Posts Tagged ‘Queen Anne’
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
Tags: &, 17, 1700, 17th, 1800, 1800's, 19, 1920, 1930, 1930's, 1940's, 19th, age, Angular, animal, Art, Art Nouveau, auction room, Austria, ball, baluster, barley, base, Bauhaus, bennington, Berlin, between, bible, birdseye, blue, border, Borders, boulle, bracket feet, bristol, burr, butterfl, Caddies, caddy, Candelabra, candelabrum, Candlesticks, cantagalli, carving, center, century, CHAMBERSTICKS, checkoslovakian, chess, chinoiserie, circle, classic, claw feet, clawfoot, COLLECTING, collectors, copeland, copper, Corinthian, corner, cover, cream jug, creamware, dating, Decorative, design, dessert, diameter, diamond, dictionary, difference, dinner, door, double, drawing, Dresden, drop, duke, duncan, ebony, Elizabethan, elkington, en, end, England, epergne, escritoire, examples, face, feet, festoons, fife, finial, fluted, foliate, foot, four feet, front, gadroon, game, gate, george iii, glaze, glazed, green, head, heavy, hennell, henry chawner, history, house, hungarian, inlay, irish, iron, Italy, ivory grips, john, john wisdom, kandler, king, lacquer, leaf, leaves, leg, library, lid, lion, little, London, long, Louis, lozenge, lusterware, machine, made, MAGGIOLINI, majorelle, maker, meat dishes, metal, middle, milk jug, minton, monk, Moorish, mosaic, myott, Napoleon, new, oblong, octagon, octagonal, of, oriental, origin, out, oval, paw, pearl, period, philippe, pictures, pocket, pot, price, pull, Queen Anne, rative, rectangular, Restoration, rim, ring, rocking, roman, room, rose, rosettes, rosewood, Royal, sauceboat, scroll, semi, serpentine, sevres, Sheffield, shell, shell type, SIDE, son", spiral, square pedestal, stamped, stand, style, SWEDISH, TAPERSTICKS, tea, teapot, teapots, toilet, top, types, urns, used, vegetable dish, veneer, venetian, VICTORIAN, victorian wine, waiter, wall, water jug, white, widdicomb, william fountain, with, wrought
Posted in Auctions and Prices | No Comments »
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Globes
Pair of early nineteenth-century mahogany library globes by Newton, published in 1838 and 1836. The tripod frames with out-scrolled legs ending in brass castors, 3 ft 8 in high 780 0
Large pair of terrestrial and celestial globes by Newton; published 25 March 1875. Supported in mahogany frames on triple curving legs 205 0
Pair of terrestrial and celestial globes in turned stands by James
Wyld, Charing Cross East; published 1847 185 0
Knife Boxes
A pair of mahogany urn-shaped knife boxes, stamped W. Johnston, with domed lids and bodies inlaid with flowers and stripes, 2 ft 5 in high 115 0
Sheraton inlaid mahogany serpentine-fronted knife box in
original condition 32 0
Mirrors—Mantel
Empire-style giltwood overmantel with triple mirrored panels
and decorated with classical figures 105 0
Rectangular mantel mirror in a giltwood frame carved with
acanthus and shell motifs, 31 in by 25 in 60 0
Mirrors—Toilet or Dressing
Sheraton serpentine-fronted box-frame toilet mirror fitted with
two drawers, 17 in wide 36 0
Sheraton box-frame shield-shape toilet mirror with two drawers,
18 in wide 30 0
Mahogany box-frame toilet mirror with three drawers, 15 in
wide 15 0
Edwardian mahogany box-frame toilet mirror with three
drawers to base, 22 in wide 9 0
Mirrors—Wall
Pair of Chinese-Chippendale giltwood girandoles of rococo outline mounted with phoenix-birds and clusters of flowers from which issue two scrolled candle branches. The base enriched with acorns and oak leaves, 38
in high 650 0
Mid-Georgian wall glass in a giltwood frame carved with scrolls
and foliage and pierced, 44 in high 200 0
Chippendale mahogany mirror with gilt gesso beading
George IV convex mirror in a gilt frame enriched with spherical ornament with two scrolled candle sconces. Crested with a gilt eagle with outspread wings 76 0
Regency giltwood convex mirror with ball encrusted moulded
frame and ebonised slip, 1 ft 11 in diameter 15 0
Settees, Couches and Chaise Longues
Small carved mahogany sofa, the arched back carved with
rococo motifs. Curved arms, carved seat rail and cabriole legs 135 0
some auction room prices ‘. 1968-69
Decorated satinwood cane-panelled settee with loose seat
cushion, 4 ft 4 in George III painted settee with flat rectangular back and arms,
on turned legs. The arms, seat rails and legs are painted
with husks and flowers on a cream ground, 6 ft wide Early George III mahogany settee with stuffed back and arms.
The seat rail and legs are carved with blind fret, 5 ft 8 in
wide, (some restoration) Victorian rosewood frame serpentine-fronted chaise longue on
short cabriole legs
Settles
Eighteenth-century oak settle, 5 ft 5 in wide Seventeenth-century panelled oak settle with box seat, 4 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century carved and panelled tall-back hall settle, 5 ft 7 in wide
Sideboards
Small nineteenth-century sideboard inlaid with ebony lines. Raised back, the centre drawer flanked by a cupboard and deep drawer. Supported on six turned and tapering legs, 4 ft 8 in wide
Hepplewhite-style mahogany serpentine sideboard of rich mellow colour, cross-banded in kingwood and fitted with a napery drawer and cellaret cupboards with octagonal gilt metal handles and supported on chamfered
legs, 7 ft 2 in wide
Georgian mahogany half-moon sideboard with two cupboards to the sides and two drawers with lion ring handles in the centre. Four tapering legs, 4 ft wide
Large mahogany Sheraton-style sideboard fitted with two long drawers and flanked by two deep drawers, supported on tapering legs
Regency Empire mahogany sideboard of architectural form, with a reverse breakfront with two shallow drawers to the centre flanked by deep cupboards. Supported by two curved and four simulated bamboo legs
terminating in brass paw feet. The whole mounted with ormolu and brass griffins, lions’ masks and sphinx and with Adams-style garlands and patera, 7 ft 6 in long
Late Georgian mahogany sideboard with shaped front, the top back rail fitted with three tambour slides. Two cupboards and a centre drawer to the base over a waved apron. Supported on six slender tapering legs, 5 ft
7 in wide
Early nineteenth-century mahogany bow-front sideboard on spiral-turned legs, 6 ft 1 in wide
Tables—Break fast
Regency mahogany breakfast table with brass stringing on the banded top and a turned pillar ending in a reeded quadruped, 5 ft by 3 ft 5 in
Georgian mahogany oval breakfast table with reeded edge and
Tables—Card
Chippendale mahogany card table with shaped folding top on boldly carved cabriole legs ending in claw and ball feet, 2 ft 7 in wide 370 0
Late George II mahogany card table with border of carved flowerheads and legs and frieze carved with blind fret, 3 ft wide 250 0
Regency card table in figured rosewood inlaid with brass flowers and leaves, the D-top on a ringed stem and quadruple brass capped legs, 3 ft wide 190 0
Sheraton mahogany card table inlaid with satinwood lines and
on tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 180 0
George II walnut card table with rectangular top on turned legs
with mantled knees and club feet, 3 ft wide 95 0
Regency mahogany card table with green baize interior on curving quadruple support, ending in brass claw feet. The top is cross-banded 65 0
Victorian mahogany card table with double Sap top supported
on four tapering shafts, terminating in curved legs 44 0
Tables—Centre
Regency painted centre tabic, the circular top simulating green marble, the border with brass mouldings hinged to a carved turned central support on a curved triangular base with lion’s paw feet, 4 ft diameter 120 0
Edwards and Roberts eboniscd centre table with ormolu beading on cluster column and quadruple base, 5 ft 6 in wide 38 0
Red Buhl shaped centre table with heavy ormolu mounts, two
drawers and on cabriole legs. (Poor condition) 11 0
Tables—Dining
Charles I oak dining table with a triple-plank top and the frieze carved with leaves and interlaced arcading, on column legs, 6 ft 5 in long by 2 ft 7 in wide 360 0
Large late George III mahogany dining table, the top richly carved with acanthus, ribbon motifs, satyr masks and a coat of arms. Supported on ten tapering spiral-twist legs with five loose leaves, 12 ft 4 in long 185 0
Georgian mahogany two pillar dining table with triple curving
legs ending in brass-capped feet 122 0
Georgian mahogany oval drop-leaf dining table on turned legs
and pad feet 75 0
Eighteenth-century mahogany oval drop-leaf cottage dining table
on taper legs with pad feet, 3 ft 6 in wide 44 0
Mahogany gadrooned oval dining table with cabriole legs and
claw and ball feet 40 0
Georgian mahogany drum library table with leather top and four real and four dummy drawers. On triple curving legs with brass-capped feet, 3 ft 3 in diameter 680 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
George III mahogany library table fitted with seven drawers and dummy drawers with gilt metal lion ring handles, the top with gilt tooled green leather and the whole raised on a curved quadruple support with
brass-capped feet
Tables—Games and Sewing
Eighteenth-century mahogany, shaped folding top, games table on nutcracker frame with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 34 in wide
William IV games table with sliding and reversible top inlaid as a chess board opening to reveal a backgammon board with two drawers to the side. Central pillar supported on quadruple curving feet
Nineteenth-century mahogany sewing table with rising top and drawers below. The slender tapering legs ending in brass-capped feet
Tables—Gate-leg
George I elmwood gate-leg table, the oval top with flaps on
cabriole legs carved with scrolls and leaves and ending in
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 9 in wide Seventeenth-century oak oval gate-leg dining table with double
flaps supported on bobbin turned legs with plain cross
stretchers, 4 ft 9 in wide Late George II mahogany gate-leg table, the oval top with two
flaps, on unusual legs fluted and ending in paw feet, 3 ft 9 in
wide
Oak oval gate-leg table on turned underframe with drawer, 4 ft wide
Tables—Occasional
Late George II mahogany piecrust table with bird-cage support on fluted stem with carved legs and claw and ball feet, 2 ft 2 in diameter
Large mahogany piecrust tripod table with baluster stem and
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 5 in diameter Mahogany tripod table, the circular top with raised rim, on
cabriole feet, 1 ft 10 in diameter
Tables—Pembroke
Late Georgian mahogany oval Pembroke table with drawer, on
square tapering legs, 2 ft 7 in wide by 3 ft 6 in long Late Georgian mahogany Pembroke table painted with a floral
border and on turned and fluted legs Georgian mahogany Pembroke table with folding flaps and
single drawer, inlaid with satinwood lines and fan motifs, on
tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide
Tables—Refectory
Seventeenth-century oak refectory table of slender plain form, the base having square ends united by a single stretcher, 7 ft 3 in long
Oak refectory table on bulbous end supports with central
stretcher, 7 ft 7 in by 3 ft wide 130 0
An exceptionally long oak refectory table with triple curving
supports, 18 ft 6 in long, 3 ft 3 in wide 90 0
Tables—Side
Queen Anne banded walnut side table with two deep and two
shallow drawers on square legs, 3 ft 3 in wide 170 0
Chinese-Chippendale mahogany side table, the frieze carved with
blind fret. Moulded legs, 3 ft wide 88 0
Oak side table with drawer, on turned legs, 3 ft wide 64 0
Walnutwood side table with cabriole legs carved with acanthus
leaves 31 0
Tables—Sofa
George III satinwood sofa table cross-banded with acacia, fitted with two drawers and false drawers opposite on trestle supports with splayed curved feet and brass castors, 2 ft 10 in wide 750 0
Regency banded mahogany sofa table with tulipwood stringing with two drawers on end supports and central stretcher with brass claw feet, 5 ft 10 in extended 380 0
Late George III mahogany sofa table with two drawers in frieze and raised on flat trestle supports with out-curved legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 270 0
George III mahogany sofa table banded in rosewood and with two drawers. It has trestle supports with tripod splayed legs and brass feet, 3 ft wide 250 0
Tables—Sutherland
Mahogany Sutherland table on turned underframe, 2 ft 9 in
wide 42 0
Victorian walnut-veneered Sutherland table on turned supports,
2 ft 6 in wide 36 0
Tables—Tea
Regency mahogany tea table with folding top on a turned pillar and four curved legs, the whole inlaid with brass stringing, 3 ft wide 120 0
Late George II mahogany tea table, the top with a border of flowerheads and ribbon and the frieze and chamfered legs carved with Chinese blind fret, 3 ft wide 60 0
George III mahogany tea table with folding top, a drawer in
the frieze and square tapering legs, 3 ft 8 in wide 38 0
Tables—Wine
Hepplewhite mahogany wine table, the inlaid octagonal top
supported on triple concave curving legs 105 0
Victorian mahogany wine table on pillar and tripod base, 21 in
diameter 10 0
Tables—Writing
George III mahogany pedestal writing table, the gilt tooled leather top with three drawers at each side of the frieze and
the pedestals with cupboards and drawers at either end, 4 ft wide
Early eighteenth-century banded fruitwood writing table, fitted
with three drawers, a shaped apron and on cabriole legs with
pad feet, 2 ft 4 in wide Victorian lady’s mahogany writing table with two short drawers
on lyre end supports, 3 ft wide Carved mahogany writing table with fitted drawer, the top lined
with leather, on cabriole legs, 2 ft 5 in wide
Tallboys and Lowboys
George II walnut tallboy, the top with reeded and canted corners and three small and three long drawers. The base having three long drawers and bracket feet
Queen Anne small walnut tallboy of mellow colour, the upper chest fitted with two small and three long drawers over a brushing slide, and three long graduated drawers
William and Mary lowboy inlaid with scrolls and motifs. The top fitted with two small and two long drawers and two long drawers to the base, 4 ft 3 in high
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice and two small and three long drawers to the top and tliree long drawers to the base which is supported on bracket feet
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice, the top fitted with two small and three long drawers, the base with three long drawers and supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 1 in high
Waiters
Mid-Georgian mahogany dumb waiter with turned and carved columns supporting three trays. The whole on cabriole tripod feet, 4 ft high
George III mahogany dumb waiter with two revolving tiers and baluster centre on three curved and moulded legs and castor feet applied with roundels, 3 ft 2 in high
George II mahogany dumb waiter with three graduated revolving tiers and spiral fluting on turned central support. Plain cabriole legs, 3 ft 6 in high
Wardrobes
Mahogany breakfront wardrobe fitted with sliding trays, four
drawers and panelled cupboards Small Georgian mahogany wardrobe enclosed by two panelled
doors with three drawers in the base, 3 ft 9 in wide George III mahogany gents wardrobe with pierced swan-neck
cresting, a pair of doors banded in satinwood and two short
and two long drawers below, 7 ft high by 4 ft 4 in wide Regency mahogany wardrobe the upper part with sliding trays
with four drawers under on splay feet, 3 ft 11 in wide
Washstands
Late George III mahogany washstand, the top hinged and opening to form a back, the front with a pair of cupboard doors above one small drawer, on square splayed legs, 2 ft wide
Edwardian three-tier corner washstand with basin 18 0 George III mahogany corner washstand, the slender legs joined
by a stretcher with a drawer, 2 ft wide 14 0
Wine Coolers
Georgian inlaid mahogany sarcophagus wine cooler with lion
mask and ring handle on paw feet 65 0
Georgian mahogany octagonal wine cooler with lifting top and
short square moulded legs, 18 in wide 55 0
Tags: &, &, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, acorns, air, american, Ancient, anne, Art, asian, auction room, austrian, backgammon, backgammon 19th, barker, barley, Baroque, bedroom, bedside, BENTWOOD, BIEDERMEIER, black, board, Bohemian, box frame, bracket, brass, brass castors, breakfast, british, bronze, brothers, campaign, candle sconces, card, carved, century, ceramic, chaise longues, chamber, chamfered, china, chinese, chippendale, circular, Classical, classical figures, claw, co, coffee, console, Contemporary, convex mirror, corner, country, CURVED, czechoslovakia, danish, dark, davenport, deco, delftware, derby, des, dining, display, draw, drawer, dressing, drop, dropleaf, drum, duncan, dutch, early, eighteenth century, Empire, empire style, English, engraving, european, fake, fine, flemish, floral, fluted legs, folding, foot, FRENCH, Gateleg, george iii, GEORGIAN, german, gilded, gilt frame, giltwood frame, Goldscheider, Gothic, head, hepplewhite, imperial, in, inlaid, JACOBEAN, jacobian, james wyld, japanese, jugendstil, kakiemon, karpen, kidney, leaf, leather, leg, leopold, lion, Louis, macassar, made, mahog, mahogany, mahogany frames, malachite, mantel mirror, mantle, maple, marble, Meissen, ming, Mirrors, modern, myott, narrow, Neoclassical, nouveau, oak, occasional, octagonal, oval, painted, panel, pedestal, Pembroke, phoenix birds, phyfe, Portuguese, pot, quadruple, queen, Queen Anne, rectangular, Refectory, REGENCY, Renaissance, reproduction, revival, revolving, rockingham, Rococo, round, russian, Scandinavian, scottish, serving, seventeenth century, sewing, shaped, shield shape, SIDE, Silver, small, son", SPANISH, square, square legs, staffordshire, stickley, stretcher, stretchers, sutherland, TABLES, tambour, telescopic, the, thonet, tier, timber, top, trestle, tripod, tudor, twist, two, velvet, veneer, VICTORIAN, Vienna, vintage, walnut, william iv, wood, wooden, WRITING, xiv, xv
Posted in Auctions and Prices | No Comments »
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES
FURNITURE
Bookcases, Bureau-Bookcases and Bookshelves
Sheraton mahogany bureau-bookcase, swan-neck pediment, 3 ft
3 in wide 1,650 0
George II walnut bureau-bookcase 650 0
Georgian mahogany breakfront bookcase, 7 ft 10 in wide,
7 ft 8 in high 450 0
Regency rosewood cylindrical swivel bookcase with shallow
pierced gilt metal gallery, 25 in diameter, 38 in high 284 0
Large Regency mahogany bookcase with dentil cornice, the upper part enclosed by four glazed astragal doors; the cupboards in the base enclosed by four doors with indented panels 160 0
Edwardian mahogany bureau-bookcase inlaid with ribbon, shell and urn motifs in satinwood. The top with swan-neck pediment with double-glazed astragal doors. The fall flap opening to reveal drawers and recesses.
Four long drawers below on bracket feet, 7 ft 5 in high 132 0
Georgian mahogany secretaire-bookcase, fitted adjustable shelving enclosed by glazed barred doors and cupboard below drawer, 2 ft 6 in wide 120 0
Georgian figured mahogany inlaid secretaire-bookcase, the upper part fitted with adjustable shelving, enclosed by glazed barred doors and fitted with two short drawers enclosed by panelled doors below, 4 ft wide 100
Small oak bureau-bookcase, the top with glazed astragal doors, the base fitted with a single drawer and double panelled doors, 5 ft 7 in high 95 0
A nineteenth-century mahogany bureau-bookcase with satin-wood lines. Top having glazed doors. Fall flap to base, which has four long drawers and is supported on bracket feet 56 0
Bureaux and Writing Cabinets
Early nineteenth-century marquetry inlaid cylinder-front bureau with pierced ormolu gallery, mounts and beading, having interior fittings, writing slide and three drawers, on taper legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 475 0
George III mahogany secretaire cabinet, the upper lancet panelled glazed doors above secretaire and panelled cupboard doors, 8 ft 4 in high, 4 ft 2 in wide 250 0
George II walnut bureau inlaid with boxwood lines. Interior having central well, drawers and recesses. Two small and two long drawers in base, on bracket feet 210 0
Eighteenth-century fruitwood bureau with three long graduated
drawers below the fall, on bracket feet, 3 ft wide 140 0
Georgian mahogany secretaire cabinet, the top drawer opening to reveal eight drawers and recesses inlaid with shell motif and a green baize writing panel. Three long graduated drawers to the base. The upper part
enclosed by panelled doors 95 0
Georgian mahogany fall-front bureau having four drawers
under and on bracket feet, 3 ft 2 in high 70 0
Edwardian mahogany bureau-cabinet with pierced swan-neck pediment over glazed doors, sloping fall front over four drawers, bracket feet 66 0
George II oak bureau with fall flap and small drawers, two small and two long drawers below and supported on bracket feet, 2 ft 10 in high 60 0
Victorian mahogany bureau with sloping fall front over four
long graduated drawers, on bracket feet 58 0
Cabinets
Georgian mahogany bookcase cabinet with arched pediment surmounting astragal double doors. The base with double doors supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 6 in high 470 0
French display cabinet of Louis XVI design, mounted with ormolu female caryatids, the base with panels in the style of Vernis Martin, 3 ft 9 in wide 410 0
Regency mahogany display cabinet, the upper part enclosed by brass grilled and latticed doors, panelled cupboards to the base and supported on bold paw feet 290 0
Victorian walnut display cabinet in the Louis XVI manner, mounted with ormolu and inset with Sevres porcelain panels, two serpentine glass doors to the side and a door to the centre, 5 ft 1 in wide 126 0
Mahogany display cabinet of Chippendale-style with two glazed astragal doors below a swan-neck pediment and supported on cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 5 ft 3 in wide 80 0
Canterburys
George III mahogany Canterbury with drawer in frieze on
tapering legs, 1 ft 7 in wide 130 0
George III mahogany Canterbury with turned legs 115 0
Georgian mahogany four-section music Canterbury with drawer
in base 85 0
George III mahogany Canterbury with slatted sides and ringed
legs, 1 ft 4 in wide 60 0
Chairs—Open Arm and Elbow
George II mahogany open arm chair in the French manner. Rectangular back and serpentine fronted seat. Arm supports and cabriole legs carved with rococo foliage and with scroll feet 150 0
George III mahogany open arm chair forming library steps,
the arm supports and curved stretchers with rope twist 150 0
Two early stick-back Windsor elbow chairs
Edwardian inlaid rosewood open arm chair with pierced splats
Chair—Dining Sets
Ten Sheraton-period mahogany dining chairs with cross rail backs and satinwood crestings on turned and reeded legs. Two carvers
Eleven Regency rosewood dining chairs with carved and reeded back rails, caned seats and on reeded sabre legs
Set of eight Regency mahogany dining chairs with padded backs, sabre legs. All are strung with brass, with brass carrying handles on the cresting rails
Set of two carving and six single Hepplewhite mahogany chairs with shield backs and pierced vase splats carved with wheat ears, on tapering legs
Set of six single and one carving Hepplewhite mahogany chairs with shield backs and pierced vase splats, supported on tapering legs
A composite set of eight eighteenth-century Dutch walnut dining chairs, inlaid with marquetry depicting floral bouquets, urns, scrolls and birds. Comprising one carving and seven single chairs
Set of six Sheraton inlaid mahogany single chairs with triple splat backs and stuff-over seats, on tapering legs
Set of nine mahogany dining chairs, one carver, in the Hepplewhite style with triple vase splats and drop-in seats
Set of two carving and six single Chippendale style mahogany ladder-back dining chairs with pierced serpentine splats and moulded legs
Set of six Regency mahogany reeded frame single chairs on sabre legs
Set of six William IV single dining chairs with leather seats and sabre legs
Set of two carving and four single Chippendale style mahogany chairs with carved and pierced splats and loose stuffed leather seats, supported on cabriole legs and claw and ball feet
Set of six Victorian walnut single chairs on slender curving legs
Set of six small Victorian walnutwood single chairs with oval backs and pierced scroll splats, on curved legs
Set of four Georgian reeded mahogany wooden seat hall chairs, crested
Set of six elm rush seat chairs with spindle backs Set of six Victorian single chairs with slender curving legs and damask seats
Set of four Edwardian mahogany shield-back single chairs inlaid
with satinwood lines and a fan Set of six Victorian mahogany balloon-back dining chairs on
turned legs
Chairs—Dining Single
Pair of George III mahogany dining chairs with moulded and rounded arched backs and pierced splats carved with foliage
and husk pendants. Upholstered curved seats on square legs
with block toes 50 0
Sheraton mahogany chair with stuff-over seat 17 0
Three early Victorian yew wood standard chairs 17 0
Pair of Victorian rosewood chairs on turned carved legs 5 0
Regency mahogany standard chair on reeded sabre legs 5 0
Chairs—Easy
George III mahogany wing armchair with an arched back,
shaped sides and chamfered legs 140 0
Early Victorian mahogany frame wing easy chair 50 0
Papier m&chi nursing chair with cane scat and inlaid with
mother-of-pearl 30 0
Victorian button-back nursing chair 29 0
Chests of Drawers and Commodes
Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest with reeded and canted corners and with four graduated drawers, on wide bracket feet, 3 ft wide 980 0
Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest, the canted corners pendant with clusters of fruit and flowers in bold relief, 3 ft 3 in wide, 2 ft 8 in high 620 0
Georgian walnut bachelor’s chest with folding top and four long drawers having brass handles and lockplates; supported on bracket feet, 29 in wide, 13 in deep, 32 in high 165 0
Eighteenth-century walnut chest of three short and three long drawers with tulip wood stringing on stand fitted with two short and one long drawer with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 3 ft wide 105 0
Small Georgian mahogany commode with fluted and canted
corners and fitted with two small and three long drawers 66 0
George III mahogany chest of two short and three long drawers,
3 ft 2 in wide 28 0
Chiffoniers
Regency mahogany chiffonier with three stepped shelves above with gilt metal sides pierced in the Chinese style, the fronts with rope twist mouldings. The lower section enclosed by two doors panelled with radiating
pink silk, 3 ft 10 in wide 150 0
Regency rosewood chiffonier, the single shelf at the top with acanthus supports. The single drawer to the front containing writing panel and fitted compartments. The whole with double brass rail and flanked by scrolled
acanthus supports 110 0
Coffers and Chests
Early Charles II oak chest of four panelled drawers with
panelled sides and bun feet, 3 ft 1 in wide 65 0
Late seventeenth-century carved oak coffer with a domed lid. The front carved with four arches and surrounded by stylised carving of leaves, strapwork and birds’ heads, 3 ft high, 5 ft 3 in wide 60 0
Early seventeenth-century carved oak dower chest, 3 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century oak coffer with lifting top, the front panelled and carved in low relief with strapwork and foliage and the initials ‘HP,’ 4 ft 2 in wide
Cu pboards—Corner
Hepplewhite free-standing, serpentine-fronted mahogany corner cupboaid. Double glazed doors at the top enclose three display shelves. Base on square feet with double doors
Mahogany bow-fronted corner cupboard with glazed door enclosing shelves
Georgian standing corner cupboard with four panel doors enclosing shelves
George I blue japanned hanging corner cupboard with small open shelves above a pair of bowed doors. Decorated with chinoiseries, 3 ft 9 in high by 1 ft 11 in wide
Lacquer bow-fronted corner cupboard decorated in gilt with Chinese figures and buildings on a scarlet ground. The whole on cabriole-legged stand {not matching), 1 ft 10 in wide
Bow-fronted hanging corner cupboard with the door painted with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, 1 ft 11 in wide
Black lacquer bow-fronted corner cupboard with doors decorated with gilt Chinese landscapes, 1 ft 10 in wide
Davenports and Desks
Eighteenth-century partner’s desk in sabicu with tooled green leather top and fitted with eighteen drawers to the kneehole frieze, with rococo gilt metal handles; circa 1780
Queen Anne walnut kneehole desk crossbanded with fruitwood, with one long drawer and two tiers of three small drawers, 2 ft 5 in wide
George III mahogany tambour desk, the shutter enclosing fitted interior with leather-lined slope, pigeon-holes and drawers with two drawers below on square tapering legs with brass castors, 3 ft 1 in wide
Mahogany pedestal desk with leather-lined top and nine drawers around kneehole, 4 ft 8 in wide
Georgian mahogany Davenport with drawers and slide and with leather-lined fall and brass gallery, 1 ft 8 in
Victorian figured walnut Davenport with carved front supports
Dressers
Eighteenth-century oak dresser with three small drawers with brass handles and lockplates and cabriole legs ending in pad feet, 6 ft 2 in wide
Eighteenth-century oak dresser with three small drawers with brass handles over a waved apron, with cabriole legs on pad feet, 6 ft 2 in wide
Stuart-design oak dresser, the cupboards and drawers with geometrical raised panels with gilt metal drop handles
Oak dresser, the top with a shaped frieze, two cupboard doors
and three ihelvet over three moulded drawers to the base,
with cabriole legs, 5 ft 6 in wide, 6 ft 8 in high 105 0
Tags: adjustable shelving, apron, auction room, bookcase, bookcases, bookshelves, bracket, bracket feet, brass, Cabinet, cabriole, Canterbury, chair, chiffonier, chinese, chippendale, chippendale style, claw, dining, display, drawers, Edward, Edwardian, Elbow, en, frame, frieze, front, furniture, george iii, inlaid, leather, Louis XVI, mahogany, mahogany frame, mould, ormolu, pediment, Queen Anne, rosewood, sabre, satinwood, serpentine front, Set, seventeenth, Sheraton, shield, square legs, stretcher, swan neck, UPHOLSTERED, wood chair
Posted in Auctions and Prices | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
COVERED GOBLET IN FILIGREE
Probably Venice, IiaK, laic iftthorcarly 171I1
century. III. J30 mm (13 in.)
(See also colour photograph 0)
Stangenglas in filigree glass
Germany,-lale 16th century
lit. 300-J mm (1206 in.)
Filigree glass first came into use in Venice
in the second quarter of the 16th century,
and is referred to in Hiringuccio’s De la
Piroiechnica (1540). It is still made
there today, by means of the following
method. First, a stock of glass rods con-
taining decorative (usually opaque white)
twists is prepared. Small canes of opaque
white glass are heated and laid on a gather
of clear, colourless glass. These are mar-
vered into the surface, and a fresh gather
is made, so they arc embedded in the ‘gob’.
This is reheated, swung so that it lengthens,
and another rod is attached to its other
end. One man stands and rotates his rod to
give the pattern a twist. The man holding
the other end walks quickly backwards,
until the twisting gob has stretched 20 feet
or so. I leated lengths of rod are then laid
out on a metal plate. A gather of clear,
colourless glass is flattened into a disc,
then rolled along the rods, picking them up
to form a rough cylinder.
In the next stage of making filigree glass,
the rods are bedded together by being
rolled on a flat slab. The cylinder is swung
like a pendulum, to extend the glass. The
end is then cut oft”, and the cylinder is
closed, so that when it is blown the walls
become thin and smooth. A vessel is
formed from this cylinder. Thus, by
reheating and blowing an assembly ol rods
containing opaque white twists, the Vene-
tians formed vessels having a delicate white
filigree pattern within their thin walls. To
accomplish this took years of training.
The Romans made bowls by winding a
heated rod enclosing white threads spirally
on a mould and joining it by reheating, a
technique that has been called ‘filigrane
glass’.
The technique of making filigree glass
was in widespread use, and continued long
in fashion. Note the filigree ornament on
the typically German glass form illus-
trated.
FILIGREE CANES OR STEMS
Illustration taken from Mantis uj’ Classmakmg in
All Ages, by Alexander Sauzay (London, 1870)
Filigree canes were used both in the pro-
duction of filigree vessels and for simple
use as stems of wine-glasses and the like.
The actual making of the canes themselves
demanded a high degree of craftsmanship
on the part of the workers. Georges Bon-
temps of the glass factory of Choisy-le-Roy
in 1823 published a work describing some
of the Venetian techniques in the produc-
tion of filigree glass. To produce the
filigree canes, he explained, a cylindrical
mould in cither metal or fireclay was lined
with canes of coloured glass alternating
with rods of clear colourless glass. The
glass-maker next took a gather of glass on
the end of his blow-pipe which he fash-
ioned into a cylinder shape to fit into the
mould. He inserted this into the heated
mould and pressed the cylinder against the
rods which adhered to it. After marvering,
the end of the cylinder was then heated and
held with the pincers.
The glass-maker rolled his pipe with his
left hand, which caused the rod to form a
spiral with the coloured canes on the
outside; this was cut into the desired
lengths. If an internally spiralling line was
required inside a cane, a small solid
cylinder was first prepared in clear colour-
less glass, and a coloured cane attached to
its side. A further gather of glass was taken
to cover this, to make a larger cylinder
shape to go into the mould which held the
coloured canes, as before. As the small
coloured cane was not in the centre of the
cylinder, upon being twisted it assumed a
spiral shape down the centre of the
column. The other coloured rods spiralled
on the outer surface of the column, pro-
ducing a delicate and delightful effect. The
variations on the theme of opaque twists
and colour twists can be seen particularly
well in English 18th-century wine-glass
stems.
Adding: The Glass-maker’s Skill
CHAMPAGNE GLASS WITH ENGRAVED BOWL AND
DOUBLE LOOPED STEM CONTAINING TWISTED
COLOURED THREADS
George Bacchus & Sons, England, about 1850
Hi. 127 mm (5 in.)
In the early 19th century the decorative
arts in England were looking back to past
styles for inspiration. At first, glass in
England was little affected, owing mainly
to the glass-makers’ ignorance of the
historic glass styles. By the 1840’s, how-
ever, Venetian glass was considered re-
spectable for imitation. English glass-
makers’ notions of Venetian techniques
were to begin with rather vague, although
they probably improved a little after the
exhibition of Venetian glass in the Society
of Arts exhibition of Mediaeval Art in 1850.
During the years immediately preceding
the 1851 exhibition the practice was
revived of incorporating glass canes, both
opaque white and coloured, with the body
of the vessel. This hailed back to the days
of Venetian glass and the glass of 18th-
century England. Multi-coloured filigree
canes were used for stems of wine-glasses,
and sometimes the stems themselves were
twisted in Venetian styles, as above.
COMPOTIER IN ‘VENETIAN FILIGREE’
Made by John Northwood for Stevens & Williams,
England, about 1887. Ht. 20T mm (8 in.)
The firms of George Bacchus & Sons,
Birmingham, and Apsley Pcllatt’s Falcon
Glass-house in Southwark, London, pro-
duced wine-glasses with colour twist stems
in the mid-19th century. The Venetian
influence was also felt by the firm of
W. H., B. & J. Richardson of Stourbridge,
who exhibited an item with a ‘threaded
Venetian stem’ in the Society of Arts
Exhibition in 1849. From 1849 onwards
the firm of Rice Harris & Son of Birming-
ham made threaded glass, and twisted
stems were a feature of Lloyd & Summer-
field’s display at the 1851 Exhibition.
After Antonio Salviati’s exhibition of
revived Venetian techniques in Paris in
1867 manufacturers were fully aware of
the historical methods of production.
However, exact reproductions of Venetian
w;ork were rarely attempted in England for
the general market, probably because of
the unsuitability of the English lead-
crystal glass. An exception is this ‘Venetian
filigree’ compotier made by John North-
wood for Stevens & Williams
most popular designs
was the so-called ‘folded handkerchief,
where a square of glass decorated with
filigree was loosely ‘folded’ into the shape
of a vase. Vcnini, who died in 1959, was
one of the most important artists in glass
in recent times. In 1921 he entered a
partnership with Giacomo Cappcllin and
established the firm of ‘Vctri Soffiati,
Muranesi (lappellin-Venini & G’ pro-
ducing glass based on old Venetian pic-
tures. After a successful showing at the
Paris Exhibition in 1925 Vcnini estab-
lished his own factory, ‘Vcnini and C.\ in
Murano, discarded his earlier purism and
began to exploit the effects of colour and
texture in glass. He revived old Venetian
techniques, such as filigree and mosaic
work. At the time of his death his factory
consisted ol mure than .1 hundred glass-
blowers, who were experienced in most of
the ancient techniques. It was his aim to
join the old glass-making techniques with
modern Italian taste.
ewe* in millejiori oi ass with sii.VFJt-Gll.t mounts
Venice, Italy, 10th century, lit. 126 mm (495 in.)
Millefiori Glass: The name ‘millejiori1 (a
thousand flowers) was first given to mosaic
glass when the technique was taken up at
Venice in Renaissance times. The first
chapter covers the technique of mosaic
glass, in which vessels were produced by
fusing cut sections of glass rods held on to
a core with an outer mould, and then
ground and polished on both sides. The
term millejiori has, however, been applied
in retrospect to some of those Roman
mosaic glasses, where the fragments were
of rosette-like design. Egyptian craftsmen,
who for centuries were so skilled in the
mosaic technique, were later attracted to
the courts of tbe early Islamic rulers. It is
reasonably certain they were practising
1 heir technique in the 9th century A.D. at
the Abbasid court at Samarra, where finds
of mosaic glass (probably used as wall
decoration) were discovered by German
archaeologists in 1912 14.
vase in millefiori glass
E. Barovicr, Venice, Italy, late, ioth century
Ht. 203 mm (8 in.)
(See also colour photograph 10)
The millefiori glass of the Venetians, which
closely resembles Roman mosaic glass, was
produced by a different method. The
sections of glass rod were made in the
usual way, but were then embedded in a
gather of clear colourless or clear pale blue
glass, which was then blown to its final
shape. The difference in technique can be
seen more clearly in the vase illustrated,
made at the Barovier glass-house in
Murano in the late 19th century. The
simple floral decoration, in green, blue and
red glass sections, is set into a background
of sections of turquoise encircling clear
colourless glass, the whole embedded in
clear colourless glass. The general effect is
of a network of glass, rather than of
individual sections floating in a clear
colourless background. The vase is signed
‘E. Barovier, Murano’, so is presumably
the work of Ercolc Barovier (b.1889), who
helped to create the modern style of Italian
glass-making together with Paolo Venini
(1895-1959).
vase in millefiori glass
Clichy, France, c. 1845-50. Ht. 245 mm (9-63 in.)
The making of millefiori glass was not con-
fined to Italy. There is evidence that such
vessels were made in Silesia and other
areas of Central Europe in the 18th
century. The Hoffhungstal Works in
Silesia were producing millefiori vessels in
1833, and later they were made at Schone-
beck near Magdeburg. The French crafts-
men of Clichy, St. Louis and Baccarat
produced excellent millefiori glass in the
19th century; the articles included paper-
weights, inkstands, pen-rests, wafer-stands
and rulers. The vase illustrated is a rare
and beautiful example of Clichy millefiori
glass, having the name ‘Clichy’ enclosed in
a tiny cane within the design. This French
glass is notable for the quality of work-
manship, harmony of colour and beauty of
design. France’s superiority in the making
of vessel glass was a comparatively late
development. Her craftsmen had been
pre-eminent in the making of stained and
painted window glass, and later of mirror
glass, but it was only in the 19th century
that they matched their achievements in
vessel glass..
PAPERWEIGHT
Probably Rice Harris & Son, England, about 1850
Diam. 70 mm (275 in.)
DISH IN GLASS
by Antonio Salviali, Italy, f.1880
Diam. 178 mm (7 in.)
Of all the novelties in glass of mid-iQth
century England, the best remembered is
the millejiori paperweight. At the time they
were made they, were considered to be of
little importance, and were more likely to
be sold in a stationers’ shop than at a glass-
dealers’. Probably the firms that made
filigree or threaded stems experimented
with paperweights, but it is known that the
firm of George Bacchus & Sons of Birm-
ingham were making millejiori paper-
weights in 1848 and 1849. From a reference
in the An Journal in 1849 it seems that the
firm of Rice, Harris & Son of Birmingham
were also producing them at this time. As
the Rice Harris works were also known as
the Islington Glass Works, it seems reason-
able that weights found with canes lettered
IGW came from this factory, as in the
example illustrated. The fashion for paper-
weights came from France, whence they
were imported to England in great num-
bers.
In the 19th century, Renaissance styles of
glass-making were revived in Italy. The
old Venetian colour techniques were re-
vived about 1830, and by i860 Antonio
Salviati (1816-1900) had started a large-
scale commercial production of glass in
traditional styles. Much extravagant and
sentimental work was done, Salviati’s
forms being gaudy in colour and over-
elaborate. Most of the other Muranese
glass-makers followed him in making
pastiches of i6th-and 17th-century Vene-
tian glass, aimed at the tourist market. At
the same time there was a small production
of simpler glass wares in Venice, with
Salviati producing plain shapes in clear
colourless glass with applied decoration.
He was also known for his straightforward
copies of the old classic colour techniques
of Venice, such as the millejiori dish
illustrated. After the First World War,
Functionalist ideas gave a new stimulus to
the traditionalism of Venetian glass-mak-
ing and a truly modern style was estab-
lished, notably by Paolo Vcnini and
Ercole Barovier.
IRIDESCENT millefiori VASE PAPERWEIGHT VASE WITH CROCUS DESIGN
By Tiffany, U.S.A., late 19th century/early 20th By Tiffany, U.S.A. Ht. 16; mm (0-5 in.)
century. Ht. 279 mm (11 in.)
Louis Comfort Tiffany at his works in
Corona, Long Island, U.S.A., produced
many kinds of glassware between 1.1885
to 1924. Among these was millefiori glass
of a style not seen before. Tiffany’s love of
natural floral effects can be seen in this
work. Millefiori rods as intricately and
beautifully made as any on the Continent
were produced at his works and put to use-
in many different ways by Tiffany crafts-
men. The size of the rods ranged from \
inch to 4-5 inches in diameter. Small
white millefiori florets with red, green,
yellow or blue centres were embedded in
the outer surface of glass vases and bowls,
and were marvered-in to a smooth finish.
Green glass leaves and tendrils were added
as decoration to create the illusion of
flowering vines. The natural fluidity of his
work can be seen in the example illustrated.
A variation, and a most beautiful one, on
the technique of millefiori was Tiffany’s
so-called ‘Paperweight glass’. Lengths of
millefiori rod were used to simulate coral
growths, aquatic plants, morning glories,
narcissus, daffodils. Queen Anne’s lace,
animals and a host of other motifs. These
coloured decorative glass designs were
laid upon and embedded in an inner layer
of glass, with another gather of clear glass
coating over the original decorated piece.
Sometimes the inner layer of glass was
made iridescent before it received its outer
layer, which caused a lovely mirror-like
shimmering effect. The outer layer of glass
was also frequently made slightly irides-
cent. Occasionally patterns were engraved
into paperweight glass, giving striking
depth to the piece. The predominant
motifs in the paperweight technique are
floral and under-water marine life. They
are probably the rarest of the Tiffany
techniques, and the most difficult to find.
Aventurine Glass: The Venetians are
credited with the invention of Aventurine
glass. In appearance it is generally yellow-
ish, with a sparkle to it suggestive of
sprinkled gold dust. No one knows exactly
how the Venetians made this attractive
glassware, but the results of more recent
experiments may throw some light on
their methods. In i860 the French chemist
Hautefeuille made Aventurine glass by
adding iron or fine brass turnings enclosed
in paper to the hot glass. The glass turned
red and opaque, and then became milky
and full of bubbles. The furnace draught
was cut off and the covered crucible
containing the glass covered with ashes.
After being slowly cooled, the pot was
broken and the Aventurine glass taken out.
In 1865 another chemist, Pelouze, made
Aventurine equal to that of the Venetians
by using 250 parts of sand, 100 of carbonate
of soda, 50 of carbonate of lime and 40 of
bichromate of potash.
Aventurine glass was sold in rods or large
pieces to foreign factories by Venetian
glass-makers. These were broken down
and crushed into various sizes for use as a
decorative material. Green (chrome), pink
(chrome in the presence of tin) and bronze
Aventurine can be found in English,
Continental and American glassware of
the 19th century. More recently, the
Fostoria Glass Company of Moundsville,
West Virginia, made green Aventurine
glass by supersaturating a high lead glass
with chrome oxide. The chrome oxide
dissolved into the glass during the melt,
but as the glass cooled it could not hold all
the chrome oxide in solution so that crys-
tals formed in the glass; these were large
enough to reflect light and so gave the
Aventurine appearance. Aventurine is also
supposed to have been made by the addi-
tion of copper to the mix. Aventurine has
been called ‘Glass of the Golden Star’ by
the Chinese, and is also known as ‘Gold-
stone’.
JUG with trailed decoration
Egypt, second quarter of the 15th century B.C.
Ht. 88′mm (3-45 in.)
Only a skilled glass-maker could have pro-
duced the decorative effects described in the
last chapter, but much added decoration
found on glass vessels is the result of I he art
of the decorator, and owes little to actual
glass-making technology. The expertise of
the decorator in the ornamentation oj glass
vessels can be seen in the enamelling, painting
and gilding techniques, in their various
forms. Indeed, the decorator has been
involved in the ornamentation oj glass from
earliest times; it was an enameller’s hand
that decorated one of I he oldest known glass
vessels of Egypt. A purist might consider the
decoration of glass by the actual glass-maker
more valid than by the decorator, but as these
two chapters show, there has been a place for
both through the ages.
Enamelled Class: The art of enamelling
glass is a technique which can be dated
definitely back to the 15th century B.C.
The small Egyptian jug illustrated, bear-
ing the name of the Egyptian Pharaoh
Tuthmosis III, is the earliest enamelled
glass known to us. It is in opaque light blue
glass with yellow, white and dark blue
opaque trails and with white and yellow
powdered glass fired on in the manner of
enamel. It has been core-formed, with a
ground and polished surface on the rim
and underneath the base. The hieroglyphic
inscription on the shoulder, part of which
can be seen, translated, reads: ‘The good
god Men-Kheper—Re, given life’. Tuth-
mosis III (c. 1504-1450 B.C.) was one of
the most powerful of the Pharaohs of the
1 Si h I )ynasty and under him flourished all
cultural activities, including glass-making.
Enamel is in essence a low-firing glass
crushed to powder, which can be painted
on to a vessel, with the aid of a bonding
agent like honey. It can be fused to the
vessel at a lower temperature than will
cause the vessel to warp or sag in the
furnace. Enamelling appeared to be an
isolated phenomenon of the Egyptian 18th
Dynasty and fell into disuse at the end of
the period. It was certainly practised in
Roman times, and one or two different
types of work can be picked out, possibly
belonging to different schools within the
Roman Empire. Motifs include birds,
vines, pygmies, cranes, animals, hunting
scenes and figural subjects. There is no
exact knowledge of how the Romans did
their enamelling, and one can only guess
that they followed later methods of which
something is known. From earliest an-
tiquity there was a trade in cakes or ingots
of glass enamel for the use of less special-
ised glass-makers. Certain colours, notably
turquoise, sealing-wax red and white,
were traded round the world from the
earliest times of glass-making.
EWER, ‘DAPHNE’, IN OPAQUE WHITE GLASS WITH
ENAMELLING AND GILDING
Possibly Antioch, Syria, late 2nd to early 3rd
century A.D. III. 222 mm (875 in.)
Perhaps the most remarkable example of
Roman enamelling and gilding is the so-
called ‘Daphne’ ewer, now in The Corning
Museum of Glass, New York. It was
probably made in Antioch on the Orontes
in Syria. Antioch was a large city and a
centre for culture and wealth for many
hundreds of years, and the vase could have
been one of the luxury items the city
produced. The vase itself is made of opaque
white glass, richly enamelled and gilded
with a scene that depicts the story of
Daphne, who was turned by her protecting
father into a tree when the pursuing love-
sick Apollo tried to touch her. The
inscription on the shoulder, translated,
reads: ‘The Beautiful’, referring to the
lovely Daphne. The earliest written men-
tion of the techniques of enamelling comes
in the work De Diversis Artibus (Concern-
ing Divers Arts), compiled by the monk
Theophilus, probably in the first half of
the 12th century A.D. (Continued)
Tags: "crescent line furniture", "english draw leaf table with makers mark wax", "folding top" chest of drawers", "george bullock" chess, "satin birch" + "furniture making" -stain, "shipwreck cargoes", "soft lacquer on table leaving marks", 15 century wardrobe, 17th century european stages, 17th century english candlesticks, 17th century tudor chest, 17th century william&mary gate leg table, 17th century yew drop leaf table, 18 century english bureau secret, 1800's antique writing desk with a felt top and claw , 1800's antique american dining tables, 1800's french table with fluted legs, 1850s florentine marble-top table, 18th c english porcelain plates, 18th century art deco style tables, 18th century ball and claw foot, 18th century french furniture for sale, 18th century french silversmiths, 18th century glass designs, 18th century scottish furniture, 18th century wood carving styles, 1920 marquetry b. suite inlay furniture, 1920 black twist leg tables, 1920 sheraton card table, 1920 william and mary antique, 1920's marquetry table, 1920's widdicomb dresser, 1920's dresser, 1920's floral painted furniture, 1920s oak refectory table+barley twist legs, 1930 bureau mahogany, 1930's and 1940's american art deco waterfall sideboa, 1930's types of chairs, 1930's victorian antique end tables, 1940's english sideboards, 1940s antique claw foot chest, 1940s octagonal table, 1950 antique cabinet makers, 19th and 20th century european pottery that used heav, 19th century american stoneware mixing bowls, 19th century antique round dining table, 19th century french furniture, 19th century regency desk, 2 tier console table, 20th century square drop leaf table, aimone mfg co, american glass, ancient gothic furniture, antique black inlaid card tables, antique 1800 small carved birds, antique birdseye maple desk, antique carved leaf wall pocket, antique chamber pot cabinet, antique china myott son & co hanley swing time, antique inlaid wood chairs, antique loaded silver candlesticks, antique metal folding campaign chair, antique oak drop leaf dining room table, antique oak pedestal dining table, antique plaster picture frames, antique putti, antique wood chairs with paper labels/stout chair co., Antonio Salviati, antque desks made in bennington vermont, art nouveau viennese secessionist armchair, art deco cigarette dispenser, art deco demilune table ebony, bachelor's chest antique chamber pot, bench style day beds, bible boxes, black velvet armchair, bombe inlaid wood antique, brass feet for a table, cabinet fold top bar 1920, carved cabriole leg with acanthus leaf at the knee, ceramic antiques italy, charles cresent french furniture maker, chinese antique tea root table, chinese peony, claw foot antique empire rocking chair, claw foot on casters, claw foot table, cold steel greek dealer, colour photograph, crucible, czechoslovakia lustreware, dating antique scottish blanket chests, davenport white chamber pot, DECORATION, desk legs wood art deco, display shelf poplar mid 19th century chinese cabinet, dropleaf kidney desk, duncan phyfe antique table, duncan phyfe drum tables with claw feet and drawer, dutch antique oak drop leaf table, elliptical wood placks, ENAMELLING, exact reproductions, filigree, find the italian best factory which produce chest and, fine, flat slab, french porcelain mark "lll", gate leg table antique rectangle, George Bacchus, georges jones pottery, glass designs, glass rods, green wedgewood stoneware, harlequin- kandler, how much is a sheraton walnut drop leaf table worth, how to identify antique roll top desk, how to value antque silver candel sticks, hump backantique chair, i cant find the word i want for my custom calligraphy, ironstone pottery, Islamic, italian empire furniture, italian walnut woodworm, jacobean chairs, jacobean monks bench, jacobian antique dresser, karpen furniture dining tables, leopold stickley, loudon florals 1783-1843, masons ironstone, masons patent ironstone china factory mark information, monk's chair, mould, napoleon antigue, nude inlay knife, Paolo Venini, pottery, Queen Anne, rectangular drop leaf dining table louis xv, red glass, regency era+leather top+side extensions+rectangular+cof, renaissance style, round antique oriental table with clawed feet, ruba rhombic vase depression era, sart silversmiths, second hand console tables, second quarter, shepherd furniture, silesia, small dining table with leaves, style, table oak bulbous turn leg, table with carved human legs, tall and narrow antique barley twist drop leaf table, tea set made in czechoslovakia, time periodof neo-classism, types of painted chamber pot, value of jacobean buffet, vered, victorian three leg table carved legs, wedgwood bournvita set jug, welsh dressers with lion brass handles, what antique porcelain was made in czechoslovakia, white glass, winchester ware pottery, window glass, worcester chinoiserie decoration, world, world market gateleg table
Posted in Glass | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
The Renaissance
During the 15th century in northern Europe the fashion for very elaborate and complex head coverings continued: the voluminous double horned headdress was extremely popular as well as the sugarloaf headdress hennine. In early Renaissance Italy this fashion subsided and the natural beauty of the hair was appreciated once more. This did not mean that very elaborate coiffures were not devised to enhance that beauty. Indeed a popular type of hair arrangement consisted of the hair drawn up into a chignon at the back with a wide band, a ribbon or a strand of pearls known as frenello encircling the head and usually decorated at the centre with a jewel in the form of a flowerhead cluster. With such an abundance of jewels on the head and with the ears concealed beneath the head-band, there was still no point in wearing earrings.
This can clearly be seen in the portrait of Battista Sforza (circa 1465) by Piero Bella P 36 Francesca, in which the Duchess displays a great number of jewels on her head, one fastened to the band at the top and three smaller clusters securing the very elaborate coil of hair placed over the ears. Also popular were rich be-jewelled hairnets placed at the back of the head with the hair combed over the ears and the stones set amongst the gold threads. An inventory of the jewels of Ippolita Sforza given to her on the occasion of her marriage to Alfonso of Aragon in 1465 mentions a net set with 89 rubies and 464 pearls. There was, therefore, no place for earrings. Even when no head jewels were worn the hair was left hanging down in curls over the ears. Throughout the 15th century in Italy, earrings are never mentioned in inventories.
After centuries of neglect, earrings begin to make a timid appearance in Italy around the 1530s, mainly prompted by a change in fashion in hairstyles in favour of parting the hair at the centre and drawing it away from the face which was framed by a padded roll. The design of the new earrings was fairly simple: usually a plain gold hoop with a single pearl drop. This type of earring is depicted frequently in contemporary portraiture but hardly any examples survive. This is because pearls are one of the few organic materials employed in jewellery, and, unlike gemstones, they only last about 300 years.
Another design for which there is pictorial evidence can be seen in a portrait, by Moroni of the mid-to-late I 500s in the National Gallery, London. It shows a pearl drop suspended from a gold spherical element and connected to the gold hoop in the ear by a satin ribbon bow matching the colour of the dress. This is one of the earliest records of this kind of earring, but the combination of satin or velvet ribbon bows and jewelled elements becomes a recurring feature in early and mid-17th century earrings. All earrings were worn with pierced ears: a hoop was threaded through the ear to support the pendent element. The screw and clip fitting is a comparatively recent innovation apparently unknown during the Renaissance. The single mention of the clip earrings which occurs in Cellini’s autobiography merely proves that they were not in common use: Cellini describes dressing up a friend to impersonate a woman at a party given by Michelangelo: ‘In his ears I placed two little rings, set with two large and fair pearls: the rings were broken; they only clipped his ears as though they had been pierced.’
In other parts of Europe, and especially the north, earrings remained out of fashion, the reason again being that elaborate headdresses such as the horseshoe bonnet went on the back of the head and down over the ears.
Towards the end of the 16th century the use of pendent earrings was still limited
36 not so much now by headgear but by the new fashion for very high and stiff ruff collars. The extreme examples of the high ruff occur in Spain, England and France, and in these countries women continued to be unable to wear earrings for about one hundred years after their reintroduction in Italy. They are seldom seen in portraits and are not mentioned in contemporary inventories such as those of the jewels of the French crown from Francois I to Henri III; grand parures of jewels are repeatedly referred to but these include not earrings but items known as `bordures d’oreilletes’, a jewelled ornament that encircles the head from one ear to the other. The only mention of earrings comes in the Chronique du Bourgeois de Paris, in a descriptor of the jewels worn by Eleonore of Austria at her arrival in France for her marriage with Francois I in 1529: ‘hanging from her ears were two large stones as big as nuts’. The earrings were part of the jewellery which she had brought from Spain, and reflect a southern European fashion. In fact her fondness for large, Spanish style earrings is displayed in a portrait where she wears large elliptical gold ones set with three pearls supporting a fringe of a further three pearls.
Shortly before i 60o the high ruff collar gave way to the standing collar, freeing the area around the neck, and long pendent earrings finally began to make their appearance in northern Europe. They are clearly visible in the portrait of Queen Anne of Denmark painted by De Critz at the beginning of the 17th century — large baroque pearls linked by gold-set lozenge-shaped diamonds to gold suspension loops which are completely concealed by red ribbon bows. Two features are noteworthy: the use of the ribbon bows, which had already appeared half a century before in Italy and continued to be favoured in the first half of the 17th century; and the use of large faceted diamonds. It was around this time that improved techniques of gem-cutting prompted a shift in emphasis from the gold and enamel setting typical of Renaissance jewellery to the faceted gemstone.
The 17th Century
As earrings began to gain independence at the beginning of the 17th century a variety of new designs made their appearance, exemplified by those of Arnold Lulls, a Netherlands-born jeweller (active in England circa i585—circa 1621) greatly favoured by James I of England and his consort Anne of Denmark. Prominent among them were aigrettes (a plume-shaped ornament) and earrings set with faceted gemstones. His book of coloured drawings includes three pages of designs for earrings; one page shows two different pairs of earrings. The first has three green pear-shaped stones, the largest at the centre, suspended from a gold crescent enamelled in white and set with a step-cut ruby-, the green enamel suspension loop is in the form of a serpent with four square-cut diamonds set on its head. The second pair is similar but has only one drop, the central element being set with faceted diamonds and the hoop with rubies. Another page shows a pair of earrings, each formed from two pear-shaped pearls with a larger green gemstone suspended from an openwork surmount set with eleven table-cut diamonds. It is worth pointing out that at this time all diamonds portrayed in designs and paintings were painted black, the reason being that diamonds were set in closed settings backed by a black foil or varnish and therefore would appear, in reality, nearly black.
By the early 1600s designs were already fairly elaborate compared to the plain pearl drops which had been common up to then: noteworthy is the serpent-shaped hoop and the use of faceted gemstones reflecting the new interest in cut stones and especially diamonds in consequence of the improved techniques of cutting. Also new is the use of the three drops which will remain a favourite form of earring for two centuries. It most probably derives from the three pearl drops, a larger one in the middle flanked by two smaller, always found suspended from Renaissance pendants. It is interesting that in early 17th-century earrings all elements remain very separate: the hoop, the central element and the drop, and it is only at the end of the century that all parts of earrings begin to be conceived of as a whole. Besides conventional earrings, the rather bizarre fashion for earstrings developed in Britain around 1620. These were suspended not from the ear but from a cord at the sides of the face or a loose corkscrew of hair.
The popularity of earrings at the turn of the 17th century is clear from an inventory of the personal items of Catherine de M6dicis, Queen of France, compiled in 161o, which lists nine pairs of earrings all set with faceted diamonds and gemstones.
One of the best collections of this period is the Cheapside Hoard, now in the Museum of London and the British Museum, part of a jeweller’s stock, probably hidden in London about 16¢o because of the English Civil War. It includes an elaborate pendent earring in the form of three white enamel links supporting ten amethyst briolettes; the suspension loop is missing. Again evident is the interest in cut stone and in a complex design.
During the second quarter of the 17th century there was a change in favour of greater simplicity in dress and ornament, but this seems not to have disturbed the newly established popularity of earrings. Very large pearl drops were one of the favourite types. The difficulty of finding two beautiful pearls matched in size, shape and colour made these earrings extremely valuable and sought after; they were known as ‘union d’excellence’ earrings, the large pear-shaped pearls emerging from flowing curls. At times it is one large pearl, at others one may find two or three pearls hanging
P. 37 from one ear, as can be seen in the English portrait of Ann Carr, Countess of Bedford, painted by Anthony Van Dyck (1599-16¢¢). The fact that so few of these examples have survived is partly because they have decayed and partly because pearls can easily be mounted in a new setting and, unlike a faceted gemstone, are not easy to identify. exceptional pair earrings still exists Only one exceptional pair of pearl earrings still exists today, though not in their original 17th-century setting. They are two extremely large natural pear-shaped pearls known as the Marie Mancini pearls; they were given by Louis XIV to his mistress Marie Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin.
The importance attached to pearl earrings is also substantiated by contemporary literature: Francis de Sales, in his Introduction d la vie devote of 16o8 which was reprinted (mainly in Antwerp) thirteen times in the 17th century alone, writes in a chapter entitled ‘Advice to the Married’ that:
Women of both ancient and present times customarily hang pearls from their ears because of the pleasure they derive (as Pliny observes) from feeling them swing when they touch each other. But because I know that God’s great friend, Isaac, sent earrings as the first token of his love to the pure Rebecca, so do I believe that this jewel signifies spirituality; that the first part that a man must have from his wife and which the wife must faithfully preserve is the ear, so that no speech or sound may enter in other than the sweet sound of chaste words which are oriental pearls of the Gospel.
The expression ‘pearls of the Gospel’ derives from the parable of the merchant searching for rare pearls in Matthew 13 and is used by Sales as a metaphor for Christ’s teachings.
Around the middle of the l7th century earrings had become an essential item of adornment and their shapes were becoming increasingly complex and interesting. It is known that Louis XIV gave an important pair of emerald and diamond earrings to his mistress Madame de Soubise, who used them to signal to the king that her husband had left Paris and that they were free to meet. Typical of the new complexity of design is a pair of polychrome enamel, turquoise and ruby earrings designed as an openwork garland of floral motifs carrying a fringe of pearls, the centre decorated with a tulip, and suspended on a flowerhead cluster surmount. As well as the overall intricacy, it is interesting to notice how the contemporary interest in flowers, especially tulips, is reflected in these earrings. At the end of the i 6th century a garden with hothouses in Paris had plants which served as models for designers of embroidery; later the establishment was bought by Henri IV and the Jardin du Rol, as it was then called, remained a centre for the study of rare and beautiful flowers. But it was the increased European contacts with the Levant that brought exotic flowers to the forefront, and the tulip, first seen in the West in 1559, conquered Europe; in 1634. it generated a real tulip `rage’ known as tulipomania. This explains why tulip motifs are to occur so prominently on contemporary jewels. On one pair of pendent earrings the front is typically set with faceted gemstones, rubies and emeralds supporting a fringe of pearls; but the back is decorated with three tulip flowerheads in painted black and red enamel on a light blue enamel ground.
Around 166o the girandole, which became a very successful form of earring, emerged. It consisted of two main elements worked into a coherent design: a stylized ribbon bow surmount supporting three pear-shaped drops. The bow motif undoubtedly derives from the ribbon bow used in earlier earrings made of satin or velvet in a colour to match the dress; the three drops derive from early 17th-century examples, such as those of Arnold Lulls, going back ultimately to the three pearl drops suspended from Renaissance brooches. The girandole is an extremely becoming shape of earring, as it fills out the space around the ear to complement the face. Its popularity is attested by numerous engravings of the i 66os, such as those by Gilles Legare and Francois Lefebvre. The engraved designs frequently show front and back views of the girandole; the front was set either entirely with faceted gemstones or with three pear-shaped pearls; the back was decorated with enamelwork, a feature that distinguished the early girandoles from later examples. Frequently the designs for the girandole earrings are accompanied by those of brooches of similar design known as sevignes which would have been worn together as a set. Drawings which record the earrings owned by Anne of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII, show girandoles of great elegance set with diamonds of exceptional dimensions; while the inventory of the jewels of Marie Therese, the wife of Louis XIV, dated 1691, lists various girandoles: two pairs set with diamonds, one with very rare stones, the other with pearls.
Tags: 15th century, 16th century (1500s) french baroque ceramic designer, 17th centuries, 17th century, alfonso of aragon, Anthony Van Dyck, antique, Arnold Lulls, Austria, band at the top, battista sforza, benjamin cheverton cheverton reducing machine, bentwood chair glasgow, bentwood chaise, bentwood rocking chair 1880 uk, berkey & gay american empire furniture, berkey & gay antique chest of drawers lion design, berkey & gay dressing furniture 3 drawers, berkey & gay furniture empire period, berkey & gay walnut dresser, berkey and gay, berkey and gay chest, berkey and gay furniture, berkey gay dresser, berlin plaque rectangular 19th century, bernard palissy, bernard palissy antique, bernard palissy antique porcelain, bernini, best designs of dressing tables, best english antique brass beds, best indian furniture designers, betty joel mirrer, betty joel furniture for sale, betty joel miroir antique, biblical carved cupboard, bidet square, biedermeier automaton clock, biedermeier antique de, biedermeier armchairs with encrusted roses, biedermeier bedside tables, biedermeier canape, biedermeier candelabra, biedermeier chair, biedermeier chest of drawers secretaire 1840, biedermeier display cabinets, biedermeier gothic commode, biedermeier inspired furniture, biedermeier secretaire, biedermeier sewing box, biedermeier sofa, biedermeier style furniture, biedermeier wood, bird cage tea tables, birdcage supper tables, birdseye maple side tables, birmingham candlabra, birmingham silver candlestick value, birmingham silver finial designs, birthplace of art deco, black alvar aalto stool 60 finmar, black amethyst dishes, black amethyst vase from czechoslovakia, black antique desk chair, black bone inlay dressing tables, black desk curved legs, black kidney shaped writing desk zebra top, black lacquer antique dining chair, black lacquer armchairs, black lacquer card tables, black lacquer china cabinet, black lacquer dining chairs, black lacquer or mirrored antique bedside tables, black lacquered musical table, black lacquered sideboard with mother of pearl, black leather armchair for desk, black leather furniture art deco, black leather rocket chair with metal arms, black pottery mark made in austria, black stinkwood table sale, black stone top coffee table octagon antique, black walnut gateleg table + 18th century american, blacks, blanc de blanc antique wine coolers, blonde french deco vitrine, bloomsbury london arts and crafts, blue china tea set with silver inlay england, blue french tall antique 18th century vase, blue glass antique tables, blue glass dishes antiques, blue glass epergnes, blue glass kidney shaped table, blue glass liners. antique, blue glass marked france 1, blue glass pheasant, boardroom clock, boat-shaped tureen, bob-box century, boch frere vases, boch freres belgium turquoise pottery, bohemian glass decanter sets ruby overlay process, bohemian hyalith von buquoy glass, bohemian overlay antique glass, bombe commode 17th century, bone inlay furniture, bone handled fork converted to knive, bookcase islamic style .dwg, bookcase makers, bookcases for collectors, bookcases with stained glass doors, booths chipendale turreen, booths pearlware marks, borders books on cabinetmaking, borghese lamps, boroco furniture, borromini apprentice with a woodcarver, botanical antique ceramics collectors, botanical whimsies are considered some of the finest ex, boulle period candlesticks, boulle bureau plats 19th centurt for sale, boulle chair, boulle console table with marble tops with elaborate fr, boulle consoles, boulle furniture repair, boulle inlaid quarter striking bracket clock d'epoque, boulle repair, boulle style table louis 14th, boulle tabel, boulle tortoiseshell, Bourgeois, bow kakiemon price, bowed coner glass diplay cabinet, brandt mahogany 2 tier table, brandt furniture - chest, brandt furniture oval side table mahogany, brannam pottery, brass antique oriental table top, brass candelabras made in china, chignon, Chronique, coiffures, curls, duchess, ENGRAVED, favourite, francesca, Francois, gemstone, gold threads, hairnets, head coverings, inventories, jeweller, Marie Mancini, Meissen, natural beauty, northern europe, pendent, popularity, Porcelain, Queen Anne, renaissance italy, southern Europe, strand of pearls
Posted in Antique Jewellery | No Comments »
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Cupboards, Wardrobes and Small Hanging
Cupboards
Evolution of the cupboard—development from a chest form—the Gothic hutch or livery cupboard—origin of the “cup board” or buffet—the court cupboard and press—lasting popularity in Wales of the deuddarn and tridarn—armoires, cloak cupboards and the linen press—later appearance of the wardrobe—hanging dole and medicine cupboards—various fronts of the corner cupboard—painted interiors—Victorian buffets antique porcelain tea pot made in france .
The cupboard may have evolved from a chest form because a chest, when placed on its end, would serve as a narrow cupboard or locker sabino marks . Again, the chest on legs with an overhanging top and hinged doors beneath, like the counter mentioned in Chapter 3, could also have been an ancestor of the cupboard gateleg table imperial furniture .
The counter was sometimes referred to as a hutch in old documents but nowadays the latter name is usually only given to a wired cage for tame rabbits value of antique rectangular drop leaf pedestal dining . In the Gothic period the hutch was a small planked cupboard used chiefly as a food larder antique harlequin figure . The door and front were perforated with frets of an architectural character to allow air to circulate and so keep the food fresh cheap art neuvou side tables . Pieces of loosely woven horse-hair were nailed to the inside of the frets to keep flies and insects away from the contents art deco chairs mahogany . While the horse-hair has long since perished the remains of the small nails which held it in position are sometimes still to be seen antique oak drawleaf trestle table .
Many books on antique furniture show an illustration of Prince Arthur’s Cupboard, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique glass “la granja” . It dates from around 1500 and is one of the finest pieces of English Gothic furniture in existence the most expensive silver tray . It is unique and the chances of discovering a similar piece are negligible king george 1v furniture . However, it is possible that the smaller planked hutch, although very rare, may still be found by the discerning seeker after antique oak peter behrens side chair . I know of one in the possession of a Cotswold antique dealer but he says that f1,000 would not buy it satsuma pottery thousand flower . On the other hand, there are a considerable number of hutches at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire l shaped sideboard . In that part of the house open to public view I have counted nearly a score, so it is not beyond a reasonable possibility that there are hutches lying in old barns and attics elsewhere which might turn up one day and offer themselves to a knowing buyer inlaid moorish bone .
Apparently, it was a custom in the Middle Ages to keep a small supply of food in private rooms for use at any time antique epergnes . This would be stored in hutches which in time came to be referred to as livery cupboards lusterware made in czecho-slovakia . This term was in use until a few years ago and I remember an inn near my home where there was a painted notice over the entrance to the inn-yard, now given over to car parking, which bore the legend “livery and bait” french style porcelain gilded weight driven clock . This indicated that change of horses and refreshments for the journey were always readily available italian spider leg table .
Aumbry is another old name for a hutch or livery cupboard 16th century spanish trunk . There are some antiquaries, however, who maintain that the aumbry was not a standing cupboard but was essentially a recess in a wall which was enclosed by a door in a frame antique drop leaf side table furniture makers mark england . It may be that in different times the word was used to describe several types of cupboard 18th century rococo copper candlesticks .
The “cup board” proper was originally a side table or buffet which was a fitment with two or three shelves made to stand against the wall in the proximity of the dining table aimone mfg co new york . On this were kept the wooden trenchers or platters for use at meal times antique austrian furniture . In the 16th century and later it was used to display the silver or pewter table-ware, according to the opulence of the household georgian kneehole cabinet .
Early buffets vary in the amount of decoration, some being merely a set of shelves with some simple carving on the rails supporting the shelves classic furniture drawing . Others were larger and more elaborate with bulbous turnings on the front uprights and sometimes the centre and top rails concealed long shallow drawers which fitted under the shelves chippendale gateleg table . These were used for storing spoons and knives only as forks had not been adopted for table use at this time cheap art neuvou side tables .
Towards the end of the Elizabethan period it became the practice to construct buffets with the upper staging enclosed with panels and doors old antique sofa tables . This piece of furniture was known as a court cupboard from the French word court, meaning short or low origins art deco . Eventually, the lower stage of the court cupboard was enclosed as well during the early years of the 17th century and the cupboard form became really established from then onward chippendale style coffee table tilt value . In recent years the term court cupboard has been quite often misapplied to these completely enclosed cupboards late 1920s patek winged lugs . The late R american made ceramic french figurine . W christian mayer furniture . Symonds, who was probably one of the most authoritative furniture historians of the 20th century, has been able to confirm by much diligent research into old house inventories and wills that the correct name is actually a press renaisance design dining table made .
The press was invariably made in oak and a considerable
number were produced during the 17th century gate leg table 17thc . They were
built as a rule with three tiers of cupboard doors showing
on the front, two doors being on each of the top and
middle tiers and one on the bottom antique bread rack . The rails were decora-
ted with low-relief strapwork carving and ornamental
mouldings were sometimes applied to the panels and
door frames dining habit tendency . Carved initials of the owner and his wife,
together with a date to commemorate some family hap-
pening, were favourite additions to the design napoleon leather and steel campaign chair . Many of
these cupboards had large pendant turnings on either
side of the overhanging top george 3 style . These were the vestiges of the original bulbous turnings used on the front uprights of the buffet and court cupboard collectors glasgow school of art . The small doors are, for the most part, found with wrought-iron butterfly hinges but early presses had upper doors which turned on wooden dowel pins dutch plate family dining . Small turned wooden knobs were used as handles on the door frames cantagalli marks .
The early press was essentially a cupboard for storing food and table-ware and should not be confused with the linen press of the following century, details of which will be given later in the chapter antique tea set - rh macy . For the most part it was of fairly large size being 6 to 8 feet in length and would have been found in the dining or living rooms of the more prosperous Stuart and Commonwealth farmers dressing a tea table . Consequently, it can seldom be accommodated in a present-day house myott,son&co. .
However, there are smaller and rather attractive versions of the press which were made in Wales and enjoyed a degree of popularity during the 18th century, although the press in England had been superseded by the dresser mother of pearl coffe table fake antique egypt . These Welsh pieces were of two very similar types and were known as the deuddarn and tridarn, the former being constructed with two tiers or stages only while the latter had three pictures of 5 drawer antique library desks and tables . The top tier of the tridarn is seldom a fixture and can usually be lifted off, should this be necessary louis sue . These small press-type cupboards are seldom ornate but being comparatively small, often only 4 to 412 feet in length, the breaking up of the front surface with doors and panelling permits the mellowness of the old oak to be appreciated to the full new york city 18th century pembroke tables . In the deuddarn, drawers are sometimes included between the lower and upper tiers vases ceramic antique carved figures on front .
Tall cupboards for hanging clothes had been in use on the continent since the early 16th century chicken coops shelves . There they were referred to as armoires and it is thought that they were probably used for storing armour and weapons as well as clothes 17th century dutch silver . The few early armoires to be found in Britain are nearly always of French or Flemish origin, and cupboards designed for holding garments were rarely to be found in these islands until the beginning of the 18th century kneehole dressing table styles .
Hitherto, the accepted method of storing gowns and suits of clothes was to use a chest or a large chest of drawers “perspectiva cabinet” . Now a large cupboard with double doors was adopted for the purpose antiques furniture,josef hoffmann . It was mounted on a chest of drawers but a closer examination of the two top drawers will show them to be merely false fronts which do not open antique centre pieces for dining table . Behind them the space is used to afford greater hanging room for the clothes in the cupboard above art deco candle sticks . The lower drawers were made to function in the normal way oak draw refectory table . Before the invention of clothes hangers the contents of the cloak cupboard or clothes press were hung on a series of wooden pegs placed along the back and sides of the cupboard interior 18th century knife boxes .
Sometimes, the cupboard space above the drawers was fitted with wide trays for the storage of linen large rectangle dropleaf table . Although the exterior would be identical to that of a cloak cupboard, the article in this case would be called a linen press and the top drawers would be real ones as a deeper hanging space for clothes would not be necessary candelabrum .
Taller wardrobes without dummy drawers were pro-
duced by Chippendale, Hepplewhite and other cabinet-
makers type of wood used for roman furniture . These were very elegant in appearance with
finely veneered doors and sometimes with bow-fronts 18th century mahogany drop leaf table cabriole legs .
In mid-Victorian times some huge wardrobes were con-
structed in three or four separate sections kashgai carpet . These were
screwed together when assembled in position and included
bays for hanging clothes, long dressing mirrors and sections
with trays for keeping linen wear drop leaf table with spiral legs . Today, these well-made
mahogany and satinwood edifices are indeed white
elephants for they are much too large ever to go into a
modern house or flat royal staffordshire by clarice cliff nancy . Usually they are bought very
cheaply and then taken apart so that the fine wood in them can be used in the manufacture of reproduction pieces, sometimes advertised as “made from genuine old wood” . I suppose that if one cannot acquire the authentic article then these are the next best thing five legs two leaf oak antique dining table .
Since the late 16th century, small hanging cupboards have always appeared among the more usual furnishings george speight porcelain . Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and in early Stuart times wall cupboards with, fretted fronts or with the door frames filled with rows of baluster shaped spindles were in general use barley sugar twist pillars timber . Nowadays they are referred to as dole, or food, cupboards and were once hung inside churches to contain the bread doles provided by charity bequests antique 19th century nesting tables birds-eye maple . They were probably used as food larders in the kitchens of private houses as well art deco writing sets . Although this cupboard form is rarely found as an antique in England these days it is not an uncommon discovery in Wales social origins of art deco .
In the 17th and 18th centuries when doctors and apothecaries were few and far between, every housewife kept a store of medicinal herbs and remedies for administering to her family in times of sickness care of antique tortoiseshell . These were preserved in small cupboards which hung on the wall or stood on a chest of drawers and contained a number of pigeon-holes and small drawers for separating the various herbs antique paper mache trays . I always regret having failed to acquire one of these little spice or herb cupboards which a dealer friend of mine had in the shop meissen figures dating . Other dealers had passed it by, saying that it was only an old top from a grandfather clock which had been converted into a little cupboard vintage wooden card table . Actually, it was a genuine Queen Anne medicine cupboard with a finely panelled door and a neat compartment of drawers inside maccasar modernism france . However, the question had then arisen, as it does for all collectors sooner or later, of just where it was going to fit in with all the other things, and the opportunity had to be missed the revival of the games in the 19th century .
Corner cupboards, like tripod tables, are probably more numerous than any other type of antique furniture and are still to be had very reasonably antique table footed clock . They were in general use throughout the Georgian period and served many purposes antique dutch coffee table 17th century . Nowadays a corner cupboard with the doors left open makes an attractive setting fora small collection of china or Staffordshire chimney ornaments antique sideboard with built-in pendulum clock . Oak corner cupboards are usually flat-fronted with canted corners but occasionally they are found with bow-fronts patek philippe, 1930s, rectangular, hinged back . This is the pattern which was more often adopted for the mahogany cupboard and with an inlaid frieze at the top and a couple of small drawers beneath, this would make a very desirable acquisition to any modest collection of antique furniture antique dressers yorkshire .
Some flat fronted corner cupboards have glazed, astragal doors, that is with little panes of glass set into a framework of thin bars or beads robinson and leadbeater figure . These are usually original but a door with a single sheet of glass in it has probably had the wooden panel removed and glass substituted for the display of china or silver oak draw leaf table 18. th . Do not be in a hurry to strip or paint over if the interior of your cupboard is decorated in a faded olive green colour american antique slant front desk . This is probably the original finish as the Georgians were very fond of green linings to their cupboards and cabinets and a little toilet soap and warm water will most likely restore the paintwork very nearly to its original condition decoupage on veneer .
Finally, some mention should be made of the reappearance of the buffet in mid-Victorian dining rooms late 1800’s dining table european . Much lighter in design than its Tudor counterpart, it usually consisted of three quite deep shelves supported on four slim mahogany, turned corner uprights renaissance dining tables . These buffets, like the 17th-century press, are often too large for the modern house moser, austrian furniture designer . Occasionally they are to be seen, laden with dish covers, cutlery and cruets, in the spacious dining rooms of those old-fashioned but comfortable coaching inns which have survived into the day of the motor car art deco dresser inlaid wood .
Beds, Day-beds and Cradies
Early beds—rest for the rich and not-so-rich—misnomer of the “four-poster”—characteristics of 17th-century bed construction—development of the tester—beds of the mid-Georgian era—foreign influences on late 18th-century bed design—truckle and folding beds—origin of the day-bed—Restoration and early 18th-century types—Regency elegance of the chaise-longue—the Victorian sofa—cots and cradles padded antique library wood arm chair .
Early beds were looked upon as the most important items in any household 18 century porcelain placks louis xvi . They were handed down from father to son and were always mentioned with some degree of pride of possession czechoslovakia porclian . They were often very heavy, monumental constructions and the occupants depended for their comfort on enormously thick, feather mattresses 19th century parian busts . These were laid either on a network of ropes which passed through holes in the framework or on a foundation of wooden slats scroll planter table y chair .
There must have been a general fear of draughts and fresh air at night or the bedrooms were very cold and draughty because it was the practice to enclose the beds with panelling or heavy curtains until the end of the 18th century antique tea caddies, penwork . It is hardly likely that many people nowadays would sleep in a 17th or 18th-century bed for choice, although I have an old collector friend who nightly repairs to his Georgian four-poster neo classic bookcase maple tuscany . I should add that it has been fitted with a box-spring mattress of the latest slumber-inducing design antique half leaf table .
In medieval times the wealthy slept on free standing
frame beds overhung by a tent-like canopy which was suspended from the ceiling 19th century desk cabinet . Servants and attendants slept on the floor or on straw palliasses antique oak dressing table with mirror . For information about beds in the time of Elizabeth 1, we look again at William Harrison’s Description of England narrow entryway chest of drawers . In it he wrote: “Our fathers have lain full often upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered with a sheet and a good round log under their heads for a pillow 18 century wooden novelty pipes . If the goodman of the house had purchased a mattress or flock bed, and thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, that peradventure lay seldom in a bed of down or whole feathers charles neo classism boulle . As for servants, if they had any sheet above them, it was well, for seldom had they any under their bodies to keep them from the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet and rased their hardened hides inexpensive french desks furniture .”
The “four-poster” bed of antiquity is a well-known term but few have stopped to think that the four-poster, at any rate until the early Georgian period, was in fact only a two-poster, the back or bed-head which supported the top, or tester, being a panelled framework without posts dressoir antique . In the 17th century these beds were known as tester or posted beds staffordshire porcelain rococo revival period . Medieval beds are so rare as to be almost non-existent but there are a number of beds with testers which can be dated from the late 16th century 18th century boulle cabinet . Some of these were excessively large like the Great Bed of Ware, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique sideboard styles and makers . It was made about 1595 and is 10 feet 9 inches wide antique gate legged side table . The great majority of beds, however, were between 5 and 6 feet in width art nouveau dresser .
Posted beds all followed a similar pattern, having a strong rectangular frame to carry the mattress and at the head a panelled screen, often elaborately decorated with carving and inlaid woods antique american tilt top pedestal table . This screen and two turned pillars at the foot of the bed supported a panelled ceiling or tester from which hung the curtains, to be drawn at night are william and mary chest of drawers rare? . The pillars at the bed-end were usually incorporated in the bed framework and acted as feet for the mattress franl;ng characteristics of english medieval gateleg table . On larger beds, however, the framing would have separate feet and the posts supporting the tester would be freestanding on rectangular pedestal bases period art nouveau galle bronze table lamp .
Some smaller beds were made with panelled screens erected at the bottom end as well as at the head so that they formed, in effect, large panelled boxes with curtained sides american spoonback armchair . They must have been very stuffy and altogether unhealthy japanned bracket clocks . Whether it was a reaction against the unhygienic properties of the enclosed bed or just a simplification for economy’s sake, a plainer type of bed appeared about the middle of the 17th century 19th century lacquered japanese cabinet with paintings . It consisted merely of a framework on short legs and a low panelled bed-head deco porcelain spanish dancers female . It is usually referred to as a farm-house bed victorian renaissance revival credenza . For those who have an ambition to equip their homes with antique furniture entirely, this type of bed, with a box-spring mattress fitted, can be quite an interesting acquisition wileman/shelley vases . They are not uncommon and I have seen them from time to time in several sale-rooms drop leaf table oak uk antique .
The tester undoubtedly developed from the tent-like covering of the medieval bed and during the 16th and 17th centuries was a very heavy structure which demanded a strong supporting bed-framework cupboard design for keeping cockery . During the time of William and Mary and Queen Anne it became fashionable in the noble households to install beds which were most luxuriously appointed antique chairs 1600 s all wood carved . In keeping with the tendency to build houses with higher ceilings to the rooms, these beds were also very high with elaborately decorated testers and the entire framework upholstered with quilted silk and velvet george jones majolica ware . Such beds were usually installed to commemorate the stay of some royal visitor antique chamber cabinet .
Beds of the mid-18th century became altogether lighter in construction and appearance and although in some cases the bed-head screen to support the tester was retained, the more ordinary run of beds had lower bed-heads and four posts to support the tester arabic style lambrequins . By this time the tester consisted only of four curtain poles placed across the tops of the posts with a light covering of material stretched Over them antique telescopic dining tables . Thomas Chippendale made a bed for the Duke of Beaufort about 1750 in the Chinese taste draw leaf tables . It has a pagoda-like top with flying dragons a6 the corners and, finished in black japan and gold, has a very attractive appearance carved oak draw-leaf refectory table . Another bed, painted in the Chinese manner, was made for David Garrick about 1770 antique oak drop leaf table american . It also has a light wooden tester with embroidered silk curtains and like the bed of the Duke of Beaufort indicates the tendency for greater delicacy in construction of furniture during the second half of the 18th century myott son & co hanley 1880 .
For some time during the 18th-century Italian and French beds were imported into the British Isles and although the numbers were small they influenced the design of the English type considerably regency mahogany settee hairy paw . The Italians seem to have been the first to do away with the tester and its hangings sheraton gateleg card table . Probably in a warm climate common sense overruled fashion and tradition maggiolini furniture . French patterns of the late 18th century were very elaborate in the decoration of bed-heads and here also the tester seems to have been abandoned entirely antique dutch desk . Only in England, and the climate was probably the chief reason for its retention, did the use of the tester linger on into the 19th century end tables tall spindle leg antique . Wooden canopies, from which side curtains were hung, were still being fitted over the bed-head about 1850 19th century english sideboard .
Lightly constructed beds, rather like the folding kind used for camping today, became fairly common during the Georgian period red delft tiles religious 17th century value . They were small enough to be kept under th;, posted beds when not required and were used by nurses or servants attending sick people or as extra accommodation for an unexpected visitor bone handled fork converted to knive . I have seen small chests of drawers with dummy fronts which swung open like a cupboard door antiquegames writing table . Inside were folding beds which could be pulled out when wanted heals pair oak tables . All these lighter types were generally known as truckle beds and were fitted with small wheels or castors so that they could easily be moved around dutch marquetry sutherland table .
I have already mentioned in a previous chapter how chests were used as seats in early times and it is evident that the larger ones also served as beds or couches porcelain wincanton . Some years ago in a sale-room I saw a panelled oak chest with raised ends antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . Although I did not realise it at the time I had come across an archebanc couchette, probably of early French design which had been made to serve both as a chest and a couch inlay antique serving trays . I have never seen another since and only hope that one day the opportunity to acquire such a rarity might present itself again 17 century dining tables .
From these bed-chests probably developed the more lightly constructed single bed or day-bed which appeared towards the end of the 16th century etruscan pottery oriental . Shakespeare has referred to them in his plays and, by the Restoration, day-beds had reached a pleasing standard of design meissen porcelain antic . They were made in walnut with six or eight legs and had an adjustable end frame which, together with the main framework of the bed, was equipped with woven splitcanework to give some resilience to the overlay cushions types of table legs 19 century . Day-beds with double ends are found occasionally but they are very rare antique perpetual calendar .
The day-bed continued in use throughout the 18th century conforming to the fashionable characteristics of the time, but it is rather difficult to separate its development into that form known as the chaise-longue from that of the settee, couch or sofa corbusier furniture vintage . Although all these types were used for lying or for sitting upon, I think it should be remembered that the day-bed was designed primarily for resting during the day-time while the settee or sofa was made to enable a number of people to sit together on the same seat mahogany kommode . Perhaps the best way to remember the difference is that the day-bed or chaise-longue was never made with a back like a couch or a settee kilian brothers carved fruit and bird inlaid table . In its later form, as used in the 19th and 20th centuries, it has become known as the divan having neither end supports nor back antique table drop leaf raise .
The chaise-longue of the late Georgian and Regency periods became the symbol of elegant repose, typified perhaps by Jacques Louis David’s portrait of Madame Wcamier fauteuil art deco brandt . The beautiful piece of furniture with its gracefully curving ends was said to have been designed by the artist himself value of gateleg tables . It was in all probability among the finest of the adaptations by the late 18th and early 19th-century designers from the sources of classical Greece and Rome sideboard turns into dining table . A shorter form of seat which is often identical in appearance to the chaise-longue is the window seat bassano maiolica . Like the former, it has no back but is too short for reclining upon and as its name implies was just a small seat made to fit into a low window bay without obscuring the view causes of the reign of terror in france .
The type of Victorian sofa which has just the one scrolled end and a short back-piece running only half its length is really in the tradition of the day-bed rather than that of the couch or settee antique bread making cabinet . Those made in walnut about 1850 with small cabriole legs are attractive pieces of furniture and become increasingly rare as time goes on sheffield shovels .
Children’s cots and cradles are really among the few antiques which are not normally put to their original use and would hardly be considered suitable for the modern baby regency waterfall bookcase . Nowadays, babies are put to bed and left to sleep or lie awake as they will but in olden times an essential of all cot and cradle design was that they should be able to be rocked 1930s antique square table . The two swinging cots illustrated have basically the same structure although they are separated by more than 300 years dressoir timber . The Gothic cot is just an oak box suspended from a well-made stand while the late Georgian version, dating from around 1820, is a much finer affair in turned and needed mahogany pollard elm furniture . It has a clockwork mechanism incorporated in the suspension of the cot which will actually cause it to rock for nearly an hour lusterware made in czechoslovakia . It might be that the steady ticking of the clockwork also acted as a further soporific josef originals+ballerinas+value .
The more homely cradle of the farmhouse and cottage had a small hood at one end century furniture chinoiserie dining table chair credenza . It was mounted on a pair of rockers so that the mother could rock the baby to sleep with her foot while her hands were busy with some sewing or the preparation of food metal plates and trays from iran .
Tags: 18th century, antique, antique centre pieces for dining table, antique dutch coffee table 17th century, Antique Furniture, antique oak, antique porcelain, architectural character, art neuvou, Cabinet, century, century pembroke, characteristics of english medieval gateleg table, cheap art, chest, CHESTS, collection, corner, corner cupboard, czechoslovakia, designer, dining, discovery, dressing table, Elizabeth, family, food, framework, gothic furniture, gothic period, Grandfather, horse hair, imperial furniture, LACQUERED, leadbeater, Leaf Tables, linen press, low display cabinet top open, luce dressing table, lusterware czecho slovakia, luxuorious italian furinure, lyre back chairs with round leather seats, lyre end trestle desk, macassar demilune, macassar foot stool, macassar furniture, macassar furniture uk, macassar office furniture, macassar parchment, macassar veneer tables, machine age art deco dining tables, macie lucie attwell, mackmurdo english art nouveau occasional table furnitur, made in czech white antique candlestick, made in czechoslovakia china, made in czechoslovakia clocks, made in czechoslovakia tray, made in france antique furniture, made in italy antiqued laquer china cabinet, made in italy pottery labels and numbers identification, MAGGIOLINI, maggiolini chest, maggiolini furniture, magiolini italian furniture, mahagony french hall table, mahagony pedestal table leggs, mahogany cabinet maker france, mahogany antique side chair back pattern, mahogany dining tables from italy with greek style, mahogany dresser curved drawers large mirror and queen , mahogany drop leaf side tables, mahogany economy dining table regency, mahogany klenze, mahogany plate warmer, mahogany quarter round -flooring moulding, mahogany queen anne handkerchief table, mahogany round table antique brass feet, mahogany scroll back dining chairs, mahogany serving table antique, mahogany settee cornucopia, mahogany table 6 leg design, mahogany tambour rolltop desk, mahogany tier table with harp design, mahogany tray table with glass, mahogany tub chair arts and crafts, mahogany veneer antique end table number 1787, mahogany veneer antique end tables, mahogany wellington chest of drawers, majolica glazed ceramics oak leaf orange shaped german?, majolica pottery trade george jones, majolica urn minton, majorelle chicoree, makers mark england ceramic kite shape, makers stamps w 1 antique table, medicinal, Meissen, New York City, pedestal, penwork, prince arthur, Queen Anne, REGENCY, Rococo, round, Sheffield, silver tray, staffordshire, tame rabbits, tea pot, Thomas Chippendale, tortoiseshell, trestle table, victoria and albert, victoria and albert museum, vintage, wall, William Harrison
Posted in Antique Furniture | No Comments »
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Stools, Chairs and Settees
Early forms of stools—development of the chair—scarcity of chairs before the 17th century—etiquette of the joined stool—upholstered farthingale chairs—”monk seats” and Commonwealth chairs—Restoration chair design—characteristics of William and Mary chairs—Queen Anne cabriole legs and the fiddle splat—wing chairs—Chippendale chair designs—chair backs of Hepplewhite—Adam’s classical shapes—Sheraton elegance—Regency and early Victorian chairs—the mystery of the Windsor chair—harlequin sets—the emergence of the settle—love seats and the development of the settee two tiered tables .
On a marble panel in Athens which dates from around 400 B serving tray antique tea table for sale .c antique butler type ashtrays . a woman is to be seen seated on a chair which has all the characteristics of a British chair of the Regency period antiquing furniture . The designers of Regency furniture, like Thomas Hope and Henry Moses, went to the ancient civilisations for their inspiration and this chair in the Athenian sculpture is an interesting case of “it has all happened before” 6 legged table antique .
After the disorders of the Dark Ages when so much of art and craftsmanship was lost, the way of making beautiful and serviceable things had to be rediscovered or reinvented antique regency revival sideboard . At the beginning of the early Tudor period it can be said that in any house, even of the greatest importance, most people had to be content to sit on stools blacks, meissen, porcelain . Sometimes these were of the planked type as illustrated in Chapter 1, but more often they were made of turned wood with triangular shaped seats women brass lamps . This type of stool was common throughout northern Europe and when they are encountered it is difficult to say what may have been their country of origin painted romer glass .
Small chests were also used as seats in early times and formed one of the sources from which the chair developed, the other being the triangular-seated stool japanese black lacquer round tea table . In both these instances the need to provide additional support for the body brought about the addition of backs and arms to the stools antique french office chair . The first box or chest chairs were very heavy and cumbersome and it became evident that there was little advantage in constructing chairs in this way antique half circle dropleaf table . For a short while this type of chair was made without the lower side and back panels but with the front panel still included staffordshire figure lovers couple . By the middle of the 16th century the oak armchair, without any lower panels in the framework, was to be found in most houses of the reasonably well-to-do antique porcelain +swan +painted .
A custom, lasting for many years, delayed the employment of the chair for general use black stinkwood table sale . During the second half of the 16th and for the greater part of the 17th century it was commonly accepted that only the head of the family or the master of the house should occupy a chair 2 tier adams style table lid . In some homes a thoughtful husband might provide a chair for his wife but as for the rest of the household, they had to use stools or remain standing wiener werkstatte chair . The modern word chairman, to denote the head of a committee, is probably derived from this ancient practice earthenware mixing bowls antique with handles . On a point of etiquette, observed in Britain during the 17th century, a host and his wife would vacate their chairs when entertaining an important guest and would sit on joined stools, as a mark of deference, while the guest occupied a chair american spoonback armchair .
The heavy oak arm-chair of the late Elizabethan and the early Stuart periods was of very much the same pattern with turned legs and a carved or inlaid panel in the chair-back candlestick 17th century church . The only marked difference in construction was in the top rail of the back antique display cabinet half round . While the Elizabethan chair had the top rail jointed between the uprights, the Stuart version had the uprights jointed into the top rail which projected at the sides and was supported by “ears” or small brackets 18th century card table .
The joined stool must have been made in considerable numbers during the 17th century as it was frequently referred to in bequests and inventories empire pier table . Nowadays, it is sometimes called a coffin stool which is rather a misnomer breakfast serving tables . It is true that in many old churches joined stools are to be found carrying piles of hymn books or collecting boxes and occasionally they may have been used for supporting a coffin during a burial service, but they were certainly not designed for that purpose european porcelain marks 1742 . A joined stool was the average person’s seat in the 17th-century household, either at the dining table or around the fire kidney shaped tables antique . It is likely that those found in old churches today were banished there from the vicarage when custom and funds permitted the parson to provide himself with the more comfortable chairs botanical antique ceramics collectors .
While chairs with wooden seats were in use throughout the 17th century and also during the 18th in the houses of country-folk, upholstereed chairs did appear in the early Stuart period antique extend side table . These, like the farthingale chairs, have already been mentioned in a previous chapter but during the Commonwealth somewhat heavy oak dining chairs were taken into use about the same time as the gate-leg table appeared thomas sheraton games table . These were similar to the farthingale chairs but had lower seats and higher backs which were upholstered in thick leather and edged with large brass round-headed nails antique empire pier table .
An interesting, dual-purpose piece of furniture was developed about this time satsuma pottery thousand flower . Known as a table-chair, it was constructed so that when the table-top was tilted to a vertical position it formed the back of a chair kidney shape dressing table . It is sometimes referred to as a monk’s seat, but the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the consequent banishment of the monks from the British way of life had occurred over a hundred years before the table-chair was invented 19th century tables .
The chief characteristic of Restoration chair design was the spiral twist for legs and backs english refectory table . A favourite motif of the wood-carver for chair decoration was the device of two cherubs, or amorini, supporting a royal crown c 1840 antique pedestal card table . This was inspired by the return of the monarchy after the Commonwealth and remained in popular favour until the close of the century antique secretaire . Chairs of the better quality were usually made in walnut but in the provinces many dining chairs were produced in oak 18th century chamber pots . Two varieties of these are usually referred to as Yorkshire and Lancashire chairs antique chair tall skinny back . They were quite heavily made and the former had two shaped and rounded back-rails, decorated with carving and bearing a small bearded mask century hepplewhite walnut card table . Traditionally, this was said to represent the death mask of the martyred Charles I and earned for this Yorkshire type the name of mortuary chair antique soup terrines . The Lancashire chairs, on the other hand, have panelled backs and I have an example in my possession on which the carving is very similar to that on a set in the ancient Chetham’s School, Manchester, which dates from the mid-17th century royal sheffield candlesticks . The finials on the uprights of my chair are the same as those on a settle which appears in Brueghel’s painting The Village Wedding meissen scattered flowers tea sets . The Brueghel picture was painted about 1530 and so we realise the slow movement of continental influence showing itself in the north of England over a hundred years later 16th century japanese tables .
Portuguese and Spanish characteristics, entering England directly through royal marriages or more deviously through France and the Netherlands, considerably affected the design of William and Mary chairs scriptoire . Here is found the tall, narrow back and the scrolled foot which during the reign of Queen Anne was to develop into thy, cabriole leg art deco polished matte lost-wax castings o nude women in bronze by viennese artisans . On these chairs the design of the upper back rail is often repeated in the lower front rail antique chippendale dining chairs with bronze leg decoration .
The type of chair which evolved during the first decade
of the 18th century was very pleasing to the eye antique brown staffordshire . The first cabriole legs were quite plain but the chair-makers of the lime did not consider that the chair legs were sufficiently strong to be made without connecting stretchers antique dining room with bulbous legs . However, by introducing a deeper seat rail it became possible to make a stronger joint at the top of the chair leg and eventually the stretchers were dispensed with altogether antique dresser names . The chair-backs of the Queen Anne period were of a pleasantly rounded appearance with a fiddle-shaped central splat, curved to support the sitter’s back meissen figures .
During the early Georgian period the cabriole leg remained in favour and without the stretchers was more sturdily fashioned than the finer Queen Anne shape 17th century writing desk . Moreover, it became the custom in the better class of chair to ornament the knees of the cabriole legs with carved shells, acanthus leaves or satyr masks american art deco bar furniture . Instead of a simple pad at the bottom of the leg, the ball and claw foot was adopted 19th century pennsylvania furniture prices . This was a pattern derived from a Chinese dragon motif which clasped in its claw a celestial pearl 19th century antique hall table . All-over upholstery of chair backs now became fashionable, but it was a vogue which died out when Chippendale and his contemporaries introduced the elaborately carved chair backs of the mid-18th century duncan phyfe table and buffet .
Chippendale included a straight, square sectioned leg among the designs for his chairs and when made in the Chinese taste these were covered in low-relief carving to simulate lattice work edward round drum tables . As if there was some doubt as to the structural efficiency of these legs, the use of stretchers was re-introduced art deco round glass chinese painted coffee table value . Chair backs were generally rectangular, whether the style was Gothic, Chinese or one of the many rococo patterns which decorated the pierced splats antique bedside toilet . Some of these complicated designs from Chippendale’s Director were rather pleasingly simplified by country craftsmen, e antique silver fish knives ivory handle .g english knife box . the well-known rush-seated ladder-back chair early american wall mirror .
Around the beginning of the 18th century the wing-wardly curving upholstered arms and cabriole feet antique german breakfast table . Later in the century the arms were made more upright and the side wings larger victorian cherry drop leaf table . The wing-chair is deceptive both in size and comfort small antique dressing table with cabriole legs . It often looks smaller than it really is and care should be taken before buying one to ensure that it will really fit in wherever it is intended to go early 19th century mahogany desks with lion feet . Although the winged chair marked a great advance in human comfort at the time, the unsprung seating feels hard compared with the resilience of 20th-century upholstery antique inlaid marquetry dutch chairs .
While George Hepplewhite was known to have made a considerable quantity of furniture to the designs of Robert Adam, he himself was probably responsible for many well-known types of chair such as the shield-back, the oval-back and the feathers pattern sofa table mahogany antique . The backs of Hepplewhite’s chairs were more rounded than those of his predecessors and he also favoured tapered legs which were often fluted utensils used in britain for cooking . His furniture generally was of a lighter appearance than that which had gone before occasional tables painted india . Sets of dining chairs usually consisted of ten or twelve single chairs and two arm-chairs or carvers antique rectangular drop leaf dining table . These latter were designed to accommodate the broad figures and full frock coats of the l8th-century gentlemen and the seats were made proportionately wide rue la la . The curve and sweep of the arms is also noteworthy for they were cut from solid blocks of mahogany of a size which would make it uneconomic to employ in modern reproductions “myott, son & co” .
Robert Adam designed his chairs to match the classical interior decoration of the houses he built vintage wooden card table . They had turned and fluted or tapered legs and the lyre-back pattern was typical 19th century glass fronted cabinet . He contrived some elegant gilded chairs whose backs were adorned with small painted medallions on which appeared figures from Greek and Roman mythology georgian dressing tables . These were painted by contemporary artists like Angelica Kauffmann and Zucchi lenci mermaid figurines . Adam also introduced the fashion for painted beechwood furniture, and chairs in this style were often finished in black or white paint, neatly lined with gilding kem weber furniture designer prices .
For some time previously gilded furniture had enjoyed considerable popularity art deco reproductions clock . It is said that it was first introduced according to the wishes of the wives of those Georgian gentlemen who were filling their Palladian mansions with the rich but somewhat sombre mahogany furniture rare antique drop leaf . Quite a large proportion of this gilded furniture was imported from France and it is very difficult to identify English made chairs from the French originals german antique work tables . French chairs are believed to have upholstered pads on the arms and small peg-like ends to the scrolled feet while English gilded chairs are supposed not to have had any upholstery on the arms while the scrolls reached right down to the end of the legs bauhaus style furniture +scale . 1 have, however, seen both English and French chairs with variations of all these characteristics oriental writing bureau cabinet .
The rectangular chair-back returned with Thomas Sheraton, who of all the 18th-century designers could probably claim to have the greatest delicacy of taste antique chamber cabinets . He owed this success to a lightness of construction, hitherto unattained, and to his use of the natural beauty of the mahogany and satinwood grain directoire sofa . This he left without embellishment except for a slight amount of inlay and some boxwood stringing along the edges antique 18th century cedar chest . Sheraton was very close to the 20th century in his chair designs and I have seen dining chairs produced by well-known designers of the present day where the influence of Thomas Sheraton has been very strong indeed andre delatte .
Regency chairs have a distinctive elegance of their own, and although they could be bought quite cheaply in sets before the 1939-45 War, today they are very much in demand nest of 20 drawers . They are rather simply shaped with slender, turned legs and attractively scrolled backs antique art deco fixture . The back rails are often inlaid with ebony or brass and the lower rail is sometimes found carved like a rope length silver forks made in london . It was during this period that the top back rail was constructed so that it protruded on either side of the uprights, this design often being associated with the so-called sabre-shaped leg small sterling silver clocks .
The Restoration spiral twist now re-appeared in the Abbotsford furniture of the early Victorian period antique kayseri silk carpet pictoral niche . These chairs were usually made of walnut or rosewood but could never be mistaken for late 17th-century pieces antique oakchamber pot chair with hinged top . In spite of their rather fussy character and beadwork upholstery they are attractive and well worth acquiring bone handled fork converted to knive . About 1860 the cabriole leg returned to favour and many sets of attractive chairs, designed for the drawing room or parlour, were produced walnut escutcheons . Country-made rush-seated chairs with turned spindle backs and club legs date from the early 19th century and are still made in some northern counties french table stretcher draw leaf .
The origin of the Windsor chair is shrouded in mystery, as is also the name antique dresser with drawers stamped 54 . The tale that George III discovered this turned-wood type of chair at a house in the Chilterns and found it so to his liking that he had it sent to Windsor for his personal use may be accepted with that degree of credulity accorded to many fables concerning antiques cabinet makers antique work bench . Some authorities date the Windsor chair from the late 17th century and others from the mid-18th edwardian wardrobes . It is more than likely that in areas such as the Chilterns, where there are extensive beech forests, turned-wood stools and chairs have been produced for a very long time, even as far back as the 16th century desk boulle style . The Windsor chair as it is known today was really a product of the 18th century and it was probably during that time that it reached that very high degree of functional design for which it has become famous william kent eagle console table . Traditionally, these chairs have legs and spindles of beech which until a short time ago were shaped on crude lathes in the beechwoods by turners known as bodgers antique draw leaf dining table . The hooped backs and arms were made of ash which could be easily steamed and bent to shape while the seats were of elm because they could be cut in one piece from the broad elm boards silverware sets real fake . Some Windsor chairs have yew-wood arms, backs and spindles but are rather more rare and consequently more expensive to acquire italian provincial furniture . Those which have a shaped central splat in the back with a small wheel-like figure incorporated in the design are usually referred to as wheel-back chairs german antique sideboards and buffets fluted .
I have already mentioned sets of Georgian dining chairs and these command a high price, even when country-made russian porcelain antique . Due to a 19th-century custom of dividing sets of chairs among the beneficiaries of the will on the death of the owner, it is quite common to find single specimens or pairs of chairs of almost any period in sale-rooms and antique shops 18th century victorian toilet in dining room . Accordingly, it is not a difficult matter to collect what is sometimes referred to by the antique trade as a harlequin set of different chairs, either of the same or various periods empire curved bureau . In my dining room I have a very pleasant example of the Hepplewhite period, a pair and one single chair of Sheraton design, and two Regency carvers song dynasty bluish green glazed earthenware . None of these cost more than £5 and some much less countries that art deco was very popular .
High-backed oak settles look cosy and attractive before an open fire in a country inn but they are not really very comfortable and seldom fit in with a modest collection of antique furniture 18th century king george red velvet arm chair value . They often have a chest beneath with a hinged lid in the seat and sometimes shaped wings at the sides to combat the draughts pilaster bookstand price . The low-back settle or panelled settee with cabriole legs and a long overlaid cushioned seat are a better proposition and can be bought for under E10 antique cherry drop leaf table claw foot .
Of much rarer vintage is the double seated settee or love seat, designed according to tradition for the use of courting couples “desk”+”antique” . I believe that this is just another fable as these seats are not infrequently found in pairs, the second one provided, perhaps, for the chaperone simple design dressing table . More likely these love seats were merely part of the seating accommodation provided in a large salon or ballroom for the assem-blies and routs so much beloved by the Georgians ornate antique silver roast serving platter .
Longer settees with cabriole or square Chippendale type legs, and with padded arms and upholstered seats and backs, made an appearance in the second half of the 18th century francaise antique . Apparently they did not develop in popularity as there are comparatively few about and their places were taken by the sofa and couch swansea duck egg .
Tags: 17th century, 19th century, 19th century antique hall table, american, ancient civilisations, Angelica Kauffmann, antique art deco, antique cherry drop leaf table claw foot, antique porcelain, antique soup terrines, bedside, brass lamps, cabinet makers, cabriole, cabriole leg, cabriole legs, candlestick 17th century church, chair backs, chair design, chair designs, chippendale, chippendale chair, craftsmanship, decoupage, dining, display, dressing table, english knife box, escutcheons, farthingale, furniture design, George Hepplewhite, GEORGIAN, georgian period, Glass, henry moses, Italian, kidney shaped tables antique, look, love seats, mahogany, mahogany furniture, making pedestals for shows, malabar flatware, malachite table, malachite table with ormolu, man's glass dresser tray, Manchester, manchester pressed glass, manson's regency ironstone, maple birds eye art deco chairs, maple leaf octagonal occasional table inlay, marble nest of tables, marbled earthenware jug, marcel goupy pottery, marinot wwii, marjorie townley, mark 1723-35, marked decorchemont, markings on chippendale furniture, marks of famous 19th century furniture makers, marquetry galle tray, marquetry furniture, marquetry louis cubes, marquetry louis xv kidney shaped tables with flower inl, marquetry maggiolini, marquetry mahogany desk, marquetry tables, mason's ironstone marks, mason's ironstone of stoke-on trent, mason's ironstone patterns, mason's ironstone regency pattern, mason's patent ironstone china, mason's patent ironstone regency, masons ironestone ware, masons ironstone willow pattern china, masons oak shape ironstone, masons oriental design pottery, mass produced art from china, matthew boulton candelabra value, mayodon france nude, measuring isopon, mechanical inset and drop leaf antique dining table, mechanical movements design, medevil style dining table, medieval tripod table, meissen scattered flowers, meissen candlesticks blue, meissen elephant, meissen figurines of wind and sea, meissen harlequin kandler, meissen pastoral clock, meissen patterns, meissen porcelain 19th century elephant, meissen porcelain busts, meissen porcelain cube, meissen porcelain pagoda, meissen porcelain urns bolted with gold scales, meissen porcelain?pagoda, meissen reproductions elephant kirchner, meissen textured elephant, merchant class on art, metal occasional cabinet, meubles antique spain, michael thonet bentwood chairs-1929, michael thonet cabinet, michael thonet table, mid 19th century french furniture, mid 20th century oak brueghel table, mid century ambulante table, mid-16th century, mideival gothic furniture, ming style qing dynasty, minor nobility, minton cabinet plate, pilaster bookstand price, Portuguese, Queen Anne, regency furniture, regency period, revival, robert adam, serving tray, specimens, spice cabinet, stretchers, tea table, The Netherlands, thomas hope, windsor chair, wing chairs, wood, yongzheng period
Posted in Antique Furniture | No Comments »
Saturday, July 18th, 2009
THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
CHIPPENDALE PERIOD
IT is as well to realise at the outset that the title of this chapter, The Age of the Designer, is one largely of convenience, and must not be accepted without certain qualifications 1930 chairs dining black . That it implies an age when certain men were working out styles in an individual way is perfectly true, but it does not mean that these were the only men working in those styles ; neither does it mean that they were necessarily the originators of them greek designs and motifs . This may sound some-,A hat of a paradox, but the case is simple when one comes to analyse it kem weber designed art deco .
Take two outstanding cases, those of Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite brass railings marble furniture . Both these names have come to stand for certain styles in furniture, and a chair, or w hatever it may be, can be picked out and dubbed as one or the other antique epergnes and marks on bottom . But this does not necessarily imply that it was made by either of these cabinet makers deco legs . When one comes to consider the vast amount of mahogany furniture of the period which has survived (discounting the many fakes and reproductions) it must be obvious that all of it could not possibly have been made in the workshops of just two firms decorated night tables . That both firms prospered and turned out a good deal of furniture is true, but against this was the fact that it was all made entirely by hand, so that the labour and time involved must have been tremendous rococo eagle dresser .
It becomes obvious then that, taking just this aspect of the case, there must have been many cabinet makers who were making furniture in these styles, and we have now to consider whether these were plagiarists copying the ideas of just two men, or whether the names Chippendale and Hepplewhite have come to be applied to certain furniture merely because these two fashionable cabinet makers happened to be working in styles which had evolved naturally delftware pottery . Opinion on the subject has changed considerably during the last twenty-five to thirty years antique german desk . Chippendale FIG rene prou . 107 how to distinguish a 19th century empire sofa . ARMCHAIR
WITH FLATTENED
TOP BACK RAIL wooden upholstered arm chair .
About 1755 makers of silver table ware in late 1800’s .
The tendency to replace the rounded or hooped back by the flattened top rail is shown in its culmination in this chair calamander wood bookcase .
FIG 18 century hall tables . 108 frosted glass vase with smokey streaks . CHAIR WITH
SQUARE MOULDED
LEGS “18th century desserts” .
About 176o what, what+british vernacular .
When this square form of
leg was introduced, the
stretchers were once
again used anttic dishes . The double
ogee section of the legs
was used almost ex-
clusively antique blue side table .
FIG chippendale dining double pedestal . 109 antique gateleg drop leaf round table . LADDER BACK ARMCHAIR belgium porcelain dining tables .
About 1760 making cabriole legs with padded feet .
The back Is a departure from the upright slat type which had been used almost exclusively since Queen Anne’s time swedish antique round carved tables . It was probably a resurrection of the tall ladder back of James II time parts of chambersticks .
FIG oriental drop front . 110 typical art deco furniture . SIMPLE
MAHOGANY CHAIR antique folding card table dutch painting .
x76o-1770 baltimore fancy chairs .
For less wealthy cus-
tomers plain chairs were
made which in a general
way followed the pre-
vailing fashion but with
costly carving and other
detail omitted late medieval sideboard . They
were sometimes made in
beech chest on legs sofa table .
funtature dating . CHAIR WITH CHINESE INFLUENCE antique white chamber pot .
About 76o early soft paste teapots .
The Chinese influence is shown in particular in the use of the lattice work in the back and the frets in the rails whitle marble tables. consols, sideboards, dining . At best it was but a grafting of Oriental detail on a purely Western form spergne antique .
FIG guilloche antique frame -russian -ebay . 112, UPHOLS• TERED ARMCHAIR 1850s gateleg with butterfly leaf .
About i26o,
t II Note that the back has lost the winged form seen in the last example of an upholstered chair in Fig english walnut club chair . 79, p how african art inspired art deco . 101 rectangular drop leaf sofa table . Small fretted brackets between the front legs and sea, rail were often used as
in this example russian neoclassical secretaire .
Strong Trade Tradition
used to be held up as a great designer and practical cabinet maker, so great and individual in style that the whole trade automatically turned to him as a leader and copied his works in sheer admiration george oakley furniture . To-day people are more cautious in accepting this theory blue glass pheasant .
Both Chippendale and Hepplewhite were practical cabinet makers antique furniture made with scottish pine . Their places of business are known to have been, the former in St lovers on a swing’ meissen porcelain . Martin’s Lane and the latter in Cripplegate, and both published books of designs georges jacob furniture . Possibly it was these books that gave rise to the theory that they were the leaders of design, the fact being lost sight of that these were virtually catalogues aaron burr desk . The more likely theory is that both men were extremely successful interpreters of styles which were a natural development along traditional lines 17th century silver tableware . In the sense that both were able, practical cabinet makers, with a gift of originality, they helped to establish styles on thoroughly sound traditional lines and at the same time impart to their work a feeling of individuality thonet recliner . Apart from this, it can hardly be claimed that either was a great designer, turning out purely original work in the way that, say, Wren designed buildings which were entirely individual and obviously the work of a great inventive genius jackfield pottery animals .
The case of Robert Adam as a designer of furniture is in a rather different category antique silver fish knives and forks . Adam was an architect, not a practical cabinet maker, and he designed his furniture specially to suit the houses he built edgar brandt deco tables . It was natural, then, that his furniture should show more of a definite break from tradition, because he was not fettered by years of training in a certain established school (with whatever advantages and disadvantages that carries with it) flatware forks types . At the same time, the fact that he became an extremely successful architect with a large clientele made it inevitable that he should attract the attention of many cabinet makers, who would make furniture which was either a copy of pure Adam work or was just founded upon it display cabinet design in royal style . Thus, except for certain authentic specimens, one cannot hope to do more than classify a piece as being in the style of Adam
THE CHIPPENDALE PERIOD
With this explanation of a title which might otherwise be regarded as misleading we may turn our attention to the first C’hippendale’s Status
school of design, which began at about the time when the second rising for the house of Stuart took place, 1745 coalport 1920s vogue collection . We have seen that by this time mahogany was used exclusively—that is, so far as the towns were concerned warm entree dish . There still was a certain amount of oak furniture made in country districts, but it was mainly in the style of years before and cannot be said to be typical of the period pennsylvania dutch antique china cabinet hand painted pictures . It has also been noted that in some respects the Queen Anne feeling was retained, especially in the pieces which had always been made in solid wood funtature dating . In particular, the chair had still much in it that was reminiscent of early times, although the gradual flattening of the top rail and the straightening of the uprights had introduced a new element furnuture pieces supboards style bambocci .
Taken generally, the early Georgian period was disappointing from the point of view of design cockerel mark pottery . It is to be admitted that design is largely a matter of individual taste square white occassional table . One man can find satisfaction in work that has no appeal to another mallard furniture . At the same time the models of about 1730 make a poor showing when compared with the best work of Queen Anne’s time, especially in the chairs for sale antique pedestal candle table 3 legs brass claw feet . Chair making then, as to-day, had become largely a specialised job, and for some curious reason the craftsmen somehow failed to make the best of their opportunities pop up cigarette deco dispenser . Not that the work was generally inferior in the quality of the workmanship ; the carving was often of a high order ; but that the outlines and general shapes were often poor rare antique japanese tea bowls . For instance, the cabriole leg often degenerated into an overshaped thing, and the claw and ball foot lost a great deal of its former vigour british deco table . The shapes of the backs, too, were often unsatisfactory and give one the impression that in feeling round for a new expression the craftsmen were lacking in appreciation of a well-balanced line, good craftsmen though they might be “antique collectors blog” .
By 1745 or so there was a definite upward tendency again steel dining table germany . This has often been put down to the advent of Chippendale antique austria 1855 - 1953 statues . That his individual work was generally of a high order, showing a fine appreciation of line backed up by the best craftsmanship, is true, and in that sense he probably did influence the trade, but it is doubtful whether this alone could have been the guiding force in the whole world of cabinet making black desk curved legs . It is too much to expect that his influence could have become general in so short a time and extend all over the country The probable truth is that that particular age produced a number of men all largely gifted with an eye for good proportions and line porcelain table clocks . It is difficult to explain just why this should have been, but parallel cases happen in all the arts and crafts at certain periods english sterling silver chambersticks . They lapse for a while and then a whole number of capable men come along, and the art is lifted from the rut into which it seemed to be sinking antique designs of dinner tables .
Chippendale’s Director paul de lamerie sauce boat .—We may, at this point, turn to what little we know of Chippendale himself antique ivory chinese queen ang king . This is derived chiefly from his book, The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker’s Director, first published in 1754, and from bills for goods supplied by him regency era anquite beds . His workshop was first in Conduit Street, Long Acre, and afterwards in St design italian crockery cupboard . Martin’s Lane, and it is apparent that he conducted a very flourishing and fashionable business antique walnut tall boys . It appears that in 1755 fire broke out, and a notice of the event states that there were twenty-two workmen’s chests in the shop antique english knights dining tables . When one adds to this the men who would have been engaged in polishing, fitting, and general work it is apparent that a great deal of work must have been turned out antique imari porcelain . Later in his life (he died in 1779) he made a good deal of furniture to the designs of Robert Adam blonde french deco vitrine .
That he himself was a practical carver and cabinet maker there is no doubt, and this makes it all the more remarkable that so many of the designs in his book were impractical bernard palissy . It is to be admitted that the plates were the -work of an engraver who may have used considerable licence, but, even so, it is difficult to conceive of a practical man passing designs which he must have known could not have been made as they were frosted glass opalescent glass . From the preface of a later edition it is apparent that many people of the time had their doubts as to the practicability of some of the designs, for he makes a sort of apology, and attributes the adverse criticisms to ” Malice, Ignorance, and Inability antique dressers by northern furniture .” Possibly there was something in it metal plates and trays from iran . No man becomes successful without somebody feeling the jaundice of jealousy, but all the same Chippendale would have had his work cut out had he had to make some of the items exactly as they appeared in his book glass cabinets display printers type .
In some rare instances it has been possible to identify pieces of furniture with illustrations from the Director and the differences where the practical cabinet maker has had to adapt the design are obvious davenport desk 19 century . Probably the truth is that the The Gentlemen and Cabinet Maker’s Director
book was intended primarily as a catalogue which would attract men of wealth to the workshop antique elm table & chairs . The list of subscribers includes many titled people and rich merchants, who would be likely to have money to spend, and these were objective of the book ; people who would turn over the leaves and make a selection of things they would order from him british longcase makers .
It is true that the book was also described as a trade book which would include directions for making the various
FIG, 114 charles side table stretcher walnut . SIMPLE SIDE TABLE WITH MOULDED LEGS swedish furniture 1930 .
About i76o marquetry drop leaf side table .
The straight leg moulded along its length was used considerably by the Chippendale school swedish antique side table . Note that the inner corners are deeply chamfered antique bookcases london .
pieces antique commodes chamber pot . In the event the main bulk of the subscribers were cabinet makers (this probably accounts for the defensive preface he wrote for his second edition), but from Chippendale’s own point of view these were probably incidental to the main object decortive burr rosewood vase .
CHAIRS
The middle and second half of the eighteenth century has often been called the golden age of cabinet making, and it was in this Chippendale period that it blossomed 1920 art deco antique dressing table . As a first example, take the armchair shown in Fig walnut armchair josef urban art noveau . 107 antique side table with sloped shelves . It represents a type that has never been excelled dining table glass silver antique . Individual taste may prefer, say, the fine shield back chair of the Development of the Chair
Hepplewhite school (and certainly that is beautiful enough), but in its own particular way this Chippendale chair has all the parts that go to making a really fine piece, satisfying in line, sound in construction, and of the finest workmanship lancashire antique bureau 1790 .
In many ways this chair is a direct descendant from the Queen Anne models with which we are already familiar antique drop front writing desks . Other influences were to creep in later, but here almost every detail has something about it that shows its origin in the traditional line ancient gothic furniture . The legs are of the cabriole type and have the turned club foot used as early as the late seventeenth century czechoslovakia r porcelain . They are finely proportioned, with the full, high knee completely free from the overdone, bandy shape often found in earlier mahogany work antique bidet table . The knee carving is of acanthus leafage, which was the first stage of development from the shell and husk detail of Queen Anne models ancient greece furniture . The back is the culmination of the stages of evolution shown in Fig scroll planter table y chair . 102, Chapter VI leopold stickly table 1959 . The uprights have only a slight curve—both backwards and sideways—the combined effect of which is to give a sort of serpentine shape when seen from the three-quarter view revolving chipendale bookcase . The right-hand upright shows this clearly antique little silver . The top rail is straight (the word is used in contrast with the full rounded shape of Queen Anne models), and the slight dip at the ends gives an acute corner “18th century desserts” . This detail should be compared with those in Fig 19th century sewing tables with . ioz 1800 furniture desk ivory inlay wood . Tradition, too, is preserved in the retention of the single splat in the back, though it is pierced and carved to give the effect of a series of interlacing straps and scrolls buy antique pembroke inlaid table .
An innovation of the Chippendale period was that of the square leg office chair french . In some cases it was completely plain, but as a rule it was moulded along its length as in the chair in Fig i8th century english silver table . io8 metal borders friezes fretwork . In section the moulding was usually a double ogee, and at the top it was cut away to leave a plain flat surface to which the upholstery materials could be fixed antique desks by wilkinson and son . It should be noted that in this type of chair the stretcher rails are introduced once again antique oval table with middle drop leaf . The shaping of the back is similar to that in Fig antique wheel engraved glass patterns . 107, though the splat is rather more reminiscent of an earlier pattern like that in Fig arts and crafts liberty of london oak furniture . 102 george 1 style mahogany stool .
At the same time that these fine chairs were being made for the fashionable people in town a simpler form was being turned out in country districts black lacquer armchairs . Sometimes these were in mahogany, but quite a number were made in beech or even oak and stained to resemble mahogany english fcbinet makers 19th century . Fig antique telescopic dining tables . i i o shows a Oriental and Gothic Influence
chair of this kind “liberty furniture” . The legs are plain and the back splat has the simplest possible piercing voysey furniture . As a rule these chairs have a certain coarseness and heaviness about them, and are obviously the effort of a man working in an unfamiliar element augsburg marquetry table cabinet .
A particularly effective pattern of chair was the ladder back shown in Fig furniture ornaments ny . iog mahogany inlaid console table . It was a completely new departure so far as the cabinet maker was concerned, though it may have had its origin in some of the tall back chairs made in the latter part of Charles 11 reign sideboard lacquer mother of pearl . These often had a series of plain horizontal slats, with shaped edges fitting between turned uprights antique table with off centered middle leg . In the present chair the slats are pierced as well as shaped, and are fitted to the characteristic curved uprights 19th century german furniture makers . It will be seen that the same straight moulded legs are used as in Fig jacobean monks chair . ic,8, and the curious fact may be noted here that, except for one or two occasional variations, the same pattern of moulding is used practically always in these chairs prohibition parlor clock . It seems rather odd that a trade convention, or whatever it may be called, was so strong that almost every chairmaker followed it american art deco bar furniture .
Chinese Influence duncan table claw drop leaf drawer .—A rather curious influence that took a considerable hold on the world of furniture after the middle of the century was the Chinese curule friedrich schinkel . There was a popular rage for things oriental at the time ; Nvalls were covered with Chinese wall papers, and Chinese pottery was in demand jourdain modernist chair . Sir William Chambers had made a visit to China and on his return published a book of drawings of oriental studies exoticism, furniture . Its effect on furniture was the introduction of such motifs as temples, bells, lattice work, and elaborate frets, the whole often being seasoned with a strong French feeling art nouveau and august endell . In mirror frames especially the intermingling of the Chinese and French was strongly marked serrurier-bovy, silex . A chair having its origin in the popularity of this Chinese style is shown in Fig antique french candelabra . i i i black amethyst dishes . Note in particular the detail in the back and the frets of the rails berkey & gay american empire furniture . Furniture treated in this way is often spoken of as Chinese Chippendale, but it will be realised that it is only a rather bizarre adaptation of a few Eastern motifs to typical Western work, and is not really Chinese in feeling clock 1700th century wood . Chippendale shows a number of chairs of this kind in his book reproduction potboard dressers .
Oriental and Gothic Influence
chair of this kind inexpensive antique wardrobes . The legs are plain and the back splat has the simplest possible piercing antique sideboard 1825 . As a rule these chairs have a certain coarseness and heaviness about them, and are obviously the effort of a man working in an unfamiliar element value of empire style china closet 1910 .
A particularly effective pattern of chair was the ladder back shown in Fig antique shaving supplies quartz . iog antique furniture “made in france” coffee table art deco . It was a completely new departure so far as the cabinet maker was concerned, though it may have had its origin in some of the tall back chairs made in the latter part of Charles 11 reign art deco silver train straight on view image . These often had a series of plain horizontal slats, with shaped edges fitting between turned uprights turn of the century drop leaf table imperial . In the present chair the slats are pierced as well as shaped, and are fitted to the characteristic curved uprights curved walnut dining chair . It will be seen that the same straight moulded legs are used as in Fig baltimore & annapolis 18c cabinet makers . ic,8, and the curious fact may be noted here that, except for one or two occasional variations, the same pattern of moulding is used practically always in these chairs rent baroque wood carving furniture . It seems rather odd that a trade convention, or whatever it may be called, was so strong that almost every chairmaker followed it french antique writing secretaire .
Chinese Influence thonet rail styles .—A rather curious influence that took a considerable hold on the world of furniture after the middle of the century was the Chinese antique english tea tables . There was a popular rage for things oriental at the time ; Nvalls were covered with Chinese wall papers, and Chinese pottery was in demand arita porzellan in deutschland kakiemon . Sir William Chambers had made a visit to China and on his return published a book of drawings of oriental studies andre hunebelle glass . Its effect on furniture was the introduction of such motifs as temples, bells, lattice work, and elaborate frets, the whole often being seasoned with a strong French feeling “john dwight” potter fulham . In mirror frames especially the intermingling of the Chinese and French was strongly marked philadelphia chippendale antique dining . A chair having its origin in the popularity of this Chinese style is shown in Fig inexpensive french desks furniture . i i i porcelain figures of famous people . Note in particular the detail in the back and the frets of the rails 19th century american rosewood rococo console table . Furniture treated in this way is often spoken of as Chinese Chippendale, but it will be realised that it is only a rather bizarre adaptation of a few Eastern motifs to typical Western work, and is not really Chinese in feeling early imperial ming porcelain . Chippendale shows a number of chairs of this kind in his book painted silver trays .
FIG 18th century forks . 117 antique wrought iron candle sticks . SIMPLE BUREAU IN MAHOGANY 4 section antique cutlery box .
About 176o antique monk’s table .
The drawer fronts are edged with a cocked bead, and at the front corners
quarter-round turned pillars are inset cabinet maker 1840s .
FIG decorative writing styles . 118 bureau furniture . WRITING DESK WITH LEATHER COVERED TOP old fashioned wooden tray with silver legs .
About 1765 when were tea tables first used .
The moulding above the knee space is carved, a common feature of
Chippendale work antique metal tables with drop leaves . This would have been Impossible in walnut work
because the moulding was built up with a thin layer of walnut louis xiv roll top desk .
Tags: 1840, antique bookcases london, antique commodes chamber pot, antique desks by wilkinson and son, antique epergnes, antique french candelabra, antique sideboard 1825, antique walnut tall boys, brass railings, cabinet makers, Cabinets, chair, CHAIRS, chippendale period, Conduit Street, convenience, design, Director, drop leaf table, epergnes, event, for sale antique pedestal candle table 3 legs brass cla, George Hepplewhite, Georges Jacob, Germany, greek designs, hector guimard art nouveau chair three legs, henry greene & sons porcelain london, hepplewhite backed carved dining chair with upholstered, hepplewhite chairs lion mask, hepplewhite desk for sale, hepplewhite display cabinet, hepplewhite foot, hepplewhite furniture, hepplewhite sheraton drop leaf table, hepplewhite style drop leaf, herbert germany art deco glass, herculaneum basket majolica, herculaneum majolica basket, high brilliant italian furniture, high end claw foot table, hinged table top vintage, historical furniture german desk, history of price bristol stoneware, holland sons furniture, homer brothers sectional sofas 1930-1950, homer laughlin smoky grey pattern, horse hair hides for furniture, hot water plate warmer, houghton hall, hour glass shaped 17th century french baroque dining ta, how did art deco become most populaar, how did the deruta craftsman hallmark their works, how did the victorians use a commode after dinner, how did they use chamber pots in the 18th century, how do i identify an antique table that has small round, how do i look up an antique danish furniture maker?, how long should a sofa table be, how much is apostle spoons worth, how much is the 1790 stafforfdshire palissy pottery wor, how much is the dolphin antique toilet made in britain , how much or chipendale tables worth?, how old antique drop leaf table is, how to build a gateleg table, how to build a octagonal gateleg table, how to clean a furniture from 19 century, how to date a bed frame lays on floor 18th to early 19t, how to date an antique furniture hinge, how to fix crack in old wood dough bowl, how to identify antique large chess table with chairs, how to identify art deco glass ash tray, how to identify regency furniture, how to make a cabriole chippindale leg, how to mend old pictures, how to restore antique picture frame, how to restore duncan rosewood table, how to spot a fake antique chinese sideboard, humphrey chamberlain worcester pocelain, humphrey chamberlain worcester porcelain, hunebelle opalescent, influence, labour, mahogany furniture, marble furniture, Martin, motifs, night tables, old fashioned wooden tray with silver legs, outset, paradox, Porcelain, preface, Queen Anne, REPRODUCTIONS, robert adam, something, Thomas Chippendale, truth, two men
Posted in Antique Furniture | No Comments »
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.
Tags: Angular, anne, bedsteads, BENCH, blade, cabinet maker, cabinet makers, Cabinets, century, chisel, CLOCK, curves, different kinds, fretsaw, fretwork, furniture, george jones pottery, george jones stoke on trent napoleon, george jones stoke on trent napoleon 1862, george oakley furniture, george smith 19th century furniture designer, george smith invented around 1800, george tripod table, georgian antique bedside tables, georgian chippendale chair legs, georgian linen press value, georgian scottish chest of drawers, georgian sheraton late 18th century fine furniture, georgian style two tier dessert table in solid mahogany, german antique furniture weimar, german 1920 furniture design, german beech display cabinet, german bracket clocks, german cupboard, german derby porcelain, german dresser with ceramic spice drawers, german furniture carving cross, german glass beakers, german glassware artdeco 1920, german made dressing table furniture, german rococo walnut dining furniture, german wood inlay artwork, Giacomo Cometti, gibbons/furnitureantiques, gilded bamboo furniture, gilded lion's feet sofas, gilders compo, gillow burr, gillows gateleg table, gillows davenport, gillows furniture archives, gilt and glass tray, ginori art deco greek figures, glass cabinet kidney shaped, glass candlesticks designer, glass fronted charles sheraton display unit, glass inlaid tray, glass made in czechoslovakia 1869, glass table with wood leg arts, glass tray for dresser, glass tray on silver pedestal, glass tray with silver inlay, glazed brown jug italian, glazed pottery antiques, glazed pottery- turquise& brown leaf plate, glazed wegewood, god of mercy cabinet design, godwin aesthetic rush chair, gold for restoring antiques, gold imari porcelain, gold leaf paint for china repair, goldscheider marks, goldscheider myott animal fancy, goldscheider usa figurines, good quality ironstone, gossiping chairs, gothic antique carved table, gothic davenport desk, gothic roman scroll sofa, inlay, interchange, JACOBEAN, marquetry, Mary, moulding, Paris, perfect fit, period, pieces of wood, Queen Anne, recesses, right angles, TABLES, tight fit, trifle, veneer, walnut, William, workmanship
Posted in Antique Furniture | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
CHAIRS AND STOOLS
The chair as we left it in our chapter on Jacobean work was still a sturdily built piece of work though tending to
DETAILS OF THE CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, FIG. 74.
A. Queen Anne tallboy made in two separate parts.
B. Section through the built-up cross-grained cornice.
C. How thin oak back is fixed on.
D. Side viewof drawer showing dovetails.
E. Cut -away view with construction of carcase and drawer.
become lighter. A few were made with stuffed seats, and occasionally upholstered backs were added, but for the most part they were entirely of wood—or possibly were fitted with a leather seat stretched over the rails. This, though being softer than wood, could hardly be called upholstery.
After the middle of the century there arose a custom of using cane for the better type of chair back, and rushes for the commoner type. Upholstery, too, was used, though this did not become really popular until the reign of William and Mary. We may mention here that springs were never used. As a matter of passing interest, it was not until the nineteenth century that these came into use.
Twist Turning.—Caning is usually associated with the tall-back chairs which became popular during the second half of the seventeenth century, and this brings us to an interesting development, that of twist turning. Until about1625 or so only plain, straightforward turning had been attempted. The work was mounted in a curious contrivance known as the pole lathe, over which a long springy pole (hence the name) was suspended from a bracket in the wall. To the end of the pole was fixed a rope which stretched down to a drum attached to the chuck. It was taken a turn around
this and then down to a treadle. Thus when the operator depressed the treadle the work was revolved in a forward motion and the pole above was bent downwards. When the pressure on the treadle was released the pole sprang back, turning the work in the opposite direction.
It is obvious from this that the actual cutting could be done whilst the work was revolving forwards only, and when one considers the toughness of English oak, and the large size in which many of the old bulbous turnings were made, it is not surpri3ing that the turners did not go in a great deal for experiment. However, some ingenious craftsman, probably noticing the spiral made by his gouge as he passed it rapidly along the surface, did try his hand at forming a spiral or twist, and by a combination of pre-
liminary sawing out, rough turning, and use of carving tools to finish off, produced a rather uneven sort of twist.
It was not an easy business, however, one of the chief difficulties being that of making the same number of twists on each of a set of legs, and as a consequence twist turning did not make a great deal of progress until someone thought of making an attachment which would carry the gouge along sideways at a predetermined rate, which was set in accordance with the rate of revolutions of the work. In this way any number of turnings could be made, all exactly alike. There still are a few of these old pole lathes in use in the outlying districts of Buckinghamshire, where turnings for chairs are still made on a large scale.
A chair with twist turnings was given in Fig. 64 on p. 82, and in this we see the passing out of the old oak tradition. Chair making suffered something of a decline in the third quarter of the seventeenth century, at any rate from the point of view of construction. Instead of the seat rails being strongly tenoned between the legs, they were merely placed on top with no stronger attachment than a dowel
turned at the top of the legs. The same thing applied to the top rail of the back, which was simply fitted to dowels at the ends of the uprights. This detail is shown clearly in the chair in Fig. 75, though in this case the front seat rail is still tenoned between the legs.
This chair is fairly typical of the tall-back which persisted until the end of the seventeenth century. Turning was used considerably, even for the tops of the shaped front legs, and it is interesting to note that the back legs splay backwards. Even the early tall-backs did not have this detail, and if ever it were essential in any chair it was in one which was essentially lightly built and had a high back. For a man to lean back even slightly would be dangerous.
The legs are interesting in that they foreshadow the cabriole leg which was shortly to become popular, though when examined closely it is seen that they consist actually of a number of scrolls joined together with floral and leaf carving. Scroll work of this kind was used widely in chairs and stands of all kinds. It is seen in the front stretcher rail and in the back of that in Fig. 75.
Chairs with Cabriole Legs.—The introduction of the cabriole leg seemed to strike a new note in the design of chairs. It was not simply that a new motif was being used, but that the whole conception of the design became altered. Compare, for example, the two chairs on p. 98. It is obvious that the one has turned uprights whilst the other has shaped ones, but, in addition, there is an entirely new spirit in that in Fig. 76. In the earlier example, Fig. 75, one is conscious of a series of parts jointed together in an obvious sort of way. It is not suggested that this is a fault, but simply that the construction is at once apparent. One can count up the parts—two uprights, cresting rail, lower rail, seat rail, stretcher, and so on. And the earlier the chair the more obvious the parts and their purpose becomes.
Now turn to Fig. 76. It is not easy to see where the uprights and the top rail of the back begin and end. They merge one into the other, and the same thing applies to the slat and the rail beneath. The back is one whole, so to speak, and we shall find that this feeling becomes still more apparent in later chairs.
Reverting to the legs again, these are an early form of the cabriole type, and exemplify the Dutch influence which the accession of William of Orange brought with it. The probability is that many of these chairs were the work of foreign craftsmen who settled down here. A cabriole leg is by no means an easy thing to make, and it is doubtful whether a native craftsman could have turned out a really fine shape without previous experience. The awkward point about making the leg is that it is difficult to set down the true shape on paper. It can be drawn at the front, side, and possibly three-quarter positions, but the actual leg is seen from all angles and is normally viewed from above, a viewpoint which the drawing does not present.
Furthermore, in the very nature of the work the guiding lines on the wood are cut away as the work proceeds,
because the whole thing is more or less rounded in section. In actual practice the leg is cut out of a square right through to the over-all shape when looked at from the front. A corresponding shape is cut at the side, this producing a square cut shape. The point to realise is that the cutting
of the first shape automatically removes the lines of the second shape, and it is only by temporarily replacing the sawn-away parts that the shape can be cut true. In any case the resulting shape has only a distant resemblance to the finished line, and it is in the final shaping that experience is needed, because there are no square lines to which to work. Everything is curved in both directions, and it is only by eye that a really fine shape can be produced, one which looks well when seen from every angle. The whole thing is complicated when carving is to appear, because sufficient thickness has to be allowed for this, and the presence of these plain lumps is apt, to give a false impression of the shape as a whole.
We have gone into these practical points at some length because the cabriole leg became so characteristic a feature of
furniture for the following seventy-five years or so. Really fine legs are few and far between, the majority being overdone in the shape, and we shall find that they deteriorated considerably after Queen Anne’s reign until rescued by the school of Chippendale.
In the present instance, Fig. 76, it will be noticed that the legs terminate in a hoof foot, whilst at the top the sides are scrolled in imitation of the horns of the goat. These details are often found in William and Mary furniture, after which they gave place to the turned club foot, with which we shall meet in the next example. In the meantime it should be noted that the legs are still linked together with stretcher rails. It is true that the last-named are on an altogether lighter scale than in earlier pieces (see Fig. 64) and are gracefully shaped, but the chairmaker has not yet felt confident enough to omit them entirely, which was the next stage in the development of the chair.
Another feature of the chair in Fig. 76 met with for the first time is the curve in the rake of the back, and it is interesting to glance at the diagram in Fig. 78, which shows the various stages of development. There is the earliest straight post (J) cut from a square of timber and continuing from leg to back in a straight line. This was used mostly in the old settles of Gothic times (see Fig. 14, p. 23). Then came the idea of setting the back at an angle (K), a phase which lasted until past the middle of the seventeenth century. An example is given in Fig. 37, P. SO. In the same period in a few chairs little blocks were added at the bottom as at L to help to counterbalance the weight. This is exemplified in Fig. 18, P. 25. Next, the legs were at last splayed as at M, though the back still remained straight without any curve (see Fig. 65, P. 82). N gives the next development, as in the chair in Fig. 76, whilst 0 shows the shape which the majority of chairs in the later eighteenth century had, of which Fig. 102 is an example.
A last point to note about the chair in Fig. 76 is the shaped splat. This was something quite fresh (see last example in Fig. 75), and had certain definite stages in development. It is shown in the armchair in Fig. 77 in its most characteristic form. Apart from its shaped edges it follows the general line of the back when viewed from the side.
These two chairs in Fig. 77 exemplify the walnut period in its fullest stage of development in the Queen Anne period. That to the left is especially characteristic in the shape of the back, the splat, and the full cabriole legs with turned club feet. Note that the back is appreciably lower and that the shaping of the uprights has become more pronounced, especially in the rounded shape at the top. The splat, too, is entirely solid and has an urn-like formation.
The fact that the backs were shaped in both front and side elevations made them extremely expensive to produce, and it was for this reason that the square back type to the right in Fig. 77 was made for a more economical job. The uprights merely taper and they are quite straight in their rake. In the best chairs, however, the full shaping was given, and on some models the back was entirely veneered with cross-grain walnut. Another feature to note is the entire absence of stretcher rails.
Just as the development in the shape of the rake of the
.
back can be followed in a series of stages, so the plain shape of the seats developed on certain characteristic lines. These are shown diagrammatically in Fig. 78, from the square boxlike formation of early Tudor times to the tapering shape of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and the elaborately shaped seats of walnut furniture. Later on there was a return to the simpler form.
One other innovation in the walnut period in connection with the seats was the loose drop-in variety shown in Fig. 77
to the right. These were not used exclusively, the ” stuff-over ” method (left in Fig. 77) being also used frequently.
The development of upholstery has already been mentioned, and in Fig. 79 we have the fully upholstered arm-chair of about 1705. The projecting wings and the scrolled arms are especially characteristic, and bear out the prevailing popularity of shaped work.
.
Stools.—The two stools in Fig. 8o are of the William and Mary (left) and Queen Anne (right) periods. In the earlier specimens the legs are actually turned, and the scrolled and recessed detail is carved out of the shape. The shaped stretchers are similar to those already shown in the chest of drawers in Fig. 70, except that the edges are moulded instead of being square. In the Queen Anne stool the stretchers are omitted. The legs are worth noting in that they terminate with spade feet. These are carved out entirely, no turning being used. Other features often found are the shell carving on the knee with the pendant husks below, and the scrolls at the sides immediately beneath the ears.
The day-bed in the form shown in Fig. 67, P. 84, did not last into the eighteenth century. Its place was taken by the settee, which was rather like two or more chairs joined together side by side. There was sometimes a centre leg, though it was frequently omitted.
FIG. 75. TALL-BACK CHAIR WITH UPHOLSTERED SEAT.
Late 17th century.
Note that the top back rail is simply pegged to the turned uprights. The legs which are suggestive of the cabriole shape are in reality a series of scrolls.
FIG.76. WILLIAM AND MARY
CHAIR.
Late 17th century.
The back shows the hoop form in its embryo stage. It has the appearance of a complete thing in itself instead of consisting of uprights, cross rails and slats as in Fig. 75 above.
The legs have the hoof foot and scrolled ears In Imitation of the goat’s horns.
FIG. 77. WALNUT CHAIRS WITH CABRIOLE LEGS AND CLUB FEET.
Early 18th century.
The left-hand example exemplifies the development of double shaped work in
the hooped back. In the less expensive chair to the right the back is raked only,
with no shaping at the front. Note the use of the urn-shaped splat in both
examples.
FIG. 79. UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR.
Early i8th century.
Although thickly padded, these chairs were
never fitted with springs. The last named
belong to the 19th century.
FIG. 80. STOOLS OF THE WALNUT PERIOD.
Late 17th century. Early z8th century.
The legs of the left-hand stool are turned and the carving is cut into the turning.
Note the omission of the stretcher in the right-hand stool. The shell and husk
carving is typical.
FIG. 81. SMALL BUREAU AND BUREAU WITH CUPBOARD.
Late 17th century. Early 18th century.
The inverted cup shape of the turned legs in the small bureau shows the William and Mary period. The mirrored doors of the cupboard in the right-hand example were a common feature in Queen Anne pieces of this kind.
FIG. 82. SMALL WALNUT WRITING TABLE.
Early 18th century.
This exemplifies well the way in which the construction
was entirely concealed by the use of veneer. The apron
piece beneath the drawers is often seen in Queen Anne
tables.
FIG. 83. QUEEN ANNE PERIOD SECRETAIRE.
Early 18th century.
The front of the upper carcase is hinged so that it drops down and Corms a
writing top. The inside is fitted up for stationery.
FIG. 84. WALNUT VENEERED CHINA CABINET.
Early 18th century.
The barred doors owed their origin to the difficulty of producing glass In
large panes. They were cross-grained with a rib at the back.
FIG. 85. CHINA CABINET WITH BARRED DOORS ON STAND.
Late 171h century.
The craze for collecting china encouraged by Queen Mary was the cause
of the introduction of the china cabinet.
Tags: 18th century, 19th century, CHAIRS, characteristic, china cabinet, construction, CURVED, czecho-slovakia lustreware, czecho-slovakia pottery and porcelain made for export i, czechoslovakia antique 8 sided china, czechoslovakia antique eight sided china tea set, czechoslovakia antique vases, czechoslovakia china markings 1857, czechoslovakia china sets, czechoslovakia fine china 1857, czechoslovakia geometric china, czechoslovakia porcelain, czechoslovakia porcelain marks, czechoslovakia porclein, czechoslovakia serving dishes, czechoslovakia/porcline, czechoslovakian porcelain value, d end dining table for sale, daniel quare verge watch, danish furniture 19th, danish furniture makers marks, danish neoclassical secretaire, dansih furniture exotic timbers, dark wood maple candlesticks uk, date of art moderne period, dating an antique clawfoot table, dating aneroid barometers, dating antique spongeware, dating tripod table, daum art glass fig leaf with snail, daum ashtray, daum clear glass figurines, daum collectors, daum france crystal animals, daum france glass horn pendant, daum nancy biography, daum nancy france ashtray, daum nancy pottery, davenport desk gilt brass gallery, davenport desks, day bed window seat skinny mattress, deberry solid mahogany bed frame, decanters by robert ashbee, design, Elizabethan, furniture, JACOBEAN, jacobean period, legs, nineteenth century, Queen Anne, Reverting, seventeenth century, stools, TABLES, UPHOLSTERED, upholstery, walnut, william and mary, william of orange, writing table
Posted in Antique Furniture | No Comments »