Driscolls Antiques – Antique Furniture Blog

Antique Whatnots what are they for ?

The antique whatnot stand was intended to display a variety of objects, ornaments, curiosities, books and papers. Usually in vey nice serpentine shapes with three shelves and occasionally one or two drawers below. They were supported by turned columns at the edges. Whatnots were very popular in the 19^th century and they were usually made of mahogany, rosewood or walnut and were sometimes had ormolu mounts. In addition the shelves of some pieces were edged with pierced brass galleries. They are very nice pieces of antique furniture for displaying your choice pieces.

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Victorian Commodes unique pieces of victorian furniture

During the Victorian period antique bedside commodes and antique pot cupboards became more usable and more comfortable than the earlier commodes with their pull out bases was replaced by a comfortable disguised seats. These chests were first recorded ca 1830 and were usually of walnut or mahogany, standing on turned tapering feet, these antique chests of simulated drawers opened to reveal a fitted commode chair. The quality of the interior of the commode was no longer pine or oak, but within a frame veneered with richly figured timbers such as satin birch and birds eye maple etc. Even the best Victorian bedside commodes were superseded by the widespread introduction of the water closet.

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Antique English Night Tables

Antique English commodes were around from the 1760s and usually made of mahogany, with a raised back edge or galleried tops and they sometimes had carrying handles above pairs of doors and shaped aprons. From the 1770s firms such as Gillows of Lancaster made tambour fronted night tables with cross banding, ebony and boxwood lines or raised panels surrounding flamed mahogany veneers and they usually had casters.

From the 1770s night tables became more light in both form and colour and as a result bow fronted commodes emerged. Eventually the heavy designes of the 1760s was superseded by the finer pot cupboards, They were much narrower and this form was widely manufactured in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. They were very rarely made in pairs and it is unusual to find exact matching pairs today especially in the english antique furniture suites.

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antique etagers

The French word étagère meaning stand, combines both the qualities of the English dumb waiter and the whatnot put together. They usually had two or three tiers and was used for displaying objects or for serving food.

In some cases the top tier could be removed and used as a tray and casters and handles on the lower tier enable the piece to be pulled around a room. French etageres were more highly decorated than British ones. By the 1860s there was a large variety of different designs available, from ones that had ormolu mounts, gilding, motifs and Rococo curves and scrolls. the english antique furniture was usually more simple

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Antique Canterburies and there uses

The famous antique furniture maker Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) referred to two types of Canterbury in the ‘Cabinet dictionary’: the music stand and the supper tray. He described the first as ‘a small music stand’ or open topped rack, with slatted partitions for the storage of loose sheets of music. It usually would have four short turned legs on castors, so that it could be moved easily, and was short enough to be stored beneath the piano. They were first seen in Britain around the 1780s. It is thought the Canterbury was named after an Archbishop of Canterbury, for whom the first example was made.

Some antique canterburies had sides of wire lattice work , and some were decorated with mother of pearl inlay on papier mache and gilt.

The second type of Canterbury to which Sheraton referred was a ‘supper tray made to stand by a antique table, with a circular end, and three partitions, to hold knives, forks and plates. Much taller than the music stand, the supper tray is like a small table. It was used like the dumb waiter, and mostly would have been stood on casters so that it was easy to move around, and often had splayed legs for stability. Usually They were constructed from antique mahogany furniture.

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Antique Dressing Mirrors and Antique Cheval Mirrors – The History

It was not until the 1600s that dressing mirrors became free standing. To begin with they were made of silver or silver gilt with trestle. During the latter half of the 1600s Venetian and Parisian craftsmen supplied beautifully decorated toilet mirrors. By the early 1700s toilet mirrors had become more sturdier in construction, and most were standing on plinth bases which has small drawers, the best were serpentine fronted. The mirrors were usually rectangular and it was not until the 1770s that oval dressing mirrors became available.

Antique cheval mirrors or also known as standing dressing mirrors were first made in Paris. By the 1800s large plates of glass could be cast, and the free standing mirror known as the antique cheval mirror became very popular. ‘Cheval’ means horse in French, and the name given to the mirror refers to its four supporting legs.

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Why has the Antique Gate Leg Table Survived for so long.

Antique Tables that can extend ( go smaller and larger ) are very adaptable, and this idea has ensured the continuous survival of the gate leg for over 400 years. An antique gate leg table is a table with a flap or flaps which, when extended, rests on supports swinging out from under the top. The supports consist of legs, joined by stretchers at the top and bottom to form gate like structures.

17^th Century Gate leg Tables are usually small antique side tables with fold over tops were among the luxury furnishings of grad houses in the 16^th century. During the 17^th century, tables were in large demand and so lots were made. Early examples usually have half round shape when folded, with a doubled over top hinged across the straight edge. When pulled away from the wall and opened out the top forms a circle or an oval shape, supported firmly underneath by its joined gate frame.

later 17^th century Gate Leg Antique Table could be moved away from the centre of the room and folded down to a more compact size. Fold over tops continued but the main gate leg construction consisted of a fixed central section with a hinged flaps and a gate leg on either side. The supports for the flaps generally swivelled out from one end of the central rectangular structure and folded back parallel with it Extra large table leaves, some of which would seat up to twelve people comfortably, as they had very large leaves.

This style of table was still constructed in the 1920s and was on of the most popular forms of tables of that period and were usually constructed in antique oak furniture.

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