Posts Tagged ‘period’

Auction Prices for Various Antique Items

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Dishes
Pair of George III oval meat dishes by Frederick Kandler, London, 1765, 73 oz 2 dwt Pair of Victorian octagonal entree dishes and covers with
vegetable dividers for each and ball finials, Sheffield, 1880,
120 oz 14 dwt 450 0
George III circular vegetable dish with ivory grips, pierced sides and four scroll and foliate feet, by W.S., London, 1809, 80 oz 2 dwt 360 0
William IV shaped oblong entree dish and cover with engraved armorials and foliate ring handle, by J. C. Eddington, London, 1835, 61 oz 5 dwt 260 0
George III muffin dish and cover, the domed cover with urn
shaped finial, by Henry Chawner, London, 1791, 15 oz 1 dwt        210 0
Jugs—Cream and Milk
George III helmet-shaped cream jug with ‘bright-cut’ engraving, loop handle and square pedestal foot, by George Smith, London, 1790, 3 oz 7 dwt 80 0
George II cream jug of conch shell type with serpent handle and
three coral-like supports. Circa 1755, 3 oz 5 dwt 80 0
George III oblong milk jug engraved with crests and with gadroon lip and scroll handle, by R. and S. Hennell, London, 1808, 6 oz 2 dwt 70 0
Victorian baluster milk jug chased with flowers and scrolls and on three feet. Possibly by William Brawn, London, 1845, 5 oz 7 dwt 52 0
Jugs—Water
George III pear-shaped hot-water jug, stand and lamp, the jug with rams’ masks and laurel festoons, the stand on three claw feet with female bust terminals, by Andrew Fogelberg. The jug 1776, the stand 1775, 40 oz

780 0
George III vase-shaped hot-water jug, plain with wood handle and on circular foot, by William Fountain, London, 1801, 25 oz 11 dwt 460 0
George II baluster hot-water jug chased with scrolls, leaves and flowers, raffia-covered handle and rim foot, by Gurney and Cook, London, 1755, 19 oz 15 dwt 270 0
Jugs—Wine and Ale
Queen Anne ale jug, die ground embossed with foliage and flowers and a satyr spout, by John Wisdom, London, 1712, 35 oz 280 0
Victorian wine ewer with baluster body and engraved with Grecian figures and leaves, entwined snake handle and butterfly finial, by E. and J. Barnard, London, 1862, 27 oz 11 dwt        170 0
Marrow Scoops
Queen Anne scoop of typical form by Charles Jackson, 1713,
1 oz 10 dwt 68 0
Early George III scoop, the larger bowl engraved with initials,
probably by William Tuite, London, 1767, 1 oz 12 dwt 20 0
Mustard Pots
George III drum mustard with moulded borders, flat hinged lid and simple scroll handle, with spoon of earlier date. Pot by Ernes and Barnard, London, 1813, 5 oz 10 dwt 165 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
William IV mustard with ribbed baluster body and hinged domed lid with floral finial, scroll handle and shell thumbpiece and spoon of same date but different maker. Pot by C.G., London, 1830, 6 oz 17 dwt
George III oblong mustard with domed cover, urn finial and angular handle on four bun feet, London, 1813, 3 oz 11 dwt
Salts
Four George I plain oval trencher salts with incurved sides, by
Mary Rood, 1723, 6 oz 15 dwt Pair of George III boat-shaped salts, reeded at the lips and
pedestal feet, gilt interiors, by Peter and Ann Bateman, 1792,
4 oz 6 dwt
Pair of George II compressed circular salts, with plain engraved bodies below gadroon lips each on three shell-headed hoof supports, possibly by Isaac Cookson, Newcastle, 1747, 8 oz 1 dwt
Salvers
George II large circular salver on four lions’ mask and shell bracket feet, the shaped border pierced and chased, by George Wickes, 1744, 137 oz
George I plain circular salver on central foot with moulded border, by W.P., 1720, 13 oz 12 dwt
George III circular salver, engraved with initials, chased wave border and gadroon rim, on three claw and ball feet, by Robert Rcw or Rugg, 1766, 24 oz 3 dwt
Victorian salver engraved in the centre with an initial and also with scrolls and foliage, moulded border, by J. and J. Angell, London, 1845, 25 oz 14 dwt
Sauceboats
Pair of George II plain sauceboats each on three shell and scroll feet with gadrooned rims and double scroll handles, by Peter Archambo and Peter Meure, 1754, 29 oz
George II two-handled plain double-lipped sauceboat on collet foot, with double scroll handles and waved rim, with a moulded drop beneath the spout, by Peter Archambo, 1732, 17 oz 5 dwt
Pair of George III sauceboats, each on fluted shaped lozenge foot, with gadrooned borders and double scroll handles, by William Sampcl, 1766, 25 oz
Snuff Boxes—See Small Decorative Antiques Sugar Basins—See Baskets—Sugar Tapersticks—See Candlesticks Tankards
William and Mary tankard on three lion couchant feet, scroll handle, cylindrical body and moulded base, by Robert Cooper, 1692, 31 oz
George II baluster tankard with domed cover, openwork thumb-piece and double-scroll handle, on moulded spreading foot, by William Grundy, 1755, 34 oz 5 dwt 650 0
George III baluster tankard, with domed moulded cover and heart-shaped lower terminal to the scrolling handle, by William Caldecott or Gripps, 1765, 27 oz 15 dwt 570 0
Tea Caddies
George III oval caddy, the body with two bands of bright-cut engraving in beaded borders and the plain hinged lid with urn finial, by Hester Bateman, 1781, 14 oz 10 dwt 900 0
George III shaped oval caddy, the body fluted at intervals, decorated with bright-cut engraving, hinged domed cover with wood finial, by Robert Hennell, 1787, 14 oz 17 dwt 480 0
Teapots and Stands
George II bullet teapot with engraved shoulder decoration of satyr masks, leaves and flowers, straight spout, loose lid, ivory handle and finial, by Isaac Liger, 1729, 15 oz 1 dwt 2,100 0
George III teapot stand on four fluted panel supports, by Hester
Bateman, 1789, 4 oz 15 dwt 280 0
George III oval teapot with moulded girdles and a matching stand, supported on four feet, by Crespin Fuller, London, 1800, 16 oz 15 dwt 270 0
George III oval, semi-lobed teapot, with swan-neck spout, ivory handle and finial, by P. A. and W. Bateman, 1799, 17 oz 3 dwt 170 0
George IV teapot, compressed circular body, ivory handle and
finial, curved spout, by Eley and Fearn, 1823, 25 oz 16 dwt        150 0
William IV compressed circular teapot with moulded girdle, wood finial and similar wood handle, by E. E. J. and W. Barnard, 1830, 14 oz 2 dwt 135 0
Early Victorian bullet-shaped teapot with engraved body, Edinburgh, 1840, 24 oz 82 0
George III oval teapot stand, gadroon border on four panel
supports, but George Fenwick, Edinburgh, 1806, 5 oz 14 dwt 80 0
William IV small melon-shaped teapot, with slightly domed cover and ivory finial, scroll handle and curved spout, London, 1833, 13 oz 18 dwt 60 0
Tea and Coffee Services
Victorian tea and coffee service of compressed circular form, decorated with embossed flowers and foliate handles and on scrolled feet with shell motifs, by Rawlins and Sumner, London, 1838, 72 oz 600 0
George IV three-piece melon-shaped tea service with scroll handles and shell decorated panel supports, by E. E. J. and W. Barnard, London, 1829, 44 oz 7 dwt 500 0
George III circular three-piece tea service with curved lobes, gadroon rims and leaf decorated handles, on paw supports, the pot with rose finial, by John Angell, 1819, 41 oz 6 dwt 380 0
Victorian three-piece tea service of compressed circular form,
the plain ground richly chased, by I. J. Keith, London, 1840, 48 oz
Vinaigrettes—See Small Decorative Antiques Waiters
Pair of George III plain oval waiters each on four shell and beaded bracket feet, beaded rims, by John Scofield, London, 1777, 27 oz
George II plain shaped square waiter on four hoof feet, moulded border, by Thomas Farren, London, 1734, 6 oz 17 dwt
Early George II square waiter with raised border incurved at the angles, 1727, 3 oz 18 dwt
SHEFFIELD PLATE Candelabra and Candlesticks
Pair of candelabra, each for three lights, with reeded scrolling arms, gadroon bordered knops, detachable nozzles and circular bases, 17i in high to centres
Pair of three-light candelabra, the tapering vase stems, circular bases and campana-shaped sconces decorated with chased borders, each fitted with two detachable scrolling branches, one converting to form a

five-light and bearing flame finial, 20 in high
Pair of table candlesticks with V-shaped stems, gadroon shoulders, circular bases and detachable nozzles, llj in high
Pair of table candlesticks with circular bases, vase-shaped stems and gadroon borders, detachable nozzles, 11 in high
Coffee Pots
Vase-shaped coffee pot on pedestal foot with reeded borders, ball finial and wood handle, 13 in high
An oval coffee pot on pedestal base, with reeded shoulder, gadroon borders and angular wood handle, 9] in high
Urn-shaped coffee pot, body semi-lobed between ribbed panels, on pedestal base, ball finial and wood handle, 27 in high
Coasters—Wine
Four circular wine coasters with lobed sides below gadroon lips, the wood bases centred by crested bosses, 5J in diameter
Pair of circular coasters with beaded and ovolo rims, wood bases, 6 in diameter
Caddies—Tea
Two caddies of bombd form embossed with shell motifs Serpentined caddy with hinged lid and beaded borders
Dishes
Set of four entree dishes and covers on heater bases, oblong with scrolling foliate borders, 14 in wide over handles
Pair of entree dishes and covers with gadroon borders and
detachable foliate handles, 11 in wide 22 0
A rectangular entree dish and cover complete with liner, gadroon and leaf borders, wood end handles, on four supports, 141 in wide 20 0
Teapots
An oblong teapot, body semi-Iobed between gadrooned borders, short spout, ivory finial and angular wooden handles, 5J in high 25 0
A compressed circular teapot engraved with swirling leafage,
fruit finial and scroll handle, 5J in high 18 0
Tea and Coffee Services
Oval three-piece coffee service with vase-shaped pot, oval jug and basin decorated with bands of sprays and foliage, 10 in high the pot 160 0
Three-piece tea set with compressed circular bodies, fluted,
foliate collars, scroll handles and foliate panel supports 38 0
Tea Trays
Oblong two-handled tray, engraved with armorials within a chased surround of scrolls and floral sprays, gadroon border, 30 in wide 220 0
An oblong tray, gadroon bordered and reeded end handles
springing from chased foliage, 28 in wide 95 0
Tea Urns
An inverted compressed pear-shaped urn, the body engraved
with a crest, foliate handles and flower finial, 16 in high 75 0
An oviform urn with an applied plain shield, the cover with vase finial, reeded loop handles, on square base with ball feet, 221 in high 45 0
Tureens
Large shaped oval sauce tureen on four feet below heavily
chased floral motifs, detachable liner, 16J in wide 230 0
Pair of oval sauce tureens and domed covers with gadrooned rims, decorated with acorns and oak leaves at the handles, 8Ј in wide (end handles missing from one tureen) 120 0
Wine Coolers
Set of four coolers, the campana-shaped bodies engraved with contemporary armorials above lobing reeded handles and gadroon borders, on pedestal bases, 9i in high 520 0
Pair of coolers with campana-shaped bodies, reeded handles and
on pedestal bases, 9J in high 200 0
NON-PRECIOUS METALS
Brass
Pair of eighteenth-century andirons, with spherical finials, and
masks, 29 in high 100 0
SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES ! 1968-69
A club fender
A Corinthian column floor standard
An embossed fire kerb
A two-handled log tub on paw feet
An alms dish with lobed centre and inscription border, the rim
with punched rosettes, 15} in diameter Pair of spirally-turned candlesticks on domed feet, 20J in high A hanging oil lamp Pair of chambersticks, with snuffers A heavy log tub with lion mask handles on paw feet Brass

and steel semi-circular fender
An oval fire insurance plate with a crest of a stag, dated 1774 Pair of carriage lamps A helmet coal-scuttle
A warming-pan with turned wood handle Pair of baluster candlesticks, 9 in high
Bronze
Figure of a racehorse and jockey after Isadore Bonhcur, I0j in
high
The Capture of Alexander by G. Halse. Two warriors hold a
struggling youth. Signed and dated 1860, 24 in high Eighteenth-century Italian figure The Dying Gladiator signed
Canova
Figure of a dancing fawn, holding up a bunch of grapes and
balanced on his left foot, 14 in high Figure of an infant satyr playing a set of pipes, 9j in high Pair of busts of Henry IV and Sully, three-quarter length, both
wearing ruffs and decorations, on rouge marble socles, 20} in
high
Pair of Art Nouveau winged figures stamped A. Moreau, 9J in
high
Pair of five-light candelabra on bulbous stems Italian figure of Venus, 7 in high
Copper
Early nineteenth-century tea urn on a square base
A street lamp
Three large saucepans (one with lid) Two coal scuttles A large kettle
Coal helmet with swing handle
Large two-handled urn and cover
A copper and brass tea urn with tap
A long turned wooden-handled warming-pan
Iron and Steel
Steel and brass basket grate with pierced frieze and baluster
uprights, 20 in wide Seventeenth-century Sussex wrought-iron fireback, 2 ft 10 in
by 1 ft 8 in and a log fork Wrought-iron shaped fire-back Regency iron and brass stick stand on paw feet
Victorian cast-iron corner stick stand 5 10
Victorian cast-iron oil heater 3 10
Pewter
A charger with secondary touch of Thomas Lanyon, circa 1730,
20 in diameter 36 0
Five quart tankards 35 0
A four-branch candelabrum, 24 in high 22 0
Eighteenth-century circular charger, 20 in diameter 22 0 Pair of altar candlesticks, baluster-shaped stems on triangular
bases, 20 in high 16 0
Pair of baluster and cup candlesticks, 18 in high 15 0
A hot-water meat dish with two handles and a grill, 22 in wide 15 0
A travelling chamber-pot, stamped Jas. Dixon 14 0
Two tankards and a mug 6 0

Auction Prices. CLOCKS, WATCHES AND BAROMETERS. SILVER

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

CLOCKS, WATCHES AND BAROMETERS Bracket Clocks
Repeater clock by Edwardus East with signed and engraved
backplatc in cboniscd case 600 0
A three-train musical clock by Moore of Ipswich with eight tunes in ebony case with gilt metal mounts in mid-eightccnth-century style, 2 ft 2 in high 440 0
George III fruitwood clock by Recordon, late Emery, London, with painted dial and frets at side and front of case, 1 ft 2 in high 290 0
George III walnut clock, the dial signed Joseph Smith, Chester,
and of pronounced Continental character, 1 ft 6 in high 210 0
George III ebonised clock, the 7-in dial signed William Smith, with calendar and strike/silent dial. The movement is contained in an inverted bell-topped case, 1 ft 4 in high 190 0
Louis XV contra-boullc clock with enamel dial signed Darmezin, Paris, and movement signed Crepaux, Paris, in cartouche-shaped case, 3 ft 1 in high 190 0
Louis XV Boulle clock by Pcrrache, Paris, with an enamelled dial, the case surmounted by a youthful figure of Jove, richly mounted in ormolu, 2 ft 6 in high 170 0
George III mahogany clock by Massey, Bridge Road, Lambeth, the circular white-painted dial with a central calendar hand, 1 ft 4 in high 140 0
George III mahogany clock, the 7-in circular dial signed Lamb and Webb, London, with calendar and engraved backplate in bell-top case, 1 ft 4 in high 120 0
Mid-eighteenth-century veneered ebony clock signed John Small-wood, Lichfield, with pull quarter repeat, 1 ft 4 in high (later dial) 85 0
George III mahogany clock, the 8-in arched silvered dial signed Gravell and Tolkien, London, with engraved backplate and tic-tac escapement in broken arch-topped case, 1 ft 6 in high 60 0
Regency rosewood clock signed on dial John P. Smith, 1 ft 3 in
high 20 0
Carriage Clocks
Clock in gilt case by James McCabe, London 675 0
Repeating French brass clock with white dial signed Gibson
and Co Ltd, Belfast, 6J in high 68 0
French brass clock with white dial signed Rowel, Oxford, 4Ј in high
Repeating brass clock with white dial and glazed brass case, 5 in high
Gilt metal timepiece, the glazed case with pierced floral frets at the sides and front, 5 in high and with travelling case
Miniature silver-cased repeating clock with white dial. The case stamped J. Keller, 3J in high
Lantern Clocks
Brass clock with engraved copper dial and an alarm disk, 1 ft 1 in high
Late seventeenth-century brass clock, the dial engraved with flowers and with pierced dolphin cresting, 1 ft 3 in high
Longcase Clocks
Late seventeenth-century marquetry clock, the 11-in dial signed Robt. Williamson, London, with calendar aperture in a walnut case inlaid with shaped panels of birds and flowers, with a bullseye in the waist door and with spirally turned columns at the corners, 6 ft 7 in high (frieze of a later date)
Tall mahogany cased clock with chimes. The elaborately foliated brass dial with a silvered chaptered ring. The case inlaid with classic urns in coloured woods, the arched hood has brass spires and the waist has a bevelled glass door
A carved mahogany cased clock with a grotesque satyr mask to the hood over a brass floral scrolled dial. Westminster, Whittington and St Michael chimes, 7 ft 7 in
Mahogany clock made by Manley of Chatham
Eighteenth-century walnut clock with domed canopy and brass face, the movement by William Stapleton, London, 7 ft 4 in high
Walnut clock, the early eighteenth-century movement signed
Andr. Dunlop, London, the 12-in dial with chestnut and
flower spandrels, 7 ft 4 in high Georgian lacquer clock with brass face and striking movement.
The case, with ‘bullseye’ door, decorated with gilt chinoiseries
on a simulated tortoiseshell ground Eighteenth-century small clock by John Lee, Gookham; with
brass dial and foliated spandrels, in a black lacquer case
decorated with chinoiseries in red and gill
Mantel Clocks
An ormolu clock, the painted dial signed F. Linke, Paris, the movement in a glazed case in well chiselled ormolu with drapery, acanthus leaves and groups of fruit and ending in double cloven-hoof feet, 2 ft 11 in high
Bronze and ormolu mounted clock, the movement contained in a drum upon which is seated a Chinaman holding a parasol, the whole on the back of an elephant, 1 ft 4 in high
A French clock, inscribed Bonniere a Clermont, in a rococo porcelain case. The blue and gilt ground painted with musicians, lovers and flowers. On a similar stand
Louis XVI marble and ormolu clock, the striking movement with enamel dial signed Hessen. The arched architectural case with drapery festoon, pineapple finials, an urn and fluted columns, 1 ft 5 in high 110 0
Regency rosewood clock, the movement by Dwerrihouse &
Carter, Davies Street, 2 ft high 70 0
Philippe clock with glass panels in gilt metal case with corinthian columns and surmounted by an urn. Decorated with coloured enamels, 18 in 68 0
An Empire marble clock mounted in ormolu, the movement with outside count-wheel, the dial surmounted by a white marble urn and suspended between fluted columns capped by ormolu pineapples, 1 ft 4 in high 55 0
Watches
Gentleman’s 18-carat gold half-hunter watch 20 0
Early nineteenth-century verge watch by D. Nevern, in a tor-
toiseshell case, the dial enamelled with a wharf-side scene 13 0
Gentlemen’s 18-carat gold pocket watch by George Harvey,
Wellington 13 0
George III verge watch by William Fowler, London, in a silver
case, London 1783 9 0
Nineteenth-century verge watch by Nicoll, Great Portland
Street, in a tortoiscshcll case 7 10
Barometers
Early   Victorian   mahogany  stick   barometer  by  E. Davis,
Shrewsbury, 3 ft 3 in high 70 0
Regency rosewood inlaid with mother-o’-pearl banjo barometer
and thermometer 46 0
George III mahogany banjo barometer and thermometer with engraved scales by A. M. Ortelli, Godalming, the case outlined with fruitwood lines, 3 ft 2 in high 38 0
Georgian mahogany stick barometer and thermometer by Rout-ledge, Carlisle 38 0
Mahogany stick barometer and thermometer by Salmon, Bath 38 0
A Regency rosewood banjo barometer and thermometer by
Aprile Sudbury 34 0
Early nineteenth-century mahogany banjo barometer by Lione and Tarone, London, with a thermometer and the case inlaid with Prince of Wales plumes and a whorl pattern, 3 ft 2 in high 30 0
Early nineteenth-century mahogany banjo barometer by A.
Celti, Reading, the case inlaid with shells, 3 ft 2 in high 22 0
SILVER
(Troy weight: 20 pennyweights [dwt] = 1 ounce [oz])
Baskets for Bread, Cakes, Fruit, Sugar or Sweetmeats George II oval-shaped cake basket on four cherub mask and scroll feet. The sides pierced and engraved with flowers and
scrolls and the base engraved with a coat-of-arms, by Paul
Crespin, 1753, 62 oz 3,600 0
George III oval pedestal cake basket by John Ernes, London,
1804, 24 oz 10 dwt 400 0
George III boat-shaped pedestal sugar basket with engraved border, reeded edge and swivel handle by Peter, Ann and William Bateman, London, 1793, 5 oz 10 dwt 320 0
Victorian oval basket, the pierced panels embossed with beading
and garlands, London, 1895, 19 oz 62 0
Candelabra and Candlesticks
Pair of George I dwarf table candlesticks, the baluster shafts upon square terraced bases by William Darkeratt, 4J in high, London, 1726, 20 oz 1,500 0
Victorian tabic candelabra with two tiers of six scrolled branches issuing from a bold Corinthian column supported on a square terraced foot, with neo-classic rams’ mask and husk swags by R.H. over R.H., London, 1877, 30 in high 355 0
Pair of George III table candlesticks, the tapering baluster shafts upon half-fluted circular bases by John Green & Co, Sheffield, 1800 195 0
George III chamber candlestick and snuffer, the gadrooned edge
witli shell motif by William Cafe, London, 1761, 12 oz 130 0
Casters
Garniture of three George II vase-shaped sugar casters of plain
design by John Delmester, London, 1758, 15 oz 10 dwt 930 0
William IV Scottish baluster caster engraved with a crest above floral decoration on a granulated ground, by Elder & Co, Edinburgh, 1832, 4 oz 7 dwt 90 0
George III baluster caster with pierced cover and wrythen
finial, by Thomas Satchwell, 1780, 2 oz 4 dwt 85 0
George III vase-shaped caster the otherwise plain body engraved with contemporary crest. The mark of George Giles struck over another, 1783, 2 oz 8 dwt 65 0
Coasters—Wine
Set of four partly fluted circular coasters with gadrooned rims and engraved with crests by John & Thomas Settle, Sheffield, 1818 410 0
Pair of George III coasters with pierced waved galleries, London, 1794 270 0
Pair of William IV circular-shaped wine coasters with foliate borders and crested silver bosses to the wood base, by Henry Wilkinson & Co, Sheffield, 1831 150 0
Pair of George III coasters with beaded rims, the pierced sides stamped with arcading, urns and laurel festoons, maker’s mark missing, 1794 100 0
Coffee Pots
George I small plain cylindrical coffee pot with octagonal spout and low domed cover with baluster finial, by Paul De Lamcrie, London, 1725, 11 oz 3 dwt 1,900 0
George II baluster coffee pot, plain with foliate decorated spout, wood handle and hinged domed lid, probable maker Fuller White, London, 1759, 21 oz 1,350 0
Late George III tapering cylindrical coffee pot, the plain body engraved with contemporary armorials and a crest, by Peter, Ann and William Bateman, London, 1802, 35 ox 2 dwt 1,200 0
George IV coffee pot, vase-shaped, with moulded bands at the neck and waist, leaf-capped scroll handle and foliate finial on lid, by Pearce & Burrowes, London, 1826, 22 oz 5 dwt 210 0
Victorian vase-shaped coffee pot engraved with key pattern
decoration, London, 1872, 24 oz 135 0
Cruets
George II five-bottle cruet frame on four shell feet with detachable baluster handle. Five cut-glass silver-mounted bottles. By Jabez Daniel, 1750, 28 oz 7 dwt 105 0
George III cruet frame for six bottles with reeded loop end handles, ring holders, on four feet. Five glass bottles all chipped, one broken. By Henry Chawner, London, 1792 16 0
Cups and Goblets
Elizabeth I secular wine goblet, the bowl decorated with tulips and strapwork motifs, on a slender baluster stem and circular fluted foot, London, 1593, 5 oz 10 dwt 2,000 0
Pair of George III goblets of plain design, probably by William
Sumner, London, 1800, 20 oz 520 0
Pair of George III two-handled pedestal challenge cups and covers with reeded decoration and urn knops, by Samuel Hcnnell, London, 1806, 32 oz 5 dwt 400 0
George III tumbler cup engraved with armorials, gilt interior and the base with contemporary initials. Possibly by John Garter, London, 1766, 2 oz 1 dwt 150 0
Victorian wine cup, the beaker-shaped bowl and pedestal base cast and chased in low relief with grape-laden vine tendrils, by Hunt and Roskell, London, 1875, 10 oz 1 dwt 52 0
Cutlery—Canteens
George III fiddle thread pattern table silver: 24 tablespoons, 36 table forks, 12 dessert spoons, 12 dessert forks, 12 teaspoons, 6 sauce ladles, 2 soup ladles, 1 marrow scoop, majority by Richard Crossley, 1798/1800/1804, 146 oz 9 dwt 750 0
Victorian fiddle pattern table silver: 12 tablespoons, 12 table forks, 12 dessert spoons, 12 dessert forks, 6 teaspoons, 2 salt spoons, by George Angell, London, 1863, 116 oz 14 dwt 260 0
Cutlery—Forks Dessert
Twelve George I  three-pronged  forks with crest, different
makers, 1718, 14 oz 1 dwt 1,500 0
Twelve George IV fiddle pattern forks by James Scott, Dublin,
1822, 15 oz 75 0
Six George III fiddle pattern forks by G.D., London, 1794,
8 oz 14 dwt 65 0
SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES ! 1968-69
Cutlery—Forks Table
Twelve Queen Anne three-pronged forks engraved with a crest,
by David King, Dublin, 1708/10, 28 oz Four George II three-pronged forks engraved with two crests,
1755, 7 oz 18 dwt Eleven Victorian fiddle shell pattern forks by George Angell,
1857/61, 36 oz 16 dwt
Cutlery—Forks Toasting
George III fork with knopped shaft and scrolled handle, probably by R. Preston, London, circa 1767, 7 oz 10 dwt. 17f in long
George III fork with knopped shaft and scrolled handle by John Deacon, London, circa 1775, 8 oz. 19i in long
Cutlery—Knives
Forty-eight Victorian table knives and twenty-four dessert knives, kings pattern, steel blades by J.A. or T.S., 1884
Twelve eighteenth-century dessert knives, the multi-faceted bloodstone handles with knopped urn finials and mounts engraved, the scimitar blades of steel. Circa 1700, (Some handles cracked)
Cutlery—Ladles
Four George III sauce ladles, crested Old English pattern by
Hester Bateman, 1783, 5 oz 19 dwt Pair of George III sauce ladles with ribbed and punched beaded
bowls, by Michael Keating, Dublin, circa 1780, 2 oz 16 dwt
Cutlery—Spoons Dessert
Nine engraved spoons, seven by William Soame, 1741, two 1748, 12 oz
Ten Hanoverian spoons engraved with crest, 1760, 11 oz 5 dwt Cutlery—Spoons Serving
Pair of George III Old English pattern spoons by Steven Adams,
London, 1772, 5 oz 15 dwt Pair of Victorian spoons by George Angell, 1854, 10 oz 14 dwt
Cutlery—Spoons Table
Six George I Hanoverian pattern spoons with rat-tail bowls
by Charles Jackson, 1723, 11 oz 2 dwt Six George III Old English pattern spoons with contemporary
initials J.G. by Hester Bateman, 1780, 11 oz 17 dwt
Cutlery—Spoons Tea and Coffee
Six William IV ‘bright-cut’ spoons, 1836, 3 oz 7 dwt Eight George IV fiddle shell pattern spoons by J. McKay, Edinburgh, 1827, 4 oz 8 dwt

Antique Coloured and White Glass - Original and Replicas

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Techniques before
Blowing
Glass has been made for over four thousand
years and is thought to have first been pro-
duced in Western Asia. As an independent
substance—that is, not just as a glaze—glass
seems to date from somewhere in the jrd
millennium B.C. At first, small objects,
mainly beads, mere made, and not until the
late tbth and 15th centuries B.C. did the
first vessels appear. The earliest glasses are
found in Western Asia on sites such as Tell
al Rimah and Assur, and then in Egypt,
where a glass vessel industry was almost
certainly established during the second quar-
ter of the 15th century B.C. Production of
glass vessels almost ceased, however, after
1200 B.C., and it was only in the gth century
B.C. that manufacture was revived, in Asia,
on the Syrian coast and in Mesopotamia.
The centre of glass production shifted to
Alexandria in the 4th century B.C. after
Alexander’s conquest of Asia, and it was
probably from there that glass-making came
to Italy in the first century before Christ.
botti.e in opaque white glass with opaql
turquoise trails
Found al Ur, r.1300 B.C. Hi. 113 mm (4.45 ii .)
(See also colour photograph 2)
The Core Technique: Fourteen hundred
years before glass-blowing was first in-
vented, in the 1st century B.C., four \ery
distinct techniques were already use< in
making glass. The first and most important
of these is the core technique and the
majority of pre-Roman vessels were made
by this method. A modelled core, possibly
made of mud bonded with straw, was fixed
to a metal rod and covered with molten
glass. When the core was sufficiently
covered, the outer surface was marvered
(smoothed) on a flat stone slab. Trails of
coloured glass would then be added, which
could be combed up or down to form
patterns. The vessel was once again
marvered, then handles, foot rest and fim
were added as desired. When the glass had
cooled the rod could be removed and the
core picked out piecemeal. The technique
was skilful and laborious, and the glass
vessels thus produced were a luxury item
for the nobility.
Techniques before Blowing
In F.gypt, the first vessels appeared in the
reign of Tuthmosis III (1504-1450 B.C.).
During this period the boundaries of
Egypt were at their widest, stretching
from the Euphrates to Nubia, and Tuth-
mosis III became one of the most im-
portant Pharoahs of the 18th Dynasty. His
Asiatic conquests began in 1481 B.C., and
were the probable reason for the founda-
tion of a glass vessel industry in Egypt.
The fact that three glass vessels have been
found bearing his cartouche could in fact
signify that the new industry was trying to
do honour to the Pharoah who gave it
birth. (So far as is known, the glass vessels
were not his personal property.) The glass
illustrated, formed in the shape of a lotus
bud, was produced by the core technique;
it is the earliest and most beautiful
example, in turquoise-coloured opaque
glass with blue and yellow thread decora-
tion. (See Trailing, pp. 81-2.)
Core-formed vessels normally averaged no
more than 100-200 mm (approx. 3-Q-7-8
in.) in height, although a few larger ones
have been found in Egyptian royal tombs.
They appear to have been used for
unguents or perfumes. The earliest exam-
ples, from Egypt of the 18th and 19th
Dynasties, are the finest in colour, shape
and design. The Mesopotamian vessels
which have been found are distinct enough
in shape to indicate separate workshops,
although Egypt exported to Syria, the
Levant and Cyprus. It was probably in
Mesopotamia that the technique was
preserved after c.1200 B.C., to be revived
in the Levant in the 7th century. The craft
was organised by the Phoenicians, whose
traders spread glass products throughout
the ancient world, bartering them for
Cornish tin, Baltic amber and other non-
Mediterranean products. New shapes then
appeared, based on Greek forms, such as
the oinochoe, and were used in the Eastern
Mediterranean and Italy from the 7th
century B.C. onwards.
Techniques before Blowing
Amphoriskos in brownish-green glass with
white and yellow opaque trails, clear amber
hankies and base-knob
Cyprus, 2nd ist century B.C. Hi. 165 mm (65 in.)
(See also colour photograph 2)
In the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. new
core-formed shapes appeared, based on
contemporary late Hellenistic ones in
other materials, such as the amphoriskos,
the alabastron and the round aryballos.
After the invention of glass-blowing,
however, this laborious core technique
almost immediately died out. The last
examples of the technique achieved a
certain grace; note the clear amber handles
looped on to the body of the vessel in the
example illustrated. However, they did not
reach the high levels of artistic excellence
that can be seen in the examples from
c. 1500 B.C., and also during the time when
El Amama was flourishing (1377-1345
B.C.). The famous excavations by Sir
Flinders Petrie on the site of Tell-el-
Amarna revealed the existence of glass-
workings on a large scale. A number of
Western Asiatic sites, such as Atchana/
Alalakh, Nuzu, Assur and most recently
Tell al Rimah likewise revealed glass from
the 15th century B.C. and before.
ewer and ai.abastron
Modern replicas by Dominick I^bino, U.S.fk.
Hi. of each e.Sq mm (3-5 in.)
The mystery of the true nature of the tort
technique has been much discussed. Fo
many years it was thought that the coi c 01
which the glass was gathered and marv
to shape was made of sand. Re
research has proved this to be wrong,
the core was more likely made of mud
bonded with straw. Dominick I.abinc
from Ohio, U.S.A., attempted to find ou
how these vessels were produced bj
making them himself. After numefou!
experiments he found that he cOulc
successfully reproduce any of the andien
shapes by trailing glass from a dipstic : 01
to a preheated core. The trailing was < on«
in the furnace over the crucible (glass
making pot), the vessel being remdved
only in order to marver the surface off th<
glass. He successfully applied trailer,
decoration, handles and feet to the vessels
After the temperature had been brough
above the annealing range, the vessel wa:
slipped off the metal rod into an annealing
oven; the core was removed after the glas;
vessel had cooled.

Antique French Furniture. Periods and Values. (1)

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

If we think of a chair as something to sit on, and a dining-chair as something to sit on at meal-times, there seems to be no reason why one dining-chair should be different from another. We would expect a difference between a dining-chair and an arm-chair, because they are made for people to sit on in different positions, and we would expect a difference between two dining-chairs made to go with dining-tables of different heights. But for the last three hundred years all dining-tables have been of almost exactly the same height, and all dining-chairs have been of very nearly the same size; at least, their essential dimensions—the height, width, and depth of seat—have been very nearly the same. Yet if we were to collect a series of dining-chairs made at intervals of ten years during the last three hundred years, we should find that each chair differed slightly from the preceding chair, and that chairs separated by intervals of fifty years or so might have almost nothing in common but their size. And if we then collected a complete roomful of furniture made at the same time as each of the chairs, we should see that certain peculiarities of the chair were repeated in the other pieces of furniture–the kind of wood it was made of, the general shape of the legs, the details of its decoration, for instance. The chair, in fact, would have more in common with a cupboard made at the same time than with another chair made fifty years previously.
A room furnished in 1750 would have a different appearance from a room furnished in 1780. The furniture would be made of a different wood, decorated in a different way, and the shapes of the chair-backs and legs, and of the feet of cupboards, and all the details of locks and drawer-handles, would be different. The two rooms would contain much the same quantity of furniture and much the same kind of furniture—not many new pieces of furniture were invented between 1750 and 1780; but the furniture would be in two different styles,
In the history of furniture there have been very many different styles. There were various styles of furniture in China, in Egypt, in Greece, and Rome, before furniture was ever made in England or France or Germany. But we can learn a good deal about the way in which styles develop, and the way in which one style changes into another, and the reasons for these changes, if we examine the history of furniture in just two countries, France and England. It is interesting to study the history of styles in all countries. But our purpose here is to try to find out why one style differs from another, and how a change of furniture style corresponds with a change in ways of living and of thinking. A study of comparatively recent periods of furniture in the European part of the world will be the most useful. For it will help us to understand what has caused the present confusion in furniture-making about problems of style.
Our survey of styles will be very limited, covering in detail the furniture of only two of the countries of the world. But the furniture of these two countries shows a fairly complete development from the simplest carpenter-made pieces to the most elaborate work of the cabinet-makers. From the eleventh to the nineteenth century all the possible methods of making furniture by hand were used by the French and English furniture-makers. At the beginning of the medieval period the carpenters started making furniture with little experience in woodworking behind them, and with few models surviving from the past. As we have seen, furniture-makers rediscovered one by one all the methods of woodworking known to former civilizations, but lost in the meantime. Thus the history of French and English furniture gives a complete picture of furniture developments all over the world—from the technical point of view, at any rate.
Moreover, not all the peoples of the world use furniture as much as it is used in western Europe. Oriental peoples lead a less active indoor life than we do. They have more soft furnishings than furniture: carpets and rugs, cushions and divans. The few pieces of furniture they have are often beautiful and technically perfect. But there is little in their technique that has not been used in France and in England—except, perhaps, the Chinese method for making lacquered furniture and panels; and the appearance of their furniture has had a considerable influence on European taste. The Spanish, too, have been subject to Oriental influence, through the Moorish occupation of Spain. By nature they are not given to using much furniture; but their traditional pieces have a distinct character of their own. It has already been said that the principal piece of furniture in the chief room of a Spanish peasant house is a stone bench. In richer Spanish houses the furniture is elegantly severe; the pieces are large, and there are few of them. Indoor life in Spain is more formal than in most European countries; all the freedom and gaiety are out of doors.
Italian Renaissance furniture served as a model for French Renaissance furniture; but since the Renaissance there has been little change in Italian furniture besides fantastic decorative developments. The German and Russian Court furniture consisted of heavy copies of French Court furniture. Much of the German Alpine and Russian provincial furniture is interesting; but the extremely cold winters in the places where such furniture was in use caused stoves to be more highly valued and elaborately decorated. American furniture-makers have developed styles of their own from English and other European styles, and sometimes their work surpasses their English models. The American Windsor chair, for instance, is considered by some connoisseurs to be better proportioned than the English Windsor chair; and the American Empire style was continued longer, and with better results, than the Empire style of any European country. But to study in detail the furniture of many countries would not help us to form a clear notion of modern problems of style.
Styles differ from one another in three ways : in construction methods, in material used, and in decorative treatment. Construction methods were developed slowly, and, as we have seen, there were only three principal systems of construction—those of the carpenters, of the joiners and of the cabinet-makers. There was a major style change in every country when carpenters’ methods were abandoned for joiners’, and when joiners’ methods were abandoned for cabinet-makers’. We have also seen how the material used is bound up with the method of construction —how the carpenters and joiners used home-grown medium woods, and how the cabinet-makers used tropical hard-woods. In these two respects of methods and materials the general development of styles has been the same in all European countries. The long series of detailed changes in style is a history of decorative treatment alone : so much is decorative treatment a key to style that an expert can tell from a mere fragment of a piece of furniture—a carved leaf or a small area of marquetry—the exact style and period of the piece.
The history of decorative treatment in France, and in most countries of continental Europe, may be divided into six main parts, each having its own system of decorative conventions. They are called the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical Revival, and nineteenth-century styles. These six styles are sub-divided into many styles of comparatively short duration.
Overleaf is a table of the French furnishing styles from about A.D. 1100 till the beginning of the present century. The table gives a general plan of the different styles and their periods, but it is not, and could not be, exact: since one style merges slowly into another, and the reigns of kings do not correspond with changes in furniture taste.
ROMANESQUE (1100-1300)
Romanesque furniture was made by carpenters, according to carpenters’ methods of construction—heavy planks, joints without glue, and iron bands. Very little of this furniture survives, but some chests, turned chairs, a few beds and trestle tables are to be found in museums. Most of the surviving furniture is religious rather than domestic—benches from churches and monasteries and monastery tables. Some furniture from castles also survives, mostly chests and tables. The only people to have furniture in France between 1100 and 1300 were the religious communities and the lords of castles. The castles fared even worse than the churches in the wars of medieval and Renaissance Eur- ope; this is why there are so few pieces of domestic furniture left.
During these times people did not travel very much, and ships did not carry large cargoes : the carpenters used the wood they found growing near them. France was then largely covered with forests of oak, beech, elm, chestnut, fruit trees, and softwood conifers. In the north of France oak was most frequently used for furniture; in the south, oak, walnut, and some fruit-woods such as cherrywood were used.
The principal piece of Romanesque domestic furniture was the chest. It served to store things in the castles, and as a wardrobe-trunk for travelling. The word trunk comes from the first chests hollowed out of tree-trunks. Chests could also be used as seats, beds, and tables. The tables consisted of boards laid on trestles, sometimes supported and made more permanent by iron stays; they could be taken down and stored away, or packed up and moved in times of trouble. Benches were comparatively rare, except in the more stable religious communities, where there was less risk of having to pack up and go.
Romanesque furniture was decorated with carving and painting, and decorative iron-work. The carved motifs consisted of geometrical patterns, Biblical and legendary pictures, and traceries of round arches derived from Romanesque architecture. From the evidence of illustrated manuscripts and signs on the few pieces of Romanesque furniture that we have, it seems that most of the furniture was brightly painted—both in solid colours, and, on the parts that were not carved, in pictures.
GOTHIC (1300-1500)
From about 1300 to 1400 the furniture was still made by carpenters, who were, however, by this time beginning to discover the methods of joinery. In some early Gothic chests joined frames were used, but the frames were boarded over with thick planks—thin panels were not yet used. Most of the furniture, in fact, was like the Romanesque furniture in construction, although Gothic detail (traceries of pointed arches, for instance) was introduced into the carving.
By about 1400 the methods of joinery had been perfected. The new furniture was made by the joiners. Their work differed greatly from that of the carpenters, for they dispensed with iron bands and used framed panels. They continued to make furniture of the same native woods that the carpenters worked in. The carpenters still made some furniture, especially in the country districts.
Gothic furniture that has survived includes bench-ends from churches, stalls in cathedrals, chests and tables, chairs with box-seats (like chests) and straight panelled backs, a few cupboards on legs, and turned chairs. The box-chairs sometimes had carved canopies over them. The religious furniture was, of course, public furniture, and it was made to look like the religious buildings—the same kind of detail that we see on a Gothic cathedral was imitated to a smaller scale on Gothic furniture. Since the Church was the most important institution at the time, the domestic furniture was made in the same style as the religious furniture : private furniture imitated public furniture because the Church dominated private life.

19th Century Wooden Furniture: Beasteads, Sofas, Desks, Stands, Cabinets.

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY
1800-1850
THE year i800 is a convenient date in the history of furniture only in the sense that it marked the begin-
ning of a new century antique hexagon ladles . Apart from that it showed no sudden change in style any more than the start of any other century countries that art deco was very popular . The same king was on the throne and was to live for another twenty years, although for the last ten the Prince of Wales was to act as regent lion feet table . Furthermore, Sheraton, who published his first furniture book in the last decade of the eighteenth century (see p jennens and bettridge . 181), brought out his Cabinet Dictionary in 1803, and lived until 18o6 elephant mahogany antq . Change was taking place, but no more quickly than at any previous period j s henry furniture .
At the same time, the period 1800-1850 is momentous in that it saw the beginning of the industrial age in which the machine began to replace hand labour hinges leaves antique table . At first its effect was scarcely felt, for the machines themselves were crude and unreliable and had not stood the test of time “holland & sons” cabinet . Furthermore, no one had had sufficient experience in their use to use them to the best advantage hammered flatware crest urn . In any case, their early use was largely confined to Government departments such as shipyards 18th century rococo copper candlesticks . Being individually built, they were necessarily expensive 4 foot walnut drop leaf table .
The use of machines speeds up work and reduces costs, and that was largely the reason for their introduction scottish art nouveau inlay furniture . There was, however, another and, in the long run, a deeper-reaching effect 18th century soup urn . This was the influence on design itself circular extending dining table . When you install a machine its first use is invariably to quicken and ease the more back-breaking jobs, such as converting logs, ripping out parts, rough planing them, and so on wileman ironstone coffee pot . Very soon, however, other possibilities are realised, and you see that it can be used for other work which would be difficult or at least expensive by hand craftsman for wooden vitrine . Then comes the idea of adapting the machine for other operations, so that more and more handwork is avoided sheffield plate candelabra . At last hand work becomes a thing to be avoided, and then is born that insidious idea of making the design to suit the machine silver candlestick dated 1750 . In a broad sense this is inevitable because any change in technique of
FIG french drop front desk . 156 antique table porcelain top . MAHOGANY CHAIR WITH BRASS INLAY pre war veneer antique bureau . 18io-i815-
This is of special Interest in that the back legs are not set square with
the front but line up with the slope of the side rails (see plan) brass frame girandole images . This is a
feature not found in chairs of earlier date anglo-chinese furniture . See also F in Fig first antique table de chevet . 157 decorating with a pie crust antique table . Owing
to the pronounced side curvature this results in the bottoms of the legs
converging value of mahogany marble side table .
manufacture is bound to have its repercussions on design, but the evil comes when sound construction and form are sacrificed to suit the limitations of a machine poole pottery streamline coffee sets .
However, up to 1850 there had not been any serious sacrifice in this sense, and during the fifty years we are speaking about there was a great deal of sound and delightful furniture made, especially in the first twenty years of the century brass sideboard gallery .
For those interested in the subject the following few notes
FIG identifying furniture makers bookcase oak . 158 cassone with pastiglia . BLACK JAPANNED CHAIR WITH INLAY two tier rectangular victorian table . Mid antique square to round drop leaf table . i9th century mahogany tea caddy tripod leg .
The entire back is in papier mficU screwed to the
lower framing early tables . The back, legs, and seat rail are
inlaid with mother of pearl dresser with kneehole .
on early machines may be of value antique wood trestle table with leaves . It should be realised, however, that machines were not of necessity power driven black bone inlay dressing tables . Many of them required human labour to turn them aimone mfg co furniture . Even in 1914 some circular saws and bandsaws were still being made which were fitted with handles, and sometimes pedals, which either the operator or an assistant had to work antique maple desks . Some-times larger saws were propelled by horse labour, the animal being yoked to bar which revolved a centre pillar, which in its turn was geared to the saw rh vase austria . Water and wind power too were used antique sideboard with desk .
As early as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries machine saws had been devised, these generally being reciprocating saws worked by cranks antique gate leg tables . They were exceptional, however, most cutting being done by pairs of sawyers over a saw pit italian 18th century cabinet makers .
FIG satin birch bow chest . 160 jacobean antique furniture . FULLY UPHOLSTERED COUCH sheraton period cutlery urn . About i85o marquetry tray brass handles .
This sketch was taken from a small model made about the middle
of the 19th century, and is typical of the period 18th century amboyna card table .
No doubt the reason for the development of woodworking machines in the nineteenth century was largely due to the tremendous importance of wood as a basic material for all purposes was there a change in arts in italy between 1920 and 1940 . It was needed for ships, vehicles, houses, some bridges, engineering, agricultural appliances, furniture, and so on antique continental porcelain . It was in fact in Government shipyards that the first serious and really practical machines were made american 19th century side boards .
Samuel Bentham developed the rotary system of cutting as distinct from the reciprocating, and designed saws, planers, boring machines, tenoners, and veneer-cutting machines antique swedish armchairs . These were mostly patented between 1791 and 1793, but it would have been many years after that such machines became generally available to the woodworking industry generally art deco harlequin fine china . Marc Isambard Brunel had also much to do with early machines, and had in fact patents on circular saws in 1805 and i8o8 czechoslovakia vases . A bandsaw was patented by Newberry in 1808, but its success was hampered by poor quality saws, and it did not become really practicable until 1850 when reliable saws were made round oak table dragon legs . Many planing machines were invented in the first fifty years of the nineteenth century, some in U antique gateleg table small .S antique divans .A pictures of expensive antiques . Most early machines had wood frames chinese qing porcelains . It was, in fact, not until the turn of the mid-century that all-metal frames were made 18th century marquetry bow front commode .
The refined and somewhat delicate style as exemplified in Sheraton’s works continued during the opening years of the century craftsman for wooden vitrine . The deterioration in his last designs, as shown in his Encyclopedia, 1804-1807, mentioned in Chapter X, was little more than a pandering to a passing fashion, and it is fortunate that the more grotesque items were not made in greater numbers antique william and mary oak dining room sets .
Other influences were at work, however, and to trace these we have to turn to France, where the Consulate and Empire periods in which Napoleon was the dominant figure was producing a marked style known as Empire russian chair lion . This is dealt with more fully in Chapter XV, but it had its counterpart here in a style sometimes known as English Empire wedgewook stonewear white . Its chief exponent was Thomas Hope, who published his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration in 1807 19th century lion claw pedestal table . This, like the French Empire, went back to Greek and Roman forms for its inspiration, and produced some rather severe designs, mostly in mahogany with brass mounts in the form of vases, laurel wreaths, helmets, honeysuckle, lyres, and so on antique oak draw leaf table . The style owed little to tradition, however, and, although much of it was well made and of good proportions, it seems to strike a foreign and somewhat jarring note antique writing box . Many of the shapes, especially chair and settee legs, seem curiously unsuitable for making in wood antique refectory tables .
An attractive chair of about 1810 is that in Fig french word for chasing . 155, and shows a high degree of skill in its manufacture pedestal dumb waiter . The shaping of the members at the back, which necessarily have compound curvature owing to the plan curving combined with the elevation shaping, is beautifully worked out gate leg vintage drop leaf tables . The back-ward curve of the front legs is characteristic of the period and suggests Hope influence biedermeier antique de .
Another chair of about ten years later in date and of somewhat similar style is that in Fig aristide colotte . 156 and is given because it embodies a feature not found in chairs of earlier date drop leaf table rectangle vintage . If any of the earlier chairs are examined, it will be seen that if a section is taken through the back legs at seat level the wood from which they are cut is invariably square with the front king george iv side board .

FIG bambocci antique . 161 drapery designs for dressing table . CIRCULAR DINING TABLE OF ROSEWOOD, BRASS
MOUNTED antique oval dutch table .
1810-1820 antique dealer furniture iron louis xvi .
The lyre motif of the centre pedestal was a common feature of the period egyptian figurine manufacturer in spain .
The ” strings ” are brass rods drop leaf table gate leg . A brass line is inlaid around the top
an inch or so from the edge antiquevenercoffeettableclawfeet . The latter is cross-veneered; also the
framework edging arabesque vertical plate racks - 2 tier .
Thus the chairs in Fig william france furniture maker . 4o are as shown at A, Fig what antique furniture maker marks under drawer front with number . 157 bureau bookcase writing desk display cabinet 1930s . Even when curved as in Figs 18th century plate racks . 77 or 107 they are still set square as at B and C, Fig fiddleback walnut louis xiv reproduction desk . 157, any convergence at the feet being arranged by reducing the length of the seat rail and cutting the shoulders at an angle sauce boats . Much the same applies to the chairs in Fig antique carved trestle table . 142 and to that in Fig neo-rococco cabinet . 155 tulip porcelain chamber pots . The only exception is in some Adam and Hepplewhite chairs, which have either round, oval, or hooped-shaped seats (see Fig antique half round side table mermaid . 132) chiffonier 19th century . In such chairs, owing to the shape, the rails are tenoned into opposite sides of the leg instead of into adjacent sides as in all other examples sheffield plate candelabra . As a consequence the back legs, owing to their backward curvature, are further apart at the bottom than at seat level forks and spoons in the 18th century . This is made clear at E, Fig french dining draw leaf table stretcher . 157 plain serving table .
Turning now to the chair under discussion, Fig colbolt blue plates and antique . 156, note from the plan that the legs are not square with the front, but are parallel with the sloping sides as at F, Fig marquetry roll top desk . 157 antique refrectory trestle table . As a result the legs are closer together at the feet than at the seat,
FIG chamberpot flap . 162 american oak drop leaf table antique . VICTORIAN DINING TABLE IN WALNUT queen anne antique dressing table . Mid johnstone and jupe table . 19th century 18th century metal chamber pot .
The top is veneered with figured walnut arranged in a quartered pattern cage leg antique table .
A huge bolt passes through the centre, Joining the tripod stand to the
pillar and sub-top framework art deco and exotic leather .
this being produced without any side curvature in the leg antique gothic table grotesque . The shape looks more elaborate than it actually is, the shaping being confined to the side elevation of the back iron and wood refectory tables .
The chair in Fig wedgwood keith murray slip two tone . 158 dates from about I85o and is more interesting than beautiful photo antiquities furniture in france . The entire back is in papier mftche, this being compressed to shape and fixed to the back of the seat, probably with screws antique sheffield piece marked “royal sheffield” . There is in fact considerable dishing and shaping in the back and, when it is realised that it is no more than I in scandinavian art deco furniture . to $9 in antique wrought iron candle sticks . thick in parts, it becomes obvious that such a back would be impracticable in wood “art deco” “dining table” french walnut extension . It is, in fact, an early example of a mass-produced chair and bears the marks of deterioration in design four pillar trestle table . As a matter of passing interest, note how the rails are tenoned into opposite sides of the back legs owing to the hooped shape, hence the divergence at the feet (see also E, Fig age of jazz shelley vases . 157) walnut gaming table with pillar legs .
A couch showing the classical influence of Greece is that in Fig antique replica, french victorian mahogany empire desk writing table . 159 napoleon leather and steel campaign chair . It belongs to the Hope period of the early
FIG heal and russell art deco antique furniture . 163 16th century small tables . SOFA TABLE VENEERED WITH AMBOYNA AND
MARQUETRY hongwu copper red .
About 1815 delatte nancy .
The flaps were invariably supported by brackets pivoted on knuckle or
finger joints cut in wood drop leaf table with pembroke leg value . The legs were usually dovetailed to the base,
and it was common practice to strengthen the joints with metal plates
screwed to the underside 19th century regency dwarf parlor cabinet value .
nineteenth century 19th century leather chest . Fig george speight porcelain . 16o shows the rather heavy and stuffy appearance of a fully-upholstered couch in the middle of the century antique serpentine swedish chest of drawers .
An interesting contrast in dining tables made within about thirty to forty years of each other is shown in Figs drop leaf sofa table . 161 and x62 lyre based sheffield candlesticks . The former, of the Regency period, has a certain grace and charm about it empire sideboard antique value . Here again we see the old classical Tables of the Mid-Nineteenth Century
influence in the lyre motif wooton chest . Light though it looks, the table is strongly built since the lyre-shaped pillar is not pierced right through, but is recessed at the surface only antique red stoneware spittoon . The legs are dovetailed to the base john widdicomb desk . The whole top pivots, so that the table takes up little space when not in use longcaseclocks chinoiserie 18.century .
In Fig vintage wooden handled three tined dinner forks . 162 we pass to a typical Victorian table of about 185o which, whatever one may think of the design, is beautifully made ashtray daum nancy france antique . To us it may lack the refinement and grace of the earlier table, but it is an interesting speculation as to what folk of A daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches .D pilaster bookstand price . 2oo0 may think of it 17 century english stoneware . For years it has been the practice of people to speak of Victorian furniture with something like contempt (though no one really familiar with it would ever deny its soundness of craftsmanship) furniture canape antiques italian . Already, however, it is appearing in antique shops, especially early Victorian pieces, and it is quite on the cards that folk of the future will see beauty in what we now call heaviness and vulgarity 1925 antique floding desk . Fashions change, and nearly all generations are contemptuous of the works of their immediate forbears “myott son & co”+oriental . Presumably the Victorian designers did not intentionally design things they knew to be ugly—and for a matter of that who are we to talk in these middle years of the twentieth century r
A type of table popular during the period under discussion was the sofa table, an example of which is given in Fig antique pier tables . 163 name a piece of furniture that begins with v . It was a type made popular by Sheraton and had hinged flaps at the ends supported by pivoted brackets furniture + finmar ltd . There were invariably drawers beneath the top standing silver mirror candlestick styles . As the table was intended for use away from the wall the ” back ” frequently had dummy drawer fronts small dressing table with cupboard and drawers . Its form during the Regency period is shown in Fig queen mary mother ship tea dish antiques . 163, which shows the Greek influence of the period in the ornament antique 17th century gentleman’s dresser .
The Regency version of the sideboard generally had cellaret pedestals reaching down to the floor and joined by a centre table portion quite open beneath torror in france . There was generally a drawer beneath the top as in Fig small antique french writing cabinet . 164 yabu furniture . Tapered pedestals too were becoming popular, and the scrolled back shows the beginning of a feature which was often to assume quite gigantic proportions in the late Victorian period, and was often surmounted by an elaborate piece of carving, frequently of extremely fine craftsmanship antique wash stands .
Bedsteads in the late eighteenth century were generally of the four-poster type, but by the turn of the century two SIDEBOARD IN ROSEWOOD WITH BRASS INLAY
1810-X820 staffordshire figure home .
The tapered form of pedestal was popular in the Regency period how much is an oak butler’s tray table worth . The relatively large size of room in which
it would have been used is shown by the great depth, which is 29 in greek neoclassical porcelain . over the centre portion, and 251 in richard ginori doccia 1924 platter .
over the pedestals art deco console table black .
Bedsteads of the Nineteenth Century
kinds developed rectangular drop leaf sofa table . In the one the head-posts with abbreviated tester were retained and the foot-posts eliminated early ming porcelain . Frequently head curtains were used, and these could either be drawn right back or pulled a foot or so down the bed antique tilt top dinner table photos 1800 century . The other type owed its origin to the Empire style of France english refectory table . In this the bed was intended to stand with its side to the wall vintage wooden handled three tined dinner forks . There was a head and foot often sloped and having rather the appearance of a couch—the couch in Fig chinese porcelain shards . 159 is in fact suggestive of the general form, though this is necessarily on a smaller scale 19 century inventions . In some cases curtains were carried on to a shaped tester art nouveau origins .
CABINET WITH BOULLE MARQUETRY empire furniture.com .
Louis XIV antique tea table glass serving tray .
The work is carried out in brass and tortoiseshell, and is
decorated with some particularly fine mounts of brass 19th-century swedish table . The
top is of marble antique chippendale breakfast table . The accommodation consists of a centre
cupboard with door and four drawers at each side 19th century, federal mirror .

Antique 19th Century English Early Georgian Period Furniture

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

EARLY GEORGIAN PERIOD
THIS period is remarkable chiefly because mahogany as a furniture wood was first used. As early as 1715
a few pieces were made in mahogany, but it was not in general use until 1725-173o. From 1733 onwards, the tax on imported timber being abolished, mahogany came to be used exclusively. It was imported from the West Indies and was of the kind known as Spanish mahogany, a hard, heavy wood, rather inclined to be brittle, but very reliable. Early specimens were finished with linseed oil, this being coated on liberally and allowed to remain for a few days. A polish was then obtained with brickdust rubbed on with a cork. Later varnish was used.
Although in general proportions and form there was no immediate break from what had been common in the walnut period, there came almost at once many changes in detail and construction. It was not simply that a cabinet maker, used to the walnut tradition, would simply substitute mahogany for walnut, and make it otherwise just the same. There was more in it than that, and the root cause was the fact that, whereas walnut furniture was always veneered (except for such parts as legs, which had to be in the solid), mahogany was used in the solid. As a matter of fact such pieces as chairs, which in their nature had to be mostly solid, altered less than any other kinds of furniture because the construction was not affected by the change of wood.
It was pointed out in Chapter V that walnut furniture relied for its decorative effect largely upon the figuring of the grain and upon such details as crossbanding and quartering, which went naturally with veneering. The use of veneer made flat surfaces desirable, and when carving was used at all it was mostly upon the solid parts such as the legs. Now the mahogany first imported was mostly of a plain kind, with not particularly interesting figure, and this plainness must have been very obvious to people who were used to the rich figuring of walnut. Then, again, quartering as a means of decoration was impossible for this essentially belonged to veneering. A quartered panel in solid wood would inevitably twist out of shape and split. Crossbanding again, although not impossible in the solid, was not specially desirable, because it would not stand out well as the grain was not strongly marked.
It therefore became obvious to the cabinet makers that a new form of treatment was necessary for mahogany, and as
FIG. 102. STAGES IN
EVOLUTION OF CHAIR
BACKS.
The development from the
hooped Queen Anne shape
with urn splat is shown
above.
FIG. 103 (right). -
ANY CHAIR WITH CAB-
RIOLE LEGS CARVED
WITH ACANTHUS LEAF-
WORK.
.
a consequence there was a return to the panelled type of door in which the different levels of the panel and the moulding of the framework broke up what would otherwise have been a wide, uninteresting expanse. Carving, too, was revived as a means of decoration, though of a quite different type from that of its last period of popularity in the late seventeenth century.
Fig. tot shows a press made entirely of solid mahogany (except for such parts as drawer sides and so on which are of oak), and it exemplifies well many of these points. The doors, for example, have grooved-in panels of the raised type ; that is, they have a wide chamfer all round at the front, this helping to break up the plainness and add interest.

Use of Veneer Discontinued
Then, again, the drawers stand forward from the front of the carcase and have a thumb moulding worked round, so making their shape well defined, and at the same time helping to make them dustproof. In the best class work the mouldings would probably have been carved—they were never cross-grained as in the walnut work for the same reason that crossbanding was discontinued, the grain was too plain to stand out.
FIG. 104. MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE WITH MARBLE TOP AND CABRIOLE
LEGS.
A bow 1730-
Although made in mahogany this table has many features belonging to the walnut
period, particularly in the shells and pendant husks carved on the knees of the
cabriole legs.
Presses of this kind became general in this first half of the eighteenth century. They were exceptionally deep and gave excellent accommodation. The upper portion was generally fitted with oak trays made to slide forwards, extension runners being fitted to the inside of the doors to give support when withdrawn. Sometimes the doors had what is known as the rule joint at the hingeing edge. It was a similar arrangement to that used in the tops of gate-leg tables of Jacobean times, the sides of the cupboard having a quarter-round shape or moulding at the front edge, and the door a corresponding hollow, so that the one worked in the other as the door was opened. It had its value from the decorative point of view, though the reason for its use was mainly a technical one, since it made the doors flush with the inner surfaces of the sides when opened, so enabling the trays to slide closely between them.
The chair is typical of the upholstered form inade at the time. Note that the winged sides and scrolled arms are similar to those of Queen Anne’s time (compare it with the walnut chair in Fig. 79, P. 101) One feature in which it differs is the carving on the knees and feet of the cabriole

4
FIG. 105. CARVED GILT SIDE TABLE WITH MARBLE TOP,
About 1735•
This table was probably by William Kent, an architect who designed furniture for his houses. It was of an elaborate kind, architectural in character, and a complete departure from the traditional kind being
generally made at the period.
legs. This takes the form of a lion’s head and paw, details used for the first time in the early Georgian period. Other new motifs were the eagle heads with claw feet, masks, and the cabochon detail which resembled the detail of a precious stone cut without facets. At the same time the claw and ball foot continued to be popular, as shown in the dining chair in Fig. 103. Note that here a new detail is the carving of the knee, which takes the form of acanthus leafwork scrolling from the ear pieces down to the centre.
Fig. 102 is of particular interest in that it shows the development from the full Queen Anne rounded back to the straight top rail in common use by the middle of the century. In the left hand example the upright has the typical inward sweep immediately above the seat, and at the top it has a fairly full round sweeping towards the centre. Note, too, that the splat is solid. In the next example the inward sweep is omitted in the uprights, and the curve at the top has become more acute. The splat, too, is pierced. In the third illustration the top rail is more or less flat and the upright has only the slightest curve.
In these early Georgian days there was no such thing as a sideboard. Instead a side table was used, this usually having a marble top, as in the example in Fig. 104. This, although made in mahogany and dating from about 173o, has typical I( walnut ” features, especially in the use of the carved shell and husks on the cabriole legs. We shall see later that the sideboard, as we now know it, was evolved from the side table, separate pedestals first being added to give better accommodation. Later these were joined up to make a single piece. The illustration on P. 4 shows the stages of evolution through which it passed.
An architect who began to make a name for himself in George I’s reign was William Kent, and as he designed a certain amount of furniture for his houses we may conveniently take note of his work here. Kent had travelled in Italy, and on his return was an enthusiastic follower of the Palladian style which had become fashionable in architecture. He was a man of considerable ability, but so far as his furniture was concerned he seemed to strike a foreign note in the scheme of things. It was of a ponderous, extravagant kind, rather the sort of thing one might expect to find in the entrance hall of a theatre than in an ordinary dwelling house. Elaborately scrolled legs, bold masses of carving, heavy classical mouldings, marble tops, and the free use of gilding all seem to suggest that the work would have been better carried out in marble rather than wood.
Fig. 105 shows a side table in the Kent style in which this magnificent treatment is exemplified. It is the work of an architect not familiar with the technique of woodwork. No practical cabinet maker would ever have attempted to design such a piece, and it in no way represents a stage in the evolution of the sideboard. It is just the work of an individualist and seems to fall outside the general scheme of things.

Antique English Walnut Period Marquetry, Bedroom Furniture and Tables

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Walnut Period
MARQUETRY
We have had occasion to refer to this form of decoration, and we may here conveniently explain what this was. We saw in Elizabethan and Jacobean work that inlay was used considerably as decoration. This consisted of recessing out a solid background to a depth of-in, or more and insert-
ing pieces of wood of a different kind from that of the background. The whole point about it was that it was cut in the solid and that the recesses had to be chopped out with chisel and gouge. With solid work there was no other alternative.
We saw also that a new method of treatment was introduced in the form of veneering, and the coming of this enabled an entirely new method of ” inlaying ” to be used. In this the inlaying was done in the veneer before being laid, and, although this at first may not seem to carry with it any special advantage, it did in reality make a tremendous difference, involving an. entirely new technique. The reason for this was that the veneer, being thin, could be cut out with a saw instead of having to be laboriously chopped away with the chisel. A comparison is that of fretwork. The reader knows what fine sweeping curves can be cut with the fretsaw, But imagine how limited the result would be if all the spaces had to be chopped away with the gouge !
This use of the saw, then, in itself made a tremendous difference in the designs that could be cut, but there was more in it than this. By fixing together two sheets of veneer of different kinds of wood and cutting through them at the same time both would have exactly the same design. Thus it was only necessary to separate the sheets and interchange the parts and a perfect fit was obtained.
It was obviously necessary to use an extremely fine saw blade—it was very like a fretsaw blade—and it had to be held so that it would cut a trifle out of right angles with the veneer, so that the one sheet would be a trifle larger than the other, thus ensuring a tight fit. To ensure this a special sawing bench, known as a ” donkey,” was made. The worker sat astride and rested the feet on a treadle connected with a vice above which gripped the veneer. The saw frame was horizontal and was worked with the right hand, whilst the veneer was moved about with the left. When the whole design had been cut it was assembled on a bench, the parts being interchanged as required. Any shading required was done by dipping the parts into hot sand. The whole was then glued to a sheet of paper and handed to the cabinet maker for gluing down,
It was first used about 1675, and the early efforts were in comparison crude, consisting for the most part of flowers, leaf and scroll work arranged in a conventional design. A few years of experience, however, made the workers extremely skilful, and they began to produce some extremely elaborate patterns, known usually as seaweed marquetry, in which the detail was very fine. Curiously enough, however, marquetry did not retain its popularity for very long, for in Queen Anne’s reign plain walnut was mostly used in which the beauty of the grain, combined with cross-banding, provided the decorative appearance.
TABLES
It is a remarkable thing that there do not appear to have been made any large dining tables in the walnut style during the reigns of either William and Mary or Queen Anne. Possibly it was that the cabinet makers found a serious difficulty in veneering such large tops owing to the liability of the groundwork to shrink and split. They never used walnut in the solid except for such parts as legs and turnings. However this may be, one can only draw the conclusion that the old Jacobean table in oak continued to be used, and a strangely inconsistent arrangement it must have seemed.
Small side tables, card tables, and so on, were made largely, and two examples are given in Fig. 93. That to the left belongs to the William and Mary period (note the inverted cup turned legs and flat stretchers), and the other is a later type made in the early years of the eighteenth century. Card tables were similar in appearance, the top being made double so that it would open out to form an approximately square shape. The two back legs were pivoted so that they could pull out and support the overhanging top. Cards had become an extremely popular form of amusement at the period.
LACQUERED FURNITURE
Mention has already been made of the increased trade with the East resulting in the importation of Oriental pottery. Other items imported were lacquered cabinets of Queen Anne Bedsteads
entirely Chinese workmanship. These were plain rectangular cupboards with the interior fitted up with small drawers and cupboards. To be of practical use in a Western room they needed mounting upon a stand, and it therefore became the custom to import the cabinets and to make special stands for them which were either gilt or silvered. Fig. 95 is such a cabinet and stand, and shows the elaborate carving with which the stands were invariably decorated. Later it became customary for the lacquered cabinets themselves to be imitated in this country—in fact lacquering became a popular craze for people of leisure to take up. A Treatise on japanning and varnishing was published by Stalker and Parker which purported to explain the whole art of lacquering, but no lacquering was ever produced here which could in the slightest degree compare with the true native oriental work.
The craze for lacquered work quickly spread to other forms of furniture, and clock cases, bedsteads, and cabinets of all kinds were made in beech and lacquered in various colours. Red and black were the chief shades. Sometimes existing cabinets which had been finely veneered with walnut were lacquered over to satisfy the fashionable craze.
THE BEDROOM
The wooden bedstead of Jacobean times was replaced by the material-covered type in the William and Mary period, though as early as James I’s time the fashion of covering over the woodwork entirely with tapestry, plush, and other materials had become popular—at any rate amongst the people of leisure. One of the rooms at Knole House, Seven-oaks, was refurnished specially in honour of a visit by James I, and the bedstead is of the covered type.
Fig. 96 shows a covered bedstead dating from about 1700. Note that the cornice is made up of a number of short pieces of moulding mitred together, some straight and others curved. The material is strained over these. The actual wood used was generally beech and oak, except the exposed feet which were of walnut.
Other pieces used in the bedroom would be the chest of drawers, usually a tallboy, with which we have already dealt, or a wardrobe or press, which in appearance was somewhat similar to the secretaire in Fig. 83, except that the upper carcase was fitted with two doors instead of the fall front.

Antique 17 th Century English Jacobian Period Chests, Chests of Drawers, Wardrobes, Bedroom Furniture and Jacobian Ornaments

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

THE CHEST
Although many new forms of furniture had been evolved from the chest, the latter was extraordinarily persistent in retaining its popularity more or less in its original form. It continued to be made in large numbers throughout the seventeenth century, and in provincial districts remained as a sort of standard household possession long after oak furniture had gone out of fashion in the towns. The probable explanation was that, for its size, it had maximum accommodation and was as simple a piece of work that a carpenter could undertake. It was not, in fact, until the chest of drawers, with its greater convenience, was invented that it began to decline in popularity.
Fig. 54 is a typical chest of the early years of the seventeenth century. It is well enough made in its way, though the detail is extremely crude when closely examined. It was probably the work of a country carpenter who could make a reasonable job of cutting, say, a mortise and tenon joint, but was rather out of his depth when it came to any carving.
One has to bear things like this in mind when arriving at an opinion on a piece of old furniture. Age may have given it a fine colour and centuries of polishing produced an inimitable surface, but, this apart, the mere fact that it was made in the seventeenth century does not make it beautiful. There were poor workmen then as now.
Chests with Drawers.—Returning to the chest, we now come to the last phase and its final disappearance—or rather conversion. We have seen how certain pieces such as the side table were evolved from it without affecting the chest itself, this still continuing in its old form, probably with varying detail, but virtually the same. Now, however, it was to lose its identity as a chest, although its use remained unaltered. It came about through the invention of the drawer. The latter was becoming increasingly popular in the seventeenth century, and it probably occurred to someone that the inconvenience of having to turn out the entire contents of a chest in order to reach something at the bottom could be avoided to a large extent if the drawer system were applied to it.
These things usually have their beginning in a small way, and the thin end of the wedge can be seen in the left hand chest in Fig. 53, which is virtually just an ordinary chest with two drawers fitted at the bottom. Its advantages must have become immediately apparent, for very shortly the whole of the space was given over to drawers as in the right hand chest in Fig. 53. Once this had happened, the old form of chest which had survived for centuries with practically no change of form became extinct, and it has never again been revived.
Whilst we still have the chest in Fig. 53 in mind, it is worth while noting the method of decoration employed on the drawer fronts. It consists of applied mouldings mitred round to form various patterns. It is the fact that they areapplied that is specially to be noted, because we saw in the Elizabethan period that they were invariably worked in the solid. This method of applying ornament is typical of the later Jacobean period, and it extends to such details as half-named was an innovation of the early years of the seventeenth century, but it hardly comes under the heading of domestic furniture, because it was the type of thing that would not be made for anyone except a person of the highest
quality. There is an example in the famous King’s bedroom at Knole. It was made specially for James I during a visit he paid to the mansion, and it is entirely on the lines of the upholstered chairs mentioned earlier in this chapter. Every portion of the woodwork is covered with rich material, and above the tester are four great plumes, one at each corner.
Such a bedstead was well enough in a palace, but it would not be suitable for use in humbler houses. It is worth noting at this stage, however, because the type became popular again towards the end of the century. The nobleman or rich merchant would use the four poster bedstead, an Elizabethan example of which was given on P. 40. This continued with few alterations except in detail for the greater part of the seventeenth century.
Well-to-do farmers and those of similar standing used the simpler panelled head and foot bedstead. This was practically identical with the modern wood bedstead, except of course that the side rails were of wood and that the mattress was supported by ropes which were threaded through holes bored through the rails. Rather more elaborate specimens had both head and foot made extra high, so to support a simple tester, as that in Fig. 55. This virtually is simply three pieces of panelling, with side rails added to support the mattress.
For the other furnishings of the bedroom there was the chest, which later in the period was fitted with one or more drawers, and eventually the complete chest of drawers. In addition, various forms of cupboards or presses made their appearance for the more convenient storing of clothes and linen. Fig. 56 shows an early piece, and was the origin to which the modern wardrobe can be traced.
JACOBEAN ORNAMENT
This does not differ a great deal from that of the Elizabethan period. It is in the main a rather free rendering of the Renaissance. Certain new features made their appearance—the lozenge panel for instance, which was of diamond shape and was usually ornamented with simple gouge cuts. (See the top panels of the bedstead in Fig. 55.) Such carved details as the guilloche, lunette, and arcaded panels (see P. 42) remained popular through Jacobean times.
Later pieces of the period, however, tended to become more artificial, in that decoration was applied rather than worked in the solid. Take, for instance, the group of panels in Fig. 51. In every case the mouldings are applied, and,

THE JACOBEAN BEDROOM
There were three kinds of bedsteads made in Jacobean times : the four poster, the panelled head and foot type, and that covered over with fabric and heavily draped. The last-although there undoubtedly is a certain decorative value in the arrangement, they tend to become somewhat meaningless since they bear no relationship to the construction. In Elizabethan work mouldings were worked at the edges of rails or were channelled along the centre, and have a definite purpose in taking off the harshness of a square edge or enriching a plain surface. In the Jacobean work they often appear to be laid on in any convenient way that suggested itself to the imagination of the craftsman.
The same thing applies to the other decorative details which were invariably applied.

FIG. 55. SIMPLE CANOPIED BEDSTEAD WITH PANELLED ENDS.
Mid. 17th century.
This is the sort of bedstead used in smaller manor houses or farm houses.
Note the holes in the rails and head and foot to take the roping which supported
the mattress.
turnings, diamonds, studs, and so on. A group of Jacobean panels with applied mouldings is given in Fig. 51.

FIG. 54. JACOBEAN CHEST WITH CARVED PANELS.
First half 17th century.
The development from the chest of the previous century can be seen by comparing
this with the examples on p. 17. In this particular example the whole work-
manship is particularly crude.

FIG. 56 PANELLED WARDROBE WITH CHANNELLED FRAMING.
17th century.
A typical arrangement of the panelling is shown in the doors. It is
similar to that in the court cupboards on pp. 38 and 61. Note the use of
the long horizontal panel in all three examples.

EARLY 19TH CENTURY REGENCY BRITAIN FURNITURE. SMALL CENTRE TABLE. MAHOGANY STOOL. LIBRARY TABLE

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

EARLY 19TH CENTURY REGENCY BRITAIN FURNITURE

THE REGENCY WAS a clearly defined
period in British history From 1811 to 1820, the Prince of Wales, who later became George IV, ruled instead of his father, who was suffering from porphyria – a form of madness. However, as a furniture style, Regency has come to embrace a wider time frame, from the 1790s to the third decade of the 19th century.
Reflecting the exuberant tastes of the Regent himself, the period begins with his commission of the Neoclassical architect Henry Holland for his London home, Carlton House, in the 1780s, and concludes with the exotic, Oriental confection that is John Nash’s
Brighton Pavilion, remodelled for the Prince of Wales between 1815 and 1823. George, the Prince Regent, came to dominate taste in the early 19th century. He and his circle drew on a diverse group of talented architects and artisans, often trained in France, many of whom had worked on Carlton House. These included the architect, Charles Heathcote Tatham, the decorators and cabinet-makers, Morel and Hughes, and the clock-maker, Benjamin Vulliamy.
FURNITURE STYLE
Regency furniture is often symmetrical with clean, rectilinear lines. As such, it was inspired by French Empire furniture and the simple late 18th-century furniture designs of Thomas Sheraton. Large surfaces were often veneered in highly figured rosewood and then decorated with gilt-brass mounts of ancient motifs, such as rosettes, paterae, laurels, and anthemia. The Liverpool cabinet-
maker George Bullock is best known for his use of patterned surfaces; he frequently balanced English timbers, especially oak, with a riot of border patterns featuring stylized flower-heads, lotus leaves, and dot motifs.
The strict Neoclassical taste found its most archaeological expression in the designs of Thomas Hope, which he published in 1807. Not only had he plundered ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome for decorative ideas, but he also attempted to recreate ancient furniture and interiors. Probably the most
typical furniture of this type is the rounded klismos chair – first known to have been produced in ancient Greece
– which has back stiles that rise from outswept sabre legs to support an almost semi-circular back.
During this period, a wide variety of side cabinets of diverse outlines came to dominate the wall space in drawing rooms, replacing the use of commodes. In the dining room, a similar role was performed by the popular sideboard and chiffonier.
ECLECTICISM
It would be a mistake, however, to see the Regency as simply a curvaceous and light Neoclassical style. It was characterized by endless variety, a freedom of forms, and an eclectic
ornamental vocabulary. George Smith, who published a pattern book the year after Hope, reinterpreted his cold, academic designs by applying Neoclassical motifs to French Empire models that also included Gothic-and Chinese-inspired furniture. Indeed, exotic forms and materials became the hallmark of Regency taste. Smith popularized Hope’s designs in his pattern book, introducing them to a wider public.
Smith inspired impressive-looking furniture, with boldly carved leopard’s masks or large lion’s-paw feet, which anticipated the slightly heavier furniture of the 1820s and 30s.

The front rail and highly scrolled ends are inlaid with trailing foliage and flowers, terminating in floral paterae.
The seat rail is inlaid with a trailing brass foliate motif.
The design of the chaise longue is influenced by the contemporary French form, the meridjenne - a type of sofa with scrolled ends, one higher than the other.
Brass inlay detail
CHAISE LONGUE
This elegant Regency chaise longue is made of rosewood and is profusely inlaid throughout with brass inlay in a foliate design. The frame has a sweeping back rail which is centred with a scrolled hand grip, and has highly decorative
scrolled end supports. The generously padded seat and arms are supported on a rectilinear front rail decorated with a foliate motif. The piece stands on outswept sabre legs which terminate in lion’s-paw feet on casters.
Sabre legs terminate in lion’s paw feet and casters.
SMALL CENTRE TABLE
The surface of this tilt-top table has a painted scene within a laburnum veneer border. It is supported on a rosewood-veneered stem, on a base with scrolled, ribbed feet on brass casters. Early 19th century
MAHOGANY STOOL
This Regency mahogany stool has a gently shaped rectangular seat with scrolled ends and light carving on the surface. It is supported on an X-frame base with simple, carved decoration and stretchers. c.1810.
This mahogany writing table has a three-quarter brass gallery and a central, pull-out insert. There are six drawers behind a lift-up flap, two drawers on either side, and two in the frieze, supported on slender, turned legs. c.1800.
LIBRARY TABLE
The rectangular top of this rosewood library table is inlaid with a Greek-key border in satinwood and ebony. The frieze has a central pierced ormolu palmette and two drawers. The bowed legs are headed by gilt lion’s heads and
terminate in lion’s-paw feet, joined by a shaped stretcher. c.1810.

MID 19TH CENTURY GARDEN FURNITURE. CAST-IRON GARDEN SEAT. CAST-IRON GARDEN CHAIRS AND TABLE.

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

MID 19TH CENTURY GARDEN FURNITURE
BOTANY WAS A HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE in the 19th
century, appealing to the rational, genteel, pious, and relentlessly self-improving Victorian mindset. Its popularity inspired an unprecedented interest in gardening that permeated the social strata. Jane Loudon’s 1840 publication Instructions in Gardening for Ladies advocated the pastime as one eminently suited to the disposition of the fairer sex, and was a runaway success. The terrarium, invented in 1827 by Dr Nathaniel Ward, allowed people to grow exotic plants in a cold climate — even on a window sill —and protected delicate specimens from harsh urban environments. The abolition of glass tax in 1845 made conservatories more affordable, and they became fashionable settings in which to entertain one’s guests.
Gardens of the period were generally bright and bold, with vast beds planted with swathes of colourful plants very much in vogue. Garden ornaments took many forms, but were rarely subtle. The era that witnessed the introduction of the garden gnome to Britain also saw householders hang brightly coloured
glass globes, called gazing balls, as decorative additions to their gardens. Urns, statues, birdbaths, obelisks, and even life-sized reproductions of animals, all in metal or stone, populated the gardens of the wealthy. The same ostentatiousness was at work in garden furniture design of the period. Where garden chairs and tables had been relatively restrained early in the century, they became increasingly elaborate as the 19th century progressed. Simple, wrought-iron forms gave way to industrial cast iron that mimicked the triumverate of styles — Greek, Gothic, and Rococo —that dominated interiors.
IRON CHAIRS FROM IRONBRIDGE Cast iron was far cheaper than wrought iron or bronze and was ideally suited to use in the garden, owing to its strength and resistance to rust. A number of iron foundries across Europe had been engaged in the production of garden furniture for some time when the Darby family owners of a large iron works at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, turned their attention to the manufacture of iron products. Taking their lead from companies such as Val d’Osne in France, they built the Coalbrookdale
TRAINED TREE
Heinrich Weber ’s engraving shows
a more unusual approach to garden
furniture. Instead of buying a canvas
sunshade for your garden table and
chairs, it suggests creating a natural,
yet rather formal, sunshade by
training the branches of a tree over
an umbrella-shaped trellis. The table
and chair are cast-iron. c 1850.
Company into the pre-eminent manufacturer of
garden furniture of the mid 19th century. Its
most popular designs are still in production
today The process was an industrial one:
iron was cast from moulds in a variety of different shapes, and then pieced together to produce furniture of various styles. At
the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, the company won a Council Medal, and Queen Victoria paid £300 for a statue of Andromeda made by them. The centrepiece of Coalbrookdale’s 1851 exhibit was its new range of Nasturtium chairs and benches, which epitomized garden furniture design of the period. The ironwork was elaborately pierced with floral designs and scrolling to give a Rococo look, yet the actual
construction of the furniture was simple and suited to mass production.
RUSTIC FURNITURE
A vernacular tradition of handcrafted garden
furniture persisted in tandem with the industrial cast-iron aesthetic. Local craftsmen fashioned and sold basic wooden benches and chairs, as well as more elaborate novelty forms. Unfortunately, few examples now survive due to wood’s tendency to rot, especially when exposed to the elements. In the United States, a celebrated form of rustic timber furniture started to gain popularity in the later part of the 19th century. Named after the mountain range – now a national park – in upstate New York from which it originates, Adirondack furniture used native timbers, such as oak, cherry, butternut, birch, and walnut, and often included the bark. It echoed the local Great Camp
style of architecture in that it assimilated the
natural contours of the branches and roots
from which it was fashioned.
CAST-IRON GARDEN CHAIRS AND TABLE
Each of these chairs has a pierced scroll back and circular pierced seat on four scrolling legs. The table has a solid top and stands on three scrolling legs. There is a lady’s mash at the top of each
table leg. 1880
CAST-IRON GARDEN SEAT The back of this green-painted, cast-iron garden seat for two features a lily-of-the-valley design. The seat is a scrolling cast, and there is leaf decoration on the legs. It may have been made by the American A.J. Mott foundry. Late 19th century.
SWAN GARDEN BENCH This garden bench with its simple board seat and back is transformed by the cast-iron ends formed in the shape of swans. There tire traces of old white and orange paint and repainting in places.
KEW GARDENS
The first gardens at Kew Park were laid out by the Capel family during the late 17th century In 1772, George III inherited the Gardens from his mother and, by the end of the 18th century,
many of the monuments and buildings familiar to generations of visitors were in place. The development of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew coincided with a revival of interest in Classicism, itself a consequence of the vogue among the landed classes to go on the Grand Tour. Expeditions by botanists throughout Britain’s expanding Empire unearthed myriad newly discovered plants, which were brought back and exhibited at the Gardens under the “kind superintendence” of Sir Joseph Banks, whom George III had established there in 1773. Banks, who became President of the Royal Society in 1778, established the Gardens as the
British centre for economic botany His death in 1820 coincided with George Ill’s, and Kew
Gardens lost its direction for 20 years.
Between 1841 and 1885,
father and son William and Joseph Hooker held consecutive directorships of the Gardens and contrived a renaissance in its fortunes. Among the developments they oversaw were the construction of the iconic Palm House and the Temperate House – the largest surviving mid 19th-century
glass structure in the world. William Nesfield, a watercolourist turned landscaper, designed a new arboretum for the Gardens as well as the cedar-lined Broad Walk and the parterres around the Palm House. The Victorian obsession with botany bequeathed the world an educational and recreational landmark – Kew Gardens became a World Heritage Site in 2003.
The Palm House This was built between 1844 and 1848 by Richard Turner, with Decimus Burton as architectural consultant. Light but strong wrought-iron “ship’s beams” were used to create a vast 15.2m (50ft) open, pillarless span.