A Few Comments About the Booklet, Veneered Walnut Furniture

A Few Comments About the Booklet, Veneered Walnut Furniture

A Few Comments About the Booklet,
Veneered Walnut Furniture
by
Robert Wemyss Symonds
T
HE 1947 BOOKLET, VENEERED WALNUT
FURNITURE, in pdf below, is an interesting study of English furniture history. I use
“interesting”, for several reasons. Published
shortly after the end of World War II -- historically,
surely the most devastating of wars the British
people ever waged -- rather than suggesting a
government-required policy of rationing and hardship, it suggests a social and economic climate of
relaxation and plenty.1 But, in the wake of World
War II’s devastation, Britain questioned its ability
to again achieve greatness. Indeed, in post-World
War II Britain, it is as if a sort of collective failure of
nerve prevails, where now, in the wake of the war,
a future full of greatness is, perhaps, no longer
achievable. As an example of this prevailing doubt,
take what the noted Arts and Crafts designer,
Gordon Russell (1892-1980), who explains to his
readers at the beginning of his 1947 booklet, The
Things We See: -- Furniture2:
To make it easier for readers to look at …
furniture with new eyes I have told my story
largely in pictures. I want them to look at them
critically, and more than once. Why? Because
when they have done so I hope they will ask
themselves whether the furniture that was generally available in 1939 [is] as good as it ought
to have been. If it [isn’t], how can the situation
be improved? I suggest that we need a greater
proportion of the general public who are both
interested and critical, retailers who are anxious to show high quality and will take the
trouble to teach their salesmen about it, and
manufacturers who are anxious to maintain
1 To explain briefly, after the war in 1945, rationing continues
-- although the basic fuel rations for civilians is restored -- with
some aspects of rationing actually becoming stricter for some
years. For example, bread -- which during the war but not
formally controlled -- is actually reduced in quality and rationed
from 1946 to 1948, while potato rationing began in 1947. See
David Kynaston, Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007
2 West Drayton, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1947, pages 2-3.
high quality, including high quality of design,
and who for this purpose will employ first-rate
designers. ...
If we wish to know much about furniture we
must look at it against the social background of
its time. We must know something of the materials, technical equipment and skill which were
available to make it. We are much too apt to
think of old furniture as a museum exhibit and
to regard it as totally distinct from new furniture. In fact, many books on the subject do not
go beyond 1830 and we are left to infer that
after this date the curious inhabitants of these
islands gave up the use of moveables in their
houses. But if we keep these three headings in
mind we begin to see furniture, not as a confused jumble of Styles, Periods, Kings, Woods,
Queens and so on, but as something which developed gradually to fill the needs of its time as
well as might be, using the skill and materials
available. And how much better our furniture
would be to-day if exactly the same approach
was made to the things we have around us!
The booklet VENEERED WALNUT FURNITURE, is also interesting because the author,
Robert Wemyss Symonds (1889-1958), is both a
scholar and a collector of historic furniture.3 It is
difficult not to see Symonds as similar in several
respects to another scholar and collector of furniture, Charles Handley-Read. Handley-Read is the
author of the masterful survey of the “progressive”
designers of the Industrial Revolution, “England
1830-1901”.4 In a sense, along with Handley-Read,
Symonds follows in a tradition of British authorities
3 For a bibliography of articles, book reviews, books, and other
writings by Symonds see Furniture History 11 1975, pages
88-107. Compiled by Colin Streeter and Margaret Barker, it
excludes Symonds’ newspaper articles and materials relating to
his career as an architect and designer.
4 In Helena Hayward, ed, World Furniture London: Hamlyn,
1969.
of furniture that began at least as early as the era
of the founding of the Victoria and Albert museum
in the 1850s. Examples are John G. Crace (1809–
1889), “On Furniture, Its History, and Manufacture”,
Paper read at the Ordinary General Meeting of the
Royal Institute of British Architects, March 23rd,
1857 and John Hungerford Pollen (1820–1902),
1876 Ancient and Modern Furniture in the South
Kensington Museum. Crace also operated a furni-
power and wealth.
The year 1685 is when -- with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes -- over 40,000
French families are uprooted from their traditional
homes. Many landed in Britain. With these émigrés arrived the the advanced arts and industries
-- the skills of cabinetmaking -- of their own
country. From 1685 to 1689 -- when William III
and Mary ascended the British throne, and afterwards -- the design of British furniture changed,
both markedly and permanently.
While it remains true that some designs
ture making business, where, among the designers
he worked with is Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
(1812-1852).
It goes without saying, I think, that for
Symonds, it is essential to understand the conditions and way of life for which any furniture is
originally intended. Even if it is slight, in this booklet, we can see why Symonds realizes that furniture
cannot be judged in isolation, that it is as important
that we know for whom furniture is made and why
it is made as it is by whom furniture is made or how
it is made.
The Creation of the Cabinetmaker
In Britain, the Restoration of Charles II to
the throne sets the stage for the transformation
from “The Age of Oak” in furniture construction to
“The Age of Walnut” – roughly 1660 to 1720 – an
age dominated by native walnut and by mahogany
and other exotic woods that arrived as part of
Britain’s dominant sea power. Coming with Charles
II is a renaissance, so speak, because – after the
devastating 1666 London Fire that consumed about
two thirds of the city’s buildings -- architects like
Sir Christopher Wren are called upon to design new
buildings that reflected Britain’s growing worldly
for furniture can be traced to France and Italy,
or to Spain and Portugal, we must also recognize
that these designs are filtered through Holland
and Flanders, and refracted through other lens
that include the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance.
With the Low Countries the scene of long standing confrontation among the Dutch, the Spanish,
and the French -- Spain is supreme from 1555 to
1584 -- inevitably influences of Spain, in a major
degree, and Portugal, in a lesser one, are indelibly
imprinted impressions on the design of Holland’s
furniture. Thus we need to understand that these
design motifs are in turn transmitted to Britain by
the Dutch workmen who followed William III to
Britain. Overall, introduced into British furniture
design of this period are forms taken from French,
Italian and Spanish designs as well as some ideas
filtered through Dutch and Flemish eyes and
hands.
Designers such as Daniel Marot (16631752) and cabinetmakers such as Gerreit Jensen
(fl. 1680-1715) – also Richard Vanhuissen, John
Guillibandie, Peter Pavie, and Cornelius Gole – set
another stage, the stage for transforming British
talented craftsmen – basically carpenters -- to a
higher level of performance and creativity, to Cabinetmakers.
These émigré cabinetmakers brought with
them skills that are not known to British Craftsman, and while it required time for these British
carpenters to achieve the level of performance of
the émigré cabinetmakers, they nevertheless soon
began achieving that standard of performance.
Cabinetmaking as Fine Art
Cabinetmaking is one of the fine arts and is by no
means to be placed among the lesser ones.
Among the things most treasured by the
nations and holding prominent places in the
world’s museums will ever be found specimens of the art of the cabinet maker.5
The above quote is by Lamont Warner,
noted professor of design at Columbia University, but also designer of the 1901 icon of
the American Arts and Crafts movement,
the Morris chair.
Cabinetmaking, as a fine art, undoubtedly can be said to have gotten its start with
this cabinet: Pommersche Kunstschrank -- the
creation of Philipp Hainhofer (1578 -1647)
for Philip II in 1616. Hainhofer-- based in
Augsburg -- both a skilled painter and architect, furnished the cabinet’s design. The cabinetmaker responsible for the principal part of
the cabinetwork is Ulrich Baumgartner (? b &
d). This pair combined talents to create other
cabinets equal to the Kunstschrank standard.
5 Source: Lamont A. Warner, “Good Furniture “, Art and Industry in Education New York: Published by the Arts and Crafts
Club of Teachers College, Columbia University, 1913, page 87.
Hans Schwanhard (f 1621), a contemporary invented what the 19th-century cultural historian,
Jules Labarte , calls “undulating pieces of ebony
which are introduced with such good effect in
the decoration of ebony armoires, cabinets, and
frames”.6
In my searching for the use of art furniture
as a term, the earliest use in British sources -- via
Google books search engine -- is in the 1830s,
which leaves a long gap between the potential for
“kunstschrank” in London in the 1680s -- 20 years
after the crowning of Charles II -- and art furniture
over 100 years later in the 1830s, however logical
the linkage might be considered.
Kunstschrank translates out to “art cabinet”,
and is said to have been the label given in Germany
for a magnificent piece by Ulrich Baumgartner.
While Baumgartner’s piece is renowned in Germany,
and I expect is celebrated as an exceptional piece
of woodworking by cabinetmakers all over Europe, among cabinetmaker circles, a question exists about
whether news of it got across the channel in the latter part of the 17th century, during the restoration,
noted cabinetmakers from several European nations
across the channel came to London after the fire,
and -- among other things -- introduced the concept
and the skills of “cabinetmaker” to Britain, where
previously only highly skilled carpenters have built
furniture. I discovered an English-language reference that suggests “kunstschrank” and/or “kunstschranke” traces back at least to the 16th century in
the German language.
The master-piece of this species of furniture,
if not for purity of style, at least for richness of ornament and complicated details of workmanship, is
in the Chamber of Arts of Berlin.
The most celebrated of all is the Kunstschrank of Pomerania, now in the Museum of Industrial Art, Berlin. The latter displays all the magnificence of Italian luxury as interpreted by a German
artist. This cabinet is made in Augsburg by Ulrich
Baumgartner.
6 Jules Labarte, Handbook of the Arts of the Middle Ages And
Renaissance: as ... 1855, page 393; Gordon Campbell, Grove
Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, volume 1 New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006, page 554.
Some Publications 1:
JOHN T I It A N T I LTD
VENEERED WALNUT FURNITURE
By R. W. Symonds.
i660-1760
8vo.
Cl oth.
With 48 plates.
HEPPLEWHITE FURNITURE DESIGNS
Preface by Ralph Edwards.
Large 6vo.
With 8o plates from the famous Guide.
ENGLISH PORCELAIN FIGURES
By William Ruscoe.
With
8vo.
40 plates.
Cloth. 6/-
In the Press
8vo. Cloth. 6/-
4o plates.
In the Press
8vo. Cloth. 6/-
40 plates of photographs and to line drawings in text.
SHERATON FURNITURE DESIGNS
With preface by Ralph Edwards.
84
NUT FURNITURE
1744-1848
RECENT CERAMIC SCULPTURE IN GT. BRITAIN
By Reginald G. Haggar.
With
Ab. 7/6
In Me Press
ENGLISH POTTERY FIGURES 166o-186o
By R. G. Haggar.
With
VENEERED
6/-
8vo. Cloth. 5/-
plates of line drawings from Sheraton's famous Drawing Book of 1791- 4.
FRANK DOBSON, A.R.A., SCULPTOR.
By T. W. Earp.
8vo. Wrapper.
3/-
A monograph of this modern sculptor's work with 40 plates of photographs.
DECORATIVE DETAILS OF THE 18th CENTURY
By W. ciy J. Pain, with a preface by Prof. A. E. Richardson.
8vo. Cloth. 6/-
With 8o plates of line drawings from his engravings of designs for doorways, chimneypieces, staircases,
cornices, etc.
THE SECOND BATTLE OF HASTINGS
By A. Trystan Edwards, M.A.
8vo. Cloth. Ab. 7/6
Architectural arguments subsequent to aerial bombardment.
In the Press
GOOD AND BAD MANNERS IN ARCHITECTURE.
An essay on the
Social Aspects of Civic Design
By A. Trystan Edwards, M.A.
8vo. 71" by 5". 8/6
The classic book on street architecture explaining how buildings should behave towards each other.
Illustrated.
STYLE AND COMPOSITION IN ARCHITECTURE.
An exposition of
the Canon of Number, Punctuation and Inflection
By A. Trystan Edwards, M.A.
8vo.
7i/' by 5'.
7/6
Mr. Edwards explains in non-technical language the reasons why buildings are or are not works of
art. Illustrated.
MODERN TERRACE HOUSES, THEIR PLANNING AND SITING
Oblong 4to. Wrapper. 6/By A. Trystan Edwards, M.A.
for the Chadwick Trust. This research on high-density development fills a long-felt want.
23 plates of drawings.
Published
THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, A PHILOSOPHY OF BEAUTY
8vo. Cloth.
By A. Trystan Edwards, M.A.
12/6
The author deals with the human form, manners, dress, architecture and the fine arts, and formulates
In the Press
principles of design.
PARALLEL OF THE ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE
Folio.
By Charles Normand.
15" by io". 1z/6
Fifth Tiranti edition, revised and enlarged by R. A. Cordi:.gly, M.A., F R.I.B.A., M.T.P.I. The
standard book on the orders, Greek, Roman and Renaissance. With nearly 7o plates of finely
measured drawings.
•
R.W SYMONDS
AMEUBLEMENT
DE
NOYER PLAQUE
1660-1760
Veneered
WALNUT FURNITURE
1660 - 1760
par
by
R. W. SYMONDS
R. W. SYMONDS
MEUBLES ENCHAPADOS
DE
NOGAL
947
1
por
R. W. SYMONDS
JOHN TIRANTI LTD
72 Charlotte Street
LONDON
PREFACE
First published - 1946
Reprinted - - - 5947
Printed in Gt. Britain by
WIGHTMAN AND COMPANY LIMITED
REGENCY STREET . LONDON . S.W.I
This monograph is on a particular type of English furniture
that first began to be made in the reign of Charles II. It was
of a special construction—veneered—and was in the main of
walnut wood.
I have explained how this furniture came into fashion, and
why it went out of fashion ; and also how it became part of the
English idiom although inspired by continental practice.
The illustrations have been chosen, not to show rare and
exotic specimens that appeal to collectors, but furniture which
is representative of English design and craftmanship. Not all
the pieces illustrated are of fine quality because much walnut
furniture was of the second grade ; for the reason that more of
it was wanted for citizens' homes than for noblemen's mansions.
In a modern England where furniture has to be produced in
large quantities to meet the demands of a population of fortyfive millions, this veneered walnut furniture—the relic of an
England with four to five million population—demands our
interest. Not, however, for us to reproduce the design and old
handcraftmanship but to obtain an understanding of the principles used by our ancestors in furniture making.
For these principles demand that furniture should be designed
to accord with the contemporary way of life and that it should be
economic in terms of labour and material. Furniture produced
to-day under such guidance would have to be made by machine
processes which, in this modern world, are alone economic.
And now that carving and inlaying by hand are no longer possible,
what better material is there for furniture than veneer ?—the
natural figure of wood being as decorative and beautiful to-day
as it was when our ancestors first discovered it as a medium
of enrichment.
The reason that I have omitted any reference to chairs is that
chairmaking was a different craft to cabinet-making. And
although walnut chairs have their " bended " backs and vaseshaped splats together with the seat-rails, veneered, they rely
for decoration more on the shaping and carving of their frames
than on the figure and marking of the walnut wood.
R .W.S .
Chelsea,
July, 1946.
It is ca 1660 that "cabinet-maker", as a
term identifying a particular kind of
woodworking, is introduced into the
English vocabulary in this era of the
impact of Huguenot immigration.
HE, return of Charles II to England in the spring of 1660
saw the beginning of " a politer way of living " as John
Evelyn described the new age. Houses and furniture
accordingly underwent revolutionary changes in design.
The London house altered from its medieval irregular plan
with rambling rooms leading out of one another, to a standard
plan with a passage hall and a dog-leg staircase with two to
three rooms and a closet on each floor. The furniture instead
of being of the earlier joined panelled construction of solid oak
or walnut, was made with a flush surfaced carcass of deal upon
which was glued thin sheets of sawn figured wood called veneer.
The new mode of building was given a great impetus by the
Fire of London in 1666, which brought about an urgent need
for houses, 13,000 having been destroyed. The newly built
streets, lanes, and courts, were lined with brick houses—timberframed construction being banned and only brick or
stone allowed. The new houses for reasons of economy and
quickness of building were of a standard design and ranged from
two stories and a garret to four stories and a garret, according
to whether they were of the first, second, or third " sort ".
The vertical windows of each floor were uniform in size and in
alignment throughout the street. The nobility and the wealthy
were provided for by " Mansion houses . . . of the greatest
bignes not fronting upon any of the Streets or Lanes . . . ".
In their designs both the new brick house and the new
veneered furniture answered the needs of contemporary life.
It was for this reason that the ponderous articles of furniture
of the previous age—the long table with its joined stools, the
court- and press-cupboards and the panelled and posted beds—
were out of keeping with the neat painted wainscotted parlours,
dining- and bed-chambers of the new homes, which demanded
furniture that was compact and light and not bulky and heavy.
Veneered furniture and the new brick-built houses were not
of English invention for both were of continental origin. Veneering was a special technique to which even a skilled joiner must
have found it difficult at first to become accustomed ; but the
making of veneered furniture was not the work of joiners, for
the craftsmen who specialised in veneering became known as
cabinet-makers. It seems likely that among the first English
cabinet-makers were a number of alien workmen who had
settled in England and this foreign talent helped to teach the
T
7
native craftsman the new way of furniture-making'. The
mention of a cabinet-maker in contemporary writing or accounts
previous to Charles II's reign is rare, whereas, soon after 1660
it occurs frequently, showing that the new veneered furniture
was being made, at least in London, at the very beginning of
Charles's reign.
Evelyn mentions cabinet-makers in the first edition (1664)
of his book Sylva and Samuel Pepys records that on March 25th
1667 he found his friend Mr. Povey " at work with a cabinetmaker making of a new inlaid table."
The new house, with its flush surfaced furniture patterned
with the natural figure and grain of the wood, made life for the
London citizen far more pleasant and comfortable. His home
was in accord with the modern way of living and it was no longer
an
rambling uneconomic house furnished with ponderous
presses, cupboards and chests, which took up room-space out
of all proportion to the storage capacity they afforded. That
age-long article of furniture, the chest, now for the first time
began to wane in popularity ; for people realised it was not the
most convenient of receptacles for storing household gear,
since, to get at things at the bottom, those on top had first to be
removed. The new chest of drawers overcame this difficulty
for articles were now laid in shallow layers in separate drawers,
that were not too deep, so that the things above did not bury
those below.
From 1660 to 1700 the cabinet-makers were continually
increasing the range of articles of their furniture. One of the
first and most popular articles they made was the chest of drawers.
Another was a set of furniture consisting of a table, a looking
glass, and a pair of stands, which was much in favour with the
nobility and gentry for use as dressing-tables. The two stands,
upon each of which stood a candlestick, flanked the table so
that the candle-light was equal on each side of the table and
the looking-glass which hung on the wall above. Cabinets with
a pair of folding doors (Plate 4) disclosing an interior with small
drawers, presses for books with the doors glazed like the
contemporary windows (Plate 41) and card-tables (Plate 37) and
small writing tables, both with folding tops, were the innovations
of this late 17th century age.
• Evidence of foreign cabinet-makers working in London from the time of Charles II
to William III is to be found in the un-English names of members of this craft that
occur in the Royal Wardrobe Accounts of that period—William Famebough, Gerreit
Jensen, John Guillebande, Peter Pavie, Cornelius Gole.
8
Apart from the small folding-top writing table (Plate 17) the
cabinet-makers made in large numbers scrutoirs or " writing
cabinets " as they were then called. Such a cabinet took the
form of a box-like structure which contained numerous drawers
and pigeon-holes for filing correspondence and accounts, and
also a number of secret compartments for valuables. The falldown front, which formed the writing space when open, was
held by chains or stays at table height (Plates 7, 20, 21). The
great increase in letter writing during the Restoration Age was
due to the institution of a national postal service, and the
cabinet-makers, with an eye to business, took advantage of this
new habit of the upper classes to produce writing-cabinets.
A feature of design of early veneered furniture was the mounting of it on to stands with legs connected by flat veneered
stretchers. This applied to chests (Plate 8), chests of drawers
(Plate 1), scrutoirs (Plate 6), cabinets (Plate 4) and bureaux
(Plate 32). For the decoration of the legs of stands and tables
the cabinet-makers called upon the turners who at first, turned
the legs with a spiral twist but later, the design changed to
baluster turning (Plate 32). An alternative to the turner's leg,
but by no means so popular, was the cabinet-maker's scroll leg
of rectangular section and veneered on all four sides (Plates 14
and 15).
The cabinet-makers of the late 17th century school were not
content with using walnut veneer but rang the changes with
numerous other woods, sometimes used alone, and sometimes
in conjunction with inlay or with marquetry. For instance, the
Carolean cabinet-makers, following the Dutch fashion, were
fond of ebony but confined its use to veneering cabinets, the
frames of looking-glasses and the cases of clocks. Again,
another favourite wood was olive ; in fact, during the reign of
Charles II, it would seem that as much furniture was veneered
with it as with walnut. Olive was not laid in large sheets of
veneer like walnut but in small pieces which were cut to fit each
other in the form of parquetry work. Each piece was cut
transversely from the branches of the tree which caused the
veneers to have a circular figure resembling an oyster—hence
the name " oyster veneer." Olive, being a dark wood, often
with a greenish tinge, was usually relieved by inlaid boxwood
lines in a geometrical pattern (Plate 3). Olive-wood parquetry
was also much in use in conjunction with marquetry, the olive
being used for the surrounds to the panels (Plate 11).
9
It is ca 1660 that "cabinet-maker", as a
term identifying a particular kind of
woodworking, is introduced into the
English vocabulary in this era of the
impact of Huguenot immigration.
Mulberry, ash, elm, yew, maple, laburnum, and Princes wood
were other woods that, because of their fine and interesting
figure, the cabinet-makers used for veneering. The love of
rich-looking furniture which originated with wealthy Restoration
Society continued up to the turn of the century when a more
sober style began to develop. It was during the period of
exceeding richness that the furniture was decorated with
parquetry and inlay, or with parquetry and marquetry or with
marquetry alone. Spiral twist and baluster turning also added
their quota of enrichment to the structural form of legs of stands
and tables *.
There were various styles of marquetry which are called to-day
by such descriptive names as floral, arabesque, seaweed or endive,
and Persian. The most usual articles which were treated with
marquetry, judging by extant furniture, were chests of drawers,
cabinets, and clock-cases t ; in fact, the whole evolution of
English marquetry can be traced in the last-named. There was
much variation in marquetry furniture ; ranging from the
mediocre quality of the furniture made for the homes of ordinary
but well-to-do people to the superb quality which identified the
fine marquetry furniture of the nobleman's mansion. It is
tempting to suggest that the best marquetry was by the hand
of the skilled Huguenot craftsman who came to England at the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, especially as much
of the finest quality work is after this date.
A feature that adds considerably to the decorative effect of
veneered furniture is the cross-grained mouldings. Such
mouldings are formed by glueing on-to a deal core thin strips of
the same wood with which the piece is veneered, with the grain
running across the width of the moulding and not along its
length. The surface was then given the desired section by a
moulding plane, the iron of which was shaped inversely to the
section required.
The veneer on a table top, cabinet door, or a drawer front,
was arranged so that the various pieces formed a symmetrical
pattern of the figure of the wood. This was easy to do because
pieces of veneer cut in successive layers from the same log
■As accompaniment to the cabinet-ware, chairs and couches were enriched with
turning and elaborate carving combined with silk or velvet upholstery of rich colours.
t Clock-cases, although of the same technique as used by the cabinet-makers, were
the work of a specialist craftsman—the clock-case-maker.
10
exhibited the same figuring and therefore such pieces, when
laid together so that the figuring joined, resulted in forming a
symmetrical pattern. When veneering a table top four pieces
of similar marked veneer were laid so that each covered a quarter
of the top and this caused a figure of symmetrical form.
In walnut veneered furniture, it was the general practice of
the cabinet-makers to treat all surfaces—doors, drawer-fronts,
tops—as panels formed by a border *. The border was usually
of cross-grained veneer with a narrow inner edging, known as
a herringbone or feather-inlay, made of two strips of a crossbanded veneer cut with the grain on the slant (Plate 18). On
drawer fronts, however, the border was more often of the
herringbone edging only (Plate 19). The decorative value of
walnut furniture is greatly enhanced by this uniform and
symmetrical laying of finely-figured veneer and also by the
important part played by the mouldings enriched and emphasised
by the cross-banded wood.
Veneered chests of drawers, " Tables, Stands and Glasses "
cabinets, and scrutoirs, of the late 17th century school of English
cabinetmaking, although often strongly continental in their
design and decoration and, in a number of cases, probably made
by alien workmen living here, still had an unmistakable English
character. This was due to there being an English way of
making things. A Huguenot cabinet-maker did not come to
England and continue to make furniture as he had done in his
own country. Every English workshop was imbued with the
English tradition and a foreign workman came under its influence
directly he worked in England. The English traditional methods
of craftmanship, the use of particular woods, both indigenous
and imported, the pecularities of English furniture design
because the design reflected the English way of life, would soon
cause the foreign workman to amend his technique and bring
his ideas into line with the English idiom. If this had not been
the case, the English tradition in woodwork would soon have
altered and lost its national character owing to the admission
of foreign joiners, cabinet-makers, carvers and inlayers to the
English wood-workers' crafts. But the English tradition was
• It was only walnut furniture of the best quality that had the sides panelled. The
cheaper the quality the less attention was paid to the sides ; in fact, in the cheapest
walnut furniture the front of the piece alone was veneered, the sides being left in the
carcass wood, which was stained and polished to represent walnut. Also in this case
the mouldings on the sides were run in the solid and only those decorating the front
were of the cross-banded wood.
11
strong enough to assimilate all these foreign influences ; it
nourished those that were good and rejected those that were
bad ; thus helping to build up a craft which, in the 18th century
by reason of the conscientious and sound work of the English
craftsman, produced furniture of an elegance and quality that
no other country of Western Europe could excel.
It has already been suggested that the quality of the best
English marquetry was due, in the first place, to the Huguenot
refugee setting an example to the native craftsman. But, on
the other hand, the high standard of the work of English drawer
construction and the good job that the English cabinet-maker
made of the carcasses and the unseen parts of his furniture, were
not brought down to the level of some of the French and Flemish
methods of furniture-making through the alien craftsman
setting a bad example to the Englishman.
During the last years of the 17th century, veneered furniture
showed a change—walnut wood, at the expense of olive and
other woods, became more popular ; geometrical inlay had
already gone out and floral marquetry was on the wane, its place
being taken by what is called to-day " seaweed," a more
mechanical and cheaper type of marquetry of two woods, light
and dark, one the pattern and the other the background (Plate 16).
It was the final and decadent phase of English 17th century
marquetry. It lasted throughout the reign of Queen Anne and
went out entirely in the early years of the next reign.
The cabinetware of the reigns of Anne and George I was
chiefly of walnut veneer ; the better the quality the more highly
figured was the veneer—compare the table (Plate 43) with the
chest (Plate 34). Furniture was now no longer mounted on
stands ; even the chest-on-stand soon discarded its short cabriole
legs (Plate 23), and became the tallboy with drawers nearly to
the ground and with bracket feet (Plate 40). The reason for
the passing of the stand was due to it not being able to support
the weight of the loaded upper part and, after many breakages,
the cabinet-makers decided upon sacrificing elegance for utility.
Whereas the late 17th century was the period of the writingcabinet with fall-down front, the 18th century was the period
of the " Desk and Bookcase " or bureau-bookcase as this piece
of furniture is called to-day. Judging by the large number of
examples extant, the bureau (Plate 48) and the bureau-bookcase
(Plate 24) were the most popular pieces of walnut furniture to
be made by the cabinet-makers during the first half of the 18th
12
century. The shallow upper part, often surmounted by an
elegant pediment in the better quality examples (Plate 26) made
the bureau-bookcase a much more pleasing piece of furniture
than the earlier box-like writing cabinet. The bureau also had
the advantage that only the front part of the writing space folded,
leaving the back portion to place papers upon when the fall was
closed. With the writing cabinet, one had to clear all the papers
from the writing space before it could be shut up. It was
customary to glaze the doors of the bureau-bookcase with
looking-glass plates and this added to the decorative effect.
Bureaux and bureau-bookcases were made in two standard
widths ; one about 3 feet and the other about 2 feet. The
reason for the narrow width examples was that they were
designed to be placed between the windows of a room against
the pier-wall, which in the average town house of the first thirty
years of the 18th century was seldom more than three feet in
width. Both bureaux and bureau-bookcases were made in
several grades of quality ; the best of finely-figured walnut, the
second best of ordinary figured walnut and the cheapest—the
work of the joiner—of solid oak.
Another very popular piece of walnut furniture during the
early Georgian period was the small pedestal dressing-table
(Plate 43) ; for judging by the large number that have survived,
there must have been few houses of the upper and middle classes
that did not have at least two to three such tables with toiletglasses standing on them, in the bed-chambers. The standard
width was about 2 ft. 6 in. The reason for this measurement
being that, like the narrow bureau-bookcase, it stood
against the pier-wall between two windows which was the best
position for a dressing-table because there was light on both
sides. Besides the pedestal table, there was the dressing-table (?)
with three drawers in its frame, supported on legs, which also
was of the standard width of 2 ft. 6in. The legs were cabriole
of many patterns (Plates 42 and 45) whilst some early
Queen Anne tables have turned legs with stretchers (Plate 44).
This type of table has survived in very large numbers indicating
that it likewise had a very definite use in the 18th century home.
The greater part of the walnut veneered furniture made from
1740 onwards was of moderate quality and of provincial make.
Also, with the exception of the bureau and the card-table, it
was chiefly bedroom furniture—dressing-tables, shallow chests
of drawers with folding tops (called bachelor's chests, Plate 33)
3
Impact of introducing
mahogany as a
furniture wood.
and tallboys. The reason for this gradual decline in the production of veneered walnut furniture was the use of mahogany.
At first this new wood did not very seriously affect the production
of veneered walnut furniture because the supply of figured
mahogany was too small and consequently too expensive for
anything but the costly furniture for the nobility. Mahogany,
therefore, when it first came into use as a furniture wood in
England (circa 1720), being a dark, heavy wood with no fine
figure or marking, was used chiefly by the joiners in the solid
for tables—for they found the large width of the mahogany
plank was especially valuable for making table tops in one piece.
The cabinet-makers also made small articles of furniture such
as pedestal dressing-tables, narrow bureau-bookcases with
looking-glass door and bachelor's chests which, in the dark
unfigured wood, did not have too sombre an appearance.
About 1750 the importation from Jamaica of figured mahogany
increased and the prices dropped with the result that the cabinetmakers began to make veneered mahogany furniture and with
this competition walnut furniture soon went out of fashion and
after 1760 it ceased to be made even in the provinces.
This is the story, told all too briefly, of how veneered walnut
furniture came to be made and used by our ancestors of the
17th and 18th centuries.
PREFACE
Cette monographie traite d'un type particulier de meubles anglais qui
apparut sous le regne de Charles II. De construction specialeplaque—il se faisait surtout en noyer.
J'ai explique comment cet ameublement devint a la mode et pourquoi
it perdit sa faveur ; et aussi comment it devint une expression de Part
anglais bien que d'inspiration continentale.
Les illustrations ont ete choisies, non pas pour montrer des specimens
rares et exotiques, plaisant aux collectionneurs, mais des pieces de
modeles et d'execution anglais. Les exemples ne sont pas tous de la
meilleure qualite car beaucoup de meubles de noyer etaient de second
ordre, destines plutot aux demeures bourgeoises qu'aux palais des
aristocrates.
Dans une Angleterre moderne ou le meuble doit etre produit en
grande quantite pour satisfaire la demande d'une population de 45
14
millions, ces meubles de noyer plaqiie, vestiges d'une Angleterre de
5 millions d'habitants, sont dignes de noire interet. Non pas, cependant,
pour que nous reproduisions les modeles et la vieille fawn d'execution,
mais pour que nous comprenions les principes employes par nos ancetres
dans la fabrication des meubles.
Ces principes exigent que le meuble soit concu d'accord avec le genre
contemporain d'existence et soit economique au point vue de fabrication
et choix des materiaux. Suivant ces regles, les meubles d'aujourd'hui
devraient etre faits par des procedes mecaniques qui seuls sont economiques dans le monde actuel. Et maintenant que la sculpture et
('incrustation a la main ne sont plus possibles, quel materiel preferable
au placage pourrions nous trouver ? Le bois ronceux est aussi beau et
decoratif maintenant qu'il l'etait quand nos ancetres decouvrirent ses
qualites decoratives.
La raison pour laquelle j'ai omis de mentionner les chaises est que
leur fabrication etait un art different de rebenisterie. Et bien que les
chaises de noyer aient des cadres tournes, des dossiers en forme de vase
et des barreaux en plaque, elks comptent plus pour leur decoration
sur la forme et la sculpture de leurs cadres que sur la texture et les
marques du noyer.
Chelsea,
July, 1946.
R.W.S.
E retour de Charles II en Angleterre au printemps de 1660 marque
le commencement d'une époque " plus courtoise " suivant
l'expression de John Evelyn. Habitation et mobilier subirent en
consequence des changements radicaux dans leur dessins.
Les masons de Londres, pleines de coins et de recoins avec des pieces
communicantes, passerent de leur plan moyen-Ageux et irregulier, a un
plan " standard " avec corridor d'entree et escalier en zig-zag, et deux
ou trois pieces et un cabinet a chaque etage. Le mobilier au lieu
d'être fait, comme auparavant, d'un assemblage de panneaux en chene
ou en noyer massifs, consista d'une carcasse unie de bois blanc stir
laquelle etaient collees des plaques minces de bois ronceux.
Le grand incendie de Londres en 1666 donna une grande impulsion
au nouveau mode de construction, le besoin de maisons etant urgent
puisque 13,000 d'entre elles avaient ete detruites. Les avenues, les
rues et les places nouvelles furent bordees de maisons de briques, les
charpentes de bois etant interdites et la pierre ou la brique seulement
permises. Pour des raisons d'economie et de rapidite de construction
les nouvelles maisons furent d'un plan uniforme variant de 2 &ages et
une mansarde a 4 &ages et une mansarde suivant qu'elles appartenaient
A la (ere, 2eme ou 3eme " classe."
Les fenetres verticales de chaque etage furent de taille uniforme et en
alignement tout au long de la rue. Les nobles et les riches furent
pourvus " d'hotels particuliers . . . de noble grandeur n'ayant point
facade sur les faubourgs . . . ".
Dans leur conception la nouvelle maison de briques el le nouveau
mobilier de plaque repondirent tous deux aux besoins de la vie con15
temporaine. C'est pourquoi les articles massifs de l'age precedent—
la longue table avec ses escabeaux assembles, les armoires et les bahuts
et les lits a panneaux et a colonnes, n'allerent plus avec la coquette
peinture des salles lambrissees, des salles a manger et des chambres
coucher des nouvelles habitations qui exigerent un mobilier compact et
leger au lieu d'un mobilier lourd et encombrant. Le mobilier plaque
et la nouvelle maison de briques n'etaient pas anglaises d'invention
mais tous deux d'origine continentale. Le placage etait une technique
speciale qu'un menuisier meme habile dut trouver difficile a s'habituer
et les artisans qui se specialiserent dans le placage devinrent connus
sous le nom d'ebenistes. Il est probable que parmi les premiers
ebenistes anglais se trouvait un certain nombre d'ouvriers strangers
itablis en Angleterre, et dont le talent aida a guider l'artisan indigene
dans la nouvelle methode de fabrication'. Dans les &zits ou les
memoires de l'epoque, il est rare de trouver mention d'un ebeniste
avant le regne de Charles II, tandis que peu apres 1660, cela arrive
frequemment, montrant que le mobilier de plaque se faisait, du moins
a Londres, des le commencement du regne de Charles.
Evelyn fait mention d'ebenistes dans la lore edition (1664) de son
livre SYLVA et Samuel Pepys note que le 25 Mars, 1667, il trouva son
ami Mr. Povey " au travail avec un ebeniste, faisant une table incrustee."
La nouvelle maison, avec son mobilier aux surfaces unies, decorees
par la texture et le grain naturels du bois, rendit la vie du Londonien
plus plaisante et plus confortable. Sa demeure allait de pair avec
nouvelles habitudes d'existence, et n'etait plus une maison mal concue
et mal eclairee, meublee de coffres, d'armoires et de bahuts encombrants
en dehors de toute proportion avec leur capacite. Cet article immemorial,
le bahut, commenca alors pour le premiere fois a diminuer de
popularite ; on reconnut qu'il n'etait pas le plus commode des
receptacles pour ranger les articles de la maison, puisque pour atteindre
les objets du fond il fallait enlever d'abord tous ceux du dessus. La
nouvelle " commode " tourna la difficulte, les articles pouvant reposer
en couches minces, dans des tiroirs separes, pas assez profonds pour
que les articles du dessus enterrent ceux du dessous.
De 1660 a 1700 les ebenistes augmenterent continuellement le nombre
de leurs articles de mobilier. L'un des premiers articles et des plus
populaires fut la commode. Un autre fut un ameublement consistant
d'une table, d'un miroir, et d'une paire de gueridons, tres en faveur
parmi l'aristocratie et la petite noblesse qui s'en servaient comme d'une
coiffeuse. Les 2 gueridons, avec, sur chacun, un chandelier, flanquaient
la table de facon que la lumiere soit egale de chaque cote, le miroir
etant suspendu au mur. Des cabinets avec une paire de portes
charnieres (Planche 4), montrant au interieur garni de petits tiroirs;
des bibliotheques a portes vitrees comme les fenetres de l'epoque
(Planche 41) ; des tables de jeu (Planche 37), et des petites tables
a ecrire, toutes deux pliantes, furent d'autres innovations de cette
fin du 17e.me siecle.
• Evidence de la presence d'ebenistes etrangers travaillant a Londres du temps de
Charles II a celui de William III peut se trouver dans es noms non-Anglais de
membres de cet art que l'on rencontre dans les comptes de la Garde-Robe Royale
de cette epoque—William Farnebough, Gerreit Jansen, John Guillebande, Peter Pavie,
Cornelius Gole.
16
En dehors de ces petites tables A ecrire pliantes (Planche 17), les
ebenistes firent en grande nombre des ecritoires ou secretaires, comme
on les appelait alors. Ces secretaires etaient d'une structure en forme
ce boite qui contenait de nombreux tiroirs et compartiments pour
classer la correspondance et les factures, et aussi un nomore de
compartiments secrets pour les choses precieuses. Le devant tombait
pour former la table A ecrire et etait tenu par des chaines ou des coulisses
au niveau de la table (Planches 7, 20, 21). La grande augmentation
de correspondance durant la Restauration etait due a ('institution d'un
service postal National, et les ebenistes en bons conunercants, profiterent de
cette nouvelle habitude des classes superieures pour fabriquer des bureaux.
Une particularite de ces premiers meubles de plaque est leur montage
sur piedestal avec des pieds relies par des barres plates en plaque. Cela
s'appliquait aux armoires (Planche 8), aux commodes (Planche 1),
aux ecritoires (Planche 6), aux cabinets (Planche 4), et aux bureaux
(Planche 32). Pour la decoration des pieds de gueridons et de tables,
les ebenistes firent appel aux tourneurs, qui d'abord, firent des pieds
en torsade spirale puis, plus tard, en balustre (Planche 32). Une
alternative du pied tourne, mais moins populaire, fut la volute des
ebenistes, de section rectangulaire et plaquee sur ses quatres faces
(Planches 14, 15).
Les ebenistes de l'ecole de la fin du 17eme siecle ne se contenterent
pas du noyer plaque, mais alternerent avec de nombreux autres bois,
employes parfois seuls, ou quelquefois en conjonction avec des incrustations ou de la marqueterie. Par exemple, les ebenistes de l'epoque de
Charles, suivant la mode hollandaise, aimerent rapine, mais ne l'employerent qu'au placage de cabinets, de cadres de miroirs ou de gaines
de pendules. L'olivier fut encore un autre bois favori ; de fait, sous
le regne de Charles II, on l'usa autant pour le placage des meubles que
le noyer, mais en petits morceaux coupes pour s'ajuster en ouvrage de
parqueterie. Chaque morceau etait coupe transversalement dans la
branche d'arbre dormant au placage une apparence circulaire ressemblant
A une huitre—d'ou le nom placage en ecaille d'huitre. L'olivier, bois
sombre a reflets verts, etait souvent rehausse par des incrustations de
lignes de buis, formant des dessins geometriques (Planche 3). La
parqueterie d'olivier fut employee en conjonction avec la marqueterie,
l'olivier etant employe pour les encadrements de panneaux (Planche 11).
En raison de leur texture et de leur grain, d'autres bois de placage oat
ete employes par l'ebeniste, et parmi eux le murier, le frene, l'orme,
l'erable, le cytise et l'amarante. La vogue des mobiliers somptueux
qui commenca avec la riche societe de la Restauration, continua jusqu'au
tournant du siecle quand un style plus sobre commenca a se developper.
Ce fut pendant la periode de grand richesse que les meubles furent
&cores de parqueterie et d'incrustations, ou de parqueterie et de marqueterie, ou de marqueterie toute seule.
Torsades spirales et balustre, tournes, ajouterent leur contribution
de decoration a la forme structurale des pieds de supports et de tables *.
II y eut des styles de marqueterie que l'on appelle aujourd'hui de
noms descriptifs comme : floral, arabesque, varech, endive et Perse.
• Comme accompagnement aux pieces d'ebenisterie, les chaises et canapes etaient
enrichis de bois tournes et sculptes, accompagnes de tapisseries de sole et de velours
aux riches couleurs.
17
Jugeant d'apres les meubles existants, les articles de marqueterie les
plus usuels etaient les commodes, les cabinets et les gaines d'horloge ` ;
de fait revolution entiere de Ia marqueterie anglaise peut etre tracee
dans ces dernieres. II y avait de grandes variations dans la qualite
des meubles avec marqueterie : depuis Ia qualite mediocre de ceux
qui etaient destines a la classe aisee jusqu'a Ia qualite superbe qui
etait Ia marque du mobilier des palais de l'aristocratie. Il est tentant
de suggerer que la plus belle marqueterie sortait des mains des
habiles artisans Huguenots, qui vinrent en Angleterre a la Revocation
de l'Edit de Nantes en 1685 d'autant que le travail de la plus belle
qualite se montre apres cette date.
Une particularite qui ajouta considerablement a l'effet decoratif du
plaque est l'emploi des moulures a contre-fil. Ces moulures se faisaient
en collant sur un fond de bois blanc, des bandes minces du meme bois
que le plaque, en mettant le fil en travers de la largeur et non dans le
sens de Ia moulure. On donnait a la surface la section voulue a l'aide
d'un rabot a moulures, dont le fer etait de forme inverse a celle de la
section desiree.
Le plaque des dessus de table, des portes de cabinet, ou des devants
de tiroir etait arrange de telle facon que les differentes plaques forment
un patron symetrique du dessin naturel du bois. CelA etait facile
puisque les pieces de plaque coupees en couches successives dans le meme
bloc offraient le meme dessin ; et naturellement ces pieces juxtaposees
formaient une decoration symetrique. En plaquant un dessus de table,
on formait une decoration symetrique en employant quatre pieces de
plaque semblablement marquees, chacune couvrant un quart de la table.
Dans les meubles de noyer plaque, l'habitude generale des ebenistes
etait de traiter toutes les surfaces ; portes, devants de tiroirs, dessus de
meubles comme des panneaux encadres f. Le cadre etait generalement
de plaque a contre-fil avec une petite bordure interieure connue sous
le nom d'incrustation " en plumes ou en aretes de harengs ", faite de
deux lanieres de plaque a contre-fil avec le grain en oblique (Planche 18).
Cependant sur les devants de tiroirs, le plus souvent, le cadre consistait
seulement de Ia bordure en are'tes (Planche 19). La valeur decorative
du noyer est tres rehaussee par runiformite et la symetric des placages
finement marques et aussi par la part importante des moulures decorees
et mises en valeur par l'emploi du bois a contre-fil.
Les commodes, les cabinets " tables, miroirs et gueridons ", les
secretaires de recole d'ebenisterie anglaise de la fin du 17eme siècle,
quoique souvent d'inspiration et d'execution continentales, et dans
certains cas faits par des artisans strangers vivant ici, gardent cependant
un caractere indubitablement Anglais. Cela etait du a ce qu'il y a une
maniere anglaise de faire les choses. Un ebeniste Huguenot, venu en
Angleterre, ne continuait pas a faire les meubles comme dans son pays.
Chaque atelier anglais etait impregne de traditions anglaises et un
artisan etranger subissait son influence des qu'il travaillait en Angleterre.
Les gaines d'horloges quoique procedant de la meme technique que celle des
ebenistes etaient l'Ruvre d'artisans specialises.
t Seuls les meubles de noyer de la meilleure qualite avaient des panneaux sur les cotes.
On se souciait d'autant moires des cotes que le meuble etait moires cher ; en fait, dans la
plus basse qualite des meubles de noyer le devant seul de l'article etait plaque, les cotes
etant faits du bois de la carcasse, verni et poli pour imiter le foyer. Dans ce cas, les
moulures des cotes etaient taillees dans le bloc, et c'etait seulement celles qui decoraient
le devant qui etaient faites de bois a contre-fil.
18
En Angleterre, les methodes traditionnelles d'artisanat, l'usage de
bois speciaux, indigenes ou importes, les panicularites de modeles de
meubles anglais, reflechissant Ia maniere de vivre, faisaient bient&
changer la technique de l'ouvrier &ranger et mettre ses idees a l'unisson
de ('expression anglaise. S'il n'en avait pas ete ainsi, la tradition
anglaise dans le travail du bois se serait alter& et aurait bientot perdu
son caractere national, grace a l'admission d'etrangers, (menuisiers,
ebenistes, sculpteurs et marqueteurs) dans l'industrie du bois. Mais
la tradition anglaise etait assez forte pour assimiler toutes ces influences
etrangeres ; elle nourrit les bonnes et rejeta les mauvaises et de cette
facon forma un art, qui au 18eme siecle, en raison du travail solide et
consciencieux de ('artisan anglais, produit un mobilier d'une elegance
et d'une qualite que nul autre pays de l'Europe occidentale ne put
surpasser.
On a deja suggere que la plus belle qualite de marqueterie anglaise
etait due d'abord a l'exemple montre aux artisans indigenes par les
refugies Huguenots. Mais d'autre part, la haute qualite du travail
anglais dans la construction des tiroirs, des carcasses et des parties
cachees des meubles empecha l'industrie d'etre ravalee au niveau de
certaines productions francaises ou flamandes, l'ouvrier &ranger pouvant
donner le mauvais exemple a l'ouvrier anglais.
Pendant les dernieres annees du 17eme siecle, un changement se montra
dans les meubles de plaque—le noyer remplaca en faveur l'olivier et les
autres bois ; l'incrustation avait déjà disparu et la marqueterie florale
en voie de disparition, sa place etant prise par ce que nous appelons
maintenant " varech ", un type inferieur de marqueterie en deux bois,
clair et sombre, I'un comme motif de decoration l'autre comme fond.
Ce fut la phase derniere et decadente de la marqueterie anglaise du
17eme. Elle dura tout au long du regne de Queen Anne et disparut
dans les premieres annees du regne suivant.
Les cabinets des regnes d'Anne et de George I etaient principalement
de noyer plaque ; la meilleure qualite employait le bois le plus madre.
(Comparer la table (Planche 43)) avec Ia commode (Planche 34). Les
meubles ne se montaient plus sur piedestal ; la commode elle-meme
perdit bientot ses pieds de biche (Planche 23) et devint la commode de
hauteur double avec des tiroirs presque jusqu'au sol, avec petits pieds.
(Planche 40). La raison pour la disparition du piedestal fut qu'il n'etait
pas capable de supporter un grand poids de la partie superieure et
apres beaucoup de cassures, les ebenistes deciderent de sacrifier relegance
A rutilite.
Alors que la fin du 17eme etait la periode du secretaire avec devant
tombant, le 18eme fut celle du bureau-bibliotheque comme on I'appelle
encore maintenant. D'apres le grand nombre d'exemples existant
encore, le secretaire (Planche 48), et le bureau-bibliotheque (Planche 24),
furent les pieces les plus populaires de noyer, pendant Ia premiere partie
du 18eme siecle. La partie superieure peu profonde, souvent surmontee
d'un fronton dans le meilleurs exemples (Planche 26), fit du bureaubibliotheque, une piece bien plus plaisante que le secretaire, un peu
trop comme une boite.
Le bureau offrait aussi un avantage : seule la partie anterieure de la
table se pliait, en sorte qu'on pouvait laisser tous les papiers sur la partieposterieure quand on fermait le battant . II etait usuel de vitrer les
19
portes du bureau-bibliotheque avec des miroirs et cela ajoutait a l'aspect
decoratif. Les bureaux et bureaux-bibliotheques etaient fabriques en
2 largeurs, une d'environ 3 pieds et I'autre de 2 pieds. La raison
pour la petite largeur etait qu'ils etaient congus pour etre places contre
le trumeau entre les fenetres d'une chambre et cet espace, dans une
maison moyenne de vile, pendant les 30 premieres annees du 18eme
siècle depassait rarement 3 pieds. Ces deux articles de mobilier etaient
faits en plusieurs qualites ; la meilleure avec la ronce de noyer la plus
fine, la deuxieme avec du noyer madre ordinaire, et la moans there,
travail de menuisier, en then.
Une autre piece tres populaire de mobilier en noyer pendant la periode
des Georges fut la petite coiffeuse sur piedestal (Planche 43) ; si l'on juge
d'apres le grand nombre de celles qui ont survecu, it y eut certainement
peu de maisons des classes superieures et moyennes qui n'aient posse&
2 ou 3 de ces tables de toilette dans leurs chambres a toucher, avec un
miroir pose dessus. La largeur moyenne etait de 21 pieds. La
raison pour cette taille &ant, comme dans le cas du bureau-bibliotheque, que la meilleure position pour la coiffeuse etait contre le trumeau
entre les 2 fenetres, obtenant de la clan& des 2 cotes. A cote de cette
table a piedestal, it y avait une differente table de toilette (?), montee sur
pieds, avec 3 tiroirs dans son cadre, et aussi de la taille moyenne de 21
pieds. Les pieds etaient en " pied de biche " de differents modeles
(Planches 42, 45) tandis que dans certaines tables de la premiere periode
de Queen Anne, elles avaient des pieds tournes avec traverse
(Planche 44). Ce type de table a survecu en grand nombre indiquant
aussi que l'on en faisait grand usage au 18eme siècle.
La plus grande partie des meubles de noyer plaque faits a partir de
1740 n'etait que de qualite moyenne et faite en province.
De plus, a l'exception du bureau et de la table de jeu, c'etait surtout
du mobilier de chambre a coucher ; coiffeuses, commodes peu profondes
avec dessus pliant (appelees commodes de garcons Planche 33) et
commodes a hauteur double. La raison pour le declin graduel de la
production de noyer plaque fut l'emploi de l'acajou. Tout d'abord,
ce nouveau bois n'affecta pas serieusement la production de noyer
plaque parce que la fourniture d'acajou madre etait trop petite et en
consequence trop there sauf pour les mobiliers couteux de la noblesse.
L'acajou donc, quand it apparut comme bois de meuble en Angleterre
(aux environs de 1720), n'etant ni ronceux ni marque, fut employe
surtout a l'etat massif pour des tables—la grande largeur de la planche
d'acajou &ant particulierement precieuse pour des tables d'une piece.
Les ebenistes firent aussi des pieces de petite taille comme des tables
a piedestal, des bureaux-bibliotheques etroits avec portes a miroirs et
des commodes de garcons, qui dans le bois uni, n'avaient pas une
apparence trop sombre.
Apres 1750, l'unportation de l'acajou madre de la Jamaique augmenta,
et les prix tombant, les ebenistes commencerent a faire de l'acajou
plaque et avec cette concurrence le noyer plaque devint rapidement
&mode et apres 1760 cessa d'etre fait meme en province.
Void raconte, quelque peu brievement, comment les meubles de
noyer plaque vinrent a etre faits et uses par nos ancetres du 176me et du
18eme siecles.
20
PREFACIO
Esta monografia trata de una clase especial de muebles que comenze
a hacerse por primera vez en el reinado de Carlos 2°. Eran estos de
construction especial, enchapados, y en su mayoria, de madera de nogal.
Ya he explicado como se pusieron tales muebles de moda y por que
se pasaron de moda ; como llegaron a formar parte del lenguaje ingles
aunque estaban inspirados en disenos continentales.
Los dibujos han sido escogidos, no para ensefiar raros y exoticos
ejemplares que interesen a los coleccionistas, sino muebles que representen la habilidad y el diseno ingleses. No todos los muebles ilustrados
son de fina calidad, pues muchos de los que se hacian en nogal, eran de
segundo grado, siendo la razon de ello que la mayor parte se necesitaba
para las casas del vulgo, mas que para los palacios de los nobles.
En una Inglaterra modema donde hay que hacer muebles en grandes
cantidades para satisfacer las necesidades de una poblacion de cuarenta
y cinco millones, estos muebles enchapados de nogal—reliquias de una
Inglaterra de cuatro a cinco millones—requieren nuestro interes. No
es, sin embargo, para nosotros el reproducir dibujos y trabajos de
antiguos artifices, sino llegar a comprender los principios usados por
nuestros antepasados haciendo muebles.
Tales principios requieren que se hagan nuebles de acuerdo con las
necesidades de una vida contemporanea y que resulten economicos,
tanto en mano de obra como en material. Los muebles que con tales
miras se hagan hoy dia, tendran que ser producidos amaquina, que en
este mundo moderno, es lo Onico que resulta economico. Y cuando el
tallado y la incrustation a mano son imposibles, que material resulta
mejor para los muebles, que el chapeado ?—siendo las aguas naturales
de la madera tan decorativas y hermosas hoy, como lo eran cuando
nuestros antepasados descubrieron en ellas un medio de riqueza.
La razor' de haber yo omitido cualquier referencia a sillas, se debe a
que el arte de hacer sillas pertenecia a un oficio diferente de la ebanisteria,
y aunque las sillas de nogal tengan los respaldos curvos con los travesanos
enchapados, su decorado consiste mas en el arqueado y entallado de sus
armazones que en las aguas o marcas de la madera de nogal.
R.W.S.
Chelsea,
Julio, 1946.
L
Avuelta de Carlos 2' a Inglaterra en la primavera de 1660, vio
el comienzo de " una manera de vivir mas culta ", como John
Evelyn describe la nueva edad, y de acuerdo, las casas y el mobiliario
sufrieron un cambio revolucionario.
Las casas de Londres cambiaron, de un plan medioeval desordenado,
con habitaciones que daban de una a otra, por todas panes, a un plan
fijo, con vestibulo, pasillo y escalera, con dos o tres habitaciones y una
alacena en cada piso. El mobiliario, en vez de ser como antes de construccion sada, ensamblada, de roble o nogal, se hacia de un armazon
de pino sobre el cual se pegaban hoj as finas de madera recortada, haciendo
figura, es decir, se ponia un enchapado.
21
La nueva forma de edificar recibio un gran impulso con el Incendio de
Londres en 1666, que trajo consigo la urgente necesidad de casas, por
haberse destruido 13,000 de ellas. Todas las nuevas calles callejas y
pasadizos estaban rodeados de casas de ladrillo, pues las construcciones
con armazones de madera fueron prohibidas, y solo se permitian las
de ladrillo o de piedra.
Por razones de economia y para mayor rapidez de construction, las
nuevas casas eran todas de un diseno fijo y variaban entre dos pisos y
una buhardilla hasta cuatro pisos y una buhardilla, segim fuesen de la
primera, segunda o tercera " clase ". Las ventanas verticales de cada
piso eran uniformes, en tamano y alineaciOn, por toda la calle. A la
nobleza y la clase opulenta, se les habian reservado " Grandes Mansiones
. . majestuosas, que no daban a ninguna de las calles o callejas
. ".
En su diseno, tanto las nuevas casas de ladrillo como los muebles
enchapados, llenaban las necesidades de una vida contemporanea y asi,
los pesados muebles de la edad anterior, la mesa larga con bancos
ensamblados, los grandes armarios roperos y las camas de postes, no
estaban en consonancia con salas, comedores y dormitorios, delicadamente pintados y con artesonados, que pedian un mobiliario compacto
y lijero en vez del grande y pesado.
Los muebles enchapados y las casas de ladrillo no eran invention
inglesa ; ambos eran de origen continental. La tecnica de enchapar
era especial, y dificil tuvo que ser para los ensambladores de entonces
acostumbrarse a ella, pero el trabajo del enchapado no era coca de
emsambladores ; los artifices que especializaban en el vinieron a ser
conocidos con el nombre de ebanistas. Es probable que entre los
primeros ebanistas ingleses, hubo un numero de extranjeros que habian
fijado su residencia en Inglaterra y que tal elemento extranjero ayucl6 con
su talento a entrenar a los naturales del pais en este nuevo arse de hacer
muebles
En los escritos o cuentas, anteriores a Carlos 2°,
raramente se menciona un ebanista, mientras que poco despues de
1660, el nombre ocurre frecuentemente, lo cual demuestra que ya se
hacian los nuevos muebles enchapados, en Londres por lo menos, al
principio mismo del reinado de Carlos.
Evelyn, en la primera edici6n (1664) de su libro SYLVA, menciona
los ebanistas, y Samuel Pepys, cuenta que en 25 de Marzo 1667, se
encontro a su amigo Mr. Povey " trabajando con un ebanista y haciendo
una nueva mesa incrustada ".
La nueva casa, con sus muebles de superficie plana, con los dibujos
naturales de las aguas y vetas de la madera, hizo la vida del londinense
mucho mas agradable y c6moda. Su hogar estaba en consonancia con
la manera moderna de vivir y dejaba de ser aquella casa de poca luz,
mal repartida, de mucho gasto, amueblada con enormes roperos, alacenas
y arcones que ocupaban espacio, fuera de toda proportion con la
capacidad de la casa. Aquel antiquisimo mueble, el arca, ahora, por
primera vez, comenz6 a decaer en su popularidad ; la gente comenzo a
ver que no era el receptaculo mas conveniente para guardar las cosas
de casa, pues para sacar las que estaban al fondo habia que sacar todas
La evidencia de los ebanistas extranjeros que trabajaron en Londres, desde
Carlos 2° a Guillermo 3°, se encuentra en los nombres (que nada tienen de ingles) de
los que fueron miembros del oficio, pues figuran en las cuentas del Ropero Real de
dicho periodo, v.g. Guillermo Farnebrough, Gerreit Jensen, Juan Gillebande
Pedro Pavie, Cornelia Gole.
22
las que estaban arriba. Las nuevas cOmodas, hicieron desaparecer estos
inconvenientes, puesto que ahora se ponian las cosas en diferentes
cajones, menos hondos, y en Ios cuales, las cosas de encima no enterraban
completamente a las de abajo.
Desde el 1660 al 1700, los ebanistas estuvieron continuamente aumentando el niunero de piezas del mobiliario. Uno de los primeros y mas
populares muebles que hicieron, fue la comoda. Otro fue un juego que
consistia en una mesa, un espejo y un par de veladores, muy popular
entre la nobleza y la clase acomodada, que lo usaban como tocador. Los
dos veladores, tenian encima un candelero cada uno, y se ponian a los dos
costados de la mesa para que la luz de las velas fuese igual por ambos
lados y con el espejo colgado en la pared. Otras innovaciones de esta
edad de fines del siglo 17, fueron los armarios de dos puertas plegadizas,
(Lamina 4), que dejaban ver un interior con cajoncitos ; librerias con
puertas de cristales, como eran las ventanas de la epoca (Lamina 41)
mesas de jugar a los naipes (Lamina 37) y pequeflos bur6s, con tapas
plegables.
Aparte del pequeiio burg, de tapa plegable (Lamina 17) los ebanistas
hacian en gran niimero, mesitas escritorio o " writing cabinets " como
entonces los llamaban. Los tales escritorios eran en estructura de forma
de caja, que contenia un buen niunero de cajoncitos y divisiones para
guardar las cartas y las cuentas, y ademas tenian otros departamentos
secretos, " las secretas ", donde se guardaban los valores. Los frentes,
que al abrirse formaban el espacio para escribir, estaban sostenidos por
cadenas o tirantes, a la altura de mesa (Laminas 7, 20, 21). Durante
la epoca de la Restauracion, aument6 considerablemente la costumbre
de escribir cartas, debido a la instuciOn del servicio postal nacional ;
entonces los ebanistas, previendo un buen negocio, sacaron ventaja de
esta nueva costumbre de las clases pudientes y omenzaron a hacer
escritorios.
Uno de los caracteres del diseiio de los primitivos muebles enchapados
fue su montaje en soportes con patas conectadas por tirantes pianos,
enchapados. Esto se refiere a las arcas (Lamina 8), comodas (Lamina 1),
escritorios (Lamina 6) estantes (Lamina 4) y bur& (Lamina 32). Para
el adorno de las patas de tarimas y mesas, los ebanistas Ilamaron en su
ayuda a los torneros, que al principio tornearon patas con vuelta espiral,
pero despues cambia el dibujo al torneado de baluastre (Lamina 32).
Una alternativa de la pata de tornero, peor no tan popular, fue la pata
espiral del ebanista, de section rectangular y enchapada por los cuatro
costados (Laminas 14, 15).
Los ebanistas de la escuela de fines de siglo XVII, no se contentaron
con usar el enchapado de nogal, sino que probaron con otras numerosas
maderas, usadas unas veces solas y otras alternando con incrustaciones
o con marqueteria. A los ebanistas caroleanos, por ejemplo, siguiendo
la moda holandesa, les gustaba el ebano, pero limitaron su use al
enchapado de estantes, marcos de espejos y cajas de reloj.
Otra madera favorita era la de olivo, tanto es asi, que durante el
reinado de Carlos 2°, se enchapaban segan parece, tantos muebles con
ella como con nogal. El enchapado con olivo no se hacia como con el
nogal, en hojas grandes de madera, sin() en pedazos pequeiios que se
cortaban y fijaban en forma de mosaic°. Al cortar la madera del arbol,
lo hacian transversalmente y los enchapados resultaban con figuras
circulares, parecidas a la ostra, y de ahi el nombre " enchapado de
23
ostra ". Como el olivo es una madera oscura que a menudo tiene un
color violiceo, se suavizaba el efecto con incrustaciones de boj, en lineas
de dibujo geornetrico (Lamina 3). Tambien se usaba mucho el olivo,
elternando con marqueteria y entonces se hacian con el los bordes de
los patios (Lamina 11).
Entre otras maderas finas que el ebanista usaba para hacer enchapados,
figuraban el moral, fresno, olmo, tejo, arce, laburno, etc., debido a sus
bonitas aquas. La gran aficion por los muebles suntuosos que origino
con la rica sociedad de la Restauracion, continua hasta el cambio de
siglo, en que comenzo a desarroll arse un estilo mas sobrio. Durante el
periodo de extraordinaria riqueza fue cuando se adornaban los muebles
con trabajos de mosaic() e incrustaciones, o con mosaic() y marqueteriao
con marqueteria solo. El torneado espiral y de balaustre anadio su
parte al embellecimiento de la forma estructural de las patas de tarimas
y de merrs *.
En marqueteria hubo varios estilos, que hoy conocemos con los
nombres de floral, arabesco, algas o escarola y persa. Los muebles
mas usuales en que se usaba la marqueteria, a juzgar por los que se
conservan agn, fueron las comodas, estantes y cajas de reloj t ;
en efecto, la evolution total de marqueteria inglesa se puede trazar
hasta llegar a estas altirnas. En la calidad de los muebles de marqueteria
existia mucha variedad, comenzando con los que se hacian para las
casas de la gente ordinaria pero acomodada, que era mediocre, hasta
llegar a la magnifica que identifica los muebles de marqueteria de las
casas de los nobles. Grande es la inclination que uno siente de sugerir
que los mejores trabajos de marqueteria fueron los que se debieron a
los artifices hugonotes, que vinieron a Inglaterra cuando se revoco el
Edicto de Nantes, en 1685, si se tiene en cuenta que mucho del trabajo
de mejor calidad, data de esa fecha.
Un rasgo que afiade considerablemente al efecto decorativo de los
rnnphlpe pnrhanarine PC la rrinleillra a rnntraveta Fctac rnnIfillrac se
hacen encolando sobre un fondo de pino, tiras de la misma madera con
que se hace el enchapado, pero con la veta de la madera, de arriba abajo,
en vez de a lo largo de la moldura. Luego, con un cepillo de hacer
molduras, cuya cuchilla estaba hecha a la inversa de la section que
se deseaba, se hacia dicha section.
El enchapado de la parte superior de una mesa, suelo de estante o
el frente de un cajun, se disponia de manera que las varias piezas formasen
un dibujo simetrico de las vetas de la madera. Esto era facil de hacer,
porque cortando las piezas del enchapado en capas sucesivas del mismo
tronco, se mantenia la continuation de la veta y por lo tanto al hacer
la union de todas ellos resultaba un dibujo simetrico. Para hacer
enchapado de una mesa, se ponian cuatro piezas marcadas con la misma
veta, de modo que cada una cubriese la cuarta parte del tablero y asi
resultaba un dibujo de forma simetrica.
En los muebles enchapados de nogal, los ebanistas tenian por costumbre
tratar todas las superficies,—puertas, frentes de cajun, tableros—como
• En consonancia con las estanterias, se enriquedan las sillas y sofas con tomeados
y tallados primorosos, combinados con tap iceria en seda o terciopelo de suntuosos colores
f Las cajas de reloj, aunque eran de la misma tecnica que usaban los ebanistas,
pertenecian a otro artifice especialista, el fabricante de cajas de reloj.
24
patios formados por un borde *. Por lo general el borde era de un
enchapado a contraveta y llevaba un bordecito estrecho, al interior que
thamaban incrustation de espiga o de pluma y que se hacia con dos tiras
de chapa cortadas con la veta al sesgo (Lamina 18). En frentes de cajun,
el borde era, sin embargo, por lo general de la forma de espiga, solamente
(Lamina 19). El valor decorativo de los muebles de roble, adquiere
mayor realce con este enchapado uniforme y simetrico, en veta fina, y
con la parte importante que tienen las molduras, que estas tiras al sesgo,
realzan y enriquecen.
Las camodas enchapadas, mesas, marcos de espejos, estantes, burns
y escritorios de la escuela de ebanistas ingleses, de fines del siglo XVII,
aunque a menudo son muy continentales, en dibujo y decorado, y a pesar
de que en muchos casos fueron probablemente hechos por los trabajadores extranjeros que vivian aqui, tienen, sin embargo, un catheter
inequivoco ingles. Esto se debe al hecho de que habia un modo de
hacer las cosas que era ingles. Un ebanista hugonote no vino a Inglaterra a continuar haciendo muebles como los hacia en su propio pais.
Todos los talleres en Inglaterra estaban imbuidos en una tradition
inglesa y todo trabajador extranjero que entraba en ellos quedaba sujeto
pronto a su influencia. Los metodos tradicionales del arte ingles,
el use de maderas especiales, tanto indigenas como importadas, las
peculiaridades de diseno ingles en los muebles, porque ese diserio
refleiaba la manera de vivir del ingles, todo ello, haria pronto que el
trabajador extranjero cambiase de tecnica y que sus ideas se amoldasen
con el idioma ingles. Si tal no hubiese sido el caso, pronto habria
cambiado la tradition inglesa de trabajar la madera, y perdido su catheter
nacional, a causa de la acimision de ensambladores, ebanistas, entalladores
e incrustadores extranjeros a las artes y oficios ingleses.
La tradition inglesa era, sin embargo, bastante fuerte para asimilar
todas las influencias de estos extranjeros ; alento lo que era bueno y
desecho todo lo malo y de esa manera contribuyo a crear un oficio, que,
el siglo XVIII, por razon del concienzudo y buen trabajo de los artifices
ingleses, produjo muebles que, ni en calidad, ni en elegancia, tenian
rival en ningim pais de la Europa Occidental.
Ya se ha sugerido que la calidad de la mejor marqueteria inglesa, se
debi6 en primer lugar, al ejemplo que los refugiados hugonotes dieron
a los trabajadores del pais ; pero, por otro lado, el alto nivel alcanzado
en la construction inglesa de cajoneria y el excelente trabajo hecho por
los ebanistas ingleses, en armazones y partes de los muebles que no se
yen, no descendieron a los metodos de algunos de los constructores de
muebles, franceses y holandeses, por haber dado ellos mal ejemplo
a los ingleses.
Durante los Altimos alios del siglo XVII, hubo un cambio en el
enchapado de muebles, la madera de nogal se hizo mas popular a expensas
de la de olivo y de las otras maderas ; el incrustado habia decaido ya, y
la marqueteria floral estaba yendo a menos, ocupando su lugar lo que
hoy se llama " algas ", una clase de marqueteria mas mecanica y barata,
♦Selo los mejores muebles de nogal tenian los costados con patios, Cuanto mas baja
la calidad menos atenci6n se daba a los costados, tanto es asi que en los meubles de nogal
mas baratos, solo el frente estaba enchapado y los costados se dejaban en la madera del
armazon, teiuda y barnizada para representar nogal. Ademis, en tales casos, las molduras
de los costados eran selidas y s6lo las del frente eran de madera en tiras cruzadas.
25
•
compuesta de dos maderas, una Clara y otra oscura ; una para el dibujo
y otra para el fondo (Lamina 16). Esta fue la fase final y decadente de
la marqueteria inglesa del siglo XVII. Habia durado todo el reinado
de la reina Ana y desaparecio por completo en los primeros anos del
reinado siguiente.
Los chineros y estantes de los reinados de Ana y de Jorge I estaban
hechos en enchapado de nogal ; cuanto mejor era la clase, mas dibujos
tenia el enchapado ; comparense el mesa (Lamina 43) con el area
(Lamina 34). Los muebles no se montaban ya sobre tarimas ; hasta el
arca-sobre-tarima perdio sus cortas patas de cabra (cabriole) (Lamina 23)
para convertirse en la comoda sencilla, de cajoneria casi hasta el suelo,
con soporte de pies (Lamina 40). La causa de la desaparici6n de la
tarima, se debio a que no podia soportar todo el peso del mueble cuando
estaba lleno y despues de muchas roturas, decidieron los ebanistas
sacrificar la elegancia por la utilidad.
Mientras que el final del siglo XVII fue el periodo del escritorio, con
frente de echar abajo, el siglo 18 fue el periodo de la libreria-escritorio 0
libreria-burg, como suele llamarse hoy. A juzgar por el gran niunero
que queda de escritorios (Lamina 48) y de librerias-burg (Lamina 24)
fueron estos muebles los mas populares que en nogal hicieron los
ebanistas, durante la primera mitad del siglo VXIII. La parte alta,
poco profunda, iba a veces, encabezada con un elegante fronton, en los
de mejor calidad (Lamina 26), e hizo de las librerias-burg un mueble
mucho mas agradable que los ecsritorios anteriores, con su forma de
caj6n. Los nuevos burgs tenian ademas la ventaja de que solo era el
frente del espacio para escribir, lo que se doblaba, dejando la parte de
atras para poner los papeles al cerrarse, mientras que con los escritorios
uno tenia que guitar todos los papeles del espacio donde se escribia,
antes de poder cerrar. Habia entonces la costumbre de vidriar las
puertas d ela libreria con espejos, coca que realzaba el decorado.
Los escritorios y las librerias—burgs, se hacian en dos anchor fijos ;
uno de unos 3 pies y el otro de unos 2 pies. La razon de estos
tamaiios era la de que estaban hechos para colocarse entre dos
ventanas en una habitation, contra el entrepailo de la pared, que en las
casas ordinarias de la ciudad, durante los primeros treinta aims del
siglo 18, raras veces tenia mas de 3 pies de ancho. Ambos muebles se
hacian en varias calidades ; la mejor, en nogal de aguas finas, la segunda
clase, en nogal con vetas ordinarias y la mas barata, trabajo del
ensamblador, en roble solido.
Otra pieza muy popular en muebles de nogal, durante el periodo
jorgiano, fue la mesita tocador, de pedestal (Lamina 43) y a lazgar por
la cantidad que ha sobrevivido, pocas casas debio haber entre las clases
altas y la clase media acomodada, que no tuviesen dos o tres de ellas,
con sus juegos de tocador, en cristal, encima, en los dormitorios. El
tamano fijo era de 2 pies 6 pulgds, pues, como en el caso de las libreriasbutt's, se colocaban contra el entrepano de la pared, entre las dos
ventanas, que era la mejor situation para una mesa tocador, porque
recibia la luz por los dos costados.
Ademas de la mesita de pedestal, habia otra mesa tocador, con tres
cajones en su armaz6n, soportada por patas ; su tamailo era tambien
de 2 pies 6 pulgds. Las patas eran de " cabriole," en diferentes estilos
(Laminas 42, 45) ; algunas de las mesas primitivas de la reina Ana,
tienen las patas torneadas y llevan tirantes (Lamina 44). Esta clase
26
de mesa tambien ha sobrevivido en grandes cantidades, lo que indica
que tambien fue de mucho uso en los hogares del siglo XVIII.
La mayor parte de los muebles de nogal enchapado, que datan de
1740 en adelante, era de calidad moderada y de fabrication provinciana.
Con exception de los burgs y las mesitas de jugar a las cartas, consistia
en su mayor parte de muebles de dormitorio,—mesitas de tocador,
comodas de cajoneria poco profunda, y de tapa plegable, (llamadas
" areas de soltero ") (Lamina 33), y las comodas sencillas llamadas
" tallboys ". La razon de esta decadencia gradual en la producci6n de
muebles de nogal enchapado, fue el uso de la caoba. Al principio esta
nueva madera no afecto seriamente la produccion de muebles de nogal
enchapado, pues habia muy poco de madera de caoba con aguas y
resultaba caro para todo lo que no fuera el costoso mobiliario de la
nobleza.
En consecuencia, cuando por primera vez se us6 la caoba en Inglaterra,
(circa 1720), para hacer muebles, como no tenia aguas o vetas finas, se
usaba principalmente en solido, para hacer mesas, pues el ancho tan
grande que tiene el tablon de la caoba, le da un valor especial para hacer
los tableros de mesas, en una pieza. Los ebanistas hacian tambien
muebles pequefios como mesitas de pedestal, de tocador, libreriasbutt's, estrechas y con puerta de espejo, y comodas de soltero, que en
una madera oscura, sin aguas, no resultaban demasiado sombrios.
Hacia 1750, las importaciones de caoba con aguas, de Jamaica,
aumentaron y bajaron los precios, con el resultado de que los ebanistas
comenzaron a hacer muebles de Caoba enchapada y con esta competencia,
los muebles de nogal salieron de moda y despues de 1760, ya no se
hicieron mas, ni siquiera en provincias.
Tal es la historia, contada muy en breve, de como comenzaron a
hacerse los muebles de nogal enchapado, que nuestros antepasados
usaron durantes los siglos XVII y XVIII.
The chest-on-stand illustrated on the paper jacket is the
property of Mr. Lewis Simmonds from the collection of
Messrs. Phillips of Hitchin Ltd.
NOTES TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE 1.
The early chest of drawers on stand was low and the top, being below
eye level, was accordingly veneered. This example dates about 1680.
The handles are modern. By courtesy of Messrs. Leonard Knight.
PLATE 2.
This chest of drawers, decorated with marquetry panels of a design
with birds' heads, was originally mounted on a stand. The bracket
feet with mutilated marquetry on face were formed from the front of
the long, shallow drawer originally in the stand. Ca. 1675. By courtesy
of Messrs. M. Harris & Sons.
27
PLATE 3.
Chest of drawers veneered with olivewood parquetry and decorated
with inlaid boxwood lines. Pasted in one of the drawers is the maker's
label. Because of the section of the moulding around the top, this
chest must also have originally been mounted on a low stand ; the bracket
feet and plinth being of a later date. Ca. 1690.
PLATE 4.
Cabinet-on-stand decorated with early type of marquetry on light
ground of sycamore. The dark parquetry surrounds are of olivewood.
Large cabinets of this type had stands with four legs in front. Temp.
Chas. II.
PLATE 5.
Cabinet-on-stand of olivewood parquetry decorated with geometrical
patterns formed of boxwood. This cabinet being smaller than the
example in Plate 4 has a stand with only three legs in front. Late
17th century. By courtesy of Messrs. Mallett & Son.
PLATES 6 and 7
Scrutoire of olivewood parquetry with writing-fall decorated with
inlaid lines and bands of boxwood mounted on stand with spiral twist
legs. Handles not contemporary. Temp. Chas. II. This was the
earliest form of writing-cabinet and was copied by the English cabinetmakers from Continental examples. By courtesy of Messrs. Hotspur.
PLATE 8
Chest with lift-up top and drawer below mounted on stand. Temp.
Chas. II. Chests of this design decorated with either walnut or
olivewood parquetry were in favour in the last quarter of the 17th century.
In the collection of Mr. Stephen Tennant.
PLATE 9
A small coin Cabinet of olivewood parquetry with panels formed
of boxwood lines and bands ; the fall-down front is enriched with
floral marquetry of different coloured woods and ivory. Width
20 inches, height 15 inches. Temp. Chas. II. By courtesy of Messrs.
Mallett & Son.
PLATES 10 and 11
Two tops of marquetry dressing-tables (similar to design of table,
Plate 13) dating from the last quarter of the 17th century. The all-over
floral marquetry of Plate 10 is more English in character than that of
Plate 11 which is almost identical to the contemporary Flemish work.
This English-Flemish marquetry is always in panels ; the flowers and
birds formed of coloured woods, the jasmine flowers are of ivory and
also many of the leaves which are stained green. By courtesy of Messrs.
M. Harris & Sons.
PLATE 12
Chest with drawer in base veneered with walnut mounted on stand
with spiral twist legs. Ca. 1700. From Bramshill Park.
28
PLATE 13
Dressing-table and Candle-stand. Temp. Chas. II. Sets consisting
of " A Table, Stands and Looking-glass " were extremely popular with
the nobility and gentry from the time of Charles II to Queen Anne.
The table was flanked by the two candle-stands and the glass hung on
the wall above. In the collection of Mr. D. J. Chandris.
PLATES 14 and 15
Two Dressing-tables which each originally formed part of a set of
" Table, Stands and Looking-glass." The scroll legs are veneered.
Temp. William III. Table, Plate 14, from Knole Park ; Table,
Plate 15, by courtesy of Messrs. Mallett & Son.
PLATES 16 and 17
A folding-top walnut Writing-table ; the top, when open (Plate 16),
displays a design of finely-cut " seaweed " marquetry in panels.
Temp. Queen Anne. This design of writing-table was favoured by the
nobility and gentry during the reigns of William III and Queen Anne.
Collection of the late Mr. Geoffrey Hart.
PLATE 18
Walnut cabinets of this type, mounted on spiral twist stands, with
their interiors fitted with small drawers, were much in use with the
well-to-do classes during the last quarter of the 17th century. (For
other examples in marquetry and olivewood parquetry see Plates 4 and 5).
By courtesy of Messrs. M. Harris & Sons.
PLATE 19
A Cabinet mounted on a base formed by a chest of drawers. Temp.
Queen Anne. This type of cabinet with flush veneered doors with
shaped and engraved hinges, corner mounts, and elaborate lock-plate,
was similar to the cabinets made by the japanners. The japanned
cabinet was very popular at this period, and the cabinet-makers therefore
made walnut examples in competition. Collection of the late
Mr. Geoffrey Hart.
PLATES 20 and 21
At first the Scrutoire was mounted on a stand (see Plate 6), but soon
the cabinet-makers favoured the more steady base of a chest with
drawers. These two scrutoires, one of walnut and marquetry, and the
other of olivewood, date from between the years 1680 to 1700. Both
have lost their original bun feet. Scrutoire, Plate 20, by courtesy of
Messrs. M. Harris & Sons ; Scrutoire, Plate 21, by courtesy of
Mr. Alec Lewis.
PLATES 22 and 23
The Chest-on-stand of this date was taller than the earlier example
(Plate 1) and the top being out of sight was therefore not veneered.
Two walnut Chests-on-stands. Temp. Queen Anne. When the
cabriole leg came into fashion for chairs and tables the cabinet-makers
used it as a support for the chest-on-stand instead of the turned leg
and stretcher. Chest, Plate 22 in the collection of the late
Mr. Geoffrey Hart ; Chest, Plate 23 in the collection of Mrs. Howson.
29
PLATE 24
A " Desk and Bookcase " was the writing-cabinet of the 18th century.
This walnut example with its pair of looking-glass doors and its elaborately
moulded arched cornice was made in the reign of Queen Anne. Under
each of the looking-glass doors are pull-out slides to support candle-sticks,
the candles in which light the writing space. By courtesy of Messrs.
Blairman & Son.
PLATE 25
A bureau Writing-cabinet of unusual design on stand supported by
six tapered and turned legs connected by shaped stretchers. The
moulded coved cornice, the mouldings to the bookcase doors, and the
turned mouldings on the legs are japanned with a gold and black design
on a cream ground. Temp. Queen Anne.
PLATE 26
A walnut bureau Writing-cabinet of Queen Anne's reign. The
shaped ogee moulded cornice is a far more unusual design than the
double dome (see Plate 24). This bureau is of fine quality craftsmanship
and in perfect state. (See also Plate 29). In the collection of
Mrs. Geoffrey Blackwell.
PLATES 27 and 28
Two narrow walnut Writing-cabinets. The example with the ogee
shaped moulded cornice and the gilt concave shell above the door is
unusual because the drawers in the base are dummy and enclose a
cupboard. The finials are modern. Its date is probably 1730. The
arched example is probably twenty years earlier. A number of these
narrow bureau writing-cabinets had a fitted dressing-drawer below the
writing-fall which suggests that they were used in bedrooms ; the
narrow width being due to their being placed between the windows.
Bureau, Plate 27, in the collection of Capt. H. U. Mann, D.S.O. ;
Bureau, Plate 28, by courtesy of Messrs. Mallett & Son.
PLATES 29 and 30
Bureaux Writing-cabinets often had the bookcase part fitted with
small drawers and pigeon-holes for filing letters and papers. These
interior fitments sometimes displayed the finest quality workmanship ;
the fitment being loose in the cupboard so that it slides out, as in
Plate 29, which is the interior of the writing cabinet on Plate 26.
Interior fitment (Plate 30), which is of coarser quality, belongs to the
cabinet on Plate 31.
PLATE 31
A large number of cabinets of this type usually of veneered walnut
or japan, have survived from the first thirty years of the 18th century.
No evidence exists as to whether such pieces of furniture were used
for storing wearing apparel in the bedchamber or as a useful cupboard
in the parlour. In many examples the top drawer in the base is a pull-out
writing-drawer with pigeon-holes at the back. By courtesy of Messrs.
Mallett & Son.
PLATE 32
Early Writing-bureau on stand. Temp. William III. These bureaux
on stands were nearly always of a narrow width. That they were not
an uncommon piece of furniture in the homes of well-to-do citizens
is evident by the number that have survived. By courtesy of Messrs.
Mallen & Son.
30
PLATE 33
A shallow chest of drawers with a folding top (called to-day a batchelor's
chest) was a popular piece of bedroom furniture during the first forty
years of the 18th century. The top being more useful than the shallow
drawers, possibly its popularity was due to it being designed as a bedside
table. In the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Colin Smith.
PLATE 34
An unusual piece of walnut furniture ; the lower part designed as
a bachelor's chest and the upper as a cabinet with drawers. Temp.
early George II. In the collection of Mrs. Geoffrey Hart.
PLATES 35 and 36
Small walnut tables with folding tops were made in Queen Anne's
reign and later. The under-leaf was also hinged disclosing a well.
The tops of these small tables were seldom lined, denoting that they
were not used for card playing.
PLATE 37
The first English card-tables had oval or circular tops and date from
the reign of William III, similar to this example. By courtesy of
Mr. W. R. Roberts.
PLATE 38
A small Writing-bureau on stand. Temp. Geo. I. This example
shows the later evolution of this type of bureau when it had cabriole
legs, whereas the example (Plate 32) shows the earlier form with turned
legs and stretchers.
PLATE 39
A small Japanese Cabinet with carved soapstone panels supported
on an English walnut stand. Temp. Queen Anne. In the collection
of the late Mr. Geoffrey Hart.
PLATE 40
When the Chest-on-stand went out of fashion in George I's reign
the chest-on-chest or tallboy took its place. Up to 1750 the majority
of tallboys were of walnut ; after that date they were made in mahogany.
The tallboy illustrated is of the more unusual type with a niche formed
in the bottom drawer. Ca. 1735. In the collection of Mr. George
Ansley.
PLATE 41
The walnut book-case of the first half of the 18th century had the
doors glazed in rectangular panes like the contemporary windows.
There must have been a high rate of destruction of walnut book-cases
for so few have survived. (For another walnut book-case see Plate 52.)
In the collection of Sir John Prestige.
PLATES 42 and 43
These two pieces of furniture were extremely common in the first
half of the 18th century ; they were not only made of veneered walnut
but in the solid of Virginia walnut and mahogany, and many must
have been japanned. The pedestal design was unquestionably a
dressing-table and one, it would seem, that was used more by men than
by women. Whether the other table on legs was also a dressing-table,
it is difficult to say—if it was, why were there two different types ?
Or was it a washstand ? In the collection of Capt. and Mrs. Hugh Vivian.
31
Given relations
between Europe
and Japan -virtually
nonexistent in
18th-century -this Japanese
design has to be
a rare
occurrence.
PLATES 44 and 45
Two further varieties of the table shown on Plate 42. The tapered
hexagonal leg was a design which was not uncommon for tables and
stands in Queen Anne's reign. See Plates 17 and 25. The example
with cabriole legs and shaped frieze shows how elegant was the design
of some of these tables. Tables, Plates 44 and 45,—by courtesy of
Messrs. H. M. Lee & Sons and Messrs. Mallett & Son respectively.
PLATE 46
Walnut chest of drawers of the first half of the 18th century were
seldom of a large size ; this example is unusual because of its stumpy
cabriole feet. Ca. 1730. In the collection of Mr. Norman S. Williams.
PLATE 47
Small walnut bureau 2 feet in width and depth 141 inches. Ca. 1740.
The majority of bureaux were made about 3 feet in width (see Plate 48).
In the collection of Dr. Campbell Golding.
PLATE 48
A walnut bureau which has the owner's initials " R.P." and the year
it was made-1737—stamped on the leather binding of the two dummy
books. By courtesy of Messrs. S. W. Wolsey.
PLATE 49
The card table with square top and round corners came into fashion
in the latter half of Queen Anne s reign. The top, which had circular
spaces for the candlesticks at each corner, overhung the frieze which
did not, at first, follow the rounded corners. By courtesy of Messrs.
M. Harris & Sons.
PLATE 50
In this card table of the reign of Geo. I, the frieze now follows the
shaping of the top ; the legs are bolder and heavier and terminate in
ball and claw feet. By courtesy of Messrs. Blairman & Sons.
1
PLATE 51
An unusual walnut card table with legs in the French taste of 1750.
At this period the tops of card tables no longer had rounded corners ;
this was due to the places to hold the candlesticks now being square
and not circular, for the base of the contemporary candlestick had
changed from round to square. The carved enrichment is gilt. In the
collection of Mr. D. J. Chandris.
PLATE 52
A walnut veneered bookcase designed with the unusual feature of a low
projecting base with drawers. A sign of quality is that each of the
glass panes is bevelled ; this might also indicate that they were originally
looking-glass plates. Temp. Geo. I. This book-case was one of a pair
which originally came from Raynham Hall, Norfolk.
32
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