Where Victorian furniture, through mass manufacture, celebrated many past styles, the Edwardian era was more (more…)
The main reason purely and simply is because of (more…)
A story in South Coast Today told of a young man with Asperger’s who is brilliant at (more…)
A new BBC programme on antiques is looking to find an antiques master from amongst the general public.
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The barley-sugar twist leg or generic barley twist as it is more commonly known is a well known design feature on furniture that has been with us for many years.
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For the stuffed shirts amongst us, there have been rumblings regarding Fiona Bruce presenting a documentary about Queen Victoria wearing very tight jeans.
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As was fairly typical during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, certain designs of furniture came back into fashion. A popular piece was the gateleg table that was now being mass produced to satisfy demand.
It was the tendency of a growing romantic movement to look back to pre-industrial days, and as far back as the 17th century when the earliest folding table, the gateleg, came into being. It was the flap of the table which opened like a gate to provide sturdy support which gave it its name. The table continued in popularity right the way through the 17th and into the middle of the 18th century and was eventually superseded by the drop leaf table, a finer piece of cabinetry made in mahogany rather than oak.
Its resurgence came about during the Victorian era. Antique furniture at the time was not prized particularly and was cheap to buy. However, a Queen Anne Revival in 1860 saw architect Richard Norman Shaw designing and building Queen Anne style houses in West London and the young middle classes who bought them wished to furnish them in the Queen Anne style. Initially there (more…)
Side tables came into common usage from the late 17th century onwards and are still very popular today.
The antique tables, very much used for display, reflected the designs of the times and often it is the earlier examples that are exquisitely handmade by master cabinet makers of the day. A late 17th century antique table for example could be walnut oyster veneered, with intricate marquetry seaweed panels, oak barley twist legs and Y-shaped stretchers. The caramel coloured patinas that develop over 300 years or so only add to the superb craftsmanship to produce an antique side table that is highly sought after today.
Another later Georgian example would reflect Neo-classical design and could be demi-lune in shape and painted with classical motifs with painted roundels denoting some legend or other on the top, all painted onto a cream background which is then (more…)
For those of us who are planning to buy some antique furniture, here are just a few points to watch and remember.
Dining Chairs
- Chippendale was a designer, not a maker, so it is unlikely you will find a chair made by the great man
- Dining chairs in sets are usually numbered using Roman numerals
- Stuff over seats should be nailed onto rails made of beech, which is less likely to split
- Check the back legs for wear and weakness as this is where they go first
Dressers
- Mortise and tenon joints should show on the outer surface of drawers
- Dressers tend to be rather plain – elaborate friezes may have been added later
- Marriages between tops and bases however are not (more…)
The popularity of playing cards in the 17th century is mirrored through the determination of cabinet makers of the time to produce an occasional table, designed particularly for the purpose. It was not sufficient to have an ordinary table which could double up for other occasional use, the card table stood alone with its green baize top and a folding mechanism designed to protect the baize when not in use.
During the reign of Queen Anne, the cabriole leg as a design feature was incorporated. Often one or both of the back legs was hinged to support the flap when it was extended out. The most popular shape at this time was square, which opened out into a rectangle and generally pieces were made from walnut. Georgian examples of the antique table were later (more…)