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Picture This CXXVII
This is yet another example of case furniture from The Age of Walnut that employs largely unfashionable or anomalous domestic timbers in its construction. Unlike the sophisticated George II elm cabinet-on-chest in Picture This XC, this chest (figure 1), though fashionable … Continue reading
Picture This CXIX
I previously mentioned the propensity for common elm to warp in connection with Windsor seats in Picture This CX – Redux. It is no doubt due to the same tendency that elm wasn’t more broadly employed (in the solid) for the … Continue reading
Picture This CXV
I have mentioned dealer sophistry before, but specious descriptions of antique furniture are sadly becoming ever more prevalent (I will save a discussion on the possible reasons for another time). The vendor of the Windsor chair in figure 1 described … Continue reading
A Pair of Forest Chairs – Part Three
I bent the two arms from lengths of ash that were sawn from the straightest-grained board I could find. The back- and arm sticks were shaved from ash – as are the arm blades. The splats are of cherry and … Continue reading
A Pair of Forest Chairs – Part Two
I glued and wedged the ash legs into the elm seat boards and when dry, began the saddling process. My arms could be best described these days as ‘frangible’, so I used a series of carving discs mounted on an … Continue reading
A Pair of Forest Chairs – Part One
I want four or five Windsor chairs that can remain permanently outdoors on the front stoep of the new house. As I have blathered on about forest chairs on numerous occasions, I thought I would make a pair of them … Continue reading
Picture This XC
I have written previously on the topic of (usually vernacular) furniture that employs largely unfashionable or domestic timbers in its construction. Here again is an example of case furniture – a sophisticated cabinet-on-chest in this instance – anomalously moulded and … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques, Furniture Timbers, Picture This
Tagged cabinet on chest, Dutch elm disease, elm, veneer, walnut
15 Comments
Taxing Times
England invested an inordinate amount of money in building and maintaining a naval fleet to better protect her island shores and foreign interests during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries. Government coffers were kept topped-up with monies raised through all manner of … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques
Tagged cockfighting, elm, lock, looking glasses, mahogany, stick chair, tax, thrown chair, walnut, Windsor chair
8 Comments
Picture This LXXVII
I am seeing forest chairs everywhere and am beginning to wonder if there are any Windsor chairs out there that aren’t painted. The striking lath-back armchair in figure 1 incorporates bold leg turnings (compare with the chairs here and here), … Continue reading
Posted in Antiques, Picture This
Tagged ash, comb-back, continuous-arm, crest rail, double bow, elm, forest chair, fruitwood, lath-back, leg turnings, one-piece arm, seat, splat, stretcher, walnut, Windsor chairs, Yealmpton chairs
12 Comments
Picture This LXXII
Following on from Picture This LXXI last month, another brace of low-back Windsors has cropped up; however this pair bears no traces of paint. George III yew and elm low-back Windsor chairs, circa 1780. (Robert Bradley) Made of yew, with … Continue reading
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