There are many large vested interests doing their best to dictate what constitutes good taste and sophistication in 2018. These powerful groups are determined to control the direction of the antiques market, trying to attract…
Antique Cabinets
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
