Monthly Archives: June 2015
Banging Tunes
Whilst working on the book today (and you thought I’ve just been wasting time training horses and spraying weeds), I have been listening to Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic (2CELLOS). A little levity to start the weekend… .. … and … Continue reading
Indian Varnish
In the seventeenth-century, highly fashionable imported goods from the East (such as printed fabrics and lacquered furniture) were often collectively referred to as ‘Indian’, no matter whether they originated in China, India, Japan, Korea etc. ‘Indian’ or ‘India’ varnish is … Continue reading
Maintaining the Mahogany
Where footmen are kept, the charge of rubbing mahogany furniture devolves on them, otherwise it becomes the care of the housemaid. The chairs and tables should be rubbed well every day; and on the mahogany tables a little cold drawn … Continue reading
HMS Nutmeg
I recently mentioned spices in Picture This L; Art Gallery of South Australia is currently running an exhibition Treasure Ships: Art in the Age of Spices until the 30th of August. The exhibition presents the complex artistic and cultural interactions … Continue reading
Bendor on Brown Furniture
Old Masters art historian, Bendor Grosvenor (familiar to many as the researcher in the BBC1 series Fake or Fortune?), talks about a possible comeback of brown furniture in his latest podcast for the Financial Times. Jack Plane
Picture this LIV
In the earlier post, Picture This XXXV, I illustrated a mid-eighteenth-century mahogany bureau whose top drawer partially concealed the loper pockets. An earlier bureau (fig. 1) with not dissimilar extended drawer fronts sold at Christie’s The Connoisseur’s Eye sale yesterday, … Continue reading
Pegs and 'Tails 