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
Even the admittedly English-made specimens are so extremely Dutch in
appearance, that it is probable the majority were designed and made by
the Dutchmen who came over in the train of William III. We give an
example in Fig. 58 of an inlaid hanging-press or wardrobe, showing
decidedly Dutch influence in the lower portion, particularly noticeable
in the protruding knees set at an angle of forty-five degrees. The
marquetry designs of vases and flowers are also of Dutch type. It is of
average size, being 91 in. high, 66 in. wide, and 22 in. deep. As with
the other furniture of the walnut period, the early wardrobes were
extremely solid and dignified in appearance. The modern maker has made
improvements as to interior fittings, but on general principles the old
pieces leave little or nothing to be desired. The old-time craftsman was
conscientious in his work. We do not find the doors flying open unasked;
the drawers have no nasty habits of refusing to open or close. The Queen
Anne or early Georgian wardrobe, which is sound to-day, bids fair to
outlive our great-grandchildren, and should be cheap at its average
selling-price--say, twenty to thirty pounds.
The china cabinet came in with the craze for Oriental porcelain. We
shall have more to say upon this subject in the chapter on lacquer.
Fulham stoneware, Bristol and Lambeth "Delft" and other early English
"Clome" had no claim on cabinet space. The more pretentious pieces, when
not in actual use, adorned the court cupboard and sideboard cheek by
jowl with the family silver or pewter. In the main, all pottery was for
use rather than ornament until the blue-and-white and _famille verte_
arrived from China, and we shall scarcely find a glazed china cabinet
earlier than the Orange accession. Many of the William and Anne bureaux
were surmounted by cabinets, the doors glazed with panes of glass set in
designs consisting of small squares or oblongs with larger sexagonals or
octagonals. This form was used either as a bookcase or a china cabinet.
Unglazed corner cupboards, often bow-fronted and lacquered, made to hang
in the angle of the wall, were for storage, rather than display, of
china. Another variety of corner cupboard made to stand on the floor has
a glazed upper storey. These belong to the varieties of furniture used
by the middle classes, whilst the cabinet of the china collector would
be an imposing structure of more elegant design surmounted on legs
joined by shaped stretchers. We give an example in the chapter on
lacquer.
Fig. 59 is an example of a china cabinet in marquetry work, with
scrolled cornice, two glazed doors, two cupboards, bracketed base, and
shaped under-framing. This piece has a value of about £30.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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