A pure and simple waxed finish for antique furniture is what we should aim for. Either you can buy your antique wax, or you can mix your own, which is the method I recommend. It…
Furniture Restoration – some tips
Cleaning and restoring antique furniture : The best advice is to employ a good restorer for complex restoration but there is no reason why even the most amateur among you should not try your hand…
History of the Plague, The Crossrail find and the Plague Pan
As an antique dealer I am most interested in history including the history of the plague. One of the rarest items in my collection is a steel handled plague pan with a hinged, perforated lid.…
Antique Clocks History
Antique clocks history The earliest antique clocks for measuring time would have been water clocks and sundials. These were replaced later with such inventions as calibrated wax candles and the ‘hourglass’. These in turn were to…
Antique Mirrors – A brief history
Man has always been fascinated by his own reflection. The earliest forms of antique mirrors were fashioned out of polished surfaces and mysterious black obsidian used ritually around 4000 BC. The Chinese developed polished bronze mirror…
Earliest recorded gaming tables
Backgammon was first recorded as a ‘table game’ some 3000 BC in Persia. Later games tables and backgammon spread to Egypt, Mesopotamia, Rome and China in various guises. In medieval Europe the first ‘gaming tables’ appear in the…
Late 18th Century French Furniture
The tragic Queen Marie-Antoinette loved all forms of interior decoration, and furniture, in particular. Allegiance to her domineering and politically interfering Austrian mother, the Empress Maria Teresa, necessitated much of Marie Antoinette’s correspondence to be…
Antique Clocks
The earliest antique clocks for measuring time would have been water clocks and sundials. These were replaced later with such inventions as calibrated wax candles and the ‘hourglass’. These in turn were to be ultimately replaced…
Lacquered Antique Furniture
Lacquered antique furniture demonstrates a highly complex and time consuming method of decorating. Lacquer (gum’lac) is derived from a tree which originates in central and southern China, the country considered the ‘birthplace of lacquering’. By the…
Secretaires
The usual definition of a ‘secretaire’ is a piece of furniture with an enclosed writing surface. Antique mahogany Secretaire circa 1790. For more information on this item view our website boxhouse-antiques.comSecretaires, asthey are known in…
