Monthly Archives: July 2011
Chippendale Hanging Shelves – Part Three
The two small drawers are made entirely of mahogany and constructed in keeping with period practices. I glued the drawer stops in place, cleaned the shelves up, polished them and attached the Dutch drop handles to the drawers. The finished … Continue reading
The London Furniture Timber Trade
Even prior to the Industrial Revolution, Britain’s timber stocks had been heavily depleted through centuries of shipbuilding, house-building and agricultural land clearance. Notwithstanding the scarcity of domestic supplies, the even-textured, slow-grown, wainscot (oak) and deal (pine) imported from the vast … Continue reading
Increased Transparency at Knole
Further to Furniture Doctors now using X-radiography, Emile de Bruijn has posted additional fascinating X-ray images of furniture and a painting at Knole. X-ray of a seat showing construction and upholstery. (National Trust/3DX-Ray)
Chippendale Hanging Shelves – Part Two
To prevent the simple structure falling apart, the shelves are dovetailed into the sides and likewise, the drawer divider is dovetailed into the lower shelf and the base board. With the stock all prepared, I sawed the stopped, tapered dovetail … Continue reading
Chippendale Hanging Shelves – Part One
This delicate little set of chinoiserie shelves is taken straight from Thomas Chippendale’s Director, published in 1754. Fig. 1. Chippendale’s designs for Hanging Shelves, circa 1753. Normally made of mahogany, and often in pairs[1], many ‘Chippendale’ hanging shelves bear only … Continue reading
Pegs and 'Tails 