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.
Pelham sale is end of era for London trade
02 March 2016Sotheby’s are offering 180 lots of English and continental furniture and works of art from the ‘public and private collections’ of Alan Rubin, director of London and Paris dealership Pelham Galleries.
Fireplace returned to Cliffe Castle
29 February 2016A Russian malachite and ormolu chimney went on show last week at the museum at Cliffe Castle in Keighley more than half a century after it left the property.
Unique variant of Paul Iribe’s Nautile armchair takes €180,000 in Paris
26 February 2016Paul Iribe’s ‘Nautile’ armchair is one of the most striking proto-Art Deco designs, with its sleek swept-back lines and low armrests formed as a tight nautilus shell spiral.
Function and fashion mean few positives for furniture index
11 February 2016Prices for standard English antique furniture fell for the eighth successive year, according to latest figures from the Antique Collectors’ Club’s (ACC) Annual Furniture Index (AFI).
Export stop on Howard cabinets
04 February 2016Culture minister Ed Vaizey has placed a temporary export bar on a pair of 17th century Italian ebony, ormolu and hardstone inlaid cabinets in the hope that they can be saved for the nation.
Getty Museum acquires Woody Brock collection
26 January 2016The J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired an important collection of 18th century French decorative arts assembled by Dr Horace Wood (Woody) Brock, one of the world’s foremost economists.
Nazi looted Houdon bust returns to Poland
20 November 2015A late 18th century bust of the Goddess Diana which was looted from the Royal Lazienki Palace in Warsaw by the Nazis has been returned to Poland after emerging at auction in Vienna.
The curious case of the paint spattered carpet artwork
21 September 2015A bizarre story of an artist who claimed her old studio sold pieces of paint spattered carpet as her original work has appeared in the press recently, drawing attention to the thorny issue of copyright and false attribution.
Lombardy escritoire sells for £19,500 at Chorley’s auction in Gloucestershire
13 August 2015The highlight of Chorley’s latest two-day sale at Prinknash Abbey was this unusual late 18th century Lombardy escritoire.
Bidding comes to rest at £23,000
16 July 2015This superbly patinated Shona hardwood headrest sold for £23,000 at only the second auction at new Stowmarket saleroom Bishop & Miller.
Godwin barn find becomes £31,000 reward at Essex auction
10 June 2015This spectacular barn find, an ebonised coromandel and inlaid octagonal centre table designed by Edward Godwin (1833-86), sold for £31,000 at Sworders’ sale of decorative art and design in Stansted Mountfitchet.
A £23,000 Benson light show in Oxford
29 May 2015The work of designer and architect William Arthur Smith Benson (1854-1924) entered a new price arena when this silvered brass ceiling light sold for £23,000 at Mallams Oxford.
Museum acquires Dickens’ desk
21 April 2015The writing desk and chair used by Charles Dickens as he penned a number of his later classics have been bought by a museum based at the author’s former central London home.
A marvel in marquetry
02 April 2015This c.1690 marquetry cabinet on stand in the manner of the Anglo-Dutch maker Gerrit Jensen (d.1715) sold for £35,000 at the latest sale at Brightwells of Leominster.
What you had to say about Jeremy Lamond’s brown furniture campaign
02 March 2015Halls’ director of fine art Jeremy Lamond has been leading a social media campaign to promote the virtues of antique furniture.
#BringBackBrownFurniture
25 February 2015COMMENT: Jeremy Lamond, fine art director of Halls of Shrewsbury, sets out his ten-point plan for reviving the fortunes of brown furniture
Mahogany holds steady as oak declines
04 February 2015The Antique Collectors’ Club’s Annual Furniture Index (AFI) registered its seventh successive fall in 2014. However, only two categories depreciated substantially.
Commodes take £110,000 in Gloucestershire
04 February 2015Exceptional pieces of antique furniture play by quite different rules to the more standard items when it comes to price performance.
Mahogany commode with more than a hint of Chippendale
26 January 2015A fine quality mahogany commode with a blue-chip provenance proved the star lot at Lawrences’ latest furniture auction in Crewkerne.
George II bookcase takes £55,000 in Edinburgh
22 January 2015Leading Lyon & Turnbull’s latest furniture and works of art sale in Edinburgh was this fine George II mahogany breakfront bookcase c.1755 in the manner of Vile and Cobb.
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