Antique Art Deco and Modernist BUREAU BOOKCASES
Bureau bookcases appear to have languished a bit in the mid-Victorian period. There was a continuation of production of the sub-classical types of the 1840s but on the whole writing was at desks and books were in
cabinets. Perhaps the pieces of Burges and Shaw exhibited in 1862 revived a taste for bureau bookcases; anyway by the 1880s they were back in swing and by the 1890s the Edwardian Sheraton bureau bookcase in
mahogany was being reproduced in huge numbers.
The rather tantalising piece possibly by GodwinBurges-Eastlake-Shaw discussed in the Furniture Styles Data on the Anglo-Japanese period. Here it is shown with the fall open to reveal the carefully-fitted interior.
c.1880
An oak bureau bookcase of a type illustrated by several furniture makers in the 1900-1910 period. Similar designs occur in Graham & Banks c.1899 in mahogany, J.S. Henry 1900, Timms and Webb 1904 and Norman & Stacey’s catalogue of c.1910, showing how commercial manufacturers followed the progressive furniture movement. The copper hinges to the bookcase doors, with their distinctive shaping, are `art nouveau’ in
inspiration, but the piece is too rectilinear for Continental origins. The fretting of the bookshelves and the leaded glass doors are typical of the period, as is the rather quirky arrangement of drawers and enormous
pigeon holes. The lantern has been added later by a rather unsympathetic soul, doubtless anxious to penetrate the central gloom inherent in the design. 1900-1910
An ebonised Aesthetic Movement bureau bookcase with a fretted top, painted panels, panelled construction and turned supports typical of the Art Furniture Movement. c. 1880
A mahogany bureau bookcase which aims at being a reproduction of a late 18th century piece. Once again, however, the Edwardian desire to go slightly one better than the original has given the game away. The falls
of 18th century mahogany bureaux were not quarter veneered in the way this one has been, giving a diamond-shaped effect to the figure. Nor was the inlaid boxwood stringing arranged in an elaborately curved patterned panel. The glazing bar arrangement on the bookcase doors could also probably be shown to be a later form. 1900-1920
A mahogany bureau bookcase of George III ‘design’, with a broken pediment above the bookcase and satinwood banding throughout. A good three foot wide reproduction which, apart from its missing or broken front bracket feet, follows the original line quite correctly. The Midland Furnishing Company sold an almost identical version for 6. 6. 0. in 1910. Note that the bracket feet are damaged at the front. These bureaux are now standard ‘trade’ items and many of them still exist. The value of this example is helped by the curved broken pediment 1900-1925
A Sheraton style bureau-cabinet on square tapering legs ending in block feet. The upper cabinet is fitted with bevelled plate glass doors. There is a hinged, folding top to the writing area, which folds over to give a
greater surface area and is lined with leather. The roller shutter slides back to reveal pigeon holes and drawers inside. 1900-1910
A chinoiserie lacquered double-domed bureau bookcase in the Queen Anne style on bun feet. In this case the makers have decided on a bureau form incorporating a kneehole, which is not a version very often found in the original period of 1710-1730 to which the style relates, but it is possible. The gilded carving on top of the domes incorporates scroll and leaf forms. The bun feet are to give it an ‘early’ look, i.e. to imply that the
piece belongs to the transition from Williamand-Mary bun feet (1690-1710) to Queen Anne but before bracket feet came into greater fashion (1710 onwards). Obviously requiring enormous time and skill to produce but lesser quality versions (without the top carving) are still made by the trade, often in a green colour, and sold to the U.S.A. for about. for subsequent auctioneering as `period’ and massively increased margin. This high-quality piece was made around 1920 and is pretty faithful to the original proportion and feel of the period except for the slightly thin top mouldings  although the makers would claim that this thinness is justified when top carving and gilding is involved, since the eye does not rest on the top moulding but goes up immediately to the gilded tops. c. 1920
A 3ft. wide mahogany bureau bookcase on thin cabriole legs, of a type much produced from Edwardian times into the 1930s. The top, glazed cabinet has a reasonably robust approach to life but the legs are well and
truly mean in proportion. It may be useful, it may be neatly made but the mass-produced look is deeply ingrained upon it. 1900-1930
A characteristic oak `Jacobethan’ bureau bookcase on stretchered bulbous feet. The leaded glazing bars are typical and the geometric mouldings to the fall and drawer fronts  to give that ‘Jacobean’ look  are to be
found on most versions.
BUREAUX  bonheurs-du-jour
The bonheur-du-jour of French Empire inspiration appears to have died out in its early 19th century form, but during the Victorian ‘Louis XIV’ rococo period it re-emerged in burr or figured walnut as an elegant French piece. The examples show how the type prevailed through the vagaries of fashion as a suitable desk for a lady of means.
A walnut bonheur-du-jour of very French inspiration but in fact made by an English reproducer, with locks by a Birmingham firm. The boxwood inlays are of stylised flowers and semi-naturalistic forms. The two upper cupboards flanking the central mirror have glazed doors and pierced brass gallery rails above. The fitted interior has a well. An interesting example of how the Louis XV-rococo style, popular in England in its own adapted form, could be more faithfully reproduced  with variations, of course  almost as the local English form was dying. C. & R. Light illustrate a very similar model in their 1881 catalogue. 1860-1885
A satinwood inlaid bonheur-du-jour with a central domed mirror flanked by cupboard doors inlaid with marquetry. The square tapering legs curve elegantly outwards towards the ends. Altogether a very delicate and finely-made piece of Edwardian lady’s equipment. 1900-1910
A quite elegant writing table or bonheur-du-jour in the Edwardian Sheraton manner, with extensive inlays in boxwood and ivory. The drawers are banded in satinwood. The tapering square section legs end in brass
castors and are connected by curving cross stretchers. The arcaded central section of the top is mirrored behind and the spindled top gallery sports characteristic finials. 1895-1910
A mahogany bonheur-du-jour in the Sheraton manner on tapering square section legs ending in castors. The inlaid decoration is of flowers, patera and husks. The front surface folds over outwards to provide an extra
area of writing surface, supported by pulling out the drawer, which has a baize-lined top edge to prevent scratching. 1900-1910
A rosewood cylinder bureau, inlaid with marquetry dolphins, flowers and stringing lines. The arched cresting rail has an applied reeded or gadrooned vase and is a feature of much Edwardian furniture (without the
vase). The square tapering legs end in castors. Inside the tambour top there is a pull-out writing surface and a fitted interior.
BUREAUX  cylinder front
The cylinder front became a popular Edwardian form usually associated with higher quality bureaux. It was, of course, due to the popularity in revival of late 18th/early 19th century furniture of the Sheraton type that
this vogue took place. Cylinder fronts still tend to be highly regarded despite the fact that they are somewhat subject to damage due to splitting and warpage in centrally heated conditions. Warpage can cause them to jam or lock in one position and repairs can be expensive.
A ratner plain mahogany cylinder front bureau with three long drawers and mounted on bracket feet. The drawers and cylinder fall are crossbanded in satinwood in the characteristic Sheraton manner.
A mahogany cylinder fall bureau in a somewhat Chippendale style of execution with Chinese fretted brackets at the tops of the square tapering legs. Note the carved decoration, which includes lion-mask handles to the
cylinder fall. c. 1920

BUREAU BOOKCASES  Elongated Edwardian
The Elongated Edwardian bureaux described later were often available in a bureau bookcase form, although the bookcase above was often smaller than that of 18th century types. Leaded lights and quaint shapes were
often used.
An oak bureau bookcase with fall open to show the pigeon holes inside. There is a centre cupboard above the fall, with circular leaded-light door. Above this, the top shelf sports a weirdly-carved pediment and finials.
The whole piece is a gesture towards the Progressive and art nouveau influences of the period. Small  2ft.6ins. wide and 5ft.3ins. high  so really quite a desirable size for modern rooms.
An oak bureau bookcase which is only a brief development further from the previous bureau. Note the side bookshelves, also a feature of No. 3. The upper shelves are useful but the huge gap below the fall could surely have been used better. The fall is carved with scrollwork and the odd, quirky pierced decoration is, presumably Progressive. 1900-1915
An oak bureau bookcase with a conventional lower half but fitted with leaded-light doors to the upper glazed cupboard, incorporating stained glass, which adds to value.
An oak bureau bookcase with leaded-light upper doors incorporating two oval panels. The lower half has a drawer and two cupboard doors under the fall. 1900-1920
A more coherent oak bureau bookcase design with the flat capped top rail of the Edwardian period which stemmed from Voysey and the original Progressive designers. The centre cupboard above the open fall again
has a leaded-light door but is rectangular in sympathy with the rest of the piece, including the panelled cupboard doors below the fall. The only place where over-exuberance may have set in is in the rather Islamic
arching of the alcoves containing the vases. 1900-1915
A more conventional version of the previous oak bureau bookcase without leading in the glass doors of the upper half. Back in 1910 or so the difference in price between this and the previous one was ten shillings  five bob for leading each glass door.
An oak bureau bookcase which owes something to the dresser in its design which is simple and pleasing. These pieces, of characteristically small proportions  5ft.9ins. high and 2ft.9ins. wide  will be enthusiastically collected for their use in small rooms one day.
BUREAUX  Elongated Edwardian
Following the popularity of the Progressive designers and the influence of Voysey and others, there was a move by the trade, around 1900, to produce designs in the required manner. This resulted in an entirely unique species of elongated bureaux, slightly, but ever so slightly, art nouveau in manner, using a much thinner depth of section, few drawers, if any, and often with elongated hinges to the fall in an ‘artistic’ design. The following section shows a selection of the bureaux; the bureau bookcases have a separate section to themselves.
A typical example of the elongated species with stamped bronze handle and elongated hinges to the fall. Note that there are no drawers only bookshelves below and a typical bookshelf round the top, formed by a solid wooden cresting rail. c.1900-1910
An oak fall-front elongated bureau of the three foot wide, but much less deep, version preferred by the early 20th century. These slenderer  or should it be narrower  versions of the old 18th century invention, seem to
have met a need for bureaux for smaller rooms. This is a very straightforward version with a simple interior and three drawers under. 1900-1920
A roll-top version of these oak bureaux with shelf above, pigeon holes inside but no drawer under  just shelves. Roll top adds to price.
A small oak roll-top bureau with a wooden top gallery rail intended as a bookshelf. The inside is neatly fitted with pigeon holes and there is a drawer and shelves under. 1900-1920
An oak fall-front bureau with a pierced top shelf which exhibits a heart shape and two art nouveau-ish leaves. Otherwise nothing remarkable. 1900-1915
An oak bureau which has a variation from the previous examples in the classic Edwardian shaping of the top rail. That central semi-circular arch is a very popular feature of the period (see Sideboards for similar
examples). It may be thought that since these bureaux have only recently become a feature of the stock of ‘antique’ shops, there will have been little incentive to fake them or gerrymander about with them as yet. Not
so: the author was recently offered one which turned out to have been refitted inside, repaired, improved and generally cobbled together from bits. So be warned.
A small oak bureau (2ft.2ins. wide) of the same genre but with a dash of art nouveau shaping to the top shelf. Pigeon holes inside and shelves under, as before. 1900-1915
A fall-front oak bureau with a pierced fretted gallery round the top (also of oak) and with a drawer and two shelves under the fall. This generic type has been utterly despised until lately, when the use of the piece, the
way it occupies little space, and the fact that it has been cheap, have suddenly made it a regular feature of many ,antique’ shops. 1900-1915
An oak bureau on stand with curved legs and shelf stretcher. The drawer under the fall, and the fall itself, are inlaid with the boxwood and ebony chequered banding ever popular in Arts and Crafts design. The top
shelf is pierced to show a motif of indeterminate sort. 1900-1915
An oak bureau on stand with bobbinised front legs to give an ,old oak’ effect, relevant to the moulding on the fall, slightly `Jacobean’ in character. The ring handles are a Sheraton design.

BUREAUX  reproduction, on legs
This section covers several types of bureaux which emulate earlier styles with varying degrees of accuracy. They are mainly small pieces of furniture intended for occasional use.
A made-up oak desk on stand with an interesting contrast of styles which works quite well. The top desk section has been carved in 17th century style and has a false drawer with two rectangular moulded panels on the front. The base is pad-footed in the style of George II, say around 1730 to 1740 and has been carved to match the top. A decorator’s piece. 1870-1890
A mahogany bureau with rather striped crossbanding, on turned legs with inverted cups of William and Mary inspiration. A combination of styles from late 17th to late 18th century which is feeble, particularly in the
inlaid central motif in the fall, which is neither one thing nor t’other. To be exported joyfully. 1900-1910
A further bureau in the Sheratoncum-William and Mary manner made, like the previous example, in mahogany. The overall effect is thin and cheap. 1900-1910
An oak bureau of Queen Anne inspiration in style, on tapering legs ending in pad feet. It has a lot of pigeon holes inside, two long drawers under the fall and, like many of these Edwardian pieces, is rather small
2ft.6ins. wide.
A japanned bureau of Chippendale ‘design’, decorated with chinoiserie features and with a pot stand on the turned cross stretchers between the legs. A decorator’s piece. 1920-1940
A lacquer and mahogany bureau in the Queen Anne style of the 1920s, on cabriole legs. The fall front encloses a fitted interior on the lines of its early 18th century inspiration. The chinoiserie lacquer is of a type which, along with ‘Queen Anne’ burr walnut of many quarterings, gained a tremendous popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s. Not cheap because many would try to sell it as a period piece. 1920-1930
A 1920s reproduction in which both lacquer chinoiserie work and a gilt stand are combined. In emulation of something Queen Anne but, again, really a decorator’s piece. c. 1920
The classic oak `Jacobethan’ bureau of the 1920s and 1930s. Raised on twist-turned legs of Restoration Stuart origin and with moulded geometric panels on the drawer fronts dating from slightly later Stuart examples.
So popular that the genus was made in vast numbers and is now being avidly traded in the ’shipping goods’ business to overseas buyers. 1920-1940
A burr walnut bureau on high cabriole legs ending in pad feet. Quite clearly intended as a reproduction of a Queen Anne period piece of quality. The legs are well made and shaped from solid walnut and are carved with scroll decoration ending in slightly Adam-classical pendant leaf decoration on the knee. The squared lip moulding around the legs below the knee is a period feature. Where the departure from the original starts is in the veneers  fall and drawers much too burr, contrasting too much with the straight-grained sides and banded carcase front, and the embellished top corners (the idea for which comes from the period use of re-entrant corners), and  most telling, this  the lack of any finish to the drawer edges to relate them to the carcase edges which are cross-banded. A period piece would have those drawer edges either lip-moulded, cock-beaded or at least crossbanded themselves. The proportion of the drawers is another point  the chances are that a period piece would have only had one drawer of a shallower dimension than these, which are a little too square in proportion for the piece. 1920-1930
The version as the late ’20s and ’30s saw it  the bulbous legs retained to give a Jacobethan effect but turned with rings of modernistic type. The top has been chamfered off at the corners to give what would now be
thought of as an art deco look.

BUREAUX  reproduction, on bracket feet
The bureau seems to have languished (except as a bonheur-du-jour) until nearly the end of the 19th century when it enjoyed a revival in various forms but particularly in reproduction Sheraton style. The illustrations in
this section trace the main types of bracket foot bureaux up to 1930. We have included those with solid plinths in this section also, since all the others are raised on legs of differing types.
A mahogany bureau of 18th century design, fairly faithfully reproduced. With three long drawers and a fitted interior. A fairly wide bureau  3ft.6ins.  on bracket feet, which is so simple in following the 18th century
original without unnecessary decoration that one feels it might easily pass off as an 18th century piece. 1900-1930
A mahogany bureau of late 18th century ‘design’, inlaid with stringing lines in boxwood and with marquetry panels, in the centre of which is a chinoiserie scene. Such inlaid panels require considerable expertise to
produce and it is a high quality piece, but, like so many Edwardian inlaid items, the decoration is just that little bit too flowery for comfort. 1900-1910
A typical, almost classic, Edwardian Sheraton bureau, 2ft.6ins. wide, made in mahogany with satinwood crossbanding. There is a shell inlay in the centre of the fall, which is almost regulation, not to say de rigueur.
Hundreds of these once-despised bureaux are now being sold by antique shippers to all parts of the globe. 1900-1910
A mahogany small bureau  2ft. wide  with splayed bracket feet in the Hepplewhite manner. Like several types of Edwardian bureau, it incorporates ‘automatic action’, which means that the lopers to support the fall slide out automatically when the fall is lowered. This obviates the need to pull them out manually and individually and is a security measure against lowering the fall without having the lopers extended, thus risking smashing the fall off at the hinges. Ah, progress!
A figured mahogany veneered bureau in late 18th century style. A very faithful reproduction in terms of proportion and restraint, with only the matched veneers on the drawers giving away perhaps the late origins of its manufacture.
A variation on the typical Edwardian Sheraton bureau of 2ft.6ins. wide dimensions in mahogany. This one has the regulation satinwood crossbanding around the mahogany surfaces but has only one drawer beneath the fall and cupboard doors containing a shelf in place of the normal two lower drawers  hence less desirable, since it is less like the original 18th century piece from which it was copied, even if it may be more useful for some people’s application. 1900-1910
A carved oak bureau which is characteristic in production and style. The lion-mask carved drawer handles are characteristic and the carving of the fall draws on 17th century models but adds 19th century arrangement to it. Note the solid frieze of the base  no concession to history there. 1895-1915
Another carved oak bureau with ‘lion-mask’ handles, this time on bracket feet but with the typical Edwardian addition of a shelf on top with a carved cresting rail.
A walnut bureau 2ft.6ins. wide on feet which are half-way between Hepplewhite splayed feet and cabrioles. Otherwise unexceptional.
This is not a contemporary oak bureau. It is an 18th century bureau which has been carved up by a Victorian Imedievaliser’ or creator of ‘antiques’. Covered over with a penetrating black stain and carved with 17th
century forms, the piece met the taste for medieval oak popular at the turn of the century.
The end of the line in bracket feet. An oak bureau which is not reproduction as such and yet owes much to traditional design. The attempt to modify the traditional bracket foot into a tapered version is not successful.
The slightly art deco metal embellishment on the fall and the feet are all that distinguish the piece from a standard type.

Antique Bookcases
Art Deco bookcases, walnut, an upright rectangular stepped case stepped open shelves, the front edges painted black, in the style of Paul Frankl, ca. 1935,
lower section projecting banded deep drawer over three graduated molded drawers flanked by turned, carved & baluster-shaped columns, on turned feet on casters, ca. 1840.
Federal ‘extension’ bookcase, mahogany, the bookcase comprised of seven separate graduated shelves, each two hinged glazed doors, above a base two cupboard doors, on vase-turned
Classical bookcase on chest, mahogany, the canted cornice projecting over an arched frieze on round tapered columns foliate capitals flanking a pair of glazed doors.
Gothic arch panes opening to shelves.
Art Deco Bookcases - Classical Mahogany Bookcase - Federal Bookcase.
George III bookcase, mahogany, two-part construction: the upper section molded swan’s-neck pediment terminating in rosettes above a pair of glazed mullioned doors opening to shelves, on a molded base; the lower section pair of paneled doors on a plinth. Eng- land, third quarter 18th century.
George III breakfront bookcase, mahogany, the molded cornice swan’s neck pediment above a plain frieze & glazed doors opening to shelves fitted arched astragal moldings, the outset lower part four molded doors, raised on a plinth. England, late 18th century.
George III stepback bookcase, mahogany, two-part construction: the top section canted molded cornice above a plain frieze over a pair of doors diamond -shaped glazed panels centered by rosettes, flanked by half-round columns; the projecting lower section two cockbeaded short drawers over a pair of molded cabinet drawers, on a molded platform base
on turned ball feet, England, early 19th century.
Georgian-Style Bookcase - Stickley Mission Bookcase.
Georgian-Style breakfront bookcase, painted pine, two-part construction: the upper section projectingcenter molded cornice over a conforming frieze above four glazed mullioned doors opening to shelves: the lower section four molded paneled cupboard doors on a molded plinth base, England, 19th century.
Mission-style (Arts & Crafts movement) bookcase, oak, the galleried rectangular top tenoned through the sides & keyed, above a pair of 6- pane glazed cabinet doors, over a keyed tenon base on cut-out feet, original.
George III Stepback Bookcase medium finish & black finished hardware, red decal mark of Gustav Stickley, Model No. 525, ca. 1901, two panes replaced, interior molding strip repair.
Mission-style (Arts & Crafts movement) bookcase, oak, the rectangular top protruding corner posts above three short drawers hammered copper pulls, over three glazed doors geometric gridwork, on square feet, original dark brown finish, Lifetime Furniture Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Mission-style (Arts Crafts movement) bookcase, oak, ‘ebonoak’ line, a gently arched backsplash a narrow oblong caned panel above the rectangular top overhanging corbels & a pair of tall glazed cupboard doors opening to three shelves, dark wood inlaid bands down the front stiles, gently ached apron & square legs, original reddish brown finish, branded mark of the Charles Furniture Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Model No, 801.
Regency breakfront bookcase, mahogany, the molded arcaded cornice above four glazed mullioned doors opening to shelves.
Victorian Oak Bookcase - Victorian Renaissance-Style Bookcase.
Victorian bookcase, oak, the molded cornice dentil-carved frieze above two glazed doors & paneled sides, interior fitted five adjustable shelves, on a molded plinth base, late 19th century.
Victorian bookcase, Renaissance-Style. carved mahogany, the molded rectangular cornice thrust corners above an acanthus-carved frieze over three molded glazed doors opening to shelves, flanked by columns headed by carved caryatids and terminating in carved phoenixes on a plinth base, the front feet carved the face of a muse between scrolls, late 19th century.
Victorian bookcase, Renaissance Revival substyle, carved walnut, rectangular top a gallery, the front a raised temple-form pediment centered above panels of pierced roundels flanked by corner blocks urn finials, tall glazed cupboard doors double-arched tops & raised panels below carved griffins, the doors flanked by chamfered corners.
Renaissance Revival Bookcase reeded bands above ropetwist-carved bands, a long drawer paneled veneer at the bottom, on turned bun front feet & block back feet, ca. 1885.
Victorian breakfront bookcase, Renaissance Revival substyle,mahogany, the molded cornice above a projecting central section glazed arched-panel door opening to shelves, flanked by two similar smaller doors,on a plinth base.
William IV bookcase, mahogany, a molded cornice above three open-shelved sections, the base two central doors flanked by open shelves, on a plinth, England, second quarter 19th century, Victorian Breakfront Bookcase, William IV Bookcase.