Antique Writing Slopes
Small antique slope topped writing boxes ( antique writing slope )have been known from the 16th and early 17th centuries and they had sloping lids, often lipped at the lower edge, so they could double as a reading lectern. Many were decorated with carving, inlay or some even had painting. Inside they were fitted with compartments and small drawers for paper and writing equipment. they are small and so portable so they can be used on top of a table or chest.
Posted on 20 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Washstands and antique Bedroom Furniture
In ca 1750the antique washstand became a piece of furniture. Mid 18th century antique washstands are usually made of mahogany and have twin flap square tops which open from the centre to reveal a fitted interior with sunken bowl, dressing compartments and a rising mirror that lifts up from the back.
regency washstands became larger, usually with rectangular tops sometimes with hinged backs and fitted with mirrors on the inside, above central basins other compartments. From the 1830s onwards they became more useful in design and have splash backs and this style is more useful to use as an antique writing table.
When the wash stand was made as part of a bedroom suite in the late 19th century it became more elaborate with cupboards, drawers and shelves that sometimes framed a toilet glass, often made of satinwood and sometimes painted with flowers. Edwardian and late Victorian washstands were occasionally with Arts and Crafts tiles and were an essential part of the antique bedroom suite.
Posted on 19 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Refectory Tables
The name antique refectory table is a word to describe the long joined tables that were made from the 1550s to 1700s and then reproduced in the Victorian and Edwaridan times onwards. The antique refectory tables and the antique trestle table is the earliest forms of antique dining table. Someof the early tables have huge single plank tops which is very rare, but most have two or three long planks of wood along the top. Most of the earlier examples are made from oak, but you can see tables that are made from elm or a combination of the two together.
Posted on 17 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Davenports – The History
The antique davenport desk was first recorded in the 1790s, in the records of the renowned cabinet maker Gillows of Lancaster and it states ‘Captain Davenport a desk’. And this is the first example of the small writing desks now called by the captain’s name.
Most of the 1800s the davenport was mainly used by the Lady and would have of a small chest of drawers with a desk on top. The antique davenport desk changed very little in design over the years and most antique davenports have four drawers that open at one side and have faux drawer fronts on the opposite side, above the drawers there is sometimes a pull-out slide to hold papers and some examples have cupboards concealing drawers. Many antique davenports are fitted with casters at the bottom so they can be moved around easily.
The top sections usually have a desk with a sloping lid and have a leather writing surface, and a lift up lid behind and sometimes with a brass gallery. They usually have small drawers for storing writing equipment and ink wells.
The Victorian davenport desks are usually supported on elaborately scrolled or turned supports, which allows a recessed space for more leg room.
Antique mahogany wood was the most popular wood for antique davenports but some very nice examples were made in rosewood or burr walnut and would sometimes have stringing lines of brass or box wood inlay and with decorative brass drawer handles, brass galleries at the back and brass castors.
Some Victorian davenports had wood turned galleries or would be fretwork carved and would have turned wood knobs
The antique davenport was still made up to late Edwardian times and are still a very popular piece to buy today.
Posted on 15 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Tripod Tables
An antique tripod table is a three legged table that was used for tea or desserts and was the most popular small table of the 18th century. Most antique tripod tables have tops that can tip up into a vertical position when not in use so can be stored away or into the side of the room.
The best antique tripod tables have a top that is made from a single piece of solid mahogany ( a one piece top ) Country tripod tables were usually made from oak, fruitwood or elm.
They are very useful tables and ideal for occasional tables for lamps or ideal for small flats to use as a small dining table to store at the side of the room.
Posted on 14 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Bedside Tables and Antique washstands
antique bedside tables and antique commodes, also are known as ‘night tables’ in were first made in France during the 18th century. By the latter part of the century they were designed to conceal the chamber pot sometimes behind a tambour fronted slide or faux drawer, and some had a basin for shaving or washing. These new designs replaced the commode chairs, which were often copied in the late 1800s.
Posted on 13 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Library Tables and Antique Writing Tables
The earliest known antique writing tables were from 16th century in Italy, when cabinet makers made walnut tables with sloping antique desks fitted into the tops and small drawers below for the storage. Similar antique tables or antique bureaux probably originated in France soon after.
Antique writing tables were introduced in England after the 1660s and this was because French tables influenced English designs during this period and both French and English examples were usually made of oak or walnut with a rectangular folding top. The fall front was supported by legs and they were usually decorated with seaweed or floral marquetry.
As time went on paper became cheaper and education improved, so the need arose for less grand versions of the antique writing table, especially finer examples for use for the lady. A new range of designs were produced and Neo classical writing tables were made in exotic woods such as satin wood, which suited to this lighter style of table, and many were with fine marquetry inlay.
Several new types of antique writing tables were produced during the Regency period, including the Carlton House desk, named after the London home of the Prince of Wales. At the end of the Napoleonic war in 1815, furniture designers were given the opportunity to create new writing furniture, when furniture was made with applied metal for military purposes. The furniture of the Regency period was made with elegant designs combined with new construction techniques. New features included galleries at the top of the tables, for decorative finish or to hold books. More small drawers, hinged doors, and some extending surfaces were made writing, drawing and painting;
A new design was also made which was the drum table, it was made for the library, where they were used for storing and displaying books.
Posted on 12 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Sideboards
Antique Sideboards first appeared from around the mid 1700s. They were long narrow tables on pedestals and usually with cupboards. An antique sideboard was designed for the needs of the upper class person, to hold the silver, china, tablecloths and cutlery and the tops ere used to put the plates before serving. Some early antique sideboards had a brass gallery with curtains to protect the wall paper from being marked. Antique sideboards usually have a cellaret built into one of the drawers for storing the wine and they are usually lead lined to keep the bottles cool. In some antique sideboards they also have a chamber pot built into it, which is not very nice if you were dining.
Posted on 10 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Pedestal Desks
When antique pedestal desks was introduced into Britain it reflected the demand for large, freestanding desks, which were more comfortable to sit at than the antique kneehole desk. The first antique pedestal desk was made in walnut around 1730 and they soon became very popular and more were made in mahogany during the reign of George II . The late Georgian antique desks usually have three drawers in the frieze, the pedestals are fitted with either drawers or cupboards, and they stand on moulded plinths with hidden castors. Pine and oak antique desks were produced and are usually painted underneath with a reddish wash or blackened. From the early 1800s, some exotic timbers were used on desks which were rosewood, calamander, amboyna and ebony were used and some Regency antique pedestal desks had brass inlay.
The Victorian cabinet makers returned to natural woods such as oak and mahogany and made very usuable designs, they usually have plain wooden knob handles. More elaborate antique pedestal desks were produced in the late Victorian times like in satinwood with marquetry, or with painted decoration. One of the cabinet makers who produced some very nice examples were Edwards & Roberts.
Posted on 8 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Antique Kneehole Desks
The antique kneehole desk was made to have two uses, the first a dressing table and the second a writing desk. the antique kneehole desk first appeared in France and the Netherlands in the second half of the 17th century. Early antique desks were commissioned by members of the French court as luxury items and usually mounted with moulded brass borders and elaborate escutcheons or ormolu keyhole mounts.
Until the mid 1700s the kneehole desk was usually made of walnut or oak . The best examples include those made of burr woods and the most elaborate George I and George II kneeholes (1714-1761) have both cross banded and feather banded decorations.and the tops and sides are sometimes quarter veneered. The larger kneeholes desks were made from George III times onwards (1760-1820) and were constructed usually in solid mahogany, with mahogany drawer linings; they usually stand on shaped bracket feet, which replaced the earlier bun feet.
Posted on 7 November '08 by james, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
