Posts Tagged ‘french fashion’

FRENCH FURNITURE
Louis XIV, 1643-1715
T is desirable for the man interested in English furniture
to have at least a working knowledge of the French styles,
if for no other reason than that of appreciating their influence on English work seventeenth century english stoneware . To understand them thoroughly is a study equally as wide and intricate as that of English furniture (if not more so) and to do justice to the subject would call for a separate volume as large as the present one antique porcelain tea pot made in france . In these few pages one can hope to do little more than point out the salient features 19th century floral paintings .
Historically speaking the subject goes back farther than our own, for the continental craftsmen were far more advanced than the English, and have left more and better examples of their work to posterity antique table 8 legs with brass feet . For the present purpose, however, the reigns of the three Louis, XIV, XV, and XVI are all that we are concerned with, for when speaking of French furniture it is the work produced during the period of these monarchs that one invariably calls to mind antique blue and white earthenware jug with zigzag pattern .
Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643, a time when the French Renaissance had lost much of its Italian origin and had developed a strong individual character lenci wall masks . Whatever his merits or demerits as a king may have been, the world of art certainly owes much to him for the encouragement he gave to all arts and crafts antique french tier table . He was a man of most extravagant tastes, and, living in a time when France was one of the strongest and wealthiest of European Powers, he was able to give full play to his fancies antique drop-leaf end tables . His court was probably the most magnificent that Europe has ever known, and the daily extravagant ceremonial called for a setting for which nothing but the costliest and richest would do napoleonic campaign chairs . Fortunately, this great impetus to fine work came at a time when men of considerable talent were seeking expression, and it required only this talent on the one hand and the wealth and encouragement on the other to produce a style which (in its own particular way) has never been excelled theodore haviland 1958 pattern .
Period of Louis XIV
Of the capable craftsmen whose names are outstanding probably the greatest was Andr6 Charles Boulle who was born in 1642 and died in 1732 dresser accessories . He had experimented with a form of marquetry which had originated in Italy, and when the great tide of building and furnishing came he took it at its flood, and developed this marquetry into a distinctive kind which for sheer exquisite workmanship, coupled with fine design, stands unique antique card table with one flap . It is often termed ” Buhl,” and was carried out in brass or copper, and tortoiseshell, ebony, and horn drop leaf table wall semi circle .
A brief explanation of how marquetry was produced was given in Chapter V chamber pot in cabinet . Two sheets of dissimilar materials were fixed together temporarily and the design cut through both with a fine saw gillows three hinge . The two sheets were then separated and the parts interchanged so that in the one there would be a design of, say, brass on a background of tortoiseshell, and in the other the exact reverse antique “la granja” glass . Thus it was possible to produce two cabinets of precisely the same outline and design, but the one the reverse of the other in the material of the design and background designer extending round dining tables in kent . The one was the (4 counter ” of the other, hence the terms ” Buhl ” and if counter black lacquer dining chairs .”
A typical Boulle cabinet is shown in Fig silver fish slice . 165, in which this rich marquetry work is an outstanding feature figural silver antique candlesticks . In addition to the scrolling design of the inlay itself the whole of the brasswork is richly engraved, producing an effect which almost approaches the work of the jeweller rather than that of the cabinet maker antique english dressing table . A point to note is that wood carving is almost entirely absent, the decorative effect, apart from the marquetry, being obtained entirely with rich brass mounts antique mirror back sideboard 1920’s . Some of the leading artist-craftsmen of the time were engaged in the production of these mounts wooden arm chair pedestal castor antique oak .
It was for the decoration and furnishing of the Palace of Versailles that the finest and richest work was produced, and the Palace, even as it stands to-day after the ravages of the Revolution, leaves one gasping at its sheer extravagant splendour origins and development of arts . One has to remember that the furniture maker then was regarded as an artist, and certainly the results seem to justify such a status edgard brandt . It is with something like a shock that one realises that the cabinet in Fig antique table round drop leaf claw foot . 165 was produced at the same time as the simple early walnut furniture in England art nouveau . It is true that a colossal amount of money was spent on the production of such pieces, but it has to be admitted that the French cabinet makers were far in advance of our own staffordshire figures of royalty . It is points like this that help one to realise why it was that a revolution of ideas took place when Charles II came to reign in England after years of exile spent in France georgian telescopic silver candlestick .
The famous Gobelins factory for the production of tapestry was purchased by Louis XIV, and cabinet-making workshops were established in it art deco upholstery . Charles Le Brun became the director, and the world of art owes a great deal to his energetic leadership perpetual calendar 18th century . :Much of the finest work at Versailles was produced at the factory carlo bugatti furniture antiques .
In general form the surfaces of cabinets were flat—at any rate early in the period west indies antique paintings . This is mentioned in particular because we shall see that in the next phase curved surfaces were introduced everywhere art nouveau origins . The general decoration took the form of Boulle marquetry of brass or copper on a background of ebony or tortoiseshell, the design consisting of elaborate scroll work richly chased, allegorical figures, fruit and floral motifs, swags of husks, and acanthus leafage, the whole in a somewhat free interpretation of the Renaissance daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . Bold ormolu mounts heavily gilded were fitted, these taking the form of lion masks, scrolled consoles, acanthus scrolls, human masks, and deep nullings royal sheffield silver . Both straight and curved legs were used, the last named becoming more popular towards the end of the period in harmony with the tendency towards shaped work generally william kent console table .
COMMODE IN KINGWOOD WITH INLAYS queen ann gate leg table .
Laois XV antique prohibition table example .
This cabinet, made for the King’s chamber at Versailles, is a design of SIodtz and was made by Antoine Robert
Gaudreau In 1738 antique fluted gateleg table legs . The gilt bronze mounts were by Jacques Caffiere booths pearlware marks .
FRENCH FURNITURE
Louis XV, 1715-1774
T0 appreciate the underlying causes of the changes in the type of furniture produced in Louis XV’s reign
it is necessary to know something of the historical events of the period 18th century forks . Louis XIV had died in 1715 when his heir «as but five years old, and it became necessary to appoint a regent antique decorative motif . The Duke of Orleans took the office, and he was virtually monarch until his death in 1723 directoire consulat empire . There was thus a break in the extravagant court grandeur which was so essentially a feature of the reign of the late king art deco antique furniture makers . The wild expenditure of the seventy odd years of le Grand i1lonarque, too, had left its mark on the finances of the court and aristocracy antique pouch table . No country, no matter how powerful and prosperous, could continue for an unlimited time to spend money on pure aggrandisement to such an extent, and as a result there were but two alternatives : to live in a quieter way, or to find fresh sources of income mid 17th century foods france . In the event a sort of compromise was effected 17th century french fashion . The aristocracy began to contract marriages with humbler but wealthy classes, bankers, merchants, and so on ; and in place of the grandeur of the great salon so beloved by Louis XIV came the rise of the smaller boudoir photos of antique chambersticks . In fact the two periods are often referred to respectively as the periods of the salon and the boudoir jupe table mechanism .
Its effect on the furniture was that it was in its way equally rich, but was on a smaller scale how much is a claw foot table worth . Then, too, the masculine grandeur gave way to an effeminate prettiness, a change quite in keeping with the general conduct of life emile galle furniture . People began to look for elegance rather than grandeur, and to use ornament purely for its own sake boulle console table with marble tops with elaborate friezes .
We have had occasion to note in earlier chapters in this book that an idea, once it takes root, frequently is carried to extremes, and it thus happened that the tendency to introduce shaped work towards the end of Louis XIV’s reign reached such a height in the succeeding reign that many cabinets were made with scarcely a straight line or a flat surface in them regency antique mahogany dining table styles . This extraordinary use of curves is the keynote of Louis XV furniture when was art deco furniture stated in france . The skill shown in overcoming the difficulties that such work presented is amazing octagonal brass & silver table . One may’ or may not admire this flamboyant phase of French furniture, but no one can but admire the excellence of the workmanship augsburg marquetry table cabinet . The fronts and sides of cabinets, bureaux, and so on were curved in both plan and elevation, and some idea of the difficulty of veneering over such a surface can be obtained by trying to lay a flat sheet of paper around a ball barrel leg oak dining table . Added to this was the fact that the whole was usually elaborately inlaid or given a decorative effect by the use of designs in which the varying, direction of the grain of the wood was made to play a part round rosewood breakfast table .
So far as furniture was concerned the preference for gilded mounts in place of wood carving continued, and the workmanship of these was of an extremely high order table octagon marquetry drawer . One may not care for the effect as a whole—it frequently appears restless and overdone, but regarded individually the work was extremely fine i.i.e. exclusive capodimonte . The love of curves developed to an extraordinary extent, resulting in its fulness in what is known as the Rococo decoration thonet rocking chair . The term comes from two French words meaning rocks and shells, to which the ornament bears a certain resemblance antique porcelain czechoslovakia wall face . It is exemplified in Fig austrian mirrored tables . 166—in which the elaborate scrolls and acanthus leafage can be seen antique collector’s cabinet . The chief exponents of the rococo were Meissonier and Slodtz palissy patterns .
The French version of the cabriole leg reached its zenith during this period side table black hand painted birds and flowers made in italy . It was essentially suited to the general and wide use of shapes antique metal tables with drop leaves . In a limited sense it bore a resemblance to the English version, but it had an entirely different spirit telescopic glass tables . The English leg at its best had a high, well-pronounced knee running abruptly into a square at the top, and terminating at the bottom with one or other varieties of the club or claw and ball foot can antique dressers pair with modern furniture . An example was given in Fig flemish refectory table . 116 at E meissen figures . The French variety was of a more flowing shape steuben stemware deco . There was no square at the top, the shape either flowing naturally into shaped rails at the sides, or continuing with a concave curve upwards antique english dressing table . At the bottom the foot was usually scrolled italian buffet decorations . The cabinet in Fig antique english rhenish ware . 166 shows the typical French shape black lacquer china cabinet .
A great many varieties of woods were used ; mahogany,amboyna, tulipwood, boxwood, rosewood, sycamore, ebony, and amaranth are amongst the commonest antique cabinets coat of arms . Satinwood too was used towards the end of the reign, though this is more usually associated with the following reign of Louis XVI antique console table carved wood . Gilding and lacquering were popular meisen hand painted plates 1920 allegorical . At first the lacquer work was imported from the East, or panels were prepared and sent to China to be lacquered, but later it was imitated in the French factories, though the detail in it was often faulty, western motifs being introduced in a somewhat incongruous manner brislington delftware . A firm of the name of Martin paid special attention to this lacquer work and produced a preparation known as Vernis-Martin towards the middle of the century 1945 mahogany desk . In its final stage this originally Oriental decoration became almost wholly westernised, the decorative artists painting allegorical subjects in natural settings on a lacquered background patent imperial dining table gillows .
Towards the end of the reign a reaction against the elaborate Rococo work set in, and there came a revival of the classical spirit which was the keynote of the work in the Following reign canterbury music stand .
FRENCH FURNITURE
Louts XVI, 1774–1793
THE financial difficulties of the reign of Louis XV have already been noted reproduction 18th century tea bowl . They still existed, in fact
were increased, when the ill-starred Louis XVI came to the throne in 1774 hand blown romer glass . The clouds were already gathering for the storm which was to break close on twenty years later antique empire and biedermeier periods 1800 to 1848 . This, combined with the reaction against the Rococo work of the middle of the 18th century, produced a type of furniture in which the shaped work was largely, if not wholly, eliminated daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . Design became altogether more refined and returned again to the classical spirit, prompted largely by the excavations of Herculaneum which had been begun seriously in the middle of the century table paw feet antique .
Then again the Queen of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, favoured simple country life ; the elaboration of the preceding reign made no appeal to her, and although the movement towards simpler lines began before she was Queen, her influence undoubtedly encouraged the new feeling mirrors antique british chevron . It should be realised, however, that the term ” simple ” is used relatively antique neoclassical . Compared with the English, French cabinet work of Louis XVI was vastly more ornate hunt roskell silver auction . French furniture always was, It was just the natural national expression, but when it is compared with the full shaped work of the preceding reign the simpler and more refined feeling is apparent small dressing table cupboard .
The chief characteristics of Louis XVI are the use of straight lines and flat surfaces with a delicate and refined treatment of the detail floral ornaments art nouveau . Mouldings are small and the carving light and delicate old cantagalli pottery . Gilded mounts are widely used (they were still largely preferred to wood carving) and the quality is of a very high order reverse serpentine sideboard . The subjects take the form of rural, natural, and conventional objects ; scythes, spades, lutes, pipes, birds, cupids, torches, ribbons, swags of husks, flowers, medallions, and acanthus scrolls ormolou decoration . The last named are altogether less flamboyant than the ornament of Louis XV
time antique card table flaps . The woods used were the same as those of the previous reign with an increasing popularity for satinwood 18th century wine cooler brass feet . Lacquer work was also still widely used, and was often bounded by gilded mouldings antique mahogany drop leaf work table .
With the disappearance of the shaped work the cabriole leg lost much of its popularity, especially for cabinets and commodes, though it still was used for small bureaux and console tables in a lighter form cantagalli pottery . The light turned and square tapered leg was used largely, the last named often being recessed on its faces and decorated with gilded mounts fixed in the recessed panels 1930s antique square table . The chief designers were Riesener, Gouthiere, and Roentgen slant front desk antique .
All design is largely a matter of personal taste, but it is usually conceded that the work of Louis XVI shows French design and workmanship at its best 17th century oak side table . The furniture of Louis XIV had a certain grandeur tending to heaviness at its worst, this developing into an overdone elaboration in the following reign antique bombe commodes for sale . In the last of the three reigns there was a reaction against the worst features, and the result shows a welcome restraint scotish chest of drawers .
Readers wishing to study French furniture at first hand should examine the fine specimens at the Wallace collection, and the Jones bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington oak art deco scandinavian furniture . Those who are able to visit France should see the magnificent collection at the Palace of Versailles cheverton machine .
UPHOLSTERED CHAIR WITH BRASS MOUNTS josef maria olbrich furniture . French Empire gustavian chairs pierced splats,fluted legs .
The chair was made in about 1810 column empire style bedside tables . The wings of the beasts are in brass
and are screwed beneath the seat rails provincial furniture number drawers . The feet too are brass, being
socketed to fit over the stub legs antique french saxon china flowers with gold .
FRENCH FURNITURE
EMPIRE
THE period of the French Revolution during which Louis XVI and large numbers of the French aristo-
cracy were executed was scarcely a time in which cabinet making could be expected to flourish antique bedside toilet . Wealthy people went into hiding or fled the country, and there was nobody left to order the fine quality and expensive furniture one usually associates with France of the second half of the eighteenth century gateleg table antique . In fact, some of the famous ebenistes themselves were prosecuted for their close connection with the royalty and aristocracy george serving table fluted . It was not until conditions had settled down under the forceful government of Napoleon that any revival of the making of fine furniture was possible makers of silver table ware in late 1800’s .
It was then that was evolved the style which has become known as Empire chair 18th queen rococo revival . If Louis XIV furniture be characterised as solid magnificent grandeur, Louis XV as flamboyant elegance, all shapes and curves, Louis XVI as delicate refinement, sometimes verging on the effeminate, then the Empire can be reckoned as stately and dignified with a strong influence of the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian dutch silver octagon trinket box . Compared with the elegant style preceding it, Empire furniture is considerably more restrained, mostly with straight lines, usually in mahogany, and invariably mounted with brass or gilt ornaments meissen/cabinet plate/19th century . These ornaments took the form of the Greek honeysuckle and vases, laurel wreaths, caryatid figures, martial helmets, torches, winged animals, and so on english furniture toilet chest .
Presumably the style was a tribute to the leadership of Napoleon, the Emperor who had marched through Europe and beyond antique tray table white . It scarcely outlasted his final downfall in 184, though its influence continued to be felt in this country during the Regency period antique enamel top table .
UPHOLSTERED CHAIR WITH BRASS MOUNTS new england antique dining tables .
‘The chair was made in about 1810 1920s draw leaf dining set turned legs . The wings of the beasts are in brass
and are screwed beneath the seat rails 3 leaf antique extending dining table . The feet too are brass, being
socketed to fit over the stub legs scandinavian octagon dining table .

MID 19TH CENTURY SOFAS
THE MAJORITY OF 19th-century sofas were designed either for comfort or for formal seating. The fluidity of the revival styles during this period allowed for a certain poetic licence in the designs.
COIL-SPRING UPHOLSTERY
The French fashion for upholstering their luxurious canapes with sumptuous, overstuffed seats and padded backs soon spread across Europe. The increased thickness of the upholstery was the result of the introduction of coiled springs. These were, in themselves, quite deep, but they also required a thick layer of padding to prevent them from piercing the seat cover. Deeply set buttons were used to hold both the springs and the padding in place, and became a feature in themselves.
The fabrics used to cover these upholsteries were often extremely expensive, making it necessary to
shield furniture from direct sunlight, hence the Victorian reputation for gloomy interiors. Both petit and gros point were popular.
The confidante, or tote-d-tote, evolved from the standard French canape as a slightly less formal design, allowing couples or parties to sit together and converse while facing each other. These were fairly variable forms, as were many of the Rococo-revival, show-frame sofas, chaises longue, and daybeds made at this time. They contrasted with Neoclassical- and Empire-revival styles, which made greater use of flat planes and regular angles.
Towards the end of the period, influences from the Middle East and the Orient began to infiltrate sofa design in the West. Turkish-style daybeds, Chinese bamboo frames, and the no-nonsense Arts and Crafts aesthetic started to reverse the trend for decadent, comfortable seating.
The lion’s heads are supported on turned columns.
The arched top rail above the panels is inlaid with floral marquetry.
The seat back has scroll-topped supports.
The capriole legs terminate in claw-and-bail feet.
Each seat is CauCaVcfronted with a marquetry inlaid apron
The base of the chair back is galleried, with turned spindles.
DUTCH HALL BENCH
The triple concave-shaped back of this mahogany and marquetry-decorated bench has a moulded crest and a carved lion’s head at each seat division. The sweeping arms terminate in carved heads. The shaped seat
has a similarly shaped apron and is raised on four carved capriole legs to the front and two slightly sweeping, square-section legs to the back. The entire bench is profusely
decorated with marquetry inlay, depicting flowers, leaves, urns, birds, and insects.
This early Victorian, Rococo-revival, show-frame sofa is made of rosewood and has a generously upholstered seat, arms, and back. The serpentine seat is supported on scroll-carved cabriole legs, terminating in ceramic casters. c.1850.
BRITISH WINDOW SEAT
This mahogany, Regency-revival-style window seat has an upholstered back, outswept sides, and seat. The frame of the window seat is carved with acanthus and is supported on scroll legs with paw feet. c.1900.
BRITISH SHOW-FRAME SOFA
FRENCH DAY BED
This carved walnut and upholstered day bed is designed in the Louis XVI style. The reeled and scroll arms carved with leaves and the loose cushion seat are covered in a beige fabric and raised on turned and stop-fluted legs, joined by
a rope-carved apron. This piece would have been made for an alcove and placed parallel to a wall. It may originally have had a canopy of matching fabric suspended above it.
This carved oak and walnut bench has a galleried back with carved panels, depicting dragons, figures, and cherubs. It has square arms above a solid seat and is supported on spiral-turned legs.
This Louis XVI-style walnut canape has a carved crest rail above a padded back. The cushioned seat is supported on fluted, tapered legs, which end in peg feet. c. 1900.
This is one of a pair of Napoleon III-style ebonized sofas. The back is in three sections and has a central shaped, rectangular, upholstered panel flanked by two similarly upholstered oval panels in carved gilt frames.
The padded seat is supported on six turned and fluted legs, terminating in pad feet. The sofa is attributed to Charles-Guillaume Diehl. The tapestry upholstery was probably made by the prestigious Aubusson company. BK 6
AMERICAN SETTEE
This carved walnut settee has an undulating back and a crest rail carved with flowers and grapes. The padded, upholstered arms scroll outwards and show William IV influence. The padded, upholstered seat has a similarly carved
serpentine apron and has additional side cushions. The whole settee is supported on slightly cabriole legs. Chairs and sofas featuring elements of ornate, naturalistic carving in the Rococo-revival style were very popular in the United States, particularly between 1830 and 1865.
This walnut, tub-shaped settee has an upholstered back, armrests, and seat. Originally, it was almost certainly part of a salon suite. The settee has a pierced back and is supported on turned legs, terminating in brass
casters. Neoclassical in style, it was probably inspired by Sheraton’s furniture designs, combining the simple geometric forms of the pierced back with the gentle, curving contours of the seat and upholstered back shape. c. 1900.
This mahogany, Empire-revival settee has a scrolled crest rail, upholstered seat and back, and padded arms. The frame of the settee has Neoclassical gilt-brass applied mouldings throughout and is supported on turned legs. Late 19th
century.

Tureens
Tureens were introduced in the early 18th century, reflecting the French fashion for serving stews, soups and sauces. Legend has it that the tureen was named after the 17th-century Vicomte de Turenne, who reputedly ate his soup from his upturned helmet; in fact, the term derives from the French terrine. From the early 18th century, soup usually accompanied boiled meats, fish, and vegetables as part of the first course and was served to the guests by the host or hostess. As such, the tureen became associated with a show of wealth and was often the most richly ornamented and expensive piece in the dinner service. Sauce tureens replaced sauceboats in the second half of the 18th century and were often smaller versions of soup tureens.
SOUP TUREENS
soup tureens were introduced c.1720, but examples dating from before 1750 are very rare today. Generally circular or oval and of heavy-gauge silver, they were set on four cast scroll, hoof, or ball-and-claw feet with cast scroll, ring, or drop handles at the sides and a domed cover with an ornamental finial; most are engraved with a coat of arms. Tureens designed in the 1730s and 1740s by famous French silversmiths such as Juste-Aurele Meissonnier ( 1695-1750) and Thomas Germain are among the most magnificent pieces of Rococo silver pair of tureens (1734-40), designed by Meissonnier for the English Duke of Kingston, is cast in the shape of lame shells on curving scroll bases, with the covers decorated with cast crustacea, game, and vegetables. These pieces were highly influential: vegetable, fish, and game finials are a feature of European tureens from the 1730s to the 1760x. In the I 750s matching stands and ladles became popular, and many tureens were fitted with detachable liners in thin sheet silver with two end handles; these are often sold separately as baskets. Sheffield-plate liners became more common after the 1770x.
In the Neo-classical period architects such as Robert Adam (1728-92) produced designs for tureens to match the dining-room furnishings. Adam’s designs particularly influenced silversmiths, and tureens of this period arc generally oval on a single pedestal foot, with high loop handles, a ring handle, or an urn finial on the cover, and reeled, beaded, and gadrooned edges; decoration includes fluting, swags, palmettos, and bands of Vitruvian scrolls. Soup and sauce tureens were often made as sets from the 1770x, but these are now rare. Tureens were also made in Sheffield plate. The handles and feet of such pieces were not cast but stamped in two halves from thin sheet metal, filled with lead, and soldered together; in many cases a silver panel was inserted for engraving the armorials.
Early 19th-century Regency tureens contrast strongly with the elegant forms of the late 18th century: massive and of heavy-gauge silver, they are richly decorated with lion masks and Classical ornament and have four cast shell, scroll, dolphin, or paw feet. The best pieces have solid cast crests and heraldic devices on the cover. Due to the increasing popularity of the ceramic dinner service, fewer silver tureens were made in the first half of the 19th century. However, a distinctive form of the 1830s and 1840s was the melon-shaped tureen with cast vegetable finials, typical of the Rococo Revival style.
Silver disks for engraved coats of arms or crests, are often easily visible. More ornate and expensive examples have cast-and-applied swag ornament, with fruit- or bud-shaped finials; some especially fine pieces made by the renowned Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) also have radiating fluting on the covers. In addition, some sauce tureens were engraved with a crest or coat of arms on both the cover and the body; any armorials on the cover should match those on the body. In the late 18th century engraved armorials Such as these were often ten enclosed within wreaths or ribbon cartouches.
In the early 19th century silver sauce tureens were made in fewer numbers (sometimes in Sheffield plate), as ceramic examples (particularly those in creamware) became more popular and widely available. However, some heavier versions in both silver and Sheffield plate, with large, cast, drop-ring handles and elaborate mounts, finials, and decorative borders, standing on four feet, survive from this period, while the Neo-classical boat shape was revived at the end of the century.
SAUCE TUREENS
Sauce tureens became popular from the 1770s. Unlike traditional cold accompaniments to meat, such as mustard and redcurrant sauces, the new French sauces were served hot – meaning that tureens with lids were more practical than open sauceboats for keeping them warm. Sauce tureens were usually made in pairs or sometimes as a set of four – one for each corner of the table – and some had matching ladles. Single tureens are generally less collectable than a pair, and sets of four fetch considerably higher prices. Some examples have matching stands, as with sauceboats, to protect the table from the heat of the tureen’s contents and to hold the ladle when not in use, although other pieces have covers with a notch inside the tureen where the ladle could be placed.
Like soup tureens of the period, sauce tureens from the late 18th century are characteristically oval or boat-shaped, with elegant upswept loop handles and a single pedestal foot. The cover will often be steeply domed in the centre, with the finial at the same height as the top part of the handles. The body of the tureen was raised from a single sheet of silver, while the handles and foot were made separately and soldered onto the body. The majority of early tureens have cast handles, but from about 1790 a number were made from thick silver wire. These delicate handles, which could be very easily damaged by lifting the tureen when full, were sometimes reinforced at the bottom, but it is always important to make sure that the handles have not been pulled away from the body; nor should there be any cracks or tears on the lid where any reinforcing plate that secures the finial has been damaged and/or repaired.
Sauce tureens of this period tended to be sparingly decorated, usually only with reeding, gadrooning, or beading around the rims, covers, and feet; small, urn-shaped finials on the lid were common, but these
were generally replaced with a single reeded or plain ring handle from the early 1790s on onward. On such plain pieces scratches, dents, and, on versions made from Sheffield plate, inserted

Soup tureens• CONDITION seldom good as many pieces suffered from over-use and cleaning; pieces were raised from a single sheet and should therefore not have scams, thinning of metal may indicate removed armorials
• COLLECTING examples were usually made singly but sometimes in pairs; many were produced with stands, liners (often in Sheffield plate), and ladles, but these are typically missing or have been sold separately
Marks
These should appear on both the cover and the base; armorials on the cover should match those on the body
Sauce tureens• CONDITION with the earliest designs (typically featuring a pedestal foot and loop handles) it is particularly important to check for cracking, splitting, and signs of repair where the foot, finial, and handles, join the body
• COLLECTING examples were made from the I 770s, in pairs or sets of four; from c.1790 reeded or plain ring handles were common on the lid instead of the finial
Marks
The cover and body should feature the same mark; a crest on the cover should match that on the body

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.