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.
£14,000 tables to choosy bidders’ tastes
05 February 2001UK: A SUBSTANTIAL offering of furniture, most of it 19th century and brown, received a mixed response from the Scottish and North of England trade at the last Phillips sale in Edinburgh before Christmas.
For putting away
05 February 2001UK: To some people it may just be another brown wardrobe, c.1900, with a bit of fancy moulding, mounting and carving, but to players of the game called golf it is a precious, possibly unique, artefact that speaks fondly of an enduring obsession.
Queen Anne bureau bookcase
01 February 2001UK: Early walnut is all about colour and choice of veneer, and this Queen Anne bureau bookcase 7ft 10in high by 5ft 9in wide (2.38 x 1.06) scored highly on both counts at the Partridge Green salerooms of Rupert Toovey on January 19.
A Parisienne takes a provincial promenade
29 January 2001FRANCE: A LOUIS XVI mahogany gueridon with three scrolled legs, stamped Molitor, sold to the French trade in Dijon on December 9 for Fr1.6m (£150,000), five times estimate – even though the table was in indifferent condition, having been recovered from a local attic.
Clean linen press tops Devon day
22 January 2001UK: THE most prominent entry to this monthly two-day sale in Devon was an early 19th century linen press had come from a South Coast farmhouse.
Early 17th century Roman inlaid marble and hardstone table top
19 December 2000A protracted telephone duel saw this striking early 17th century, Roman inlaid marble and hardstone table top go from a starting bid of £500,000 to a final price of £1,030,000 to top Sotheby’s Continental Furniture sale in London on December 13.
Tek Sing – proof that the Internet can work
04 December 2000IN a week that has seen the NASDAQ plummet and general gloom settle over the dotcom world, the massive Tek Sing cargo sale has shown that the Internet can play an extremely useful role in the international auction scene.
Regency giltwood chair
27 November 2000This Regency giltwood chair may have been one of the largest hearing aids ever built, but it was intended to serve the same purpose as the smallest, mobile device: disguising the disablity and sparing the dignity of the listener.
Stone model of a recumbent cow
09 October 2000UK: THE Thames-side meadows at Christopher Gibbs’ Manor House in Oxfordshire contained a number of pieces of classical statuary with important provenances, but none proved so valuable as this unheralded stone model of a recumbent cow.
One-hit wonder?
02 October 2000UK: DEVON dealers J. Collins & Son are well known for their stock of functional period furniture, but looking through their new catalogue of recent acquisitions most would be hard pressed to spot the exact function of the extraordinary piece pictured here.
George II mahogany hall chair
02 October 2000UK: The first celebrity house sale of the new millennium took place last week near Clifton Hampden in Oxfordshire, where noted aesthete and furnisher to the stars Christopher Gibbs was clearing his Victorian manor house under the auspices of Christie’s.
Fine Queen Anne walnut bachelor's chest
25 September 2000UK: Loyal service brings its rewards, as this fine Queen Anne walnut bachelor’s chest, which sold at Anderson & Garland on Thursday, September 21, attests.
William and Mary oyster veneered walnut chest
11 September 2000UK: SUCH was the fine condition of this 3ft 3in (99cm) William and Mary oyster veneered walnut chest when it appeared at Clevedon Salerooms on September 2 that two bidders, one on the phone and one in the room, competed for it well beyond its £5000-7500 estimate.
A pair of giltwood fauteuils
28 August 2000One of a pair of giltwood fauteuils by Jacob-Desmalter for which Ferneyhough, a London dealer, will ask £120,000 at the Chelsea Fair London, September 15-24.
Philadelphia cherry-wood bird cage tea table
21 August 2000USA: The highlight of a $1.36m sale of Americana held by Massachusetts auctioneers Skinner in their Bolton rooms on August 12 was this 2ft 4in (71cm) high, 21in (53cm) diameter, Philadelphia cherry-wood bird cage tea table dated c.1760-80, which left its $10,000-15,000 estimate behind as two dealers in the room contested it to no less than $370,000 (£253,425) plus premium.
Early 18th century Irish mahogany side table
03 July 2000Back in 1948 a Dublin auctioneer sold the contents of a local property belonging to one Dr Cremins, which included a number of antiques purchased in the early years of the 20th century.
Patriotic reliefs identify Royal dressing table
12 June 2000Memories of high royal days on the Cowes riviera were recalled on the Isle of Wight when a relatively plain Victorian mahogany dressing table surfaced at Shanklin Auction Rooms on June 6.
Fatigue proves deadly to Ming relic
12 June 2000US: ONE OF the rarest chairs in the world has met with an unexpected fate at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. A 17th century Chinese folding armchair, which had accomodated the highest dignitaries of the Imperial court, was unable to bear the weight of a weary museum visitor who had disregarded the ‘do not touch’ sign and sat down to rest his feet.
George II Irish mahogany centre table
23 May 2000UK: A George II Irish mahogany centre table, 2ft 8in (81cm) wide, which featured at Bristol Auction Rooms on May 16, attracted interest from an Irish dealer who went to £25,000 (plus 10 per cent buyer’s premium), despite speculation by the auctioneer that the edging may have been altered and the top re-finished.
A rare and unusual George II carved gilt-wood console table
22 May 2000UK: THIS rare and unusual George II carved giltwood console table in the manner of William Kent modelled with an owl and probably carved by John Bonson of Savile Row sold for £520,000 (plus premium) – some ten times its estimate.
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