Antique cabinets refer to furniture containing a door or doors. They often have drawers, shelves and compartments. Cabinets can be partially glazed. Cabinet makers initially were provincial estate carpenters working mainly in oak and walnut. In…
Antique Tables
Antique tables as we know them evolved gradually after the appearance of the refectory table in the early medieval period. The word ‘table’ is derived from the Latin ‘tabula’. Later in medieval English the table…
A brief introduction to inlaid furniture (marquetry work).
Hardstone inlays : ‘Marquetrie’ work was rare in England until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 1533-1603, but had been practised in Italy in the 16th century when hardstone inlays were highly fashionable. This technique…
An introduction to mahogany
Rare Small George II Bureau Bookcase/Cabinet boxhouse-antiques.comOf all the numerous woods used in the making of English antique furniture you are most likely to encounter mahogany. A brief introduction : Many different varieties of mahogany originated…
An introduction to ‘Chippendale’ for enthusiastic beginners
A general and very elementary introduction to ‘Chippendale’ for enthusiastic beginners: “Chippendale” is a rather overworked description attached to anything vaguely similar to some of his designs and could have been made anywhere between 1750…
Antiques and humidity
Winter is approaching : With the onset of winter antique furniture may suffer in your centrally heated rooms. If you do not take some relatively easy precautions you may regret it! In the old days…
Antique Cabinets
Antique cabinets refer to furniture containing one or more doors, often with drawers, shelves and compartments. Cabinets can be partially glazed. Initially cabinet makers were provincial estate carpenters working mainly in oak and walnut. In…
Antique Pictures
Antique pictures created by humans date from pre-history, some cave examples date from 40,000 BC. Probably most at that time were associated with tribal rituals. Few early paintings survive, some for example on Roman murals…
Objets d’Art / Vertu
Objets d’Art can also come under the general heading of curio, ephemera or (objets de) Vertu. This word is from the French for ‘virtue’ carrying the meaning of ‘merit’. www.objetsdevertu.tumblr.com/ Origins of the Terminology…
Antique Chairs
In early times we all sat on the ground gradually elevating ourselves onto low stools or benches. Around the end of the 14th century the first of the chairs as we would recognize them today evolved. They…
