Monthly Archives: May 2018

Milk of Human Purblindness

Over the weekend I received a flurry of emails from readers wishing to know the brand and colour of milk paint I used on a pair of forest chairs I made last year. I suppose it had to happen one … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Picture This CXXIII

An old friend in Bury St Edmunds was interested in purchasing this bureau (figure 1) which came up for auction (twice in the past two weeks), in nearby Colchester in Essex. I wasn’t able to reply to him before the … Continue reading

Posted in Antiques | Tagged | 22 Comments

Inferior Imports from the Far East

Cheaply made commodities from China, India and Taiwan etc. are not a twentieth-century phenomenon. Early trade with the East during the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries introduced Britain and Europe to hitherto unimaginable treasures: Brass, porcelain and silk, for example, were formerly … Continue reading

Posted in Antiques | Tagged | 7 Comments

Picture This CXXII

This described by a dealer this week: “… drawers with original brass escutcheon plates and swan-neck bail handles.” Posted, not to name and shame, but to train the eye. Jack Plane

Posted in Antiques, Picture This | Tagged | 14 Comments

Old Hardware Catalogues

Poole Waite & Co Ltd. has a number of old hardware catalogues and journals for sale on their web site. The majority of the catalogues appear to be for furniture brasses etc. These late catalogues can make handy reference material … Continue reading

Posted in Cabinet Fittings | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Rake’s Progress

The country round here is now officially in drought: It’s been the driest April on record and we’ve had only a third of the average rainfall so far this year. There’s been no grass of any worth in the paddocks … Continue reading

Posted in Distractions | Tagged , | 13 Comments