Posts Tagged ‘robert adam’

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 .

THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
HEPPLEWHITE PERIOD
HEPPLEWHITE began his career as a cabinet maker
at a time when the art of cabinet making was at its ifullest tide kakiemon porcelain . The second half of the eighteenth century is often called the golden age of cabinet making, and by I- `6o, when Hepplewhite settled in business at Cripple-gate, the standard of design and craftsmanship was at its zenit1h walnut tripod tea table . The Chippendale school was still in its prime, and they was a strong group of craftsmen who had ingrained in the — a fine trade tradition, a thing which implies something more than a mere ability to use tools antique card table collectors . It means a sense of appreciation and a certain element of originality, tempered with the convention that belongs to a workshop where everything is done by hand silver tripod table .
George Hepplewhite was one of these practical men english bristol teapots . He was scarcely a designer in the sense that Robert Adam was antique english stoneware identification . He did not sit down at his drawing board and sketch out purely original designs, but his work had characteristic features that can usually be recognised andre’ japaneese porcelain . As a cabinet maker he knew his job perfectly, and, in addition, he had a keen appreciation of fine line which enabled him to give his work a certain individuality in a way that would be beyond a man of no imagination eighteenth century women dressing in front of men in their bedchamber . In this sense he no doubt influenced the trade considerably, but beyond this he simply worked in a certain style which a group of cabinet makers was following angouleme guerhard . His name has come to be attached to that style probably because of his book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, and that was not published until 1788, two years after his death antique wooden pot cupboard .
It is apparent, then, in speaking of Hepplewhite furniture a general style popular from about 1760 until practically the end of the century is implied rather than the work of Hepplewhite himself as an individual dutch antique furniture . A great deal of furniture no doubt was made in the workshop at Cripplegate, but except in a few rare instances it is impossible definitely to identify it antique drop-leaf bread table .
Taken generally, Ilepplewhite furniture was comparatively simple antique blue glass kidney shaped end table . There were a few touches of decoration (usually applied), but even the most ornate specimens had nothing like the elaboration found in the richer Chippendale pieces english porcelain parian . Several new forms of decoration were introduced or revived, for whereas Chippendale work had little other form of decoration besides carving, Hepplewhite furniture had
FIG (chineseexportporcelaincoffeeservice) . 130 tambour commode . SHIELD BACK CHAIR french art deco porcelain jaguar .
1770-1780 spoonback armchair .
One of the finest chairs produced in the 18th century “antique collectors blog” .
For all their lightness these chairs were extremely strong art nouveau jugendstil jugs .
being made in the finest mahogany and of the best work-
manship multipurpose dressing table .
inlay, painting, and gilding in addition to carving glass table antique ceramic legs . The inlay usually took the form of bandings and strings in satinwood, rosewood, ebony, and so on, and was in fact very similar to the inlaid work usually associated with Sheraton glass boudoir lamp deco . Carving was of small classical subject, vases, festoons, draped cloth, and swags of husks, an entire departure from the elaborate scrolling acanthus leafwork of the Chippendale school duke extendable dining table .
It is perhaps in the chair that the Hepplewhite charac-
HOOP BACK
CHAIR antique empire or regency style mahogany bookcase .
1770-1780 english seventeenth century cabinets .
A favourite motif of Hepple-
whitewere the ears of wheat ball and claw tripod table antique . These appear at
the top of the pierced splat
in the back 18th century wardrobe .
11
FIG carved japanese tea table . 132 edgar brandt reproductions snake lamp . OVAL BACK
CHAIR pennsylvania house antique sideboard .
1770-1780-
The French influence is
strongly marked In this
chair world market carved brass charger plate . Except for this
French form the cabriole
leg was never used by
the late 18th century
designers antique silver sphinx .
SIDEBOARD WITH BREAK FRONT DECORATED WITH INLAY pembroke end table .
Late i8th century,
It was not until towards the end of the 18th century that the sideboard with drawer and cupboard accommodation
was made epergne antique for sale . It was evolved from the side table with separate pedestals recipe for “soft paste porcelain” . It is difficult to distinguish between
Hepplewhite and Sheraton pieces as both had a great deal in common italian deco furniture .
The Shield Back Chair
teristic is most marked de coene freres . Probably the most famous type is the shield back, of which an example is given in Fig small sutherland table . 130- A really fine example of a shield back ranks amongst the most beautiful things ever produced, but, like the cabriole leg, first-rate examples are rare antique folding “coaching table” . The truth is that it takes a first-class chair maker of considerable experience to make one properly, the difficulty being that the shaping runs in three directions 16th century english joyned table . There is the shield shape seen from the front, the backward rake, and the concave plan shape antique table turned legs . To incorporate all these to form one harmonious whole is something that calls for a great deal of skill and experience antique inlaid table birds .
As a rule the main back framing had a channelled moulding worked all round it, and the probable reason for this was that it helped to emphasise the shield shape steuben stemware deco . It will be realised that, although the lower part of the shield appears to be in one piece, it is in reality in three dresser with mirrors & teardrop pulls & ogee bracket . The side portions in fact continue down, forming the back legs, and a curved bottom rail is fitted in to complete the shape between them 18th century marquetry . By channelling the wood the shield appears to be in one unbroken piece william iv jupe extending circular . The front legs of these chairs were invariably tapered louis sue .
The chief outside influences of Hepplewhite were the Adam and the French raoul dufy, plates ceramique . Of the latter there was Louis XV, which showed itself in the cabriole leg exemplified in Fig classical work/sewing table mahogany,3 drawers,carved legs, pedestal paw feet . 132 olive green and iron red oriental porcelain . Note the French scrolled foot and the flat shaping which continues along the front seat rail in an unbroken sweep arabisque furniture in ny . Another French influence came from the Louis XVI, and one result was the use of the turned leg 18th and 19th century silversmithing . An example of this is the settee in Fig antique spoons italy silver ornate . 129 papier mache tray-c19th .
Other typical Hepplewhite chair backs are the hoop back, of which Fig antique drop leaf or gate leg tables, ,ny . 131 is an example, the oval back (Fig antique 5 leg oak drop leaf table . 132), heart shape, and that with the serpentine shaped top rail curving into the uprights mackintosh wooden chairs .
Pieces such as sideboards, writing tables, bureaux, chests of drawers, tallboys, wardrobes, and so on were, as already mentioned, extremely like Sheraton furniture, and are dealt with more fully in Chapter X curved back chair from 1940s . The bedstead in Fig french chamber pot bed tables . 129 is a four-poster, very like one appearing in Hepplewhite’s book, and shows the general restraint in treatment walnut tripod tea table .
Fig clawfoot dresser . 133 is a sideboard belonging to the last few years of the eighteenth century trestle table double column . It has characteristics of the Hepplewhite style, but there are others which belong equally to Sheraton, and, as we are dealing with what might be termed schools of design rather than the work of individuals, it is apparent that one can do little more than term it late eighteenth century antique french empire . It is probably the work of a cabinet maker whose name has not come down to posterity, and who worked in the traditional style of the period edwards & roberts furniture .
THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
ADAM PERIOD
N one important sense Robert Adam was entirely
different from the other outstanding characters with
-whose work this book deals serpentine top breakfast table . He was an architect by profession, not a practical cabinet maker, and in turning his attention to furniture he was not in any way fettered by any convention which a tradesman might have 19century british armschairs . It is not suggested that the convention of a good trade tradition is bad ; it is one of the healthiest influences a craft can have ; but it simply is a statement of fact that Adam was able to approach the subject from a fresh angle italian inlaid tea table . He worked from his drawing board and passed on his designs to be carried out by a practical cabinet maker porcelain spanish dancers .
He had travelled a good deal in France and Italy, and on his return in 1758 he set himself up as an architect and rapidly became very successful antique furniture prohibition bar examples . As a result of his foreign studies he was influenced considerably by the classical school, but he had a strong individual turn, and as a result his work had a characteristic touch which made it different from that of other architects working in the classical style antique drop leaf table for sale . It was delicate and refined (some term it effeminate), abounding in small intricate detail, and it superseded largely the rather heavier work of such architects as Sir William Chambers “empire designer, best known for pedestal tables with curved legs .
His connection with furniture was that in designing an interior he included the furniture as an essential part of the scheme blue china tea set with silver inlay england . To the average architect the work was finished when the walls and ceiling had been decorated, but Adam required every detail, even to the ornaments on the sideboard, to harmonise with his ideas japanese portable cherry wood tea tables . Perhaps the most notable example is that of Harewood House, in which the furniture was designed by Adam and executed by Chippendale antique ball and claw desk .
Although there were marked characteristics in Adam furniture, one has to be wary in accepting a piece as genuine Adam Characteristics
Adam chinese furnture form mid 19th centuary . The fact that he had to employ practical cabinet makers, combined with his great success, soon led to a great deal of imitation simple european furniture . In fact, of all the ” Adam ” work that has survived only a very small part can be identified as owing its origin to Adam himself regency period casters .
FIG porcelaine antique motif ming . 137 louis the 14th chair . DINING TABLE WITH FLAP AND PIVOTED BACK LEG japanese laqure tea table .
Abotd 1775•
This is one of a pair of tables Intended to be placed together when used
for dining silver flatware wood handle . The front rail is in reality a drawer front brass ornaments for furniture empire style . It now stands In
the Victoria and Albert Museum South Kensington 1828 sideboard buffet .
self was an individual and original designer, ” Adam ” furniture was, for the most part, the work of a school working in his style antique wood drop leaf table .
Adam used many methods of decoration in his furniture antique oak dropleaf gateleg table . The carving had definite characteristics shearers cupboard heavy . The acanthus leafage was finer and more delicately treated than in the full scrolled form which Chippendale had favoured, and, in addition, he used chains of husks, the honeysuckle device, Greek key, vases, drapery, plaques carved with mythological subjects, rams’ heads, and grotesques antique empire furniture . Inlay and marquetry, too, were revived, and were carried out in satinwood, tulip-wood, rosewood, amboyna, harewood, and so on biedermeier antique de . The subjects were similar to those of the carving furniture designersgerman . Another form of decoration was painting in the style of Angelica Kauffman meissen porcelain antic . A popular treatment was to make these painted panels the main feature of a design of scrolling acanthus leafwork
FIG antique dishes germany pastels with scallops . 138 henry clay bed and furniture . SEMI-CIRCULAR ADAM SIDE TABLE ferniture leg in itali .
T770-1780 antique table in europe .
An extremely fine piece of cabinet work carried out In mahogany antique vase markings newcastle.. on. tyne 1762 . The
curved top rail is veneered, the grain running crosswise 17 century elm gateleg table . The centre
panel and the oval pater2e are typical features brass frame girandole images .
and husks 17th and 18th century french silver marks . In some few instances, too, Wedgwood plaques were introduced bidet square .
A typical Adam sideboard is shown in Fig lion antique mahogany dining table . 136 royal sheffield silver . Properly speaking, it is a side table with two pedestals, but the three pieces were intended to stand together and form a whole In some cases the pedestals were actually joined to the table, though the result never seems quite so successful furniture of meiji period . It gives one the impression that the three pieces were actually separate at one time and were fixed together antique silver candelabras made in england . It is true that there was a general tendency to make the sideboard a single unit, but it was only when the pedestals lost their indivi-The Adam Sideboard
duality as such that the result was really a success labels under boulle furniture . The Sheraton sideboard in Fig makers of antique tea tables . 14 wheat shaped dining table base .4 exemplifies the point furniture  finmar ltd . The origin of the pedestals can just be traced, but they are essentially a part of the design as a whole “art, nouveau”"chiparus”"deer” .
The pedestals owed their origin to the lack of accommodation in the side table andres rosewood solid wood . If one refers back to the side table of Chippendale’s time in Fig chromed trestle table leg . 11 5 it is obvious that its only use was to provide standing space on its top directoire phyfe sofa . There were no drawers or cupboards in which table furniture could be kept opalescent glass perfume france . It fell to Adam to introduce the pedestals antique walnut telescooic dining table . Sometimes they were fitted up with metal grids to enable hot irons to be placed in the cupboards, so providing ? means of warming plates The urns at the top either had metal containers in which iced water was kept, or they were fitted up to hold cutlery antique rosewood armoire with claw feet . The more ornate specimens were often carved with rams’ heads, drapery, husks, and other devices selling japanese tea tables antique .
Towards the end of the century the cabriole leg practically died right out 18th century chippendale dresser . Adam never used it upholstered wood chairs from 1930s . In most cases he preferred the square tapered leg with small square feet fashion 17th century . They were usually recessed in their tapered portion, a pendant of husks often being carved in the recess near the top old gate leg table ball feet . The leg at C, Fig second hand old oak table in staffordshire . 139, shows this detail antique ladik rug . Another common treatment was to carve a series of flutes along the length, the lower part often being filled in with reeds (see A in Fig french antique occasional tables . 139)•
A particularly fine example of an Adam dining table is given in Fig important american girandole mirror . 137 english hepplewhite dressing table . It is one of a pair napoleon antique campaign chair . In use the two would be placed together, flap to flap, so forming one large table meals in eighteenth century england . The flap is supported by a single leg made to pivot frosted glass vase with smokey streaks . Thus when not required for dining the tables could be placed flat against the wall and become useful side tables antique chinese circular revolving bookcase . The decorative treatment is well worth noting antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . The tapered legs are fluted on all sides except one, this being carved with a crisscross design set in a recess antique table round drop leaf claw foot . At the top are paterx carved with leafwork theodore haviland 1958 pattern . The fluted top rail with the plain centre part carved with swags of husks is typically Adam english stoneware marks . He invariably introduced this centre panel french meals17th century .
An example of a small side table with turned and carved legs is given in Fig furniture cupboard design,side board,wood . 138 george hepplewhite bottle case . It exemplifies well the delicate treatment of which Adam was so fond meissen porcelain animalsfrederick augustus . Note the use of the centre panel again, this time of quite plain form see a silver sauceboat with a heated base . Other kinds of Adam legs and feet are given in Fig antique glass top tea table bird . 139•

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 .

Art Nouveau English Furniture: OCCASIONAL TABLE, TWO-TIER ETAGERE, DISPLAY CABINET, REVIVAL FURNITURE

WHILE SOME EDWARDIAN households
embraced the latest Art Nouveau forms, many returned to the furniture styles of the past and the latest Classical revivals. Designs from various historical periods were dusted off and reworked by companies throughout Britain. Inspiration ranged from the distant past – Renaissance, Elizabethan, Jacobean, and even Gothic – to the more recent Neoclassical work of Sheraton, Hepplewhite, and Robert Adam. The result was comfortable rather than cutting-edge, and less cluttered than the Victorian ideal.
Art Nouveau and Revival furniture were made in parallel to satisfy the needs of the less adventurous Edwardians as well as those who subscribed to
the latest fashions.
REVIVAL FURNITURE
The Revival trend had started in the late 19th century after a new series of interior design books, aimed at the middle classes, reignited the fashion for the three great names of British Neoclassical furniture. Then, in 1897, Sheraton’s The Cabinet-Maker and
Upholsterer’s Drawing Book and Hepplewhite’s The Cabinet-Maher and
Upholsterer’s Guide were reprinted and the Revival was confirmed. The result was a fusion of the work of these three designers, adapted to suit smaller
Edwardian rooms and a desire for comfort. It was also a rejection of the heavy, sombre furniture popular in Victorian times.
Revival furniture was often made from light mahogany, satinwood, or satin-birch, and decorated with stringing, crossbanding, and wooden inlays of fans or shells, set with bone, or painted with flowers and foliate scrolls. Decoration was often elaborate. Sometimes pieces were made from less exotic and expensive wood and
painted to resemble satinwood. Some designers slimmed down Sheraton’s designs to make them more delicate. This occasionally went too far and resulted in pieces that were spindly and out of proportion.
Others took the path of true imitation
and aimed to recreate Sheraton and
other Neoclassical designers exactly
Some of these pieces are so faithful to
the original that it takes an expert to tell them apart. Gillow of Lancaster and Edwards and Roberts of London are among the best of these furniture-makers, but many other firms made inexpensive copies for the mass-market. Many pieces were not marked by the makers, so attributing them can be difficult.
A STEADY DEMAND
Despite the volume of furniture made, much Edwardian furniture was of
good quality However, veneers were sometimes used to disguise poor construction. There was a great demand for desks; bookcases; chests-of-drawers; display cabinets; commodes; side, dining, and other chairs; tables including dining, occasional, and dressing; marble-topped washstands; bedside cupboards; and wardrobes that were frequently part of a bedroom suite.
Sofas were often based on Sheraton and Hepplewhite styles, but were less overblown than Victorian examples. Manufacturers made suites of chairs with matching sofas, usually from
mahogany, but sometimes walnut or satinwood. Seats were often upholstered in silk or damask, while the backs and sides were caned.
PRINCIPAL MAKERS
Important names in Edwardian furniture included Waring and Gillow and Maple and Co. Maples was based in Tottenham Court Road, London, and was the largest furniture store in the world. It made its own furniture
for sale at home and abroad, and drew its customers from both the middle and upper classes and even royalty – Tsar Nicholas of Russia furnished his Winter Palace with furniture from its workrooms. Maples also furnished British Embassies, even going so far as to arrange for a grand piano to be carried up the Khyber Pass on packhorses.
For those whose taste did not fit in with either the Revival or Art Nouveau movements, there was an opportunity to furnish their homes in an exotic
manner using the new bamboo and wicker furniture, or pieces with a Moorish or Japanese influence.

SIDE CHAIR
This is one of a pair of Sheraton Revival satinwood side chairs. The pierced, oval back is centred by a portrait of a young girl, and the seat is covered with caning. The front legs are turned. Early 20th century.
SATINWOOD VITRINE
The elegant proportions of this cabinet are characteristic of the Edwardian era, when furniture became more slender and delicate. Influences were diverse, but the painted swag decoration, medallions, and motifs typical of
Glass panels allow treasured objects to be displayed.
Painted swags and medallions are Classically inspired.
The casing and legs are slender and delicate.
the period, are Classical in style. The cornice and pediment are decorated with portrait-style paintings. Vitrines did not become common until the second half of the 19th century. This one bears a label from Maple & Co.
OCCASIONAL TABLE
This circular table is made from mahogany and has satinwood banding and floral marquetry. The square tapered supports are united by stretchers. Early 20th century.

LADY’S WRITING DESK
Probably made by Maple & Co, this rosewood and marquetry compact lady’s writing desk, or bonheur, du jour, has a raised, galleried back with lidded interior compartments. The inset-leather writing surface sits above three frieze drawers and the piece is raised on slender legs. c. 1905.
Elaborate drop handle
Classical inlay motif
ROLLTOP DESK
TWO-TIER ETAGERE
The lid of this satinwood marquetry-decorated piece opens to reveal a mechanical interior. Initially introduced in the 18th century, the rolltop desk was reinterpreted during the Art Nouveau period to meet changing tastes. Early 20th century.
This etagere is made of inlaid mahogany and satinwood banding. The top is formed from a later glass-based tray, and the piece stands on square, swept supports. Etageres were used for displaying objects or serving food.
Early 20th century.
This impressive mahogany cabinet has fine crossbanded decoration and an astragal-glazed door and panels. The cornice is centred with an architectural pediment and the base is decorated with fiddleback mahogany and satinwood lozenges on the central door and canted sides. The cabinet is supported on slender legs. Early 20th century.
DISPLAY CABINET

MID 19TH CENTURY BUFFETS AND SIDEBOARDS

THE VICTORIAN PENCHANT for formal
social gatherings made the buffet and the sideboard very important items of furniture in more affluent households. Both were used in the dining room to display food and house crockery. They differed in that the buffet was a rather grand superstructure with two or more tiers, similar to the kitchen dresser,
whereas the sideboard was a less imposing, single-tiered cabinet.
DIFFERING STYLES
A wide variety of shapes were popular during this time, incorporating elements from various periods and styles. Arched tops and backs became more common as forms in general grew more rounded, although the traditional rectangular shape certainly persisted. The range of leg shapes used included cup and cover, square, tapering, and cabriole – all very different in style.
Woods used for buffets and sideboards tended to vary just
as they had in the late 18th century. Although these pieces of furniture were often made of mahogany or oak, many carried veneers of burr timbers.
From the mid 19th century. people wanted everything in a room to match in style and material. As a result, in many houses, all the furniture in the dining room, including the buffet or sideboard, would be made of a single wood, such as oak or walnut.
DESIGNED FOR STORAGE
As well as displaying and serving food, the buffet was used to store cutlery, dinnerware. and even decorative objets. Victorian households were Cluttered environments. and the sideboard was a reflection of this. They were peppered with various Compartments, cupboards, and drawers, each with their own specific purpose and many fitted with locks. Buffets in the grandest houses could be exceptionally large, with an average height of more than 183cm (6ft).
BRITISH SIDEBOARD
This early Victorian, possibly Anglo-Indian, oak sideboard has an elaborately shaped backboard surmounted by a number of finials and with an urn at its centre. Below the urn is an applied, carved coat-of-arms. The stepped, rectangular
top of the sideboard has a carved edge, above a gadrooned guilloche frieze and an elaborately carved strapwork apron. The sideboard is raised on carved cup-and-cover legs with gadroon
supports above plinth bases carved with paterae and pedestal feet.
FRENCH LOUIS XV-STYLE BUFFET
This Louis XV-style, cherry and burr walnut buffet has a moulded, gently arched top above a frieze carved with a flowering basket. The upper section of the buffet has a number of open shelves for displaying cups, plates, and decorative objects. These open shelves are
flanked by a pair of decorative serpentine panelled doors. The lower section of the buffet has two small frieze drawers and two further large panelled doors carved with swirling foliate decoration. The buffet has an ornamental shaped apron and is raised on short, slightly cabriole legs. Late 19th century.
BREAKFRONT SIDEBOARD
British mahogany breakfront sideboard is v decorated with satinwood banding and wood and ebony stringing. Two square,
doors flank the two graduated central
The case stands on six square,
tapering legs, terminating in spade feet. This elegant piece is Neoclassical in style and was probably based on a Sheraton example of around 1780. The deep cupboards would have been used for storing wine, and the frieze drawers for storing silver or cutlery. Late 19th century.
BRITISH MAHOGANY SIDEBOARD
This mahogany sideboard has a scrolling, arched backboard that is centred by a cabochon with mask surmount. The reverse breakfront top contains ogee frieze drawers and the four arched panelled doors enclose both sliding trays and shelves. The whole sideboard is raised on a plinth base.
FRENCH OAK BUFFET
The upper section of this oak buffet stands on turned supports and has a moulded cornice above two glazed doors, which open on to a shelved interior. The doors are flanked by fluted pilasters. The rectangular top of the lower section has two frieze drawers above two cupboard doors with applied carved decoration showing a Classical urn filled with flowers. It stands on squashed bun feet. Late 19th century.
BRITISH PEDESTAL SIDEBOARD
This fine George III-style mahogany, satinwood, and marquetry sideboard was made by Wright and Mansfield. The pedestals of the desk contain cellaret drawers for storing wine. The decorative motifs are strongly Neoclassical in manner, inspired by Robert Adam’s (1728-92) delicate interpretation of the style. The
elongated urns centred on each of the pedestals also serve to indicate their contents. Lightly drawn swags and striking anthemion motifs are used to define the individual drawers and cupboards, and to accentuate the essential symmetry of the piece with its carefully balanced use of curved and flat surfaces, sinuous lines, and geometric shape. c.1880.
ANGLO-INDIAN SERVING TABLE
The backboard of this hardwood serving table is elaborately carved with anthemion, acanthus, and birds. The rectangular top has bold, leaf-carved edging and rests on carved brackets with foliate fretwork to the back and sides. The table has a curved support with carved paw feet. Mid 1911) century.
ANGLO-INDIAN CABINET
The shelved upper section of this rosewood bookcase cabinet has leaf-moulded cresting above twin doors with elaborate pierced and carved panels, flanked by scrolling brackets. The lower section has two long, carved frieze drawers above two similarly carved doors. The piece stands on carved bracket feet.

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

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