. Adam’s designs were published and particularly well received in Italy, and his influence may be seen in rare examples of grand, painted, and parcel-gilded Neoclassical Italian bookcases of the late 18th century.
The bookcases detailed in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788-94) by George Hepplewhite (d.1786) were even more luxurious; the doors were veneered with waved or curled mahogany, which was sometimes crossbanded and inlaid, and were fitted with simple ring handles. The designs in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterers Drawing Book (1791-1802) by Thomas Sheraton ( 1751-1806) illustrated a new fashion for a lighter, narrower bookcase with a taller lower section. This type of bookcase was typically veneered in satinwood and topped with a lightly scrolled or lunette-shaped pediment, vase finials, and delicate mouldings. Some bookcases contained gathered silk curtains behind shelves in the centre, bordered by panels or doors, “calculated to contain all the books that may be required in a sitting-room without reference to the library”. This generally featured applied metal ornaments and gilded columns or terminals. Revolving bookcases were introduced c.1810, initially in circular form, although rectangular shapes were also produced;
rectangula examples of this space-saving form were made during the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
A great change took place in the early 19th century, initiated by the London publisher William Pickering (1796-1854), who issued books in cloth bindings, thus reducing their price and bringing them within reach of the general public. Machines were introduced for gluing, rather than sewing, the pages together. Together with the expansion of education, book-buying was encouraged. The increasingly literate population therefore created a demand for attractive book-storage space. Gothic Revival bookcases were generally made in oak and were in a style that was interpreted either as a basic functional bookcase, with decorative architectural details grafted onto it, or as a more authentic interpretation with exposed joints. This rather masculine style was considered to be an appropriate one for the Victorian library. One of the most popular types during the 19th century was the secretaire bookcase.
19TH-CENTURY BOOKCASES
In The Cabinet Dictionary ( 1803), Sheraton referred to the “bookshelf” or bookstand, which was a set of light, low, open bookshelves with socket casters on the feet, making it easy to move. There was a
variety of designs, some of which resembled the open-tiered whatnot or etagere. Dwarf bookcases were also in use at this time, and were particularly suitable for delicate Neoclassical decoration. In his book A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and
Interior Decoration (1808), George Smith (active c.1786-1828) recommended placing a dwarf bookcase at each end of a room, with a library table in between, to produce “a grand and pleasing effect”. Also popular was a hybrid version of a low bookcase and a commode, with revolving bookcase.
The patent for the revolving bookcase, a way of storing books and saving wall space, was taken out by Benjamin Crosby in 1808. This type of British rectangular mahogany bookcase was particularly popular in the Edwardian period and continues to be made today.
• ALTERATIONS make sure that the proportions of the bookcase are correct, as some were reduced in height or width in order to fit into the smaller 20th-century room: a large bookcase with up to six sections may well have been reduced to four, which could affect the Value of a piece considerably; pediments have often been flattened off, again so that the bookcases can fit into a room with a lower ceiling.
• GLAZING the astragals should be rebated into the door frame, and this should be visible on the inside of the door; in later 19th-century versions the glass is usually of one piece, and the mullions arc simply laid on top.
• PROPORTIONS the glazed section of a late 18th-century bookcase is frequently less deep than the base.
• MARRIAGES as in all two- or three-part furniture, it is important to establish that all the parts started life together and that the following features correspond: the quality, colour, patina, and figuring of the wood; the methods of construction; the decorative details such as applied moulding.