Posts Tagged ‘edwardian bookcases’

BELTERAND THE ROCOCO REVIVAL
BELTER WAS THE STAR OF THE AMERICAN ROCOCO REVIVAL - HIS FURNITURE COMBINED TECHNICAL WIZARDRY WITH TRADITIONAL SKILL AND WON HIM THE ADORATION OF NEW YORK’S GLITTERATI.

JOHN HENRY BELTER ( 1804-63), as he came to be
known, was born Johann Heinrich Belter, near Osnabruck in present-day Germany. He was trained in the art of wood-carving in Wurttemberg, a town steeped in the traditional Black Forest traditions of hewing complex designs from the native hard woods. Befter left his homeland for America, arriving in New York in 1833. Within six years he had become a naturalized citizen of the United States, and was in business as a cabinet-maker in his newly adopted city as early as 1844. It was not long before his name, like that of Thomas Chippendale, became synonymous with the type of furniture he produced.
A SINGULAR TALENT
Unlike many of his contemporaries in the furniture business, Belter only ever worked within one idiom. Somewhat fortuitously, but also due in no small part to Belter’s own great skill, the Rococo-revival style in which he excelled remained in vogue throughout his career and long after his death. His great triumph, and the exclusive feature of his work that kept him in the vanguard of the competition, was the series of breakthroughs he made in the lamination process.
BELTER PATENTS
AT THE TIME BELTER WAS WORKING, THE US PATENT OFFICE WAS PROCESSING THOUSANDS OF APPLICATIONS A YEAR TO HELP FOSTER A CLIMATE OF INNOVATION. The distinctive style in which John Henry Belter worked would not have been possible
without his innovative technical and methodical achievements. A patent effectively acted as a limited monopoly sanctioned by the State, and could prove extremely
lucrative if used wisely. Although Belter was successful in securing a number of patents during his career, he apparently failed to exploit them to their full potential as he never became very wealthy.
Better fashioned strong laminate panels by affixing thin strips of wood together, the grain in each layer lying perpendicular to that of the layer below. This practice enhanced the natural strength of the wood, rendering it extremely resistant to cracking or Splitting. Rosewood was especially fashionable at the time – Better sourced his from Brazil and India – but he also worked in oak, mahogany and other hard oods, sometimes ebonizing them.
DRAMATIC CURVES
A typical Better piece might be constructed from a series of eight-ply laminate boards, although he sometimes used up to 16 layers of wood. Additional panels carrying carved decoration were often glued on to the frame of a piece of furniture. These panels had been bent under extreme pressure with the application of steam to produce the dramatic curves that are a hallmark of Belter’s oeuvre, along with tight C” and “S” scrolls. The hardiness leant to wood by Belter’s lamination process enabled him to produce elaborate open crestings and aprons.
High-backed chairs provided him with an ideal canvas for his carving skills. Naturalistic depictions of flowers and fruits – vines were a favourite –feature alongside more Classical motifs such as scrolls. It is often only the quality of the carving and the audacity of the openwork that show that a piece came from his workshops. Better’s furniture was of a
consistently high quality and he was patronized
by some very wealthy New York clients. He
also designed a table in ebony and ivory for
display at the 1853 “Exhibition of the
Industry of All Nations”.
EXCLUSIVE TO A FAULT
Better’s refusal to cater to the mass market left him open to rivals who had no such qualms and made small fortunes selling a diluted version of Better’s pieces to aspiring, less wealthy consumers. Despite this, however, Better was not unsuccessful. In 1854, he had his own five-storey factory erected on Third Avenue, on the Upper West Side of
Manhattan. Two years later, he was joined in business by his brother-in-law, John H. Springmeyer. In 1861, William and Frederick Springmeyer also came aboard. When Better succumbed to tuberculosis in 1863, the Springmeyers continued in business. It is a testament to the singular skill of John Better that they were unable to survive for more than four years, despite the
unabated popularity of the Rococo-revival style that the firm had made its own. Better’s absence was felt keenly, and in 1867 the company was forced into closure.

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

Staffordshire figures
The popularity of porcelain figures in Britain during the 19th century led to a demand for less expensive imitations for the mass market, and the Staffordshire potteries obliged by making exact reproductions of the fine-quality figures made by porcelain factories such as Derby. The rustic charm of Staffordshire figures proved popular at the time, and successive generations have continued to enjoy collecting these generally inexpensive mantelpiece ornaments.
BOCAGE AND SQUARE-BASED FIGURES
The products of John Walton’s factory in Burslem (active 1810-30s) were typical of early 19th-century Staffordshire figures. Copying the tradition set by Chelsea and Derby, the factory included flowering trees, a feature known as “bocage”, behind its figures. Classical deities and allegorical figures (such as the popular set of three female figures representing “Faith”, “Hope”, and “Charity”), aimed at more educated customers, were usually mounted on the same style of square base edged with a brown line. Rustic groups of children playing and shepherdesses were mounted on similar bases or on raised green mounds with streams. Biblical characters proved immensely popular, especially “Elijah and the Widow”. One distinctive type of group, mounted on “table bases” (scroll-footed platforms), is conventionally referred to as being by Obadiah Sherratt (d.1841) after a potter who worked in Burslem from c.1815; however, it is now considered unlikely that Sherratt was responsible for the unmarked table-based models usually ascribed to him.
CHARACTERS AND FAMOUS PEOPLE
Victorian Staffordshire figures were intended to be viewed on a mantelpiece from the front only, and consequently the backs were neither modelled nor painted: hence the name “flatbacks” for such pieces. Many figures were simple but highly decorative images of children or lovers. However, from the 1840s there was a demand for portraits of famous people, whose features were copied from journals or the covers of popular printed music. In an age when the public rarely knew what famous people truly looked like, potters sometimes reused discontinued moulds to represent more topical individuals. Some figures were even wrongly named, such as a portrait of Benjamin Franklin labelled as George Washington.
Some popular figures were produced for many years and often require a close examination to determine whether they are earlier or later examples; this can greatly affect the value. There are many fake Staffordshire figures on the market, and it is important to learn the correct “feel” of genuine pieces, and to buy only from reputable dealers or auctioneers.
A Boy and “zebra”
This “flatback” figure portrays a schoolboy with a horse that has curiously been painted to resemble a zebra. Flatback
figures have little or no modelling on the back, a feature that made them easy to mass-produce. It was assumed that flatback pieces would stand on a mantelpiece above a fireplace, and this piece incorporates a spill vase at the back to hold the rolled-paper spills that were used in the 19th century for lighting the fire.
ORIGINAL AND FAKE STAFFORDSHIRE
• FORMS pairs of animals (very popular from the 1840s), portraits of royalty, politicians, military and naval heroes, sportsmen, theatrical celebrities, religious figures, notorious villains
• CENTRES OF PRODUCTION most figures were made
in the towns centred around Stoke-on-Trent, although a number were made in north-eastern England and Scotland
• COLLECTING a pair of figures will always be worth more than twice the price of a single piece; later examples are less sharply moulded than the originals, with particularly crude painting
• REPRODUCTIONS AND FAKES fake Staffordshire figures
are frequently made of pure white porcelain, stained to look old; “crazing” – a network of tiny cracks or veins in the surface glaze – affects most old figures, and fakers sometimes go to such lengths to reproduce it that they over-emphasize; the resulting effect is too regular and pronounced
Marks
Only a few Victorian Staffordshire figures are marked in any way, but research can identify some factories; earlier figures by John Walton and Ralph Salt (both active early 19th century) have their names impressed into a strap of clay at the back of the base.

In 1880`s st. petersburg reproduction antique russian furniture was very popular in Russia as stafford  pattern had been sold.  Stafford porcelain herbs and spices were removed from auction two years later.
Staffordshire  china  bottom stamp meanings are simple to read and understand together with  staffordshire  pottery flatback figure horse. The famous script “staffordshire  tin glaze” trademark was first introduced in
1828. Its staffordshire antique ornaments stamps have been symbols for many years.
Pair of  of a harvester and companion, the man standing before a flowering tree stump with a scythe over his shoulder, in a pink-lined sea-green coat, his breeches enriched with gold, pink and blue designs, with a
knotted scarf and barrel beside, his companion in pink coat and iron-red bodice, her dress with blue and gold designs, on mound bases encrusted with flowers and moulded with scrolls,  in high, gold anchor marks at back of staffordshire candelabras 18th century salt glaze. Harrison breakfast tea set, painted in colours with two pink lilies and leaves and a small red-flowered plant, with gilt dentil rim, 9 in diameter, gold anchor
markStaffordshire tin glaze by obadiah sherratt were staffordshire figures fake, one with a fox and bird, and the other with a dog goring a fox, before flowering trees, the mounds applied with flowers, on pierced gilt
scroll bases, gold anchor marks. Green ground vase of baluster form from staffordshire england shakespeare collector plates, the elaborate scroll handles enriched with gilding and the neck with pierced arches, the
sides painted in colours with a putto on cloud spray and a flower spray, in gilt scroll cartouches on the green ground.

Pembroke and sofa tables
The elegant dropleaf table known as the Pembroke table, so called, according to Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) in his pattern-book The Cabinet Dictionary (1803), “from the name of the lady who first gave orders for one of them”, was part of the evolution of the breakfast table. The Pembroke table was eventually replaced in the fashionable drawing-room by the sofa table, an extended version of the type, v developed in the last years of the 18th and the first decade of the 19th century.
Pembroke table
This English mahogany serpentine Pembroke table is an elegant example of its type. It has square-tapered legs, brass feet, and casters, which are all typical features of Pembroke tables of this period.
PEMBROKE TABLES
Recorded in accounts from the 1750s, Pembroke tables were placed in the drawing-room and the boudoir where they were used for taking meals, playing cards, writing, and needlework. By the 1770s this elegant, useful form was well established, and was often a vehicle for the finest cabinet-making of the Neo-classical period. The basic structure, with its two side flaps supported on hinged brackets, lent itself to almost limitless variations. The opened table may form a rectangle or a square, an oval or an octagon; it can be straight or bow-fronted, with rounded, serpentine, or D-shaped flaps; the wood can be plain or crossbanded, with marquetry, painting, or carved decoration; and the legs may be of cabriole or straight-tapered shape, of round or square section.
A drawer in the frieze is usual, but some examples have sliding sections concealing compartments, while the rare “harlequin” type includes a mechanism to raise and lower compartments of drawers and pigeon holes within the centre. Most 18th-century Pembroke tables are Supported on their four legs without understretchers, while others have decorated base supports or small platforms. Appropriately for a highly mobile piece of furniture, nearly every example is fitted with casters.
While examples are known in the Gothic and Chinese tastes of the 1760s, those produced between 1770 and 1800 reflect the Neo-classical taste at its most refined.
Veneers are of mahogany, satinwood,
or other luxurious woods; lines
are simple, proportions carefully
considered, and ornament is of the greatest delicacy. The examples illustrated by George Hepplewhite (4.1786) in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788-94) are typical of those available to the gentry during the last quarter of the 18th century. Pembroke tables with tapering legs of attenuated cabriole form, ending in the thinnest of scroll feet, were the result of French influence toward the end of the 18th century. Some had finely chiselled gilt-brass mounts.
Decoration took the form of plain stringing or crossbanding, or marquetry borders of anthemion, husks, guilloche, or scrolling acanthus, with such
embellishments as shells, medallions, or florets. These could also he painted, although garlands, beribboned swags, or tapering trails were the most usual.
The proportions of late 18th-century Pembroke tables are crucial; the side flaps are usually (but not always) equal to half the width of the central section, and should be one-third of the table height in their fall postion. There should be a frieze drawer at one end with a dummy drawer oil the opposite end. An oval table usually also displays bow-fronted end friezes to match the curve of the top. Each flap should have one or two fly-bracket Supports, opening sideways on wooden hinges. The legs should be tapered and the tops of the legs should continue upward to form the side frame of the drawer.
Pembroke tables continued to be made in the 19th century, the most advanced design having a central column with splayed legs (called a pillar and claw), which Sheraton illustrated in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1802). A slightly later variant was the platform base. Pembroke tables of the 1820s and 1830s are of characteristically squat proportions, with turned tapered legs, and often have two frieze drawers, one above the other.
A Pembroke table
The top of this British oval Pembroke table is set with segmented satinwood veneers and decorated with marquetry The large oval paten medallion in the centre of the top is surrounded by a band of sycamore set with scrolling plants and flowerheads, with similar decoration on the outer moulded border. Its delicate construction and graceful appearance give it especially feminine associations. As with many tables of this type, this sofa table has a real and an opposing dummy drawer; the legs are decorated with pendent husks typical of late 13th-century Neo-classical ornament.
SOFA TABLES
The sofa table was as varied as the Pembroke table in the details of its design and decoration and, like its predecessor, it followed a defining form. According to Sheraton in The Cabinet Dictionary (1803), the sofa table was specifically for use “before a sofa” where “the Ladies chiefly occupy them to draw, write or read upon
Sofa tables are usually between 1.52m (5ft) and 1.83m (6ft) long, when fully extended, and 61cm (24m) wide. The flaps, supported on fly brackets, are each about one-quarter of the width of the central section. Some examples have sliding-topped compartments in the middle for games, or rising desks for writing and drawing, but the majority have one long or two short drawers on one side of the frieze, with corresponding dummy drawers on the opposite side.
The edges of sofa-table tops are always straight, and the corners of the flaps rounded, or chamfered to form “octagon corners”, but the bases are hugely varied and closely reflect the evolving design styles of the Regency period. The top may be set on end supports, with or
without stretchers across the middle, or central supports rising from a platform base. The legs are so designed that the feet can fit a little way under a sofa, allowing the table to be pulled close to the sitter. They arc nearly always on casters.
The plainest sofa tables have plank-shaped supports dividing into splayed tapered or sabre legs with brass cappings and casters. Alternatively after c.1810, rectangular plinths were set at right angles to the uprights, often with scrolls in the angles and with scrolled feet. For more luxurious sofa tables lyre-shaped end supports or patterns of decorative spindles were favoured, and while the lion monopodia that were advocated by George Smith (active c.1786-1828) in A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1808) were rarely executed, the lion mask often appears on the decorative brass drawer handles. “Hipped” sabre or cabriole legs were also popular; they appear often on sofa tables with central supports. All of these shapes could be embellished with reeding, lines of inlaid wood or brass, or strategically placed carved paterae or leaves. Cross-stretchers provided many, opportunities for decorative turnings. Inlaid brass decoration on the table top and frieze was sometimes matched on the legs, and/or on the fronts of the fly brackets.
The timbers used for sofa tables range from plain mahogany or more fashionable timbers such as rosewood to exotic woods including calamander; lightly coloured woods such as satinwood for veneering were now no longer in vogue in the 19th century, except for crossbandings as a foil to the dark woods now in favour; common timbers such as beech could be stained or ebonized to simulate these. By c.1815 brass inlays in the manner advocated by George Bullock (c.1777-1818) were generally used to create decorative contrasts; the most lavish examples have ormolu mounts as well as inlaid brass. A rare but significant form of surface decoration on sofa tables was black and white penwork, painted by ladies to imitate inlaid ivory decoration.
Because they have been highly desirable for a long time many sofa tables have been “improved” or even fabricated beyond acceptable levels of repair and restoration. As well as “marriages” between tops and associated bases, decoration such as crossbandings or brass inlays may have been added to tops to enhance the commercial value. Bases may have been legitimately repaired, but many sofa tables have been “made up” with the trestle supports from old (and much less expensive) cheval mirrors. These arc liable to look somewhat flimsy in proportion to the table tops. Wood grain running the length of a sofa-table top, rather than across it, may indicate a top made up from another larger piece of old furniture.
• PEMBROKE TABLES beside the genuine repairs that may be necessary in the course of time, collectors should beware of later restorations and alterations to Pembroke tables: these include substituting an oval top for a (less valuable) square or rectangular one; inserting decorative veneers or crossbandings into a plain surface to increase the value, or later painting, on a previously undecorated table – usually identifiable by the quality
• SOFA TABLES those tables that have low stretchers are generally less popular than those with higher stretchers, which allow more leg room; sometimes lower stretchers have been moved, and the scars that are left should be visible, although often these areas have been re-veneered to hide them; satinwood or rosewood tables are more desirable than mahogany, and end-support tables more sought after than those with central pedestals; the best sofa tables have cedar-lined drawers
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