BUREAUX — early 18th century
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, when closed, they hide all the mess and exhibit the fine veneers on the fall at just the right angle to reflect the colour of the wood.
The value of any late seventeenth or early eighteenth century walnut veneered furniture tends to be greatly influenced by original brass handles and untouched patination and could lift the values above those quoted.
35 The bureau as we know it today but a very grand affair in mulberry wood. The stepped interior and all drawers are shaped and there is a well. The mulberry is very striking and brass inlay heightens the effect.
These pieces are nearly all ascribed to Coxed and Woster who are known to have made them. A ‘C & W’ label would help the price. c.1740
This Queen Anne walnut bureau would originally have had bun feet. It has a first rate interior with most likely the original brass buttons on the drawers. The double half-round moulding between the drawers and the herring-bone veneer on the drawer fronts are an indication of the late William and Mary and Queen Anne period, e.g. before 1720. The dark strip on the side shows this bureau once had a moulding around the carcase where the bureau part finished and the drawer began. A relic of the days when the bureau part just stood on the three drawer base. The signs of other handles can just be seen on the drawer fronts. This one is just wide. The price might be 1,000. c. 1700
The next development of walnut bureaux, showing ovolo lip moulding around the drawer edges and flat veneered carcase fronts. The interior now has fluted pillars — a touch of pre-William Kent — but is still stepped.
The feet and the lower mouldings look original, as do most of the brass handles and the lock on the fall. A very nice bureau. About 2ft. 6ins. but high price only if of good quality.
c.1730 Price because of size is $5,000 — $6,500
Items in solid walnut like this very fine bureau used to be considered one down to veneered pieces but the increasing respect for good colour, patina and original handles is fast rectifying this position. Besides, so much ‘wrong’ veneered walnut exists and central heating without humidifiers plays havoc with veneers, that many collectors are showing interest in non-veneered pieces, especially when they are as good as this one. c.1730
A small oak bureau on buns with the desirable feature of being under 3ft. wide. A stepped interior is also good to see as is the concave section of its drawer fronts. A simple half-round moulding on the carcase face of the chest is the only decoration. This is a good honest piece with a well and attractive interior. The drop handles are replacements as one can see the two round circles where swan neck handles were fitted.
The bureaux set out in the last section are all good standard bureaux of some quality; most of them superb. However not every bureau you will meet is beautiful, or even honest, while some that will at first sight strike
the newcomer to antiques as merely homely have a hidden quality that gradually becomes more appreciated —here is a selection. See also the Victorian ‘carve up’ section.
Until about 1965 oak bureaux were relatively cheap while the walnut version was expensive — a differential which some found worthwhile to exploit. This bureau is veneered in fruitwood oysters, though clams might be a better description. The ‘improver’ has missed the point that oysters should be arranged in some sort of artistic pattern, not laid like floor tiles. c.1710
This bureau has a well, and there are places for holes at the corners where the bun feet used to fit. Furthermore it has the clumsily solid look of a bureau pre-1700, and the drawer fronts show the marks where the original drop handles were fitted. Admitted it has Regency looking mouldings applied but then a lot of furniture has been through the mill over the years. The problem is that it is made in Honduras mahogany. In other words made in a style of c.1690 with a wood which wasn’t available until about 1740. The buyer who should have had more sense got rid of it fast at no profit. It was early American; motto — think. c. 1740
(below left) This is a totally honest walnut bureau but it is included here because of the very uninteresting grain used. Quite rightly the veneers on the drawers are from consecutive cuts of the log but the effect brings no joy. The colour also looks flat, and `cleaned off’ walnut (or for that matter any surface that purports to be 250 years old) should have a number of subtle shades, not look as though it was french polished yesterday.
If this is the case the price will be affected. c.1720
Although restraint was the keynote of much early work, flamboyant pieces are not uncommon. However, in the coarsest there is a degree of restraint, particularly on the sides, which are simply veneered. Here there is
oyster panelling and crossbanding but confined to the bottom half of the side. The excessive use of light coloured wood is also not common. A buyer should give such a piece very careful inspection. c. 1730
Made in solid walnut and cross-banded on the outside drawers with a contrasting fruitwood, this simple country made bureau has a stepped interior, a well and decorative frets to the tops of the pigeon-holes. At the bottom there are original bracket feet and a good wide moulding. Thus it has many of the characteristics of earlier pieces.
A very similar bureau though of less quality. The colour is quite good but the lack of stepped interior and bottom moulding tell against it, as does the slightly ungainly height. It has lip moulding to the drawers.
Finally a very modest little country oak bureau with a well and big deep drawers. The handles may be original and, together with the double-D moulding would suggest a date of 1720 but as the interior is so simple one normally adds a few years for the fact that town fashions took time to reach the country.
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Tags: Add new tag, brass inlay, bun, bun feet, Bureaux, cabinet, dark strip, eighteenth century, Mary, moulding, Queen Anne, walnut, William, william and mary, William Kent