Driscolls Antiques – Antique Furniture Blog

Comfy Antique Armchairs

Our antique armchairs come in all shapes and sizes but a very comfy model is the club style of armchair. We have some very nice antique chairs in stock at the moment and all upholstered in very nice fabrics. Our antique chairs that we currently have are a pair of Victorian antique upholstered club armchairs with scrolled arms and stand on beautifully turned front bun feet with castors. The chairs have been newly upholstered in neutral fabric.

If it is a single antique armchair you require then we have a beautiful antique Edwardian armchair with a shaped back, scrolled arms and a deep removable cushion. The chair has a moulded frame, splayed back legs, beautifully turned front legs and castors. The chair has been recently upholstered and we also have an antique comfy Edwardian upholstered armchair with a shaped back, scrolled arms and a deep removable cushion. The chair has a moulded frame, splayed back legs, beautifully turned front legs and brass castors. It would go very well with the other single antique arm chair. They are very nice pieces of antique furniture and would compliment all lounges. We also have some very nice antique upholstered furniture coming in so please keep checking our website as we will be adding them on soon.

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Additional antiques pictures

If you require any further information or photos of a particular piece of antique furniture please email us and we will be happy to oblige.

Today we received three emails who wanted additional pictures and we have attached the pictures below to give you an idea of what they are like.

The first question was “Can you please send more pictures of details?(back of the antique bureau, drawers bottom, dovetails etc) thanks”

And then “Can you send me pictures of the open drawers, both sides and back” of our antique chest of drawers.

Also we got asked “Would you kindly send me additional photos of it  also showing where repairs have been made” about our small antique trypod table. We also can check over the pieces and tell you if there are any old repairs etc.

the antique chest of drawers we sent.

and the antique trypod table we sent

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Where can I buy antique linen presses ?

Driscolls antiques supply the best quality antique furniture and always have a large selection of antique linen press. We try to stock all periods and in all woods such as mahogany, oak and walnut.

This month we have put up for sale three very nice antique linen presses for sale.
One is a Georgian mahogany linen press with a moulded cornice above a deep frieze and two panelled doors with moulded edges. The interior has sliding linen trays and the lower section has two over two oak lined cock beaded drawers with the best quality brass handles. The press stands on splayed bracket feet and has the most beautiful, inlaid banding and string inlays around the edges. We also have for sale an antique Regency mahogany linen press with a shaped cornice above a deep frieze and two cupboard doors. The interior has sliding linen trays and the lower section has two over one deep graduating cock beaded drawers with original turned handles. The piece stands on beautiful turned bun feet. We also have an antique Regency mahogany and walnut linen press with a moulded cornice above a deep frieze and two doors with beautifully figured walnut panels, and the interior has four mahogany lined sliding linen trays. The lower section has two over two graduating mahogany lined drawers with cock beading and replacement brass handles.

So as you can see we get very nice linen presses for sale and we always put them up for sale on our antique furniture website.

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How often do you update your website?

Our turn over of our antique furniture is very quick and we add new items of antique furniture on a daily basis to our website. We usually add the minimum of two new pieces a day and to spot these easily we have added a very useful tool onto our website. It is a section for antique furniture added recently and can be seen on the left side under the other searches category. When we add new stock please check this section first and then you will be the first to see our latest stock. You will see we add chairs, tables, chest of drawers and wardrobes on a regular basis. If we do not currently have what you are looking for please email us with your request and we can add you to our wanted list. If we find anything suitable we then email you with pictures and description of any suitable piece of antique furniture.

This week alone we have added 20 new items. We have added a Small antique Edwardian, Antique Inlaid Occasional Lamp Table, Victorian Dining Table, Large Antique Arts and Crafts Oak Open Bookcase, Antique Inlaid Occasional Table, Antique Chiffonier, Arts and Crafts Bookcase, Antique Walnut Dining Table, Antique Walnut Open Shelves, Antique Walnut Roll Top Desk, Antique Mahogany Wardrobe and lots, lots more. All our pieces are beautifully cleaned and restored and we only deal in the better quality antiques so you can ensure the piece you buy is of good quality and is in good condition.

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Antique Bedroom Suites

Antique bedroom suites became most popular in the Victorian era as most middle class people would have one. By the late Victorian period all the large antique furniture manufacturers were producing antique bedroom furniture, like Waring & Gillow or Johnstone & Jeanes, Shoolbred & Co, Howard & Sons and Maples.

Antique bedroom furniture started in the mid 18^th century when the antique antique washstand appeared. They started off in 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 with rectangular tops and some with splash backs.

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. Antique wardrobes were produced from the late 18^th century and dressing tables with mirrors were mainly produced in the mid Victorian era. Every bedroom needs good pieces of antique furniture as they can transform your room. Most bedroom suites got split up over the years but you can quite easily find similar pieces to go into the same room.

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Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton Antique Furniture

There are three main well known furniture designers in the 18^th century Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton who designed antique furniture.

Thomas Chippendale was a joiners son from Otley in Yorkshire and was alive from 1718-79 and he moved to London when he was around 20 years old to set up a workshop near Covent Garden market. This is where he began designing some beautiful pieces of chippendale furniture. He produced a book called The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director, published in 1754 it showed antique furniture in different designs such as Chinese, Rococo and Gothic styles and it showed cabinet makers a practical way how they could apply fashionable detail to their work.

George Hepplewhite trained in Lancaster and he worked in London from ca 1760 and died in 1786. After he died there was a book with his designs of antique furniture. Hepplewhite is best known for elegant antique chairs with straight, tapering legs and oval, heart shaped or shield shaped backs very common to see in Edwardian copied antique chairs. Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) lead the way for British antique furniture design. He was a trained cabinet maker and Sheraton’s three part Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers Drawing Book includes different styles such as Louis XVI design and Chinoiserie, but its main designs were of elegant neoclassical design. The Sheraton style antique furniture is its delicate appearance, particularly in tables with tall, slender legs tapering down to spade feet. Most pieces have inlayed straight lines, with veneering and stringing, rather than ornate marquetry or carving. All three designers produced some very good designs in antique furniture and these designs have been copied over the centuries and are still copied today.

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What is an Antique Refectory Table

The tables called antique refectory table is a long joined table that were mainly made from the 1550s to 1700s but then copied and constructed in the Victorian and Edwaridan periods. The antique refectory table was originally called an antique trestle table in its earliest form. Some of the earlier versions had a huge single plank top which is very rare, but most had two to three long planks of wood along the top jointed together. Most antique refectory tables are made from oak and we have a very nice example of a Victorian refectory table for sale. It is a long antique Victorian oak refectory table with a long thick solid oak top above a deep frieze and four chunky turned reeded legs. This is a very solid and very usable solid oak dining table.

We do on occasion get some very early examples but they are quite difficult to come by as they are rare pieces of antique furniture.

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The different ways antique furniture was decorated.

Throughout the different ages of antique furniture construction there has been different forms of decorating. A few examples can be seen in the form of carving, veneering or even painting.

The decoration on antique furniture can also usually give a good indication of its age. From the 16th Century decoration was fairly simple but as time progressed it became more elaborate and as fashions changed, earlier plainer furniture was often later decorated or carved in line with changing tastes. The most earliest carved furniture is usually of oak or walnut but carvers preferred to use more densely grained timbers, and pine or other fruitwood would be used for carving that was to be over decorated like gilded or painted. You see this on antique mirror frames. With the invention of machine carving in the 19th century, carved furniture became more popular.

Veneering on antique furniture is a technique by which a thin slice of expensive timber is applied to a cheaper timber (carcass) using glue. Exotic timbers were mainly used to begin with and finely figured woods were later introduced. The earlier veneers were hand cut and of uneven thickness but later veneers are paper thin and were usually machine cut.

Oyster veneering is a term used for veneering on antique furniture but the veneer grain resembles an oyster shell. Oyster veneering was made by slicing the veneer  across the end grain of smaller branches and this made circular or oysters shapes. This technique was introduced in the late 17th century, usually in walnut or olivewood and was mainly done on early antique chest of drawers.

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What is an antique secretaire ?

There is one main difference between an antique bureau and an antique secretaire and that is a bureau has a sloping or lid to the writing section and the secretaire has a flat fronted drawer that pulls out and folds down revealing the writing section. The terms escritoire is the first version of an antique secretaire and was used for the fall front writing box or cabinet made in the early 18^th century, while the term antique secretaire is usually named to later types of antique furniture.

During the 18^th century the most fashionable item of antique writing furniture was the antique bureau, and from the late 18^th century the chest with a straight fronted writing drawer (antique secretaire) was a very good alternative.

Some antique secretaire drawers ware put into the antique chest on chest which is a very nice feature so you can combine your clothes and have a writing section in the privacy of your bedroom.

As time progressed the secretaire drawer became deeper, and the chest was often had bookshelves enclosed by glazed or panelled doors on top (a secretaire bookcase). Until the 1730s most were made of walnut and after that mainly mahogany was used.

Because of the usefulness of the antique secretaire bookcase it continued to be made throughout the centuries and as a very popular during the Edwardian period.

They were very useful pieces of antique furniture and we often get some extremely nice examples for sale so please check our website for newly added antiques.

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So much choice of antique writing furniture.

If you are looking to buy writing furniture for your home we carry all different styles, periods and woods of writing furniture.

For a country premises why not look at an earlier oak piece of antique furniture like our antique period oak bureau with a moulded fall front and the interior has an arched central cupboard door, several pigeon holes and several small drawers with brass handles. The lower section has four graduating drawers with brass pull handles. The bureau stands on shaped bracket feet.

If you need a smaller piece for a flat or small area in your home we have a small antique Victorian mahogany desk with a rectangular moulded top, black leather writing insert over a central drawer flanked by two smaller drawers and kneehole. Each pedestal has three mahogany lined drawers with brass swan neck handles and the piece stands on shaped bracket feet.

If you have a larger home but want a finer looking antique desk we have a beautiful antique Edwardian mahogany desk with a rectangular moulded top with a green leather writing insert above a central drawer and a large kneehole. Each pedestal has three graduating mahogany lined drawers which are cock beaded and have handles and shaped key escutcheons. The desk stands on four moulded tapering legs with squared feet. For a much larger space and to put a statement in a room we have a large Regency mahogany partners desk with a rectangular moulded top and tooled leather writing insert. Each pedestal has four graduating mahogany lined drawers, ebony key escutcheons, brass pull handles and reeded edges. The opposite side has cupboard doors with reeded edges, and the piece stands on eight shaped feet.

We stock all kinds of antique furniture for writing on or as a computer table.

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