Posts Tagged ‘rococo revival’

GEORGE IV AND WILLIAM IV
WHEN GEORGE III in 1820, his
scandalous son, who had been ruling as Regent for nine years, became King George IV Known [or his extravagant tastes, the interiors created during his reign, particularly those at Windsor Castle, are some of the most sumptuous in British history. The reconstruction of the apartments on the east and south sides of the Upper Ward of the Castle between 1824 and
1830 was entrusted to the architect Sir Jeffry Wyattville. The furniture and upholstery was supplied by cabinetmaker Nicholas Morel. These heavily gilded interiors have a French flavour.
On George’s death in 1830, his brother became William IV In contrast to the worldly pursuits of his predecessor, William’s reign was dominated by the Reform Act, which brought about parliamentary reform.
However, this period also marked an important period of transition between the Regency and Victorian eras. Much of the furniture was still Neoclassical in style although it was generally
heavier than Regency pieces.
TOUS LES LOUIS
The interest in 18th-century French
styles dates from the late 1810s, when
French furniture became
available after the Revolution.
These pieces, especially those with tortoiseshell and brass boullework, were collected by, amongst others, the Duke of Wellington and the Prince Regent. Sometimes called the Rococo revival, it was known (incorrectly) at the time as the Louis XIV style. The serpentine lines of Louis XV furniture were re-interpreted on furniture typical of Louis XIV or XVI.
style was particularly appropriate to seat furniture with buttoned, upholstered backs or sides and plump, cabriole legs. Case furniture tended to have rectilinear, classical lines.
The Old French Style was promoted in a series of pattern books from 1825, including publications by John Taylor, Henry Whitaker, and Thomas King.
John Weale published reprints of mid 18th-century pattern books by Thomas Chippendale’s .
LATE REGENCY
Much of the mahogany furniture of the period was a heavier version of Regency designs, anticipating Victorian solidity. Carving was often Classically inspired and combined with gadrooning and ribbing. Bun feet were used on chests of drawers or plinth supports. Chair and table legs were often turned and ring-turned rather than outsplayed or sabre-form. Bed-posts were similarly designed, sometimes with acanthus carving.
This burr-oak and ebony-inlaid rectangular George IV library table has a crossbanded top above a frieze with two drawers. The table top is supported on quadruple baluster end columns linked by a stretcher. Stamped Holden & Co, Liverpool. Early 19th century.
LIBRARY TABLE
WILLIAM IV SOFA
The panelled top rail of this elegant mahogany sofa is flanked by scrolling terminals depicting acanthus leaves. The lower arms of the sofa are upholstered to match the back and seat cushion. Two bolster cushions provide added comfort. The piece has leaf-carved urn
terminals and is supported on turned and carved tapering feet with brass caps and casters. Early 19th century.
The arms are decorated with leaf motifs.
The back of the sofa is decorated with scrolling acanthus carving,.
WILLIAM IV TRIPOD TABLE
This painted tilt-top table has a rectangular top above a single column, which is supported on a tripod base. There is an armorial design painted on the surface of the table. The piece terminates in bun feet. c.1835.
This elegant mahogany bed has a moulded cornice decorated with a carved frieze and supported on four turned and carved bed posts. At the foot, the posts are reeded and leaf-carved, while at the head of the bed the posts
GEORGE IV LIBRARY ARMCHAIR
The upholstered tub back of this library armchair has a U-shaped front, which has been faced in mahogany and carved with reeds and roundels. The chair is supported on turned and reeded legs that terminate in brass casters.
The chair is one of a pair. Early 19th century. DN
are plain, enclosing a panelled head board (formerly the foot board). The scalloped pelmet and drapes are made of a floral fabric. Early 19th century.
This mirror has a rectangular plate within a gilt and silvered wooden frame, surmounted by a laurel wreath and carved with berried laurel. The lower section has a central scallop shell motif with a thistle below, flanked by rocaille, plants and foliage. One of a pair. c.1830.
WILLIAM IV MIRROR
LIBRARY TABLE
This tortoiseshell-veneered library table has a moulded edge above a shaped apron, and is supported on cabriole legs. All of the surfaces are decorated with tortoiseshell and embellished with gilt-metal mounts. c.1830.

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

MID 19TH CENTURY CHESTS OF DRAWERS

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

BELTERAND THE ROCOCO REVIVAL
BELTER WAS THE STAR OF THE AMERICAN ROCOCO REVIVAL - HIS FURNITURE COMBINED TECHNICAL WIZARDRY WITH TRADITIONAL SKILL AND WON HIM THE ADORATION OF NEW YORK’S GLITTERATI.

JOHN HENRY BELTER ( 1804-63), as he came to be
known, was born Johann Heinrich Belter, near Osnabruck in present-day Germany. He was trained in the art of wood-carving in Wurttemberg, a town steeped in the traditional Black Forest traditions of hewing complex designs from the native hard woods. Befter left his homeland for America, arriving in New York in 1833. Within six years he had become a naturalized citizen of the United States, and was in business as a cabinet-maker in his newly adopted city as early as 1844. It was not long before his name, like that of Thomas Chippendale, became synonymous with the type of furniture he produced.
A SINGULAR TALENT
Unlike many of his contemporaries in the furniture business, Belter only ever worked within one idiom. Somewhat fortuitously, but also due in no small part to Belter’s own great skill, the Rococo-revival style in which he excelled remained in vogue throughout his career and long after his death. His great triumph, and the exclusive feature of his work that kept him in the vanguard of the competition, was the series of breakthroughs he made in the lamination process.
BELTER PATENTS
AT THE TIME BELTER WAS WORKING, THE US PATENT OFFICE WAS PROCESSING THOUSANDS OF APPLICATIONS A YEAR TO HELP FOSTER A CLIMATE OF INNOVATION. The distinctive style in which John Henry Belter worked would not have been possible
without his innovative technical and methodical achievements. A patent effectively acted as a limited monopoly sanctioned by the State, and could prove extremely
lucrative if used wisely. Although Belter was successful in securing a number of patents during his career, he apparently failed to exploit them to their full potential as he never became very wealthy.
Better fashioned strong laminate panels by affixing thin strips of wood together, the grain in each layer lying perpendicular to that of the layer below. This practice enhanced the natural strength of the wood, rendering it extremely resistant to cracking or Splitting. Rosewood was especially fashionable at the time – Better sourced his from Brazil and India – but he also worked in oak, mahogany and other hard oods, sometimes ebonizing them.
DRAMATIC CURVES
A typical Better piece might be constructed from a series of eight-ply laminate boards, although he sometimes used up to 16 layers of wood. Additional panels carrying carved decoration were often glued on to the frame of a piece of furniture. These panels had been bent under extreme pressure with the application of steam to produce the dramatic curves that are a hallmark of Belter’s oeuvre, along with tight C” and “S” scrolls. The hardiness leant to wood by Belter’s lamination process enabled him to produce elaborate open crestings and aprons.
High-backed chairs provided him with an ideal canvas for his carving skills. Naturalistic depictions of flowers and fruits – vines were a favourite –feature alongside more Classical motifs such as scrolls. It is often only the quality of the carving and the audacity of the openwork that show that a piece came from his workshops. Better’s furniture was of a
consistently high quality and he was patronized
by some very wealthy New York clients. He
also designed a table in ebony and ivory for
display at the 1853 “Exhibition of the
Industry of All Nations”.
EXCLUSIVE TO A FAULT
Better’s refusal to cater to the mass market left him open to rivals who had no such qualms and made small fortunes selling a diluted version of Better’s pieces to aspiring, less wealthy consumers. Despite this, however, Better was not unsuccessful. In 1854, he had his own five-storey factory erected on Third Avenue, on the Upper West Side of
Manhattan. Two years later, he was joined in business by his brother-in-law, John H. Springmeyer. In 1861, William and Frederick Springmeyer also came aboard. When Better succumbed to tuberculosis in 1863, the Springmeyers continued in business. It is a testament to the singular skill of John Better that they were unable to survive for more than four years, despite the
unabated popularity of the Rococo-revival style that the firm had made its own. Better’s absence was felt keenly, and in 1867 the company was forced into closure.

Antique Mid 19th Century American Furniture.

A RENEWED RUSH of immigration from
northern Europe swelled America’s population in the mid-19th century. After the Civil War (1861-65), the victorious North was imbued with new vigour and wealth as the tide of industrialization swept across the states.
The Gothic style also remained popular during the second half of the 19th century. Examples of solid dark wood furniture crowned by cathedral-style trefoils and quatrefoils could be found in many middle-class homes.
UNITED STATES
APPROPRIATIONS FROM EUROPE The American Empire style reached its zenith around 1840, when the tide of fashion turned in favour of plain surfaces. Heavy furniture in mahogany and rosewood veneers dominated the later American Empire period.
The Empire manner was gradually ousted from its central position in American taste by an influx of European craftsmen, who helped to disseminate the Rococo-revival style. The Classical motifs of Empire furniture gave way to emblems drawn from the natural world, and rounded Rococo forms replaced the earlier architectural structures. The development of laminate veneers greatly aided the practitioners of the Rococo revival, led by German-born New Yorker J.H. Belter (see pp.296-97). Some American designers, such as Alexander Roux, eschewed the use of laminated bentwood in favour of a more authentic Rococo look. Roux was a French immigrant whose elaborately carved pieces featured decorative motifs drawn from hunting, such as grouse, dogs, and deer.
HOMEGROWN INGENUITY George Hunzinger, a German who arrived in the United States in 1855, devised ingenious space-saving, mechanical furniture. He amassed more then 20 patents during his career, for furniture that folded, extended, collapsed, or converted. William Wooton, a native of Indiana, secured a patent for an equally clever, but altogether more immutable form in the 1870s. The Wooton Patent Secretary was a large desk that concealed innumerable small drawers and compartments for the storage of documents and chattels.
A NEW AMERICAN RENAISSANCE Renaissance forms were rediscovered after the Civil War and incorporated into a new, distinctly American look. The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial
Exhibition was a statement of the nation’s confidence and marked the culmination of the Renaissance revival. Luminaries of the Gilded Age, such as j.P. Morgan, commissioned grand houses designed in the Renaissance style. The Centennial also spawned an interest in a revival of American colonial furniture forms.
The American people had long been fascinated with Egyptology, and a number of exhibitions of ancient Egyptian artefacts drew vast crowds during the latter half of the 19th century. It is therefore no surprise that Egyptian motifs found their way on to furniture of the period. Actual Egyptian forms were rarely used. Instead, lotus, sphinx, and other emblems were applied to Renaissance-revival furniture.
CHIPPENDALE-STYLE CHAIR
This mahogany side chair with an upholstered drop-in seat has an openwork splat, shaped top rail, and scrolled ears. Elegant cabriole legs terminate in claw-and-ball feet. It is one of a set of six chairs. c.1900.
GOTHIC-REVIVAL ARMCHAIR
This walnut armchair has a carved and pierced crest. The back is flanked by spiral spindles and stiles. The ring-turned arms terminate in ball-turned hand-holds, and the seat is raised on spiral-turned legs.
CHEST-ON-CHEST
This Colonial-revival chest-on-chest is made from mahogany. The upper section of the chest consists of an outset gadroon-carved top, two moulded frieze drawers, and three graduated drawers. The lower section has two
long drawers positioned above a gadroon-carved base and the piece is supported on claw-andball feet. The overall form is based on a mid 18th-century original. The legs are inspired by a mid 18th-century form, while the moulded top drawer is 19th century in style. Mid 19th century.
This tea table or card table, is an exact copy of a late 18th-century piece, with a top that opens out to provide a larger surface. Made from mahogany, the table is inlaid with boxwood. The frieze is inlaid with an urn motif, and the table is raised on square, tapering legs. Mid 19th century.
This Renaissance-revival, laminated walnut, triple-arch sofa is influenced by Louis XV style. It has a pierced foliate, scroll-and-grape clustered frame, centred by a carved mask crest. The tufted back of the sofa is in three sections above a padded serpentine seat with a floral-carved apron on cabriole legs.
The pediment has a central domed crest.
WOOTON DESK
Panel doors are lined with shelves and divisions.
This imposing variation of the fall-front desk has an elaborate, domed pediment. Two lockable, hinged front panels open to reveal an extensive, complex arrangement of interior drawers and divisions. The writing surface, also hinged, lifts from horizontal to vertical so the panel doors can close. The doors are also fitted with shelves and divisions. Late 19th century.
The wooden knobs are in a darker wood than the drawers.

Antique 19th Century Spanish and Portuguise Furniture.
ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, styles from
countries that had close relationships with Spain and Portugal, in particular, Morocco, were fused with a dominant French aesthetic. This resulted in
distinctive, solid furniture peppered with lighter touches.
SPANISH FUSION
“Isabellino” furniture was the Spanish interpretation of the French Second Empire style. Richly decorated with contrasting colours, it was more
exuberant than its French counterpart, and its symmetry allies it more closely with the Baroque than with the Rococo revival that swept across the rest of
Europe. Pieces made for the court of Isabella 11 (1833-68) were the most sumptuous of all and set the agenda for the aspiring merchant classes.
The use of mother-of-pearl inlays, frequently in geometric patterns, was very widespread. Other fashionable decorative elements included mounts of bronze or gilded wood, and painted decoration applied directly to the timber. Classical motifs, including carved putti and acanthus leaves, were also commonly used.
Openwork carving often made use of themes drawn from Morocco, Spain’s closest neighbour to the south, and one that has lent a distinctive
Islamic twist to the Spanish decorative arts for centuries. Moorish forms and decoration, such as woven upholstery and turned spindles, were widespread throughout Spain during this period. In fact, Moroccan influence was by now so well established that it broadened to include elements from other Islamic cultures.
Isabella It’s bedroom at the Palacio Real, Aranjuez The solidity of the dark wood furniture and fittings is offset by the sumptuous gilded carving that adorns the bed.
SPANISH MOORISH DRESSING TABLE
This walnut and ebony dressing table is inlaid with intarsia. The cabinet is surmounted by an arched mirror, at the base of which are two small drawers. A frieze drawer sits above a pair of panelled doors, which enclose a fitted interior. The case stands on block feet with casters. Mid 19th century.
SPANISH CABINET
The parquetry top of this tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and walnut cabinet has projecting corners. The case has seven drawers, flanked by free-standing columns, and arranged around a central door and two drawers below. The Moorish influence is apparent in the Arab-style
design. Mid 19th century.
PORTUGUESE COMMODE
This is one of a pair of carved Rosewood petite commodes. The exaggerated waisted shape is a very common Portuguese form during this period. The ball-and-claw feet on cabriole legs are taken from mid 18th-century English designs. Late 19th century.
PORTUGUESE CENTRE TABLEPORTUGUESE SIDE TABLE
This centre table is made of rosewood and is in the style of those popular in the late 17th century. The rectangular table top has brass mounts at the corners and the frieze is fitted with drawers and dummy drawers. It stands on bulbous, twist-carved legs joined by twisted stretchers. c.1880.
This side table is made of stained walnut. Beneath the plain top is a single frieze drawer. The overall form, with its H-stretcher and central uprights, is 17th-century French, but the style of carving gives it a Portuguese provenance.
Cyrillic script betrays the central Asian provenance of some Moorish furniture constructed in Spain at this time. Carpets used as upholstery were sourced from the Tekke of Turkestan, for example. Heavy silver adornments were another decorative element borrowed From this part of the world.
The drawing-room suite, usually comprising a sofa and a pair of armchairs, became extremely popular in Spanish homes during this period. The occasional table continued to enjoy the popularity it had won in the earlier “Fernandino” period. Around 1870, Ater a period of civil war that Followed the end of Isabellas reign, designers
began to seek inspiration in traditional Spanish furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries.
PORTUGUESE ASSIMILATIONS The Portuguese had suffered greatly Lit the hands of Napoleon’s Forces but had been impressed by a system of government that freed them from the yoke of a repressive monarchy. Rebellion and civil war plagued the reigns of Maria 11, Pedro V, and Luis 1, the rulers of Portugal during the mid 19th century.
French influence had declined after liberation From Napoleon, and designers began to follow the work
of British cabinet-makers more closely. As a result, features such as the cabriole leg and paw foot became widespread in Portuguese furniture. Another important outside influence came from Germany. The Portuguese embraced the Fading Biedermeier style through Maria 11, who had a number of German consorts.
Towards the end of the century, Spain began to embrace styles based on the more distant past of their own peoples, while Portugal embarked on an
enduring affair with designs from the Joao V period (1706-50). Rosewood continued to be the favoured wood because of Portugal’s colonial interests.
LATIN AMERICAN NEOCLASSICISM The thriving Latin colonies in Central and South America had never been exposed to the French Empire style that had pervaded Europe and from which the bulk of European mid 19th-century furniture had developed. The widespread diaspora of patterns originally drawn by 18th-century masters, such as Chippendale and Hepplewhite, did reach these distant western outposts and were the basis for a Latin American Neoclassical revival. Latin American furniture in the mid 19th century was, therefore, far closer to British forms than that produced on the Iberian mainland.

Mid 19th Century Italian Furniture

Despite a nationalistic fervour that eventually resulted in the creation of the modern Italian state in 1861, furniture production in mid-19th century holy was a fragmented affair, concentrated around the cities of Rome, Milan, Venice, and Florence, in the north. The poorer states and kingdoms of the south of Italy, with the exception of Naples seemed
content to continue using simpler, vernacular forms of furniture.
PERSISTENT FRENCH INFLUENCE Until the Risorgimento movement gathered pace, climaxing in the revolutions of 1848, Italy lived in the Cultural shadow of France, her more powerful neighbour to the north. The
prominence of the Rococo and Empire styles in Italy is a direct consequence of this relationship and, despite a wave of anti-French feeling following
Napoleonic occupation during the early 19th century, this influence persisted. The growing importance of Piedmont as the cultural and political apex
around which the emerging Italian state revolved, only served to protract this lingering Francophilia. The
Rococo- revival style was,
therefore, one of the most prominent in mid-19th-century Italy. Fussy forms, such as the canape en cabriolet, a padded sofa, were richly carved and enveloped in gilt. Side tables with pierced and scrolled detail were covered with marble tops in a typically Italian twist. The grotto or fantasy style, originating in medieval France, was one that Italian craftsmen had adopted with relish. Meticulously detailed representations of timber and shell forms characterized this look, which was particularly indebted to the work of French designer Bernard Palissy (1509-90). Although examples of- fantasy furniture from the mid-19th century are generally considered interior to earlier pieces, it was nevertheless a popular revival style.
ITALIAN TRADITIONS
The Renaissance revival was more representative of Italian history, and
the quality of furniture made in this style by Italian craftsmen demonstrates the high esteem in which it was held. The Florentine cabinet-maker Andrea Baccetti and the Sienese wood-carver Angelo Barbetti both produced
particularly fine pieces in the Renaissance style. Archaic forms, Stich as the settle and architectural wall mirrors, were made in walnut, with deep carving depicting Classical and grotesque forms.
Blackamoors, an 18th-century Venetian invention, remained popular well into the 19th century, either as bases for torcheres or as decorative objets in their own right. Venetian glass-makers continued to produce mirrors of the highest quality Particularly fine examples of mirrors with intricately etched glass frames
speak of the greatness of the glass-masters of Murano. Elaborate decorative techniques, such as micromosaic, provided a forum for the most accomplished artisans to demonstrate their proficiency.
In the later 19th century, the regional Italian furniture industry began to flourish, and regions such as Brianza and Pesaro, which are
famous today for their line
work, started to develop the
infrastructures and traditions
that would ensure their
future success.
Round table Designed by Michaelangelo Barberi, the micromosaic table top features a medallion design on a red, square-shaped cartouche and a black marble ground. In the centre is a view of St Peter’s Square, which is surrounded by ovals, representing
the four epochs of Rome. The ebony base has ornate ormolu mounts. c.1850. Dorn:102cm (40%in). DN
Four epochs of Rome
Micromosaic was developed within the Vatican in the 17th century as an alternative means of decorating altars with devotional tableaux. The paintings in the vast basilica of St Peter’s had been damaged by damp, and the enamel tesserae used in micromosaic overcame this problem. They became known in Rome as la vera pillura per eternita, meaning “eternal paintings”.
The technique is an evolution of the ancient architectural mosaics developed in the Greco-Roman period. An image is built up using tiny components, or tesserae, of different-coloured enamel or glass. Each tessera is a thread about 3mm ong with a diameter slightly wider than a hair. The thread is pushed into the putty of the mosaic base, leaving the end visible. The attention to detail and level of expertise
involved in then creation are remarkable –the finest examples include 775 tesserae per cm2 (5,000 per in’).
European gentlemen on the Grand Tour would purchase trinkets, such as boxes and jewellery decorated with micromosaic as mementoes of their time in Rome. The
wealthiest tourists brought home table tops made by craftsmen operating in work-shops in the Vatican. Typically, these table tops depicted scenes from antiquity or famous Roman vistas. They were highly prized throughout Western Europe as Fine-art objects. Other tables might have plain marble tops with panels of micromosaic incorporated within them.
There is a collection of micromosaic artefacts in the Gilbert Collection Museum in London and another in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia.

Rockingham
During the 1820s all established pottery works at Swinton in South Yorkshire was moved to the Wentworth estate of Earl Fitzwilliam, Marquess of Rockingham, and expanded by the Brameld family to include a porcelain works, with financial support from the Marquess. Bone china was first made there c.1825, and the factory, known as “Rockingham”, soon developed a very individual style.
THE ROCOCO REVIVAL
The Rockingham factory is synonymous with fancy shapes; indeed, the term “eccentric” is often used for the wares, with some justification. While certain Rockingham designs are plain and elegant, the makers became masters of the Rococo Revival, and specialized in lavish moulded decoration. Perhaps the most extravagant examples of this style are the two large “Rhinoceros” vases (c.1826) with rhinoceros-shaped finials, one of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Tea-sets were made in the shape of plants with overlapping leaves, and handles were often in the form of gnarled branches. Many of the shapes have a rustic quality- even the most celebrated dessert service made for King William IV c.1830 included curiously shaped centrepieces. Fine painters, including Thomas Steel (1772-1850), famous for painting fruit, and George Speight, famous for figure Subjects, decorated plaques, vases, and dessert services. In competition with similarly styled wares made at the factories of Minton & Co. (est. 1793), in Staffordshire, and Coalport (est. c.17 96), in Shropshire, Rockingham porcelain encrusted with modelled flowers copied the style of contemporary wares made at the factory of Meissen in Germany.
THE ROCKINGHAM CONFUSION
Rockingham teawares competed with those produced by such factories as Ridgway (1792-1848) and Davenport (c.1793-1887), using coloured grounds and painted floral reserves. Rockingham figures were often exact copies of Derby, since all the principal English factories supplied the same
Englis
shops. The reason that Rockingham achieved greater fame than its contemporaries is that it marked so many of its
products. Unfortunately, unmarked tea-sets from factories such as Coalport, Ridgway, and Samuel Alcock & Co. (est. 1826) were mistakenly called “Rockingham” because they represented the same Rococo
Revival fashion and looked similar to
the marked Rockingham wares. Manv
Victorian homes owned such tea-sets,
and these have been passed on as
“Rockingham” china, although
very identify few were actually made by the
Yorkshire factory. To denrify such
sets correctly, it is important to learn the distinctive shapes made at the factory and its pattern numbers. In the same way,
Rockingham marks on small animals led to
the incorrect attribution of a great range of Staffordshire porcelain ornaments, especially
sheep, shaggy served as
shaggy poodles, and cottages, which served pastille burners. Because of such confusion, Rockingham became a household name for inexpensive ornaments.
Rockingham was also renowned for its lavish and ambitious dessert services, such as that commissioned for the coronation of William IV in 1831, which was ready in time for the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838. Partly because of the costs associated with such services, the factory was forced to close in 1842.
• BODY bone china, ivory toned, prone to crazing and discoloration
• STYLE Rococo Revival
• FORMS decorative wares, pot-pourri vases, lavish tea and dessert services
• DECORATION heavily encrusted with flowers
• COLLECTING output was very small; handle shapes on teawares, and the shapes of vases, must match known Rockingham examples

Coalport
Today the quiet banks of the River Severn at Coalport, Shropshire, seem an unlikely location for two important porcelain factories: Coalport and Caughley. However, Coalport is close to Ironbridge in an area that once lay at the heart of the 18th-century Industrial Revolution. At the end of the century, the iron furnaces of Coalport were replaced by china works that produced a large amount of good everyday porcelain, especially tea-sets and dinner services. The Coalport factory succeeded by keeping abreast of popular tastes and fashions, and still exists today (although relocated to Stoke-on-Trent).
WHITE COALPORT
John Rose began porcelain production in Coalport c.1796. In 1799 he bought the nearby factory of - Caughley, where he continued to make blue-printed teawares. Early Coalport mostly followed New Hall in manufacturing inexpensive enamelled copies of Chinese patterns, and such teawares sold well at a time when popular Chinese tea-sets were no longer being imported in any quantity. Instead of trying to compete with the rich porcelain of Worcester or Derby, Rose realized that there were many skilled British china-painters working independently, all of whom required a regular supply of
plain white porcelain to decorate. Studios such as those managed by Thomas Baxter in London and George Sparks in Worcester bought white Coalport porcelain and added their own wonderful painting and rich gilding. This accounts for the great variety of decoration found on Coalport porcelain, which causes confusion for collectors. The situation is further complicated by the very similar shapes and designs made by another china factory, located next door to Rose’s and owned partly by his brother Thomas Rose. This operated from c.1800 and was bought by Rose in 1814. Rose is also believed to have acquired some moulds and designs following the closure
following
of the Nantgarw and Swansea factories in South Wales.
CONTINENTAL INFLUENCES
Coalport’s popular Neo-classical and “Japan” patterns gave way c.1815 to the latest French fashion for pretty floral wares using the white porcelain as a ground for delicate gilding. Colourful grounds were introduced
during the 1820s, followed in the 1830s by the creation of frivolous Rococo Revival-style wares inspired by the production of the German Meissen factory near Dresden, and therefore known as “English Dresden”. This style was epitomized by Coalport’s ornamental wares including vases, jardinieres, baskets, inkstands, and pastille burners, typically encrusted with brightly coloured modelled flowers. The term “Coalbrookdale”, applied to this type of porcelain (also known as “English Dresden”), originally referred only to Coalport wares, but today is used more loosely to describe encrusted china made by English manufacturers such as Minton Co. and Samuel Alcock & Co., who based their wares on the same Meissen originals. By the mid-19th Century Coalport many many fine in-house decorators and no longer relied on sending work out to independent artists. The exremely fine work of the bird-painter John Randall (1810-1910), and of William Cook (active 1843-76) who specialized in painting flowers, is unmistakable, and their designs are especially fine when combined with a characteristic turquoise ground.
KEY FACTSBODY
• hybrid hard-paste porcelain until c.1820, when bone china was introduced
• FORMS teawares, dinner services, flower-encrusted ornamental waresDECORATION
Chinese-style enamel patterns; French-style floral designs (c. 18 15); Rococo Revival wares inspired by Meissen encrusted with floral decoration, known as “Coalbrookdale” or “English Dresden” (,-.1830); fine painting and gilding; excellent work by independent decorators including Baxter and Sparks
• COLLECTING it is important to examine the shapes of wares as other factories copied Coalport designs

Capodimonte, Buen Retiro, and Naples
The first porcelain produced in Europe was made in Florence at the factory started by Francesco I de’ Medici, a member of one of the most powerful ruling families in Europe. The duke had a great interest in the applied arts and chemistry, and in the 1570s he initiated experiments in porcelain manufacture that would produce the first successful European soft-paste, or “artificial”, porcelain in 1575. The Medici porcelain enterprise was short-lived, however, and it was not until more than 150 years later that soft paste was again produced in Italy.
CAPODIMONTE AND BUEN RETIRO
The most famous porcelain factory in Italy was founded by Charles IV, King of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III of Spain), in 1743 at the royal palace of
Capodimonte. Although wares generally imitated those made at Meissen and Vienna in shape and decoration, a distinctive soft palette and stippled designs were used. Subjects included chinoiseries, landscapes with small figures and fruit and flowers, and battle scenes.
Capodimonte figures by the chief modeller, Giuseppe Gricci rank with those of Franz Anton Bustelli (1722-63) at Nymphenburg and Johann Joachim Kandler (1706-75) at Meissen. Gricci’s elegant yet lively modelling is particularly well set off by the fine soft paste, which heightens the effect of the flowing lines.
Naples
Many of the figures are undecorated, revealing the beautiful material, while others are painted in muted pastel shades. Gricci gave his figures disproportionately small heads, a feature peculiar to Capodimonte. He is also well known for his fabulous porcelain room in the royal palace at Portici, which is covered entirely with porcelain panels ornamented with chinoiserie figures.
In 1759 Charles succeeded his father as King of Spain, and moved the factory to the palace of Buen Retiro in Madrid. Early Buen Retiro wares are almost indistinguishable from Capodimonte. However, in the 1770s the factory ceased to import materials from Italy, and the quality of the paste deteriorated, becoming greyer and less refined. The Buen Retiro factory concentrated on the production of figures rather than wares; these are generally fairly sculptural in style and include allegorical subjects, peasants, and saints. hits.
NAPLES
After Charles III left for Spain, his son became King of Naples and Sicily as Ferdinand IV. In 1771 he revived the production Of porcelain, which continued until 1806 when lie was deposed by the French. Biscuit figures and Classical groups were created by the chief modeller, Filippo Tagliolini (1745-1808); the factory also made biscuit copies of antique sculpture from nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most popular with collectors are the figures of peasants and bourgeois in brightly coloured contemporary dress. Tea, coffee, and dinner services and vases arc typical wares, decorated with views of Naples and its surroundings, including Mount Etna.
Capodimonte (1743-59) and Buen Retiro (1760-1812)
• BODY pure white and translucent with brilliant glaze, giving a slightly creamy tone; at Buen Retiro greyer and less refined, replaced by hard paste 1803
• DECORATION small figures in landscapes; fruit and flowers; chinoiseries in very pale, soft palette, often in stippled technique; continuous battle scenes
• FIGURES elegant and vigorously modelled; most have heads; most undecorated or sparingly painted
Marks
Capodimonte: this mark was used from c.1745: blue painted in gold or in underglaze blue
Buen Retiro: this underglaze blue marls was used in various forms from c.1760
Naples (1771-1806)
• Body glassy, white paste, similar to Capodimonte but lacking ivory-toned translucency
• DECORATION views of Naples and surroundings, sometimes very finely painted; also “Etruscan” style in black, white, and terracotta, imitating Greek vases
• FIGURES Classical biscuit groups; miniatures of antique statues; stiffly modelled peasants and bourgeoisie in brightly coloured contemporary costume
Vezzi, Cozzi, and Doccia
The production of hard-paste porcelain in Italy- only ten years after the founding of the Meissen factory. The manufacture of hard paste in Italy was in some ways more successful than that of soft paste; whereas the Naples factory closed in the I 9th century, the Doccia factory continues today.
KEY FACTS
Vezzi (1720-27)
• BODY translucent paste varying in colour from pure white through creamy white to almost grey with a clear glaze
• PALETTE strong brownish-red or leaf-green enamels; Underglaze blue
• DECORATION floral patterns, chinoiserie, large commedia dell’arte characters
VEZZI
The factory was founded in Venice in 1720 by the goldsmith Francesco Vezzi ( 1651-1740) and Christoph Conrad Hunger, an arcanist who had worked at Meissen and Vienna. The factory was short-lived, and very few pieces of Vezzi porcelain are known today. Production consisted mainly of cups and saucers, coffee- and teapots, and plates. As the material was still experimental, wares were thickly potted so that they did not collapse in the kiln. Vezzi forms were often inspired by contemporary Baroque silver or Oriental porcelain shapes. Among the popular subjects for painting were stylized floral motifs, large commedia dell’arte figures, and chinoiseries.
lam
The second hard-paste porcelain factory in Venice was established in 1764 by Geminiano Cozzi 1 –28-97). Its output was larger and more
successful than that of Vezzi. Cozzi introduced the lighter Rococo style. Some wares have applied flowers, but most are painted, in a palette dominated iron red, puce, and an iridescent green. The most common themes are flowers, unframed landscapes, and Classical figures in scrollwork or solid borders. Cozzi figures include Meissen-style pagoda figures, characters from the commedia dell’arte, and dwarfs modelled after engravings by the French artist Jacques Callot (1592-1635). They do not often appear on the market today and so are highly prized by collectors.
DOCCIA
The Doccia factory was founded near Florence in 1737 Carlo Ginori (1702-57). The earliest porcelain was a hybrid hard paste that had a rough, smeared surface and often cracked when fired. The quality improved after 1770, when a glaze that included tin oxide was used to make it whiter and opaque.
The largest part of the factory’s output was small and decorative wares, and tea and table services. The factory used some very distinctive types of decoration that make its wares easily recognizable, including designs known asa galetto
rosso” (Chinese-style cockerels painted in iron red and gold), “a tulipano” (iron-red peonies in the Oriental style), and classical figures moulded in low relief, with strong flesh tones and gilded details. The style was much imitated in the 19th century, but 18th-century examples are rare. Other techniques included decoration with stencilling (”stampino”) in blue and hire. The factory also produced figures with well-defined musculature on elaborate scroll bases. Some were left in the white, but others were painted in intense colours or, more rarely, in iron-red monochrome.
In the 19th century the factory continued to produce wares and figures in its 18th-century patterns. In 1896 it was incorporated with the Societa Richard of Milan under the name Richard-Ginori.
Marks
This mark was usually in underglaze blue, or gold or red enamel
Cozzi (1764-1812)
• Body greyish paste with distinctive wet-looking glaze; can vary in quality
• PALLETTE dominated by iron red, puce, and an unusual iridescent green
• DECORATION painted flowers, untrained landscapes with buildings, chinoiseries, and Classical figures; applied flowers
Marks
This mark was enamelled in red
Doccia (est. 1737)BODY
• grey, somewhat crude paste with distinctive, thin, sticky-looking glaze
• PALL I I E dominated by iron red and puce
• DECORATION moulded low-relief Classical figures, detailed in bright colours and gilding; Chinese cockerels; red peonies; transfer-printing and stencilling
• FIGURES slip-cast, modelled with stong musculature