Driscolls Antiques – Antique Furniture Blog

Thomas Chippendale the antique furniture cabinet maker

Thomas Chippendale is a joiners son from Otley in Yorkshire which is very close to where we are based in clithereoe, Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) moved to London when he was around 20 years old and he set up a workshop near Covent Garden market and this is where he began designing some beautiful pieces of chippendale furniture.

The Chippendales influence was because of, The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director, published in 1754.

This was the first ever catalogue by a cabinet maker dealing exclusively with antique furniture. It showed all different designs such as Chinese, Rococo and Gothic styles. It showed cabinet makers a practical way how they could apply fashionable detail to their work and this is where the chippendale style started as most of the pieces were not made by Thomas Chippendale himself, most pieces were copied from this book of designs.

He produced some of his finest work for the designer Robert Adam and his work was well known in the USA.

Chippendale style antique furniture is still copied today and some very good pieces were made in the Edwardian period, and these pieces are affordable and a good investment for the future.

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Victorian Cabinet Makers of Antique Bedroom Suites

No Victorian bedroom belonging to the middle class people was complete without its antique bedroom suite. By the late 19^th century all the large antique furniture manufacturers were producing matching bedroom furniture, usually bearing the maker’s stamp or label.

The well known company names include Gillows of Lancaster, most of whos pieces after 1820 were stamped ‘Gillow & Co’ or ‘Gillows’, and numbered; after 1900 items were stamped ’Waring & Gillow’ .

Also well known were Johnstone & Jeanes (stamped ‘Johnstone & Jeanes’), Shoolbred & Co (Jas. Shoolbred & Co), Howard & Sons, and Maples.

They all produced suites in a vast range of styles and woods. antique bedroom suites over the last 100 years seemed to be split up and therefore are harder to come by unlike single items.

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antique table from a Pembroke table to a sofa table

The antique pembroke table, is the forebear of the sofa table, was introduced in the mid 1700s and it was named after the Countess of Pembroke, who ordered the very first one. Pembroke Tables have rectangular, circular serpentine or oval tops, with flaps supported on small, hinged brackets under the leaves.

They were used for light meals such as breakfast and tea or as work tables. The antique sofa table which was a longer narrower type of the Pembroke table was designed to stand in front of a sofa and was used by ladies for writing drawing and reading. They were mainly made in mahogany but some exotic woods were also used.

Antique centre tables are similar to sofa tables, but they do not have the flaps at each end. Library tables tend to be very grad and expensive, the most elaborate versions have hinged tops for showing maps and prints they were beautiful pieces of antique furniture.

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The antique furniture maker William and Thomas Wilkinson operated a cabinet making business at Brokers Row, Moorfields between 1790-1807, after which William left to take over the established business of Quentin Kaye at 14 Ludgate Hill. William was an upholsterer and cabinet maker. He made very fashionable beautiful regency furniture and also did some patented items including antique extending dining tables. After Williams death in 1833 the firm was continued by his sons William Ayscough and Charles and continued to operate into the 20^th century eventually trading as Hindley and Wilkinson in 1909.

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