BOOKCASES, HANGING SHELVES

About 1750 onwards
Asmall set of open shelves for books and china which hung on the wall above table height, often called a
‘hanging chiffonier’ in the 19thC. Usually designed for ladies’ rooms, hence
generally rather light and pretty objects.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Could have two, three or four shelves, either tiered or of equal depth, and sometimes one or a pair of shallow drawers below. Totally open at front and back, partially at sides.
Mid-18thC examples had fret-cut sides –fashionably in Gothic or Chinese style – extending in a curved outline above the top and below the bottom shelf.
Popular Regency design: Plain shelves with brass pillar supports and brass cross-bars at sides. Sometimes brass gallery too. Victorian: Scroll or turned baluster supports and scrolling back-board above.
Bookstand, 1850-1875, with diminishing shelves and scrolled ends.
Chinese Chippendale style shelves with fretwork sides and galleries.
Top shelf occasionally galleried; sometimes backed by shaped board. Size variable, but mostly small, the average width about 24 inches/60 cm.
MATERIALS
Mostly mahogany, occasionally satinwood or rosewood. Victorian: Mahogany, walnut, oak or deal.
CONSTRUCTION
Shelves rebating into sides. Post-1800 uprights generally dowelled into shelves, set-in slightly from corners.
DECORATION
Fret carving. Small knob handles on drawers.
FINISH
Polish, stain, occasionally paint.
RELATIVE VALUES
A huge range: 18thC examples may be affordable; 19thC a cheaper alternative. Into five figures for a really good mid-18thC Chippendale-style piece.

BOOKCASES, REVOLVING

About 1790 to 1915
A smallish open-shelved bookcase revolving on a central pillar. A patent for a bookcase with individually rotating shelves was granted to Benjamin Crosby in 1808, but many pre-date this. Especially popular during Regency and, in a different form, during the Edwardian period.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Usually circular. Could have been two and six tiers, slightly diminishing in diameter towards the top. Central pillar turned at base – usually in baluster form – with three (occasionally four) legs. These could be scrolling with narrow pad feet, or splayed (and popularly reeded) ending in brass box castors.
Shelves with wedge-shaped dividers, usually fronted by dummy book spines. Top could have a wooden, or more commonly a brass gallery.
Edwardian examples are generally square with only two tiers, each side having either a
BOOKCASES
Edwardian model with slatted sides and inlay.
solid panel or row of wooden slats forming end support of adjoining shelf.
Bottom shelf bordered by deep skirting; slightly projecting moulded cornice at top. The structure rotates on the column rising from flat platform cross-bars with semi-concealed castors.
Top occasionally has hinged book stand supported on ratchet system.
MATERIALS
Mahogany, occasionally rosewood. Edwardian sometimes oak.
CONSTRUCTION
Shelves rotate around central pillar rising from base. Standard methods employed for pedestal support (see TABLES, TRIPOD, P. 175).
DECORATION
Edwardian: Oak usually carved with scrolling and/or floral ornament in Renaissance style. Sheraton-style indicated on some pieces by simple inlay of shells, fans, stringing lines.
FINISH
Polish; stain.
RELATIVE VALUES
Very desirable objects; the best Regency examples fetch five figure sums. Edwardian examples do not compare.
Regency four-tier revolving bookcase, with splayed legs.

ENGLISH DWARF BOOKCASES

About1800 onwards
The burgeoning popularity of reading at the turn of the 19thC, particularly among women, created demand for small, readily accessible bookshelves of only table height, where books of relatively small value could be stored openly in rooms used in an informal way. Especially popular during the Regency period when they were made in pairs to stand at either end of a room, or as moveable ‘bookstands’.
Right, Regency rosewood chiffonier with brass gallery and shelf supports.
Above, simple Regency bookcase with open shelves.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Three standard types evolved:
Chiffonier: A cupboard fitted with two open shelves above; usually a frieze drawer too. (Also popularly used by the Victorians as a form of sideboard in the dining-room — see SIDEBOARDS P. 120). Door panels fashionably fitted with brass wire grilles backed by pleated silk. Substantial pilasters or columns at either
Above, fine Regency bookcase with pilasters in Egyptian style. The brass grilles were originally backed by pleated silk.
side, fashionably in Egyptian style. Low turned, or lion’s paw, feet. Plinth base increasingly common after 1810.
Similarly, marble tops. Upper shelves at back. supported on slender turned columns (sometimes brass). Occasionally mirrored rather than wooden backboard. Victorian versions of similar form, but plainer: wooden door panels and tops.
Turned spindles supporting shelves.
Could also be of breakfront form, without superstructure and with additional open or
Above, simple    mahogany bookcase.
enclosed shelves at sides. (See also cup-BOARDS p. 43) Occasionally all sections had open shelves.
Tiered set of two, three or four open shelves, shallowest at top. Continuous uprights forming sides, shaped on front edge. Generally two drawers below, occasionally small cupboard instead. Four short turned legs or stump feet. Top bordered by sides and backboard or by low, brass or wood, gallery.
Bookstand (or ‘moving library’): Similar to above, but arranged as two sets placed back-to-back. Sometimes legs as two columns supported on splayed feet linked by stretcher
Below, double sided mahogany bookcase
as seen on contemporary sofa tables — see TABLES: SOFA, P. 181). Feet fitted with castors. Occasionally sides of brass wire trellis.
MATERIALS
Most commonly rosewood, satinwood, mahogany, and, later, walnut. Sometimes painted beech. Highly figured exotic veneers used during Regency for cross-banding.
CONSTRUCTION
Standard practices employed. Many plain Victorian chiffoniers have now become ‘Regency’ following replacement of their door panels with brass wire trellis and pleated silk, and their wooden tops and superstructure with a marble slab. Look for signs of fresh saw marks and staining on the relevant sections.
DECORATION
Much use of Grecian and Egyptian ornament during Regency. Brass inlay and applied gilt brass ornament in the form of sunbursts, paterae, anthemlons, sphinxes and other Egyptian heads, feet etc. Lion handles on larger frieze drawers, otherwise turned knobs.
FINISH
Polish, occasionally paint, partial gilding.
RELATIVE VALUES
All types are sought after and expensive, Regency especially so. Pairs always at a premium.
Above, ormolu-mounted Regency showing French Empire influence.

BREAKFRONT AND LIBRARY BOOKCASES

About 1730 onwards
George III mahogany breakfront bookcase with broken pediment.
Free-standing domestic bookcases were rare before the 18thC. Those made for Samuel Pepys in the 1660s are the earliest known. After about 1720, as people owned more books, substantial bookcases were to be found in the libraries of all large houses; by the end of the century they were features of other rooms too, and of smaller homes. Not all were meant exclusively for books; many were used for china instead, or for both.
18thC bookcases were predominantly architectural in character and sometimes of monumental size. After 1740 many were made in breakfront form: a large central section projecting forwards beyond two flanking wings. Straight-fronted bookcases are today generally distinguished from breakfronts by the term ‘library bookcase’.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Six categories; but they share basically the same form. An upper, generally glazed, section for books, with a carved and moulded cornice, sometimes surmounted by a pediment, sits above a deeper and shorter lower section comprising cupboards (and sometimes drawers too) for storage of maps, prints and other papers. Occasionally, a secretaire drawer is also present. Pediments were often broken, their centre (with or without a raised plinth) holding a bust, carved eagle, urn or other work of art.
The six categories are:
Kentian, about 1710-1740 (rare today): Bold classical architectural features: broken pediments, deep cornices, pilasters faced with pendants of fruit and flowers. Central doors often arched. Upper section with large rectangular panels of glass set in broad, moulded bars, or blind of mirror panelling. Base with panelled doors, sometimes shaped and fielded, supported on a plinth.
Chippendale period, about 1740-1765: Still with classical features, but more restrained. Cornices narrower and plainer.
Fashionable pieces had a central pediment with pierced carving, wings surmounted by fretwork gallery. Pediment could be swan-neck. Availability of mahogany meant thinner and lighter glazing bars, often carved in rococo, chinoiserie and Gothic patterns (rococo occasionally gilded) or astragals (see p. 329) arranged in geometric patterns. Today, a large number of panes in an individual pattern (say 13 or 15) is considered to be a sign of quality. Base still panelled, with decorative carved edging or applied blind fret mouldings. Plinths often replaced by bracket feet.
Neo-classical, about 1770-1790: Neat and formal over-all. Simple pediments, often with urns in centre and at corners.
Cornices carved with repetitive classical ornament; astragals in geometric patterns. Lower doors with simple mouldings applied in square, circular or oval shapes, often with paterae at corners. Stands on a plinth base.
Sheraton-style, about 1790-1810: Often narrower than before, lower section taller. Pediments scroll- or lunette-shaped.
Upper doors sometimes with brass wire trellis and pleated silk rather than astragals. Astragals could be painted or gilt lead. Lower doors with decorative veneers. Large central ovals common. Splay feet fashionable, occasionally turned feet after 1800.
Regency/early Victorian, about 18101850: Large bookcases less common at first than small. Could have Egyptian or Grecian ornament (see DWARF BOOKCASES).
Antefizae on corners. Lunette-shaped pediments, if any. Fluting interspersed with paterae popular feature on cornices.
Late Regency plain. Straight moulded cornices, scrolled or acanthus carved supports typical of day.
Victorian, about 1840-1900: Often very plain, even best quality relying only on veneers for decorative effects. A large number almost style-less. Arched doors with plain glass echoed by applied arched mouldings on lower doors. Sometimes rococo/naturalistic mouldings below. Lower part could also be glazed. Cornices deep and heavily moulded, sometimes with rounded corners. Simple bracket supports sometimes present.
Could also be reformist Gothic; characteristic features: chamfered edges, diagonal boarded panelling on lower doors; or, Renaissance style: heavily carved all over. (See
under DECORATION)
18thC styles were revived at end of the 19thC. Sheraton-style particularly popular during Edwardian period, but often a poor imitation. Considerable reduction in size. Brightly contrasting cross-banding and inlay of shells, fans, combined with dentin-moulded cornice common. Often yellowish mahogany with poor, treacly-looking finish.
MATERIALS
Walnut in the Queen Anne period; sometimes painted and gessoed pine. Mahogany from about 1730, joined by satinwood around 1790. Rosewood only rarely, during Regency. Both walnut and mahogany during Victoria’s reign; oak for reformist Gothic and (less common) Renaissance style.
Various designs for bookcase and cabinet pediments: in particular A, 1680-1730; A 1730-1750; C, 1750-1780; A pagoda-shaped cresting, about 1750-1770; E, scrolling arch, about 1780-1810; F neo-classical urns and drapery, about 1765-1800; G, scrolling arch with urn, about 1790-1830.
BOOKCASES
CONSTRUCTION
Standard practices employed. Sometimes revealed mortise-and-tenon construction on reformist Gothic. Many convincing reproductions of 18thC bookcases were made by the Victorians and at a glance look right, so look for indications of age, such as:
Shelf supports: Early 18thC pieces have shelves slotted between narrow strips of wood glued to the sides at regular intervals. From about 1730, shelves were more usually rebated into grooves cut in the sides. After 1800: supported on wood or metal pegs plugged into pairs of evenly spaced holes.
If the shelf supports continue right up to the top of each side, the bookcase has almost certainly been cut down. They should finish a book’s height below the cornice.
Glazing bars: Before 1800 bars were usually rebated into stiles and rails, therefore
Left, glazing bar rebated into style; right, astragal glazing bars.
flush with surface. After 1800: more commonly tenoned, therefore slightly recessed.
Other points of interest: Cases originally intended for china may have grooves at the back of the shelves for the support of plates.
Original glass will not be completely flat and clear. The putty holding it in place will be very hard and dark and will have accumulated a good deal of dirt.
If there was once a pediment there will be obvious marks where it once sat. Its absence does not necessarily affect value. Try and get up there to take a look.
DECORATION
Principally carved ornament, mostly on cornices. In 18th and early 19thC, classical style. Could be Vitruvian scrolls, egg-and-dart, tongue-and-dart, dentil moulding, acanthus, Gothic fret, fluting interspersed with paterae, swags.
Blind fret carving on lower doors and cornices, in mid-18thC sometimes open fret on pediments.
Figuring of veneer always a main feature. Decorative use of veneers in the forms of ovals, cross-banding on Sheraton and Sheraton revival pieces, occasionally restrained inlay in addition.
Incised decoration sometimes present on reformist Gothic pieces; occasionally inlay of ebony, ivory too, in small repetitive geometric patterns. Bold carving of lion’s masks, foliage, geometric mouldings, cartouches, on Renaissance revival pieces.
Handles: When present, they follow prevailing patterns.
FINISH
Left, 18thC shelf arrangements; above, 19thC fixing,
Polish. Stain on 19thC oak; light, often yellowish, for Gothic, dark for Renaissance.
RELATIVE VALUES
Quality 18thC bookcases in original condition are valuable items, many fetching well into five figures. Pediments, secretaire drawers, a pre-1750 date and, most important, breakfronts, will increase value. Similar library versions are generally cheaper as are small Sheraton-style pieces with decorative veneers. Late Regency/William IV mahogany, Victorian/Edwardian mahogany reproductions of 18thC pieces, Victorian oak and walnut are all variable.

Bureau-Bookcase

From the mid-eighteenth century, cabinets and bureau-bookcases conformed to the
Signs of authenticity
1. Wood smooth and silky to the touch.
2. Carved decoration deep and precise, rounded with age and use.
3. Vertical grain in central panels of block-fronted doors, held in cleated frames.
4. Sides in two pieces, not flush.
5. Lip moulding to edges of solid mahogany fall-fronts.
6. Flush edges to doors and writing flaps on veneered pieces.
7. Bookshelves on adjustable pegs or pins.
8. Veneers well-matched on tops and bases.
9. Doorbolts and locks of brass, levers and bolts of steel.
10. Later pieces had applied decoration, hand-carved and slightly irregular.
11. Backs of separate
component parts of same timber, colour and patination.
Likely restoration and repair
12. Flush-sided without
moulding band between top and base indicates a ‘marriage’ or a piece cut down from larger, more massive library bookcase, with new sides.
13. Fall-front different thickness from rest of writing
compartment indicates a replacement. Georgian timber was thicker than machine-cut planking.
14. Broken pediment without central plinth may indicate that the piece has been narrowed from wider original.
15. Handles and escutcheons original but too large  whole piece has been made up from larger original.
16. Shallow carving on apron, feet, flush with profile, indicates later carving of plain original. Later mouldings may also have been added.
17. Wood feels rough to the touch. A cheaper, later period Honduras mahogany piece has been scraped down and repolished to look classier.
architectural styles and fashions of that period. Although frequently referred to as ‘the Chippendale period’ it was William Kent (died in 1748) who had the greater influence on these pieces with their adaptation of the classicism of Ancient Greece and Rome. The curved and rounded broken pediments of an earlier age changed to a more severe triangular shape, often with a central plinth on which was mounted a bust, an eagle or some similar classical feature. To accord with Georgian design, cabinets and bureau-bookcases were larger than those of the previous period and there was a preference for fall-fronted writing drawers, as opposed to slope-fronted desks, due to a growing desire for plain and simple shapes.
Construction and materials
The strength of mahogany allowed for much simpler construction which reflected the taste for classical simplicity. A bureau-bookcase was made in three pieces: the bureau base, the bookcase, and the decorative pediment. All the lines were sleeker, and there was a less pronounced step between the bureau base and the bookcase above.
The carcase was of cheap Honduras mahogany or baywood, veneered in fine-figured San Domingo or Cuban mahogany. After c.1760 this rich, lighter-coloured wood was used both as a solid wood and for veneer. The backs of the separate components were of saw-cut pine or mahogany planking. When made in solid mahogany, the edges of writing flaps had thumb or lip-moulding. Veneered writing flaps still had flush edges. Drawers in the base were of oak and pine, with dustboards between them. Mahogany cabinet doors
were heavier than those of the earlier secretaire, and were hung on three pin hinges instead of two. The decorative pediment was three-sided only, on a frame which slotted into the top of the cornice and was not secured.
Detail
The fine, close grain of mahogany allowed decoration to be carved into the wood: Greek key motifs, reeding, fluting, fretting and dentil cornices were integral and not applied.
Pediments were more ornate and so were bases, often with serpentine aprons with a central cartouche, carved paw feet or short, scrolled, outward-curving bracket feet. Canted corners to tops and bases, often fluted or carved, were also typical features. Glazing bars were functional and stood proud on either side of glass-fronted cabinets, holding individually-cut panes of glass in decorative geometrical patterns. If the bookcase had block-fronted doors then the panels would be chamfered. Backplates, handles and
escutcheons were of plain, fretted or pierced brass. From c.1750 escutcheons were plain flush plates with little or no decoration. Interior desk fittings had bone, ivory or brass knobs to drawers.
Variations
Some desks and bookcases of the second half of the eighteenth century had double or single cupboards in place of the drawers below the writing flap. In manor houses the plain bureau served the same purpose as the bureau-bookcases of larger households, and a separate hanging shelf accommodated the few books kept by all but educated and wealthy families. As with the previous period, the top half of any doubleheighted writing desk was usually glazed to display china and other decorative objects.
Simple square-topped bureau-bookcases with double doors below the writing flap were made in mahogany veneer on pine carcases for modest provincial houses, using the same construction as grander pieces but lacking the ornate carved decoration. Some applied decoration in simple forms was customary, usually a lattice-like design or Greek key pattern.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century Square-topped library furniture of less height than eighteenth-century originals was made in solid Virginia walnut which discolours and darkens with age. To the untrained eye it may look like mahogany but it lacks the depth of colour and lustre and was often French-polished to a spurious gloss. This classic piece of library furniture continued to be made right through the nineteenth century into ‘he twentieth, with some –ariations in the combination of display cabinet and desk, bureau-bookcase and base
with drawers or double doors containing sliding shelves on runners.
Twentieth century
Modern mahogany veneer is thinly cut by machine. Unlike original bureau-bookcases, the drawers do not have cross-cut veneer edging but are usually veneered with a single piece and then inlaid with a paler wood.
Left: a provincial version with display-cabinet top, c.1790.
Above: Edwardian reproduction in mahogany with satinwood crossbanding.
Price bands
Georgian, broken pediment, fine and unrestored, $6,000-8,000.
Late Georgian provincial, 12,000-3,500.
Early nineteenth century,$1,250-3,000.
Edwardian, in good condition, $750-1,000.

BUREAUX — cylinder and tambour
The use of a sliding cylinder or tambour instead of a fall seems to have become most prevalent in the late eighteenth century and to have continued in use throughout the nineteenth, when the roll-top desk became widely used in offices.
This form of writing desk or bureau merits a section on its own although the value points, apart from the cylinder or tambour itself, are the same as those of bureaux and bureau bookcases of the same period. It should be noted, however, that since this is a more expensive way of covering the interior section than the fall front, these pieces tended to be of reasonably high craftsmanship.
A high quality Sheraton cylinder writing desk and bookcase, shown both open and closed. The piece is in harewood, with oval mahogany inlaid panels of finely figured wood. Note how the writing surface slides out to give greater space. 1790-1810
A burr yew writing cabinet, banded in satinwood and shown with its top open and the drawer, which is fitted like that of a dressing table or chest, also opened. The broken pediment has a vase-shaped finial. The glazing bars are arched in Gothic style. Both bureau and bookcase are fitted with carrying handles. 1790-1810
A satinwood writing table with a dome-shaped tambour top and fitted with side slides. It is inlaid with marquetry and exhibits a very high degree of craftsmanship. 1790-1810
A mahogany writing table with a dome-shaped tambour top, shown open to reveal the inner drawings and fittings. Like the previous example it is fitted with slides at the sides.
A mahogany writing desk on square tapering legs, inlaid with stringing lines. There is a brass rail, or gallery, around the top.
A  bureau with glazed cabinet above, on splayed feet.
A  cylinder bureau bookcase with cabinet doors beneath, inlaid with stringing lines. The feet are a later Victorian replacement. Again the mahogany veneer is of very fine quality. 1820-1840
A cylinder mahogany bureau on fluted bun feet, with a brass gallery. The quality of veneer chosen is very high. 1830-1840
A kingwood cylinder bureau bookcase on square tapering legs, with much use of inset panel decoration. 1810-1830
A cylinder lady’s writing desk in mahogany, with a brass gallery. The columns at the front are decorated with twist and fluted carving. The piece is clearly influenced by French Empire neo-classical styles. 1810-1830
A rosewood and brass-inlaid cylinder desk and bookcase on turned legs. 1820-1830
A late Victorian ‘Sheraton’ style satinwood cylinder lady’s writing cabinet with oval panels. The Sheraton revival came late in the nineteenth century. 1870-1890

BUREAU BOOKCASES — oak
Eighteenth century oak examples of fashionable objects like bureau bookcases are generally thought of purely as provincial or even country pieces; indeed many are, but the range of quality varies enormously. They were made throughout a very long period of time.
Very typical of the solidly well-made pieces produced in oak; like the previous example it has two candle slides. The fielded panels are well shaped and the top moulding is broad which helps to balance the bulk of the piece. Hundreds like it have been made and others married. Check that any screw holes in the bottom of the top half go through into the bottom. The moulding round the sides should not protrude more or less than half or three quarters of an inch, depth can prove a problem to a marriage, but above all it is the grain of the wood and the colour that exposes previous divorces. Generally not the most striking of pieces but very useful. c.1750
Here for example is a piece in oak which has almost everything one could ask of a walnut veneered example of the same period. One has only to look at the well-designed stepped interior and the fine double domed moulding of the bookcase, to appreciate that it was the customer who asked for a plain bookcase interior, not the maker who couldn’t make one. c. 1710
The shallow curved apron, the mahogany crossbanding and above all the dentil moulding and unimaginative arrangement of the glazing bars all point to a late provincial piece.
Though probably original, the top looks small for the bureau compared with earlier examples, but this is quite usual and was probably accounted for by the lower ceilings of the more modest houses for which  such bureau bookcases were intended. c. 1790

BUREAU BOOKCASES —  mahogany
A Chinese lacquer double-domed bureau bookcase on serpentine bracket feet. Note how the constructional features are similar to those of walnut pieces — double-D moulding (gilded) etc. Finials are missing.
1720-1740
Assume original lacquer price is $30,000 — 40,000 If lacquer 20th century $4, 000 — 8, 000
A magnificent mahogany bureau bookcase under the influence of William Kent’s architectural style — fluted pillar decoration, splendid broken pediment, canted fluted pillar corners to the bureau, serpentine bracket feet. 8ft. 6ins. high. A very wide piece though — 5ft. 2ins. —and possibly designed for a specific room. The name rather than the quality or size makes it so expensive. Top price for documented piece or one with good provenance. 1740-1750
Another lacquer bureau bookcase of similar quality shown with the mirrored doors open. Again good mouldings and returns (i.e. the side mouldings). 1720-1740
A mahogany bureau bookcase with broken pediment including dentil frieze, canted fluted corners. Note the use of small side drawers as supports for the fall. 1750-1760
A George III mahogany bureau cabinet with panelled doors, showing an interesting grain and a plain frieze with dentil moulding. The interior is elaborately fitted. The fall is inlaid with the initials WM and the date 1767. This is a piece of reasonable quality but with a plain top is not particularly exciting. It is 7ft. lin. high.
Bureau bookcase in mahogany veneer with glazed doors and broken pediment. A very standard piece which joins the utility of the bureau with the even more desirable feature of display. 1750-1770
Mahogany A la Chippendale — fretted broken pediment and frieze; blind fretted carcase edges and even the bracket feet are carved. As elaborate pediments add to the price and as few Chippendale wardrobes still retain them, make sure the two parts started life together. 1750-1770
Fretted broken pediment, elegant glazed doors, bracket feet, vase and ribbon inlaid into fall and a satinwood frieze under the top moulding. 1780-1790
Hepplewhite elegance in mahogany; splayed feet, veneered and inlaid doors, glazed top and fretted broken pediment and central platform for a finial, not present. Note how well the veneers are matched — just to show Grandad Walnut that the new boys could do it too — a highly considered piece.
A highly decorated Sheraton mahogany bureau bookcase with nicely matched veneers and ornate inlays, on splay feet. Thought to be Scottish.
A straightforward mahogany bureau bookcase of late Georgian period, without decoration. Made repeatedly up to and including the present day. 1790-1810
A nineteenth century reproduction, worthy of Edwards and Roberts, in mahogany with satinwood cross-banding. 1880-1910

BUREAU BOOKCASES — walnut
A walnut bureau bookcase of finely figured walnut, with double-D mouldings and a dividing moulding around the bureau section — relic of earlier divisions (see Bureau). There is a bookrest moulding on the fall. The top has candle slides below the shaped mirrored doors, which are edged with cross-grained mouldings. 1700-1720
A burr elm bureau bookcase with attractive deeply cut mouldings to the top of the bookcase and round the sides (’returns’). The doors have bevelled Vauxhall glass doors and fine mouldings missing only a pair of engraved stars to make it the classic example. It has, of course, candle slides and beautifully matched veneers.
The classic profile of the good quality bureau bookcase of the period with great deep top mouldings and ‘returns’ to balance them. Finely shaped and bevelled glass. But the bottom has cock-beading and flat veneering instead of double-D moulding, and brackets instead of buns. This is almost certainly a marriage. For further evidence look at the difference between the wood on the side of the bureau and the bookcase. Finally, the inside fittings of the top have double-D mouldings. Priced accordingly. The top price if you
have a William and Mary bureau missing a top or vice versa.
A single-width (2ft. 3ins.) burr walnut example with cock-beaded drawers. The price drops principally because of the plain moulding. 1720-1740
A good walnut bureau bookcase with herringbone banding to the drawers. When looking at any bureau bookcase one has to decide whether the two parts started out life together. However, when the quality of the piece is such that the top half if well fitted with drawers and doors that clearly match those in the bottom half, both in veneers and patination as in this piece, the originality is obvious. Notice the insides of the doors are well veneered. Apart from the plain moulding it lacks only a door and curved drawers to
the inside to put it right at the top.
A good solid walnut bureau bookcase with fielded panel doors, good mouldings and unusual drawer arrangement, shown open and closed. Single heavily moulded pediment and fine interior fittings. The price is lower because it is in the solid rather than veneered and it has no glass, but in fact it is a better quality piece than many veneered ones, i.e. the top mouldings and good interior fittings especially in the bureau. 1730-1745

BUREAU BOOKCASES

In the main, the same rules apply to the value of bureau bookcases as are applied to bureaux themselves and the dating of them lies in an understanding of the mouldings and types of veneered decoration. However, for the bureau bookcase there are additional features, particularly the decoration of the top moulding and the way the door fronts are arranged which give further signs of quality.
The essential point is, of course, to make sure that the top and bottom were made at the same time and that there has not been a marriage of two separate pieces. Among the points to check are colour, arrangements of drawers, old screw holes where the top has been secured, any signs of new cabinet work where the top may have been thinned or narrowed, the quality of wood used at both front and back and drawer lining materials and workmanship. Look carefully at the decoration, has some been added to one half to
make it look more like the other Often very difficult to tell.
Value points: as for bureaux plus the following point which apply to the top half.
domed or broken pediments mouldings of high quality  original mirror or glass glazing bar arrangement
This superb George I walnut and carved parcel gilt example is a first rate piece in which the fitted work on the top half has been taken to such an extent that it has made it into a cabinet rather than a bookcase. The use of pillars, fine carving both on the acanthus cartouche medallion and the massive paw feet make it a formidable example of English cabinet work. It is only marginally over 6ft. which further enhances its desirability. Still modestly priced in terms of Continental furniture. c. 1720