Posts Tagged ‘seventeenth’

SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES

FURNITURE
Bookcases, Bureau-Bookcases and Bookshelves
Sheraton mahogany bureau-bookcase, swan-neck pediment, 3 ft
3 in wide 1,650 0
George II walnut bureau-bookcase 650 0
Georgian mahogany breakfront bookcase, 7 ft  10 in wide,
7 ft 8 in high 450 0
Regency rosewood cylindrical swivel bookcase with shallow
pierced gilt metal gallery, 25 in diameter, 38 in high 284 0
Large Regency mahogany bookcase with dentil cornice, the upper part enclosed by four glazed astragal doors; the cupboards in the base enclosed by four doors with indented panels 160 0
Edwardian mahogany bureau-bookcase inlaid with ribbon, shell and urn motifs in satinwood. The top with swan-neck pediment with double-glazed astragal doors. The fall flap opening to reveal drawers and recesses.

Four long drawers below on bracket feet, 7 ft 5 in high 132 0
Georgian mahogany secretaire-bookcase, fitted adjustable shelving enclosed by glazed barred doors and cupboard below drawer, 2 ft 6 in wide 120 0
Georgian figured mahogany inlaid secretaire-bookcase, the upper part fitted with adjustable shelving, enclosed by glazed barred doors and fitted with two short drawers enclosed by panelled doors below, 4 ft wide 100
Small oak bureau-bookcase, the top with glazed astragal doors, the base fitted with a single drawer and double panelled doors, 5 ft 7 in high 95 0
A nineteenth-century mahogany bureau-bookcase with satin-wood lines. Top having glazed doors. Fall flap to base, which has four long drawers and is supported on bracket feet 56 0
Bureaux and Writing Cabinets
Early nineteenth-century marquetry inlaid cylinder-front bureau with pierced ormolu gallery, mounts and beading, having interior fittings, writing slide and three drawers, on taper legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 475 0
George III mahogany secretaire cabinet, the upper lancet panelled glazed doors above secretaire and panelled cupboard doors, 8 ft 4 in high, 4 ft 2 in wide 250 0
George II walnut bureau inlaid with boxwood lines. Interior having central well, drawers and recesses. Two small and two long drawers in base, on bracket feet 210 0
Eighteenth-century fruitwood bureau with three long graduated
drawers below the fall, on bracket feet, 3 ft wide 140 0
Georgian mahogany secretaire cabinet, the top drawer opening to reveal eight drawers and recesses inlaid with shell motif and a green baize writing panel. Three long graduated drawers to the base. The upper part

enclosed by panelled doors 95 0
Georgian  mahogany fall-front bureau having four drawers
under and on bracket feet, 3 ft 2 in high 70 0
Edwardian mahogany bureau-cabinet with pierced swan-neck pediment over glazed doors, sloping fall front over four drawers, bracket feet 66 0
George II oak bureau with fall flap and small drawers, two small and two long drawers below and supported on bracket feet, 2 ft 10 in high 60 0
Victorian mahogany bureau with sloping fall front over four
long graduated drawers, on bracket feet 58 0
Cabinets
Georgian mahogany bookcase cabinet with arched pediment surmounting astragal double doors. The base with double doors supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 6 in high 470 0
French display cabinet of Louis XVI design, mounted with ormolu female caryatids, the base with panels in the style of Vernis Martin, 3 ft 9 in wide 410 0
Regency mahogany display cabinet, the upper part enclosed by brass grilled and latticed doors, panelled cupboards to the base and supported on bold paw feet 290 0
Victorian walnut display cabinet in the Louis XVI manner, mounted with ormolu and inset with Sevres porcelain panels, two serpentine glass doors to the side and a door to the centre, 5 ft 1 in wide 126 0
Mahogany display cabinet of Chippendale-style with two glazed astragal doors below a swan-neck pediment and supported on cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 5 ft 3 in wide 80 0
Canterburys
George III mahogany Canterbury with drawer in frieze on
tapering legs, 1 ft 7 in wide 130 0
George III mahogany Canterbury with turned legs 115 0
Georgian mahogany four-section music Canterbury with drawer
in base 85 0
George III mahogany Canterbury with slatted sides and ringed
legs, 1 ft 4 in wide 60 0
Chairs—Open Arm and Elbow
George II mahogany open arm chair in the French manner. Rectangular back and serpentine fronted seat. Arm supports and cabriole legs carved with rococo foliage and with scroll feet 150 0
George III mahogany open arm chair forming library steps,
the arm supports and curved stretchers with rope twist 150 0
Two early stick-back Windsor elbow chairs
Edwardian inlaid rosewood open arm chair with pierced splats
Chair—Dining Sets
Ten Sheraton-period mahogany dining chairs with cross rail backs and satinwood crestings on turned and reeded legs. Two carvers
Eleven Regency rosewood dining chairs with carved and reeded back rails, caned seats and on reeded sabre legs
Set of eight Regency mahogany dining chairs with padded backs, sabre legs. All are strung with brass, with brass carrying handles on the cresting rails
Set of two carving and six single Hepplewhite mahogany chairs with shield backs and pierced vase splats carved with wheat ears, on tapering legs
Set of six single and one carving Hepplewhite mahogany chairs with shield backs and pierced vase splats, supported on tapering legs
A composite set of eight eighteenth-century Dutch walnut dining chairs, inlaid with marquetry depicting floral bouquets, urns, scrolls and birds. Comprising one carving and seven single chairs
Set of six Sheraton inlaid mahogany single chairs with triple splat backs and stuff-over seats, on tapering legs
Set of nine mahogany dining chairs, one carver, in the Hepplewhite style with triple vase splats and drop-in seats
Set of two carving and six single Chippendale style mahogany ladder-back dining chairs with pierced serpentine splats and moulded legs
Set of six Regency mahogany reeded frame single chairs on sabre legs
Set of six William IV single dining chairs with leather seats and sabre legs
Set of two carving and four single Chippendale style mahogany chairs with carved and pierced splats and loose stuffed leather seats, supported on cabriole legs and claw and ball feet
Set of six Victorian walnut single chairs on slender curving legs
Set of six small Victorian walnutwood single chairs with oval backs and pierced scroll splats, on curved legs
Set of four Georgian reeded mahogany wooden seat hall chairs, crested
Set of six elm rush seat chairs with spindle backs Set of six Victorian single chairs with slender curving legs and damask seats
Set of four Edwardian mahogany shield-back single chairs inlaid
with satinwood lines and a fan Set of six Victorian mahogany balloon-back dining chairs on
turned legs
Chairs—Dining Single
Pair of George III mahogany dining chairs with moulded and rounded arched backs and pierced splats carved with foliage
and husk pendants. Upholstered curved seats on square legs
with block toes 50 0
Sheraton mahogany chair with stuff-over seat 17 0
Three early Victorian yew wood standard chairs 17 0
Pair of Victorian rosewood chairs on turned carved legs 5 0
Regency mahogany standard chair on reeded sabre legs 5 0
Chairs—Easy
George III mahogany wing armchair with an arched back,
shaped sides and chamfered legs 140 0
Early Victorian mahogany frame wing easy chair 50 0
Papier m&chi nursing chair with cane scat and inlaid with
mother-of-pearl 30 0
Victorian button-back nursing chair 29 0
Chests of Drawers and Commodes
Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest with reeded and canted corners and with four graduated drawers, on wide bracket feet, 3 ft wide 980 0
Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest, the canted corners pendant with clusters of fruit and flowers in bold relief, 3 ft 3 in wide, 2 ft 8 in high 620 0
Georgian walnut bachelor’s chest with folding top and four long drawers having brass handles and lockplates; supported on bracket feet, 29 in wide, 13 in deep, 32 in high 165 0
Eighteenth-century walnut chest of three short and three long drawers with tulip wood stringing on stand fitted with two short and one long drawer with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 3 ft wide 105 0
Small Georgian mahogany commode with fluted and canted
corners and fitted with two small and three long drawers 66 0
George III mahogany chest of two short and three long drawers,
3 ft 2 in wide 28 0
Chiffoniers
Regency mahogany chiffonier with three stepped shelves above with gilt metal sides pierced in the Chinese style, the fronts with rope twist mouldings. The lower section enclosed by two doors panelled with radiating

pink silk, 3 ft 10 in wide        150 0
Regency rosewood chiffonier, the single shelf at the top with acanthus supports. The single drawer to the front containing writing panel and fitted compartments. The whole with double brass rail and flanked by scrolled

acanthus supports        110 0
Coffers and Chests
Early Charles II oak chest of four panelled drawers with
panelled sides and bun feet, 3 ft 1 in wide 65 0
Late seventeenth-century carved oak coffer with a domed lid. The front carved with four arches and surrounded by stylised carving of leaves, strapwork and birds’ heads, 3 ft high, 5 ft 3 in wide 60 0
Early seventeenth-century carved oak dower chest, 3 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century oak coffer with lifting top, the front panelled and carved in low relief with strapwork and foliage and the initials ‘HP,’ 4 ft 2 in wide
Cu pboards—Corner
Hepplewhite free-standing, serpentine-fronted mahogany corner cupboaid. Double glazed doors at the top enclose three display shelves. Base on square feet with double doors
Mahogany bow-fronted corner cupboard with glazed door enclosing shelves
Georgian standing corner cupboard with four panel doors enclosing shelves
George I blue japanned hanging corner cupboard with small open shelves above a pair of bowed doors. Decorated with chinoiseries, 3 ft 9 in high by 1 ft 11 in wide
Lacquer bow-fronted corner cupboard decorated in gilt with Chinese figures and buildings on a scarlet ground. The whole on cabriole-legged stand {not matching), 1 ft 10 in wide
Bow-fronted hanging corner cupboard with the door painted with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, 1 ft 11 in wide
Black lacquer bow-fronted corner cupboard with doors decorated with gilt Chinese landscapes, 1 ft 10 in wide
Davenports and Desks
Eighteenth-century partner’s desk in sabicu with tooled green leather top and fitted with eighteen drawers to the kneehole frieze, with rococo gilt metal handles; circa 1780
Queen Anne walnut kneehole desk crossbanded with fruitwood, with one long drawer and two tiers of three small drawers, 2 ft 5 in wide
George III mahogany tambour desk, the shutter enclosing fitted interior with leather-lined slope, pigeon-holes and drawers with two drawers below on square tapering legs with brass castors, 3 ft 1 in wide
Mahogany pedestal desk with leather-lined top and nine drawers around kneehole, 4 ft 8 in wide
Georgian mahogany Davenport with drawers and slide and with leather-lined fall and brass gallery, 1 ft 8 in
Victorian figured walnut Davenport with carved front supports
Dressers
Eighteenth-century oak dresser with three small drawers with brass handles and lockplates and cabriole legs ending in pad feet, 6 ft 2 in wide
Eighteenth-century oak dresser with three small drawers with brass handles over a waved apron, with cabriole legs on pad feet, 6 ft 2 in wide
Stuart-design oak dresser, the cupboards and drawers with geometrical raised panels with gilt metal drop handles
Oak dresser, the top with a shaped frieze, two cupboard doors
and three ihelvet over three moulded drawers to the base,
with cabriole legs, 5 ft 6 in wide, 6 ft 8 in high 105 0

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•

CLOCK CASES
Up to the present we have not dealt with clocks, for the good reason that nothing in the way of a clock case was made before the second half of the seventeenth century. Earlier clocks were of what is known as the lantern type, consisting of a brass framework with turned corner pillars and a round dial fixed at the front. Of the movements of clocks there is no space to deal in this book. It would require a book in itself to explain the various kinds and the phases through which the mechanism passed. Suffice it to say that the early type were fitted with the verge movement in which he teeth of a rotating crown wheel engaged the pallets of a balance arbor. The pendulum came into use soon after the middle of the seventeenth century.
A lantern clock is shown in Fig. 89. It was intended to stand on a bracket, the power being supplied by a weight suspended by a chain. A single hour hand was fitted, pointing to numerals engraved on either a brass or silvered dial. A striking mechanism was usually fitted, the bell being mounted upon curved metal bars as in the present example. Just below it a fretted brass pediment was fitted, this being generally of the dolphin device and engraved as shown. At the corners turned brass finials were fitted.
Bracket Clocks.—During the second half of the seventeenth century wooden bracket clock cases became popular, and these were generally of the form shown in Fig. go. They were roughly square in shape and a ” basket ” top was fitted to provide interior space for the bell. Various kinds were made, some being of walnut, cross-grained as in the general run of contemporary furniture, others were veneered with tortoiseshell, elaborate marquetry (this form of decoration is dealt with later), and some were in ebony. In some the basket top was of brass fretted and engraved, the better to allow the sound of the bell to emerge. In most the cases were glazed on all four sides to allow the mechanism to be seen.
Later, during the first half of the eighteenth century, the
bell-top ” clock was introduced, the name arising out of the formation of the top. One example is given in Fig. 91. In this the square front has been heightened and the top of the door is rounded to give space to the small dial which records either the date or enables the clock to be set either to ” strike ” or ” silent.” It should be noted that no bracket clocks of this type were fitted with a seconds hand because a movement of this kind needs a far longer pendulum than could be accommodated in a small case. The fourth clock on p. H3 belongs to an altogether later period, the second half of the eighteenth century, but it is given here so that easy comparison of the styles can be made.
Grandfather Clocks.—Speaking of the long pendulum brings us to the grandfather case introduced during the reign of Charles II. The details in them were similar to those in the furniture of the time, though there was something characteristic in their treatment which seems to belong peculiarly to clock cases. They were mostly of veneered walnut and occasionally ebony, and the hoods were made to slide either forwards or upwards, usually the former. They were generally flat at the top, as in the example in Fig. 88, and twist columns were fitted at the corners, these opening with the door. In many specimens a piece of bottle glass was introduced in the large door in the waist to enable the movement of the pendulum to be seen. This was fitted in either a round or oval frame.
Frets were often introduced in the frieze, these being backed with silk, and the mouldings were of a delicate type, far finer than those usually used in furniture. The workmanship was invariably of a high quality, and this, coupled with the characteristic details, suggests that it became customary for some men to specialise in case making as distinct from the ordinary cabinet making. The late seventeenth century examples were usually veneered with marquetry, whilst the Queen Anne specimens were of plain walnut, decorated with cross-bandings and herring-bone bandings.

WALNUT PERIOD
HAVING seen in the last chapter how new methods
of construction enabled a far more refined kind of
furniture to be made, we may now turn to the actual pieces that were produced from the Restoration up to the end of Queen Anne’s reign in 1714. Perhaps the first thing that strikes one is the multiplicity of types compared with what men had known in the first half of the seventeenth century.
It seems that people had come to have a new outlook on life and were demanding an altogether more luxurious way of living. Perhaps a fair comparison is the way that the average man’s point of view has changed since 1913. Not that the results have been the same, but the Great War and all that it brought with it set men’s minds working along fresh channels. In 166o it was the Restoration instead of war that prompted the change, and in comparison the changes were even greater.
For one thing there was the reaction from a stern, rigorous form of government to one of licence and laxity. For another there was the strong foreign influence which came as the natural result of the accession of a king who had spent most of his life abroad, soon followed by the reign of a king who actually was a foreigner. The remarkable thing is that the resultant style was not more extravagant than it really was. As it turned out, the walnut period was notable rather for its restraint and dignity, especially in its later stages. The probable reason was that William of Orange did a good deal to check the depraved condition into which the court of Charles II had fallen.
Amongst the pieces that made their first appearance during the walnut period were china cabinets fitted with glass doors, bookcases (also often glazed), writing cabinets, chests of drawers, mirrors, tall clock cases, card tables, and various cabinets elaborately fitted up with small drawers and cup-boards. To these may be added chairs with fully upholstered seats and backs. These introductions in themselves reflect the altered conditions, and show that people were no longer content with things which had to answer several purposes. Consider how in earlier days the chest had served as a seat, table, and travelling chest ; or the dining table for every possible purpose for which a table could be needed. By the end of the seventeenth century people indulged in the luxury of collecting china, hence the cabinets for the purpose ; they spent their leisure in playing cards and so needed card tables books were more plentiful, making bookcases essential and they required not one chair and a few stools in a room, but a full set so that everyone could be comfortable.
CHESTS OF DRAWERS
We saw in Chapter III how the chest developed into the chest of drawers, and it is interesting to make a comparison between the Jacobean type in Fig. 53, p. 66, and the Charles II example in Fig. 70. In date there are not many years’ difference between them, but whereas the former is entirely in oak and is made in the old traditional way, the other is of veneered walnut with a flat stretcher and legs of a kind that are not only entirely new in form, but involve a fresh form of construction. From the constructional point of view it is certainly not an advancement upon traditional methods in which the stretcher rails would be strongly tenoned into the legs. As it is the shaped legs have a hole bored at each end, the top one holding a dowel which passes into the bottom of the chest, and the other taking the projecting dowel of the foot, the stretcher fitting between. It is worth taking particular note of this flat stretcher with the foot beneath because it became very popular in the late years of the seventeenth century.
A glance at the chest itself shows that in construction and form it bears out the changes dealt with more fully in the last chapter. The drawer fronts are flat, and around the edges is a herring-bone banding, a typical ” walnut ” feature. One special note of interest is that along the drawer rails and front edges of the ends is a flat half-round moulding with the grain running crosswise. Charles II and William and Mary work often had this feature. Later it declined, its place being taken by a cocked bead fixed around the edges of the drawer fronts. The latter was really a more practical idea because the bead helped to protect the edges of the veneer, preventing the latter from being chipped away.
Cross-grained Mouldings.—Mention of the cross-grained bead brings us to another feature which was used almost exclusively in walnut work, the cross-grained moulding. It will be appreciated that to make a solid cross-grained moulding would not be practical. It would have no strength, it would be liable to twist, and it would certainly shrink. The plan was therefore adopted of applying a thin strip of cross-grained wood to a solid groundwork, the grain of which ran lengthwise. The groundwork provided the strength and the thinness of the layer had sufficient
give ” to overcome the shrinkage difficulty.
If the moulding were extra big the work would be allowed to stand until full shrinkage had taken place, when the inevitable splits would be filled in. All but the smallest mouldings were made in this way, and even these in the best work were cross-grained. It is a point to look for in an old piece. Fig. 71 shows how a cornice moulding was built up, and the plate on p. 125 gives a number of sections, in some of which the facing layer of walnut is also shown.
A rather later chest, dating from about 1690, is given in Fig. 72, and it will be noticed that, although it embodies many similar features to the chest in Fig. 70, it is of altogether better proportions and approaches a period when walnut furniture was at its best. The drawer fronts are veneered and have the herring-bone banding around the edges, and there is the half-round moulding on the drawer rails and cabinet ends. The frieze of flat rounded section veneered with cross-grained walnut should be noted because a great deal of walnut furniture had this detail. It was copied from the cornice and frieze built in many houses of the period. Turned legs with the inverted cup shape are peculiar to William and Mary pieces, and, although other shapes were used, they are usually a good indication of the period. Note that the flat stretcher similar to that in Fig. 70 is still used.
One other point to note is that the veneering has the effect of hiding the construction almost entirely. Take the stand, for instance. There is no indication of where the rails are joined to the legs. This is in contrast with the older oak furniture in which all the joints were apparent, and in which the grain always ran in the direction which strength demanded. The appreciation of points such as this enables one to understand the root of the changes that were taking place.
Tallboys.—Two other chests are given in Fig. 73. That to the left is late seventeenth century, but the other is of Queen Anne’s reign and shows the final development of the walnut period. It is a close approach to that delightful looking, but rather impractical, article the tallboy chest. Presumably men felt that the drawer was so extremely useful (and it undoubtedly was) that the more they could fit into a piece the more useful it became. It was like many another good idea, spoilt by being taken to extremes. Any reader who has possessed one of these tallboys will appreciate the nuisance of having to mount up on a chair to reach the contents of the top drawers.
In this chest we also have a feature which we shall frequently run across in Queen Anne work, the apron piece. This is the shaped rail joining the legs beneath the lower drawers. It appears in the chest in Fig. 72, and in the left-hand example in Fig. 73. It was the natural result of the introduction of veneering, or, to be more accurate, it was a detail which was made possible only by veneering. If, for instance, the veneer were stripped off, the joints of the various rails would be exposed with the applied apron piece showing beneath. Such an arrangement would be unsightly, but when covered with veneer makes an attractive and characteristic feature. Sometimes the shaped edges were covered with a cocked bead. The chest in Fig. 72 has this detail.
One other outstanding feature of this chest, Fig. 73, is that in it we have the first introduction to the cabriole leg which enjoyed so vast a popularity in the eighteenth century. We shall deal with this more fully presently when we come to speak about chairs, but it is worth while noting its use in pieces of this kind.
Drawer Construction.—In all these chests, the drawer sides, backs, and bottoms were invariably of oak. Walnut was still a comparatively rare wood—it was probably not planted in this country until Elizabeth’s reign—and on that account was costly. Furthermore oak was the better calculated to withstand the wear inevitable on the sliding surfaces. Oak was also used for the groundwork of the drawer fronts, though there was a tendency to use pine for the purpose, because experience showed that oak did not grip the glue as well as pine. Also, the figure in the oak was liable to show through the veneer eventually because of the shrinkage of the softer parts of the timber. However, it is no criterion, for both were used for the purpose.
When a walnut moulding was required at the edges (except in the case of the cocked bead) a slip of cross-grained walnut was first let in all round and the veneer laid over this. This enabled the moulding to be worked in the walnut at the edges. It was unnecessary in a cocked bead, for this could be applied afterwards in a rebate worked for the purpose.

FIG. 70. WALNUT CHEST OF DRAWERS ON STAND.
About 1670.
The upright grain of the veneered drawer fronts, the herringbone banding,
the cross-grained bead on the rails, and the flat stretchers are typical
of the period.

FIG. 71. HOW CROSS-GRAINED WALNUT
MOULDINGS WERE BUILT UP.
Strips of cross-grained walnut are glued to a
groundwork of pine or oak.

FIG. 72. WILLIAM AND MARY CHEST OF DRAWERS ON
STAND.
The inverted cup turned legs and flat stretcher were extremely popular at the period. The rounded frieze continued into the Queen Anne period.

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

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

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

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

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

TABLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (FIRST HALF)
The Elizabethan table, either of the draw or fixed top type, continued with little variety in form during the reigns of the early Stuarts and Cromwellian times. The legs were of the heavy bulbous turned kind, generally carved, though the tendency as the seventeenth century progressed was to thin down the turning and omit the carving. In the full bulbous early Jacobean leg extra pieces were glued on at all four sides to provide wood for the required thickness. This can be seen clearly in the table in Fig. 23, P. 29, in which the squares at top and bottom of the legs show the original thickness of the wood. Later Jacobean legs were usually no thicker than could be turned from the squares of wood with no extra applied pieces. Fig. 44 shows a table dating from about the middle of the seventeenth century with turned baluster legs of this kind.
Up to this time the chief, and practically only, use of a table was that of dining, and now that people were settling into a more comfortable way of living the usefulness of a smaller form of table must have become felt. For instance, in the smaller private rooms a huge draw table was unnecessary, yet some form of table was essential. Again, in the smaller houses there would not be room for the large dining table, yet a fairly large one would be needed to seat everyone at meals. The result was the introduction of the gate-leg table, with its circular, oval, or rectangular top divided into three pieces, the centre one of which was fixed to the main framework, the others being hinged to it.

That in Fig. 46 is an example of the better kind, the legs being turned and the whole thing framed together with mortise and tenon joints. A cruder example is that in Fig. 45, in which the uprights are merely solid pieces with a rather crude shaping cut at the sides. The ” gates,” too, are made up from plain strips of square wood.

VARIOUS CABINETS
There were two kinds of cabinets chiefly in use in Jacobean dining-rooms, the Court cupboard and the buffet, with its three tiers open at all sides. Both of these came into use in Elizabethan times, and we now come to the form they took in the seventeenth century. It is instructive to turn to the Elizabethan example of a Court cupboard on p. 38 and compare it with its Jacobean counterpart in Fig. 48. In the former the upper stage is canted at the sides, and the turnings are of the full bulbous kind, richly carved all over. In the later example the upper stage is rectangular and is recessed only slightly, and the turnings are considerably smaller and are plain. In this they follow the tendency already noted in regard to the legs of tables. As the century progressed the turnings became mere pendants beneath the frieze without reaching down to the lower part of the cabinet. This was the final stage of the Court cupboard. It died a natural death during the second half of the century, for it was essentially a piece for the well-to-do man, and when walnut came into popularity it just disappeared.
It was in a different class from the dresser, which belonged more to the farmhouse, and which continued to be made even throughout the eighteenth century. Such a dresser is given in Fig. 49. It may be noted in passing that this was evolved directly from the side table of the kind shown on p. 34. There was no upper staging of shelves, the latter being added later when plates and dishes became more plentiful.

A smaller item that may be mentioned here is the Bible Box, see Fig. 50. Every family of any note had its Bible in those days, and it was a most treasured possession. A place in which it could be kept safely was desirable, hence the various small boxes which have survived. Some of them were provided with a stand and a sloping lid upon which the Bible could rest at a convenient angle when being read. In the finer specimens the fronts were carved with the usual conventional floral work as in the examples given.

Occasionally one finds the interior of these boxes fitted up, probably for the purpose of holding deeds and other valuable papers. It is possible that some were intended specifically for the purpose of writing, but against this there is the fact that few people could write in the seventeenth century, and it would have been most uncomfortable to write at, being far too high. Reading was the more probable purpose of the sloping top, any writing that was done being incidental.

FIG. 49. FARMHOUSE DRESSER WITH PLATE RACK.
Second half 17th century.
Although made in oak there are features which suggest the walnut
period, specially in the shaped headings to the upper cupboards. The
turned legs, however, are purely Jacobean.

FIG. 48. COURT CUPBOARD IN JACOBEAN TIMES.
Mid. 17th century.
An interesting comparison can be made with the cupboard on p. 38. Note the substitution of thinner and plain turnings in the upper storey.

FIG. 50. SMALL BIBLE BOXES AND DESKS.17th
century.
The object of the sloping lid was probably to provide a convenient rest
for the Bible when being read, though it is possible that some were
intended for writing.

English Antique Jacobean Furniture. Jacobean Chairs.

JACOBEAN PERIOD
THIS chapter carries us from the beginning of the house of Stuart in 1603 until the end of the Common-
wealth in 1660. So far- as domestic furniture was concerned, except for certain smaller details and a few innovations, it differed little from that of Elizabeth’s reign. The same wood (oak) was used, the Renaissance was still the source from which ideas were taken, and the quality of the work was similar. It is dealt with in a separate chapter, however, because it was the last phase in a certain definite technique. Vast changes were at hand, the greatest that have ever overtaken furniture throughout its history, and it is
therefore natural that one should pause and give special
emphasis to a style which had run its course and was to become as dead as the proverbial doornail.
However, these changes are dealt with particularly in Chapter IV, and our present purpose is to see what sort of furniture men were making when James the Sixth of Scotland became the First of England, and during the troublous years that followed, culminating in the declaration of the Commonwealth. It may be objected that Charles II was also a Stuart Monarch, and that his period should be included in this chapter. The changes just mentioned, however, began during his reign, so that although all Charles II furniture is, strictly speaking, Jacobean, much of it is usually referred to as ” Early Walnut,” because of the marked differences in style. The terminology is one of style rather than one of period.
The accession of James did not make a great deal of difference in the lives of the majority of the populace. The stirring spirit of the Renaissance was still a great influence, if in rather diminished form, and the endeavour of men to make their homes more comfortable continued. The journeys of discovery and conquest during Elizabeth’s reign had opened up a new source of wealth, trading had increasedtremendously (itself a source of wealth, and, equally important, to a new class), and these coinciding with the coming of Renaissance gave encouragement to the domestic arts.
The outbreak of war in Charles I reign must have acted as a strong brake on the progress of things, yet it was not so marked as one might have imagined.
A campaign in the north might turn men’s thoughts locally from making, or having made, things for their houses, but in even an adjoining county people might know little of what was happening owing to lack of easy transit. Then, again, during the winter months little was possible in the way of military activities, so that altogether there was more time for craftsmanship than might at first be imagined.
Cromwell’s short protectorship of eleven years or so helped to restore the trade which had been largely lost. His naval victories opened the seas again to our ships, and this is always one of the finest tonics the domestic arts can have.
JACOBEAN CHAIRS
The late sixteenth century chair, as exemplified in Fig. 18, was remarkable more for its massiveness and strength than
comfort, and its direct successor in Jacobean times was little different. It had a similar formation, with panelled back sloping at an angle, semi-scrolled arms, and turned legs. The back was usually carved with various conventional designs of leaf and flower work, arcadings, or
geometrical pattern. Fig. 37 is a typical example. -Note that the scrolled cresting still lies above the uprights and that the ear pieces are retained. Chairs of this kind con-tinued to be made throughout the Jacobean period and in country districts until the close of the seventeenth century.
There were, however, changes at hand. It is obvious that for a chair of the type in Fig. 37 to have any comfort at all it would have to be provided with a cushion—certainly one for the seat and if possible one for the back. One can imagine a man seated by the fireside closely considering the point,

and calling in his carpenter to devise some means of padding the chair. Or possibly a man who had travelled abroad had seen the comfort which foreign countries had attained (they were always before us in this sort of thing), felt something of disgust at the comparatively barbaric state of things which still maintained here, and so set his craftsmen to work out a new idea.
Beginning of Upholstery.—However this may be, it was during the reign of James I that the first upholstered chair made its appearance. Possibly the reader may be surprised that the idea had not occurred to men earlier. Upholstery on a chair seems such an obvious thing. It must be remembered that people’s outlook on life dAers. at various periods. What may seem right to one generation may appear to be merely foolish to another. In early days the chair was a seat of honour ; there would probab’.-,- be only one in even a large hall, and a man using it would not

look specially to find comfort in it. In fact, anything :;n the way of comfort was regarded with a certain feeling of contempt and was felt to be effeminate. Shakespeare, in his Richard III, makes Buckingham say, ” This prince is not an Edward ! He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed.” This day-bed was the counterpart of the modern settee. Presumably, when people were really ill, they stayed in bed. If they got up at all they were expected to go about the ordinary business of the day.

There was something effeminate in the character and habits of James I, and this rapidly showed itself in the Royal court : its manners, dress, conditions, and so on. As a consequence there was a general tendency for men to have a less Spartan-like outlook, and an immediate consequence so far as furniture was concerned was the introduction of the upholstered chair.
One of the finest collections of chairs of this type, dating

from the early seventeenth century, is that at Knole House, near Sevenoaks. Many rooms in this old mansion were refurnished in preparation for a visit by James I, and vast numbers of chairs were made for the purpose. They form an interesting example of how men, once they like an idea, will fly to extremes, for practically every portion of the woodwork is covered with material—even the legs, which obviously would not in any way add to the comfort of the chair.
A popular innovation—or rather revival, for the type had been in use earlier—was the X chair, an example of which is given in Fig. 39. The reason for the name is obvious from the general formation. Note how every part of the framing is covered with material. It is, in fact, very like the collection of chairs at Knole. The provision of the footstool is typical.
It will be realised that upholstered chairs of this kind might be well enough in a great mansion or palace, but would not stand up to the everyday use of busy households in a humbler state of life. These needed something sturdier, and Fig. 38 is an example of the sort of upholstered chair that would have been found in the average well-to-do house. Not that all the chairs were of this kind ; there might not be more than one or two in a whole house, the majority being of the plain wood type, but that such upholstered chairs that did exist were mostly of this kind.
Farthingale Chairs.—We have at this period an interesting example of how costume came to influence the design of furniture. The fashion of the time dictated that ladies should wear the huge farthingale dress, and one can imagine how awkward it must have been for a lady to sit down in an armchair of the kind in, say, Fig. 37. So came into being the farthingale chair, of which an example is given in Fig. 41. The absence of arms allows the dress to spread out at each side without hindrance. The X chair in Fig. 39 would serve the purpose equally well, since there is a deep, loose cushion above the upholstered seat and the arms are low.
Two chairs probably made during the Cromwellian period are shown in Fig. 40. They are of a sound, thoroughly reliable form that would stand up to the hardest wear. That to the left has a covering of leather (so thin that it can scarcely be called upholstery), held on with large roundhead nails, and the front legs have the bobbin turning very popular at the time. The other has a wooden seat, and a point worthy of note is the open back with slats. This marks one more step in the progress of the chair from its heavy, massive formation to the light proportions it was eventually to assume. Note that in both chairs the back legs are still upright and that the stretcher rails are retained, although in that to the right the front one is raised from its former lower position level with the side rails.
The Settle.—Whilst on the subject of chairs, it may be noted that the settle was still made in country districts.

The farmhouse in particular usually had its settle, the sturdy construction and plain form making it more suitable for the rougher conditions inevitable in the country. Another similar piece was that which for some unknown reason has been given the curious title of ” monk’s bench,” though what its possible connection with monks can be is difficult to understand. We refer of course to the settle with the movable back, which was made to tilt and slide forward, so forming a table. The example in Fig. 42 shows this feature, and it will also be seen that the lower portion is in the form of a chest, the lid of which forms the seat. Lunette carving, such as that on the rails, was a favourite form of decoration.

PANELLED BACK CHAIR AND FRAMED STOOL.
First half 17th century.
The construction of the chair is practically identical with that shown on
p. 25, and the general treatment is similar. Note the scrolled cresting
and ear pieces. The stool has the baluster shaped legs popular through-
out Jacobean times.

FIG. 45. SIMPLE FORM OF GATE-LEG TABLE.
First half 17th century.
The workmanship is extremely crude, and is probably that of a country
carpenter. The urn-shaped ends are probably copied from the baluster
turnings of the period.
FIG. 46. DOUBLE GATE-LEG TABLE.
Mid. 171h century.
An altogether better specimen of a table. The use of two gates to each
side is rather unusual.

EXAMPLE
OF THE X PATTERN
CHAIR.
Early 17th century.
This is a type of chair that be ame popular during James I reign. At Knole Park, Kent, large numbers of these chairs still exist. They were made specially in honour of a visit paid by James I.

ARMCHAIR COVERED WITH TURKEY WORK.
First half 17th century.
In this we see the early beginning of the upholstered chair, though in itself it can hardly claim to be upholstered. It Is little more than a covering ,stretched over the framework.

CROMWELLIAN AND YORKSHIRE TYPE CHAIRS.
Mid. 171h century.
The example to the left is typical of the plainer sort of chair made during
the Commonwealth. It has a stout leather covering stretched over the
framework. The other chair is characteristic of the kind made in York-
shire or Derbyshire.

FARTHINGALE CHAIR OF JAMES I TIME.
‘this illustration is intended to show the way in which costume affected
the design of the chair. ‘the huge farthingale dress made impossible
the use of the armchair of the type shown in Fig. 37.

COMBINED TABLE, SETTLE, AND CHEST.
Mid. IVh century.
The rarity of domestic furniture is shown by this piece which series
three distinct purposes. These are popularly known as ” monks’
benches,” though there is not the slightest connection between them and
monks.

. THE SETTLE IN JACOBEAN TIMES.
First half 17th century.
The settle in Fig. 15, p. 23, should be compared with this. Note how the
lower portion is completely open and has turned legs.

CUPBOARDS AND SIDE TABLES
It is a rather curious reflection that so many years should have passed without men having devised any means of locking things away privately except in a chest. It tells its own story, that they should have preferred to use something which could be used conveniently for travelling. Once they came to establish their homes on a more convenient basis, however, the necessity for cabinets to hold valuable or private papers, and cupboards to store various other items became felt. Thus wall furniture became increasingly common.
The early form of side table is given in Fig. 26, a piece dating from about I Soo or soon after. It is virtually a chest, with the corner posts continued downwards to raise it well up from the floor. This was probably its origin. Not that a man, having a chest, would decide that by lengthening the posts he could evolve a sideboard, but that the method of construction was automatically adopted once the idea of a sideboard was thought about. There was probably a subconscious connection between the two ideas, so that it is likely that there was a direct evolution from one to the other. The side table exemplifies the use of the pierced panel, and another point that will appeal to practical readers is the use of the ” mason’s mitre ” in the moulding surrounding the panel. The use of this is explained more fully on p. 44•
Another kind of furniture of the early Tudor Gothic period was the cupboard pure and simple as shown in Fig. 27. It is of the simplest possible construction, consisting of so many boards pegged together and held by the angle plates and strap hinges. Often such cupboards had panels pierced with Gothic tracery designs such as those given on p. IS. In fact A is taken from an old cupboard of the kind. Their purpose was probably to hold food, as the pierced panels gave ventilation.
Of a similar type, but of infinitely better construction, is the cupboard shown in Fig. 28. In place of the planks is a framing of four posts, joined by rails with grooves around their edges to hold panels. Here the last-named are pierced and carved in the form of Gothic windows.
The Court Cupboard.—The development in Elizabethan times is shown in the Court cupboard in Fig. 29. This is worthy of a few moments’ attention because it contains many typical features of the period. It was a cupboard which became extremely popular, probably because it gave good accommodation and there was excellent scope for decorative treatment. Note first the lower doors with their three-panel arrangement. Apart from strength, this had the advantage of keeping the panel width down, and so saving the necessity of jointing up. The framing is channel-moulded ; that is a shallow groove moulded at the sides is worked along the centre of each member.
Incidentally, whilst on the subject of mouldings, it should be noted that in every case they are worked ” in the solid,” the substance of the framing being moulded. It is mentioned here in particular because it will be seen in the next chapter that the tendency in the following century was to use applied mouldings instead.
Attention has already been drawn to the bulbous turnings and their elaborate carving, Fig. 29, and we may now turn to the upper cupboard portion with its sloping sides. It was probably the desire to make space for the bulbous turnings that prompted the cutting away of the cupboard, and at the same time to provide a useful standing space at each side. It will be found that when, later, turning began to decline, the upper cupboard became rectangular in shape, being just set back a few inches from the line of the lower cupboard. Eventually the turnings disappeared almost entirely, being replaced by single drop turnings—but of this we shall see more in the following chapter. It is mentioned here because it helps to explain the reason for the shape of the upper cupboard. The carving in the frieze is a typical Elizabethan detail which continued into the seventeenth century.
BEDSTEADS
Sleeping arrangements in the early years were of the simplest and most primitive form for everyone except the chief persons in the household. The fifteenth century saw considerable improvements in this respect, though it was not until the next century that beds became at all common. There were two kinds, the panelled head and foot (very like the modern form of wood bed), and the four-poster. The last-named developed into a really amazing structure in the time of Elizabeth. That the rooms were abominably draughty is the probable reason for its popularity. The tester or panelling above the bed was hung all round with curtains, so that the sleeper was literally lying in a little room built within the main bedroom. It must have been close and unhealthy, but presumably people preferred that to draughts.
That great importance was attached to these bedsteads is shown by the frequent reference made to them in old wills, and in view of the amount of work put into them they must have been costly things to produce. That in Fig. 31 contains features found in most old beds. Note that the bed frame itself is separate at the foot from the front posts. This was usual in Elizabethan beds, though towards the end of the century the tendency was to join them up.
Figs. 32, 33, and 34 will prove of particular interest to practical cabinet makers and draughtsmen, though they are well worthy of the attention of all students because the sections of mouldings and carved details are extremely important factors when dating a period piece.

TABLES
The table is a fairly obvious piece of furniture. It is required for all kinds of purposes in the house, though its chief function is for use when dining. One of the earliest surviving specimens are the huge trestle tables at Penshurst Hall, Kent. They date from the fourteenth century, when it was still the custom for the entire household to dine together in the great hall. One would be placed across the upper end of the hall, usually on a raised dais, and another, or sometimes two, at right angles to it, going lengthwise along the hall. The more important guests used the raisedThe tendency to use a framed-up construction already mentioned in connection with the chest is seen in the next stage of the table, when an underframing of four or six legs joined by rails (such as in the present-day table) was used. There stands in the museum at South Kensington an interesting table dating from the opening years of the sixteenth century. It has square legs with the corners chamfered, and the top rails are shaped on the underside with the Gothic arch formation. The long form in Fig. ig has this shaping—in fact it is a companion to the table of which we are speaking. Its most interesting feature, however, is that it is of the ” draw ” type ; that is, it is provided with extending leaves which, contained beneath the top when not required, can be drawn out, so increasing the size of the top considerably. As a matter of passing interest, this type of table has again become popular at the present time ; indeed, few extending tables are made now which have not this method of extension.
Bulbous Turnings.—The draw table of the Elizabethan period is shown in Fig. 23, and the feature that at once strikes one are the heavy bulbous legs. These represent a fashion in turning that had the most amazing popularity in Elizabethan times and in the first half of the seventeenth century. Turning had been introduced in this country during the sixteenth century, though it does not appear to have been widely used until about the middle of the century. One imagines that the turners, having acquired the technique, decided to make the most of what they had learnt, for there is nothing really logical about such disproportionate legs. The strength of the leg is governed by its thinnest part, so that the heavy bulbous part is entirely wasted from the constructional point of view.
In the particular table shown in Fig. 23 the legs are plain, direct from the lathe, but in most cases they were elaborately carved with nullings, scrolled acanthus leafwork, and other details, as shown on the turnings in the Court cupboard in Fig. 29. Possibly this is another reason why they appealed to the Elizabethans ; they offered such scope for decorative detail.
In most cases the stretcher rails ran round the four sides of the table in the same way as the rails at the top, but occasionally the H arrangement in Fig. 23 is found. In one, and the retainers were accommodated at the others in rotation, the serfs sitting at the lower end.
These trestle tables were generally made with movable tops, so that they could be taken to pieces and stored away when the floor space was required to be cleared. They were extremely massive in build, with tops of 4 in. or so in thickness, supported by heavy trestles or pedestals. The illus-BUFFET WITH BULBOUS TURNINGS.
Late 16th century.
Thiswas the Elizabethan form of sideboard. The modern dinner wagon
is of similar formation. Often a drawer was fitted beneath the top, the
rail acting as the drawer front.
tration of the hall at Penshurst Place on p. 12 shows these tables.
When as the years passed men sought more privacy there arose a demand for smaller tables which could be used in the smaller private room in which the family took their meals. The rise, too, of the merchant class brought about the erection of vast numbers of smaller houses, and so there have survived a fair number of smaller tables dating from the sixteenth century. The term ” smaller ” is used com-paratively. Actually they usually measure 6 ft. to 9 ft. or io ft. in length.
At the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the next the Gothic tradition was still strong, and tables
FIG. 31. FOUR-POSTER WITH PANELLED HEAD AND TESTER.
Second half 16th century.
These were extremely massive structures and were held in great value.
They were often specifically mentioned in wills. Note the holes in the
bed frame to support the mattress and clothes.
were often still of the trestle kind shown in Fig. 22. It will be noted that the rails are held to the trestles with wedges, so that the whole thing could be stacked away when not required in use. It is interesting to compare the Gothic shaping of the trestles with that of the small stool in Fig. 20.other types two legs only were used, these being built into the centre of the end rails and fitted with cross pieces at the bottom, and were a revival of the pedestal leg used in Gothic times, as exemplified by the Penshurst table on p. 12, except that the bottom was joined by a stretcher and the top had a framing to contain the mechanism of the extension.

ELIZABETHAN
COURT CUPBOARD.
Late z61h century.
love of Elizabethan crafts. This exemplifies well the men for ornament of every
kind. The upper recessed portion is inlaid with various woods such as apple, holly, cherry, bog oak, and stained woods. The carving is typical of
the time, being virile, deep and bold if somewhat barbaric in execution.

Glass is distinguished from other materials by its transparency.
People like glass because of its shine and the way drinker.
glass refracts the light that passes through it. Glass is also extremely practical. It does not allow liquids to permeate it and is a poor conductor of heat. On the other side of course is glass’s only disadvantage — its fragility. Glass today is something modern humankind takes for granted. There is an involved process before glass objects reach the consumer.
Glass is formed by heating various metal oxides and quartz. In addition to the raw materials of glass (quartz and borax), there are also alkaline substances (potassium or sodium oxide). These make the silicates indissoluble.
The right composition of substances for glass is the result of centuries of experience. Glass was probably first made about 4,000 years ago — perhaps discovered in ancient Egypt by chance.
The production of glass was then a relatively straightforward process. The glass-makers first smelted glass in earthenware vessels over an open fire. The glowing pieces of glass adhered together and were then plunged into cold water where they splintered.
These shards of glass-like material were known as frit. The frit was then ground between millstones under powdered when it was smelted once more to achieve the desired result.
This principle was in use until some time after 1500. Old illustrations often show two glass furnaces: one is for the initial smelting of the raw materials and the second for melting the powdered frit.
The production of glass was changed in the eighteenth century in Britain. Coal replaced wood for the glass furnace but this turned the glass yellow from the sulphur dioxide that is released. This meant that glass had to be smelted in a sealed kiln.
This also made it more difficult to keep an eye on the smelting process. A solution was found by producing softer glass mixtures.
Means of decoration
Glass can be decorated in a number of ways. The most direct method is to apply layers of other glass or to mark the surface during the glassblowing process while the glass is soft. Such results depend on the skill and artistry of the glassblower. Glass has been blown since early times and had reached a state of high art in Roman times.
There are various waysin which glass can be decorated during blowing. One way is to add small pieces of glass or `prunts’. Another way is to spin the glass of the same or contrasting colour so that it forms a spiral on the glass surface. Many of the varying techniques are based upon centuries old traditions.
An entirely different way of decorating glass is to enamel or paint it.
This technique does not rely on the artistry of the glassblower. This is done with either ‘cold’ or fired enamel. Glass can also be gilded with precious metals such as silver or gold. Further ways of decorating glass are by cutting or engraving it. Glass is engraved with a diamond which ‘draws’ a design on its surface and it can also be stippled (a Dutch invention) with either a diamond or softer stylus.
Different effects can be created by making either open or dense stipple marks.
Glass has been cut since early times but etching was discovered by the Swede Sheele who notice that the acidic gases of hydrogen fluoride ate in to glass. Glass can also be ‘etched’ by sand-blasting. Encapsulation is done by placing objects in glass while it is still soft that then become fixed in the solid glass. This method was especially popular in Europe between 1800 and 1850.
Glass production from east to west
The production of glass spread to other countries from Egypt around 1000 BC. The techniques were extensively improved between the sixth and second centuries before Christ.
A very important discovery was made at Sidon in Syria in the first century before Christ – the glassblower’s ‘blowing iron’.
This enabled objects to be made of thin glass. It was a technique that spread throughout the Roman empire to Italy and Spain to the west but also to Gaul (France), Britain, and Germany in the north. The major glassblowing centres were established along the Rhine and in Gaul (France).
Production in the east
In common with many other techniques, glass-making was also largely forgotten following the fall of the Roman empire but this was not true in the east. The most important glass-producing region was Byzantium where new techniques were also developed that can be seen in cut and engraved goblets, bottles, ewers, and mosaics of the era.
Arabs were extremely fond of glass embellished with gilt or enamel and major Arab glass centres were Damascus and Aleppo in Syria.
Very fine coloured glass goblets, bottles, ewers, lamps, and dishes were made in these towns between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. These were often decorated with bright painting.
Persian glass-making took over the leading position in the fifteenth century and Persian glass even influenced Spanish glass. Surviving Persian glass from this era consists mainly of bottles of green or blue glass.
Medieval European glass
Glass production in the former western Roman empire after its fall only survived in Gaul (France), Germany, Flanders, and Britain.
In the early Middle Ages the preference was for decoration with grooves, flattening, and decoration with ‘threads’
of glass. Several new types of object appeared such as `trunked’ and ’studded’ beakers. Otherwise just simple medicine bottles were made from green glass that was far from perfect.
Glass production even went into decline in the ninth century and many in Christian countries regarded glass as a heathen product. After all the heathens used bottles for their ‘pagan’ burials. Pope Leo IV even banned the liturgical use of glass. Not everyone was of the same opinion.
Bishop Isidorus of Seville in Spain wrote a treatise about glass based on Naturalis Historiae, written by the Roman Plinius. The monk Theophilus wrote an extremely important work about glass —probably during the late tenth or early eleventh century, somewhere along the Rhine.
In a piece about the art of glass he described the constituents of Roman and Asian glass, wrote down many legends, and described the process of glassblowing in great detail.
Venice
Sometime around the birth of Christ, glass was produced in northern Italy. The technique was maintained by cloistered orders and spread from these during the Middle Ages throughout Europe. It was in this region that the one of the most famous glass-making centres was established.
Benedictine monks in Venice specialised in making bottles by the year 1000. Following the conquest and pillage of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, many Byzantine glassblowers sought to escape to the powerful trading city of Venice.
They strengthened Venetian glass-making with techniques such as glass mosaics. The first thin and hollow glass-ware and first glass jewellery were made in Venice in about 1250. Soon afterwards the production of glass became a monopoly of the Venetian state. The glassblowing works though were forced to move outside the city. With their extensive use of fire they threatened the safety of the city and hence were moved to the island of Murano.
The first reports of exports of glass from Venice are also recorded around 1250. They also made optical glass for spectacles and window glass.
A great deal of glass incorporating soda from burnt seaweed was made in the fourteenth century. The Venetians also began to make latticinio glass with thin white threads around 1400. The Venetians were also known to make golden coloured glass by chemical means and other colours too with copper and cobalt.
They also decorated their glass by `burning’ colours into it. This is very characteristic of fifteenth century Venetian glass. In the sixteenth century the Venetians mainly decorated their glass with patterns of opaque white threads. Vegetal and abstract designs were also created on the thin-walled soda glass.
In addition to clear cristallo glass, Venice also made opaque white lattimo glass that was translucent but not transparent, millefiori containing tiny rods of coloured glass, and frosted glass with a cracked surface. The glassblowers also produced all manner of decorative forms with glass. The chemical composition of Venetian glass was a secret with severe penalties for anyone who revealed the procedures to make it. Despite this, many Venetian glassblowers left for other parts in the early sixteenth century and became involved abroad in the production of imitations of Venetian glass. Excellent copies of glass d la facon de Venice were made in Spain, France, and the Low Countries. These are so good that it is very difficult to determine whether a piece is made in Venice or elsewhere. The main differentiation is that the metal (body of the glass) of the imitations is not so clear, fine, and thin as that produced on the Venetian island of Murano.
Developments elsewhere in Europe
In Bohemia and Germany they also tried to join in Venice’s success. The glass works there only flourished after the Middle Ages. Many attempts were made in France employing Italian immigrants to make totally transparent and clear glass. Dutch glass makers began to make diamond engraved fluted glasses in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and it was the Low Countries too that made glasses with a characteristic ‘winged foot’. It was also quite common for glass made in one place to be decorated elsewhere.
BOHEMIAN AND GERMAN FOREST GLASS
The extensive forests of Bavaria were home to many glass works. The production area lay within an area bordered by the Thuringia and Bavarian forests, and the Alps and Fichtel mountains. Because of iron and potash in the raw materials the glass produced was mainly green.
New types of glassware were created that were primarily functional with the main output being glass beakers but ink pots and alchemists’ and apothecaries’ jars were also made.
This was often decorated with prunts and molten threads of glass. Glass was also decorated with bizarre relief forms. All these products were small icrean size in the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Larger pieces were noss bt made until the sixteenth century.
The most widespread of these are so maigelein: shallow beakers of blown gas
A 17th century Dutch green Romer glass. This type first appeared in the 15th century.
of which the bottom is pressed inwards. There were also much larger Pasglas measured glasses, beakers in the form of cabbage stalk, beakers with finger grips, and vertically ribbed cylindrical beakers. The classical slim and tall beakers of Bohemian glass were made in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their small stems are externally decorated with prunts of molten glass. The Romer glass was first made in the fifteenth century. These wine glasses were extraordinarily popular in the Rhineland. A bellied glass, shaped like an onion with a curved neck consisting of several plaited tubes of glass also appeared in Bohemia in the late Middle Ages.
ENAMELLING
Every glass works outside Italy strived to improve on Italian glass with their local products but the shape of their glassware is clearly different from that of Renaissance Italy. This is because of different local drinking customs. Wine was drunk in Italy but north of the Alps people mainly drank beer. This caused different demands of glasses. The Humpen beer glasses were made from the middle of the sixteenth century.
At first these were conical in form but later only cylindrical Humpen were made. This latter type had a low sole and sometimes also had a hinged lid. The style of painting was intended to give the impression of an Italian product and this also helped to mask the imperfections in the glass.
Enamelling was commonplace on sixteenth century central European glass. The best period for this form of decoration was reached in the earlier seventeenth century. The quality of glass was then improved through the addition of chemicals.
Another category of glassware was the beakers that bore the owner’s crest of arms.
These were also monogrammed and dated. Others, known as ’state eagle’ Humpen were decorated with the German state arms. Quite separate from these glasses though were the Fichtel mountain ox-head glasses that were painted with pictures of the wooded hills from which the Eger, Main, Naa, and Saale rivers rise. Old and New Testament references, fables, and allegories were also common painted decorations in both the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Although enamelled glass originally came from Venice it gradually became the speciality of central Europe. This method of decoration was used for more than 250 years.
Spun stem Dutch glass. Spinning a thread of glass of the same or contrasting colour around a glass core is one method of decoration.
Enamel became less expensive in the later seventeenth century so that ‘ordinary’ citizens were able to buy it. Finally it became a product for the masses and when applied to milchglass became a cheap alternative to porcelain.
Finding out the origins of a piece is no easy matter. There are countless different types with regional and local characteristics but these became less pronounced as glassblowers moved to work at different places.
PAINTED TRANSPARENT GLASS
A new manner of decorating hollow glass objects was introduced in the later eighteenth century using transparent enamels instead of opaque ones. The porcelain artist Samuel Mohn of Dresden was the first to use this technique.
His ‘friendship’ glasses are painted with portraits, landscapes, allegories, and verses. He customarily signed his work with Mohn fecit. His son, Gottlob Mohn, established himself in Vienna in 1811 and signed himself G. Mohn in Wien. His first work was the painting of town views.
The Viennese porcelain and glass artist Hothgasser took up this popular subject, working mainly on bell-shaped glasses on long branched stems. He mainly signed his work with his monogram between the ‘teeth’ of the branched stem.
Sometimes though he used his full signature on his glasses. These were given as a present or friendship’s token, or served as souvenir. Kothgasser’s glasses with playing cards were very popular around 1875. Kothgasser’s work was in great demand and hence widely copied but reproductions are easily spotted by the naive compositions and lack of technique.
BOHEMIAN ENGRAVED GLASS
The process of engraving was already known during Roman times but the ancient technique was re-invigorated during the sixteenth century in southern German with fresh demand for this style of decoration. This arose because of exports of engraved crystal from Milan. The so-called ‘mountain’ crystal was rare and hence expensive. This led to people in southern Germany deciding to apply the decorative technique used with crystal on glass. Lehmann One of the most famous engravers is
Kasper Lehmann, engraver to the court at Prague. Until recently he was even deemed to have been the ‘inventor’ or glass engraving.
Engraved ginger glass, circa 1700. Although known since Roman times, it was not re-introduced until the 16th century, in southern Germany. Engraved glass became very popular in the north of the Low
Countries.
He established himself in Prague around 1600 and in 1609 he gained a monopoly from the king for the engraving of glass. Lehmann had a number of students, including Georg Schwanhardt, the most important of them, who returned to his home town of Nuremberg following Lehmann’s death. There were many engravers working in this town but each had his own area of speciality.
Schwanhardt mainly worked with Venetian-type goblets, although Venetian glass itself is not suitable for engraving because it is too fragile. Glass with lime added was used for engraving. This sparkling glass was clear and pure with strong refractory properties. It became known as Bohemian crystal.
Bohemian ‘crystal’ was discovered between 1670 and 1680 more or less simultaneously in three glashutten in southern and northern Bohemia. Knowledge of the process spread quickly throughout Bohemia.
Painting with enamel was depressed here by engraved Bohemian ‘crystal’. The first decorations were copies of motifs used in Venice. Because of the high quality of the new material it quickly became a formidable competitor for Venetian glass. Traders not only succeeded in selling Bohemian glass throughout Europe, it was also shipped to other parts of the world.
When the engraving switched to the Baroque style Bohemian glass was even more successful.
SILESIAN ENGRAVED GLASS
The successful formula of Bohemian glass works was also followed in Silesia. The works of Count Schaffgotsch were very important to this region. The glashut in Hermesdorf in particular produced some fine pieces. This was due to the engraver Friedrich Winter who engraved a series of friendship goblets and beakers there after 1690.
The engraved glass from the works at Lobkowitz in Wiesau and Warmbrunn were also of exceptionally high quality. Silesian glass is characterised by the narrowing at the bottom of the drinking vessel. Although Bohemian glass itself was of higher quality, the exceptional Silesian engraving was better than that of Bohemia.
Glass production was advanced following Prussia’s capture of Silesia from Austria in 1742. Glass production in Silesia and Bohemia began to become less significant in the mid eighteenth century due to a number of factors. These included a smaller market through European wars that had caused economic collapse and also a reduction in the size of the market through the development of porcelain and lead crystal. Superb glass goblets made way for simple beakers. Both form and decoration were simplified and more suited to the new circumstances.
The Bohemian glass industry searched for a way to emerge from the crisis.
One of their developments was milchglas that was supposed to compete with the rapidly growing market for porcelain. Entire sets of tableware and drinking services were produced from 1760 to the mid nineteenth century by works at Harrachov in Bohemia.
The opaque ‘milk glass’ was much cheaper than porcelain but could emulate it in both form an enamelled decoration.
GERMAN DEVELOPMENTS
The discovery of the addition of lime to forest or potash glass in Bohemia was also important for the German glashutten.
This was especially true of those works of the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg which bordered Bohemia. Silesian experience in both glass making and engraving was utilised at Brandenburg works at Potsdam, Berlin, and later also at Zechlin. Potsdam attracted Martin Winter, brother of the highly regarded Helmdorf engraver.
The glass specialist and alchemist Johann Kunckel was given the task of researching the best composition for glass. He is credited with discovery of Zwischengoldglas or ‘gold-ruby’ glass. Other gifted engravers also worked for Brandeburg glass makers in addition to Winter.
Glass from this time is solid and heavy. The foot or stem, drinking vessel, and lid were decorated with leaf motifs. Pieces were lighter after 1720 under the influence of the engraver Elias Rosbach. Zechlin glass though (which had gilt medallions melted into its surface) remained fairly robust.
Knowledge of how to produce Bohemian glass spread via Nuremberg northwards. Important centres were established at Brunswick and Hesse, while the glashutten of Thuringia were also important parts of the German glass industry. Just as with porcelain, the electors of Saxony also initiated establishment of glassworks in their domain.
The Saxon works copied Bohemia so precisely that their glassware closely resembles Bohemian glass. Saxon glass though uses slightly different forms, such as horizontal, diagonal, and faceted rims on the stem and underbelly of the bowl. There is a difference too in the gilded relief and gilded engraving
‘RUBY GOLD’ GLASS
In addition to engraved glass, Bohemian glass works also produced ‘ruby gold’ glass or Zwischengoldglas during the prime era for Baroque style. This type of glass had been known in Roman times but forgotten. Following its rediscovery by Johann Kunckel in Brandenburg, Bohemian glass makers also started to make it. The same type of decoration was employed as was used for Bohemian `crystal’.
This consisted of engraving, silver gilt or gilt leaf motifs placed between two layers of glass. Only a few pieces were double layered at that time.
English lead crystal and Dutch glass
Around 1750, glass that was stabilised with lead became important in Europe. The heavy lead ‘crystal’ was well adapted to practically-shaped pieces following
Painted glass box, circa 1850. This type of movingly painted glass boxes were made in Friesland in the Low Countries Classical lines. Lead crystal has unique properties.
It is absolutely clear and is decorated in an entirely different way. By use of a diamond cutting disc a large number of facets can be created that cause light refraction — acting as a series of prisms. Dutch glass was extensively engraved with diamond cutters and lead crystal became extremely popular there. After 1750, some exceptional Dutch pieces were made by stippling the glass with a diamond.
The solid goblets used for this purpose were partly imported from Britain.
Nineteenth century glass
Bohemian crystal found a strong competitor with English lead crystal cut glass. This was because the lead crystal was ideally suited to the forms of the fashion for Classicism. The Bohemian glass makers reacted by adopting the English cut-glass technique but Bohemian glass was not suitable for cutting. The consequences were therefore limited and the technique was restricted so that cutting remained solely an extension to engraving. The subjects for engraving were determined by the current fashion and this can be seen by the motifs used.
Count Georg Buquoy of Neugrdtzen in southern Bohemia became very taken with Wedgwood’s ‘Egyptian Black’. In common with Friedrich Egermann in Haida, Neugrdtzen began making black Hyalith glass that was mainly decorated in a golden chinoiserie style.
The wares included carafes, coffee services, dishes, and vases. Egermann created Lithyalin, a different form of opaque glass that resembled jasper and agate. Like these stones it could be facet cut. Egermann’s glass works also used a golden yellow glass paint that he invented. This was used on goblets and beakers from 1820. Egermann’s greatest achievement though was his contribution to the enriching of glass.
With the help of copper he was able to create cheap imitations of expensive
golden-coloured ruby glass. Glass makers sought an ever greater range of colours and forms for their wares. On the one hand they attempted to improve the process of applying coloured glass to a clear glass base while on the other they sought to develop new methods.
This led to a new technique in which several layers of coloured glass were applied to a base. It was a process that had originated in China. By cutting away parts of the different coloured layers, all manner of colour effects could be created. The use of several layers of milchglas was particularly popular. With this, when a pattern had been cut out it was further decorated with enamel.
Bohemian glass companies exported lots of this type of ware in the 1850’s. Around 1820 the Bohemian glassworks also made glass that was smelted with embedded plaster or porcelain with portraits of famous persons. From 1830 onwards the glass market changed radically because of the major changes in how glass was made. Until that time each piece was individually crafted by a glassblower. During the nineteenth century factories began to press mould glass. This process made it possible to mass produce glass making.
The artistic level of the output dropped of course but commercial considerations were generally more important than aesthetic ones. Very few managed to avoid this trend. One who did was the Viennese artist Ludwig Lobmeyr, who owned a quality glass making works in Steinsch6nau. He was one of a group of artists who opposed the levelling down and increasing lack of taste of the mass produced wares.
This group studied ancient and exotic forms of glass and this led to their works making new types of glassware with simple and functional shapes. Before this trend gained wider acceptance though it was consumed in an even more radical movement that swept Europe under the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil names. The artists A. Daum and E. GaI16 gave glass-making back its individual power of expression and returned to the old traditions. In the United States Louis Comfort Tiffany was inspired by oriental and classical glass. His work was widely admired and echoed in Europe.
One glass works that copied his lead was the Liitz works at Klostermiihle in Bohemia.
Glass and jewellery
Glass paste and beads were used for jewellery back in the age of the ancient Egyptians. Alexandria supplied the then known world with glass beads during the
ancient Greek civilisation and during the Roman empire. The strings of beads made with them were of different colours. The glass was decorated with wavy melted threads of lighter-coloured glass. The production of beads spread through Constantinople and the other towns of the Roman empire to Europe.
Venice was an important production centre for glass beads in the eleventh century. Imitation gem stones had been made in Bohemia as early as the fourteenth century. In the eighteenth century
Louis XIV style mirror of the 19th century.
They also started to make glass beads. Production of glass beads had started in the German Nuremberg in the sixteenth century followed by the Fichtel mountains area of Bavaria in the seventeenth century, and soon afterwards by Potsdam and Thuringia.
Bead production of importance got under way in France in the seventeenth century.