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By the beginning of the 18th century earrings had become an essential form The girandole of adornment.
The girandole, first seen around the middle of the 17th century, remained the most popular type of earring. As we have seen, it consisted of a surmount, usually a bow motif, with three pear-shaped drops, the larger one at the centre, suspended from a hook. The hook allowed the drops to be detached, so that the surmount could be worn on its own when occasion required it.
There are several explanations for the popularity of the girandole. The first has to do with fashion in clothes and hair. During the 18th century hair was worn gathered up on the head away from the face, leaving the ears uncovered; and the low cut of dresses for formal occasions left the area around the neck and ears perfectly suited for adornment with earrings. Secondly, earrings and particularly girandoles exploited the qualities of faceted stones, especially diamonds, which had become plentiful after their discovery in Brazil in 1723; before that the supply had been limited to the mines of Golconda in India. Also significant was the improvement in techniques for cutting diamonds: around 1700 it is thought that the Venetian Vincenzo Peruzzi devised the brilliant-cut, a cut that enhanced the optical properties of diamonds, enabling the stone to reflect light and sparkle at its best. The new brilliant-cut diamonds were particularly successful when mounted on girandole earrings with the stones hanging freely on both sides of the face and catching the light. Thirdly, improved domestic candles meant that more social occasions could be held at night, and in these circumstances sparkling diamond-set jewels and especially girandoles were particularly effective. Until the mid-18th century, jewellery was set solely with diamonds. For formal evening occasions, diamond girandole earrings were all the rage, while during the day girandoles set with more sober semiprecious stones such as garnets, cornelians, pearls, aventurine glass and pastes were preferred. For the first time in the history of jewellery a differentiation was made between day-time and night-time jewels, a distinction which remains to this day.
The girandole remained the favoured type of earring throughout the 18th century and in general terms its basic elements — the bow surmount and drops, the emphasis on width rather than length and the practice of wearing matching bodice ornaments called sevignes — are features which had been common since the 17th century. There are, however, certain small differences. The early 18th-century girandole may be distinguished from its 17th-century counterpart mainly by its emphasis on the faceted stones rather than on the setting and enamel-work; in the 17th century the setting was decorated at the front and back with polychrome enamels and engravings, but towards the end of that century enamel-work and engraving were confined to the back and disappeared completely at the beginning of the 18th.
Elements remaining from the 17th century include the rather stiff design with the clearly defined bow and drops as separate units, and the pronounced horizontal de-Engraved design of the ‘Principes de Girandoles’ by L. Van der Cruycen, 1770, showing the proportions of a girandole earring.
Engraved designs for three pearl girandole earrings by L. Van der Cruycen, 177o. The central motifs are flower sprays.
velopment, stressing width rather than length. Such features are clearly visible in the designs engraved by Quien dated 1710 and published posthumously in London in 1762, especially the stiffness of the design, the drops treated as separate elements, the horizontality and the interest in the faceted stone.
Girandoles were popular throughout Europe at the beginning of the i 8th century, but there are small differences which betray their country of origin. In France they were set entirely with diamonds and were characterized by a sense of movement and sculptural quality. In Spain they were sturdier and set typically with a combination of emeralds and diamonds, a fact explained by the relatively easy supply of emeralds from mines in Colombia, which belonged to Spain. Portuguese girandoles were characterized by simple and flat lines and were usually set with topazes and chrysoberyls from Brazil, then a Portuguese colony. In the Adriatic regions and especially Southern Italy girandoles were given bold outlines and were frequently set with seed pearls as opposed to gemstones.
Girandoles of the second half of the 18th century show some slight changes. In France, particularly, they were no longer set only with diamonds but with a combination of diamonds and coloured gemstones such as rubies. Secondly, they gradually develop a more vertical outline with a more elongated central drop, noticeable in the Italian designs of circa 177o and exemplified by the proportions set out in the Principes de Giraindoles designed and engraved by Van der Cruycen in 1770. And thirdly, the basic bow surmount is frequently replaced by a more complex arrangement, for example the combination of ribbon bow and flower spray motif seen in the ruby and diamond girandoles and in Pouget’s designs for girandoles, dated 1762. One of his pages, for instance, shows six different designs for girandoles. The four set with pearls display intricate motifs in the centre other than bows: a floral motif, two hearts, paired doves and a trophy of love with two hearts and arrows. The characteristic intricacy of the central element is evident also in the emerald and diamond examples from Spain; the centre in the form of a flowerhead cluster is set with a large emerald in a border of rose diamonds framed by diamond-set foliate spray motifs. The other typical feature of late i 8th-century girandoles is the working together of the surmount and drops into much more of an ensemble, compared to the early girandoles where they are treated as separate units.
Most girandoles were quite large, and weight was an important aspect which should not be overlooked. It depended on two features, the size of the earring and the setting of the stones. Gemstones were commonly mounted in closed settings with collets closed at the back, which were lined with coloured foils to enhance the colour of the stones and improve the evenness of colour; in the case of diamonds, foils gave a subtle hue to the stones. Gold was used to set coloured stones while silver was normally used to set diamonds, as it suited their whiteness. So much metal was used in the setting that the earrings were inevitably very heavy, something which is stressed by the designer and engraver Augustin Duflos in the ‘Discours Preliminere’ to his
P 56 Recueil des Dessins, published in 1744. The need to alleviate the weight of girandole earrings led to the introduction of a special fitting, consisting of penannular wire hinged on one side to be inserted from back to front into the pierced earlobe. An additional loop soldered off-centre at the top held a ribbon secured to the hair, taking some of the weight off the ears. The Spanish emerald and diamond girandoles illustrated here are approximately 39 grams; today an average of about 22 grams per earring is reckoned to be as heavy as a woman can comfortably wear.
Tolerance of heavy earrings depends, of course, on how long they are worn, how much movement is involved and how the weight is distributed. When the weight of a long earring is concentrated in a small area, it will feel much heavier than when the
P 57 same weight is spread over a larger surface, as in the case of a disc. Duflos mentions this problem of weight. ‘Ladies’, he says, ‘are the principal objects of the Jeweller’s Art, who mainly devotes his work to them. If this work, by chance, falls under their hands, it might perhaps bring them back to noble and simple taste, better suited in differentiating them and in showing their natural graces than the glittering display that has been favoured for some time. Then they will reduce, by their own accord, the enormous size of Flowers and Girandole Earrings, which tires the ears and they will prefer beautiful diamonds, although smaller in size, to a disorderly cluster of small stones which add up to a lot of weight and are ill suited.’
The pendeloque
Another type of earring which became popular in the second half of the i 8th century,
P. 52, 53 although it was well established fifty years earlier, was the pendeloque. Its design is
characterized by a marquise-shaped surmount supporting a central ribbon bow motif
and an elongated drop of a design similar to the surmount, frequently decorated with
P. 57 a swing centre. Variations include one model which has a more elaborate central sec-
tion with a combination of bow and floral spray motifs, and pear-shaped drops. The
pendeloque seems to have come into fashion because its elongated outline counter-balanced the extreme height of hairstyles around the 1770s. This style reached its peak among the upper classes in 1778. A pad made of wool, hemp and wire was placed on the head and either natural or horse hair with pomade and powder was stretched over. They must have been extremely uncomfortable and unhygienic, since they were often kept in place for weeks at a time, becoming breeding grounds for lice and fleas; furthermore, they were highly impractical, obstructing one’s view and making it difficult to fit into a coach. Caricaturists showed servants employed to hold up the weight of the hair, or attending to their mistress’s hair from ladders, and ladies travelling in carriages with the roof opened up for the high coiffures to stick out. But comfort was not the main concern of the fashionable lady; she delighted in the way the sweeping high line of her hair was perfectly counterbalanced by the elongated drops of her pendeloque earrings.
Most of the pendeloques were set with diamonds but few have survived, since the settings were melted down and the stones reset. The great majority of extant examples are set with colourless pastes or crystals such as white topazes and rock crystal imitating diamonds. The interest in imitation diamonds is typical of the 18th century; and paste jewellery of this period can be considered the forerunner of modern luxury costume jewellery. Another favourite type of pendeloque besides those set with dia-P 49 monds or pastes is the one with a pear-shaped pearl drop usually set as a swing centre in a diamond-set frame. In design books one frequently finds variations of girandoles
P 57 and pendeloques illustrated together. In those of Quien (dated 1710) and Saint (dated 1759), there are engravings of three variations of girandoles and six slightly differing pendeloques all on the same page. Similarly, in the designs of Maria, active 1751-70, eight variations of girandoles and three pendeloques are depicted.
Pendeloques were set in much the same way as girandoles with the stones mounted in closed collets, but they were lighter, having a single drop from the bow surmount instead of three. This explains why one frequently finds a different fitting; instead of the hook with additional loop to alleviate the weight, there is a plain long S-shaped wire hook soldered to the surmount of the earrings. This is clearly depicted in some coloured designs of pendeloques (1760-70) by an anonymous Italian jeweller, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The ‘two-stone’ earring
Another popular mid to late 18th-century earring is the type known as the ‘two-stone’ earring. This consists of two large oval faceted gemstones, the larger one on top, with the plane joining the two embellished with various decorative motifs. The simplest version of this decoration comprises just two small lozenge-shaped stones filling in the gaps at the sides where the two larger stones meet; the more elaborate type, as seen in Duflos’ engraved designs of 1744, presents lateral floral and foliate spray motifs. This type of earring was suited for the display of large and important stones, especially diamonds, but hardly any examples have survived, because such large and important stones tend inevitably to be reset in more up-to-date settings. The extant examples mostly contain pastes and garnets and have survived because there was no advantage in melting them down and resetting the gemstones. Nevertheless even the low value ‘two-stone’ earrings are very attractive: a pair set with translucent blue opaline paste may be seen in the Museum of London; it is also interesting to note how sometimes the simple ‘two-stone’ motif is repeated to form a necklace usually worn en suite with the earrings.
From the 18th century onwards, girandoles and pendoloques continued in favour, though modified as one could expect to meet changing tastes. One finds a variation of the girandole in the I 83os and again in the late 1920s, while the pendeloque enjoyed particular favour in the 18 2os and 18 8os.
A lasting tradition
In certain peripheral areas, however, fashion evolves more slowly than in courtly and
international circles, and the form of the girandole and the pendeloque has remained
p. 63 virtually unchanged from the 18th century to modern times. This can clearly be seen
in provincial jewellery of the Iberian peninsula where one finds a recurring girandole
design: a central stylized bow motif with three pear-shaped drops, pierced in gold
Engraved designs by J. D. Saint, for three girandoles and two pendeloque earrings, 1759.
Two types of earring dominate the i 8th century: the pendeloque and the ,irandole. pendeloque earrings had been ;n favour since the early part of the century, but their greatest popularity came in the 177os. Their basic design consisted of a circular or oval surmount supporting an elongated drop which counterbalanced the excessively high hairstyles of that time. The pair shown here represent one of the commonest of ,he many variants. A diamond and pearl cluster supports a diamond ribbon bow motif suspended with a pear-shaped diamond drop with a pearl swing centre.
decorated with small rose diamonds. Dating these earrings can be problematic. Earlier examples have engraved scrolling on the back, while later ones are stamped out from a die and are coarser in appearance. They are frequently accompanied by a bodice ornament of ribbon bow known as a ‘lava’ which derives from the traditional s6vign6. These Iberian examples are not particularly heavy, having pierced mounts and being set with fewer stones; this explains the fitting which, unlike the conventional i 8th-century girandole, consists of a gold hinged hook which is inserted into the ear from back to front without any additional supporting device.
Other pendeloques follow closely the traditional i 8th-century prototypes. Some have a ribbon bow and pear-shaped drop, others a much more elongated pendant, as long as 8 cms. A typical Portuguese earring derived from the pendeloque is the Brincos a Rainha’, ‘Queen’s earring’. It has a bow surmount and a swing centre, but the drop is usually wider and stones are replaced by faceted gold bead motifs. All our examples are made from a sheet of high carat gold (usually 20 carat) from which the design has been cut out by means of a saw and file, producing a lace-like effect. Inlays were skilfully chiselled by hand and the collets that were placed round the stones, usually rose diamonds, were made separately and embellished by the burin. Later examples in the 19th century were frequently cast in the chosen shape and then finished with the chisel and burin.
In another area of the Iberian peninsula centred around Catalonia, during the late i 8th century, the girandole was the inspiration for the design of the extremely popular ‘Catalan earring’, which remained in vogue virtually unmodified up to the end of the 19th century. Unlike the Portuguese examples, Catalan earrings are extremely long and resemble later 8th-century Spanish girandoles. They are mounted with an abundance of gemstones in closed settings and chased mounts. The stones are never diamonds but semiprecious stones such as hessonite garnets and amethysts. The central ribbon bow motif is greatly stylized, the emphasis being on length rather than width, and all the elements are integrated into the overall design. Some examples have a very large central drop flanked by two smaller ones, thus retaining the structure of the girandole, while others have only a single large drop and are closer in conception to the pendeloque. The long popularity of this type of earring in Catalonia is demonstrated by numerous surviving examples and by its frequent appearance even in i 9th-century portraits, e.g. , the Flower Woman from Valencia by Joaquim Argasot y Juan. The sitter is wearing typical Catalan earrings mounted in gold with dark green gemstones, the usual stylized ribbon bow surmount suspending three drops-, they are so long that they nearly rest on the shawl draped over the woman’s shoulders. Indeed, these Catalan earrings could measure up to 14 cms and were often so heavy that they had to be supported by an additional hook placed over the ear. Sidney Churchill, in an article on ‘Peasant Jewellery’ published in The Studio, mentions the practice of alleviating the weight of a heavy earring by means of a ribbon tied round the ear, which he saw in Nicosia as late as 19 12.

Cupboards, Wardrobes and Small Hanging
Cupboards
Evolution of the cupboard—development from a chest form—the Gothic hutch or livery cupboard—origin of the “cup board” or buffet—the court cupboard and press—lasting popularity in Wales of the deuddarn and tridarn—armoires, cloak cupboards and the linen press—later appearance of the wardrobe—hanging dole and medicine cupboards—various fronts of the corner cupboard—painted interiors—Victorian buffets antique porcelain tea pot made in france .
The cupboard may have evolved from a chest form because a chest, when placed on its end, would serve as a narrow cupboard or locker sabino marks . Again, the chest on legs with an overhanging top and hinged doors beneath, like the counter mentioned in Chapter 3, could also have been an ancestor of the cupboard gateleg table imperial furniture .
The counter was sometimes referred to as a hutch in old documents but nowadays the latter name is usually only given to a wired cage for tame rabbits value of antique rectangular drop leaf pedestal dining . In the Gothic period the hutch was a small planked cupboard used chiefly as a food larder antique harlequin figure . The door and front were perforated with frets of an architectural character to allow air to circulate and so keep the food fresh cheap art neuvou side tables . Pieces of loosely woven horse-hair were nailed to the inside of the frets to keep flies and insects away from the contents art deco chairs mahogany . While the horse-hair has long since perished the remains of the small nails which held it in position are sometimes still to be seen antique oak drawleaf trestle table .
Many books on antique furniture show an illustration of Prince Arthur’s Cupboard, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique glass “la granja” . It dates from around 1500 and is one of the finest pieces of English Gothic furniture in existence the most expensive silver tray . It is unique and the chances of discovering a similar piece are negligible king george 1v furniture . However, it is possible that the smaller planked hutch, although very rare, may still be found by the discerning seeker after antique oak peter behrens side chair . I know of one in the possession of a Cotswold antique dealer but he says that f1,000 would not buy it satsuma pottery thousand flower . On the other hand, there are a considerable number of hutches at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire l shaped sideboard . In that part of the house open to public view I have counted nearly a score, so it is not beyond a reasonable possibility that there are hutches lying in old barns and attics elsewhere which might turn up one day and offer themselves to a knowing buyer inlaid moorish bone .
Apparently, it was a custom in the Middle Ages to keep a small supply of food in private rooms for use at any time antique epergnes . This would be stored in hutches which in time came to be referred to as livery cupboards lusterware made in czecho-slovakia . This term was in use until a few years ago and I remember an inn near my home where there was a painted notice over the entrance to the inn-yard, now given over to car parking, which bore the legend “livery and bait” french style porcelain gilded weight driven clock . This indicated that change of horses and refreshments for the journey were always readily available italian spider leg table .
Aumbry is another old name for a hutch or livery cupboard 16th century spanish trunk . There are some antiquaries, however, who maintain that the aumbry was not a standing cupboard but was essentially a recess in a wall which was enclosed by a door in a frame antique drop leaf side table furniture makers mark england . It may be that in different times the word was used to describe several types of cupboard 18th century rococo copper candlesticks .
The “cup board” proper was originally a side table or buffet which was a fitment with two or three shelves made to stand against the wall in the proximity of the dining table aimone mfg co new york . On this were kept the wooden trenchers or platters for use at meal times antique austrian furniture . In the 16th century and later it was used to display the silver or pewter table-ware, according to the opulence of the household georgian kneehole cabinet .
Early buffets vary in the amount of decoration, some being merely a set of shelves with some simple carving on the rails supporting the shelves classic furniture drawing . Others were larger and more elaborate with bulbous turnings on the front uprights and sometimes the centre and top rails concealed long shallow drawers which fitted under the shelves chippendale gateleg table . These were used for storing spoons and knives only as forks had not been adopted for table use at this time cheap art neuvou side tables .
Towards the end of the Elizabethan period it became the practice to construct buffets with the upper staging enclosed with panels and doors old antique sofa tables . This piece of furniture was known as a court cupboard from the French word court, meaning short or low origins art deco . Eventually, the lower stage of the court cupboard was enclosed as well during the early years of the 17th century and the cupboard form became really established from then onward chippendale style coffee table tilt value . In recent years the term court cupboard has been quite often misapplied to these completely enclosed cupboards late 1920s patek winged lugs . The late R american made ceramic french figurine . W christian mayer furniture . Symonds, who was probably one of the most authoritative furniture historians of the 20th century, has been able to confirm by much diligent research into old house inventories and wills that the correct name is actually a press renaisance design dining table made .
The press was invariably made in oak and a considerable
number were produced during the 17th century gate leg table 17thc . They were
built as a rule with three tiers of cupboard doors showing
on the front, two doors being on each of the top and
middle tiers and one on the bottom antique bread rack . The rails were decora-
ted with low-relief strapwork carving and ornamental
mouldings were sometimes applied to the panels and
door frames dining habit tendency . Carved initials of the owner and his wife,
together with a date to commemorate some family hap-
pening, were favourite additions to the design napoleon leather and steel campaign chair . Many of
these cupboards had large pendant turnings on either
side of the overhanging top george 3 style . These were the vestiges of the original bulbous turnings used on the front uprights of the buffet and court cupboard collectors glasgow school of art . The small doors are, for the most part, found with wrought-iron butterfly hinges but early presses had upper doors which turned on wooden dowel pins dutch plate family dining . Small turned wooden knobs were used as handles on the door frames cantagalli marks .
The early press was essentially a cupboard for storing food and table-ware and should not be confused with the linen press of the following century, details of which will be given later in the chapter antique tea set - rh macy . For the most part it was of fairly large size being 6 to 8 feet in length and would have been found in the dining or living rooms of the more prosperous Stuart and Commonwealth farmers dressing a tea table . Consequently, it can seldom be accommodated in a present-day house myott,son&co. .
However, there are smaller and rather attractive versions of the press which were made in Wales and enjoyed a degree of popularity during the 18th century, although the press in England had been superseded by the dresser mother of pearl coffe table fake antique egypt . These Welsh pieces were of two very similar types and were known as the deuddarn and tridarn, the former being constructed with two tiers or stages only while the latter had three pictures of 5 drawer antique library desks and tables . The top tier of the tridarn is seldom a fixture and can usually be lifted off, should this be necessary louis sue . These small press-type cupboards are seldom ornate but being comparatively small, often only 4 to 412 feet in length, the breaking up of the front surface with doors and panelling permits the mellowness of the old oak to be appreciated to the full new york city 18th century pembroke tables . In the deuddarn, drawers are sometimes included between the lower and upper tiers vases ceramic antique carved figures on front .
Tall cupboards for hanging clothes had been in use on the continent since the early 16th century chicken coops shelves . There they were referred to as armoires and it is thought that they were probably used for storing armour and weapons as well as clothes 17th century dutch silver . The few early armoires to be found in Britain are nearly always of French or Flemish origin, and cupboards designed for holding garments were rarely to be found in these islands until the beginning of the 18th century kneehole dressing table styles .
Hitherto, the accepted method of storing gowns and suits of clothes was to use a chest or a large chest of drawers “perspectiva cabinet” . Now a large cupboard with double doors was adopted for the purpose antiques furniture,josef hoffmann . It was mounted on a chest of drawers but a closer examination of the two top drawers will show them to be merely false fronts which do not open antique centre pieces for dining table . Behind them the space is used to afford greater hanging room for the clothes in the cupboard above art deco candle sticks . The lower drawers were made to function in the normal way oak draw refectory table . Before the invention of clothes hangers the contents of the cloak cupboard or clothes press were hung on a series of wooden pegs placed along the back and sides of the cupboard interior 18th century knife boxes .
Sometimes, the cupboard space above the drawers was fitted with wide trays for the storage of linen large rectangle dropleaf table . Although the exterior would be identical to that of a cloak cupboard, the article in this case would be called a linen press and the top drawers would be real ones as a deeper hanging space for clothes would not be necessary candelabrum .
Taller wardrobes without dummy drawers were pro-
duced by Chippendale, Hepplewhite and other cabinet-
makers type of wood used for roman furniture . These were very elegant in appearance with
finely veneered doors and sometimes with bow-fronts 18th century mahogany drop leaf table cabriole legs .
In mid-Victorian times some huge wardrobes were con-
structed in three or four separate sections kashgai carpet . These were
screwed together when assembled in position and included
bays for hanging clothes, long dressing mirrors and sections
with trays for keeping linen wear drop leaf table with spiral legs . Today, these well-made
mahogany and satinwood edifices are indeed white
elephants for they are much too large ever to go into a
modern house or flat royal staffordshire by clarice cliff nancy . Usually they are bought very
cheaply and then taken apart so that the fine wood in them can be used in the manufacture of reproduction pieces, sometimes advertised as “made from genuine old wood”  . I suppose that if one cannot acquire the authentic article then these are the next best thing five legs two leaf oak antique dining table .
Since the late 16th century, small hanging cupboards have always appeared among the more usual furnishings george speight porcelain . Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and in early Stuart times wall cupboards with, fretted fronts or with the door frames filled with rows of baluster shaped spindles were in general use barley sugar twist pillars timber . Nowadays they are referred to as dole, or food, cupboards and were once hung inside churches to contain the bread doles provided by charity bequests antique 19th century nesting tables birds-eye maple . They were probably used as food larders in the kitchens of private houses as well art deco writing sets . Although this cupboard form is rarely found as an antique in England these days it is not an uncommon discovery in Wales social origins of art deco .
In the 17th and 18th centuries when doctors and apothecaries were few and far between, every housewife kept a store of medicinal herbs and remedies for administering to her family in times of sickness care of antique tortoiseshell . These were preserved in small cupboards which hung on the wall or stood on a chest of drawers and contained a number of pigeon-holes and small drawers for separating the various herbs antique paper mache trays . I always regret having failed to acquire one of these little spice or herb cupboards which a dealer friend of mine had in the shop meissen figures dating . Other dealers had passed it by, saying that it was only an old top from a grandfather clock which had been converted into a little cupboard vintage wooden card table . Actually, it was a genuine Queen Anne medicine cupboard with a finely panelled door and a neat compartment of drawers inside maccasar modernism france . However, the question had then arisen, as it does for all collectors sooner or later, of just where it was going to fit in with all the other things, and the opportunity had to be missed the revival of the games in the 19th century .
Corner cupboards, like tripod tables, are probably more numerous than any other type of antique furniture and are still to be had very reasonably antique table footed clock . They were in general use throughout the Georgian period and served many purposes antique dutch coffee table 17th century . Nowadays a corner cupboard with the doors left open makes an attractive setting fora small collection of china or Staffordshire chimney ornaments antique sideboard with built-in pendulum clock . Oak corner cupboards are usually flat-fronted with canted corners but occasionally they are found with bow-fronts patek philippe, 1930s, rectangular, hinged back . This is the pattern which was more often adopted for the mahogany cupboard and with an inlaid frieze at the top and a couple of small drawers beneath, this would make a very desirable acquisition to any modest collection of antique furniture antique dressers yorkshire .
Some flat fronted corner cupboards have glazed, astragal doors, that is with little panes of glass set into a framework of thin bars or beads robinson and leadbeater figure . These are usually original but a door with a single sheet of glass in it has probably had the wooden panel removed and glass substituted for the display of china or silver oak draw leaf table 18. th . Do not be in a hurry to strip or paint over if the interior of your cupboard is decorated in a faded olive green colour american antique slant front desk . This is probably the original finish as the Georgians were very fond of green linings to their cupboards and cabinets and a little toilet soap and warm water will most likely restore the paintwork very nearly to its original condition decoupage on veneer .
Finally, some mention should be made of the reappearance of the buffet in mid-Victorian dining rooms late 1800’s dining table european . Much lighter in design than its Tudor counterpart, it usually consisted of three quite deep shelves supported on four slim mahogany, turned corner uprights renaissance dining tables . These buffets, like the 17th-century press, are often too large for the modern house moser, austrian furniture designer . Occasionally they are to be seen, laden with dish covers, cutlery and cruets, in the spacious dining rooms of those old-fashioned but comfortable coaching inns which have survived into the day of the motor car art deco dresser inlaid wood .
Beds, Day-beds and Cradies
Early beds—rest for the rich and not-so-rich—misnomer of the “four-poster”—characteristics of 17th-century bed construction—development of the tester—beds of the mid-Georgian era—foreign influences on late 18th-century bed design—truckle and folding beds—origin of the day-bed—Restoration and early 18th-century types—Regency elegance of the chaise-longue—the Victorian sofa—cots and cradles padded antique library wood arm chair .
Early beds were looked upon as the most important items in any household 18 century porcelain placks louis xvi . They were handed down from father to son and were always mentioned with some degree of pride of possession czechoslovakia porclian . They were often very heavy, monumental constructions and the occupants depended for their comfort on enormously thick, feather mattresses 19th century parian busts . These were laid either on a network of ropes which passed through holes in the framework or on a foundation of wooden slats scroll planter table y chair .
There must have been a general fear of draughts and fresh air at night or the bedrooms were very cold and draughty because it was the practice to enclose the beds with panelling or heavy curtains until the end of the 18th century antique tea caddies, penwork . It is hardly likely that many people nowadays would sleep in a 17th or 18th-century bed for choice, although I have an old collector friend who nightly repairs to his Georgian four-poster neo classic bookcase maple tuscany . I should add that it has been fitted with a box-spring mattress of the latest slumber-inducing design antique half leaf table .
In medieval times the wealthy slept on free standing
frame beds overhung by a tent-like canopy which was suspended from the ceiling 19th century desk cabinet . Servants and attendants slept on the floor or on straw palliasses antique oak dressing table with mirror . For information about beds in the time of Elizabeth 1, we look again at William Harrison’s Description of England narrow entryway chest of drawers . In it he wrote: “Our fathers have lain full often upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered with a sheet and a good round log under their heads for a pillow 18 century wooden novelty pipes . If the goodman of the house had purchased a mattress or flock bed, and thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, that peradventure lay seldom in a bed of down or whole feathers charles neo classism boulle . As for servants, if they had any sheet above them, it was well, for seldom had they any under their bodies to keep them from the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet and rased their hardened hides inexpensive french desks furniture .”
The “four-poster” bed of antiquity is a well-known term but few have stopped to think that the four-poster, at any rate until the early Georgian period, was in fact only a two-poster, the back or bed-head which supported the top, or tester, being a panelled framework without posts dressoir antique . In the 17th century these beds were known as tester or posted beds staffordshire porcelain rococo revival period . Medieval beds are so rare as to be almost non-existent but there are a number of beds with testers which can be dated from the late 16th century 18th century boulle cabinet . Some of these were excessively large like the Great Bed of Ware, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique sideboard styles and makers . It was made about 1595 and is 10 feet 9 inches wide antique gate legged side table . The great majority of beds, however, were between 5 and 6 feet in width art nouveau dresser .
Posted beds all followed a similar pattern, having a strong rectangular frame to carry the mattress and at the head a panelled screen, often elaborately decorated with carving and inlaid woods antique american tilt top pedestal table . This screen and two turned pillars at the foot of the bed supported a panelled ceiling or tester from which hung the curtains, to be drawn at night are william and mary chest of drawers rare? . The pillars at the bed-end were usually incorporated in the bed framework and acted as feet for the mattress franl;ng characteristics of english medieval gateleg table . On larger beds, however, the framing would have separate feet and the posts supporting the tester would be freestanding on rectangular pedestal bases period art nouveau galle bronze table lamp .
Some smaller beds were made with panelled screens erected at the bottom end as well as at the head so that they formed, in effect, large panelled boxes with curtained sides american spoonback armchair . They must have been very stuffy and altogether unhealthy japanned bracket clocks . Whether it was a reaction against the unhygienic properties of the enclosed bed or just a simplification for economy’s sake, a plainer type of bed appeared about the middle of the 17th century 19th century lacquered japanese cabinet with paintings . It consisted merely of a framework on short legs and a low panelled bed-head deco porcelain spanish dancers female . It is usually referred to as a farm-house bed victorian renaissance revival credenza . For those who have an ambition to equip their homes with antique furniture entirely, this type of bed, with a box-spring mattress fitted, can be quite an interesting acquisition wileman/shelley vases . They are not uncommon and I have seen them from time to time in several sale-rooms drop leaf table oak uk antique .
The tester undoubtedly developed from the tent-like covering of the medieval bed and during the 16th and 17th centuries was a very heavy structure which demanded a strong supporting bed-framework cupboard design for keeping cockery . During the time of William and Mary and Queen Anne it became fashionable in the noble households to install beds which were most luxuriously appointed antique chairs 1600 s all wood carved . In keeping with the tendency to build houses with higher ceilings to the rooms, these beds were also very high with elaborately decorated testers and the entire framework upholstered with quilted silk and velvet george jones majolica ware . Such beds were usually installed to commemorate the stay of some royal visitor antique chamber cabinet .
Beds of the mid-18th century became altogether lighter in construction and appearance and although in some cases the bed-head screen to support the tester was retained, the more ordinary run of beds had lower bed-heads and four posts to support the tester arabic style lambrequins . By this time the tester consisted only of four curtain poles placed across the tops of the posts with a light covering of material stretched Over them antique telescopic dining tables . Thomas Chippendale made a bed for the Duke of Beaufort about 1750 in the Chinese taste draw leaf tables . It has a pagoda-like top with flying dragons a6 the corners and, finished in black japan and gold, has a very attractive appearance carved oak draw-leaf refectory table . Another bed, painted in the Chinese manner, was made for David Garrick about 1770 antique oak drop leaf table american . It also has a light wooden tester with embroidered silk curtains and like the bed of the Duke of Beaufort indicates the tendency for greater delicacy in construction of furniture during the second half of the 18th century myott son & co hanley 1880 .
For some time during the 18th-century Italian and French beds were imported into the British Isles and although the numbers were small they influenced the design of the English type considerably regency mahogany settee hairy paw . The Italians seem to have been the first to do away with the tester and its hangings sheraton gateleg card table . Probably in a warm climate common sense overruled fashion and tradition maggiolini furniture . French patterns of the late 18th century were very elaborate in the decoration of bed-heads and here also the tester seems to have been abandoned entirely antique dutch desk . Only in England, and the climate was probably the chief reason for its retention, did the use of the tester linger on into the 19th century end tables tall spindle leg antique . Wooden canopies, from which side curtains were hung, were still being fitted over the bed-head about 1850 19th century english sideboard .
Lightly constructed beds, rather like the folding kind used for camping today, became fairly common during the Georgian period red delft tiles religious 17th century value . They were small enough to be kept under th;, posted beds when not required and were used by nurses or servants attending sick people or as extra accommodation for an unexpected visitor bone handled fork converted to knive . I have seen small chests of drawers with dummy fronts which swung open like a cupboard door antiquegames writing table . Inside were folding beds which could be pulled out when wanted heals pair oak tables . All these lighter types were generally known as truckle beds and were fitted with small wheels or castors so that they could easily be moved around dutch marquetry sutherland table .
I have already mentioned in a previous chapter how chests were used as seats in early times and it is evident that the larger ones also served as beds or couches porcelain wincanton . Some years ago in a sale-room I saw a panelled oak chest with raised ends antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . Although I did not realise it at the time I had come across an archebanc couchette, probably of early French design which had been made to serve both as a chest and a couch inlay antique serving trays . I have never seen another since and only hope that one day the opportunity to acquire such a rarity might present itself again 17 century dining tables .
From these bed-chests probably developed the more lightly constructed single bed or day-bed which appeared towards the end of the 16th century etruscan pottery oriental . Shakespeare has referred to them in his plays and, by the Restoration, day-beds had reached a pleasing standard of design meissen porcelain antic . They were made in walnut with six or eight legs and had an adjustable end frame which, together with the main framework of the bed, was equipped with woven splitcanework to give some resilience to the overlay cushions types of table legs 19 century . Day-beds with double ends are found occasionally but they are very rare antique perpetual calendar .
The day-bed continued in use throughout the 18th century conforming to the fashionable characteristics of the time, but it is rather difficult to separate its development into that form known as the chaise-longue from that of the settee, couch or sofa corbusier furniture vintage . Although all these types were used for lying or for sitting upon, I think it should be remembered that the day-bed was designed primarily for resting during the day-time while the settee or sofa was made to enable a number of people to sit together on the same seat mahogany kommode . Perhaps the best way to remember the difference is that the day-bed or chaise-longue was never made with a back like a couch or a settee kilian brothers carved fruit and bird inlaid table . In its later form, as used in the 19th and 20th centuries, it has become known as the divan having neither end supports nor back antique table drop leaf raise .
The chaise-longue of the late Georgian and Regency periods became the symbol of elegant repose, typified perhaps by Jacques Louis David’s portrait of Madame Wcamier fauteuil art deco brandt . The beautiful piece of furniture with its gracefully curving ends was said to have been designed by the artist himself value of gateleg tables . It was in all probability among the finest of the adaptations by the late 18th and early 19th-century designers from the sources of classical Greece and Rome sideboard turns into dining table . A shorter form of seat which is often identical in appearance to the chaise-longue is the window seat bassano maiolica . Like the former, it has no back but is too short for reclining upon and as its name implies was just a small seat made to fit into a low window bay without obscuring the view causes of the reign of terror in france .
The type of Victorian sofa which has just the one scrolled end and a short back-piece running only half its length is really in the tradition of the day-bed rather than that of the couch or settee antique bread making cabinet . Those made in walnut about 1850 with small cabriole legs are attractive pieces of furniture and become increasingly rare as time goes on sheffield shovels .
Children’s cots and cradles are really among the few antiques which are not normally put to their original use and would hardly be considered suitable for the modern baby regency waterfall bookcase . Nowadays, babies are put to bed and left to sleep or lie awake as they will but in olden times an essential of all cot and cradle design was that they should be able to be rocked 1930s antique square table . The two swinging cots illustrated have basically the same structure although they are separated by more than 300 years dressoir timber . The Gothic cot is just an oak box suspended from a well-made stand while the late Georgian version, dating from around 1820, is a much finer affair in turned and needed mahogany pollard elm furniture . It has a clockwork mechanism incorporated in the suspension of the cot which will actually cause it to rock for nearly an hour lusterware made in czechoslovakia . It might be that the steady ticking of the clockwork also acted as a further soporific josef originals+ballerinas+value .
The more homely cradle of the farmhouse and cottage had a small hood at one end century furniture chinoiserie dining table chair credenza . It was mounted on a pair of rockers so that the mother could rock the baby to sleep with her foot while her hands were busy with some sewing or the preparation of food metal plates and trays from iran .

THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
HEPPLEWHITE PERIOD
HEPPLEWHITE began his career as a cabinet maker
at a time when the art of cabinet making was at its ifullest tide kakiemon porcelain . The second half of the eighteenth century is often called the golden age of cabinet making, and by I- `6o, when Hepplewhite settled in business at Cripple-gate, the standard of design and craftsmanship was at its zenit1h walnut tripod tea table . The Chippendale school was still in its prime, and they was a strong group of craftsmen who had ingrained in the — a fine trade tradition, a thing which implies something more than a mere ability to use tools antique card table collectors . It means a sense of appreciation and a certain element of originality, tempered with the convention that belongs to a workshop where everything is done by hand silver tripod table .
George Hepplewhite was one of these practical men english bristol teapots . He was scarcely a designer in the sense that Robert Adam was antique english stoneware identification . He did not sit down at his drawing board and sketch out purely original designs, but his work had characteristic features that can usually be recognised andre’ japaneese porcelain . As a cabinet maker he knew his job perfectly, and, in addition, he had a keen appreciation of fine line which enabled him to give his work a certain individuality in a way that would be beyond a man of no imagination eighteenth century women dressing in front of men in their bedchamber . In this sense he no doubt influenced the trade considerably, but beyond this he simply worked in a certain style which a group of cabinet makers was following angouleme guerhard . His name has come to be attached to that style probably because of his book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, and that was not published until 1788, two years after his death antique wooden pot cupboard .
It is apparent, then, in speaking of Hepplewhite furniture a general style popular from about 1760 until practically the end of the century is implied rather than the work of Hepplewhite himself as an individual dutch antique furniture . A great deal of furniture no doubt was made in the workshop at Cripplegate, but except in a few rare instances it is impossible definitely to identify it antique drop-leaf bread table .
Taken generally, Ilepplewhite furniture was comparatively simple antique blue glass kidney shaped end table . There were a few touches of decoration (usually applied), but even the most ornate specimens had nothing like the elaboration found in the richer Chippendale pieces english porcelain parian . Several new forms of decoration were introduced or revived, for whereas Chippendale work had little other form of decoration besides carving, Hepplewhite furniture had
FIG (chineseexportporcelaincoffeeservice) . 130 tambour commode . SHIELD BACK CHAIR french art deco porcelain jaguar .
1770-1780 spoonback armchair .
One of the finest chairs produced in the 18th century “antique collectors blog” .
For all their lightness these chairs were extremely strong art nouveau jugendstil jugs .
being made in the finest mahogany and of the best work-
manship multipurpose dressing table .
inlay, painting, and gilding in addition to carving glass table antique ceramic legs . The inlay usually took the form of bandings and strings in satinwood, rosewood, ebony, and so on, and was in fact very similar to the inlaid work usually associated with Sheraton glass boudoir lamp deco . Carving was of small classical subject, vases, festoons, draped cloth, and swags of husks, an entire departure from the elaborate scrolling acanthus leafwork of the Chippendale school duke extendable dining table .
It is perhaps in the chair that the Hepplewhite charac-
HOOP BACK
CHAIR antique empire or regency style mahogany bookcase .
1770-1780 english seventeenth century cabinets .
A favourite motif of Hepple-
whitewere the ears of wheat ball and claw tripod table antique . These appear at
the top of the pierced splat
in the back 18th century wardrobe .
11
FIG carved japanese tea table . 132 edgar brandt reproductions snake lamp . OVAL BACK
CHAIR pennsylvania house antique sideboard .
1770-1780-
The French influence is
strongly marked In this
chair world market carved brass charger plate . Except for this
French form the cabriole
leg was never used by
the late 18th century
designers antique silver sphinx .
SIDEBOARD WITH BREAK FRONT DECORATED WITH INLAY pembroke end table .
Late i8th century,
It was not until towards the end of the 18th century that the sideboard with drawer and cupboard accommodation
was made epergne antique for sale . It was evolved from the side table with separate pedestals recipe for “soft paste porcelain” . It is difficult to distinguish between
Hepplewhite and Sheraton pieces as both had a great deal in common italian deco furniture .
The Shield Back Chair
teristic is most marked de coene freres . Probably the most famous type is the shield back, of which an example is given in Fig small sutherland table . 130- A really fine example of a shield back ranks amongst the most beautiful things ever produced, but, like the cabriole leg, first-rate examples are rare antique folding “coaching table” . The truth is that it takes a first-class chair maker of considerable experience to make one properly, the difficulty being that the shaping runs in three directions 16th century english joyned table . There is the shield shape seen from the front, the backward rake, and the concave plan shape antique table turned legs . To incorporate all these to form one harmonious whole is something that calls for a great deal of skill and experience antique inlaid table birds .
As a rule the main back framing had a channelled moulding worked all round it, and the probable reason for this was that it helped to emphasise the shield shape steuben stemware deco . It will be realised that, although the lower part of the shield appears to be in one piece, it is in reality in three dresser with mirrors & teardrop pulls & ogee bracket . The side portions in fact continue down, forming the back legs, and a curved bottom rail is fitted in to complete the shape between them 18th century marquetry . By channelling the wood the shield appears to be in one unbroken piece william iv jupe extending circular . The front legs of these chairs were invariably tapered louis sue .
The chief outside influences of Hepplewhite were the Adam and the French raoul dufy, plates ceramique . Of the latter there was Louis XV, which showed itself in the cabriole leg exemplified in Fig classical work/sewing table mahogany,3 drawers,carved legs, pedestal paw feet . 132 olive green and iron red oriental porcelain . Note the French scrolled foot and the flat shaping which continues along the front seat rail in an unbroken sweep arabisque furniture in ny . Another French influence came from the Louis XVI, and one result was the use of the turned leg 18th and 19th century silversmithing . An example of this is the settee in Fig antique spoons italy silver ornate . 129 papier mache tray-c19th .
Other typical Hepplewhite chair backs are the hoop back, of which Fig antique drop leaf or gate leg tables, ,ny . 131 is an example, the oval back (Fig antique 5 leg oak drop leaf table . 132), heart shape, and that with the serpentine shaped top rail curving into the uprights mackintosh wooden chairs .
Pieces such as sideboards, writing tables, bureaux, chests of drawers, tallboys, wardrobes, and so on were, as already mentioned, extremely like Sheraton furniture, and are dealt with more fully in Chapter X curved back chair from 1940s . The bedstead in Fig french chamber pot bed tables . 129 is a four-poster, very like one appearing in Hepplewhite’s book, and shows the general restraint in treatment walnut tripod tea table .
Fig clawfoot dresser . 133 is a sideboard belonging to the last few years of the eighteenth century trestle table double column . It has characteristics of the Hepplewhite style, but there are others which belong equally to Sheraton, and, as we are dealing with what might be termed schools of design rather than the work of individuals, it is apparent that one can do little more than term it late eighteenth century antique french empire . It is probably the work of a cabinet maker whose name has not come down to posterity, and who worked in the traditional style of the period edwards & roberts furniture .
THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
ADAM PERIOD
N one important sense Robert Adam was entirely
different from the other outstanding characters with
-whose work this book deals serpentine top breakfast table . He was an architect by profession, not a practical cabinet maker, and in turning his attention to furniture he was not in any way fettered by any convention which a tradesman might have 19century british armschairs . It is not suggested that the convention of a good trade tradition is bad ; it is one of the healthiest influences a craft can have ; but it simply is a statement of fact that Adam was able to approach the subject from a fresh angle italian inlaid tea table . He worked from his drawing board and passed on his designs to be carried out by a practical cabinet maker porcelain spanish dancers .
He had travelled a good deal in France and Italy, and on his return in 1758 he set himself up as an architect and rapidly became very successful antique furniture prohibition bar examples . As a result of his foreign studies he was influenced considerably by the classical school, but he had a strong individual turn, and as a result his work had a characteristic touch which made it different from that of other architects working in the classical style antique drop leaf table for sale . It was delicate and refined (some term it effeminate), abounding in small intricate detail, and it superseded largely the rather heavier work of such architects as Sir William Chambers “empire designer, best known for pedestal tables with curved legs .
His connection with furniture was that in designing an interior he included the furniture as an essential part of the scheme blue china tea set with silver inlay england . To the average architect the work was finished when the walls and ceiling had been decorated, but Adam required every detail, even to the ornaments on the sideboard, to harmonise with his ideas japanese portable cherry wood tea tables . Perhaps the most notable example is that of Harewood House, in which the furniture was designed by Adam and executed by Chippendale antique ball and claw desk .
Although there were marked characteristics in Adam furniture, one has to be wary in accepting a piece as genuine Adam Characteristics
Adam chinese furnture form mid 19th centuary . The fact that he had to employ practical cabinet makers, combined with his great success, soon led to a great deal of imitation simple european furniture . In fact, of all the ” Adam ” work that has survived only a very small part can be identified as owing its origin to Adam himself regency period casters .
FIG porcelaine antique motif ming . 137 louis the 14th chair . DINING TABLE WITH FLAP AND PIVOTED BACK LEG japanese laqure tea table .
Abotd 1775•
This is one of a pair of tables Intended to be placed together when used
for dining silver flatware wood handle . The front rail is in reality a drawer front brass ornaments for furniture empire style . It now stands In
the Victoria and Albert Museum South Kensington 1828 sideboard buffet .
self was an individual and original designer, ” Adam ” furniture was, for the most part, the work of a school working in his style antique wood drop leaf table .
Adam used many methods of decoration in his furniture antique oak dropleaf gateleg table . The carving had definite characteristics shearers cupboard heavy . The acanthus leafage was finer and more delicately treated than in the full scrolled form which Chippendale had favoured, and, in addition, he used chains of husks, the honeysuckle device, Greek key, vases, drapery, plaques carved with mythological subjects, rams’ heads, and grotesques antique empire furniture . Inlay and marquetry, too, were revived, and were carried out in satinwood, tulip-wood, rosewood, amboyna, harewood, and so on biedermeier antique de . The subjects were similar to those of the carving furniture designersgerman . Another form of decoration was painting in the style of Angelica Kauffman meissen porcelain antic . A popular treatment was to make these painted panels the main feature of a design of scrolling acanthus leafwork
FIG antique dishes germany pastels with scallops . 138 henry clay bed and furniture . SEMI-CIRCULAR ADAM SIDE TABLE ferniture leg in itali .
T770-1780 antique table in europe .
An extremely fine piece of cabinet work carried out In mahogany antique vase markings newcastle.. on. tyne 1762 . The
curved top rail is veneered, the grain running crosswise 17 century elm gateleg table . The centre
panel and the oval pater2e are typical features brass frame girandole images .
and husks 17th and 18th century french silver marks . In some few instances, too, Wedgwood plaques were introduced bidet square .
A typical Adam sideboard is shown in Fig lion antique mahogany dining table . 136 royal sheffield silver . Properly speaking, it is a side table with two pedestals, but the three pieces were intended to stand together and form a whole In some cases the pedestals were actually joined to the table, though the result never seems quite so successful furniture of meiji period . It gives one the impression that the three pieces were actually separate at one time and were fixed together antique silver candelabras made in england . It is true that there was a general tendency to make the sideboard a single unit, but it was only when the pedestals lost their indivi-The Adam Sideboard
duality as such that the result was really a success labels under boulle furniture . The Sheraton sideboard in Fig makers of antique tea tables . 14 wheat shaped dining table base .4 exemplifies the point furniture  finmar ltd . The origin of the pedestals can just be traced, but they are essentially a part of the design as a whole “art, nouveau”"chiparus”"deer” .
The pedestals owed their origin to the lack of accommodation in the side table andres rosewood solid wood . If one refers back to the side table of Chippendale’s time in Fig chromed trestle table leg . 11 5 it is obvious that its only use was to provide standing space on its top directoire phyfe sofa . There were no drawers or cupboards in which table furniture could be kept opalescent glass perfume france . It fell to Adam to introduce the pedestals antique walnut telescooic dining table . Sometimes they were fitted up with metal grids to enable hot irons to be placed in the cupboards, so providing ? means of warming plates The urns at the top either had metal containers in which iced water was kept, or they were fitted up to hold cutlery antique rosewood armoire with claw feet . The more ornate specimens were often carved with rams’ heads, drapery, husks, and other devices selling japanese tea tables antique .
Towards the end of the century the cabriole leg practically died right out 18th century chippendale dresser . Adam never used it upholstered wood chairs from 1930s . In most cases he preferred the square tapered leg with small square feet fashion 17th century . They were usually recessed in their tapered portion, a pendant of husks often being carved in the recess near the top old gate leg table ball feet . The leg at C, Fig second hand old oak table in staffordshire . 139, shows this detail antique ladik rug . Another common treatment was to carve a series of flutes along the length, the lower part often being filled in with reeds (see A in Fig french antique occasional tables . 139)•
A particularly fine example of an Adam dining table is given in Fig important american girandole mirror . 137 english hepplewhite dressing table . It is one of a pair napoleon antique campaign chair . In use the two would be placed together, flap to flap, so forming one large table meals in eighteenth century england . The flap is supported by a single leg made to pivot frosted glass vase with smokey streaks . Thus when not required for dining the tables could be placed flat against the wall and become useful side tables antique chinese circular revolving bookcase . The decorative treatment is well worth noting antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . The tapered legs are fluted on all sides except one, this being carved with a crisscross design set in a recess antique table round drop leaf claw foot . At the top are paterx carved with leafwork theodore haviland 1958 pattern . The fluted top rail with the plain centre part carved with swags of husks is typically Adam english stoneware marks . He invariably introduced this centre panel french meals17th century .
An example of a small side table with turned and carved legs is given in Fig furniture cupboard design,side board,wood . 138 george hepplewhite bottle case . It exemplifies well the delicate treatment of which Adam was so fond meissen porcelain animalsfrederick augustus . Note the use of the centre panel again, this time of quite plain form see a silver sauceboat with a heated base . Other kinds of Adam legs and feet are given in Fig antique glass top tea table bird . 139•

Antique Engraved Glass

Engraving, whereby a decorative pattern is finely cut onto the surface of the glass, dates back to Roman times. The very earliest types of engraving were diamond-point engraving, which involves scratching fine lines into the glass with a sharp instrument (usually a diamond stylus), and wheel engraving, where the design is cut into the glass by means of a rotating
wheel. Stipple engraving, a more sophisticated form of diamond point engraving, where patterns of tiny dots rather than lines at used to create a shaded design, was first used from c.1621 acid etching, which involves burning a design out of the top layer of glass with acid, evolved with the invention
hydrofluoric acid c.1770 and was widely used in Britain.
Although glass was engraved from Roman times, and examples of fine engraving exist on 15th–century Venetian glass, the widespread use of such techniques as diamond-point and stipple engraving dates mainly from the second half of the 16th century. These techniques were introduced to decorators in the Low Countries by itinerant Venetian glassworkers. Wheel engraving was first used in Germany in the late 16th century.
DIAMOND-POINT AND STIPPLE ENGRAVING Diarnond-point engraving, in which the design or decoration is scratched onto the surface of the glass by a sharp diamond stylus, is particularly suited to thin-walled glass too hard to withstand wheel engraving. It was the only engraving technique suitable to
be used on delicate cristallo glass. Diamond-point engraving was therefore quite common on 15th-century Venetian and later facon de Venice (”in the style of Venice”) glass. However, the technique did not reach its apogee until it was taken up in the Low Countries during the 17th century, where it was carried out by both amateur (those who decorated glass as a hobby) and professional glass decorators. Anna Roemers Visscher (1583-1651) was an amateur glass decorator in Amsterdam, where she engraved delicate designs of flowers, fruit, and insects, as well as lines of poetry in calligraphic script, on beakers and Romer (a type of drinking glass). Another distinguished amateur glass decorator, Willem Jacobsz van Heemskerk (1613-92), in Leiden, produced most notably free-flowing calligraphic designs on such wares as bulbous serving bottles and jugs. Among the best-known professional engravers was Willem Mooleyser (active 1685-97), from Rotterdam, who used diamond-point engraving on bowls, flasks, goblets, and Romer.
In stipple engraving, which is a development of diamond-point engraving, a stylus is very gently tapped on the glass to make a design built up of small dots; these dots create areas of light (dense areas of dots) and shade (sparse areas of dots) to create the delicate design. The detail may be so fine that the design will Only be seen clearly when the glass is held to the light. Common designs include portraits and allegorical Subjects. Examples of stipple-engraved glass are rare,
as the technique is slow, extremely difficult, and requires great skill and patience.
As with diamond-point engraving, the most notable designs were produced by glass decorators from the Low Countries. Visscher introduced the technique to The Netherlands c.1621, but perhaps the best-known exponent was Frans Greenwood (1680-1761), an amateur glass decorator in Dordrecht who employed the technique exclusively from c.1722. He incorporated floral and fruit motifs and also copied designs from contemporary mezzotints and paintings. One of his followers was David Wolff (1732-98),
), a painter who
produced his own designs and portraits. Some of Wolff’s pieces are signed and his style inspired other artists towards the end of the century; such pieces are commonly known as “Wolff” glass. Another follower of Greenwood was the painter and engraver Aert Schouman ( 1710-92). Greenwood, Wolff, and Schouman all mainly worked on glass thought to have been made in the factories around Newcastle-upon-Tyne in northern England, which made a soft glass that was better suited to the stippling technique than the more brittle soda glass.
WHEEL ENGRAVING
In wheel engraving, a mechanical wheel fed with an abrasive paste (typically a mix of oil and emery) is used
cut a design onto a glass surface. The technique, which has been used since Roman times, is best suited
thick-walled pieces, because the depth of the cut is an essential part of the design. The modern technique was probably developed between c.1590 and 1605, at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph 11 in Prague, by the gem engraver Caspar Lehman 15-0-1622), who engraved plaques and beakers with portraits and allegorical subjects.
In Bohemia a new type of glass known as “lime” glass, in which chalk lime carbonate was added to the batch to give a strong, colourless crystal suitable for deep engraving, was developed c.1683. At about the same time water power was introduced to drive the wheels, and this also enabled deeper cutting. Especially notable is the work of Dominik Biemann (1800 1857), whose training at the Prague Academy of Drawing is reflected in his fine engraved portraits on beakers and medallions. Of particular note are the Baroque pokals lidded goblets) decorated with Hochschnitt (”high cut”) engraving by the Silesian Friedrich Winter (d.C. 17 12). One of Lehman’s pupils was Georg Schwanhardt the Elder 1601-70), who left Prague for Nuremberg where he established a workshop and founded a dynasty of skilled engravers, including his son Heinrich (1624l
The technique was further developed in the 19th century, as Bohemian craftsmen pioneered a process whereby glass was overlaid with a layer of glass in a different colour and then wheel engraved to show the design in the colour of the first laver. Two lavers of glass were standard, but sophisticated pieces were composed of up to four layers. Such pieces demanded great expertise, as each coloured layer cooled at a different rate, and with each additional colour the risk of cracking increased. Common decoration included forest and hunting scenes, rural views, and castles. However, most sought after are special commissions such as portraits of famous people, battle scenes, and important buildings. Highly skilled Bohemian craftsmen travelled across Europe, so many pieces of this type were produced in various countries.
Towards the end of the 19th century some fine wheel-engraved pieces with Hochschnitt and Tiefschnitt (incised or intaglio) decoration were designed by J. & L. Lobmeyr (est. 1823) in Vienna. The firm produced copies of 18th-century designs and worked in Classical and contemporary styles. Leading engravers who worked for Lobmeyr included Karl Pietsch ( 1826-83), Peter Eisert ( 1828-94), and Franz Ullmann (1846-1921 ).
Engraved glass was also produced in Sweden. In the 20th century some outstanding pieces were made at the Orrefors factory (est. 1898) in Orrefors, in the Sul Aland region. In 1916 Simon Gate ( 1883-1945) was brought in as a chief designer, and he was joined the following year by Edvard Hald (1883-1980). Gate’s designs typically feature elegant Neo-classical figures,
while Hald’s figures are more caricatured and are mostly shallow engraved. Between 1928 and 1941 Vicke Lindstrand ( 1904-83) also worked for Orrefors, producing stylish and elegant designs.
Diamond-point and stipple engraving
• CONDITION diamond-point engraving should be shallow, with ragged, slightly broken lines, minor damage will not greatly affect value of early pieces
• BEWARE copies were decorated by
enthusiastic
amateurs in the I 9th century; when dated there is no Confusion, but undated older glasses can be misleading
Marks
Diamond-point pieces may he signed on the foot or in the design
Wheel engraving
• TYPES OF GLASS 19th-century Bohemian coloured glass Was a popular base; this glass should feel heavy
• DECORATION late 18th-century pieces feature formal designs; heavy, ornate engraving is typical; high-quality pieces have elaborately cut, ornate feet

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

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

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

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

Some of the finest Art Deco furniture was produced in France, where designers reacted against the Art Nouveau style, and were inspired instead by the lines of 18th- and early 19th-century French furniture.
Cabinet-makers such as Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
1879-1933) created one-off pieces in exotic woods; others were influenced by African and Oriental art,
while from 1925 the machine aesthetic of Modernism gained prominence, with such materials as tubular steel.

TRADITIONALIST DESIGNS
The leading French furniture designer
from c.19 IS to the mid-1920s was
Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, whose exceptionally fine handmade furniture is an elegantly pared-down version of the Neo-classical and Empire styles, with typical 18th-century features such as tapering, fluted legs. Decorative effect     is provided by exotic wood veneers, sometimes with inlaid ivory, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell. After 1925 Ruhlmann used Modernist materials, such as tubular steel, but continued to work in a traditional style.
Other designers inspired by historical furniture were Louis Sue (1875-1968) and Andre Mare (1887-1932), who in 1919 formed the Compagnie des Arts Francais to produce a range of pieces including chairs, commodes, and desks, typified by massive forms and veneered in exotic woods with carved or inlaid stylized flowers, fruits, and plants. Their designs are heavier in style than Ruhlmann’s, as they favoured adaptations of Louis Philippe furniture of the 1830s and 1840s.
Many leading Paris department stores
had separate studios that provided a complete interior-design service. From 1921 Maurice Dufrene
( 1876-1955) directed La Maitrise, the design studio of Galeries Lafayette, and from 1923 Paul
Follot (1877-1941) was artistic director at Pomone for Au Bon Marche. Follot designed a wide range of  furnishings; urnishings; his furniture, like Ruhlmann`s is based on 18th-century forms, but
is distinguished by giltwood frames and richly coloured, patterned upholstery. Although his designs became more geometric after 1925, Follot continued to prefer wood, gilding, lacquer, and inlay to tubular steel, plastic, or glass.
EXOTIC AND MODERN DESIGNS
The geometric motifs typical of this period were derived from Cubist painting, which itself was influenced by the stylized forms of African masks and sculpture. The
furniture designer Pierre Legrain (1887-1929) took inspiration from African furniture, fashioning traditional designs in Western materials.
The Art Deco taste for Oriental art is evident in the popularity of lacquered furniture, the leading exponents of which were the Swiss-born Jean Dunand (1877-
1942) and the Irish-born Eileen Gray (1879-1976), both active in Paris. Dunand’s early lacquered furniture featured floral designs; his work from the 1920s depicted geometric forms in red-and-black lacquer and sometimes panels of crushed eggshell (coquille d’oeuf). Gray studied lacquering in Paris with the Japanese master Sougawara, and in 1920 she designed a furnished apartment for the milliner Suzanne Talbot, featuring a collection of African-inspired spired pieces. From c.1925, influenced by Modernism, she produced furniture of tubular steel, glass, and aluminium.
The leading designer of Modernist furniture was the architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965). At the 1925 Paris Exhibition he designed the Pavilion de VEsprit Nouveau, a stark, geometric space sparsely furnished with mass-produced items such as bentwood furniture by Thonet. From 1926, with Charlotte Perriand (b.1903) and his brother Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier designed his own functionalist furniture using tubular steel and other “new” materials. These and other Modernist designs have been reproduced since the 1960s by the Italian furniture company Cassina.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
•    FORMS simple, elegant forms    18th-centuryforms
based on 18th-century designs, with a very high standard of workmanshipMATERIALS
•     exotic wood veneers, such as Macassar ebony, amboyna, palisander, and amaranth; ivory inlay
•    COLLECTING all work collectable, and highly priced
Marks
Ruhlmann’s work carries this signature
Compagnie des Arts Francais
•    MATERIALS marble tops, velvet upholstery
Legrain, Dunand, and Le Corbusier
•    FORMS Legrain: African-inspired with angular, stepped features; Dunand: naturalistic floral designs, geometric designs; Le Corbusier: stark, Modernist designs TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS Dunand: lacquering, crushed eggshell; Le Corbusier: tubular steel frames
•    COLLECTING Le Corbusier: modern reproductions
mass-produced by Cassina arc more accessible

The Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930x, which derived ‘its name from the 1925 Paris Exhibition – the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industrials Modernes – was the first truly modern style of the 20th century. .In their subject-matter, style, and bright colours, Art Deco furniture, jewellery, ceramics, cs, posters, sculpture, and other decorative arts reflected the general atmosphere of optimism that prevailed after the devastation of World War I. The increased liberation of women, the rise of jazz music and Hollywood film-making, the preoccupation with speed, travel, and leisure pursuits, and the growth of commercial competition and advertising all had a strong Influence on Art Deco designers. Until the late 1970s Art Deco pieces attracted little interest among dealers and collectors, but since that time, with numerous exhibitions and Publications on the subject, the popularity  of collecting Art Deco has increased enormously.

Like the Paris Exhibition of 1900 –which had been the showcase for the Art Nouveau style – the 192-5 Exhibition aimed to promote France as the pre-eminent centre for the production of luxury goods. Most European countries, except for or Germany, were involved; the USA declined to take part, deciding that it could not meet the entry requirements for examples of work of “new and original inspiration” stipulated by the organizers. The exhibition was therefore dominated by pavilions displaying the work of leading French designers, such as the
furniture designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann (1879-1933) and the glassmaker Rene Laliquc ( 1860-1945). The design studios of the major Parisian department stores, such as Primavera at Printemps, La Maitrise at Galeries Lafayette,  and Pomona at Au Bon Marche, displayed complete interiors, with examples of furniture, household wares, textiles, and carpets in matching styles.
Most of the exhibits reflected the “official taste” of the exhibition; forms were adapted from historical or traditional styles, but with lavish ornament of stylized flowers, figures, and animals, and geometric patterns such as zigzags and chevrons. This was particularly evident in Ruhlmann’s Pavilion d’un Collectioneur, with its chairs influenced by 18th-century design, boldly  patterned wall coverings, and elaborate chandeliers, and also in the design by Andre Groult for an ambassadorial boudoir with shagreen-covered furniture.
This style contrasted strongly with the few displays by Modernist designers. The Pavilion de I’Esprit Nouveau was designed by the avant-garde Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and exemplified his vision of a new, minimalist architecture and lifestyle. His small two-storey house, with its doors, windows, and other structural elements based on a modular system of standard-sized units, contained mass-produced furniture and was decorated with abstract paintings. Although this style made a strong impact, its influence did not become widespread until the 19 30x, when it was represented at the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris and also at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

THE 1925 PARIS EXHIBITION
The Art Deco style, although mainly associated with the 1920s and 1930s, did not suddenly emerge fully formed in this period. Rich ornament, exotic materials, and emphasis on comfort – all features of the style – were already evident in the decorative arts, especially in French furniture, before and during World War I. However, the development of the Art Deco style is mainly associated with the 1925 exhibition in Paris, which lasted from April to October. This exhibition was originally planned for 1915, Lis a continuation of the French government-sponsored international exhibitions that were held in Paris from the 19th century, but was postponed because of the war.
MOTIFS, INFLUENCES, AND
NEW MATERIALS
The standard motifs of the Art Deco style included such traditional decorative elements as bouquets of flowers, animals, and figures of young maidens. However, these were always stylized and angular rather than naturalistic and were often combined with purely geometric motifs, including chevrons, zigzags, Sunbursts, and lightning bolts. This emphasis on stylization and abstract and repeated forms was influenced by the growing impact of the machine, especially automobiles, trains, and aeroplanes, and by such abstract art movements of the early 20th century as Cubism and Futurism. The taste for bright colours was also inspired by the vibrant Fauvist paintings of Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Maurice Vlaminck, which used contrasting tones and non-naturalistic colours.
Such movements were in turn influenced by the stylized, abstract forms of African masks and sculpture, which were widely collected and imported into Europe in large quantities at this time. Certain elements of Art Deco decorative arts, such as ceramic wall masks, show the inspiration of African art, while African figures featured as decoration on the ceramics of such potters as Rene Buthaud (1886-1987). Also around this time, black American culture in the form of jazz music was introduced into Europe from the USA; the jazz-inspired Revue Negre in Paris, featuring the black dancer and actress Josephine Baker, influenced the work of Buthaud and other Art Deco designers.
The taste for Oriental art was encouraged between 1911 and 1920 by the exotic stage and costume designs of Leon Bakst ( 1866-1924) for the Ballets Russes. These had a significant influence on the Art Deco style, and sparked a fashion for Oriental black-and-red colour combinations as well as lacquered furniture, metalwork, and objets d’art. One of the best exponents of the style was the Swiss designer Jean Dunand (1877-1942). Leading sculptors in France, such as Dimitri Chiparus 1880-1950), also produced figures of dancers in exotic costumes.

THE MODERN MOVEMENT
An alternative to the luxury Art Deco style developed mainly outside France, especially in Germany, during and after World War 1. Progressive artists, architects, and designers argued that the new era demanded good-quality, functional design for all; that new technology and machine production should be exploited fully;  and that form must be derived from function, Without unnecessary ornament.
This movement began in 1907 with the Deutscher Werkbund, an alliance of designers and industrialists. In 1919 the Bauhaus was founded in Weimar by the German architect and designer Walter Gropius (1883-1969); in 1925 the school moved to Dessau, and it was closed by the Nazis in 1933. Bauhaus members designed high-quality furniture, lighting, metalwork, and textiles for industrial production, using new materials, including plywood and tubular steel. Many designs, such as the tubular steel furniture by Marcel Breuer (1902-81) and the glass and metal lamps by Marianne Brandt (1893-1983), are still widely produced. Other Modernist designers of the period included Le Corbusier in France, Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) in Finland, and Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) in the Netherlands.
Both the decorative and the Modern strands of Art Deco had a strong influence in the USA, where the style’s vibrant colours and rhythmic patterns expressed the optimism of a young
country that was also the world leader in the mass production of consumer goods. Designers including Paul T. Frankl ( 1886-19,58) and Donald Deskey (1894-1989) used materials also favoured by European Modernists, such as chrome-plated tubular steel. In the 1930s designers such as Norman Bel Geddes (18931958) and Walter Derwin Teague (1883-1960) began to develop their own distinctive version of Art Deco, known as “streamlining”.

Art Deco designers used an extremely wide range of  materials. Luxury manufacturers, including Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Paul Follot (1877-1941), and the cabinet-makers Louis Sue (1875-1968) and Andre Mare (1887-1932), specialized in fine-quality pieces veneered in exotic woods such as amboyna and Macassar ebony, combined with ivory, shagreen, enamel, gold and silver leaf, and lacquer. Modernist and industrial designers, especially in the USA, showed greater interest in new materials such as aluminium, chromium, and tubular steel. Lavish cinema interiors were created relatively inexpensively from combinations of chromium, coloured glass, and painted concrete. Bakelite, a type of cheap, easily moulded plastic patented in 1907, was widely employed as a substitute for wood in such mass-produced items as radios.

Early chairs
Before the 16th century rooms were sparsely furnished, and the range of furniture was limited. Chairs were scarce and, like stools, were viewed as symbols of authority. It was not until the 16th century that more comfortable chairs were made. At this time the major artistic impetus spread northward from Italy, and chairs were made in quantity only in southern Europe. By the I7th century, as lifestyles became more settled, there was a greater demand for comfort in seat furniture.

A Turner’s or “thrown” chair
s of this type were produced in Britain from the 16th century, and
still made in provincial areas into the 19th century. “Throwing” was early term for turning. These chairs were often made from ash, which strong and ideal for turning, although susceptible to woodworm. late 17th century; ht Iml3ft3in; value H)
SOUTHERN EUROPE
The earliest prototype was the 16th-century Italian X-frame folding chair, usually in walnut, Inch was adopted in northern Europe from the end of the century. Spanish examples exist that are inlaid with ivory and metals in stellar and geometric designs in the Moorish fashion.
Armchairs of the 16th and 17th centuries were refined versions of the carved chaise caquetoire (gossiping chair) which, with its solid, carved back and trapezoidal seat, was not very comfortable. As revealed by the engravings of the Flemish designer Hans Vredeman de Vries (1526-(.1604) in his Differents Pourtraicts de Menuiserie ((.1585), the earliest-surviving traditional easy chairs were executed principally in Tuscany, Spain, Portugal, and The Netherlands in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Known as the sillon De fraileros (”monk’s chair”) in Spain, this type of chair was usually of walnut, with scrolled and acanthus-carved stiles. The upper section Was supported by plain legs joined by waved stretchers, and the chair was upholstered with
intricately tooled and embossed leather stretched by ornamental heavy brass nails. Examples from The Netherlands often have lion finials surmounting the stiles.
NORTHERN EUROPE
Turning on a foot-operated lathe (which revolved the legs while the wood was cut to the required shape) became an increasingly popular decorative technique in northern Europe, and by the early 17th century most legs were turned. This form of decoration remained fashionable until the end of the century. Designs became increasingly intricate at this time, culminating in the “barley-sugar” (spiral) twist.
Peculiar to the 17th century is the oak joined chair with arms, often called a wainscot chair in Britain. Similar designs were made in many countries throughout northern Europe, and examples are still found in some numbers. This type of chair commonly has a scroll-carved toprail, sometimes inscribed with initials or a date. Its characteristic feature is a panel back, often symmetrically carved with stylized
leaves, lozenges, roundels, and lunettes. The seat
is solid, but would originally have had a squab cushion, and the front supports are ring-turned, with the legs joined by stretchers. Chairs of this type were made until the end of the 17th century and represent the final stage of the age of the joiner, as this period is often called. Designs and techniques changed considerably after this time, but in many provincial areas the traditional methods of construction continued to be used.

•    woods invariably indigenous – walnut in southern Europe and oak in northern Europe; rosewood was used to a limited extent during the 17th century in Portugal
•    DAMAGE examples that pre-date 1600 are extremely rare, and 17th-century examples should be examined closely for repairs; age, wear, and tear will have taken their toll – the legs and the lower part of the back are particularly vulnerable
•    DECORATION painted decoration, upholstery, leather, and caning have often been changed; if the originals remain, they increase the value
•    COPIES AND FAKES most 17th-century chairs are stylistically of a very simple form, the same designs being produced over a long period, making them difficult to date; turners’ chairs arc popular with collectors and are often faked – copies are difficult to detect as they may be quite old themselves, and tend to be in the same woods as the originals (ash or oak, not walnut), with good-quality carving; the colour of the wood on all unpolished surfaces should be closely examined, as should the overall patina