BOOKCASES — dwarf
Chiffonier or bookcase. Well-veneered in rosewood with pillars flanking and top mirror supported by well-executed scrolls.
An early nineteenth century example of Regency style with shell inlays in good quality mahogany veneer. The arches on the top of the doors, the use of applied decoration and the slightly high feet all point towards what [...]
BOOKCASES — large
Bookcases fall into two main types, both the result of the requirements of the rich. The first from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century are floor to ceiling; the small very late eighteenth and nineteenth century examples were bought to preserve wall space for pictures — and even more expensive decoration.
Bookcases have been [...]
BUREAUX ON STANDS
Late seventeenth century oak bureau showing the evolution from a simple desk to more complex internal drawers and pigeon holes under the fall-front. The bureau is on a stand with a single drawer in it and on
baluster-turned legs with square stretchers, one of which is missing (left-hand side). Note here the ‘desk’ section [...]
BUREAUX
The bureau evolved from the simple portable boxes with sloping lids used by writers in the Middle Ages. With a certain stability coming to life, it was useful to have this on a stand rather than to keep using up valuable table space (although Victorians returned to the writing box much later). Towards the third [...]
BUREAUX — later 18th century
In the early part of the eighteenth century the bureau was high fashion. Gradually as the century progressed and property increased a succession of new pieces of writing furniture were evolved or adapted with the
result that the bureau as illustrated in the last section (but not the bureau bookcase) tended to [...]
BUREAUX — early 18th century
Early eighteenth century bureaux are highly prized as examples of cabinet making at its best. As can be seen from the value points listed at the start of the Bureaux section, the inside fittings are important in determining value, as is size. They are extremely useful in the modern home for, [...]