Posts Tagged ‘dual function’

Bedside tables and washstands
Bedside tables and commodes, known as “night tables” in British 18th-century pattern-books, were first made in France during the second quarter of the 18th century. By the latter part of the century they were frequently supplied in pairs, one designed to conceal the chamber-pot, perhaps behind a tambour-fronted slide
or simulated drawer, the other to accommodate the basin for shaving and washing. These modest conveniences replaced the early 18th-century commode chairs – so frequently copied in the late 19th century, and betrayed so readily by their exaggeratedly deep friezes.
MID-18TH-CENTURY BEDSIDE TABLES
Known as tables de chevet, French mid-18th-century bedside tables were usually veneered in kingwood, tulipwood, and amaranth; provincial examples were made of fruitwood. Often decorated with floral marquetry, sometimes end cut across the grain – a technique particularly associated with Bernard van Risenburgh (c.1700-1765) and Pierre Migeon (1701-58) – Louis XV tables de chevet are distinguished by their waved galleried tops, pierced carrying handles to the sides, and cabriole legs, often with richly chased ormolu mounts. Extensively copied in Russia, Germany, and northern Italy, particularly in Genoa, they either supported two open tiers with marble tops or, on the most sophisticated examples, had lower tambour-fronted tiers, sometimes with simulated book spines, behind which the chamber-pots were concealed. Although this shaped rectagular form prevailed, Rococo tables de nuit of both kidney shape (a rognon) and oval form are also recorded, and these were inspirational to Swedish and Russian cabinet-makers in the second half of the 18th century.
ENGLISH NIGHT TABLES
The French fashion for night tables was adopted in Britain, and the basic form of the British commode had emerged by c.1760. Usually of mahogany, with waved or pierced galleried tops, they incorporate carrying handles above pairs of doors and shaped aprons. From the 1770s Neo-classical tables were restrained and firms such as Gillow (est. c.1730) of Lancaster, manufactured tambour-fronted night tables with only crossbanding, ebony, and boxwood lines or raised panels to enrich the flamed mahogany veneer. Usually fitted with leather or wooden casters, bedside commodes usually display galleried, plain tray-tops and tambour-fronted slides,
simulated drawers, which pull out to reveal the lidded pots, often set within oak frames. An improvement of the 1780s was the refinement of having “split” front legs, cut diagonally, which, when closed, appeared to be one, the front sections of these pulling out with the pot-cupboard drawer to provide support, as opposed to the more ungainly use of six legs that appears on less sophisticated pot-cupboards.
From the 1770s, as a result of the influence of Louis XVI taste, night tables became increasingly light in both form and colour. As a result, bow-fronted commodes, often with slender, turned, tapering legs, veneered in exotic timbers and inlaid with Neo-classical marquetry, emerged. Gradually the rather cumbersome and heavy pattern of the 1760s was also superseded by the growth in popularity of pot-cupboards. Far narrower than their earlier counterparts, late George III pot-cupboards usually have plain three-quarter galleried tops above a single doors or tambour-slides and stand upon elegant turned legs; this form was also widely manufactured in the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
EARLY 19TH-CENTURY POT-CUPBOARDS
The early 19th century saw a renewed and vigorous revival of the designs of Classical antiquity. Napoleon I’s succesful campaigns in Egypt, poularized by Baron Vivant Denon (1747-1825) in his Aventures daps la base et la haute Egypte ( 1802), led to an explosion of Egyptomania, and this was further expressed by v Thomas Hope (1769-1831), Who simultaneously embraced ancient Greece in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration Executed from Designs by Thomas Hope (1807). Inevitably this renewed Neo-classical fashion was reflected in the design of pot-cupboards in the early 19th century. In France, therefore, firms of cabinet-makers such as Jacob Desmalter & Cie (est. 1767) in Paris manufactured mahogany pot-cupboards standing on plinths rather than on legs; these were sometimes battered or splayed, and mounted with Egyptian berms and crocodiles in ormolu.
In Germany, Austria, and northern Europe, the Empire style was interpreted in the designs of the Biedermeier movement from c.1815, and Biedermeier pot-cupboards are simlarly Classical in inspiration. Usually of mahogany, or indigenous woods, such as birch, Karelian birch, ash, or elm, they are enriched with ebonized and parcel-gilt decoration, perhaps with Egyptian-berm caryatids or lion’s-paw feet. Regency pot-cupboards in England also saw a return to the simple, clean lines and richly figured veneers of early Neo-classicism. The were made of mahogany,
often with only subtle, raised panel decoration. Perhaps the most famous design introduced at this time was the multi-purpose bedside steps; made by Gillow, and Usually of exceptionally good quality, they concealed the chamber-pot within the sliding first tread of the steps.
VICTORIAN COMMODES
During the 19th century bedside commodes and pot-cupboards became more utilitarian, and the discomfort of the early commodes, with their pull-out bases, was replaced by a comfortable and permanent, but still
disguised, seat. These metamorphic chests-of-drawers, first recorded c.1830 to 1840, were a huge improvement. Appearing on the outside to be plain chests, usually of walnut or mahogany, and standing on turned tapering feet, these chests of simulated drawers opened to reveal a fitted commode-chair. This design refinement was reflected in the quality of the interior, the commode no longer cheaply set within a carcase wood, such as pine or oak, but within a frame veneered with richly figured timbers such as satin-birch, amboyna, arid bird’s-eye maple. However, these luxurious Victorian bedside commodes, elaborate as they were, did not last; they were superseded by the widespread introduction of the water closet.
WASHSTANDS
Although basin-stands are recorded in the Middle Ages, it was not until the mid-18th century that washstands became pieces of furniture. Inspired by French prototypes and popularized by Thomas Chippendale ( 1718-79) in The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754-62), mid-18th-century washstands, often of mahogany, tend to have twin-flap square tops, the flaps opening from the centre to reveal a fitted interior with sunken bowl, dressing compartments, and a rising mirror that lifts up from the back. Although the earliest examples are plain, more elaborate examples, carved with Gothic ornament, or pierced fretwork angles in the Chinese manner, were made in the 1750s and 1760s, and these were gradually superseded by Neo-classical marquetry in the 1770s. In the 1790s corner-washstands, as featured in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1802) by Thomas Sheraton (1751 1806), also appeared, and this pattern enjoyed great popularity in North America. This period also saw the emergence of multi-purpose washstands, such as that designed by Thomas Shearer, which contained a bidet below the dressing-drawer.
In the 19th century, washstands became larger; often they had rectangular tops hinged to the backs and fitted with mirrors on the inside, above central basins and further compartments. From the 1830s they became more practical in design, and are distinguished by wash-boards or splash-backs, which with the basin frame, was often made of white marble. Often conceived as part of a bedroom suite in the late 19th century, the washstand became very elaborate, with cupboards, drawers, and shelves that sometimes framed a toilet-glass. Frequently of satinwood, perhaps painted with flowers and Classical figures, Edwardian and late Victorian washstands were occasionally enriched with Arts and Crafts tiles.
• POT-CUPBOARDS mid-18th-century pot-cupboards arc extremely rare; pairs of pot-cupboards are among the most commercially desirable objects, and can command a huge premium; however, beware, as they have often been either matched together by later carving or embellished at a later date with elaborate marquetry.
• CHAMBER-POTS it is increasingly rare to find the original porcelain or earthenware pot, but this should not affect value.
• CONVERSIONS numerous commode sections or commodes have been converted later into drawers or chests-of-drawers; this should be reasonably obvious when examining the carcase and does not dramatically affect the value
WASHSTANDS many Victorian and Edwardian examples exist; originally washstands were fitted
with marble tops with holes cut through for the bowls to sit in – most of these have now been replaced with solid marble tops.

Library and writing tables.
The earliest-known tables specifically designed for writing date from 16th-century Italy, when cabinetmakers produced elaborately carved walnut tables with sloping desks fitted into the tops and small drawers below for the storage of writing materials. Similar tables, or bureaux, probably originated in France during the third quarter of the 16th century.
THE 18TH CENTURY
Tables designed specifically for writing were introduced in England after the Restoration (1660). French tables influenced English designs during this period, and both French and English examples were usually made of oak or walnut with a rectangular folding top. The flap was supported by baluster or tapered pillar legs they are often decorated with “seaweed” or floral marquetry and closely parallel the Dutch models. During the early 18th century the Louis XIV concept of a free-standing bureau plat (a flat-topped writing table) invented by Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) was taken up and adapted by English cabinet-makers. Intended to occupy a central position in the library, and to act as a statement of the wealth and power of its owner, such desks reached the zenith of their popularity in England during the mid-18th century, and by the third edition of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1762) by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79), no less than 11 types of carved open pedestal desk were illustrated.
As postal systems developed, and as paper became cheaper and standards of education improved, so the need arose for less stately versions of the writing table, particularly for use by women. Some of these tables appeared in Chippendale’s Director; while others featured in The Universal System of Household Furniture (1762) by John Mayhew (1736-1811) and William Ince (c.1738-1804). A great range of new forms came into use at this time, which were notably lighter than their predecessors. Neo-classical tables were made in exotic hardwoods such as satinwood, an expensive and very fashionable wood that was particularly suited to this lighter style of table, and many examples were adorned with fine marquetry.
THE 19TH CENTURY
Several new types of writing table developed during the Regency period (c.1790-1830), including the Carlton House desk, named after the London home of the Prince of Wales (later George IV). Another fashionable form featured curved X-shaped supports at either end, with drawers in the frieze, and the flat top enclosed by a three-quarter brass gallery. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, furniture designers were given the opportunity to create a wide range of new forms, when the technology required to marry wood
to metal – developed for military purposes – was applied to furniture. The furniture of the Regency period was therefore characterized by elegant design combined with ambitious construction techniques. New features included galleries at the top of the table, used either for decorative effect or to hold books safely; numerous small drawers, hinged flaps, and curved ramps, which could be pulled out as required, extending the available surface and facilitating activities such as drawing and painting; and screens that extended beyond the main structure in order to shield the writer’s face from the heat of the fire. In addition, revolving circular or polygonal “drum”tables were invented for the library, where they were used for storing and displaying books and paper.
• “BUHL” WORK examples tend to be inferior to those of the 17th and early 18th centuries: the gilding is generally brassier and the tops are inlaid, in contrast to the leather-lined tops of the 17th-century prototypes; the drawer-linings of original examples were usually in oak, while on the copies they are in walnut.
• ALTERATIONS leather tops can get ripped and have often been replaced – this should not affect value; heavy legs have often been replaced with lighter legs of an earlier style to make the table more commercial.

Writing cabinets-on-stands
Small slope-topped writing boxes were known from medieval times, and during the 16th and early 17th centuries they continued to be associated with the needs of a highly educated elite. With their sloping lids, often lipped at the lower edge, they could double as reading lecterns, and many were decorated with carving, inlay, or painting. Inside they were fitted with compartments and small drawers for papers and writing equipment. Conveniently portable, they could be used on top of a table or chest.
EARLY CABINETS-ON-STANDS
During the second half of the 17th century a new form of writing compendium, with its own base support, was developed. Also known as a scriptor, or, in France, an escritoire, the writing cabinet-onstand was a rectangular structure, based on the
Spanish vargueno (writing desk) Instead of a sloping lift-up top, it had a fall front concealing drawers and pigeon holes, which opened to form a writing surface supported on cords at either side. The exterior presented an inviting
surface for veneering. Fine examples were made with oyster veneers of walnut or cocus wood, or with floral or “seaweed” marquetry; some cabinets were inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl, or japanned to imitate Oriental lacquer. The most spectacular, japanned in brilliant colours on white or light-coloured grounds, were by Gerard Dagly (1657-1715) of Berlin. The legs of the stand were baluster or spiral turned typical of fashionable furniture of this period. Already, by the close of the I 7th century, many of these cabinets had a distinctly feminine flavour, with compartments for toiletries, jewellery, and writing equipment.
Alongside the development of the mainstream bureau and bureau cabinet in the early 18th century was that of the slightly built slope-topped writing desk of bureau form, set upon a cabriole-legged base, with frieze drawers. Some of these desks were surmounted by toilet mirrors, showing their dual function as writing and dressing tables. Typically, they were veneered in walnut or marquetry, but some fine examples are decorated with japanning.
drawer below. French examples were lavishly decorated, with gilt-bronze mounts and fine marquetry veneers of unusual woods, and sometimes with porcelain plaques, or panels of Oriental lacquer. By the last quarter of the 18th century the cabriole supports – the last vestiges of the Rococo – were discarded in favour of straight-tapered legs, often with gilded grooves and understretchers.
The English interpretation of the bonheur du jour was more restrained, relying for its elegance on finely figured timbers and well-judged proportions; edges were straight and legs square tapered. Mahogany or satinwood was often contrasted with bandings or panels of rosewood, sycamore, tulip, or box. Both French and British styles were adopted by cabinet-makers in other parts of Europe. Porcelain plaques, marquetry, and ormolu mounts all appear on bonheurs du jour in Germany, Austria, and Poland, but the structure of such pieces tends to be spare and square rather than voluptuous.

• WRITING CABINETS-ON-STANDS some early very
fine examples were decorated with veneered with burr-walnut, oyster veneering or marquetry (floral or “seaweed”), inlaid or japanned; this type of furniture although not always very useful (unlike the bureau in all its forms) is very desirable, so unless the decoration is very badly damaged, they will still generally command high prices.
• BONHEURS DU JOUR usually very popular items of decorative furniture; those made in the late 18th-century style of Sheraton are particularly popular.
LATER CABINETS-ON-STANDS
In France, luxurious writing-cum-toilet tables for use in ladies’ apartments were made in large numbers from the beginning of the Rococo period in the early 18th century. Veneered in fine marquetry of exotic woods, and with cabriole legs, they were embellished with cast-and gilt-bronze mounts. Some of these bureaux de dames had sloping lids to the superstructures, while another type, the secretaire n capucin, had a flat writing surface opening out from the table top, and a superstructure of drawers and compartments rising from the back. By the late 1760s the bonheur du jour was an established form of ladies’ writing table. As its name suggests, it was destined for the feminine “delight of the day”, i.e. letter writing. It had a flat writing surface at the front, varying arrangements of shelves, drawers, or small cupboards at the back, and a drawer below. French examples were lavishly decorated, with gilt-bronze mounts and fine marquetry veneers of unusual woods, and sometimes with porcelain plaques, or panels of Oriental lacquer. By the last quarter of the 18th century the cabriole supports – the last vestiges of the Rococo – were discarded in favour of straight-tapered legs, often with gilded grooves and understretchers.
The English interpretation of the bonheur du jour was more restrained, relying for its elegance on finely figured timbers and well-judged proportions; edges were straight and legs square tapered. Mahogany or satinwood was often contrasted with bandings or panels of rosewood, sycamore, tulip, or box. Both French and British styles were adopted by cabinet-makers in other parts of Europe. Porcelain plaques, marquetry, and ormolu mounts all appear on bonheurs du jour in Germany, Austria, and Poland, but the structure of such pieces tends to be spare and square rather than voluptuous.