Posts Tagged ‘french flatware styles’

MID 19TH CENTURY CHESTS OF DRAWERS

MANY OF THE CHESTS made and sold in this period were direct descendants of their 18th-century counterparts. The chest was still in widespread use, both in the bedroom as a clothes store and in the salon, very often for display purposes only. Examples with specialist uses, such as music cabinets and folio chests, augmented the range of commodes, cabinets, and vitrines already found in the home. The traditional low, broad chest was frequently of very fluid form, incorporating serpentine, bombe, or bowfront curves reminiscent of 18th-century styles. Elaborate commodes were rare, however, and, in the drawing room, were often replaced by credenzas, or side cabinets.
CONTRASTING STYLES
A more contemporary look was provided by a new generation of tall and slender, rather elegant, filing cabinets, precipitated by the bestselling Wellington chest. These filing
cabinets tended to be less fussy than the more old-fashioned chests of drawers, particularly those in the Rococo-revival style, which were often excessively ornamented. Profuse use of gilt-metal mounts, sabots, and inlays combined with marble tops, carved skirts, friezes and aprons, and intricate marquetry decoration often made these very busy items of furniture. Neoclassical and Gothic forms sat alongside chests in the Rococo style, although these labels often referred to little more than token applied decoration, used by cabinetmakers to distinguish an otherwise plain piece of furniture.
FAVOURED WOODS
Tropical hardwoods, such as mahogany and rosewood, were frequently used for chests, although Dutch cabinetmakers often substituted walnut for their marquetry-decorated pieces, and cherry wood was sometimes used in the United States.
FRENCH COMMODE
This 18th-century-style commode has a moulded, veined marble top above a Rococo-style, rosewood- and walnut-veneered bombe case with polished, gilded, bronze mounts. The front of the piece is inlaid with colourful
marquetry, and shows an asymmetrical floral pattern. The case is set on cabriole legs. It is an accurate copy of a Louis XV commode and uses expensive materials. However, this mid 19th-century example was constructed by
machine rather than by hand.
ITALIAN PARQUETRY COMMODE
This kingwood parquetry commode is of bombe form and has a moulded Siena marble top above two chequer-veneered drawers. Each drawer has a flower-head motif centred over
the escutcheon plate. The same motif appears on the sides of the case. It is raised on square, cabriole legs, terminating in sabots. Although almost an exact copy of an 18th-century piece, its excessively slender legs reveal its 19th-
century origins.
DUTCH CHEST OF DRAWERS
The moulded top of this Dutch, Empire-style, walnut and marquetry tall chest of drawers has an outset frieze drawer. Below this are five equal-sized drawers, decorated sans traverse with fine floral marquetry inlaywork, which
exhibits a mixture of mid 18th- and late 18th-century styles in its overall design. The oval border is Neoclassical in inspiration, while the floral design within it is asymmetrical and, therefore, more Rococo in style. The case is supported on tapering, square-section feet. 1880.
FRENCH FILING CHEST
This late Louis XVI-style ebony and brass filing chest has a moulded edge above eight drawers. The drawers have leather fronts and brass catches and are supported on a plinth base. c,1900.
ANGLO-INDIAN WELLINGTON CHEST
Made of the distinctively striped coromandel wood — a type of ebony from the Coromandel coast of India —this Wellington chest also features surface carving typical of the subcontinent. c.1880.
BRITISH WELLINGTON CHEST
The moulded top of this figured maple chest protrudes above its frieze. Beneath the frieze are seven graduated drawers, flanked on either side by a locking flap. At the top of each flap is an applied scroll-leaf decoration. 1860.
GERMAN COMMODE.
This mahogany commode has a protruding rectangular top above four flame-mahogany veneered drawers. The front of the case has canted corners, with a carved scroll and acanthus top and bottom. The case is supported on carved scroll, bracket feet. c.1850.
FRENCH COMMODE
This bowfront kingwood commode has a moulded, veined marble top. The four drawers have veneered fronts, and are divided and flanked by brass-lined flutes. A veneered herringbone pattern is on each side. The commode has a shaped apron with gilt mounts and stands on bracket feet. c.1900.
AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS
This chest has been grain-painted in ochre and yellow with dark green mouldings and recessed side panels. The backboard is dark green with the initials “A” and V’ in gold and copper. The chest has two short above four long drawers. Each side panel is stencilled with a vase of flowers.
AMERICAN BUTLER’S CHEST
This cherry wood chest has panelled sides and four dovetailed drawers with glass handles. The top drawer has a drop front with spindle columns and opens onto a fitted interior with four drawers, eight cubbyholes, and a central prospect door. Mid 19th century.
BRITISH CREST OF DRAWERS
This rectilinear chest of drawers has two short above three long, equal-sized drawers. Each drawer is decorated with laurel swags, and the long drawers also feature a central carved rosette. The chest is supported on a shaped plinth base. Late 19th century.
GERMAN COMMODE
This small commode is made from solid mahogany and veneered in various exotic woods. There is a single frieze drawer below the moulded top and two additional, bombe-form drawers decorated, sans traverse, with flowers, figures, and rocaille. c.1900.

Spain’s major contribution to European ceramics history is lustreware. The technique for firing lustred pottery was first developed in the early Islamic world, probably in the 9th century. The Moors conquered Spain in the 8th century, but it was probably not until the mid-13th century that lustred pottery was made there.
LUSTREWARE
The most important centres for lustreware were first at Malaga and later at Manises (near Valencia) in southern Spain. The earliest wares show a strong Islamic influence, with Kufic (Arabic) script, and such motifs as the tree of life, the “Hand of Fatima”, and knot patterns. The Output consisted mainly of dishes, bowls, pitchers, albarelli (drug jars ), jars, and tiles. Lustre itself varies in colouring; toward the end of the 15th century it became
redder, and later in the 17th century a brash coppery colour. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries   it is often difficult to distinguish one centre of production from another.
Popular 15th-century motifs include bryony, crowns, fern-like leaves, or acacia (the latter is often used alone), parsley flowers, cotton stalks, vines, and ivy leaves. Other tiny geometric patterns were also used as ground
LATER SPANISH POTTERY
Glazed earthenware appears to have been made in Talavera de la Reina, near Toledo, and at Puente del Arzobispo, from at least the first half of the 16th century. Early    mainly
wares were decorated     in an Italian or a Flemish style, until a regional style emerged in the late 16th century. Dishes, basins, jugs, and other domestic wares were made in increasing quantities to replace silverware, the use of which was severely restricted after 1601 with the introduction of  sumptuary laws. Dishes, of which a large number survive, were painted in high-fired colours – brown, a brilliant green, ochre, and blue. The most popular subjects were soldiers, bust portraits, animals, birds, and coats of arms surrounded by a framework of partially hatched foliage. Among the more successful types are scenes with equestrian figures, hunting scenes, and animals careering amid curly foliage. Apart from the
wares already-    the range included albarelli, amphoras, and holy water stoups from c.1560 to 1650. Many blue-and-white wares were also painted in the
manner of  late Ming export porcelain.
In 1727 a factory was established in Alcorn, north of Valencia, which soon became the foremost ceramic factory in Spain, making a high-quality faience called loza fina. na. With the help of craftsmen such as Edouard Roux from Moustiers in France, a wide range of
beautifully modelled and painted wares was produced. Output included animal-form spice-pots, animal-shaped tureens like those made in Strasbourg, and trompe Poeil dishes decorated with fake comestibles. Decoration was inspired by early Moustiers with blue grotesques or polychrome lambrequins, dwarfs, and fantastic creatures. In many cases it is very difficult to distinguish Alcora from Moustiers ware, although the former is composed of a fine reddish clay while the latter is usually of a warm buff clay. The success of Alcora encouraged other Spanish factories to adopt the French style.
In common with other European factories after 1800, Spanish potters continued in the established traditions. Generally the output consisted mainly of more utilitarian objects such as basins, dishes, and jugs intended for the domestic market or for the tourist trade. The themes are mostly simplified renditions of 17th- and 18th-century wares, including animals –the hare, the deer, and the bull – almost all of which are set amid modestly drawn vegetation; armorial ornament; geometrical designs using concentric circles or simple repeated motifs; and foliated decoration. Whatever the type of decoration, the wares are usually painted with bold brushstrokes in the old “hot” colours – green, manganese, yellow, and ochre – and sometimes with a pinkish puce that was virtually unknown before the 19th century. This later production is of variable quality, ranging from crude, gritty ware to the slick, hard-edged appearance of modern mass-produced ware.
•    GLAZE Arzobispo and Talavera: hard and glassy
•    WARES tableware, drug jars, basins, ewers, vases, tiles
•    PALETTI lustreware: red hue and later a brash coppery colour; Arzobispo and Talavera: dominated by rich green, blue, and ochre, with manganese detailing; Alcorn: blue and white or polychrome
•    DECORATION lustreware: mainly small floral or geometric designs enclosing an armorial bearing and later with large feathery leaves, fish, and other animals; faience: Arzobispo and Talavera wares were vigorously painted with landscapes, figures, or animals; Alcora: lambrequins and arabesques similar to Moustiers
•    IMPORTANT CENTRES OF PRODUCTION Malaga and
Manises (lustreware), Puente del Arzobispo, Talavera de la Reina, Alcora
Marks
Early lustreware is never marked; Talavera: wares Were never marked before the 19th century; later they were frequently marked with the full name
Alcora factory wares (1727–c.1785) marked in manganese brown

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