Glass perches, delft racks, whatnots and canterburies are just a few of the strangely named solutions to our ancestors’ storage and display needs.

Chaucer, in the Miller’s table, written in the 14th century, refers to ‘shelves couched at his beddes head’ — probably for books — but shelving for more general uses was rare before the 16th century. By the 19th century, however, a whole variety of other storage and display solutions had appeared. (more…)

From the time of their invention in the late 17th century, small tables for special purposes have been produced in considerable quantities, many of them extendible and many decorated with beautiful inlay, marquetry and veneer.

Small tables for use when sewing, playing board or card games, reading or writing were popular from the early 18th century. Some have a double top which folds over to increase the table’s size, while others have small drop flaps at the sides. Folding tea and card tables were generally made in a small rectangular or half-moon shape, the top opening out to reveal a polished wood or baize surface. Most were fitted with drawers or a storage well in the middle to hold games pieces, a lady’s sewing equipment or other small possessions. Easily movable tables such as these were found in almost all upper and middle-class Georgian and Victorian living rooms. As with all popular types of furniture made in large quantities, the value of a piece depends on the quality of the table’s design and construction, its rarity, and how original it has remained. (more…)

Early Sofas

During the late 18th century, both Thomas Chippendale and Robert Adam produced gilded sofas that were strongly influenced by the contemporary French Neoclassical-style canapé’. These masterpieces have a padded oval back, padded arms and seat in contemporary Aubusson tapestry, and can be worth tens of thousands of pounds. Good 19thC and 2oth-century copies themselves fetch £1500£2200, while lesser examples may change hands for £300-£500. The canapé proved an enduring design in Britain, and was produced throughout the 19th century. (more…)

Space-saving, multi-seat furniture fetches surprisingly low prices and plays a highly practical role in these days of cramped living accommodation.

The terms sofa and settee are virtually interchangeable today, although they originated from very different sources.

`Sofa‘ comes from the Arabic word suffah or the Turkish sopha (the dais on which the Grand Vizier received guests) but came to refer to any movable seat on which it was possible to recline. ‘Settee‘, on the other hand, probably comes from the earlier English `settle‘, and described a seat with back and arms for two or more people. (more…)

The creation of the easy chair was an inevitable development in the search for comfortable seating. Today, the upholstery can be just as important as the frame in determining the value of these chairs.

It was a natural progression from the simple padded chair to one with arms and an upholstered back, and then to the fully upholstered easy armchair: This was first seen towards the end of the 17th century, and has remained popular ever since.

Most 20th-century easy chairs are mass- produced and consequently of little or no interest to collectors. However, there are some exceptions, including chairs by the Modernist architect-designers of the 1920s and 3os, such as Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe, and by the new generation of 1950s and 60s designers such as Ernest Race and Charles Eames, whose tubular steel and leather chairs already fetch £800-£ 1500. (more…)

Midway between the dining chair with arms and the comfortable easy chair are practical but elegant padded armchairs, best known as library chairs.

The distinction between the armchair and the upright, armless dining chair stems from the Middle Ages, when authority was symbolised by the lord’s more elaborate, armed seat of office. But although most early armchairs are an extension of dining-room furniture, specialist armchairs hat introduced in the early 18th century are distinctly different in form and use. (more…)

Between the Metropolitan Railway, whose line ran north-west out of London through Wembley, Pinner and Chorleywood to Amersham, created the concept of Metro- land as an ideal place for city workers to live, outside the spread of London but conveniently linked to it by train. Given the vogue for fresh air and sunlight, outdoor sports and hiking, it was an inviting prospect which speculative builders helped to fulfil with a rash of tidy suburban homes in the revived ‘Queen Anne’ style. (more…)

Few people in any era have the will or the means to refurnish their home in totally contemporary style. Most make do with hand-me-downs and inherited pieces, adding some special purchases which may be chosen to complement what is already there.

The distinctive flavour of this 1890s room is the result of long accumulation. Yet among its traditional furniture is a display cabinet in the style of the forward-looking designer Robert Edis, made in the 1880s and looking somewhat out of place here. This is a middle- class home — comfortable and manageable. A grander home would have separate rooms for different social and domestic functions but in this one the same room is used for writing letters, doing needlework, playing music and entertaining guests to afternoon tea. (more…)

Young people in the 1950s and 60s were generally more mobile and independent than any earlier generation, often leaving home in their teens to go to university, to start work or to train. Increasing numbers of them were benefiting fr0m grants for education and changed attitudes towards careers.

These young people wanted cheap accommodation — preferably free of the restrictions in lodgings ruled by a resident landlady. At the same time many city homes originally built for extended Victorian families and their servants were sold off as they proved too big and too expensive to run. Divided and fitted out as self-contained units, they made bed- sitting rooms or ‘bedsits’ to rent out, each one serving as bedroom, living room and kitchen. (more…)

Love of the Artistic Life

The late loth century was a time when people were fascinated by the lives and lifestyles of artists. Many modelled their own homes on an artist’s studio and the relaxed atmosphere of an artist’s house with its comfortable chairs, collections of paintings and etchings hung in tiers from a picture rail or perhaps standing on an easel, a scattering of rugs and furs, potted plants and dried flowers, collections of interesting objects, including Oriental ceramics and furniture, and antiques. (more…)