Furniture

Every piece of furniture has a practical purpose regardless of how simple or grand it is, even if some pieces were built more for display than function. Today, furniture remains one of the largest areas of the antiques market and items are categorised by type and period.

The term brown furniture refers to traditional pieces made from dark woods such as mahogany, while pieces made from native woods like oak and walnut are sometimes referred to as vernacular furniture.

Famous historical makers include Chippendale, Gillows, William Vile and John Cobb. More recent market trends have seen modern vintage pieces appearing in specialist design and ‘Interior’ auctions.

Gas lamp

Plea for art and antiques trade to help save London’s historic gas lamps

30 November 2022

The London Gasketeers, a group trying to preserve London’s historic gas lamps, has called on the art and antiques trade to help list at-risk examples.

Picture of the Hunting Lodge sitting room

Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler host Christmas antiques selling show in Pimlico Road

29 November 2022

A Christmas selling show of more than 100 antiques will be offered at interior design and decorating firm Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler's Pimlico Road showroom.

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Zsolnay glaze perfected after his Parisian days

28 November 2022

The most desirable of the varied wares produced by the small ceramics factory established by Vilmos Zsolnay (1828-1900) in the south-west Hungarian town of Pecs are those created after the 1890s.

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Summers finds his place in the sun

28 November 2022

British Modernist designer’s inter-war plywood creations are now seen as pioneering works

Gas lamp

Antiques dealers’ campaign to save Westminster’s gas lamps continues as a third of lanterns remain at risk

24 November 2022

The London Gasketeers, a group trying to preserve central London’s Victorian gas lamps, welcomed a step by Westminster City Council to retain 174 of the lamps but concerns remain for the 94 still earmarked for conversion to LED.

Coffre-fort

Pick of the week: Buyer secures a strongbox at last

21 November 2022

An elaborate 17th century burr walnut coffre-fort (or strongbox) has been sold by Alexander George Antiques.

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Mirror reflects Hope design

21 November 2022

Estimated at £800-1200, this Regency giltwood and ebonised convex wall mirror sold at £12,500 at Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) on November 3.

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The web shop window: 1920s 'barber’s shop' oak chair

21 November 2022

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

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The web shop window: an Anglo-Japanese style cabinet

14 November 2022

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Items from the Hyde Park Antiques auction

New York dealership Hyde Park downsizes with Sotheby’s sale

07 November 2022

The New York dealership Hyde Park Antiques, founded in 1965, will sell nearly 500 lots at Sotheby’s next year.

Chest of drawers

News in Brief – including Marie-Antoinette's furniture at Christie’s Paris

07 November 2022

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including items once in the collection of Marie-Antoinette coming to Christie’s Paris.

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Getty collection dispersed over four days of live auctions and six online sales

07 November 2022

Dining at Ann and Gordon Getty’s sumptuous Californian residence can seldom have been dull.

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Rothschild taste sensations as bidders turn out in force at Exbury House sale

07 November 2022

The unashamed opulence of interior decoration that became known as Le Goût Rothschild as it spread from 19th century France to Austria, Germany and Britain is a style that has always been admired.

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Regency furniture in demand at New York sale

07 November 2022

Regency period furniture provided some of the highest prices in the sale of English and Continental furniture and decorative arts held by Doyle (26/21/15% buyer’s premium) on October 19 in New York.

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Businessman’s canapés taken by UK buyer

07 November 2022

Hindman’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) furniture and decorative arts sale in Chicago on October 18 was headlined by furnishings from the estate of Michael L Wilkie, a prominent Chicago businessman.

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Mid-range sales of practical Georgian furniture among sales at Winter Olympia

07 November 2022

One of the best places to find furniture from across the ages this autumn was the 'Winter Art & Antiques Fair Olympia'.

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Flaxley Abbey and Chilham Castle: Two sales disperse contents put together by renowned designers

07 November 2022

Two ancient country manors refurbished by two of the 20th century’s leading UK interior designers brought what the auctioneers described as ‘pre-Covid atmospheres’ at Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) Donnington Priory rooms.

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Get the look: mirror highlights at Dreweatts

07 November 2022

Carved giltwood mirrors were in strong demand at Dreweatts, four of them among the five-figure prices.

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Regency day bed emerges in Los Angeles

07 November 2022

Andrew Jones (25/18/12% buyer’s premium) held one of its periodic wide-ranging, mixed-discipline sales titled Design for the Home and Garden in Los Angeles on October 9.

Hyde Park Antiques lots

Top US antique furniture dealer to sell stock at Sotheby’s auction as it downsizes New York premises

02 November 2022

New York dealership Hyde Park Antiques, founded in 1965, will sell nearly 500 lots at Sotheby’s next year.

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