Little Books About Old Furniture. Volume II. The Period of Queen Anne — John Shaqi
Little Books About Old Furniture. Volume II. The Period of Queen AnneBlake, J. P. (John Percy)
History
Little Books About Old Furniture. Volume II. The Period of Queen Anne
Blake, J. P. (John Percy)
Decoration and ornament -- Queen Anne style; Furniture -- England -- History -- 18th century; Furniture, Queen Anne
Late in the seventeenth and early in the eighteenth centuries we find
the chests of drawers raised on twisted or turned legs, which are fixed
to a shallow plinth or joined near the ground by shaped stretchers. For
the first-named type we refer readers to Fig. 52, a specimen at the
Victoria and Albert Museum. It is built of pinewood overlaid with lignum
vitæ, sycamore and walnut, in small roundish pieces cut across the
grain. The top is further decorated with sycamore bands arranged in two
concentric circles in the centre, surrounded by intersecting segments.
In the corners are quadrants. Each side has a large circle of similar
materials. The structure is 3 ft. 8 in. high and 3 ft. 4 in. wide. It
cost the museum £10 in 1898.
Fig. 53, another dwarf chest of drawers of the same period, also at the
museum, is of oak and pine veneered with various woods. This is an
excellent example illustrating the amount of labour expended by the
craftsmen of the day on the early examples of veneering. On the face of
the top drawer alone there are no less than twenty large and
thirty-three small pieces of veneer, exclusive of the bordering. The
feet are very unusual, having a curiously booted appearance, with the
soles clearly indicated. This and the previous example bear the brass
drop handles and fretted escutcheons of the period. Great variety is
displayed in these brass fitments. The handles more often are of
elongated pear shape, but occasionally resemble a flattened flower-bud.
The ring handles appeared somewhat later.
As types of the chests of drawers on legs we give two illustrations.
Fig. 54, from a photograph supplied by Messrs. Hampton and Sons Ltd.,
Pall Mall, represents a fine specimen of veneered work of the William
and Mary period. The figuring in the walnut veneer is very good and
finely matched. The stand is tall, with but one long shallow drawer. The
turned legs are particularly graceful in outline. It will be noticed
that the inverted cup detail is repeated in the china cabinet (Fig. 69),
amongst the illustrations of lacquered furniture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account