Embroidered pictures, samplers and everyday objects survive from as early as the 16th century, when Mary, Queen of Scots was a noted needlewoman.

Although Elizabethan needlework is rare today, a surprising number of early pieces dating from the 17th century onwards have survived. They include both so-called needle paintings, which present a picture in the form of embroidery, and also decorative household items such as bed- hangings, fire screens and cushions. (more…)

The trunk of a longcase clock is perfect for showing off cabinet-making skills, giving the owner not only a timepiece but an attractive piece of furniture.

Too many people, a longcase or ‘brand- father’ clock immediately conjures up nostalgic images of the past. But it is also an ideal combination of mechanics and furniture. A William and Mary marquetry longcase clock can be just as good an example of cabinet-making as, say, a chest of drawers of the same period, and its value will depend on the quality of both case and movement. (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…)

It is colour and size that generally count most in pricing a dining table, and these considerations are as important today as two hundred years ago.

Antique dinning table available to a buyer today vary enormously in style, quality and price. A 17th-century refectory table in original condition is very hard to come by, for example, and may cost many thousands of pounds, whereas a Victorian reproduction can be bought for a few hundred. Small, foldaway breakfast tables, which first appeared in the early 19th century as one answer to the space restrictions of small town houses, are still extremely popular, and for similar reasons.

Before buying any antique table, you should check it carefully for alterations, as marrying a table top to a different undercarriage is fairly common. (more…)

Dining and other upright chairs are among the most abundant of antiques and range in price from a few pounds to many thousands. Persistent hunting may enable you to assemble a set, one or two at a time, for a bargain price.

Among chairs with an upright back, comfortvaries a good deal. Dining chairs generally have an upholstered or caned seat and a wooden back, and may have arms — in which case they are known as arm or elbow chairs, or carvers. Upright dining chairs without any arms are also known as side chairs because they were placed around the sides of the room when not in use. Virtually identical chairs were also used as occasional chairs in the drawing room. (more…)

From approximately the earlier years of the 1770s separate parts of a vessel such as spouts or lids were stamped out using a drop-hammer. The piece of Sheffield plate would be placed upon a striking block which had a die sunk with a model of the required shape. Then the hammer, the face of which was raised with the same shape as the sunken die, was manipulated from above by a rope between two vertical rods and, as it struck the block, the Sheffield plate was stamped into shape. The parts would then be soldered to the vessel. The introduction of harder steels made possible more sharply-defined pieces and during the Regency period entire units were produced in this manner. Die-stamping was a very important technique, advances in it contributing greatly to mass-production methods in both silver and Sheffield plate. By the last decade of the eighteenth century larger, flat pieces such as trays were being produced in this manner, suitably ornamented as already described. (more…)

A few years after the turn of the eighteenth century the spoon eventually developed into the utensil which we use today. By 1720 its stem had become gracefully curved and terminated in a flat, rounded end which turned forward or upward and upon which it was rested on the table, so that the back of the bowl was uppermost in the French way. This Hanoverian rat-tail spoon continued in fashion for a few more years, the rat-tail gradually disappearing to be replaced by small droplets, either one or two, at the back of the bowl, or the increasingly fashionable scallop-shell, typical of the rococo period. The stem evolved into a flatter form, terminating by the 1760s in a curve which turned in the opposite direction to its predecessor, ie backward instead of forward, so that the spoon could be placed on the table with the interior of its bowl showing,as is still the custom in England and elsewhere today. This is termed the `Old English’ pattern and has been the basic form for spoons ever since. (more…)

Comparatively few teapots were made in England before the eighteenth century and these are now exceedingly rare. As the fashion for drinking tea spread, the demand for the right kind of vessel in which to brew it brought about new types of containers for sugar, milk and tea. These tea accoutrements were made increasingly throughout the eighteenth century until, by the final decades, they had become an important branch of the silversmith’s work. Late seventeenth century teapots are unique and are mostly seen in museums. Outstanding among them is the historical conical-topped teapot (1670) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, with the spout quaintly set at right-angles to the handle, a practice which was short-lived. Another shape of this early period looks like a melon or similar fruit. (more…)

All of these items are among the pieces of domestic silver introduced during the eighteenth century for which we no longer have a use. The mazarine was a practical piece and was mostly required at a time when fish was generally cooked by boiling in water. It was a pierced vessel, plate or drainer which was put into a larger dish and upon which the fish would be placed so that the surplus juices would strain through into the main dish. It was probably also used for vegetables in the same way, although the piercings denote by their frequent nautical patterns that the main purpose was for draining fish. (more…)

Monteiths, punch bowls and punch ladles

The monteith, which looks like a punch bowl with an ornate rim arid lifting handles, fir ^whist appeared some 20 years after the Restoration but became more general during the later years of the seventeenth century and earlier years of the eighteenth. Monteiths are comparatively rare pieces, and therefore fetch high prices. Their scalloped and notched rims were generally removable. The monteith was filld with cold water, then glasses were hung by their foot upon the notchese, and thus allowed to cool in the water. When the monteith was not being used in l filled it punch. (more…)