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.

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Pick of the week: A round the world trip in the 1560s

03 January 2022

Sixteenth-century globes rarely appear on the market. So, Jim Spencer, Hansons’ works on paper specialist, had been amazed to encounter one at a valuation day in Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

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Sitwell seat sells very well

20 December 2021

Appeal of Weston Hall contents particularly enhanced by 20th century occupants

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Sizeable sideboard by Ruhlmann on offer in Connecticut

20 December 2021

More than 700 lots of jewellery, silver, fine art, rugs, furnishings, and decorative and ethnographic art are to be offered by Nadeau’s on New Year’s Day.

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Take the throne: extraordinary Victorian carved chair in demand at Scottish sale

13 December 2021

The sale at Thomas R Callan in Ayr on December 3-4 included this extraordinary Victorian carved throne chair estimated at £2000-3000.

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Bidders spellbound in the US

06 December 2021

Single-owner collections offer magical selections days apart in two salerooms

Cheffins items in a Suffolk cottage

Interior design duo team up with Cheffins for December sale

30 November 2021

Cambridge auction firm Cheffins is working with interior design “power couple” Benedict Foley and Daniel Slowik to promote its next auction.

Japanese cabinet

Pick of the week: Trading places in Japan with Edo period cabinet

29 November 2021

Estimated at £40,000-60,000, a lacquer cabinet from Edo period Japan sold for £105,000 at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on November 23.

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Record price for an IKEA item... made before its flat-pack fame

22 November 2021

A world away from the flat-pack furniture so familiar today, a Mid-century armchair has sold for what is believed to be a record price for IKEA.

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Sleek Printz designs from Casablanca villa up for auction

22 November 2021

A group of sleek Deco furnishings designed in the 1930s by Eugène Printz (1879-1948) for a villa in Casablanca went under the hammer at Briscadieu (23% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Bordeaux.

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Take to the floor and do some sums in Abingdon

22 November 2021

The Spanish woollen rug illustrated here was pitched at £100-200 in Mallams’ (25% buyer’s premium) Abingdon rooms on October 18.

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Newlyweds buying Victorian table create a positive feeling for the future

22 November 2021

Most angles on the collecting spectrum were covered in Bamfords’ (24.75% buyer’s premium) three-day autumnal catalogue.

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Valuation brings home comfort

15 November 2021

Anglo-Chinese huanghuali bureau cabinet was spotted just down the road from saleroom

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5 Questions: Furniture dealer Holly Johnson

15 November 2021

Holly Johnson Antiques opened a showroom in Knutsford, Cheshire in summer 2020 and Johnson has been trading independently for 28 years via fairs and online. The dealership is run by Johnson and her husband Ben Aardewerk with a small team.

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The web shop window: Maison Jansen floor lamp

15 November 2021

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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How to go green in Glasgow

15 November 2021

Be inspired by the recent COP26 summit and buy sustainable, recycled items in the host city

Greystokes Castle

Greystoke Castle contents to be sold at auction in Cumbria

13 November 2021

The contents of Grade II* listed Greystoke Castle near Penrith is coming to auction at Mitchells in Cockermouth with a selection of fine paintings, furniture and Chinese porcelain.

Chippendale invoice

Chippendale-Garrick invoice sold to society

08 November 2021

A previously unknown bill for furnishings supplied by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) has been bought at auction on behalf of The Chippendale Society (TCS).

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Peake performance: the master carver recognised

08 November 2021

Great-granddaughter reunited with great-grandfather's work at The Chelsea Antiques Fair

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Personal desk of designer Lafon offered at Tajan

08 November 2021

The personal desk set of the artist/decorator Paul Dupré Lafon (1900-71) will feature in the sale of Decorative Arts to be held by Tajan on November 23.

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Shipshape designs and innovative lighting at Italian design sale in Paris

08 November 2021

Two major names in Mid-century Italian design, Gio Ponti and Angelo Lelli, had top honours in a recent Italian design sale.

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