One of the pitfalls to be avoided when buying antique furniture is buying a ‘marriage’. This is a piece, such as a table, which has the wrong top on it – either from another table or ‘made-up’ especially. Usually this is because the original top has been broken, and obviously makes the piece worth a lot less than one which is ‘right’.

The first way to look for this is to use your ‘eye’. It’s quite surprising how many people don’t stand back and really look at a piece of furniture when they buy. It’s all a question of proportion; the cabinet makers of the Georgian period designed their pieces according to very strict laws of classical proportion, and as a result they are usually very pleasing to the eye: an oval lamp table will have a similarly delicately proportioned tripod base – it won’t be plonked onto four square legs and stretchers. And a sturdy rosewood breakfast table top will need a substantial base to give it stability and make it seem ‘balanced’ to the eye.

The next thing to do is turn the piece upside down [where possible!]. If it is a large table, such as a diner, I often advise people to take a torch to have a good look underneath. The first thing to look for is almost part of the ‘patina’ of the top: if a table has been used for two hundred years or so there will be a waxy rim around the under edge where people’s fingers have touched the table. This is near impossible to reproduce – if the underside is too clean, or there are stain brush marks, steer clear. Something else you often see there are little circular impressions where a ladies crochet clamp has been attached to the edge!

The second thing to look for underneath is anything that shouldn’t be there! In other words, unexplained wear, marks, or empty screw or nail holes that indicate that the top was once attached to something else. Look closely, as these can be quite small, or may have been ‘plugged’ with wood or filler.

Finally, run your hand over the table top: a new top will have a new finish, and will not be smooth and silky to the touch as with original patination; the grain may be raised, or the edges oddly sharp for a piece of age. As with all areas of antique buying, this is where experience counts; but follow your instincts: a piece that simply ‘feels’ wrong often is, and gradually your eye will become tuned in.

This week we have in a truly unique piece of furniture: a late 18^th century colonial chest of drawers, in solid rosewood. This beautiful piece, of South Asian origin, probably Indian, would have been constructed by local craftsmen to an English pattern: the design is basically English Georgian – a plain, unembellished chest of three graduated drawers – but there the similarity ends! An English chest would never have been constructed from solid rosewood at this period – this was an exotic hardwood, imported in very small quantities, and only used in veneer form [it was used in the solid in England much more widely from about 1820 onwards].

The drawer sides are made of cedar, which is not unusual, but the drawer bottoms are of solid teak – a timber unknown in England at that date. This, combined with the solid rosewood carcase, makes it the heaviest chest of drawers we have ever had!

Opening the drawers, there is more evidence of its origin – the dovetails are widely spaced and crudely cut, not the quality of craftsmanship that you see in English Georgian pieces. And even the graduated drawers are unusual – they graduate the other way, with the largest drawer at the top. The handles are the final clue – made in fretted brass and of wonderful quality, they are the local craftsman’s version of the classic design – with a distinctive Indian feel!

Indian rosewood is dark and quite straight grained, with a distinctive chocolaty stripe – but here it has faded to a beautiful soft colour with a lovely, untouched waxy patina: an usual  piece, of great character.

When people come into our workshops here at Thakeham Furniture [visitors are always welcome], one of the things that astonishes them is the sight of a traditional ‘glue pot’ containing hide or ‘Scotch’ glue, such have been used in workshops since the 17^th century! Scotch glue is an adhesive, similar to gelatin, that is created other by prolonged boiling of animal hide, and it is used hot.  It comes in the form of pearls, which are first soaked in water; the technology of the glue pot, however,  has moved on: we use an electric double skin device.

Why not use modern, synthetic adhesives? Well, there are several answers to this question. The first, and most important, is authenticity. When working on antique furniture you should never introduce materials that were not around when the piece was first made; for example, we have a wood store of old timber, so that we never have to use ugly modern mahogany in a repair. Scotch was what was used when the piece was made.

The second reason would be strength and reliability. Hide glue also functions as its own cramp. Once the glue begins to gel, it pulls the joint together. Cabinet makers may glue two planks together  by using a rubbed joint rather than using cramps.  This technique involves coating half of the joint with hot hide glue, and then rubbing the other half against the joint until the hide glue starts to gel, at which point the glue becomes tacky. At this point the plate is set aside without cramps, and the hide glue pulls the joint together as it hardens.

The third reason is convenience – hide glue is very forgiving. It is water soluble, so it can be washed off easily. Haven’t managed to wash every scrap of old glue off before re-gluing an old joint?  It doesn’t matter: the new heat of the new glue will soften up the old and they’ll combine nicely. Working on a piece that was restored by a cowboy last time? If they used a synthetic glue you will be cursing them, as anyone who has spent hours picking tiny scraps of Cascamite out of a joint will testify.

The earliest tables especially designed for playing cards were introduced around the beginning of the 18^th century. Such tables were veneered in walnut, and had rectangular folding tops laid with baize, and cabriole legs; these would swing out to support the flap, and were often decorated with carved shells on the knees. The tops sometimes had cylindrical corners dished to hold candlesticks, and wells were provided for money or counters.

 Early in George I’s reign mahogany began to supersede walnut, but the basic design stayed the same, the swing legs being supported by a finely made wooden knuckle joint. Card playing became more and more fashionable throughout the 18^th century, and card tables were prized drawing room pieces as the quality of craftsmanship improved.  Between 1775 and 1800 mahogany and satinwood card tables with tapered quadrilateral or cylindrical legs were made in a variety of shapes – serpentine, circular or oval; or D-shaped, as in this fine example from about 1790, inlaid with kingwood and satinwood banding and boxwood stringing.

Throughout the Regency period, designs became more elaborate, with quatroform bases and up to four pillars supporting the top. This example, dating from about 1835, is typical of the William IV period, and shows the development from the earlier type. It is of pedestal design, in wonderfully figured mahogany with turned knulling and beautifully carved lions paw feet hiding the castors. This form of table also has a folding, baize-lined top, but instead of a supporting leg the whole top swivels on the base before folding out.

Here at Thakeham Furniture we love how every item of antique furniture tells its own unique story; initials carved into the underside of a table, the faint outline of a pair of Victorian sewing scissors on a work table.

Every now and then a piece comes into our workshop which conceals a hidden surprise. It’s amazing the things that turn up stuffed at the back of drawers or hidden away in cupboards. Things we have stumbled across over the years include: sewing kits, hair nets, old newspapers, money, pin cushions, postcards, love letters , a set of decanters, quills, portrait miniatures, stamps, semi precious stones, smelly old tights, pen nibs…the list is endless!

Once we even found a mummified mouse inside a long case clock (!) Another favourite was a perfectly preserved dragon fly in a desk drawer.

Something we do come across a lot is sewing kits. There is nothing more exciting than opening a work table drawer to discover it complete with a well loved collection of needles, threads and thimbles etc, sometimes untouched from as far back as the nineteenth century! The colours of the threads against the shine of the needles, all perfectly neatly aligned, make a beautiful sight.

Once or twice we have found bundles of cash strapped to the back of a desk, or in secret compartments. For more on secret compartments see ‘secret compartments in antique furniture’. (This has, of course, been returned to the owner/auction house)

Something we do keep, and have quite an expansive collection of, is newspapers. A great place to find old newspapers is behind mirrors, they were placed there to protect the glass. The oldest newspaper we have found to date is from 1892! We have also found papers from key dates in history such as the Queens Coronation.

The technique of graining – painting surfaces to resemble wood – dates back to Egyptian times. It first became popular in Europe in the second half of the 17^th as a simulation of the exotic hardwoods that were starting to be used in veneer form at that time. Because these woods, such as rosewood and satinwood, were expensive and rare, techniques of painting or graining were developed to imitate them.

It was also used in interiors, primarily on doors and panelling, often to disguise cheaper softwoods, such as pine, to resemble the medullary rays of quarter-cut oak; this technique is sometimes known as “scumbling”.

During the Regency period, “Rio”, or Brazilian, rosewood became the most popular of the exotic veneers, and the most imitated by the furniture decorators. A suitable “ground colour” would be painted onto the well prepared surface; this was allowed to dry before a semi-transparent graining colour was applied sparingly and swept, with a graining comb, into the distinctive swirls of  rosewood. This would then be sealed with a coat of varnish.

These painters were highly skilled; by the end of the Regency period the graining techniques were as valued as the rosewood itself. This lovely set of chairs are particularly finely grained, and of top quality. Nowadays, with the fashion for painted furniture, a simulated set will fetch as much, or more, than actual rosewood chairs!

Contact Thakeham Furniture in West Sussex, UK – to know more in detail about antique furniture, English antique furniture, rosewood antique furniture and satinwood antique furniture.

The term ‘cellaret’ came into use in c. 1750 to describe cases and receptacles to contain wine. Originally, they were placed under sideboards, which back then were in the form of side tables (lacking the cupboards below). The earliest form is the octagon shape, which were lined with lead, with partitions for bottles. Later sideboards were fitted with cellaret drawers, however the restrictive space for bottles often meant that separate units were required.

By the late 18^th century cellarets had become increasingly popular, and in some cases were of considerable size. An example of an unusual size is this George IV pedestal cellaret. A fantastic piece of furniture; the cellaret creates the perfect drinks cabinet with plenty of room for bottles, glasses and ice.

In superb original condition, it features a removable ice tray in the top drawer, a cupboard below, and a lead lined bottle holder in the bottom drawer. The pretty gadrooning on the top provides it with an elegant touch of detail and the neat panelled drawers tidily store away the original lead lined interiors.

 Coromandel wood, sometimes known as Calamander, is one of the most decorative hardwoods used in cabinet-making. It is a variety of ebony, Diospyros macassar, or Macassar ebony, from India and South East Asia, with the most dramatic colouring: hazel brown interspersed with black or charcoal grey stripes.

Ebony is an exceptionally dense, heavy wood, which takes an especially long time to season. Notoriously hard to work, it quickly blunts tool edges; it can be brittle, which is why it was often used in veneer form rather than in the solid. It was valued not only for its beauty, but also for its beautiful smooth surface, and its resistance to shrinkage and warping.

First imported to the Low Countries in the 17^th century, ebony was occasionally used for veneering cabinets and mirror frames. Then, at the end of the 18^th century, with the advent of Sheraton and his elegant, decorative designs, it became popular as an inlay, giving a dramatic contrast to mahogany or satinwood in the form of stringing or banding. Very occasionally used in the solid to make chairs, it remained a favourite of the Regency period, lending itself to the exotic and precisely detailed furniture of the day.

As ebony was so rare and expensive, by the 19^th century a method was developed to imitate ebony, known as ‘ebonising’. The black stain was obtained by boiling log-wood in vinegar, brushing on to pear wood and then applying a solution of oak gall [used in the preparation of ink] and copper vitriol. It looks very convincing, but is easily detected by the modern restorer: the acid corrodes the pear wood over time and it quickly crumbles to dust when touched with a chisel!

The Victorians particularly liked the flamboyant colouring of coromandel, and used it occasionally, for fine, expensive pieces, in the solid – as in this unusual book slide, dating from about 1870.

England’s generally rich soil and its comparatively mild and moist climate have provided it with an abundance of trees ideal for use as timber. English oak is a beautiful wood; it tends to have a fine and close grain, and hardens with age to an iron-like strength. Medullary rays are a particularly characteristic feature of oak, winding across the grain, usually paler than the surrounding wood. These are small bands of cells which conveyed and stored nutrients horizontally.

In England, well into the 19^th century, the commonest method of converting timber into planks was by means of a long saw with a handle at each end, worked by two men, one of whom would often be standing below the log in a pit. Such timber is known as “pit-sawn”, and the unfinished back or interior boards of many a piece of furniture show its distinctive parallel saw marks.

The most obvious method of converting a log into planks is simply to slice it into parallel layers; This is known as plain sawing, and gave rise to the expression “run of the mill”. In order to produce planks with the sought-after medullary figure, the log would be “quarter-cut”: it was first divided lengthwise into quarters, then planks were sawn from each quarter. Boards created this way are also less likely to warp, and were used as show wood.

This lovely oak dresser dates from the second half of the 18^th century, and has a lovely colour and old wax patina. The panelled doors display the typical medullary figuring of quarter-cut oak .`

Furniture made during the Georgian and Victorian periods was built to last! Joints were constructed and glued – not stapled or nailed together like modern pieces. Timber was properly seasoned, so is less likely to warp; and the finish applied, designed to resist marks, hardens over time. With a little care and thought, caring for your antique furniture is easy!

There are two main factors that will affect the care of antique furniture within the home – one is heat, the other humidity. Where possible, position furniture away from direct sunlight, which can not only fade furniture but may also cause a polished surface to blister within a short space of time. Similarly, radiators can be a problem if furniture is placed directly in front of one – allow as much space as possible.

Low humidity can have a damaging effect on antique furniture – it was not constructed with today’s centrally or underfloor heated homes in mind! Wood is a flexible medium, and if allowed to dry out too much, may shrink and crack. Fortunately, ambient humidity is very easy to check with a small, cheap electronic gadget called a ‘hygrometer’. Humidity of round about 45% is ideal, with a minimum of 35%; the easiest way to achieve this without trouble is to place a couple of bowls of water about under pieces of furniture. Surprisingly, humidity is often lower during the winter than the summer.

Most pieces will only need waxing every 3 to 4 months, depending on how much wear the piece gets. Waxing too often will give a sticky finish which attracts dirt! Apply a thin layer of any good quality bees-wax based polish with a cloth, then buff up really hard with a soft cloth or brush; this will help to maintain a lovely patina.

Contact Thakeham Furniture for more info about caring antiques and antique furniture.