Jul
27
FURNITURE: SMALL PIECES
July 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment
FURNITURE: SMALL PIECES
A FAIRLY wide interpretation has been given here to the term ’small furniture’. It includes, in general, those smaller pieces which were not dealt with in the chapters on furniture in the previous volumes of this series, or which were there given only a passing mention. It has also been assumed that readers will be familiar with the main developments of English furniture styles, to which smaller furniture, as well as the larger, conformed; with the warning that ‘country’ furniture might continue to be made in a style which had passed out of fashion, perhaps some considerable time previously, in London and the chief provincial towns.
The collection of small pieces of furniture can be a most fascinating pastime, not only for obvious financial reasons but also because they are a constant delight to the eye, and –a point of special weight in these days when living room is not so spacious as in times gone by — because they can be frequently used as their original makers and owners intended.
The study of the evolution of smaller articles of furniture can also be a study of social history; for they portray, as Horace Walpole wrote of the furniture in Hogarth’s pictures, `the history of the manners of the age’. One can see how they came into use as the rooms of houses began to take on their separate character and as new conventions established themselves in society. Note, for example, how, at the end of the 17th century, the two new fashions of tea-drinking and displaying china produced a whole range of small pieces among which can be included, on the one hand, tea-boards, kettle-stands and caddies, and, on the other, china-stands, brackets and shelves. With the coming of home manufacture of mirror glass, the development of special processes of decoration such as Tunbridge ware and straw-work and the introduction of new materials like Clay’s papier-mach, many new articles came into production or new forms and modes of decoration were given to older ones. The great diversity of small pieces in Georgian dining-rooms tells its own story of the importance placed by the upper classes in those days on eating and drinking.
With regard to the furniture which is described hereunder, one might be tempted to write, as did Sheraton in his Cabinet Dictionary, that ‘the reader will find some terms which he will probably judge too simple in their nature to justify their insertion’. One feels, however, that this apology is unnecessary; the simplest articles are often the most useful, and their names, though no doubt very familiar, do not give what is, after all, the intention of this section, viz. their history and development. It might be added, in conclusion, that Sheraton’s own period delighted in small furniture which combined, to a greater degree than at any other time, usefulness with extreme delicacy of appearance.
GLOSSARY
Basin-stand:see Washing-stand. Beer-wagon: see Coaster.
Book-rest: a stand used in Georgian libraries to support large books, consisting of a square or rectangular framework with cross bars, the upper bar being supported by a strut which was adjusted on a grooved base. This kind of stand was sometimes fitted into the top of a table.
Book-shelf: see Shelves.
Box and Casket: boxes were among the most attractive of the smaller pieces of furniture, and were used from medieval times for a multitude of purposes – personal effects, toilet and writing materials, valuables, documents, etc. Tudor and early Stuart boxes were usually square in shape and made of oak, carved, inlaid or painted, and occasionally stood upon stands, few of which have survived. In the later 7th century walnut was commonly used (sometimes decorated with marquetry or parquetry), but other materials included parchment, tortoise-shell and stump-work, the latter particularly on the boxes kept by ladies for their cosmetics, etc. The interiors were often ingeniously fitted with compartments and drawers. In the 18th century some beautiful mahogany and satinwood boxes were made, until they were gradually replaced by small work-tables, though boxes on stands, conforming to the prevailing decorative fashions, were to be found. Among other examples were Tunbridge ware (q.v.) boxes, and travelling boxes fitted with spaces for writing, working and toilet requisites. About 1800 work and toilet boxes covered with tooled leather were in vogue.
Bracket: the detachable wall-bracket, as distinct from the fixed architectural feature, appeared towards the end of the 17th century, and seems to have been used at first for displaying china. Its prominent position in the room singled it out for special decorative treatment in carving or gilding. In the early Georgian period the bracket was often used to support a bust or vase, and as a result it tended to become larger in size and more heavily ornamented; but with the return of the fashion for displaying china about 1750 and the growing use of the bracket for supporting lights, it became altogether more delicate in appearance, and was adapted to the various styles of the Chippendale and Adam periods. The wall-bracket supporting a clock was a popular form of decoration in the later 18th century.
Brazier: a portable metal container used from Tudor times for burning coal or charcoal; with handle and feet, or sometimes mounted on a stand.
Butler’s Tray: a tray mounted on legs or on a folding stand, in use throughout the 18th century. The X-shaped folding stand was in general use from about 1750, the tray normally being rectangular and fitted with a gallery. Oval trays were sometimes made in the later part of the century.
Candle-box: a cylindrical or square box, of metal or wood, widely used in the Georgian period for storing candles.
Candle-stand: a portable stand (known also as a lamp-stand, gu6ridon and torch6re) fora candlestick, candelabrum or lamp. After 166o the fashion arose of having two candle-stands flanking a side table with a mirror on the wall above; the stands usually took the form of a baluster or twist-turned shaft, with a circular or octagonal top and a tripod base. At the end of the century more elaborate kinds, copying French stands, became fashionable, with vase-shaped tops and scrolled feet, all carved and gilded. Other examples were of simple design, but had rich decoration in gesso or marquetry. In the early Georgian period, when gilt stands followed architectural forms, the vase-shaped tops and baluster shafts were larger, and the feet curved outwards, replacing the scrolled French style. About 1750 stands became lighter and more delicate, many of them being enriched with rococo decoration. There was a distinct change in design in the later 18th century: the traditional tripod continued, often in mahogany, with turned shaft and a bowl or vase top in the classical taste; but a new type, which was originated by Adam, consisted of three uprights, mounted on feet or a plinth, supporting usually a candelabrum, or with a flat top. Smaller examples of the latter type were made to stand on tables. A much smaller version of candle-stand was also popular after 1750 — with a circular base and top, and sometimes an adjustable shaft.
Canterbury: (I) a small music-stand with partitions for music-books, usually mounted on castors, and sometimes with small drawers, much used in the early x9th century; and (2) a plate and cutlery stand particularly designed for supper parties in the later 18th century, with divisions for cutlery and a semicircular end, on four turned legs. The name ‘Canterbury’ arose, wrote Sheraton, ‘because the bishop of that See first gave orders for these pieces’.
Cat: a stand used after about 1750 to warm plates in front of the fire; it had three arms and three feet of turned wood
(or three legs of cabriole form). The turning was well ringed to provide sockets for plates of various sizes. CeUaret: the name given generally after 1750 to a case on legs or stand for wine bottles; prior to that date, from the end of the 17th century, the same kind of case was called a cellar. In the early 18th century cellarets, lined with lead and containing compartments for bottles, stood under side-tables, and they were still made later in the century when sideboards, which had drawers fitted up to hold bottles, came into general use. Sheraton classified the cellaret with the wine cistern (q.v.) and sarcophagus, and distinguished them from the bottle-case, which was for square bottles only.
Cheval-glass: a larger type of toilet mirror in a frame with four legs; also known as a horse dressing-glass; dating from the end of the 18th century. The rectangular mirror either pivoted on screws set in the uprights or moved up and down by means of a weight within the frame (’the same as a sash-window’ — Sheraton). Turned uprights and stretchers were often found on these pieces about 1800.
Cheveret: see Secretaire.
Chiffonier: a piece of furniture which has given rise to a certain amount of confusion. The French chiffonier was a tall chest of drawers, but the chiffoniers, a quite different piece, was a small set of drawers on legs. It was the latter which seems to have been copied in England in the later 18th century. Another form of chiffonier was popular in the Regency period — a low cupboard with shelves for books. As this was similar to contemporary commodes, it can be taken that the English version of the chiffoniers was the only true small piece of furniture.
China-stand: an ornamental stand for displaying china or flowers, introduced at the end of the 17th century and at first taking the form of a low pedestal on carved and scrolled feet, or of a vase on a plinth. In the early 18th century the form was sometimes that of a stool with cabriole legs, in mahogany. More fanciful designs, in the rococo taste, were evident after 1750, as in the ‘Stands for China Jarrs’ presented in Chippendale’s Director. In the Adam period some attractive stands for flower-bowls resembled the contemporary candle-stands with three uprights. Little four-legged stands with shelves were also made at this time for flower-pots.
Coaster: a receptacle which came into use before 1750 for moving wine, beer and food on the dining-table; also variously known as a slider, decanter stand and beer-wagon. For ease of movement, the coaster was normally fitted either with small wheels or with a baize-covered base, and the materials used in good examples included mahogany, papiermhch6 and silver. Beer-wagons were sometimes made with special places for the jug and drinking vessels.
Croft: a small filing cabinet of the late 18th century (named after its inventor) specially designed to be moved about easily in the library; it had many small drawers and a writing-top.
Cutlery Stand: see Canterbury (2).
Daventry: a small chest of drawers with a sloping top for writing; said to be named after a client of the firm of Gillow who claimed to have invented it.
Decanter Stand: see Coaster.
Desk: a term of varied meaning, but taken here to refer to two portable pieces. (I) The commonest meaning was that of a box (originating in medieval times) with a sloping top for reading and writing. Early examples in oak in the Tudor and Stuart periods had carving and inlay, and sometimes the owner’s initials and date. When bureaux came into use at the end of the 17th century these small desks were too useful to discard, and were fitted with drawers and pigeon-holes; many were veneered with walnut, or japanned, and some were mounted on stands. In the Georgian period they became less decorative, and were usually of plain mahogany; few were made after 1800. (2) In the later 18th century ‘desk’ was the current term for what would now be called a music-stand (which was also used for reading) ; it generally took the form of a tripod base supporting a shaft and a sloping, adjustable top.
Dumb-waiter: a dining-room stand, an English invention of the early 18th century, with normally three circular trays, increasing in size towards the bottom, on a shaft with tripod base. This established design gave way to more elaborate versions at the end of the century; four-legged supports and rectangular trays were found; and quite different kinds were square or circular tables with special compartments for bottles, plates, etc.
Fire-screen: an adjustable screen made from the end of the 17th century to give protection from the intense heat of large open fires. Two main kinds were used. (1) Pole screen: with the screen on an upright supported on a tripod base; known as a `screen-stick’ in the late 17th century; and in very general use in the 18th. The screen, often of needlework, was at first rectangular, but oval and shield shapes were fashionable in the late 18th century. In the Regency period the tripod was replaced by a solid base, and the screen was a banner hung from a bar on the upright. (2) Horse or cheval screen – two uprights, each on two legs, enclosing a panel. Elaborate carving and gilding of the crests was often found until the end of the 18th century, when lighter and simpler screens were in vogue. Needlework was the popular material for the panel.
Flower-stand: see China-stand. Gu6ridon: see Candle-stand.
Horse-glass and Horse-screen: see Cheval-glass and Fire-screen.
Kettle-stand (also Urn- and Teapot-stand): a special stand which was introduced with tea-drinking in the later 17th century, of two main kinds. (z) A small table, tripod or four-legged, with a gallery or raised edge round the top. Slender four-legged tables were common in the later part of the 18th century, nearly always with a slide for the teapot. (2) A box-like arrangement set on four legs; the box was usually lined with metal, and had an opening in one side for the kettle spout, as well as a slide for the teapot. Another version of the box type had a three-sided enclosure with a metal-lined drawer. The two main types of stand persisted until the end of the 18th century, when they were superseded by occasional tables.
Knife-case: a container for knives (and other cutlery) introduced in the 17th century for use in dining-rooms. Two distinct varieties appeared. (I) Until the later 18th century the usual shape was a box with a sloping top and convex front; the interior had divisions for the cutlery. Walnut, shagreen (untanned leather with a roughened surface) and later mahogany, sometimes inlaid, were the main materials. (2) This was succeeded by the graceful vase-shaped case the top of which was raised and lowered on a central stem around which the knife partitions were arranged; this type was designed to stand on a pedestal or at each end of the sideboard. Straight-sided cases were favoured in the early 19th century.
Lantern: a container fora candle or candles; portable, fixed to the wall or hung from the ceiling; especially useful for lighting the draughty parts of the house. Early lanterns (c. 1500-1700) were made of wood, iron, latten (a yellow alloy of copper and zinc) and brass, the most common filling being horn (whence the Shakespearean `lant-horn’). After 1700, when glass became more plentiful, lanterns were increasingly fashionable, particularly as they prevented candle-grease from falling about, and their frames, of metal, walnut and mahogany, followed the main decorative modes. In addition to these more elaborate kinds, simpler lanterns of glass shades, in a variety of forms, were in wide use in the 18th century.
Library Steps: found in libraries of large houses after about the middle of the 18th century, and of two main kinds: the fixed pair of steps, some with hand-rails; and the folding steps, sometimes ingeniously fitted into other pieces of furniture, such as chairs, stools and tables.
Linen-press: a frame with a wooden spiral screw for pressing linen between two boards, dating from the 17th century.
Lobby Chest: defined by Sheraton as ‘a kind of half chest of drawers, adapted for the use of a small study, lobby, etc’.
Mirror-stand: an adjustable mirror mounted on a shaft and tripod base, resembling a pole-screen; popular at the end of the 18th century.
Music-stand: see Canterbury (I) and Desk (2).
Night-table: a pot cupboard which replaced the close-stool after 1750; sometimes also fitted as a washing-stand (q.v.). Among the features commonly found on these pieces may be noted a drawer under the cupboard, a tambour front and a tray top. Some night-tables were given a triangular shape to fit into a corner.
Papier-rnitch6: moulded paper pulp used for many small articles and particularly suitable for japanning and polishing; the original process came to England via France from the East as early as the 17th century. Considerable stimulus was given to this kind of work in 1772, when Henry Clay of Birmingham, and later London, patented a similar material and began manufacturing various pieces among which trays, boxes, tea-caddies and coasters were prominent.
Pipe-rack: a stand for clay pipes. Of the various wooden kinds in use in the 18th century one can distinguish the stand of candlestick form with a tiny circular tray on the stem, pierced with holes for holding the pipes; and the wall rack, either an open frame with notched sides so that the pipes could lie across or a board with shelves from which the pipes hung down (cf. spoon-rack), In addition to these, metal pipe-kilns were widely used from the 17th century —iron frames on which the pipes rested, deriving their name from the fact that they could be baked in an oven to clean the pipes.
Pipe-tray: a long and narrow wooden tray with partitions for churchwardens, in use throughout the Georgian period.
Plate-pail: a mahogany container with handle for carrying plates from kitchen to dining-room (often a long journey) in large houses in the 18th century; of various shapes, generally circular with one section left open for ease of access.
Pole-screen: see Fire-screen.
Sconce: a general name for a wall-light consisting of a back-plate and either a tray or branched candle-holders. Metal seems to have been the chief material from later medieval times until the end of the 17th century when looking-glass became fashionable for back-plates (and when `girandole’ was another name for these pieces). The use of looking-glass meant that sconces tended to follow the same decorative trends as contemporary mirrors, but metal back-plates continued to be made, and for a period after 1725 there was a preference for carved and gilt wood and gesso-work, often without looking-glass. About 1750 sconces provided some of the freest interpretation of the asymmetrical rococo mode, either with looking-glass in a scrolled frame, or in carved and gilt wood only; Chinese features were often blended with the rococo. In contrast, the sconces of the Adam period had delicate classical ornament in gilt wood or in composition built up round a wire frame. Cut-glass sconces were in vogue at the end of the century.
Secretaire (or Secretary): the name somewhat loosely applied to different kinds of writing furniture of which two small varieties call for mention here. At the end of the 17th century appeared the small bureau mounted on legs or stand, very similar to the contemporary desk on stand (q.v.) - This kind seems to have been designed for ladies’ use, and sometimes had a looking-glass at the top. In the late 18th century large numbers of light and graceful secretaires were made, one popular kind taking the form of a small table with tapering legs enclosing a drawer and supporting a little stand with drawers and shelf. The stand, which was used as a small book-shelf, was often provided with a handle so that it could be lifted off. This type of table was also known as a cheveret.
Shelves: taken here to refer to hanging or standing shelves without doors, for books, plate and china. Small oak shelves of the Tudor period were square in shape; while arcaded tops appeared in the early 17th century. Carving was the chief decoration, and this became more ornate after 166o. It is probable that many walnut shelves were made, but few of these seem to have survived. It was at this time that shelves were used for displaying china; a fashion which continued into the early 18th century, but was then replaced by that of keeping china in cabinets and cupboards. Open shelves, however, returned to favour in the Chippendale period, when they were often decorated in the Chinese taste, and had fretted sides and galleries. Simple, light shelves were generally in vogue in the later 18th century, for books or china; Sheraton emphasized that shelves should be light enough for ladies to move about and to contain their ‘books under present reading’.
Slider: see Coaster.
Spoon-rack: a stand for hanging spoons, dating from late Tudor times when metal spoons came into general use. The usual form, until the end of the 18th century, resembled a miniature dresser – a wooden board with small slotted shelves for spoons, and, attached to it at the bottom, a box for knives and forks.
Straw-work: a method of decorating furniture, particularly smaller pieces, with tiny strips of bleached and coloured straws to form landscapes, geometrical patterns, etc. This craft came to England from the Continent towards the end of the 17th century and was centred at Dunstable. There was a big increase in output during the Napoleonic Wars, when French prisoners, many of whom were craftsmen who had been conscripted into the French Navy, decorated articles in this way during their captivity in England. Among the chief pieces thus decorated were tea-caddies, desks and boxes.
Tea-caddy and Tea-chest: a small box for storing tea. `Tea-chest’ was the common name for this piece from the end of the 17th century, when tea-drinking was introduced, until the second half of the 18th century, when `caddy’, a corruption of `kati’, a Malay measure of weight of just over one pound, came into general use. The custom of locking up the family’s tea in a box continued long after tea had ceased to be an expensive luxury; caddies, therefore, were invariably provided with locks, and were either divided into small compartments or were fitted with canisters (q.v.) for the different kinds of tea. A great variety of materials was used in their construction, including woods of all kinds – carved, inlaid, veneered, painted or decorated with tortoise-shell, ivory, straw-work (q.v.), Tunbridge ware (q.v.), etc – metal (silver in the best examples) and papier-mA66 (q.v.). There was also considerable diversity in shape, from rectangular to square and octagonal; while vase and pear forms were introduced after 1750.
Tea-canister: the container for tea in the caddy (if the latter were not already divided into compartments); made Of glass, metal or earthenware; usually bottle-shaped until c. 175o, and vase-shaped later.
Teapot-stand: see Kettle-stand.
Toilet Mirror (or Dressing-glass): a small mirror designed to stand on a table or, in early examples, to hang on the wall. This kind of mirror was a luxury in the medieval and Tudor periods, and did not begin to come into wider use until the late 17th century. Post-Restoration mirrors were usually square in shape, and frequently had their frames decorated with stump-work; they stood by means of a strut or hung by a ring. By about 1700 oblong mirrors with arched tops, in narrower moulded frames, veneered or japanned, had begun to replace the square shape. In the 18th century several changes occurred. Shortly after 1700 appeared the mirror supported by screws in uprights mounted on a box stand; the box was often in the form of a flap or desk above a drawer which contained the many toilet requisites of the time; the mirror had a pronounced arched heading at first, and the front of the box was sometimes serpentine in form. The older type of strut support, without the box stand, continued to be made, however, and occasionally a stand with small trestle feet was found. By
1750 mahogany was in general use for toilet mirrors, though some in the Chinese style were gilt or japanned. Simpler designs were introduced in the neo-classical period; mirror frames, in mahogany or satinwood, were often of oval or shield shape, and the uprights were curved to correspond. The stand was also a simpler arrangement, as toilet articles were now placed in the table on which the mirror stood. At the very end of the century and later, a wide oblong mirror was fashionable, and was usually swung on turned uprights. Mahogany and rosewood, often decorated with stringing, were the chief woods for such mirrors at this time.
Torchilre: see Candle-stand.
Tray: for food, tea-things, plates, etc; also known as a voider (the medieval term for a tray which was still in use in late Georgian times). Tea-trays (or ‘tea-boards’) were introduced in the late 17th century, and most of them were japanned; none, however, seem to have survived. japanned trays were still popular in the middle of the 18th century, though by then ornamental mahogany trays with fretted borders were being made. Later, oval trays decorated with fine inlay were in vogue. About 1800 there was a considerable production of trays in japanned metal and papiermicM.
Tunbridge Ware: a special form of inlay which developed at Tunbridge Wells c. 1650, employing minute strips of wood, in a great variety of natural colours, to build up geometrical patterns and, later, floral decoration, landscape scenes, etc; used for boxes, trays, desks, tea-caddies,
etc.
Urn-stand: see Kettle-stand.
Washing-stand (or Basin-stand): specially adapted for bedroom use after 1750, and of two main kinds. (1) A tripod stand with three uprights, a circular top fitted with a basin, and a central triangular shelf with a drawer (or drawers) and receptacle for soap. A four-legged version of this type was also made. (2) A cupboard or chest of drawers on four legs with a basin sunk in the top, the latter covered by a lid or folding flaps.
What-not: a portable stand with four uprights enclosing shelves, in use after about 1800 for books, ornaments, etc.
Wine Cistern (or Cooler): a case for wine bottles, very similar to a cellaret (q.v.), but normally larger, without a lid and designed to contain ice or water for cooling the wine. Bowl shaped wooden cisterns on feet or stand were lined with lead and came into wide use after c. 1730; stone and metal (especially silver) cisterns were also found. At the end of the century the tub form, with hoops of brass, was general.
Work-table: the name usually applied to the special table made in the second half of the i8th century for ladies’ needlework, etc. In Sheraton’s time these tables were of several kinds; some, mounted on four tapered and reeded legs or on trestle feet, might include, in addition to a drawer, such fittings as a pouch for the work materials, an adjustable fire-screen and a writing-board or slide. Another type, the `French Work-table’, was a tray on trestle feet with a shelf or shelves below.
Writing-table: many varieties of small writing-tables can be found dating from the end of the 17th century, when they were first introduced. Early examples were made with turned baluster legs and folding tops, and were frequently used also as side- and card-tables. Gate-legs were usual, and some were fitted with a drawer. Decoration with marquetry was often found. In the early 18th century small knee-hole writing-tables were popular, with tiers of narrow drawers on each side of the central recess. Similar tables, it may be noted, were also used as dressing-tables, and it is not always possible to determine their exact purpose. After the introduction of mahogany, when the fashion arose for larger pedestal tables in libraries, many versions of the convenient lighter table continued to be made. It was at the end of the century that perhaps the most elegant kinds of these smaller tables were seen, frequently of satinwood. Some closely resembled contemporary secretaires and cheverets; others were fitted with an adjustable board for writing and with a screen.