Jul
16
Antiques. Furniture and Other Antique Items.
July 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The shed should be in such a position that it will receive the maximum amount of light american gothic revival furniture makers . In conjunction with this, keep it as near to the house as is reasonably possible, having in mind the frequent
1-w jackfield collectors . 3 roccoccoware . Appearance of the completed tool cupboard maples of london cabinetmakers . Easily made, it permits of a convenient arrangement of tools antique secretaire abattant oriental .
journeys to and fro for glue, tools, etc antique furniture bureau desk .
While tools may be left in the garage, outhouse or shed in the summer months when the air is dry, it is far better to keep them indoors during all other than fair weather, otherwise rust will attack metal parts, and damp will swell wooden parts chippendale style coffee table tilt value .
Therefore, the tool-container ad-
visable when the work is done outside the house will be different from that adopted when it is done inside french pilar candlestick . Fo~ outdoors, tools might well be kept in a tool-case, or in attachd cases, which can be carried to and fro monastery credence tables .
Fig dutch renaissance marqueterie cabinet furniture . 4 shows a standard fibr chippendale revolving bookcase .- attach6 case adapted for holding a set of tools; inside measurements are 1,5 in antique empire table . long, 9 in folding tripod table with brass top . from front to bac,4 and 4 in ribbon mahogany dressing table . deep deco game table with drawers . The tools are retained by loops made from a leather strap, antiques antique oak sideboards dutch style . These loops are fixed to the lid an
t
body of the case by bifurcated rivet inserted from the outside of the case and clinched from the inside, ovel the straps antique table octagon edwardian .
The choice of tools rests with th woodworker’s individual requirements, but the following list has been compiled to meet average require medieval times display cases . ments:
1/1 lid of case:
Tenon-saw, 10-in european antique tin glazed pottery . blade wheat antique dresser . Two-fold steel rule, 24 in norfolk gateleg table .
Three firmer chisels, ~ in 1900 antique mahogany dresser drawer ., J in antiques lamps made by universal statuary co. .
and I in antique japanese yellow vase .
In hodj, of case:
Metal smoothing plane with 13-
4
in thonet recliner . cutter art and crafts of a dragonfly that have inspired designers .
Ratchet brace (8-in drop desks,frech . sweep) antique turn of the century display cabinets . Ratchet auto-screwdriver, witf
two screwdriver bits, and
three fluted boring bits
When not in use the tool
are kept in hollow handle Medium-weight joiner’s ham lions paw legs on table .
me r antique drop leaf gate leg side table .
Nail-punch 1700 french porcelain, images .
Oilstone (two faces with differ ent grades of coarseness), Pincers, 7 in empire revival bed . long names of art deco furniture makers .
Mixed nails in wooden or tin box old fashioned table brass metal claw feet on casters .
Cartons of screws, as sold, each
size in separate carton types of antique tables . A handy tool container can be case which has inside dimensions
provided by adapting afibre attache of not less than 15 x 9 x 4 in after dark candelabras .
FIG antique slovakia ceramics vase . 5 (below) porcelaine mark “crossed swords with a” porcelaine . 1j’a sturdy kitchen table is to be used as a makeshift bench, working will be greatly facili fated by a 12-in antique chippendale writing table escritoire . bench-stop (a) and a hand-screw (b) fitted to the table-top makers of 1940’s american art deco furniture .
Baize roll with centre-bits and
twist-bits for brace oval loudon floral 1783-1843 .
Light tinnian’s mallet (with cylindrical head) glass platters silver decoration 1900 england .
Jobs will often be done on the kitchen table antique monks chair . Provided that it is strong, as kitchen tables usually are, this will serve as a makeshift bench antique niche cabinet . It will be necessary, however, to have some sort of a bench-screw or vice, and some kind of a bench-stop german buffet furniture . Each of these will have to be readily removable art deco console and germany .
A suitable bench-stop can be provided by screwing a piece of oak or other hardwood, measuring about 12 x 2 x I in makers of ceramic beehive honey pots ., on to the table as indicated in Fig first antique table de chevet . 5 (a) mahogany antique japanese furniture designer . Pass the screw nearest the front of the table through the top, centrally into the front rail antique filing collectors/ tambour cabinet . If a screw not shorter than 2 in antique dining room table rectangle +connected double pedestal ., and of about 10 gauge, is used it should secure the lath firmly marquetry drop leaf side table . The length of the remaining screws will
14
% louis xvi display cabinet with gilding .in FIRMER CHISEL
2-ft STEEL RULE (TWO-FOLD)
hin 16th century chairs . FIRMER CHISEL
JOINER’S HAMMER
RATCHET BRACE \ (8•m SWEEP)
TENON-SAW 10-in modern telescoping dining table . BLADE
- I in FIRMER CHISEL
SMOOTHING
PLANE
(1%rin CUTTER)
french silver candle holder .— MIXED NAILS
LIGHT MALLET
PINCERS
AU I OMATIC SCREWDRIVER NAIL-PUNCH TWO-SIDED CARBORUNDUM OILSTONE
SCREWS
IN CARTONS
ROLL CONTAINING GIMLET-BITS french word for cabinet .
ENTRE BITS AND TWIST BITS
ADAPTING A TABLE-TOP
depend oil the thickness of the tabletop; 14L in rectangle drop leaf table with additional leaves in fruit wood . x 8 will generally be suitable napoleonic campaign chairs . The screw-holes will not greatly disfigure the table-top, and if later it is desired to hide them the holes can be filled with small deal plugs so made that the grain of the plugs matches that of the table-top antuque porcelin bedside toilet pot . If on occasion wood of less than ;-in porcelan rococo teapot victorian photo . thickness has to be planed, the stop can be replaced by one that is I in antique silver apostle spoons . thick antique mahogany card table, imperial .
An improvised bench-screw or vice can be made with a 12-in william hunt genuine antiques available in kent . hand-screw antique chamber pot . The hand-screw should be screwed on to the table-top as shown in Fig large walnut veneer gentllemans cupboaard . 5 (b) antique octagon side table with scrolling . It will stand I in “innovative styles of the 20th century did not include” . forward from the front edge of the table-top table lamps biedermeier . In order to reduce the strain oil this edge, and thus prevent
it from splitting off, one handle of the hand-screw should be held down on the table-top by the small device indicated 17th century american drop leaf table . The top piece measures 8 x 2 x 7- in antique tankards ., while the two pieces glued underneath are 3 x 2 in 17th century english trestle table ., and of the necessary thickness (about
13 in antique porcelain sevres .) trestle table lyre base . 4
In using this improvised bench- screw, the timber which is being worked should, if of a fair length, be supported at the end with a box or a spare length of timber art deco console table black .
Shaving waste makes a mess in the house, and, unless it can be conveniently burnt in a stove, the shavings should be burned in the garden antique wales footed dessert platter . Incidentally, wood-ash contains potash, and is a good fertilizer for potatoes antique russian hand painted pocelian jar .and other root crops george oakley furniture .
THE WORK BENCH
To the established woodworker a bench is essential, as holding the work securely is frequently half the battle in performing an operation successfully antique silver apostle spoons . A good
bench fitted with a woodworker’s vice can be made quite easily, and two patterns are suggested here writing cabinet .
Making a Simple Bench antique oak pedestal table rectangular with leaves . The bench shown in Figs epergne parts . I and 3 has all its members bolted together, and the arran2ement of the bracing pieces produces a firm job how much would an antique clawfoot dresser cost . The legs, of clean 3 x 3-in 18th century gateleg table . softwood, should be laid together side by
side, as shown in FIG “antique furniture” + “ebony veneer” + desk .
Fig victorian reaissance revial credenza . 2 (a) regency occasional table . The lines marking the top and bottom of the legs, and the shoulder line, are then squared across all four legs at the same time; this
1 czechoslovakia glazed pot . A strong bench of simple bolted construction modern art deco bookcase .
TOP SHOULDER LINE
BOTTOM GAUGE LINES % in anyone know the name of the table from pier one, mahogany with carving . FROM FACE
0
GAUGE LINE % on richard edward chippendale pier table . FROM FACE
SHOULDER
LINE
FIG antigue pdestal drawning table . 2 pennsylvania drop leaf table 6 legs . Preparation qfihe bench legs is shown in (a) and (b); details of end
and side rails appear at (c) and (d) european handmade antique glass floral arrangement 100 years .
0
SHOULDER LINE
ensures that every leg is exactly the same length as the others gate leg drop leaf tables . Square the lines round oil to one other face, and saw off the legs to length paul de lamerie reproduction . Gauge a line 4 in kufic art 1900 . from the face, as shown in Fig antique drop leaf table with two leaves . 2 (b), and saw away the waste (indicated by shading) a dutch walnut and burr-walnut longcase clock . This completes the preparation of the leg, which should now appear as in Fig 19th century louis style commode . 2 (c) victorian sutherland table .
Place the two side rails (of 6 x I in jupe dining table’ . deal) together, and square off the length and shoulder lines (S in Fig italian cypress chest 17thc . 2c) antique porcelain bird sculptures 1762 . Gauge a line 14 in pollard elm . from the face as indicated in Fig art-deco-1920-1930-wood . 2 (d), and saw away the waste imari porcelain marks . Repeat this
FIG czechoslovakian quality porcelain . 3 westerwald stoneware . Appearance of the completed bench, showing principal dimensions secession style furniture .
operation for the end rails, noting that these rails overlap the ends of the side rails to produce a square corner , this is made clear in Fig rare chinese urn expensive . 2 (c) art deco wooden chair .
The rails and legs can next be assembled antique imari porcelain . Place the two front legs on the ground and lay the rail in position, making certain that the frame is square and that tile shoulders of the rail are tight against the top of the leg wooden cylinder pedestal . Bore two -g-in antique chair tall skinny back . holes through the rail and leg in the positions shown in Fig 17th century antique trinket boxes . 2 (c) gateleg walnut drop leaf tables . Place two 3 - cheverton reducing . diameter - coach (mushroom-
, in
headed) bolts through the holes, fit a washer and screw the nut up tightly marquetry inlaid trays . Assemble the two back legs in the same manner deco chairs . Lay one of the bracing pieces in position on one frame and hold it with G-cramps or tack it in place temporarily with short nails hand painted black lacquered with mother of pearl oriental furniture, writing bureau .
Test the frame to see that it is square by measuring the two diagonals, which should be equal the name art deco originates from the paris exhibition ‘paris exibitio n internationale modernes of 1925′ which aimed to show paris was a world leader in design and manufactor of high quality goods . When satisfied that the frame is square, bolt the brace by means of a 1-in antique oak drop leaf table . mushroom-headed bolt at each end poole art nouveau . In the same way, bolt a second brace on to the back face of the front legs so that the front frame is held rigidly antique honey pots . Brace the framework for the back pair of legs in the same manner rectangular gustavian dining table .
Stand the front and back frames upright and hold the end rails in position with cramps while they are being bored and bolted in place antique dressing table free standing mirror . Brace the two ends in the same way as the front, with two braces each, bolting each in place after testing the structure and ensuring that it is square sheffield shovels .
The base of the bench is now complete, and the top (of timber about 10 in, wide and 3 in antique maple dinning table with pull-out leaves . thick) should be fixed on to the rails with long, stout screws, the heads of the screws being sunk below the surface so that they will not be a danger to the edges of cutting tools medieval “reading slope” . The rest of the top can be filled in with -,’,'-in antique octagonal side table . boards victorian kidney shaped dressing table with glass top .
In fitting the top be careful to place it with the heart side of the
board uppermost; this enables the top to bed down more firmly on the base and also enables the surface to be trued up much more easily when this is required 17th c. antique moroccan doors . (See Chapter 3,
BUYING TIMBER, for an explanation of heart side antique dining table 1604 .)
Framed-up Work Bench vilas table . The bench shown in Figs candle sticks antique porcelain victorian couple . 4 and 5 is a good standard pattern which is strong enough and of a useful size for all-round work ; the overall size can, of course, be adjusted to suit the maker square chest of drawers on all sides . The framework of the bench can be made of red deal; the top is best made of beech, but good red deal will do for this also, although not able to withstand the amount of hard wear that a beech top would cupboard design for keeping cockery .
The legs and rails may all be of 3 x 3 in 1930 chairs dining black . timber antique 16th century tables . The main top should
FIG marquetry tables, austro hungarian . 4 antique dresser with mirror mahogany . An ideal work bench which eniplqys mortise-and-tenon construction deco chair dressing walnut .
Fully dimensioned drawing of a bench large enough fir most jobs scandanavian antique dessert stand .
be 3 in dumb waiter cedar rectangular antique . thick if possible; 2-in antique italian extendable table . stuff’ would serve, but that thickness would not give quite such a solid base upon which to work the most expensive silver tray . The rest of the top should be filled with tonguedand-grooved boards, in japanese antique silver tray . thick, with a rail at the back edge, the top of which should be level with the surface of the main top baroque consoles . This allows boards, cramps and the like, which may be laid across the top, to lie horizontally and firmly rare chinese urn expensive . Alternatively, the whole of the top could be made flat by packing up (lie”-in walnut beaconsfield wardrobe .
4
boards to the level of the main top; but most workers prefer the well-top bench as illustrated antique creamware .
Place the legs together as in Fig pedestal desk flaps at ends . 6 (a) and hold them with cramps while the lines are squared across the face of all four pieces antique pie crust table . Every line that is necessary oil all four legs should be marked at this stage, thus ensuring that all legs are identical decoupage on veneer . Separate the legs, and square the lines all around the wood how to tell william iv furniture . Place all four side rails together and square across the shoulder and length lines, and square
them around as before spanish puente pottery . Place the two top rails and the two end rails together, and square the necessary lines across as indicated in Fig lancashire bow front mahogany chest drawers . 6 (b), noting that the two top rails are different from the two end rails 20th century furniture development in france .
Using 3-in antique oval tea table . stuff, a tenon I in delft concentric circles . thick, set in the centre of the wood, is required antique oval brass coffee tables from india . Set the mortise gauge to a 1-in venetian micromosaic mirror . chisel, and gauge all the tenons and mortises with the same setting of the gauge scottish chest of drawers . Mark the waste to be cut away, as shown in the shaded
MORTISE WIC!EDJ
F
SAW CUTS FOR
WEDGES
FIG fiddleback walnut . 6 octagonal silver trays for dressing table . Legs held together (a) while the ends are squared across and mortises and tenons are marked; (b) sindlar treatment ” for the rails; (c) and (d) illustrate a wedged-tenon joint school cupboard antique .
WORK-BENCH CONSTRUCTION
FIG antique posset pots . 7 brass frame girandole images . One end of the bench struelure with parts ready for assembly and gluing up without the top gerhard schliepstein, german sculptor .
portions of Figs wood antique tripod table glass top 1950 . 6 (a) and (b) antique pedestal plate by wales . Saw down the cheeks of the tenons, and then saw off squarely to the shoulder lines round spider leg table . Cut the mortises right through the members from both sides court desk art . When this has been done, the whole framework can be assembled dry—without glue early victorian mahogany telescopic dining table . Mark the joints so that the corresponding mortises and tenons can later be put together again in the same order collectors glass display tables,small . Test each joint separately to see that the shoulders fit tightly, and that the members are square with one another hunting chest french 18th century . Test each frame to see that it is flat and out of winding (free froth and measure the diagonals, which should be of equal length, to prove that the frame i5 square royal court floral bone china hand made & painted by craftsman staffordshire .
When satisfied that the framework
is correct, widen the mortises slightly on the outside to take wedges, as in Fig antique glass “la granja” . 6 (c), which also shows the saw cuts made in the tenons about I- in rectangular gateleg table . from the edge of the tenon regency secretare . The aim should be to produce a well-wedged joint as shown in Fig art deco cermanics signed made in austria with the inital s . 6 (d) antique french office chair . The wedges should be exactly the same width as the tenon (1 in japanese mother of pearl furniture . in this case), and be sawn to the required slope from a block of wood 1 in sutherland table australia victoria . thick crockery cabinet designs .
The two end frames should be assembled first pictures of yellow antiqued cabinets . Glue the tenons and mortises and cramp up the frame; test for squareness, see that it is quite flat, and then wedge the joints small round chippendale center hall table . Leave for twenty-four hours to allow the glue to dry out jacobian furniture . Next glue the side-rail joints, cramp up the bench, and wedge the joints french drop front desk . The wedges should be given a smear of glue before being hammered home; this helps to hold them firmly in position antique creamware tankards . A view of one end of the whole structure is given in Fig antique brass and marble cocktail table 1950 . 7 dressoir timber .
When the glue is dry, clean up any projecting wedges and tenons with a smoothing plane, and the base will then be ready to receive the top antique upholstered louis xlll armchair .
FIG cocus wood oyster veneered . 8 antique english ironstone . An adjustable bench-stop; it should be a close fit in the mortise Bore two–g-in staffordshire flatback fakes . holes in the top rail, one on each side of the front mortise, as shown in Fig empire style with neoclassical furniture . 7 19th century native american pottery . Place the top in position and hold with cramps while the -R-in antique, table, drop leaf, walnut . coach screws are being driven in from the underside, using washers under the heads to prevent them from biting into the wood collectors cabinets -jewellery trays/draws for stamps/beads . Start each coach screw by boring a -&-in antique white chamber pot . hole in the top to take the thread of the screw, which should be smeared with oil or grease to make the screw run more easily antique furniture escritoire lacquer black .
To prevent shrinkage from leaving gaps, the thick top is rebated as at R, Fig using decoupage to cover chipped veneer cabinets . 7, to take the “-in baltimore fancy chairs . tongued-and-
4
grooved boards which fill up the rest of the top gate leg table english oak antique . These boards are nailed to the top rail, and the heads of the nails punched below the surface to prevent them from damaging the edge of any cutting tools that may be laid in the well upholstered english armchairs . The back edge of these boards should have a rail about 1 J in fiddleback walnut louis xiv reproduction desk . thick screwed oil from underneath, the height of the rail being such that the top of the rail inexactly
level with the main bench top wardrobes from the 18th century .
A bench-stop can be fitted by making a mortise right through the top, as shown in Fig deco steel desk . 8 cast regency period candlestick . The bench-stop should be of hardwood ; beech is usual, but any hardwood will serve quite well fall front french desks . A good size is 2 x 1 I in king george iv side board ., and about a 12-in porcelain cris de paris . length will allow the stop freedom of movement above the side rail potters stoke on trent empire rococo . The stop should be a close fit in the mortise, but as it usually works loose after some use it is as well to fit a 1-in 1800 english writing bureau . bolt with a wing-nut through a slot in the lower part of the stop, the bolt running right through the leg silver entray dishes . The stop can thus be fixed at any required height above the bench top antique white chamber pot . ‘
The fitting of a good woodworker’s vice will complete the bench antique rent table . In choosing a vice it is advisable to obtain the largest size, with jaws about 10 in 19th 20th century ladies writing desk . and opening to about 12 in 18th century horoldt augsburg vases .; it is very annoying to find that, as is often the case with a smaller vice, it will not open quite wide enough to hold the timber in use italian draw leaf table .
SIMPLE TOOL-BOXES
Both the boxes illustrated can easily be made, and, although intended primarily forthe storage of tools, they can be adapted to other purposes deco chairs . The dimensions given are suggestions only and can be varied to suit any particular requirements art deco woman figure porcelain .
Tool-box and Stool Combined antique drop leaf table with leaf built in . Fig jennens and bettridge . 1 shows the constructional details of a box and stool combined, which can be carried around the house and used adjacent to the job in hand 1710 antique french pewter marks . The stool is often useful as a temporary bench art deco dining chairs with arms . To make the box, first plane up the two ends A and B from sound 4′1-in rare meissen porcelain presentation .
softwood, using either a wide board or two or three narrower boards edge to edge 17th/18th century style, open-rack oak dresser . Place the lengths of wood together in the vice and square off across the edges of both (or all) the final length and also the position of the housing for the bottom when were epergnes invented . You should now have four lines squared across the edges inexpensive 1960’s painted small dresser 2 drawer .
Jul
8
Furniture Restoration. Furniture Styles.
July 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment
FURNITURE STYLES qpa9g6et5n
Broadly speaking, furniture styles, like most other forms of art, have followed overall trends, with different countries developing their own variations. In most settled communities, one of the first items offurniture was a box or chest for storage. Then, most likely, somebody sat on it, or put something on it rather than in it, or even put the baby to bed in it. Thus, gradually, other types of furniture evolved to meet man’s changing needs, resulting from his ever more sophisticated activities. For centuries, however, anything beyond the most basic item was a status symbol. As late as the sixteenth century, even the grandest houses were sparsely furnished, and it is only in the last hundred years or so, with the advent of mass-production, that our homes in the West have become as full ofpossessions as they are now. Until then only the well-to-do could afford the fashionable “urban” furniture; this was copied, with variations, usually in a humbler wood, for the lesser gentry; cottagers made their own few modest items or bought from local joiners, who paid little attention to current trends. Provincial furniture might be made in a style which had beeen fashionable decades earlier, or in established regional traditions, or even according to personal idiosyncrasies.
Leaving aside the stylish and beautiful furniture of ancient civilizations, furniture traditions in the West began in medieval Europe. Wooden chests, benches, stools, chairs with arms, beds, trestle-type tables and cupboards survive in many forms from this period, from primitive constructions of plain planks and nails to more sophisticated panelled examples decorated with carving, painting or wood inlay. The aristocracy, churches and monasteries were the major users of furniture at this time. Carving and inlaid work became more and more magnificent for those who could afford it, and by the early seventeenth century highly skilled craftsmen were producing showpieces such as the cabinets made at Antwerp, which have painted panels, tortoiseshell and ebony veneers, and those of Augsburg and Nuremberg with their finely executed marquetry.
In the sixteenth century, the principal items in English manor houses were boxes and chests, extendable tables known as draw tables, small folding tables, open-shelved court or buffet cupboards (ancestors of the dresser and sideboards close cupboards or presses, benches, many small stools and four-poster beds. Servants had small truckle (or trundle) beds. All these were of oak. Chairs, which were generally reserved for the head of the household, developed from a panelled, box-like structure with back and arms, through lighter forms retaining the straight legs of the original frame but dispensing with the panels, to “joyned” chairs with turned baluster legs. The common X-frame chairs were beech. Upholstery, if it was used, might be of plain velvet or worked wool.
Carpenters in theMiddle Ages had often merely nailed together a few planks to make basic furniture; but the spreading craft of joinery brought in the frame-and-panel type ofconstruction. As a result furniture became lighter and more portable and the problems of warping and splitting were to an extent overcome, since the panels were not nailed but simply rested in the grooved frame. Linenfold carving was much used on chests, chairs and on panelling for walks Renaissance motifs, such as profile heads in roundels, were often used as decoration. By the end of the sixteenth century the massive, bulbous “cup and cover” and
similar heavy motifs became common for carved supports such as table legs and bedposts, and gadrooning -L c unky, ribbed ornament — adorned the edges of many lurfices. Over the following years the styles remained rather scud , nd were often somewhat plainer than before, particularly during the Commonwealth. With the restoration of the monarchy in 660 a certain frivolity became apparent and much more ornament was used on furniture, due to Continental influences: wist-t g — giving the popular “barley-sugar” effect — was use l on hair legs and backs, table legs and elsewhere, and carved scrbll shapes were also popular. The day-bed — ancestor of the chaise lonpe and sofa
was introduced at this time, with cane often for seats. The
chest of drawers made its appearance in about 1650 and gained in
popularity towards the end of the century. on bun feet were
usual.
At this time oak was still the most commonly used wood in Britain; in other European countries walnut wfis more extensively used for solid carved furniture. But more ornamental finishes were catching the eye ofwealthy patrons everywhere. Inlays, veneering and marquetry techniques became increasingly advanced throughout Europe, and the finer woods were much so~ ght, after. Oriental lacquer first reached Europe in the early part of e seventeenth century, and by the 1680s had many imitatoq e lacquered or japanned chest-on-stand was a showpiece, ideally sturniounted by blue-and-white porcelain vases. The Low Countries particularly
excelled in floral marquetry. In late seventeenth fury France Andre-Charles Boulle developed his intri:ate technique of marquetry using brass, tortoiseshell and pewter, I -.ie rich, ornate appearance ofhis vast cupboards and cabinets was I ighly admired. The Italians perfected pietre dure, an elaborate inlaying method using marble and semi-precious stones such as ag4tes, lapis lazuli
and chalcedony; but by the end of the cent an artificial material called scagliola had been developed, to iinitate marble, using different pigments, in place of these materials.
__T
In the late 1680s numerous Huguenot cran=enfled to England from religious persecution in France; while Woam and Mary brought Dutch influences and workers; thus more and more European styles and techniques filtered into England. By this time walnut was increasingly used for elegant~”ture, and deal was the base fora variety of decorative veers. One of the favourite techniques brought in by the Dutch craftsmen was marquetry, and the later years of the century produced, in particular, some fine, large cabinets in various styles. The later Queen Anne period is renowned for charming, nett walnut chests
Veneer samples opposite illustrate the tonalitie, an i . n various ous woods (in numerical order): Afars (1), Afzelia (3), Agba or Nigerian Cedar (4), Ash Avodire or African Satinwood (7), Ayan or Nige (8), Beech (9), Canadian Birch or Yellow Birch Maple (11), Bubinga or African Rosewood Lebanon (13), Cherry (14), Elm (15), EucalMountain Ash (16), Iroko or African Teak (If European Plane (18), Larch (19), Laurel or J ndi Lime, Linden or Basswood (21), Mahogany (. Cherry Mahogany (23), Mansonia or African B1, and Oak (25).
I grain patterns 1frormosia (2), 5), Aspen (6), ian Satinwood 10), Bird’s Eye 12), Cedar of plus or White Lacewood or ‘n Walnut (20), 2), Makore or ck Walnut (24)
of drawers and bureaus with bracket feet, tall-backed chairs with cabriole legs and shell motifs, mid upholstered wing chairs. Walnut pieces were often copied in oak or beech in the provinces; but country areas also had their own simpler styles. These included Windsor chairs, which commonly had elm seats, with other woods used for the remainder and ladder-back and spindle-back chairs with rush seats, generally made in the north ofEngland.
For nearly the whole of the eighteenth century, France set the international styles — royal patronage ensured top-quality craftsmanship and imaginative and artistic innovations. The rather rigid formality under Louis XIV gradually gave way to a freer, lighter mood. The symmetry of the earlier style was at first retained, but lines became gently curved, and the cabriole leg became fashionable on chairs and tables. Towards the middle of the century, in the reign of Louis XV, was produced the most flamboyant, fanciful and perhaps best known of French styles: rococo. Flowing lines, asymmetrical shapes, shells and C-scrolls typify the furniture of this time, along with fine floral marquetry and swirling ormolu mounts. Lacquer — either oriental or imitation — was also used, with chinoiserie motifs. Comfortably upholstered chairs made their debut and added to the relaxed, informal air of the times. Many kinds of little tables and cabinets were also fashionable, but the piece of furniture most associated with eighteenth-century France is the commode — a highly decorative chest, raised on legs, with cupboards and/or drawers and a marble top. After a transitional period embracing old and new elements, the rococo finally gave way to the neo-classical in about 1770. Lines lost their curves and became more severe, legs straightened and tapered, and there was a fashion for furniture with ingenious mechanical devices and moving parts — little drawers opened by hidden springs, smoothly rolling cylindrical tops for bureaus, and so on. The mood was more fastidious, but still
stishowy. Ornamentation became a little more restrained and geometrical, and included the use of Sevres medallions and plainer, smaller ormolu mounts.
However, the upheavals caused by the Revolution put a stop to such frivolities. A certain austerity marked the furniture around the turn of the century, though the traditions of fine craftsmanship naturally lingered. A heavier and more angular look was now fashionable, and an “Etruscan” style was followed by an “Egyptian”, with appropriate motifs.
In England from the 1730s mahogany was used for the better pieces. The many large country houses built during the century needed quantities of good-quality ftu-niture, and this period saw
Veneer samples opposite illustrate the tonalities and grain patterns found in various woods (in numerical order): Australian Silky Oak or Prickly Ash (26), Pollard Oak or Brown Oak (27), Obeche or African Whitewood (28), Olive Ash (29), Opepe or Yellow Wood (30), Padauk (31), Aldao or Pacific Walnut (32), Pearwood (33), Beroba Rosa (34), Scots Pine or Swedish Pine (35), 7idipwood (36), Purpleheart (37), Indian Rosewood (38), San Domingan Rosewood (39), Sapele (40), East Indian Satinwood (41) Sycamore or Maple (42), Golden Teak (43), Tola (44), African Walnut (45), Australian Walnut (46), Black American Walnut (47), European Walnut (48), Zebrawood (49) and 11)”imelle (SO).
the rise of the cabinet-maker. From the mid-cen1 omas Chippendale and others published pattern-books sh •. R designs for furniture in various styles. Among these, the F chi ,luence is seen in the rococo style with its C-scrolls, naturalistic ements and asymmetrical shapes, and more generally in the curved lines and less severe look which typified the Louis X sty,Ie. Also featured are the “Gothic” style, with architectural motifs such as arches and turrets, and the “Chinese” style, with simulated bamboo, fretwork and pagoda shapes. Chippendale himself is particularly remembered for his generously proportoned carved chairs and the monumental desks and bookcases still many collections today. He also worked with Robert Ada* in he neoclassical style which followed in the 1760s, and which cofitinued, with variations, until the end ofthe century. Lighter woods such as satinwood were favoured, along with mahogany, and marquetry remained much used. Painted decoration was also used.
Inspired by the ornament of ancient Rome and the newly discovered finds at Pompeii and Herculaneum, A am fostered this lighter but rather more formal style for use oug out the
decor of the house: a wall frieze of honeysuckle or s ags A husks or bellflowers, interspersed with rams’ heads, e-daflions or be
sphinx-like figures, might repeated or -m red sideboard, um, pier-glass, table and chair, with carpets echoing the ceiling decoration. While Adam designed for the greatest houses (he was not concerned with anything less), it was the designs of George Hepplewhite, published in 1788, whic helped
to fill the gap between the elite and the growing meret class. He included quantities of designs for many types) ofiniture based on the neo-classical style. Outstanding arricng t iem are drawings for chairs with oval, heart-shaped and s6lc -shaped backs, enclosing delicate openwork wheatsheaves, c assn al urns, rosettes and Prince of Wales feathers. Although he designs for many other articles of furniture, it is for “set Hepplewhite is best remembered. The next great n el Thomas Sheraton, a designer renowned for straight
chairbacks and painted decoration who adapted the n style. He was influenced both by the Louie XVI s le c France and by what followed it, and led the way into ha known as the Regency style.
Suddenly, rather than using simple classical o designers began to take the actual shapes of classier their models. Chairs, couches and stools were parti for this treatment. Also popular were round tables central leg in various stllyles supported on three or for of sideboards and smacupboards had brass grilles c pleated silk behind. Ornament included lion’s paw I mounts in the shape of lion’s heads or sphinxe became fashionable, as well as mahogany, saLinwoo painted wood.
A more ostentatious style became the vogue middle of the century. Large, heavy and somewhat mented pieces were made in imitation ofsome earlier
French and English furniture. Substantial, sprung upholster
deep buttons became popular from the 1830s, aj did military chests and desks, davenports and japanned papier mAche.
Several types of small chairs upholstered in velvet or Berlin woolwork appeared from the 1840s, and whatnots—smallish, narrow stands with a number ofshelves for displaying china, etc—came more generally into use, with many variations in shape and size. Beds were usually still of the four-poster variety, although brass bedsteads became more general from the 1850s, and by the 1880s were common. Bentwood became popular during the 1850s. The Austrian, Michael Thonet (1786-1871) was the best-known exponent of this medium, which blended well with the other popular style: japonaiscrie.
Mass-production was now well under way. Standards inevitably dropped, and such descriptions as “exaggerated”, “finicky” and “debased” have been used offurniture of this period. There is, however, an honest, no-nonsense solidity about other pieces of nineteenth-century furniture, particularly where good-quality mahogany is concerned.
A return to craftsman-made pieces and cleaner, straighter lines was heralded by William Morris and others from the 1860s; and the Arts and Crafts movement, founded in the 1880s,propagated the trend towards the integration of art and design and their application to everyday life.
British expatriate craftsmen in America naturally took with them the traditions and styles they knew. They also kept in touch with the current trends through observing what was imported into America from England, and continued to follow them, while making their own stylistic adaptations. There was inevitably some time-lag. The Queen Anne style remained highly popular for many years, the “highboy” (tall chest of drawers), for example, being made in this style, or with elements of it, until at least the 1770s. Available woods included oak, walnut, pine, maple and various fruitwoods; mahogany was used generally from the second half of the eighteenth century, though earlier mahogany pieces exist. Philadelphia, Newport and Boston were the main areas of furniture production, followed by Baltimore, and some of the smaller towns in Massachusetts.
Various innovations were made, such as the “butterfly” table (in which the hinged supports to the extending flaps have a graceful, winged shape) in the early eighteenth century. Windsor chairs were especially popular, with variations such as the Hitchcock chair with painted or stencilled decoration on the top rail, which itself might vary in shape.
In the second half of the eighteenth century the main style was American Chippendale, based on the mainstream of the English style. One ofthe specifically American features was the block front to a cabinet or chest of drawers, in which the front has the central part very slightly set back. Furniture of the Federal period followed the European swing to neo-classicism, again with adaptations, and assorted mixtures of designs from different sources, often giving a vigorous and fresh look.
Revivals of previous styles, particularly the more flamboyant, occurred in America as in Europe in the nineteenth century. New machines and other technical innovations made possible much experimentation and initiated mass-production. In the 1870s a
new style was launched by Charles Lock Eastlake, given in America to a particular style of “ar rectangular, with straight lines and elaboe ( perhaps with inlays or painted panels, flutedttlu.
turned wooden spindles. “There was also a Vogt;e for Japanese decoration. The firm of Herter was one of a number producing “art” furniture into the twentieth century TT. - work of the designer Gustave Stickley, who promoted the d of the Arts and Crafts movement, is still well known for clean, s afight lines and good hand craftsmanship. Later, the architect F K Lloyd Wright designed functional furniture specifically for in Lss-production. These men and other contemporary designers fostered a fairly widespread and continuing appreciation of theirnfirticular styles.
Throughout the West, the twentieth ~nt~~ has seen a multitude of new materials, for good rim* has become increasingly rare and expensive. In style, too, there have been changes. A general, international trend aw4Y-”in the heavy, elaborate taste of the nineteenth century, along w the demand for good design and low cost, grew through the s and Crafts movement towards various light, functional qyks using tubular steel, fibreglass, aluminum, various plastics, r bber, leather, plywood and bent laminated wood as well as more ewly available woods such as teak. All the decorative mo ‘ of earlier periods have disappeared—although a certain arnotInt reproduction furniture has continued to be made—and mot m ern furniture of good quality is admired for its serviceability a id uncluttered lines.