Driscolls Antiques – Antique Furniture Blog

What is an apron on antique furniture ?

An apron is a term used in antique furniture to describe the shaped section at the bottom of a chest or cabinet. This can be seen quite often at the bottom of antique wardrobes, presses and chest of drawers.

If you look at our Regency mahogany antique linen press it stands on splayed feet with a shaped apron.

If you look at the bottom of our antique Regency mahogany chest of drawers or our Georgian oak antique chest of drawers, both have a shaped apron at the bottom and some are very shaped whereas some are only slightly shaped.

An apron is a very nice way to finish a piece of furniture off rather than just a plain base and it can be seen on many Georgian pieces as this was very fashionable in this period.

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what is Art Nouveau influence in antique furniture ?

The Art Nouveau influence in antique furniture was around from the late Victorian period to the Edwardian period. Art Nouveau furniture was heavily influenced by arts and crafts furniture as they also believed in good quality traditionally built furniture in good quality woods but Art Nouveau furniture has a more modern designs for the period. Art Nouveau furniture had more curvy lines, more elegant in design but the main body of the furniture was very simple and straight lines. The furniture has beautiful floral, leafy, seedpod carvings or inlays in the female form. Art Nouveau furniture was very feminine in design. Some very exotic woods were used for the inlay and iridescent glass and some rare stones would be used as decoration in the furniture, it was the attention to detail.

good examples of Art Nouveau furniture are our Victorian Art Nouveau walnut double bed distinctive Art Nouveau carvings.

Our antique burr walnut Art Nouveau bombe antique wardrobe with a beautiful scrolled, carved cornice above a large central mirrored door, flanked by two beautiful shaped cupboard doors that are beautifully inlaid and have brass Rococo handles.

Art Nouveau furniture was also designed by some very good designers like this dresser by Liberty’s of London. With this piece you can see the similarities between Art Nouveau furniture and Arts and crafts furniture.

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what is the term armoire in antique furniture ?

An antique armoire is a term used in antique furniture for an antique wardrobe. It comes from a French wardrobe which is used for clothes storage.

An original French wardrobe is more plain and usually tall like our antique French oak armoire with two full length doors and like most only has shelves with no hanging. Very simple in design and beautiful to look at but you have to be careful as many do not split up so it is difficult to get them upstairs.

The English version of an antique armoire is the antique wardrobe like our antique Victorian mahogany double wardrobe with two full length doors but this has a little more decoration with arched mouldings. This English version of the armoire has hanging rails but it also comes with extra storage in the way of a fixed shelf, sliding linen trays and drawers. The beauty of the Victorian wardrobes is that most split into four sections for ease of removal so it will fit into most homes.

We stock both types of English antique wardrobe or French antique armoire for sale so please check our antiques website for details.

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What is aesthetic movement in antique furniture

The aesthetic movement in antique furniture is a period of design in English antique furniture from late Victorian period to the Edwardian period. It was also known as the arts and crafts and this was a revolt against machinery made furniture. Furniture designers and cabinetmakers used more traditional methods of construction and only used quality solid timber for construction.

aesthetic movement came in various forms from the very simple like our Victorian Arts & Crafts oak library bookcase, with a turned gallery above a deep frieze with floral carvings above three glazed doors

or more unusual designs like our Edwardian oak Arts & Crafts dresser with glazed cupboard door and an upper shelf supported by upright turned supports or our Edwardian mahogany Arts and Crafts dresser by the renowned maker ‘Libertys of London’

Simple designed antique tables were made but in quality solid oak not veneered as quality was the key in the aesthetic movement and some superb cabinet maker constructed antique furniture in this style like Lambs of Manchester who made this Victorian walnut inlaid music cabinet the simple design but has stunning inlay and has mother of pearl inlay.

We stock all periods of antique furniture and the aesthetic movement is a good period to look out for if you want quality antique furniture in a simple design.

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what is a acanthus carving on antique furniture ?

Acanthus carving on antique furniture is decorative carving which is beautifully carved in the form of acanthus leaves from the acanthus plant. The leafy carvings can be seen in many area of antique furniture and has been used for many years in the different periods and styles of furniture.

Here are a few pieces with acanthus carving like our antique William IV rosewood workbox with moulded pedestal with acanthus leaf corbels and a quadriform base

Our antique William IV mahogany dish top occasional table stands on a beautifully turned central pedestal with acanthus leaf carvings

Our antique Victorian tilt top rosewood breakfast / antique dining table stands on a beautiful turned pedestal with acanthus leaf carvings, scrolled collar and four beautiful scrolled, carved legs with brass casters.

our beautiful antique Regency mahogany tea table stands on an elegant turned pedestal with acanthus leaf carving.

All are stunning pieces of antique furniture and the craftsmanship in making acanthus carving would be very good so you know it will be a quality antique.

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What is a Clustered Column on antique furniture?

A clustered column is a design used in antique furniture mainly used by the renowned cabinet designer and maker Chippendale. The clustered column originally came from medieval times and was several pillars clustered together. This idea was then later produced in furniture and it is quite a stunning and difficult design. We do not get many pieces with this design as it was difficult to make so it was only used the the best quality antique furniture. We have however just got a beautiful antique desk with the best example of a clustered column I have seen.

It is a Victorian desk constructed from walnut and was built in the later Victorian period. This antique desk has been constructed in the Chippendale revival style as this was very popular in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The antique desk has a rectangular moulded top with a leather writing insert and the drawers are mahogany lined so it is of stunning quality and even better they still have the original brass handles. The antique desk has stunning blind fretwork carving on the fronts which is also very difficult to do and only done on the best quality antique furniture. It stands on clustered column turned legs with spade feet.

Below is pictures of the clustered column turned legs to show how the design looks and as you can see it is a stunning design of a leg in antique furniture.

this desk is currently available on our antique furniture website but act fast if it is of interest to you as I think this desk will sell fast.

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Its listed and its sold, be quick when buying our antiques

This happens a lot and we do get lots of emailed asking why we list items of antique furniture on the front page but they are sold. This is because as soon as we list the piece it gets purchased almost instantly as we have lots and lots of people checking our website daily for newly added antiques. A very good example of this happening is the beautiful Regency Mahogany Small Centre Table that we currently have listed on the front page. It was listed and purchased very quickly and since being sold we have had many enquires on why it is sold. If you see a beautiful piece of antique furniture on our website you like the look of please act fast so you are not disappointed and if you like the look of a sold antique then let us know as we offer a wanted service where we can try to find you something similar to a piece of sold stock. We email you pictures and description of a similar item and there is no obligation to buy.

Our website is updated daily with new antiques and you can see this under the newly added antique furniture section where we list the minimum of two new items most days for sale or we also have new items arriving daily and you can view these in our antique furniture warehouse in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

also do not panic if you are too far away to view items in person as we offer a two man insured delivery service with a money back guarantee for peace of mind.

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What woods were used to build antique furniture?

antique furniture has been constructed in many different woods throughout time and below is a list of woods that has been used.

Birds Eye Maple was mainly used in the Victorian and Edwardian period for veneers and mainly in antique bedroom furniture.

Calamander was popular in the Regency period and gives a striped appearance with black lines in the grain, was often used for cross banding.

Cherry was often used in French and American furniture and is similar to mahogany but the wood usually gives a warm lighter appearance.

Elm is tough wood and was very often used in antique chairs in the Georgian period due to the durability.

Kingwood was very often used in French bedroom suites or in veneer or for parquetry decoration and it can give off purplish tones.

Mahogany was the most popular wood used throughout most of the periods due to the fact that it very easy to work with, was a durable wood and it polished very well.

Maple was used on antique furniture that can show off their interesting grain patterns as it has a very unusual grain.

Oak is very dense and strong and was used from the 17th Century onwards. Oak was very popular in the Georgian period and made a huge revival in the late Victorian period.

Pine was a soft wood that was easy to work with and was mainly used on less expensive country pieces in the Victorian era or was used as carcasses on furniture.
Poplar is a hardwood and was often seen in American furniture.

Rosewood is a dark rich hardwood, with a dark wavy grain and was very often used in the Regency period.

Satinwood was popular in the early 1800s and the Edwardian period. It was used for veneers, inlaid decoration and is pale colour.

Sycamore is a hard wood with a fine even grain. It is also known as Harewood and is quite rare but can be seen in late Victorian / Edwardian bedroom furniture.

Teak was often used in regency military chests and campaign furniture.

Walnut is a hard wood often used in Victorian furniture and burr walnut is the most sought after grained walnut.

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Need a large antique table for your next dinner party?

How difficult it is to finding good quality very large antique dining tables, especially when you need one to seat 12 – 14 people. well we have just the table for you if you need a very large table for your next dinner party. It is a Victorian mahogany extending dining table that is 11.5 ft long and has 3 central removable leaves, winding handle and original winding mechanism. It can wind down to a six seater without the leaves and up to a fourteen seater when fully extended. The top of the antique table is solid mahogany with a moulded edge and rounded corners. The table stands on four chunky cabriole legs with large brass castors and unlike many larger tables is solid and flat when extended. You can definitely do some good dinner parties around this stunning piece of antique furniture and the good thing about this table is that it is deep enough to put serving plates in the middle of the table and still be able to dine comfortably.

pictures of the table when fully extended to closed.

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The perfect piece of antique furniture at the end of your bed

In today’s living it is essential to have good storage for bed and bedding and you can not get a better piece of antique furniture than an antique coffer for this purpose. An antique coffer is nice and simple to look at so will fit in all modern or old homes. They are the ideal piece for the end of a bed and can fit all your bedding in. Most antique coffers are from the 17^th century and we have just put up for sale a stunning example. It is an oak country 17^th century period oak coffer and is nice and simple to look at with a stunning oak grain. This antique coffer has a panelled lift up lid with original hinges which is very rare as they are almost always replacements. The coffer has a panelled front, sides and back, all with moulded edges and stands on raised feet The interior has the original candle box with a lift up lid and as usual for pieces from this period it is of a pegged construction. Ideal for bedding or as an alternative idea they are also used as coffee tables.

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