Victorian carved giltwood Kerb Stool, Victorian carved and gilt-gesso framed Firescreen, Victorian ash Writing Table

A Victorian carved giltwood Kerb Stool, circa, the floral bead work upholstered seat above a cabochon apron and leaf scroll supports, lacking three paterae.

A set of four Victorian walnut balloon-back Chairs, circa, with pierced mid-bars and stuffed fawn brocade seats, on hipped cabriole legs, restored.

A Victorian mahogany Side Table, circa, the moulded rectangular top with a real and dummy frieze drawer, the carved and pierced supports with turned stretchers and scroll feet.

A George II-style walnut and
parcel-gilt Wall Mirror, the rectangular
plate with a fretwork cresting and apron.

An Indian camphorwood small
Military Cabinet, circa, with
carrying handles, the pair of fielded
panel doors enclosing nine small drawers
with brass countersunk handles.

A Regency-style upholstered
tub-shaped Armchair, circa,
covered in nailed hide, on mahogany
sabre legs.

A George Ill-style satinwood Side Table, circa, with four short drawers and tapered square legs.

A Victorian carved and gilt-gesso framed Firescreen, circa, the
glazed Berlin needlework panel depicting
musicians, figures and a harbour, on
splayed feet and castors, faults.

An Indian rosewood and ivory Toilet Mirror, circa, the oval bevelled plate on twin ivory tusk supports with silver-coloured metal mounts, the plinth with a drawer and claw feet.

A George Ill-style teak Bureau, 18th Century, the fall revealing pigeonholes and maple veneered small drawers, below are three long graduated drawers, on bracket feet. high by.

A set of six Victorian walnut balloon-back Chairs, circa, with foliate carved mid-rails and stuffed serpentine seats, on cabriole legs.

A Victorian mahogany Occasional Table, circa, the rounded rectangular top above twin carved supports in the form of anchors united by a turned stretcher, the platform bases on

gadrooned bun feet with castors.

A George Ill-style carved mahogany Stool, circa, the
rectangular stuffed seat covered in floral needlework, the gadrooned apron above acanthus-clad cabriole legs ending in claw and ball feet.

A set of three Victorian gilt
Armchairs, circa, in the French style,
the buttoned cartouche-shaped backs,
padded arms and buttoned serpentined
seats covered in pink velvet, with paterae
cresting rail and apron, on moulded
cabriole legs.

A Victorian ash Writing Table, the
rectangular top with a tooled leather
inset and two frieze drawers, the solid
vase-shaped end supports above bun feet
and concealed castors.

A set of four Victorian carved
walnut balloon-back Chairs, with pierced
splats and stuffed floral patterned velvet
upholstered seats, on cabriole legs.

An Italian carved giltwood octagonal Wall Mirror, 18th Century, with canted margin plates surmounted by a pierced floral swag cresting.

A Regency-style rosewood and gilt-metal mounted small Bookcase, modern, the marble top above adjustable open shelves, on turned feet.

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.

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

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 overlaps the stand. 1675-1700
Walnut bureau on stand with octagonal tapering legs ending in bun feet and linked by an X-stretcher. The fall is decoratively veneered with three sheets of walnut and cross-banded outside a ‘feather’ or herring-bone inlay. The ‘desk’ still overhangs the ’stand’ part but the drawers have now increased to three. There is a book or bible rest moulding on the fall.
A really superb arabesque marquetry bureau on a later stand with square chamfered legs and an X-stretcher. Note how the inside is ’stepped’ to take advantage of the space under the fall.
A walnut bureau on stand with turned legs with inverted cup forms and bun feet with an X-stretcher. Note that now the bureau no longer hangs over the supports and that more locked space has been achieved by
blanking off the top drawer and making access via the desk, i.e. a well.
A walnut Queen Anne bureau on cabriole legs with trefoil feet. Note how the stand has become wider than the desk. A type much reproduced.
1710-1730 If stand right the value is 6,000 — 8,000. If stand wrong and bureau is the sawn off top of a conventional bureau.
A mahogany bureau on cabriole-legged stand. The cabrioles are good — nice scroll behind the knee, good balance down to the pad feet.
Chippendale at work — how he liked carved cabrioles! A mahogany Chippendale-design bureau with a blind fret around the top of the stand (beneath the drawers, which are cock-beaded) and cabrioles with scroll and
leaf carving ending in ball-and-claw feet.

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 quarter of the seventeenth century this form of desk appears to have been made on a stand as well as continuing in its portable form and our first illustrations show clearly this `desk on legs’, firstly in oak and, later in walnut.
Whilst these bureaux were initially on the turned legs and octagonal legs of the period, in due course they followed the fashion and were raised on cabrioles. This continued into the mahogany period — as the first
section shows — but in later years they were put on square tapering legs but with modifications to the top desk section.
However, the merit of using the space beneath for drawers in chest form could not be ignored. In some early bureaux of the 1680-1700 period this form shows clearly the union between desk and chest by the moulding above the drawer section, which continues right round the sides and was retained, in an almost absent-minded way, either to appease traditionalists or as a decorative feature. The fall-front bureaux, originating as a simple desk, continued to be popular throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Walnut, then mahogany, were used, but elm, fruitwood, ash, oak and other available woods were quite often used by the provincial or country maker.
The style and construction of the drawers followed those of chests of the same period and the same constructional points apply.
Value Points:
All bureaux
1. Structural condition and originality
2. Size: Width aft. or under
Width 2ft. 9ins. or under
Width 2ft. 6ins. or under
3. Original brass handles and keyhole plates
4. Oak drawer linings
Up to 1690 — The Oak Period
1. Colour and patination
2. Original bun or bracket feet
3. Interior stepped
4. Well
5. Quality of mouldings
1680-1740 — The Walnut Period
1. Quality and figure of veneers, colour and patination
2. Herring-bone inlays and crossbanding
3. Stringing and other inlays
4. Marquetry
5. Original bun or bracket feet
6. Colour (faded) and quality of cross-grained mouldings
7. Interior stepped
8. Well
For oak and fruitwood of this period value points 3, 5, 7 and 8 as in the walnut period also apply plus the following:
Choice of figured woods, colour and patination    Quality of mouldings
1730 onwards — The Mahogany Period
It should be remembered that mahogany and walnut periods overlapped each other for about ten years from 1730-1740 and possibly longer. Value points for mahogany bureaux are:
Quality and choice of figured wood, colour (faded or rich Spanish mahogany) and patination    Interior arrangement
Quality of mouldings
Original bracket feet
For oak and fruitwood examples of the period the above points also apply.

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 become more of a provincial or country piece, often lumpier and not very exciting.
A small (about 2ft. 9ins.) example veneered in the dark heavy Cuban mahogany which was among the first of the many types of this wood to be widely used for cabinet work. After years of decorative figured walnut
this simple grain must have made a pleasing contrast. The appearance is slightly spoilt by the replacement handles; the originals would have been the shape of the keyplate. With attractive interior it will be expensive.
c.1745
A good quality cedar wood bureau with an interior typical of a good quality piece of the period. The drawers at the side are stepped and the inside divisions have a well-decorated edge. Another good feature is the
curved front section of the two drawers flanking the central door. The two applied pillars conceal thin vertical drawers. In addition all the drawers and the door are inlaid with pale coloured stringing lines, probably holly or sycamore — in all a pretty little interior. Cedar can form a fine patination not unlike yew, in which case the price will be at the top end of the scale. This, together with the relatively small size, about 3ft. lin., make it a desirable example. c. 1750
A typical provincial mahogany bureau gradually becoming longer and with a plainer interior. The presence of a door and pillars is a redeeming feature. The mahogany being used is a lighter and redder colour, a
characteristic which was encouraged. c.1770
This is an example of good quality as demonstrated by blind fret door and top to the pigeon-holes, the stepped drawers and the bold well-moulded ogee shaped feet. At 3ft. 6ins. wide it is moving towards the large size but is by no means large for the period. c. 1760
The bureau becomes longer and more plain, nevertheless the lighter Honduras mahogany has good figure and the quality of workmanship is excellent. Very typical of many to be seen. Being over 4ft. wide has a distinct effect on price. c. 1760
A late eighteenth century bureau in which the mahogany has been chosen for its decorative markings. The inside fittings, though nothing exciting, are decorated with satinwood veneers — a good point, which, together with splayed Hepplewhite feet, give it a lighter appearance. The handles are stamped out of brass sheet rather than cast. c. 1780-1800

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.