Posts Tagged ‘escritoires’

Desks, Bureaux, Bookcases and Cabinets
Table•desks—desks on stands—the fall-front scrutoire—development of the bureau—secret drawers—knee-hole and partners’ desks –escritoires and military chests—boudoir desks and the “bonheur du jour”-19th-century davenports—Samuel Pepys and the first bookcases—the bureau bookcase and origins of the china cabinet—wall shelves and small standing bookcases.
Even in the 16th century life must have been starting to become a little complicated for the average individual. For the professional man and even for the farmer there were records to be kept and letters written and it was probably due to these facts that by the closing years of Elizabeth’s reign small table-desks began to appear in many households. The steward and the merchant would have to employ a counter and chests as well but for the average man the table-desk was sufficient.
These small antique boxes, almost invariably constructed in oak, were very personal belongings and during the Stuart and Restoration periods it was the custom for the owner to have his name and some commemorative date carved upon the front. Although these table-desks vary in size from the rarer 3 feet in width to the more common 20 inches, they nearly all have the same basic construction. A box shape with a gently sloping lid, hinged with wrought-iron butterfly hinges, contains a small compartment of three drawers. A hasp lock was a normal addition.
These little desks are sometimes mistakenly referred to as bible boxes, as mentioned in Chapter 3. I think it was not unlikely that they contained the Bible in some homes, but there would have been little room left for documents accounts and valuables. I have a table-desk which belonged to a George Lowe who had his name and the date 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London, carved on the front. In it I keep a large bible which has been in my wife’s family since the 17th century. The bible has the date 1668 imprinted with the dedication on the cover and it is an interesting coincidence that bible and desk should be so close together in time.
For anyone requiring an antique desk, it is possible to buy a table-desk for under £10 and placed on a small tavern type table with a drawer in the front they make an excellent substitute for the larger and far more expensive bureau. As a matter of fact, it was rather in this way that the bureau developed. During the latter years of the 17th century two types of desk were in evidence. There was the desk on a stand, which was a development of the table-desk, and a much larger and important piece of furniture called the secretary or scrutoire.
The desk on a stand marked an elementary but noteworthy stage in desk development. Hitherto it had been difficult to gain access to the contents of a desk when the desk lid was already covered with letters and documents. Accordingly, the hinges were changed over to the lower edge of the lid which now opened outwards and was in future referred to as the desk-fall. The fall was supported in the open position by pull-out battens called lopers and in some early stands it was the practice to incorporate two small gate-legs which could be swung out to support the fall instead of using lopers. The fitted interior of small drawers and added pigeon-holes was now much more accessible and it became possible to enlarge the number of drawers with the corresponding increase in the size of the desk.
The scrutoire was a much bigger item than the desk on a stand, being frequently over 5 feet in height. It consisted of a flat-fronted rectangular cabinet mounted on either a stand or a chest of drawers. The whole front of the scrutoire folded outwards and was supported by chains or metal stays. It offered a vastly bigger working area than the desk lid and contained many more drawers and compartments for holding documents and ledgers. Although used in the larger establishments with their corresponding need for more administrative storage space, the scrutoire enjoyed only a short existence and by 1700 was more or less obsolete. Strangely enough it returned to favour about 100 years later in a smaller and more compact form. It was produced in France during the post-Revolution Empire period and re-introduced into this country as the secr&aire a abattant or fall-front desk.
What is rather interesting now is that the furniture designers of the Queen Anne period took the better features of the desk on a stand and the scrutoire and incorporated them in a new form of desk which became known as a bureau. The early bureaux were made in two separate parts, the upper desk section being mounted on a base consisting of a chest of drawers. The sections were provided with carrying handles at the sides so that when being moved each part could be carried separately.
The fall was no longer supported by stays or gate-legs but by lopers. These were almost square in section in the earlier bureaux but by the middle of the 18th century it was found that lopers of greater depth were less likely to sag. Later desks have two small drawers instead of lopers which are pulled out to support the fall when in use. Another characteristic of early 18th-century bureaux was the well or space below the interior pigeon-hole compartment. The well was covered by a sliding panel and was only accessible when the fall was in the open position.
Being rather difficult to get at when the open fall was covered with documents its use was abandoned and it had disappeared from the design of most bureaux by 1750.
The charm of many early desks is enhanced by the Georgian love of secret drawers. It is always the fond dream of the antique furniture collector that one day he or she will buy a bureau and, during that first exciting examination when the new piece has been delivered to the house, a hitherto undiscovered secret drawer will be found. Alas! I have never had the luck although a friend once bought a small wooden casket which proved to have a secret drawer and when this was opened after much patient searching for the secret locking device it was found to contain a gold brooch which had lain hidden for nearly 200 years. The remains of a quill pen, jammed in the back of the well, has been the only personal relic of a previous owner which I have ever found in an old desk.
On the whole, secret drawers were seldom as ingeniously secretive as one could have wished. They follow a certain set pattern of variations; the document slides behind the half pillars on the front of the interior compartment; a false bottom to one of the small drawers; a shallow drawer concealed behind part of the shaped border above the pigeon-holes; the drawer behind a drawer which pulls out on a long handle like a church collecting box. I think the best one I have ever come across was the secret drawer which had a false bottom, a sort of double-bluff. I only hope that the designer never felt the vexation of having it burgled.
Large knee-hole desks with flat tops were made about the middle of the 18th century. Some, being very large and double sided, were known as partners’ desks. They were so designed that two people could work as they sat facing one another. A smaller version of the knee-hole desk appeared during the early Georgian period and is very much sought after today. One in walnut and in good condition might cost anything up to £200. There is some doubt, however, as to whether these smaller kneehole desks were actually made to serve as desks or were really designed as small dressing tables. Further reference will be made to this point in the following chapter.
Another type of desk which was made during the later Georgian period was the secretaire. This has all the appearance of being just a chest of drawers but it is recognisable from the outside when it is recalled that the drawers in an ordinary chest become progressively deeper as they near the floor. The deepest drawer of an escritoire is located at the top and is in fact the fall of a desk. When the top section of the chest is pulled out, pressure on catches at either side of the front will allow the false drawer front to fold outwards when it is normally supported by brass stays. The secretaire has the usual fitted interior of small drawers and pigeon-holes and was a favourite form of writing desk until well into the 19th century. The two stage military chest referred to in Chapter 3 sometimes has an escritoire drawer fitted into the upper part.
A number of small desks, intended specifically for the use of ladies, were designed by Sheraton and his contemporaries. They were lightly made and were referred to as boudoir desks or writing tables. Among them was a revival of the smaller desk on a stand which was called a cylinder top desk. Instead of the usual desk-fall it had a curved top which was made to slide backwards to reveal the fitted interior.
Another version was adapted from a French design and was known as a bonheur du jour. This is a title for which there is no suitable English equivalent; literally it means “the happiness of the day”. As letter writing was one of the chief relaxations of ladies of the more leisured classes in the later 18th century perhaps “bonheur du jour” means just what the name implies.
A little desk known as a davenport was very popular among the Victorians until about 1860. It was supposed to have been first made by Gillows of Lancaster to the design of a Captain Davenport. Early examples were made in mahogany and were rectangular in shape, the desk-top being constructed to slide forward over the knees of the user when required. After 1830 the davenport was usually made in walnut and the desk top was designed to overhang permanently, being supported by carved legs or brackets. Until recently, davenports could be purchased for a few pounds and may still be acquired very reasonably.
Bookshelves have been in use ever since books have been collected into libraries but it was not until the Restoration that the bookcase with glazed doors appeared in this country. Credit for the design is given to the great diarist, Samuel Pepys who was an ardent book-lover. In the Pepys library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, are the original bookcases which Pepys had made for his own use and which he bequeathed with his books to his old university.
At approximately the same time as features of the desk
on a stand and the scrutoire were combined to produce
the bureau, a bookcase was superimposed on some exam-
ples to form the bureau bookcase. It was first made about
1700 and is still being produced in a variety of forms.
Some early bureau bookcases had doors fitted with
mirrors instead of plain glass. These were fashionable
during the Queen Anne period and are very rare today.
Some small walnut bureaux with a single mirrored door
were made to fit between the long sash windows of the
early 18th-century drawing rooms and their value at pre-
sent might be £700 or £800 each. An interesting feature
of the bureaux with mirrors in the doors were the little candlestick slides fitted into the rail just under the doors and above the desk proper. When lighted candles were placed upon them at night the illumination was doubled by the reflected light from the mirrors.
Plain glass doors through which the gilded leather binding of the books could be seen superseded the mirrored doors by 1720. The glazed variety were known as astragal doors from the beading or astragals which formed the framework for the glass. There is a story that all genuine old bookcases have thirteen glazed sections in each door. This would appear to be yet another legend without foundation because I have not infrequently seen genuine old doors with fifteen astragal panels.
Another of the many pieces of furniture which originated during the Restoration was the china cabinet. Collecting the attractive new porcelain from the far east with its translucent body and fine decoration became very popular in London and the larger sea-port towns. To preserve their fragile specimens, lacquered cabinets from China were imported and mounted on heavily carved wooden stands of British manufacture. These were sometimes coated with silver or gilding and were quite a decorative feature of Restoration and William and Mary period furnishing. The fact that the contents of the lacquered cabinets were not visible probably brought about their replacement by the glazed china cabinets of the Queen Anne period. These were usually mounted on a lower stand furnished with the cabriole legs of the times.
For some reason, perhaps because an 18th-century bookcase may be too overpowering in the 20th-century house, it has become the practice in recent years to separate bureaux from their bookcases. The result is that the latter may often be obtained for under £10 and mounted on a small stand or side table they make very attractive china cabinets.
Sets of wall shelves were in use during the 16th and 17th centuries but apart from small racks for holding pewter spoons, few have survived. Small fitments of wall shelves were reintroduced about the middle of the Georgian period. Normally, they consisted of two or three shelves with two small drawers beneath and those of the later Chippendale school had delicately fretted sides. Being very lightly made they could be used only for small books but in all probability they were designed to display ornaments. The later types were of thinly cut mahogany with pleasantly shaped sides and a little boxwood stringing inlaid along the edges of the drawers.
The late Georgian period saw the production of standing bookshelves or bookcases without doors, many made to the designs of Hepplewhite and Sheraton. They were comparatively small, being only about 3 feet in height and width and, as well as being made in mahogany, quite a number were constructed in pine. These were then painted either white or black with gilding and though not particularly common can sometimes be bought quite cheaply at house sales.

Imari Porcelain
Imari is a port on the eastern coast of the island of Kyushu. The name has become associated with a certain type of porcelain, but it has two different Interpretations, one used in Japan and the other in the West. The Japanese terms Shoki and Ko Imari describe blue-and-white wares made in Arita. However, what is generally known in the West as “Imari” is export porcelain decorated in a palette that usually includes underglaze blue, iron-red, and gilding.
There are also other categories beyond the conventional colour scheme; for or example, “green family” Imari is dominated by green, with red or other colours being used in a minor role. Kenjo Imari (presentation ware) is
- sub-group,
another -group, which uses a similar palette but with a more formal arrangement of panelled zones of colour.
Initially developed in the second half of the 17th century, the Imari style matured c.1800.
The finest examples of the style feature a complex symphony of overlapping geometric or leaf-shaped panels often decorated with conflicting themes, as seen in the vase and cover below. Unfortunately the variety of these anti-rational patterns makes it difficult to categorize and present a chronology for this group of wares. Much decoration appears to be based on brocade a rich silk textile run through with gold or silver thread. The majority of Imari wares are decorative, with pieces intended for display en masse. In the late-17th and 18th centuries the most common objects made were high-shouldered, dome-covered jars, trumpet-shaped beaker vases, and saucer dishes. Tea and coffee wares were alsc produced, but these are scarce.
WEAR AND TEAR
Arita porcelain, particularly blue-and-white and Imari, is generally extremely robust and not easily cracked, unlike its more fragile Chinese counterpart. However, although Arita ware is strong, its softish, pale, greyish-blue glaze may be more easily scratched than that of Chinese wares. Some of the Arita export porcelains have crackled glazes, and an intended purchase must be carefully examined to make sure that the body itself is not cracked.
• PALLETTE the basic Imari palette comprises underglaze blue, which can be an intense, almost black, colour or a pale grey, iron red, and gold; other colours include yellow, manganese brown, green, and turquoise
• P0TTING Japanese porcelain is thickly potted and has a tendency to warp during firing, kiln supports were therefore used under the bases of even relatively small wares to prevent them from saggingCOPIES
• made in porcelain at Meissen and in tin-glazed earthenware particularly at Delft during the first third of the 18th centuryBEWARE
• some late-17th- and 18th-century Imari porcelain wares are inscribed with spurious Chinese reign marks

Escritoires and secretaires
The essential difference between a bureau and an escritoire or secretaire is that a bureau has a sloping or curving lid to the writing section, whereas the escritoire and secretaire are
Usually flat fronted and vertical. The terms escritoire and scriptor, scriptoire, or scrutoire (the older names for a writing desk) arc now usually attached to the fall-front writing box or cabinet made up to c. 1720, while secretaire is generally applied to later types.
EARLY ESCRITOIRES
The direct ancestor of the escritoire was the Spanish vargueno, a 16th-century cabinet with a fall front, drawers and compartments, set on a stand or chest. Often highly embellished on the inside, varguenos were usually either decorated in the Moorish tradition, with geometrical patterns in wood or ivory, or carved in low relief and painted. The vargueno was taken as a model for writing cabinets in other parts of Europe. A cabinet with elaborate intarsia decoration was the speciality of craftsmen in Augsburg and Nuremberg during the 16th and 17th centuries, while Antwerp was famous for cabinets veneered in tortoiseshell and ebony, with ivory embellishments, and sometimes painted inside. In Italy  cabinets of architectural form set with coloured marbles and hardstones, or decorated with ivory, were produced.
In Britain escritoires were decorated with oyster veneers of walnut or cocas wood and finely wrought silver mounts. The fall fronts were usually supported on
cords or chains attached halfway up the sides. Cabinets Of this type were placed on stands with spiral or baluster-turned legs. By the 1680s escritoires in two parts and of more architectural proportions were produced. The upper section had an overhanging cornice and sometimes a drawer in the frieze, while the lower part consisted of a chest-of-drawers. The best examples were decorated with floral or “seaweed” marquetry, but oyster veneers remained popular, and burr woods were also used during the early 18th century. From the second half of the 17th century
 japanning was used for both Dutch and English escritoires. In addition to these fall-front cabinets, a hybrid form of chest, with a secretaire drawer, was developed. Later 17th- and early 18th- century v chests-of-drawers from northern Italy sometimes have shallow drawers fitted for writing; the front of this type of drawer is hinged in such a way that it can be pulled out and let down to form a flat writing surface, often revealing compartments and small drawers for stationery at the back. The most handsome examples of the type are of bombe form in walnut, inlaid with floral patterns in ivory, mother-of-pearl, and pewter.
The French developed the vargueno-type desk in a characteristically sophisticated form during the later 18th century. The so-called secretaire a abattant had a fall-front writing cabinet resting on a chest-of-drawers or small cupboard, often constructed as one piece rather than two; this verticality was emphasized by the tall, narrow proportions seen in many examples. Some pieces were produced with substructures of legs with decorative stretchers, giving them a lighter appearance than the standard form. Fine-quality timber was used, sometimes incorporating panels of Oriental lacquer, and the fall front was often the vehicle for elaborate marquetry or, during the I 770s and 1780x, Sevres porcelain plaques. The lavish use of ormolu mounts added to the richness of the decoration. These models were copied in The Netherlands, where lacquer panels and the finest geometrical marquetry were sometimes combined, and the traditional Dutch floral marquetry rampaged across fall fronts and drawers alike. Similar forms were imitated, usually with more restraint, in Germany, eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. In Britain, marquetry secretaires of this type are among the finest examples of Neo-classical furniture.
During the French Empire period (1804-15) the secretaire a abattant remained popular, although the outline became more severe and broader, with the fall front above cupboard doors presenting an almost unbroken veneered surface when closed. In Russia and Austria the fall-front secretaire on a chest, characteristically veneered in such indigenous woods as birch, poplar, maple, or fruitwood, was especially successful in the early 19th century_ . These pieces were of simple Classical design, relying on the figuring of the veneers for decorative interest. They went on to become staples of the Biedermeier period, which brought a return to grander proportions, with solid but elegant and well-crafted furniture. Some Biedermeier fall-front desks closely resemble English escritoires of the early 18th century.
During the early 18th century the most fashionable item of writing furniture in Britain was the bureau, but the chest with a straight-fronted writing drawer continued to be an alternative. On some examples a secr6taire drawer was incorporated into the chest-on-chest. The secretaire drawer gradually became deeper, and the chest was often surmounted by a superstructure of bookshelves enclosed by glazed or panelled doors. Such pieces were most often made of walnut until c.1730, when this was superseded by mahogany. These cabinets were the forerunners of the fine two-part secretaires, made for parlours or libraries, with glazed upper sections and lower sections with drawers or cupboards, produced in Britain in considerable quantities from the mid-18th century. Designs for a variety of secretaires were published in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book ( 1791-1802) by Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). The usefulness of the secretaire bookcase or secretaire cabinet ensured that it continued to be made in the 19th century, with infinite variations of detail in the style of pediments, glazing patterns, and surface decoration.
• CONSTRUCTION continental secretaires a abbatant often have no visible means of support and are therefore prone to damage, particularly at the bottom where the flap is hinged to the carcase.
• CONVERSIONS on some British escritoires the fall front has been converted into two doors, thus making it a cabinet – these are generally more commercial – look for evidence of the old hinge plates or the top central lock.
• ”IMPROVEMENTS” as many continental examples were very plain, they have often been improved or modified to make them more commercial.
• TIMBERS on British examples different woods are often used for the interior (e.g. satinwood) and exterior (mahogany); the interiors should look “fresher” than the exterior as they have not been exposed to light.

Early chests-of-drawers.
The chest-of-drawers as we know it today essentially evolved during the 17th century. During the 1600s it was adapted and modified until the ideal balance and most practical formula were found. The system of graduated drawers, with the most shallow at the top and the deepest at the bottom, was only really reached right at the end of the century. However, it should be remembered that throughout the 17th century chests and coffers were still the principal items of furniture used for storage.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CHEST-OF-DRAWERS. The 16th and 17th centuries were times of considerable social change in Europe, when a number of new items of furniture were introduced. The chest-of-drawers was one of these new forms, and through its development in the 17th century it is possible to chart the progress of furniture-makers and the emergence of the cabinet-maker. Although new methods of construction (including dovetailing) were developed and refined during the 17th century, the chest-of-drawers was largely made with joints secured by iron nails; only at the end of the century was dovetailing preferred.
From the mid-16th century, the concept of the drawer became widespread in countries that were influenced by the courts of Spain and Italy. In Spain the vargueno (writing desk) was one of the most important of the furniture forms that influenced the development of numerous furniture types throughout Europe. The contribution of the Moors, who occupied much of Spain until 1492, is particularly evident in the skilled work of the Spanish craftsmen working in the mid-16th century. The numerous small drawers in the vargueno were made using tight dovetails and precisely cut drawer-linings. The vargueno could either have a stand in the form of a small table, or a base that was sometimes enclosed by doors, but often had four exposed drawers.
In the province of Zeeland in the southern Netherlands, which was under Spanish rule between 1482 and 1794, a type of square chest, usually measuring 1.5m (4ft 11in) high and 1.7m (5ft 7in) wide, was made. Like the beeldenkast (cupboard) made in the northern Netherlands, this type was in two sections, sometimes with a central drawer between the two, enclosed by a pairs of doors.
In Britain, the drawer was not introduced in any significant number until the end of the 16th century, when they were added to coffers and cabinets. They were called “tills” or “drawing-boxes”, and the word “drawer” is derived from the latter. From the mid-16th century the term “till” was used to denote a drawer where money was kept, an association it still retains. A coffer or chest could be fitted with drawers, and was then known as a mule chest. An early, hybrid form of the chest-of-drawers and cabinet was made front the mid-17th century; this had a shallow frieze drawer at the top, a deep drawer beneath, and three further drawers enclosed by two doors in the lower section. Graduated drawers were introduced later in the century. These oak chests are still linked to the old form as some had hinged tops, opening to reveal box compartments.
During the later 17th century the chest-of-drawers evolved rapidly. Many were constructed on spiral-turned, double spiral or S-scroll stands (often with a drawer or series of drawers in the stand), stretching to about 1.5m (4ft 11in) in height so that the top drawers were easily accessible. This form is similar to the cheston-stand. By the end of the 17th century the chest-ofdrawers in its familiar form had evolved — the chest was taken down from the stand and rested instead on feet, at first of bun form (introduced (.1690) and later of bracket form (introduced c.1725). It is extremely common for feet to have been replaced either owing to damage from wear or woodworm or as a result of changing fashions and the desire to “improve”.
CONSTRUCTION AND WOODS.
In the Low Countries and Britain during the mid- I Century the chest-of-drawers was made by a joiner. It was constructed of solid oak, often in two parts, with panelled sides and heavy drawers that ran on bearers set into the sides of the carcase. The bearers slid into grooves cut into the drawer-lining along the centre of the outside edge. The joined construction was clearly visible from the outside and can now be seen to form part of the decorative appeal.
By the end of the century the cabinet-maker had become increasingly dominant, and joined furniture was therefore relegated to the provincial areas. Chests-of-drawers made in important centres of furniture production now had oak linings, and the carcase and drawers were secured by dovetailed joints. The thick wood that was required for mortise-and-tenon joints disappeared; consequently the thickness of the drawer-linings diminished, and drawers were set to run on their bases or on bearers set underneath the drawers.
In Spain and Italy forms tended to be heavy and thick in construction, still retaining panelled sides, and the drawer-linings were normally made of pine. In central and northern Europe dovetails and drawer-linings became smaller and more delicate; in Italy they remained much less refined, and of much larger form, right through to the 19th century.
Although, throughout most of the 17th century, oak was the preferred wood in England when furniture was made in the solid, walnut was increasingly popular as the veneer for fine furniture because of its figuring and rich colour. In Spain and Italy walnut was the most common wood used in the solid. In France timbers imported from the overseas provinces were used from an early stage. Ebony was one such exotic wood and gave rise to the term ebeniste (cabinet-maker).
Towards the end of the 17th century, great efforts were made to enrich the visible surfaces of the chestof-drawers, and considerable expense was lavished on the large surface areas. The most popular forms of decoration were veneering with burr woods, oyster veneering, seaweed marquety, and floral marquetry. This explosion of creativity was a far cry from the heavy, joined chests made just 30 to 40 years earlier. This rapid pace of change – which was much slower
in the provinces – continued in construction, decoration, and design well into the next century.
The chest-of-drawers was adopted in all the wealthy circles as a new piece of furniture, and soon gained favour in all the countries of Europe. It took such forms as bachelors’ chests, commodes, and chests-on-chests.
• SAW MARKS until the end of the I 8th century the method of sawing wood for the carcase left straight saw marks; from the end of the 18th century a circular saw was used, which left circular saw marks; these marks should be visible on the inside of the carcasefeet.
• it is common to find pieces of this period without their original feet; bun feet have often been replaced by bracket feet; look underneath the chest for old holes into which the bun feet would have fitted.
• HANDLES these may have been changed; look for the bruise marks on the woodwork to see where the original handles (usually drop) would have rubbed or swung.

Wardrobes after 1840.
Wardrobes of the 19th century represent a natural progression from linen-presses and armoires, but the term “wardrobe” did not come into use until the second half of the 18th century, when it was popularized by the designer George Hepplewhite (d.1786). Although intended primarily for hanging clothing, rather than simply storing it folded, wardrobes, which were increasingly manufactured, did not completely supersede other storage furniture until the late 1800s. Moreover, in terms of both design and craftsmanship, the wardrobes that were produced are considered to be less interesting than their antecedents.
Wardrobes after 1840
Wardrobes of the 19th century represent a natural progression from linen-presses and armoires, but the term “wardrobe” did not come into use until the second half of the 18th century, when it was popularized by the designer George Hepplewhite (d.1786). Although intended primarily for hanging clothing, rather than simply storing it folded, wardrobes, which were increasingly manufactured, did not completely supersede other storage furniture until the late 1800s. Moreover, in terms of both design and craftsmanship, the wardrobes that were produced are considered to be less interesting than their antecedents.
TYPES OF WARDROBE
Wardrobes produced after c.1840 were influenced by the designs set out in the Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture (1833) by John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) and, in North America, The Architecture of Country Houses by Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-52), published several times between 1850 and 1866. Designs in the Grecian, or “modern” Italian, Gothic, and Romanesque styles were among those illustrated; each of these wardrobes is tall, and possesses two doors of varied ornamentation, and the inside is evenly divided between hanging and shelf space. One wardrobe of particular interest was described as “a lady’s winged wardrobe” and resembled the traditional break-front bookcase in its construction. With a full-length door at either side, the centre portion was divided into two halves, the top with doors, the bottom with two short drawers and two long ones; these are reminiscent of the arrangement of the Georgian linen-press. It was “to be made of any fine wood, French polished, and showing no brasswork in any part of the front. The knobs are of mahogany or ebony, the mouldings on the doors are made to project, and the fronts of the drawers are made to recede, and to have a moulding raised upon them”. Inside the wardrobe great attention was paid to the practicalities: there were pegs provided for hanging dresses, shelves for storing bonnets and shoes, and sometimes even a locker with a fold-down front for dirty linen.
Wardrobes of the mid- to late-Victorian period are characterized by an increase in size and function with a corresponding decrease of ornamental flourishes, consistent with the large, heavy, utilitarian, and somewhat sombre
design ethos. Thus by the mid-1880s some wardrobes expanded to tripartite and break-
front forms, with a central wardrobe flanked by cupboards and drawer slides, or were “broken up” and lopsided, as in the example of the “Beaconsfield”. This was a type of asymmetrical, multi-purpose wardrobe, which had book and display shelves in addition to drawers and cupboards. Sometimes the ends of the wardrobes had open shelves and fret-cut decoration. Fitted wardrobes also gained favour during the mid-1880s, as did corner ones, which were designed to maximize space in small rooms.
Wardrobes also began to be designed en suite with other bedroom furniture. In the “Benedict” bedroom suite, items of furniture were duplicated for the husband and wife; hence the wardrobe had two cupboards and two mirrors and was intended to prevent marital strife. Various other anomalies were also produced, such as papier-mache suites; first introduced in the late 1830s, these had dark or black grounds that were enriched with mother-of-pearl inlay or brightly coloured floral painting. By the end of the century, some wardrobes had become increasingly ornamented, with marquetry inlaid decoration, moulded cornices, and cushion or cavetto friezes. Some Edwardian wardrobes were in painted satinwood, with the doors sporting swags, urns, and scrolling foliage, while others were plainer and more restrained decoratively, featuring only panelled doors.
REVIVAL STYLES
Many styles of wardrobe were revived and popularized in France, particularly the Renaissance and the “Louis” styles, which covered Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical. Of these the Rococo Revival was probably the most important as it carried on until the end of the 19th century, when it was combined with Art Nouveau. There was also an interest in Naturalism (with direct allusions to flowers and fruit), Orientalism, and a revived interest in the Middle Ages. The craze for light woods mostly disappeared during the 1840s, and was followed by a taste for the darker woods.
In Germany and Austria, the Biedermeier style, with its geometrical and simplified forms, was still popular in the 1840s, although it ultimately gave way to Germanic interpretations of Gothic and Rococo. German Rococo was generally based on Parisian Louis XV forms, albeit heavier and more exaggerated than its prototype. It was made of carved natural woods, especially walnut and limewood.
The rest of Europe was dominated by various revival styles. Exhibitions, trade catalogues, and pattern-books prompted the dissemination of styles continent-wide, particularly the French “Louis” and the Renaissance styles; the latter was particularly well suited to machine production, and to wardrobes in particular. Each country adapted these styles in its own way, particularly in the second half of the century as each looked to its own cultural roots for inspiration.
CONSTRUCTION
As the furniture industry of each country was essentially localized, each used different woods for its pieces, especially in the hidden woods of the carcase. The British mainly used mahogany and satinwood for the better pieces, and pine for those less expensive. Mahogany–. ebony, oak, and even stained pearwood were the French choice from the 1840s onward. The Dutch used native oak and exotic woods imported from their colonies in the West Indies, whereas the rest of Europe generally imported their exotic woods from the Caribbean. Scandinavian countries used pine, as
did rural Alpine regions; it was frequently painted in a variety of colours and designs to hide the poor quality of the wood. Italy also used inexpensive woods in many
cases, although walnut and rosewood were still employed for grander pieces, which were frequently enriched with ivory or gilding. Spanish and Portuguese cabinet-makers copied and interpreted the
French styles while at the same time continuing their traditional heavily carved 17th-century-style furniture.
The majority of wardrobes were made by cabinetmakers. In Britain they were constructed so that cornices and plinths could be lifted off and drawers and shelving pulled out; French wardrobes were made in many parts, and were often fixed together with long bolts, and a hinge on the door allowed it to be lifted off.
While small free-standing mirrors or those attached to dressing tables were common, full-length mirrored doors on wardrobes were an important 19th-century innovation. Plate glass was used, and no doubt the lowering of the price of producing glass by Pilkington Brothers Ltd (est. 1826), at St Helens, near Liverpool, contributed to its more widespread use. Such mirrors, either sharply bevelled (unlike the gently bevelled glass of the 18th century), or in a decorative frame, was very thick, and usually placed on the single door in a single door wardrobe or on the centre door of a tripartite wardrobe.
• WOOD look for good quality and patina.
• MIRRORS the effect of damp can cause spotting on the silvering, but the mirrors can be resilvered; old mirrors give a mellow image, while new ones are very bright and give a sharp image.
• ALTERATIONS when large break-front wardrobes went out of fashion they were often broken up, and so they can be relatively scarce and very sought after; because of their size they could be reduced in both height and width, and it is usually possible to trace this by the proportions and by looking at the wood – screwholes should not appear on the wrong places; some linen-presses were made into wardrobes in the 19th century.
• COLLECTING Victorian mahogany wardrobes are very common; wardrobes in satinwood (a much more expensive wood) are the least common; Edwardian examples are often of the highest craftsmanship and therefore very desirable.
MAKERS’ MARKS
From 1741, Parisian cabinet-makers were ordered by their guilds to stamp their work, and although the requirement was removed some 50 years later the practice continued. During the 19th century,
part of the brasswork was often engraved with a script signature and the date of manufacture. English cabinet-makers were never legally required to identify their furniture, although metal-punched name stamps or brass name tablets were used by some makers during the 18th century. After 1820 attitudes changed, and the practice became more common: so much so that there are plenty of examples of furniture signed not only by its makers, but even by restorers, dealers, or retailers.
The branded mark of Holland & Sons (est 1803), of London, one of the most famous Victorian furniture makers in Britain.
Wardrobes produced after c.1840 were influenced by the designs set out in the Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture (1833) by John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) and, in North America, The Architecture of Country Houses by Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-52), published several times between 1850 and 1866. Designs in the Grecian, or “modern” Italian, Gothic, and Romanesque styles were among those illustrated; each of these wardrobes is tall, and possesses two doors of varied ornamentation, and the inside is evenly divided between hanging and shelf space. One wardrobe of particular interest was described as “a lady’s winged wardrobe” and resembled the traditional break-front bookcase in its construction. With a full-length door at either side, the centre portion was divided into two halves, the top with doors, the bottom with two short drawers and two long ones; these are reminiscent of the arrangement of the Georgian linen-press. It was “to be made of any fine wood, French polished, and showing no brasswork in any part of the front. The knobs are of mahogany or ebony, the mouldings on the doors are made to project, and the fronts of the drawers are made to recede, and to have a moulding raised upon them”. Inside the wardrobe great attention was paid to the practicalities: there were pegs provided for hanging dresses, shelves for storing bonnets and shoes, and sometimes even a locker with a fold-down front for dirty linen.
Wardrobes of the mid- to late-Victorian period are characterized by an increase in size and function with a corresponding decrease of ornamental flourishes, consistent with the large, heavy, utilitarian, and somewhat sombre
design ethos. Thus by the mid-1880s some wardrobes expanded to tripartite and break-
front forms, with a central wardrobe flanked by cupboards and drawer slides, or were “broken up” and lopsided, as in the example of the “Beaconsfield”. This was a type of asymmetrical, multi-purpose wardrobe, which had book and display shelves in addition to drawers and cupboards. Sometimes the ends of the wardrobes had open shelves and fret-cut decoration. Fitted wardrobes also gained favour during the mid-1880s, as did corner ones, which were designed to maximize space in small rooms.
Wardrobes also began to be designed en suite with other bedroom furniture. In the “Benedict” bedroom suite, items of furniture were duplicated for the husband and wife; hence the wardrobe had two cupboards and two mirrors and was intended to prevent marital strife. Various other anomalies were also produced, such as papier-mache suites; first introduced in the late 1830s, these had dark or black grounds that were enriched with mother-of-pearl inlay or brightly coloured floral painting. By the end of the century, some wardrobes had become increasingly ornamented, with marquetry inlaid decoration, moulded cornices, and cushion or cavetto friezes. Some Edwardian wardrobes were in painted satinwood, with the doors sporting swags, urns, and scrolling foliage, while others were plainer and more restrained decoratively, featuring only panelled doors.
REVIVAL STYLES
Many styles of wardrobe were revived and popularized in France, particularly the Renaissance and the “Louis” styles, which covered Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical. Of these the Rococo Revival was probably the most important as it carried on until the end of the 19th century, when it was combined with Art Nouveau. There was also an interest in Naturalism (with direct allusions to flowers and fruit), Orientalism, and a revived interest in the Middle Ages. The craze for light woods mostly disappeared during the 1840s, and was followed by a taste for the darker woods.
In Germany and Austria, the Biedermeier style, with its geometrical and simplified forms, was still popular in the 1840s, although it ultimately gave way to Germanic interpretations of Gothic and Rococo. German Rococo was generally based on Parisian Louis XV forms, albeit heavier and more exaggerated than its prototype. It was made of carved natural woods, especially walnut and limewood.
The rest of Europe was dominated by various revival styles. Exhibitions, trade catalogues, and pattern-books prompted the dissemination of styles continent-wide, particularly the French “Louis” and the Renaissance styles; the latter was particularly well suited to machine production, and to wardrobes in particular. Each country adapted these styles in its own way, particularly in the second half of the century as each looked to its own cultural roots for inspiration.
CONSTRUCTION
As the furniture industry of each country was essentially localized, each used different woods for its pieces, especially in the hidden woods of the carcase. The British mainly used mahogany and satinwood for the better pieces, and pine for those less expensive. Mahogany–. ebony, oak, and even stained pearwood were the French choice from the 1840s onward. The Dutch used native oak and exotic woods imported from their colonies in the West Indies, whereas the rest of Europe generally imported their exotic woods from the Caribbean. Scandinavian countries used pine, as
did rural Alpine regions; it was frequently painted in a variety of colours and designs to hide the poor quality of the wood. Italy also used inexpensive woods in many
cases, although walnut and rosewood were still employed for grander pieces, which were frequently enriched with ivory or gilding. Spanish and Portuguese cabinet-makers copied and interpreted the
French styles while at the same time continuing their traditional heavily carved 17th-century-style furniture.
The majority of wardrobes were made by cabinetmakers. In Britain they were constructed so that cornices and plinths could be lifted off and drawers and shelving pulled out; French wardrobes were made in many parts, and were often fixed together with long bolts, and a hinge on the door allowed it to be lifted off.
While small free-standing mirrors or those attached to dressing tables were common, full-length mirrored doors on wardrobes were an important 19th-century innovation. Plate glass was used, and no doubt the lowering of the price of producing glass by Pilkington Brothers Ltd (est. 1826), at St Helens, near Liverpool, contributed to its more widespread use. Such mirrors, either sharply bevelled (unlike the gently bevelled glass of the 18th century), or in a decorative frame, was very thick, and usually placed on the single door in a single door wardrobe or on the centre door of a tripartite wardrobe.
• WOOD look for good quality and patina.
• MIRRORS the effect of damp can cause spotting on the silvering, but the mirrors can be resilvered; old mirrors give a mellow image, while new ones are very bright and give a sharp image.
• ALTERATIONS when large break-front wardrobes went out of fashion they were often broken up, and so they can be relatively scarce and very sought after; because of their size they could be reduced in both height and width, and it is usually possible to trace this by the proportions and by looking at the wood – screwholes should not appear on the wrong places; some linen-presses were made into wardrobes in the 19th century.
• COLLECTING Victorian mahogany wardrobes are very common; wardrobes in satinwood (a much more expensive wood) are the least common; Edwardian examples are often of the highest craftsmanship and therefore very desirable.
MAKERS’ MARKS
From 1741, Parisian cabinet-makers were ordered by their guilds to stamp their work, and although the requirement was removed some 50 years later the practice continued. During the 19th century, part of the brasswork was often engraved with a script signature and the date of manufacture. English cabinet-makers were never legally required to identify their furniture, although metal-punched name stamps or brass name tablets were used by some makers during the 18th century. After 1820 attitudes changed, and the practice became more common: so much so that there are plenty of examples of furniture signed not only by its makers, but even by restorers, dealers, or retailers.
The branded mark of Holland & Sons (est 1803), of London, one of the most famous Victorian furniture makers in Britain.

Early cupboards and meubles en deux corps.
During the medieval period a cupboard was an open shelf or set of boards for storing cups; what is now understood to be a cupboard – a receptacle fitted with doors intended for storage – was known in England as an aumbry. Later the two terms became interchangeable.
MEUBLES EN DEUX CORPS.
The earliest cupboards-on-chests or meubles en deux corps – that is, furniture made in two sections and enclosing drawers in both the top and bottom sections –were originally employed for writing or storing papers and valuables. First recorded in Italy during the 16th century, these cupboards, such as bambocci made in Tuscany, were almost always made of walnut and are architectural in form; the fall fronts and cornices are Supported by putti, armorial cartouches, and Classical arcades, or even carved in relief with biblical or mythological scenes.
Interestingly, it was these Mannerist figurative reliefs, often either biblical or mythological, which were rapidly adopted for the meubles en deux corps made for the Court of Francis I at the chateau of Fontainebleau, outside Paris, during the mid-16th century. Usually made of walnut, or occasionally ebony, they were sometimes enriched with gilding or polychrome decoration. Conceived both for their decorative and their functional nature, with drawers to the base and either hinged fall fronts (the prototype for 17th-century escritoires or secretaires) or doors enclosing fitted interiors with further drawers to the top, they are characterized by their exuberant decoration, invariably carved in relief with Mannerist caryatids and arabesques in the style associated with the designers Jacques Androuet DuCerceau (c.1515-85), whose engraved publications included Petites Grotesques (1550) inspired by the designs of the later Italian Renaissance, and Hugues Sambin (c.1520-1601), in his L’Oeuvre de la diversite des termes dont on use en architecture (1572). These forms and decorative motifs were also inspirational to cabinetmakers in the Low Countries. The 16th-century meubles en deux corps were enthusiastically collected throughout the 19th century, and thus numerous copies, as well as others composed of elements of both old and new pieces, survive in some number.
THE LOW COUNTRIES.
During the early 17th century cupboards became increasingly important pieces of furniture in the Low Countries; some were carved with Mannerist motifs, while others were painted or decorated with inlay inspired by Italian prototypes. The main timbers used were oak and walnut, with bony inlay. An outstanding type made in the province of Holland in the northern Netherlands was the Beeldenkast, the name of which was taken from the term for the carved caryatid figures that decorated the uprights. Like the meuble en deux corps, the form was of an upper and lower stage separated by a frieze. In Zeeland in the southern Netherlands, which until 1648 was under Spanish rule, cupboards were carved with geometrical patterns probably introduced into the Netherlands by Spanish craftsmen, who were inspired by Moorish designs. Decorative inlay is particularly associated with workshops in Middelburg.
• EN DEUX CORPS these were widely copied during the 1850s through to the 1880s in both England and France while the Renaissance enjoyed a revival; it is extremely rare to find an example that has not had some alterations; 19th-century versions have less crisp carving and generally confuse the motifs usedalterations.
• many pieces that purport to be 17th century were actually made up in the 19th; these can be difficult to identify, although check that the carved elements have not been cut off in mid-flow, and that colour and patination are concurrent on all parts, and that distressing and wear are consistent with age.

Cupboards and linen-presses before 1840
In the second half of the 17th century, the fashion, and indeed the resulting demand, for domestic furniture became increasingly widespread. Traditionally, walnut cassoni and oak coffers, often commissioned to celebrate a marriage, sufficed for the storage of linen and candles. However, their hinged tops prevented ready access to those items stored at the bottom, and so they were seen as impractical and outdated.
NORTHERN LINEN-PRESSES
Although chests and coffers continued to be produced in provincial areas, the princely courts of Burgundy, Frankfurt, Tuscany, and The Netherlands commissioned upright cupboards to fulfil their storage needs. Inspired by early Renaissance precedents, being both strongly architectural in form and linear in design, these presses are characterized by two doors, heavy cornices, moulded plinths, and bun feet.
Although designs varied, 17th-century north European presses all display an important refinement from their 16th-century precursors. Unlike Renaissance cassoni and chests, which were often made in situ, these presses were executed in a workshop, and could be broken down into sections, which were easily transported and assembled. This was an important development for all carcase furniture and can be most easily seen in the way that the cornice is fixed to the sides – often with long, hand-cut screws or pins.
Usually of walnut or fruitwood, late 17th-century presses from Burgundy are evolved from the mule chest – featuring a storage drawer within the plinth. This form was also adopted in the Spanish Netherlands, Amsterdam, and The Hague. Presses from the Spanish Netherlands arc usually of ebony (or ebonized wood) and oak, enriched with parquetry decoration and perhaps inlaid with ivory, bone, or slate panels. The earlier, more elaborate examples are enriched with Mannerist decoration and architectural motifs in the manner of Hans Vredeman de Vries (1526–c.1604), including caryatid figures and arabesques. This architectural vocabulary was gradually superseded by more florid decoration, richly carved in relief with flowers and putti, the doors often divided by Solomonic or barley-twist columns.
The Schrank and Nasenschrank (cupboards) made in Germany during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, represent the purest expression of the northern Baroque style. Usually of walnut or oak, their decoration is restrained in the extreme, often depending entirely on the shaping of mass within the geometrical raised panelling on the doors, or the rich figuring of the veneer, for effect. This architectural purity of design, at first enhanced by the use of geometrical parquetry, was gradually diluted by the use of floral marquetry during the early 18th century. For all their restraint, particularly in the insides, which featured plain pine or oak shelves, these Schranke invariably display elaborate iron or, on the most sophisticated examples, steel locking mechanisms of great complexity and ingenuity; these )–ere often engraved with strapwork or foliate arabesques, and occasionally signed and dated.

Italian linen-presses were invariably of walnut and architectural in form, the full-length doors no doubt conceived to match the decoration of the room for which they were originally supplied. These presses are characteristically sophisticated on the exterior, while the interiors have a very crude basic construction, typical of all Italian furniture. They are enriched with simple moulded panelling on the doors, which in turn are framed as if by pilaster strips. Examples from Lombardy, are often distinguished by their ebonized mouldings, while Tuscan presses are often lined with marbled paper.
ROCOCO LINEN-PRESSES
As the Rococo movement gained momentum during the second quarter of the 18th century, the linear form of the linen-press (armoire) became both outdated and restrictive. In such principal centres of cabinet-making as The Hague, Dresden, and Mainz, a new Rococo form emerged that, although clearly evolved from the earlier Baroque prototypes, represented a profound reaction to the architectural severity of the 17th century. Of increasingly bombe (swollen) form, Rococo linen-presses clearly reflect the style expounded by such French designers (ornamentistes) as juste-Aurele Meissonnier (1695-1750).
The linearity of the previous period was superseded by more organic forms, which were lighter and more curvaceous. Decoration took the form of asymmetrical cartouches, stylized vases of flowers, C-scrolls, acanthus, and rockwork. Rococo linen presses are distinguished by their waved cornices, above serpentine, moulded panelled doors, and deep shaped aprons. These presses were usually made of walnut, tulipwood, or kingwood, and were frequently further enriched with marquetry, and pronounced floral ormolu handles and escutcheons. However, the most important evolution from the 17th- century linen-press was the division of the form into two parts with a high waist; the doors of the upper section were reduced considerably in size to allow for the introduction of a series of long drawers in the base.
This fundamental development, which provided a far more effective means of storage, was subsequently adopted as the basic pattern for linen-presses in England and North America during the 18th and 19th centuries.

PROVINCIAL ARMOIRES
Running parallel to the mainstream were the provincial furniture- makers of Brittany, Normand, Bordeaux, Frankfurt-am-Main, and the Alps. Unlike cabinet-makers in Paris and London who had access to a range of fine timbers both indigenous and exotic, furniture-makers in the regions were restricted to locally available woods, and thus provincial armoires are usually constructed of fruitwoods such as cherry, chestnut, and walnut, or hardwoods such as elm and oak. However, furniture-makers in such ports as Bordeaux, also had access to cheap tropical hardwoods, particularly mahogany, that arrived as ballast on ships from the West Indies; this distinctive group is known as “Port furniture”.
What is most noticeable about provincial armoires of the 18th and early 19th century is that the basic form is essentially that of the 17th century, onto which has been grafted mid-18th century Rococo motifs, years after they were abandoned in Paris. This fusion and continuity of tradition was popular long after the Rococo taste had been discarded in favour of Neo-classicism from the 1760s. Not only were provincial furniture-makers frequently slow to absorb the fashionable decorative language of the day,but they also often slightly misunderstood or diluted these ideas and then showed great reluctance to abandon them. However, this is the mark, and indeed the charm, of provincial furniture.
The provincial tradition also embraced painted furniture, particularly in Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, and Germany. Immigrants from The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany took their traditions to North America, which flowered during the 18th and 19th centuries. Decorating onto cheap and locally available softwood carcases, which were usually pine, the artisan, painters displayed remarkable imagination, whether in the Rococo or in the later more restrained Neo-classical style. On the plainest armoires, richly figured veneers were simulated by exaggerating and enhancing the lines of the grain with paint, a technique known as “graining”. On more accomplished pieces of furniture such exotic and expensive materials as tortoiseshell, specimen marbles, and pietre dure (hardstones) were convincinglydepicted, and on the most elaborate German and north Italian examples, capricci (imaginary scenes) and townscapes, or portraits of a patron or ruler were painted on the door panels. On much 18th-century Italian painted furniture, the finest details and pastoral scenes are in fact cut-out prints and engravings, which were applied, in a way similar to a collage to the painted surface and then varnished in imitation of Oriental lacquer. This technique, known as lacca povera (”poor-man’s lacquer”), was much cheaper than lacquering or even japanning, and enjoyed a considerable revival in the 19th century, particularly in France and Britain as “Decalcomania”.
NEO-CLASSICAL ARMOIRES
With the advent of Neo-classicism during the late 1750s, the excesses of the Rococo were cast aside in favour of the Classical ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Inspired by the excavations of such ancient sites as Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748), and popularized by the publications of Jean Charles Delafosse ( 1734-89) and James “Athenian” Stuart (1713-88), to name but two, Neo-classicism embraced the return to sober, architectural linearity of form. Neoclassical presses arc, therefore, distinguished by their strongly architectural design and restrained decoration. Usually in finely figured mahogany or, exceptionally, ebonized in the Etruscan taste inspired by ancient vases, the veneer is carefully cut to run through the drawers, and this was to have a profound influence upon furniture-makers during the Empire period throughout
Europe, particularly in Germany and Denmark, and North America. Although often enriched with carved decoration, this is limited purely to Classical architectural vocabulary – dentilled cornices, columns applied to the angles, husks, swagged garlands, and fluted feet inspired by antique fluted columns. The use of ormolu mounts, although lavish on the grandest examples of the Louis XVI period (1774-93), was usually similarly restrained, and often restricted to handles only.
REGENCY LINEN-PRESSES
The uncompromising Neo-classicism of the Parisian gout Grec (Greek Revival) of the 1760s gradually gave way to a lighter, although strongly architectural, style that was swiftly adopted in England by the cabinet-maker Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1802) and George Hepplewhite (d.1786) in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788-94). Their designs were influential as far as Denmark and Italy, but most particularly on American furniture designs during the early Federal period (1795-1815). These usually enclose three or four oak presses (shelves or trays), from which the name “linen-press” is derived, in the upper section. The most refined linen-presses are lined with cedarwood both for fragrance and to keep moths at bay. Made of kingwood, rosewood, or tulipwood, or inlaid very simply with lines of ebony or boxwood, Regency linen-presses are characterized by their splayed bracket feet, oval or rectangular panelled doors, plain sides, and arched or plain, as opposed to pedimented, cresting. Often of bow-fronted form and with dished aprons, they rely purely on their lines and the finely figured timber for decorative effect. Often linen-presses were adapted at a later date; their shelves were removed and the drawers cut through to allow for a greater hanging space. The simple form of the basic Regency linen-press remained very popular in Britain throughout the the 19th century. Early linen-presses are often only distinguishable from the direct copies that were made during the later Victorian and Edwardian periods by the quality of the timber that was used.

• GERMAN NASENSCHRANKE usually of walnut or oak;
very plain, with restrained decoration.
• PROVINCIAL ARMOIRES because the basic form of the
armoire did not change, the style of ornament is the best indication of date; such armoires are usually fitted with hooks or pegs for hanging clothes
• PAINTED ARMOIRES beware, as these often have
spurious dates and initials painted on the doors.
• REGENCY LINEN-PRESSES often the panelled doors have
shrunk or warped, creating gaps at the top and bottom; the quality and use of the timber is of note in such examples; cedarwood is used for the most refined examples.
• ALTERATIONS linen-presses are often been converted to make room for a hanging space by removing the shelves or by cutting through the top drawer and introducing a hanging bar.