Posts Tagged ‘can antique dressers pair with modern furniture’

Egypt
In Ancient Egypt jewels were an important part of costume; they were worn by men and children as well as by women, and were often used to adorn statues of gods and goddesses. Images of sacred animals such as cats and crocodiles are often given necklaces, bracelets and earrings made of gold. Earrings, introduced from Asia, seem to have appeared later than other types of jewellery and the earliest important example dates from the end of the second intermediary period (circa 1600 BC). This is a pair consisting of several hoops soldered together which would have hung from large holes pierced in the earlobes. Another early type is a simple hoop of gold, glass paste, faience, jasper or other semiprecious stone worn by pulling the earlobe through the open end, something that was possibly done in infancy.
X-ray photographs of mummies in the Cairo Museum show earlobes extremely elongated and deformed by the use of very heavy ear ornaments in childhood. One mummy in the museum of Turin has two earrings worn on the same earlobe. The mummy of Tutankhamen has large holes pierced in the earlobes, proving that earrings were worn by men as well as women.
During the New Kingdom (1559-1085 BC) large earplugs came into fashion and these also caused deformation of the earlobes. They are designed as faience discs and have a groove round the edge which enabled them to fit into an enlarged hole stretched in the earlobes. Other ear ornaments of contemporary date were in the form of mushroom-shaped studs with the stem pushed through such a hole. In both cases these ornaments were worn in the plane of the ear rather than at right angles to it.
By the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty the decoration of earrings was very varied: cascades of drops, flowers and bell-shaped motifs for pendent earrings and rosettes and flowerhead motifs for the large discs.
The Greek World
Around 800 BC contacts between Greece and the East became closer and two centuries of Oriental influence in Greek art followed. Cyprus and Syria — taken in the broad sense to include Phoenicia and the Neo-Hittite North Syria — were the two countries that mainly influenced Greece, the latter acting as a channel for Egyptian and Mesopotamian influence.
The relative abundance of gold artefacts of this period is undoubtedly related to the opening up of the East to the Greek world through colonization, giving access to rich sources of precious metal in Asia Minor, especially to the Lydian gold mines. The preponderance of the ateliers of Eastern Greece throughout the period is evidence of this. Embossing, filigree and granulation grew in popularity and inlaying with stones, amber and glass made its appearance. Gold earrings of flat crescent design, often decorated with granulation and inlays, and suspended with fine chains are well represented, as well as earrings designed as spirals to be thrust through a hole in the lobe. They were either simple gold wire spirals or had a variety of finials decorated with beading and granulation, worn with the ends pointing upwards. Many variations of this type are known, some with more, some with fewer turns of thin and thick gold wire, others splayed out in the form of a letter W with a higher central point. In the late 7th century the W-shaped spiral was sometimes decorated with elaborate finials in the shape of griffins’ heads, pomegranates or rams heads of Oriental inspiration.
The crescent or boat-shaped earring of Eastern tradition, seen in Ur in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, finally reached Greece via Syria and Cyprus about 700 BC and the type was to flourish there and in the Hellenized centres of the Eastern Mediterranean for some four centuries. Greek examples of the 7th century BC are characterized by a rather fat boat-shaped motif, sometimes decorated with granulation, on a thin gold wire going through the pierced earlobe. The hoop with beaded pendant of Cypriot tradition became popular in the 7th and 6th centuries Bc but remained confined to Eastern Greece.
Greek jewellery of the 6th and early 5th centuries is of artistic brilliance but very little has survived. It is, however, amply documented in vase painting and sculpture. Three of the few regions relatively rich in archaic gold jewellery are Sicily, Rhodes and Cyprus, where crescent earrings of the traditional form continued to be produced.
It was not until after the Persian wars that gold became more plentiful in Greece. By the accidents of history, this Greek Classical jewellery is better known from examples found in Southern Russia, Cyprus and Southern Italy than from Greece proper. The forms were extremely varied and among the abundance of diadems, necklaces, bracelets, pendants and finger-rings, earrings were very popular. They came in three main forms: the boat or crescent, the spiral or helix, and the disc with cone or inverted pyramid pendant.
As in the Archaic period, vase painting and sculpture would seem to suggest that earrings were the most popular form of ornament; statues of female figures were frequently adorned with them, sometimes sculpted in marble and sometimes made of precious metal, as can be inferred from the holes pierced in the ears. It is possible that the ornaments created to adorn statues or donated to temples to be worn by images of goddesses in religious processions were more elaborate, rich and complex than those used in ordinary life, which were buried with the dead and have now been recovered from graves. That they were part of ordinary dress is proved by representation on coins, vase paintings and terracotta figures.
As already mentioned, most of these surviving examples came from areas outside mainland Greece, such as Etruria and Southern Italy.
The boat-shaped earring, which, as we have seen, dates back at least to 13th-century Cyprus, was the most popular form of ear ornament in the Classical period. In its simplest form it consisted of a crescent terminating in a wire for insertion into the earlobe, and remained in fashion, virtually without a break, throughout antiquity. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC it was widespread throughout Southern Russia, Thracia, Macedonia and also Sicily where it was depicted on Syracusae coins of 474-450 Bc adorning the head of Artemis-Arethusa.
P 25 The earliest examples from the Classical period are very simple, consisting of a boat-shaped motif decorated with beading, filigree and granulation. Later, in the second half of the 4th century BC, they tend to be more elaborate in design, often with suspended pendants and chains of various types. Among the most complex examples of the boat-shaped earring is one from Tarentum where the boat is completely encrusted with filigree, granulation, leaf and palmetto motifs and is merely a vehicle
P. 27 for the exuberant decoration of rosettes, nikai, doves, chains and pendants. This decorative repertoire of palmettos, rosettes, flowerheads and spirals can also be found, enlarged, on contemporary vase painting and funerary monuments. The Tarentum example perfectly illustrates the general trend of the period towards increasing elaboration of decoration which is common to the whole Hellenic world. The heavy use of filigree floral motifs and stylized palmettos to enliven the flat surface of the basic boat-shape and the curved surface of the rosette petals are deliberately intended to create a complex chiaroscuro effect with light, shade and reflection and give drama and depth to the object; in later periods this effect was often achieved chromatically by the combination of various different gemstones and by the use of multicoloured enamels.
It is interesting to note that even at this stage the craftsmen of Tarentum were also catering for a less prosperous clientele, making gilt terracotta imitations of the type described above, probably cast in moulds taken from the more expensive gold examples — although it is possible that these cheaper, rather fragile ornaments were made specifically as grave goods.
Another very popular form of earring of the second half of the 5th century BC was that in the form of a disc supporting either one or three pendants, the central one invariably being a female head, an inverted pyramid, an amphora or a cone and the two flanking ones articulated chains with links of various types. By the Hellenistic period disc-and-pendant earrings were to become the most popular and widespread form of ear ornament.
Among the earliest examples is a superb pair from Tarentum, each with a disc decorated at the centre with a filigree rosette within a border of corded wire and beaded work and a female head suspended from a central pendant flanked by two chains of conical beads with bell-shaped terminals. The female head pendants are chased in great detail, with the hairstyle typical of the time as seen on terracottas, vase paintings and coins: parted at the centre, divided in two bandeaux and gathered in a large bun worn low on the nape of the neck. The hair being brushed away from the ears leaves ample space for a large pair of earrings consisting of a pyramidal cluster of beads suspended from a rosette. The great popularitiy of earrings throughout antiquity is certainly linked to the fashion for women to wear the hair gathered at the top or the back of the head, or at least brushed away from the temples.
The head-shaped pendants show an interesting feature: at the base there is a small hole into which it is likely that a piece of sponge or cloth soaked in perfumed oil was inserted. Putting perfumed sponges in necklace pendants was common in antiquity, and Etruscan earrings with perfume compartments have been found. Though not common, such earrings with female head pendants have been recovered in Southern Russia, Cyprus and Etruria.
Another highly significant detail on this example is the presence on the disc and chains of small traces of delicately coloured enamel. The introduction of polychrome enamels in jewellery was an important innovation that dramatically transformed the work of Greek goldsmiths, who had until then achieved effects of movement and contrast through the use of filigree and granulation. It is unfortunate that in this and many other examples the major part of the enamel has now worn away, since polychrome enamels defined the different elements of the decoration, and were therefore essential to the overall effect of the piece.
Rather more widely dispersed were disc earrings with an inverted pyramid pendant often between two chains. This type of pendant, already seen in the Archaic and early Classical periods, became very fashionable towards the end of the 5th century, reaching the height of its popularity in the 4th century BC, and continued to be one of the favourite forms of ear ornament of the Hellenistic period: many examples have been found in Cyprus, Southern Russia, Macedonia and Apulia. The type is also represented on coins from Elis, Locri, Metapontum and Tarentum, on the tetra-drachm of Eukleidas from Syracuse, and on 4th-century BC terracotta antefixes from Tarentum, Metapontum and Heraclea.
The earliest examples are characterized by extremely elaborate gold leaf applications, filigree and granulation on both disc and pyramidal pendant. Later examples are simpler and often completely undecorated apart from a gemstone, usually a garnet, set at the centre of the disc. Gemstones, which made their first appearance in jewellery towards the end of the 4th century BC, became more and more prominent from now until Roman times.
Contemporary with the earring types described above and just as important were
disc earrings with a vase or a cone pendant. They enjoyed a long period of popularity,
P. 26 peaking between the 2nd and i st century BC. Tarentum, Cyprus and Southern Russia
offer the best examples, often set with garnets, coloured glass beads and pearls. This
type is well documented on Syracusae and African coins of the ,3rd and 2nd century
BC.
P. 28, 29 Hellenistic art is cosmopolitan in character, the same forms being found all over the Eastern Mediterranean. Jewellery was no exception-, examples from Apulia are hardly distinguishable from those from Thessaly, Macedonia, Asia Minor, Thrace or Southern Russia.
Particularly popular in the 2nd century BC were disc earrings with bird pendants
made of glass paste. Sirens, peacocks and other winged creatures naturalistically P. 31 modelled in this way were widely popular. The dove was a special favourite because
of its assocation with Aphrodite.
Another variation on the same theme is where the pendant assumes the shape of a miniature Eros. Eros, tutelary god of death and love with his double symbolism, erotic and funerary, is a very common motif in Hellenistic jewellery from the late 4th to the late 2nd century Bc and is represented in various ways. Almost as popular was Nike or Victory, a feminine version of Eros. With time, emphasis on the human figure became so pronounced that the disc disappeared, leaving Eros or Nike simply suspended from the earlobe by means of a hook of gold wire.
Another very popular type of ear ornament from the Classical period is the helix earring, comprising a tubular piece of thin gold leaf twisted into a spiral with various decorative motifs as terminals. This had already existed in the Archaic period and was very well known to the Oriental Greek world as early as the 7th century BC. Many examples have been found in Cyprus, Rhodes, Thrace, Macedonia and Southern Russia, all related to the same prototype, probably of Cypriot origin, descended from the Mycenean spirals of Enkomi. Towards the mid-4th century BC, another form of earring appeared, consisting of an open circle with a small pointed finial on one side and a larger terminal in the shape of a human or animal head on the other. There are similar examples with human or animal heads on both terminals, one larger than the other. These remained popular throughout the Hellenized world until the beginning of the i st century BC. The favourite motif for the terminal was the lion head, but antelopes’, rams’, dogs’ and bulls’ heads are also known, their eyes set with gemstones or coloured glass pastes.
Both helix and animals’ head earrings raise the question of how they were worn. By modern standards they seem too large to be pushed through a hole in the earlobe, but no alternative fitting has ever been found. We must assume, therefore, that in the past women submitted themselves to far greater tortures than we are prepared to suffer today for the sake of fashion.
The conquests of Alexander the Great between 333 and 322 BC transformed the Greek world. Vast territories came within the Greek sphere of influence, while at the same time Greece itself was exposed to influences from Egypt and Asia. The Hellenistic age, as culturally and artistically defined, lasted from about 322 BC until the inauguration of the Roman Empire in 27 BC. Much jewellery has survived from this period. Gold became more widely available through intensive mining in Thrace and the dispersal of captured Persian treasures.
Earrings were designed as simple gold hoops either decorated at the front with a
single motif, such as a bird, a dolphin, a bunch of grapes, or a negro’s head, or hav-
ing a pendant in the form of such a motif. Much use was made of glass paste and gemstones to pick out details and create contrasts of colour, and a new technique known as `dipped enamel’ was introduced to give a multicoloured effect, especially to earring pendants in the shape of birds or other creatures.
Together with these types, which are very typical of their period, many other earrings of older design continued to be produced and amongst these the disc-andpendant model was perhaps the favourite.
Etruscan
The earliest remains of the Etruscans of central Italy are dated about 700 BC, continuing in a recognizable form until about the i st century BC. Their great wealth, attributable largely to the mineral resources of the country, is reflected in the sumptuousness of their tombs. In female graves, vessels of precious metal and silver and gold jewellery such as fibulae, pectorals, bracelets and elaborate earrings reflect not only the important role women had in that society, but also jewellery’s function of `hoard’ and ‘reserve fund’. Although in its earliest manifestations Etruscan art was remarkably free of Greek influences, it did not long remain so, and by the end of the 7th century Be Greek artistic influence was becoming increasingly significant. Etruscan art, however, never lost its identity completely.
The earliest Etruscan earrings, of about 625 BC, in the shape of crescents and hoops, are not dissimilar to those found elsewhere in the Greek world at the same time. The first truly Etruscan form of earring made its appearance just before the
p. 28, 29 mid-6th century. The type is known as a baule, Italian for a bag or a travelling case, and it is perhaps the best known form of Etruscan ornament. Its popularity lasted just over a century. It consists of a strip of gold leaf bent round to form a cylinder, the two ends connected by a gold wire also acting as a suspension hoop. The ends of the cylinder were sometimes closed by a circular gold plate. The decoration, consisting of gold leaf application in the form of stylized flowers and rosettes, embossed leaves or geometrical motifs, filigree and granulation occasionally embellished with polychrome enamels, shows a certain ‘horror vacui’, pressing as many decorative details as possible onto the small gold surface.
Another type of earring of typical Etruscan design, which first appeared in the second half of the 6th century, is the disc richly decorated with concentric bands of
P. 3 I floral and geometrical motifs embossed or made of filigree and granulation, often inlayed with gemstones, amber or glass paste. Earstuds would perhaps be a more appropriate name for this type of ornament, with a hollow tube at the back ending in a loop to be pushed through the earlobe and a safety chain attached to the side of the disc for fixing the loop. The origin of these large ear-ornaments, which in some cases measure as much as 7cms in diameter, is probably Lydia.
In the 5th century BC the most fashionable and widespread form of ornament in the
P 30 Etruscan world was a type of earring consisting of a tubular hoop decorated at one end with the head of a woman, a river-god, a ram or a lion. With slight variations, it remained popular throughout the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
Among the most characteristic earrings of the 4th and 3rd centuries is the
P 29, 31 horseshoe-shaped plaque type, mounted with a cluster of embossed globules, hollow inside in order to act as containers for perfumed oil. An entirely Etruscan creation, these earrings were very popular throughout the country as can be seen from the many surviving examples and their frequent reproduction on terracotta and vase paintings. Particularly interesting in this respect is a group of votive statues found in Lavinium, depicting female figures bejewelled with necklaces and earrings of this type apparently moulded directly from the gold originals. These cluster earrings remain very frequent in tombs of the 4th century Be and tend to disappear in favour of new models coming from abroad only towards the end of the Classical age.
What we can describe as a ‘Greek Taste’ did not appear in Etruscan jewellery until the last thirty years of the 4th century and must be seen in the context of the general process of Hellenization which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. The typical Etruscan forms gradually disappeared to be replaced by the more international disc-and-pendants, the pendants supporting shapes such as inverted pyramids, birds, bells and amphorae, or by hoops decorated at the front with amber heads of negroes. In some examples local tradition and external influence blend together; e.g., a gold hoop, decorated at the front with a horseshoe-shaped motif typical of the Etruscan taste, supporting a female head pendant of pure Tarentine inspiration.
Rome and Byzantium
Examples of silver and gold jewellery from pre-Republican and Republican Rome are very scarce. From those that survive we can conclude that between 70o and 250 Be Roman jewellery was for all practical purposes Etruscan. Material is even scarcer for the period between 25o and 27 BC, but we may assume that Roman jewellery, as well as Etruscan, was basically the same as Hellenistic.
For many centuries jewellery was a luxury looked upon with official disapproval in the Roman world. The amounts of gold which might be buried with the dead and which a Roman lady might wear were fixed by law. Certain items of personal adornment, moreover, such as finger rings, were strictly reserved to certain social classes and for specific occasions.
By 27 BC, when the Roman empire was established, Rome had finally swallowed up the remnants of the Hellenistic world with the annexation of Egypt in 30 BC. The political changes, however, had very little effect on minor arts, and during the first years of the empire jewellery continued to be produced in Hellenistic forms. The major centres of jewellery manufacture were the old Hellenistic centres of Antioch and Alexandria, followed by Rome itself. Progressively wealth, luxury and ostentation replaced Republican sobriety and jewellery became important in display.
In the eastern part of the empire and in Egypt earrings designed as plain hoops or hoops decorated with human and animal heads of Hellenistic tradition continued to be produced with only minor variations until the 2nd century AD. Other types consisted of long S-shaped hooks with variously designed pendants. A new type appeared suddenly in the i st century AD and lasted for about a hundred years. It consisted of a gold hemisphere with an S-shaped hook fitted at the back, sometimes surmounted by a similar but smaller boss. This was very popular: many examples have been found as far apart as Rome, Cyprus, Siphnos and Palestine, and it is also frequently depicted on mummy portraits. Closely related is a type consisting of a spherical cluster of pearls or beads.
In the course of the 2nd century AD a whole new class of earrings appeared, quite unrelated to Hellenistic shapes. In its simplest form it consisted of a gemstone set in a large bezel holding a drop pendant, secured to the earlobe by means of an S-shaped hook. During the same period earrings were produced in the form of circular gem-set elements supporting horizontal bars with two or three pendants. Gemstones including sapphires, emeralds, aquamarines and topazes were by now freely employed in jewellery.
Literary sources such as Pliny, Seneca and Petronius have much to say on the subject of inaures andpendentes. Earrings were the favourite manner of displaying wealth for the patrician lady who often turned for advice to the auricolae ornatrices, women whose job was to attend to the problems caused by prolonged wearing of large and heavy earrings. The new extravagance has been referred to by Pliny who tells us that Caligula’s wife Lollia Paulina wore emeralds and pearls on her hair, head, arms and fingers as well as on her ears at everyday functions. Women, he says, liked to wear earrings set with two or three pearl drops that rattled at the slightest movement of the head; hence their name of crotalia.
During the 3rd century AD the Roman empire began to crumble; during the 4th it was divided into an eastern and a western empire; and during the 5th the western half collapsed leaving only the eastern empire, governed from Constantinople (formerly Byzantium). One effect of these changes was that Oriental influences were again powerful in Western art, but as far as jewellery is concerned, Roman techniques and
P. 32, 33 forms continued to be used and earrings with two or three gemset pendent drops remained normal.
Earrings appeared to have fallen from favour during the Byzantine period, with fashionable ladies preferring to wear large and elaborate ornaments on the temple or sides of the face, similar to those worn by the empress Theodora in the mosaic of San Vitale in Ravenna, but they did not completely disappear. The only truly Byzantine form of earring which was popular in the late 6th and 7th centuries consists of a large but light pierced gold crescent decorated with openwork stylized flower and scroll motifs.
In western Europe, jewellery production declined drastically, and only one form of earring stands out as original. This consists of a wire hoop, simple or twisted, decorated with a polyhedral motif, usually inset with garnets. The popularity of this type is confirmed by finds from Ostrogothic, Merovingian and Southern Russian sites dating from the 5th to the 9th century.
The Middle Ages
Although the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are particularly rich periods for jewellery in general, the role of earrings is so minor that one can say that they virtually disappear for the six hundred years between the i i th and i 6th centuries. The reason for this is to be found in hair and dress fashion: elaborate hairstyles, headdresses and high collared costumes left very little scope for earrings.
In the Middle Ages it was customary for a woman, especially married women, to conceal their hair with a coiffe hubet and from the middle of the 12th century with a barbette, which consisted of a stiffened head-band worn with a chin strap concealing the ears. Respectable married women had to keep their heads covered when seen in public, a rule which went back to St Paul: ‘For if the woman be not covered, let her be shorn or shaven: if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven let her be covered.’ The concealment of a woman’s hair was a way of demonstrating dependency on her husband who was the only man with the privilege of seeing it (a woman loosening her barbette in public would be regarded as unladylike and morally lax) and explains why unmarried girls were allowed to wear long and flowing hair. In both cases, however, the scope for earrings was non-existent; with the barbette the chin band covered the ears and the cheeks, not only preventing the use of earrings but also hindering eating and even speaking; on the other hand unmarried girls with their hair flowing over their ears also did not have the opportunity to display earrings. During the 13th century written evidence for earrings occurs only in books like the Roman de la Rose where unusual jewels such as earrings are listed: ‘Et met a ses deux oreilletes. Deus verges d’or pendans greletes’.
Around the middle of the 14th century hair fashions underwent a considerable change, becoming much more elaborate and frequently embellished with precious
head ornaments. One of the typical coiffures, which developed at the end of the 14th P. 37 century and retained its popularity for more than a hundred years, consisted of two thick braids of hair looped over the ears; another consisted of hair puffed out and padded over the ears and kept in shape by a gold net. The changes, however, did not improve the scope for earrings.

FRENCH FURNITURE
Louis XIV, 1643-1715
T is desirable for the man interested in English furniture
to have at least a working knowledge of the French styles,
if for no other reason than that of appreciating their influence on English work seventeenth century english stoneware . To understand them thoroughly is a study equally as wide and intricate as that of English furniture (if not more so) and to do justice to the subject would call for a separate volume as large as the present one antique porcelain tea pot made in france . In these few pages one can hope to do little more than point out the salient features 19th century floral paintings .
Historically speaking the subject goes back farther than our own, for the continental craftsmen were far more advanced than the English, and have left more and better examples of their work to posterity antique table 8 legs with brass feet . For the present purpose, however, the reigns of the three Louis, XIV, XV, and XVI are all that we are concerned with, for when speaking of French furniture it is the work produced during the period of these monarchs that one invariably calls to mind antique blue and white earthenware jug with zigzag pattern .
Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643, a time when the French Renaissance had lost much of its Italian origin and had developed a strong individual character lenci wall masks . Whatever his merits or demerits as a king may have been, the world of art certainly owes much to him for the encouragement he gave to all arts and crafts antique french tier table . He was a man of most extravagant tastes, and, living in a time when France was one of the strongest and wealthiest of European Powers, he was able to give full play to his fancies antique drop-leaf end tables . His court was probably the most magnificent that Europe has ever known, and the daily extravagant ceremonial called for a setting for which nothing but the costliest and richest would do napoleonic campaign chairs . Fortunately, this great impetus to fine work came at a time when men of considerable talent were seeking expression, and it required only this talent on the one hand and the wealth and encouragement on the other to produce a style which (in its own particular way) has never been excelled theodore haviland 1958 pattern .
Period of Louis XIV
Of the capable craftsmen whose names are outstanding probably the greatest was Andr6 Charles Boulle who was born in 1642 and died in 1732 dresser accessories . He had experimented with a form of marquetry which had originated in Italy, and when the great tide of building and furnishing came he took it at its flood, and developed this marquetry into a distinctive kind which for sheer exquisite workmanship, coupled with fine design, stands unique antique card table with one flap . It is often termed ” Buhl,” and was carried out in brass or copper, and tortoiseshell, ebony, and horn drop leaf table wall semi circle .
A brief explanation of how marquetry was produced was given in Chapter V chamber pot in cabinet . Two sheets of dissimilar materials were fixed together temporarily and the design cut through both with a fine saw gillows three hinge . The two sheets were then separated and the parts interchanged so that in the one there would be a design of, say, brass on a background of tortoiseshell, and in the other the exact reverse antique “la granja” glass . Thus it was possible to produce two cabinets of precisely the same outline and design, but the one the reverse of the other in the material of the design and background designer extending round dining tables in kent . The one was the (4 counter ” of the other, hence the terms ” Buhl ” and if counter black lacquer dining chairs .”
A typical Boulle cabinet is shown in Fig silver fish slice . 165, in which this rich marquetry work is an outstanding feature figural silver antique candlesticks . In addition to the scrolling design of the inlay itself the whole of the brasswork is richly engraved, producing an effect which almost approaches the work of the jeweller rather than that of the cabinet maker antique english dressing table . A point to note is that wood carving is almost entirely absent, the decorative effect, apart from the marquetry, being obtained entirely with rich brass mounts antique mirror back sideboard 1920’s . Some of the leading artist-craftsmen of the time were engaged in the production of these mounts wooden arm chair pedestal castor antique oak .
It was for the decoration and furnishing of the Palace of Versailles that the finest and richest work was produced, and the Palace, even as it stands to-day after the ravages of the Revolution, leaves one gasping at its sheer extravagant splendour origins and development of arts . One has to remember that the furniture maker then was regarded as an artist, and certainly the results seem to justify such a status edgard brandt . It is with something like a shock that one realises that the cabinet in Fig antique table round drop leaf claw foot . 165 was produced at the same time as the simple early walnut furniture in England art nouveau . It is true that a colossal amount of money was spent on the production of such pieces, but it has to be admitted that the French cabinet makers were far in advance of our own staffordshire figures of royalty . It is points like this that help one to realise why it was that a revolution of ideas took place when Charles II came to reign in England after years of exile spent in France georgian telescopic silver candlestick .
The famous Gobelins factory for the production of tapestry was purchased by Louis XIV, and cabinet-making workshops were established in it art deco upholstery . Charles Le Brun became the director, and the world of art owes a great deal to his energetic leadership perpetual calendar 18th century . :Much of the finest work at Versailles was produced at the factory carlo bugatti furniture antiques .
In general form the surfaces of cabinets were flat—at any rate early in the period west indies antique paintings . This is mentioned in particular because we shall see that in the next phase curved surfaces were introduced everywhere art nouveau origins . The general decoration took the form of Boulle marquetry of brass or copper on a background of ebony or tortoiseshell, the design consisting of elaborate scroll work richly chased, allegorical figures, fruit and floral motifs, swags of husks, and acanthus leafage, the whole in a somewhat free interpretation of the Renaissance daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . Bold ormolu mounts heavily gilded were fitted, these taking the form of lion masks, scrolled consoles, acanthus scrolls, human masks, and deep nullings royal sheffield silver . Both straight and curved legs were used, the last named becoming more popular towards the end of the period in harmony with the tendency towards shaped work generally william kent console table .
COMMODE IN KINGWOOD WITH INLAYS queen ann gate leg table .
Laois XV antique prohibition table example .
This cabinet, made for the King’s chamber at Versailles, is a design of SIodtz and was made by Antoine Robert
Gaudreau In 1738 antique fluted gateleg table legs . The gilt bronze mounts were by Jacques Caffiere booths pearlware marks .
FRENCH FURNITURE
Louis XV, 1715-1774
T0 appreciate the underlying causes of the changes in the type of furniture produced in Louis XV’s reign
it is necessary to know something of the historical events of the period 18th century forks . Louis XIV had died in 1715 when his heir «as but five years old, and it became necessary to appoint a regent antique decorative motif . The Duke of Orleans took the office, and he was virtually monarch until his death in 1723 directoire consulat empire . There was thus a break in the extravagant court grandeur which was so essentially a feature of the reign of the late king art deco antique furniture makers . The wild expenditure of the seventy odd years of le Grand i1lonarque, too, had left its mark on the finances of the court and aristocracy antique pouch table . No country, no matter how powerful and prosperous, could continue for an unlimited time to spend money on pure aggrandisement to such an extent, and as a result there were but two alternatives : to live in a quieter way, or to find fresh sources of income mid 17th century foods france . In the event a sort of compromise was effected 17th century french fashion . The aristocracy began to contract marriages with humbler but wealthy classes, bankers, merchants, and so on ; and in place of the grandeur of the great salon so beloved by Louis XIV came the rise of the smaller boudoir photos of antique chambersticks . In fact the two periods are often referred to respectively as the periods of the salon and the boudoir jupe table mechanism .
Its effect on the furniture was that it was in its way equally rich, but was on a smaller scale how much is a claw foot table worth . Then, too, the masculine grandeur gave way to an effeminate prettiness, a change quite in keeping with the general conduct of life emile galle furniture . People began to look for elegance rather than grandeur, and to use ornament purely for its own sake boulle console table with marble tops with elaborate friezes .
We have had occasion to note in earlier chapters in this book that an idea, once it takes root, frequently is carried to extremes, and it thus happened that the tendency to introduce shaped work towards the end of Louis XIV’s reign reached such a height in the succeeding reign that many cabinets were made with scarcely a straight line or a flat surface in them regency antique mahogany dining table styles . This extraordinary use of curves is the keynote of Louis XV furniture when was art deco furniture stated in france . The skill shown in overcoming the difficulties that such work presented is amazing octagonal brass & silver table . One may’ or may not admire this flamboyant phase of French furniture, but no one can but admire the excellence of the workmanship augsburg marquetry table cabinet . The fronts and sides of cabinets, bureaux, and so on were curved in both plan and elevation, and some idea of the difficulty of veneering over such a surface can be obtained by trying to lay a flat sheet of paper around a ball barrel leg oak dining table . Added to this was the fact that the whole was usually elaborately inlaid or given a decorative effect by the use of designs in which the varying, direction of the grain of the wood was made to play a part round rosewood breakfast table .
So far as furniture was concerned the preference for gilded mounts in place of wood carving continued, and the workmanship of these was of an extremely high order table octagon marquetry drawer . One may not care for the effect as a whole—it frequently appears restless and overdone, but regarded individually the work was extremely fine i.i.e. exclusive capodimonte . The love of curves developed to an extraordinary extent, resulting in its fulness in what is known as the Rococo decoration thonet rocking chair . The term comes from two French words meaning rocks and shells, to which the ornament bears a certain resemblance antique porcelain czechoslovakia wall face . It is exemplified in Fig austrian mirrored tables . 166—in which the elaborate scrolls and acanthus leafage can be seen antique collector’s cabinet . The chief exponents of the rococo were Meissonier and Slodtz palissy patterns .
The French version of the cabriole leg reached its zenith during this period side table black hand painted birds and flowers made in italy . It was essentially suited to the general and wide use of shapes antique metal tables with drop leaves . In a limited sense it bore a resemblance to the English version, but it had an entirely different spirit telescopic glass tables . The English leg at its best had a high, well-pronounced knee running abruptly into a square at the top, and terminating at the bottom with one or other varieties of the club or claw and ball foot can antique dressers pair with modern furniture . An example was given in Fig flemish refectory table . 116 at E meissen figures . The French variety was of a more flowing shape steuben stemware deco . There was no square at the top, the shape either flowing naturally into shaped rails at the sides, or continuing with a concave curve upwards antique english dressing table . At the bottom the foot was usually scrolled italian buffet decorations . The cabinet in Fig antique english rhenish ware . 166 shows the typical French shape black lacquer china cabinet .
A great many varieties of woods were used ; mahogany,amboyna, tulipwood, boxwood, rosewood, sycamore, ebony, and amaranth are amongst the commonest antique cabinets coat of arms . Satinwood too was used towards the end of the reign, though this is more usually associated with the following reign of Louis XVI antique console table carved wood . Gilding and lacquering were popular meisen hand painted plates 1920 allegorical . At first the lacquer work was imported from the East, or panels were prepared and sent to China to be lacquered, but later it was imitated in the French factories, though the detail in it was often faulty, western motifs being introduced in a somewhat incongruous manner brislington delftware . A firm of the name of Martin paid special attention to this lacquer work and produced a preparation known as Vernis-Martin towards the middle of the century 1945 mahogany desk . In its final stage this originally Oriental decoration became almost wholly westernised, the decorative artists painting allegorical subjects in natural settings on a lacquered background patent imperial dining table gillows .
Towards the end of the reign a reaction against the elaborate Rococo work set in, and there came a revival of the classical spirit which was the keynote of the work in the Following reign canterbury music stand .
FRENCH FURNITURE
Louts XVI, 1774–1793
THE financial difficulties of the reign of Louis XV have already been noted reproduction 18th century tea bowl . They still existed, in fact
were increased, when the ill-starred Louis XVI came to the throne in 1774 hand blown romer glass . The clouds were already gathering for the storm which was to break close on twenty years later antique empire and biedermeier periods 1800 to 1848 . This, combined with the reaction against the Rococo work of the middle of the 18th century, produced a type of furniture in which the shaped work was largely, if not wholly, eliminated daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . Design became altogether more refined and returned again to the classical spirit, prompted largely by the excavations of Herculaneum which had been begun seriously in the middle of the century table paw feet antique .
Then again the Queen of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, favoured simple country life ; the elaboration of the preceding reign made no appeal to her, and although the movement towards simpler lines began before she was Queen, her influence undoubtedly encouraged the new feeling mirrors antique british chevron . It should be realised, however, that the term ” simple ” is used relatively antique neoclassical . Compared with the English, French cabinet work of Louis XVI was vastly more ornate hunt roskell silver auction . French furniture always was, It was just the natural national expression, but when it is compared with the full shaped work of the preceding reign the simpler and more refined feeling is apparent small dressing table cupboard .
The chief characteristics of Louis XVI are the use of straight lines and flat surfaces with a delicate and refined treatment of the detail floral ornaments art nouveau . Mouldings are small and the carving light and delicate old cantagalli pottery . Gilded mounts are widely used (they were still largely preferred to wood carving) and the quality is of a very high order reverse serpentine sideboard . The subjects take the form of rural, natural, and conventional objects ; scythes, spades, lutes, pipes, birds, cupids, torches, ribbons, swags of husks, flowers, medallions, and acanthus scrolls ormolou decoration . The last named are altogether less flamboyant than the ornament of Louis XV
time antique card table flaps . The woods used were the same as those of the previous reign with an increasing popularity for satinwood 18th century wine cooler brass feet . Lacquer work was also still widely used, and was often bounded by gilded mouldings antique mahogany drop leaf work table .
With the disappearance of the shaped work the cabriole leg lost much of its popularity, especially for cabinets and commodes, though it still was used for small bureaux and console tables in a lighter form cantagalli pottery . The light turned and square tapered leg was used largely, the last named often being recessed on its faces and decorated with gilded mounts fixed in the recessed panels 1930s antique square table . The chief designers were Riesener, Gouthiere, and Roentgen slant front desk antique .
All design is largely a matter of personal taste, but it is usually conceded that the work of Louis XVI shows French design and workmanship at its best 17th century oak side table . The furniture of Louis XIV had a certain grandeur tending to heaviness at its worst, this developing into an overdone elaboration in the following reign antique bombe commodes for sale . In the last of the three reigns there was a reaction against the worst features, and the result shows a welcome restraint scotish chest of drawers .
Readers wishing to study French furniture at first hand should examine the fine specimens at the Wallace collection, and the Jones bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington oak art deco scandinavian furniture . Those who are able to visit France should see the magnificent collection at the Palace of Versailles cheverton machine .
UPHOLSTERED CHAIR WITH BRASS MOUNTS josef maria olbrich furniture . French Empire gustavian chairs pierced splats,fluted legs .
The chair was made in about 1810 column empire style bedside tables . The wings of the beasts are in brass
and are screwed beneath the seat rails provincial furniture number drawers . The feet too are brass, being
socketed to fit over the stub legs antique french saxon china flowers with gold .
FRENCH FURNITURE
EMPIRE
THE period of the French Revolution during which Louis XVI and large numbers of the French aristo-
cracy were executed was scarcely a time in which cabinet making could be expected to flourish antique bedside toilet . Wealthy people went into hiding or fled the country, and there was nobody left to order the fine quality and expensive furniture one usually associates with France of the second half of the eighteenth century gateleg table antique . In fact, some of the famous ebenistes themselves were prosecuted for their close connection with the royalty and aristocracy george serving table fluted . It was not until conditions had settled down under the forceful government of Napoleon that any revival of the making of fine furniture was possible makers of silver table ware in late 1800’s .
It was then that was evolved the style which has become known as Empire chair 18th queen rococo revival . If Louis XIV furniture be characterised as solid magnificent grandeur, Louis XV as flamboyant elegance, all shapes and curves, Louis XVI as delicate refinement, sometimes verging on the effeminate, then the Empire can be reckoned as stately and dignified with a strong influence of the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian dutch silver octagon trinket box . Compared with the elegant style preceding it, Empire furniture is considerably more restrained, mostly with straight lines, usually in mahogany, and invariably mounted with brass or gilt ornaments meissen/cabinet plate/19th century . These ornaments took the form of the Greek honeysuckle and vases, laurel wreaths, caryatid figures, martial helmets, torches, winged animals, and so on english furniture toilet chest .
Presumably the style was a tribute to the leadership of Napoleon, the Emperor who had marched through Europe and beyond antique tray table white . It scarcely outlasted his final downfall in 184, though its influence continued to be felt in this country during the Regency period antique enamel top table .
UPHOLSTERED CHAIR WITH BRASS MOUNTS new england antique dining tables .
‘The chair was made in about 1810 1920s draw leaf dining set turned legs . The wings of the beasts are in brass
and are screwed beneath the seat rails 3 leaf antique extending dining table . The feet too are brass, being
socketed to fit over the stub legs scandinavian octagon dining table .

Delftware
The manufacture of British tin-glazed earthenware began in the 16th century, when it was known as “galley ware possibly named after wares transported by galleys from Spain and Italy. The most important centres of production in Britain were Southwark, Aldgate, and Lambeth in London, Norwich, Brislington, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Wincanton.
EARLY DELFTWARE
A record of 1567 tells of the arrival in Norwich of such Dutch potters as Jaspar Andries and Jacob Jansen, who had fled Antwerp to escape religious persecution. These potters established potteries locally and later at Aldgate in the east of London. Very few examples of 16th-
century British tin-glazed earthenware have survived, apart from some tiles and a number of bulbous-bodied jugs (some with silver mounts). Pottery made during the 17th century is far more common. From the late 1620s virtually until the cessation of tin-glazed production in the late 18th century, there is a considerable body of dated and documentary British delftware, which enables collectors to study the changing shapes and styles of this type of ware over a period of nearly 200 years. From c.1600 small quantities of Chinese porcelain began to be imported by the East India Company into Britain, and some British delftware made from c.1620 shows the influence of these Chinese blue-and-white imported wares. After c.1660 until the end of the 17th century those in the so-called “Transitional” style were copied.
The most notable late 17th-century wares include “blue-dash” chargers, named after the blue dashes around the rim, which were boldly decorated in polychrome with stylized tulips, carnations, oak leaves, biblical subjects, and portraits, particularly Of such monarchs as Charles II, William and Mary, and Queen Anne. The majority of this type are covered with a yellowish
lead glaze on the back, through which the body is clearly visible – it was considered unnecessary to waste the expensive tin glaze on a side that was rarely seen. These dishes have a thick foot-rim around which a cord could be wound for hanging the object on the wall. Other wares included wine-jugs, drug jars, salts, and wide-brimmed dishes. While a few examples show traces of the old Italian-Dutch style, most embrace the continuing fashion for Chinese bloc-and-white wares.
18TH-CENTURY DELFTWARE
From c.1720 British delftware became increasingly distinctive, and the decoration less complex and looser in style. Delftware made in the 18th century tends to be more delicate and intimate (with some robust exceptions from Bristol), and a far greater range of wares was made, including punchbowls, plates, flower-bricks, wall pockets, wine-bottles, guglets, fuddling-cups, pear-shaped jugs, puzzle jugs, posset-pots, and, extremely rarely, tea and coffeewares. While many of these wares were painted with contemporary British subjects –figures, buildings, and landscapes – others are decorated in blue with chinoiserie themes – pagodas, pavilions, Chinese figures, birds, and flowers. Production of British delftware virtually ceased at the end of the 18th century because of the competition from creamware (cream- coloured earthenware).
• BODY British delftware is harder and coarser than the softer, thinner Dutch Delftware
• STYLE before 1620 wares are Italian-Dutch in style; after 1620 the influence of Chinese blue and white is clear; 18th-century wares are less formal, and contemporary British figures and landscapes with chinoiserie subjects remained popular
• GLAZE generally smoother than Dutch Delftware and chips easily; mainly pinkish or bluish; 18th-century glaze is smooth, as opposed to the whiter and “peppered” surface of Dutch Delftware
• PALETTE blue and white dominates; polychrome (iron red, yellow, green, brown, and manganese purple) also used, hit rarer and extremely collectable
• DECORATION this is cruder than Dutch Delftware:
monarchs, bold flowers, oak leaves, chinoiseries
• FLATWARES these have knife-like weals under the outer flange or rim since they were fired in the kiln on stilts
• COLLECTING flatvares are most available; dates and inscriptions and more unusual forms of decoration can increase the value of a piece substantially