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Monthly Archives: January 2013
How Rings Can Easily Become Irritable and Sore
A good customer, whom I had been cultivating for some time, was in the market for a mid-eighteenth-century mahogany long case clock and I tracked down a contender at an auction in the west of England. I attended the pre-auction … Continue reading
Plumb and Level
A free-thinking seventeenth-century Frenchman by the name of Monsieur Thévenot published a book, in 1696, entitled L’art de Nager [1], the English translation, The Art of Swimming, being published in 1699. The book is, indeed, a treatise on swimming – … Continue reading
Posted in Distractions
Tagged bubble level, L'art de Nager, Melchisedech Thévenot, The Art of Swimming
3 Comments
God Save King George III
On the 29th of January 1820, King George II died, aged eighty-one years. Having reigned for almost sixty years, he was England’s longest reigning monarch. George was widely popular amongst his subjects, though ‘Farmer George’ was often satirised for his … Continue reading
A William and Mary Simulated Tortoiseshell Chest of Drawers – Part Seven
I will preface this post by admitting I am no photographer: Capturing the true colour and depth of the finish on this chest of drawers (it looks deep enough to swim in) has proven to be beyond my capabilities. Applying … Continue reading
Posted in Case Furniture, Furniture Making
Tagged banding, chest, tortoiseshell, veneer, William and Mary
11 Comments
Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary
To mark the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice – first published on the 28th of January 1813 – BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House presents an amusing letter wherein Mr Bennet reflects on twenty-first-century Pride and Prejudice mania. … Continue reading
A William and Mary Simulated Tortoiseshell Chest of Drawers – Part Six
Upon examining early japanned furniture, it becomes apparent why so much testudinally painted furniture was surrendered to japanners and other artists accomplished in chinoiserie. The least convincing simulated tortoiseshell finishes are bedaubed with a repetitive pattern more reminiscent of leopard … Continue reading
Posted in Case Furniture
Tagged blonde, cushion mirror, glazes, mouldings, scarlet, scutes, spirit varnish, tortoiseshell, turtle, William and Mary
8 Comments
The British Museum
The British Museum opened to the public on the 15th of January 1759 by act of Parliament. Through his lifetime, the Irish physician, Sir Hans Sloane amassed a collection of more than 70,000 antiquities and curiosities which he bequeathed to … Continue reading
Posted in Distractions
Tagged British Museum, George II, Irish, Montagu House, Old Royal Library, Sir Hans Sloane
1 Comment
A William and Mary Simulated Tortoiseshell Chest of Drawers – Part Five
I had previously rubbed the drawer bottom boards together; then a couple of days ago, in relative respite from the high winds and searing heat that are presently wreaking havoc across the eastern seaboard of Australia, I cut the dovetails … Continue reading
A William and Mary Simulated Tortoiseshell Chest of Drawers – Part Four
I believe there is some mileage in a post on the evidence, pros and cons of through- and lapped-dovetail carcase and drawer construction, beginning in the second half of the seventeenth-century; however I will reserve all that for a later … Continue reading
Posted in Case Furniture
Tagged japanned furniture, lapped-dovetails, telegraphing, through-dovetails, veneer, William and Mary
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