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Category Archives: Cabinet Fittings
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
Can you handle this?
I require a set of brass handles of the pattern illustrated above. Strangely, it’s not an uncommon pattern, yet I searched through my boxes of strays for comparable bails and backplates without any luck and I haven’t been able to … Continue reading
A William III Ash Chest-on-Stand – Part Seven
The drawers were constructed in period-correct fashion with through dovetails front and back. The central veneers on the drawer fronts are the more figured stuff from the ends of the leaves of quarter cut veneer I used for the stripy … Continue reading
Proportion, Formulae and Aesthetics
Following on from Getting a Handle on Proportion, it appears that my dismissal of some of the classic rules of proportion (comment 9) has caused upset amongst the ranks. One reader who emailed me attached two pictures of chests with dimensional … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques, Cabinet Fittings
Tagged balance, chests-on-chest, Fibonacci sequence, golden ratio, handles, proportion
1 Comment
Getting a Handle on Proportion
Chests with equal length drawers can be so easily let down by inconsiderately placed handles. At first glance, one could be forgiven for thinking the chest in figure 1 was ‘cut-and-shut’ to fit within the confines of an alcove or … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques, Cabinet Fittings
Tagged chest of drawers, escutcheons, handles, proportion
17 Comments
Could Somebody Please Bail Me Out?
I have some rococo backplates from a late eighteenth-century mahogany chest of drawers. The backplates incorporate an unusual blend of Gothik/Chinese strapwork with coquillage and florid elements (fig. 1). Fig. 1. Brass backplate, circa 1770. While attached to the chest, … Continue reading
Picture This XXXIII
So popular was Admiral Nelson – in England, at least – that all manner of souvenirs and toys[i] were produced to commemorate his Naval victories and ultimately, his death. The Staffordshire potteries churned out fairings, jugs, mugs and tea wares … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques, Cabinet Fittings, Picture This
Tagged Admiral Nelson, backplate, Battle of the Nile, brass handles, Greek key, pearlware, souvenirs, Staffordshire potteries, toymakers, toys, Trafalgar
4 Comments
Chippendale S-hole Locks and Escutcheons
Some of the less flamboyant everyday (non-commissioned?) case furniture produced in Thomas Chippendale’s workshop bore – what are reputedly his favourite[1] – floral-and-torus bails (figs. 1 & 2). Fig. 1. Plain brass floral-and-torus bail, circa 1765. Fig. 2. Gilt brass … Continue reading
Posted in Cabinet Fittings
Tagged back spring lock, John Cobb, S-shaped escutcheons, Thomas Chippendale
6 Comments
Ringing in the New Year
There are still a couple of brass founders in existence that reproduce faithful seventeenth- and eighteenth-century style furniture brasses for discerning furniture makers and restorers. Their voluminous and diverse inventories are to be commended. Iron nails, locks and whitesmiths’ goods, … Continue reading
Posted in Cabinet Fittings, Tools
6 Comments
Metalwork for Furniture – a Loan Exhibition
As part of the Honiton Antiques Festival, antiques dealer, Roderick Butler’s collection of brass and iron handles, castors, hinges etc. (including rare examples with makers’ marks) along with brassfounders’ catalogues will be on display at Marwood House, Monkton Rd, Honiton, … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques, Cabinet Fittings
Tagged furniture brasses, Honiton Antiques Festival, Roderick Butler
2 Comments
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