Posts Tagged ‘continental europe’

If we think of a chair as something to sit on, and a dining-chair as something to sit on at meal-times, there seems to be no reason why one dining-chair should be different from another. We would expect a difference between a dining-chair and an arm-chair, because they are made for people to sit on in different positions, and we would expect a difference between two dining-chairs made to go with dining-tables of different heights. But for the last three hundred years all dining-tables have been of almost exactly the same height, and all dining-chairs have been of very nearly the same size; at least, their essential dimensions—the height, width, and depth of seat—have been very nearly the same. Yet if we were to collect a series of dining-chairs made at intervals of ten years during the last three hundred years, we should find that each chair differed slightly from the preceding chair, and that chairs separated by intervals of fifty years or so might have almost nothing in common but their size. And if we then collected a complete roomful of furniture made at the same time as each of the chairs, we should see that certain peculiarities of the chair were repeated in the other pieces of furniture–the kind of wood it was made of, the general shape of the legs, the details of its decoration, for instance. The chair, in fact, would have more in common with a cupboard made at the same time than with another chair made fifty years previously.
A room furnished in 1750 would have a different appearance from a room furnished in 1780. The furniture would be made of a different wood, decorated in a different way, and the shapes of the chair-backs and legs, and of the feet of cupboards, and all the details of locks and drawer-handles, would be different. The two rooms would contain much the same quantity of furniture and much the same kind of furniture—not many new pieces of furniture were invented between 1750 and 1780; but the furniture would be in two different styles,
In the history of furniture there have been very many different styles. There were various styles of furniture in China, in Egypt, in Greece, and Rome, before furniture was ever made in England or France or Germany. But we can learn a good deal about the way in which styles develop, and the way in which one style changes into another, and the reasons for these changes, if we examine the history of furniture in just two countries, France and England. It is interesting to study the history of styles in all countries. But our purpose here is to try to find out why one style differs from another, and how a change of furniture style corresponds with a change in ways of living and of thinking. A study of comparatively recent periods of furniture in the European part of the world will be the most useful. For it will help us to understand what has caused the present confusion in furniture-making about problems of style.
Our survey of styles will be very limited, covering in detail the furniture of only two of the countries of the world. But the furniture of these two countries shows a fairly complete development from the simplest carpenter-made pieces to the most elaborate work of the cabinet-makers. From the eleventh to the nineteenth century all the possible methods of making furniture by hand were used by the French and English furniture-makers. At the beginning of the medieval period the carpenters started making furniture with little experience in woodworking behind them, and with few models surviving from the past. As we have seen, furniture-makers rediscovered one by one all the methods of woodworking known to former civilizations, but lost in the meantime. Thus the history of French and English furniture gives a complete picture of furniture developments all over the world—from the technical point of view, at any rate.
Moreover, not all the peoples of the world use furniture as much as it is used in western Europe. Oriental peoples lead a less active indoor life than we do. They have more soft furnishings than furniture: carpets and rugs, cushions and divans. The few pieces of furniture they have are often beautiful and technically perfect. But there is little in their technique that has not been used in France and in England—except, perhaps, the Chinese method for making lacquered furniture and panels; and the appearance of their furniture has had a considerable influence on European taste. The Spanish, too, have been subject to Oriental influence, through the Moorish occupation of Spain. By nature they are not given to using much furniture; but their traditional pieces have a distinct character of their own. It has already been said that the principal piece of furniture in the chief room of a Spanish peasant house is a stone bench. In richer Spanish houses the furniture is elegantly severe; the pieces are large, and there are few of them. Indoor life in Spain is more formal than in most European countries; all the freedom and gaiety are out of doors.
Italian Renaissance furniture served as a model for French Renaissance furniture; but since the Renaissance there has been little change in Italian furniture besides fantastic decorative developments. The German and Russian Court furniture consisted of heavy copies of French Court furniture. Much of the German Alpine and Russian provincial furniture is interesting; but the extremely cold winters in the places where such furniture was in use caused stoves to be more highly valued and elaborately decorated. American furniture-makers have developed styles of their own from English and other European styles, and sometimes their work surpasses their English models. The American Windsor chair, for instance, is considered by some connoisseurs to be better proportioned than the English Windsor chair; and the American Empire style was continued longer, and with better results, than the Empire style of any European country. But to study in detail the furniture of many countries would not help us to form a clear notion of modern problems of style.
Styles differ from one another in three ways : in construction methods, in material used, and in decorative treatment. Construction methods were developed slowly, and, as we have seen, there were only three principal systems of construction—those of the carpenters, of the joiners and of the cabinet-makers. There was a major style change in every country when carpenters’ methods were abandoned for joiners’, and when joiners’ methods were abandoned for cabinet-makers’. We have also seen how the material used is bound up with the method of construction —how the carpenters and joiners used home-grown medium woods, and how the cabinet-makers used tropical hard-woods. In these two respects of methods and materials the general development of styles has been the same in all European countries. The long series of detailed changes in style is a history of decorative treatment alone : so much is decorative treatment a key to style that an expert can tell from a mere fragment of a piece of furniture—a carved leaf or a small area of marquetry—the exact style and period of the piece.
The history of decorative treatment in France, and in most countries of continental Europe, may be divided into six main parts, each having its own system of decorative conventions. They are called the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical Revival, and nineteenth-century styles. These six styles are sub-divided into many styles of comparatively short duration.
Overleaf is a table of the French furnishing styles from about A.D. 1100 till the beginning of the present century. The table gives a general plan of the different styles and their periods, but it is not, and could not be, exact: since one style merges slowly into another, and the reigns of kings do not correspond with changes in furniture taste.
ROMANESQUE (1100-1300)
Romanesque furniture was made by carpenters, according to carpenters’ methods of construction—heavy planks, joints without glue, and iron bands. Very little of this furniture survives, but some chests, turned chairs, a few beds and trestle tables are to be found in museums. Most of the surviving furniture is religious rather than domestic—benches from churches and monasteries and monastery tables. Some furniture from castles also survives, mostly chests and tables. The only people to have furniture in France between 1100 and 1300 were the religious communities and the lords of castles. The castles fared even worse than the churches in the wars of medieval and Renaissance Eur- ope; this is why there are so few pieces of domestic furniture left.
During these times people did not travel very much, and ships did not carry large cargoes : the carpenters used the wood they found growing near them. France was then largely covered with forests of oak, beech, elm, chestnut, fruit trees, and softwood conifers. In the north of France oak was most frequently used for furniture; in the south, oak, walnut, and some fruit-woods such as cherrywood were used.
The principal piece of Romanesque domestic furniture was the chest. It served to store things in the castles, and as a wardrobe-trunk for travelling. The word trunk comes from the first chests hollowed out of tree-trunks. Chests could also be used as seats, beds, and tables. The tables consisted of boards laid on trestles, sometimes supported and made more permanent by iron stays; they could be taken down and stored away, or packed up and moved in times of trouble. Benches were comparatively rare, except in the more stable religious communities, where there was less risk of having to pack up and go.
Romanesque furniture was decorated with carving and painting, and decorative iron-work. The carved motifs consisted of geometrical patterns, Biblical and legendary pictures, and traceries of round arches derived from Romanesque architecture. From the evidence of illustrated manuscripts and signs on the few pieces of Romanesque furniture that we have, it seems that most of the furniture was brightly painted—both in solid colours, and, on the parts that were not carved, in pictures.
GOTHIC (1300-1500)
From about 1300 to 1400 the furniture was still made by carpenters, who were, however, by this time beginning to discover the methods of joinery. In some early Gothic chests joined frames were used, but the frames were boarded over with thick planks—thin panels were not yet used. Most of the furniture, in fact, was like the Romanesque furniture in construction, although Gothic detail (traceries of pointed arches, for instance) was introduced into the carving.
By about 1400 the methods of joinery had been perfected. The new furniture was made by the joiners. Their work differed greatly from that of the carpenters, for they dispensed with iron bands and used framed panels. They continued to make furniture of the same native woods that the carpenters worked in. The carpenters still made some furniture, especially in the country districts.
Gothic furniture that has survived includes bench-ends from churches, stalls in cathedrals, chests and tables, chairs with box-seats (like chests) and straight panelled backs, a few cupboards on legs, and turned chairs. The box-chairs sometimes had carved canopies over them. The religious furniture was, of course, public furniture, and it was made to look like the religious buildings—the same kind of detail that we see on a Gothic cathedral was imitated to a smaller scale on Gothic furniture. Since the Church was the most important institution at the time, the domestic furniture was made in the same style as the religious furniture : private furniture imitated public furniture because the Church dominated private life.

Watches
Pocket watches
The first pocket watches, made during the second half of the 16th century, were powered by a three-wheel train, a fusee, and a verge escapement. By the beginning of the 17th century the familiar four-wheel train was introduced when it was realized that a higher wheel count effected a smoother transmission of power. Distinctively, watches of this early date have only one hand – this was typical until the late 17th century. Reflecting the puritanical climate of the period, British mid-17th-century 7th-century watches are usually either very plain or decorated only with simple engraving. Continental watchmakers created watches with highly coloured and beautifully painted enamel cases. Watches pre-dating BEFORE 1800
By the end of the 17th century Britain was producing the finest and most innovative watches. A particular feature of watches before c.1720 is the chanzpleve dial, made of metal inlaid with black wax; after c.1720 enamelled dials were more popular. A watch with a champleve dial, verge fusee movement, and pair cases (inner and outer cases) can be dated to the late 17th or early 18th century. Minute hands were introduced during this period and provided more accurate time readings. Watches at this time were mostly the preserve of members of the court and wealthy merchants.
During the second half of the 18th century, watches became more generally accessible, as the methods of production became more advanced. The pair-cased verge watch was the most common. Component parts were largely unchanged from the late 17th century; although usually made of silver, they were also made of gold.
AFTER 1800
The general construction of the watch did not change until the very beginning of the 19th century when watchmakers in continental Europe started to produce slimmer watches, often still using the traditional verge escapement. High-quality, decorative, enamelled cases are often a feature of watches of c.1800; some were produced with novelty cases in the shape of violins, beetles, pistols, and snuff-boxes.
During the mid-19th century the keyless watch with winding as an inbuilt mechanism was introduced, and by the 1870s most pocket watches were keyless. Watches became slimmer in design and several different
types were introduced, the most common being open-faced (glazed front, hinged back cover), half-hunting-cased (hinged front cover with small glazed aperture, chapter ring, and hinged back cover), and hunting-cased (hinged covers at both the front and back). During the 19th century the two dominant types of escapement were the cylinder and the lever. The cylinder, although widely used, was eventually superseded by the more efficient lever.
While complicated and precision watches
have been produced throughout watchmaking history, these were often one-off pieces or regarded as scientific instruments rather than practical, everyday watches. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, a great variety of special features was added to more standard pocket watches, including repeating mechanisms that sounded the hours, quarter hours, and sometimes also the minutes, calendarwork, chronograph (stopwatch) mechanisms, and moonphases. Such watches typify the high-quality Swiss work produced at the end of the 19th century and are highly collectable.
Before 1800
• CASES in the 16th and early 17th centuries, most cases were single and either plain, engraved, or enamelled –when decoration is present it is usually of a religious nature; later cases were typically pairs and of silver, gold, or gilt metal
• DIALS engraved metal was popular until the mid-17th
i
champleve dials were typical in the late
century
17th and early 18th centuries
• HANDS most clocks featured a single hand until the late 17th century; two hands were typical thereafter, usually in the “beetle and poker” design
• MOVEMENT most watches from the 18th century were fitted with a verge escapement
• COLLECTING even 19th-century copies of early watches are reasonably valuable
After 1800
• DESIGNS watches were slimmer after c. f800 especially in continental Europe; by the 1870s the majority of pocket watches were keyless
• CASES most are decorative and of painted enamel; novelty shapes popular in the early 19th century; from the mid-19th century cases were of three principal types: open-faced, half-hunting-cased, or hunting-cased
• DIALS enamelled dials are typical; many watches also feature several subsidiary dials
• MOVEMENTS various escapements were used, including verge, cylinder, and lever mechanisms
• COLLECTING watches with chronographs, repeating mechanisms, moonphases, and calendars are especially collectable
Important makers
British: Thomas Tompion ( 1638-1713); Daniel Quare (1648-1724); George Graham (1674-1751); L.J. Dent: 1790-1853; Charles Frodsham (1810-71); French: Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823); Vacheron & Constantin (est. 1755)
Wristwatches
The watch was first worn on the wrist in the early years Of the 20th century. Early wristwatches were in the form of small pocket watches that had been converted to wristwatches either by the addition of wire strap lugs Soldered on to the case or by the use of a leather pocket, designed to hold the watch and fix onto the wrist with a strap. Such watches are easily identifiable as they are usualдн profusely chased and engraved on the reverse and the dial is not positioned in the usual wristwatch manner. These early wristwatch conversions are historically interesting but generally of low value. The first true wristwatch was produced by the Parisian
firm of Cartier c.1904 for the aviator
Alberto Santos Dumont; this design
became known as the “Santos” and is
still in production today. The Swiss firm
of Rolex, at the forefront of watch
production, began to manufacture
wristwatches as early as 1911. With the
Outbreak of World War I, wristwatches
were issued to servicemen, and many
interesting variations of these watches can
be found. The “Trench” watch is one of
these and is readily identifiable by its
pierced grille, intended to protect the glass
and dial. Until the 1920s watches were
generally of plain circular form with either
silvered or enamel dials, Swiss movements,
and either chrome, silver, or gold cases.
AFTER 1920
During the 1920s the range of wristwatch styles broadened to include rectangular, square, oval, and octagonal shapes. Most designs featured simple clean lines and bold numerals. During the 1930s case and dial designs became more abstract, numerals were more exaggerated and elongated, and two-colour cases and
bold Odeonesque features were introduced. Watches from the 1920s and 1930s are among the most sought after by collectors: a classic style coupled with a maker renowned for high standards such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Cartier, Jaeger le Coultre, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron & Constantin would be especially desirable.
In the I 940s watch styles resembled jewellery, designs of the period with styles such as the “cocktail” watch being typical. After the outbreak of World War II standard wristwatches were issued to members of the armed forces. These watches can be identified by their robust steel construction and their characteristic black dials and luminous numerals. The British Government property mark in the form of an arrow on the back of the case can also help to confirm the identification of British watches. Since military wristwatches were made by most eminent makers, including Longines, I.W.C., and Omega, collectors are taking an increased interest in these watches.
From the late 1940s into the early 1950s wristwatch design captured the futuristic look that was popular at the time: hands and baton numerals were severely pointed and streamlined and lugs were typically in exaggerated teardrop shapes. The inclusion of such features as calendars, moonphases, and chronographs was also highly characteristic of the period.
The following decade, the 1960s, produced many abstract and interesting watch designs, which are instantly recognizable as products of their age. While these characteristically bright-coloured watches in new synthetic materials are currently of little interest to the serious watch collector, they are avidly sought after by followers of modern design. Most wristwatch collectors today seek the classic designs from the 1930x, 1940s, and 1950x. When assessing value, the style, maker, model, and complexity of a watch are vital considerations, as are condition and any replacement parts.
Wristwatches of recent manufacture are also sought after when made by one of the exclusive designers.
KEY FACTS
Before 1920
• DESIGNS these were usually of plain circular form with wire strap lugs and enamel dials; the “Trench” watch, distributed to soldiers in World War 1, featured a protective grille over the glass dial-cover
• DIALS these were often unsigned – check the movement for the maker’s signature
After 1920
• DESIGNS unusual case shapes were typical; most military wristwatches from World War II are slightly larger than average, with black dials
• COLLECTING calendars, chronographs, moonphases,
and repeating features can add value; automatic
wristwatches are more sought after than manual-wind watches; British military watches are usually inscribed on the reverse with a Government issue arrow
Collectable makers
Patek Philippe, Rolex, Cartier, Vacheron &_ Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger Ie Coultre

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

A wall clock is simply a clock that can be fixed to a wall. Lantern clocks of the late 16th and 17th centuries were the first domestic wall clocks, but from the early 18th century large wall-hung clocks were made for taverns, inns, and other public buildings. Wall clocks of the 18th and 19th centuries range from elaborate, gilded French cartel clocks to the mass-produced, wooden-cased clocks of the USA.
LANTERN CLOCKS
A lantern clock is a weight-driven wall clock that strikes the hour on a bell. It is especially associated with Britain, where it was first made c.1620, but versions were also produced in continental Europe and Japan. Made almost entirely from brass – “lantern” may be derived from the old English word “fatten”, meaning brass – the clock resembles a domestic lantern: the square brass case has four small ball or urn feet, an engraved dial plate, three pierced frets, and a bell, covered by four straps and topped with a finial. The chapter ring, showing hours and quarter hours, was very narrow on the earliest examples and extended over the sides of the clock. In the dial’s centre are the maker’s signature and engraved designs – typically foliate scrolls and flower-heads – and often an alarm setting disc. The single hand is usually of iron but may be of brass or blued steel. Hands were “blued” by heating – this process not only strengthened them but also altered their colour to a dark blue-grey that was clearly visible against the dial.
Early lantern clocks were regulated by a balance wheel escapement, but after the pendulum was invented in the mid-17th century, most clocks were converted to or made with the more precise pendulum-controlled verge or anchor escapements. The verge escapement was especially popular throughout the 18th century with provincial makers. Lantern clocks went out of fashion in the early 18th century, but in the 19th century reproductions were made (and old clocks fitted) with spring-driven movements. Some clocks were refitted with balance wheel escapements as lantern clocks have become increasingly valuable in recent times.
TAVERN AND DIAL CLOCKS
Wall clocks for taverns, inns, assembly rooms, and public buildings were first produced in the 1720s.
The first such clocks are known as “tavern” clocks and sometimes erroneously as “Act of Parliament” clocks: in 1797 a tax on clocks and watches was instituted by the British Parliament (although repealed one year later), and this led to the popular misconception that these clocks were placed in taverns for customers who could not afford clocks in their homes. However, most tavern clocks predate this act by several decades. Measuring up to 76cm (30m) in diameter, and with a long trunk for the weight and pendulum, tavern clocks were designed to be seen clearly from a distance, and are usually only timepieces. The earliest examples from the 1720s have virtually square dials with arched tops; these developed into shield-shaped wooden dials. The numerals and chapter ring are usually gilt, and gilt designs
of flowers and scrolls feature in the corners of the dial, often with chinoiserie designs on the trunk.
Gilt finials sometimes ornamented the top of the case, but on some clocks these have broken off. Round dials were introduced in the mid-18th century: the dial itself was initially black with gold numerals, but from the 1770s a white dial with numerals and chapter ring in black was popular. As neither shield nor round dials had glass covers, the numerals and chapter ring are often worn away or repainted. Many round-dial tavern clocks also had black lacquered cases with chinoiserie decoration. From the 1790s lacquered tavern clocks declined and gave way to mahogany cases.
Dial clocks, made from the 1750s, became possibly the most popular style of clock ever produced. Simple in design, they consist of a round dial of engraved, silvered brass (18th century), painted wood (from c.1805), or painted iron (from c.1830), covered with glass and a brass bezel, and housed in a wooden case. The first dial clocks appeared with mahogany cases, but oak, walnut, and rosewood were also used in the 19th century, when these clocks were made by many British, German, and American firms to meet the demand for inexpensive timekeepers in offices, shops, and railway stations.
CARTEL CLOCKS
Cartel clocks are decorative, spring-driven wall clocks that were made in France, and to a lesser extent Britain, Austria, and Sweden, in the 18th and 19th centuries. “Cartel” is probably derived from the Italian word cartella, meaning “bracket”. The clock, with a verge or anchor escapement, typically featured a white-enamelled dial and a finely cast and gilded bronze or brass case. Elaborate, asymmetrical scrollwork, flowers, fruit, and shells are typical of mid-18th 18th century Rococo cases; more symmetrical Neo-classical designs of sunburst rays,masks, and urns were popular from the 1780s. Cartel clocks were produced in Britain on a limited scale from the 1730s to the 1770s; many are copies of French designs but are less exuberant than the Rococo originals.
AMERICAN WALL CLOCKS
Clockmaking began in New England c.1750 and was initially a very small industry, with parts such as dials Imported from Europe. In the early 19th century such clockmakers as Eli Terry (1772-1852) in Connecticut used streamlined methods of production and standard parts to mass-produce inexpensive clocks. As brass was expensive in the USA, movements as well as cases were often of wood. Most wall clocks from before c.1870 are weight-driven, with an anchor escapement.
Although many early American clocks were based on European designs, some distinctive new types were

created in the 19th century. In 1802 Simon Willard
( 17,53-1848) of Massachusetts invented the “banjo” clock, which featured simple but well-made brass movements and a white-painted metal dial. The long trunk, holding the weights and pendulum, was flanked by curved brass frets, with a box at the bottom decorated with verre eglomise (reverse-painted glass) panels. Only about 4,000 such clocks were produced and these are very collectable today.
Simon’s brother Aaron Willard (1757-1844) introduced a variant of the “banjo” clock, known as the “lyre” clock, which had a curving trunk of carved wood and a pendant-shaped bracket at the bottom of the case. In the mid-19th century the clockmaker Chauncey Jerome (1793-1868) of Bristol, Connecticut, designed an inexpensive, 30-hour duration shelf or wall clock known as the “OG” (ogee) clock, which took its name from the shape of the moulding around the dial and door. These mass-produced clocks had cheap brass movements, ogee-moulded veneered softwood cases, white-painted zinc dials, and verre eglomise panels. Early, rare American wall clocks are highly sought after in the USA.
Lantern clocks
• MOVEMENT a spring-driven mechanism indicates a clock made or altered in the 19th century
• CONDITION any shiny or artificially distressed parts are likely to be replacements; these should be good quality in order not to reduce the value
Tavern and dial clocks
• DESIGNS shield-shaped dials are typical of tavern clocks made between the 1720s and 1750s; later versions have round dials
• MOVEMENT dial clocks made before 1800 had verge escapements; anchor escapements were usual thereafter
• CONDITION some repainting of the numerals, chapter ring, and signature is common; clocks with extensive repainting should be avoided
Cartel clocks
• DESIGNS a gilt-bronze or brass case usually indicates a French make; most British versions are of carved, gilded wood
American wall clocks
• DESIGNS verre eglomise panels are typical
• LABELLING few are signed on the dial: instead they often have a label at the back of the inside case

Derby
Derby already had a long tradition of pottery manufacture by the time that porcelain was made there c.1748 by Andrew Planche, a French chemist
who had learned the art of making porcelain at factories in continental Europe. Early Derby production was very much aimed at the London market and imitated the white Rococo porcelain made at Chelsea.
EARLY DERBY WARES
The forms of the rare porcelain made during the Planche period are, like Chelsea’s, influenced by English silver. Chinoiserie figure groups, unique to Derby, are seen at their best when left undecorated. Derby’s
slightly creamy, glass-like glaze dribbled freely during the firing. To prevent adhesion to the kiln shelves, the glaze was initially wiped away from around the bases of figures and cream-jugs, giving
an appearance known as “dry-edge”. During Derby’s “transitional” phase (c.1755-6) the glaze, over a chalky paste, became whiter, and was lightly decorated in distinctive, rather delicate enamels, which have earned figure groups of this period the title “Pale Family”.
In 1756 William Duesbury (1725-86) and his partner John Heath bought the factory. From this time the influence of the German factory of Meissen became more apparent. Wares made under Duesbury’s direction are very similar to some made at Longton Hall and were likewise aimed at the London market. Tureens and leaf-shaped dishes were made, alongside some teawares and baskets. Derby developed distinctive styles of bird- and flower-painting that are conventionally associated with artists known respectively as the “moth painter” and “cotton-stalk painter”; in fact such decoration was applied by a number of painters at the factory.
Derby’s porcelain body meant that its teawares were prone to cracking during use, and examples are rare.
Instead, Derby became England’s foremost figure manufacturer. Influenced by Meissen, Derby figures of the 1750s and 1760s are very Rococo in style, standing on wide, scrolled bases, often backed with intricate bocage. To prevent kiln adhesion during firing, the unglazed bases of the figures were supported on raised clay pads that left distinctive “patch marks”.
THE CHELSEA-DERBY PERIOD
In 1770 Duesbury bought the ailing Chelsea factory and ran it until 1784 in conjunction with the Derby works. Following Chelsea’s adoption of the Derby porcelain formula, production at the factory improved, and new styles of decoration were developed, greatly influenced by the Neo-classical style fashionable in London. Figures continued to form the greater part of Derby’s output, but modellers engaged from Europe introduced new subjects and vastly improved the quality. They also developed biscuit figures into a distinctive Derby speciality. The fine detail of the modelling was displayed to full effect on white Derby biscuit figures and groups.
• BODY early Derby paste is chalky white
• GLAZE creamy white; c.1750-56 Derby porcelain is known as “dry-edge” because the edges of the bases were wiped free of glaze before firing
• FORMS tureens, leaf shapes, baskets; teawares are rare
• DECORATION birds, flowers; c.1756-65 sprays of flowers with very fine stems were painted, formerly attributed to the “cotton-stalk painter”
• FIGURES unglazed biscuit was used from 1770s; the styles are Rococo, including scrolled bases and bocage; “patch marks” were left by firing supports

Creamware and pearlware
In the 18th century Staffordshire became the most important area for the manufacture of everyday pottery. Tin-glazed earthenware, for centuries the European staple, was never made there, and very little porcelain was produced before the late 18th century. From the late 17th century north Staffordshire potters gradually refined their wares, until by the middle of the century they were making some of the finest pottery in Europe.
CREAMWARE
Thomas Astbury (1686-1743), Enoch Booth, and Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95) are all associated with the invention and development of creamware (cream-coloured earthenware). By the 1760s Wedgwood’s creamware was sufficiently developed to excite the interest of Queen Charlotte, who ordered a tea service (1765), and it was subsequently renamed “Queen’s ware”. For the next 100 years, creamware remained the standard pottery body in Britain and throughout much of continental Europe and North America. The close-grained body was composed of clay from
Devon mixed with flint and covered in
a very thin but smooth lead glaze. It could be finely moulded or cut with great detail. Furthermore, it was very receptive to underglaze blue, overglaze enamelling, or printing. English creamware includes ornamental wares and sophisticated pierced wares, which were made in Staffordshire and Leeds, and also figures. However, most of the output was of more mundane items such as dinner services, tablewares, and teawares. The versatility of creamware and its acceptance among the higher classes of European society (the 926-piece “Frog” service was made by Wedgwood for Catherine the Great of Russia in 1773-4) ensured its financial success,
as well as undermining virtually the entire European tin-glazed pottery tradition.
PEARLWARE AND PRATTWARE
Introduced by Wedgwood c.1779 as an improvement on his creamware, pearlware includes more white clay and flint in the body than creamware does. Suggesting an iridescent appearance, “pearlware” is a misleading term; the addition of cobalt oxide to the glaze imparted a bluish-white cast, which is particularly visible where there is pooling. Much pearlware is decorated in underglaze blue by painting or, later, by transfer-printing. Among the most famous printed themes are versions of the “Willow” pattern. In the early 19th century, manufacturers broadened the range of patterns to include Classical designs and English landscapes.
Prattware is associated with the Pratt family from Lane Delph in Staffordshire, although it was also made by a number of other factories. The body is similar to pearlware in weight and colour, but the ware is distinguished by a strong, high-temperature palette comprising ochre, brown, green, and blue. Wares include moulded teapots, jugs, and figures. From the 1840s the firm of E & R. Pratt & Co. was famous for multicoloured printing, used extensively on pot lids.
• BODY cream, thin, and lightweight
• GLAZE ivory-tinted lead glaze
• FORMS ornamental Neo-classical wares, tablewares, and more rarely figures
• DECORATION underglaze blue, overglaze enamels, or transfer printing
Pearlware
• BODY white flinty earthenware
• GLAZE bluish glaze to counteract the cream body
• FORMS mainly useful wares: dishes, plates, teapots, coffee-pots, and jugs
• DECORATION usually painted or printed underglaze
blue of English landscapes, Grand Tour ruins, etc.
Prattware
• BODY similar to pearlware
• PALETTE high-fired colours: ochre, yellow, brown, green, and blue
• FORMS jugs, teapots, and figures
Marks
The practice of marking pottery became more widespread from c.1800; some factories impressed their marks, but the majority are transfer-printed in underglaze blue; in addition the factory might also supply the title of the pattern on the back
Wedgwood: mark used on creamware
Leeds: impressed mark for the firm of Hartley, Greens & Co. (1800-30)

Flatware, or cutlery, remains among the most popular antique silver today. Spoons, owned and valued by all classes of society, are among the earliest utilitarian silver to survive in any quantity – being small, they had a relatively low value as bullion and were not as readily converted into coin as larger items. Forks were only used for sweetmeats or desserts until the 16th century in continental Europe and the late 17th century in Britain. It was not until the 18th century that matching sets of silver spoons, forks, and knives were produced, but thereafter they were made on a large scale and in an extensive range of patterns. Complete and original sets of flatware are rare and expensive, since individual pieces were often very heavily used and then replaced.
APOSTLE SPOONS
English apostle spoons were made in London and the provinces from the mid-15th to the mid-17th century. They have a fig-shaped bowl and faceted hexagonal stem, and are so called because the cast finials depict the
12 Apostles; originally they were made in sets of 12 or
13 (the thirteenth spoon usually representing Christ), but very few full sets survive today. Spoons were often given as christening presents, the child receiving the spoon representing the saint after whom he was named. Each Apostle can usually be identified by the symbolic object in his right hand – for example keys or a fish for St Peter or a saltine cross for St Andrew. The bowl and stem were created from a single piece of silver, one part being drawn out for the stem and the other hammered into a shaped die for the bowl; the finial was attached with a “V”-joint on pieces made in London; provincial makers used a lap joint. The position of marks on apostle spoons is also distinctive – the town mark is in the bowl; other marks appear on the back of the stem.
Apostle spoons tend to fetch high prices on the market today, as they have been of interest to collectors and antiquarians from as far back as the 18th century. Many fakes were created by cutting off the stem from a similar spoon and adding a reproduction apostle finial. Indistinct features of the apostles are not always a sign that the finial is a fake, because in the 15th and 16th centuries a single mould may have been employed to cast hundreds of finials, so some genuine examples lack sharpness.
SETS OF SILVER FLATWARE
French styles of silver were popular in England after the Restoration in 1660, when King Charles II returned from exile in France. Among the new forms introduced was a type of spoon with an egg-shaped bowl and broad, flat stem ending in a simple trefoil, known as a “trefid” spoon. The bowl was joined to the stem by a tapering rib, or “rat-tail”, and sometimes the back of the spoon was decorated with scrolls in low relief or engraved with a crest or initials. By c.1690 the trefid pattern had flattened out into the “dognose” – the end of the stem had a central curve with a smaller one on either side. Dining forks, used in France and Italy since the 16th century, were also introduced to England at the Restoration; these followed the styles of trefid and dognose spoons and usually had two or three prongs, or tines. Early forks are rare and much sought after. Some fakes have been converted from spoons, but the proportions are slightly wrong and the tines too thin. Usually, early forks were thick and heavy.
By the early-18th-century forks, knives (with rounded cannon- or pistol-shaped handles), and spoons were made as a set – a trend probably influenced by the fashion for dinner services with matching ornament. The first pattern for matching flatware was the “Hanoverian”; it features a flat, rounded end turned upward and a ridge along the front of the handle. Coats of arms or crests were engraved on the back of the stem, since flatware was laid face down on the table in the French manner.
The Hanoverian pattern evolved by the 1760s into the “Old English” pattern, with a plain, rounded end but turned down instead of up (on spoons), according to the new fashion of placing cutlery face up on the table. In the same period, forks were made with four instead of three tines. With increasingly elaborate dining habits, special silver-gilt services for dessert became popular.
Flatware was made in a huge variety of patterns from the late 18th century, especially with the development of mechanized manufacture in Sheffield, which became the most important centre of cutlery production in England. The more popular styles in the late 18th and 19th
centuries included the “fiddle” (with the end of the handle in a fiddle shape), and the more ornate “King’s” and “Queen’s” pattern. Flatware of this date was often supplied with a fitted case.
Today, complete and original sets of flatware, even from the 20th century, are very rare, as pieces were often replaced due to heavy use. When buying flatware, it is important to check for forks that have been trimmed off (this is difficult to detect) and for spoons whose bowls have been reshaped to disguise wear.
CADDY AND MOTE SPOONS
Before the 1770s tea was measured out using the domed caps on tea-caddies; when these were replaced by larger lids a small spoon was kept in the caddy. From the late 18th century thousands of caddy spoons were produced in a diverse range of designs, especially by manufacturers who specialized in “toys” – wine labels, boxes, buckles, and other small items. Like wine labels, caddy spoons are popular with first-time silver collectors.
Among the earliest and most common designs was a spoon with a shell-shaped bowl; other popular novelty forms included a vine leaf with a vine tendril as a handle, a shovel or scoop, and, most coveted by collectors, an eagle’s wing and a jockey cap. Most spoons were made by die-stamping, but heavier and more expensive pieces might be cast. Filigree and handles of bone, ivory, or in other- of-pea rl were also used. In recent years many reproductions of earlier designs have been produced.
Mote silver spoons, or skimmers, were used to skim tea leaves off tea. Made from the early 18th century, they usually have a pierced bowl, with a pattern of circular holes or crosses and scrolls, and a slender, tapering, pointed stem, for unblocking the spout of the teapot. Mote spoons were often made en suite with teaspoons. Some fake mote spoons have been converted from teaspoons, but teaspoons have larger bowls and no pointed end and are shorter.
LADLES AND FISH SLICES
Ladles for serving soup, sauce, punch, and sugar were produced from the 18th century, sometimes en suite with tureens and punch-bowls. The styles tend to follow flatware, but some soup ladles were made with deep-fluted shell bowls. Punch ladles had circular or oval bowls with a lip and a handle of wood, whalebone, or silver.
Fish slices, produced from the 18th century, have a broad pierced blade and turned wooden or silver handle. Early pieces are pierced with simple patterns, but some Victorian ones depict fishing themes. Fish slices are easily damaged, especially on the piercing and where the blade joins the handle.

Apostle spoons
• CONSTRUCTION the finial is joined to the stem on London-made spoons with a “V”-joint and on provincial pieces with a lap joint
• COLLECTING very few complete sets survive today; most are provincial pieces
Marks
The town mark is typically found in the bowl; other marks may appear on the back of the stem
Flatware
• COLLECTING it is important to check patterns closely because of small variations in design; complete and original sets are now rare; those with an equal amount of wear on each piece are most collectable; early forks are valuable; knives made before 1800 are abundant but few have survived in good condition
Marks
These were struck near the stem in the early 18th century but near the handle by the 1770s
Caddyspoons
• CONDITION check for badly repaired pieces, with spoons that have snapped where the bowl joins the stem; filigree spoons tend to be very fragile
• COLLECTING designs are extremely varied
STYLES OF FLATWARE
Sets of flatware with matching decoration were first produced in the early 18th century. These are some common styles.

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