Category: Top » Hobbies » Collecting »

Best Wooden Furnitures of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century

Some of these products had different origins. Commode, Console table, cradles, cupboards and wardrobes, davenport, desks is some of the types of furniture that we are going to discuss in this page.

Commode
This is a French word describing a type of chest of drawers made in that country. In England, it was applied in the eighteenth century to pieces of furniture designed in the style of Louis XV or Louis XVI, and fitted with drawers or with doors to form a cupboard. Such pieces were highly decorated with carving, marquetry, lacquer or inlay, and would have had pride of place in the most important room of a house.

Console Tables
Tables made for fixing against a wall and having no legs at the back. They came into fashion early in the eighteenth century, and were made often in pairs.

Cradles
These small beds for children were usually made to swing; achieved either by mounting them on rockers, or suspending them in a framework. Early ones of oak are rare, but eighteenth-century specimens made of mahogany are sometimes to be seen.

Cupboards and Wardrobes
Cupboards for the storage of clothes and linen were made from the fifteenth century onwards; until the late seventeenth century they were usually of oak and with the doors divided into panels. They are rare, as are the walnut ones made about 1700. Mahogany cupboards and wardrobes are more plentiful, but being large in size they are not greatly in demand for use in the smaller rooms of present-day homes. The eighteenth-century wardrobe often had the upper part with sliding shelves enclosed within doors, and the lower part with drawers. In this form it is called today a Gentleman's Wardrobe, and in many instances the insides of the drawers and the upper shelves have been removed to make hanging-space for clothes. In the later years of the century, the mahogany cupboards were inlaid, and others were veneered with satinwood or made of pine and painted.

Court cupboards of oak were made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They consist of open shelves with supports at the corners; the front ones carved. Hall or livery cupboards were made during the same years, and have doors to the upper and lower parts. For many years there has been confusion between court and livery cupboards, but at the moment of writing the above descriptions are the accepted ones.

Corner cupboards of three-cornered shape and with flat or bowed fronts, were made in the eighteenth century. They exist in oak, walnut, mahogany and pine; the latter painted or lacquered. Many are decorated with inlay, but rare specimens have carved and gilt ornament.

Davenports
First made at the end of the eighteenth century, the davenport is a small desk. It has a sloping-top, which is hinged, and a series of drawers down one side. They were made in both rosewood and mahogany; early examples have short square legs, later ones are turned.

Desks
Like the davenport, above, a desk is a piece of furniture with a sloping-top for writing. Sixteenth- and seventeenth century examples were small, portable sloping-top boxes, which would contain pen, ink and paper and provide for their use. Some early eighteenth-century examples were fitted with stands, but in Victorian times the original box-type returned to favor. These latter were of mahogany or rosewood and bound with brass. Nowadays the term desk is applied to almost any piece of furniture at which writing can be done, including what was once called a writing table. These have a leather-covered top and tiers of drawers below, often with a central kneehole recess for comfort. Large, double-sided versions of this type are called partner's desks.

Most of this furniture is made with the woods like the walnuts, the mahogany, the oak, the rosewoods, etc. They are painted, lacquered, or only polished. Decorations with the flowers and other writings on the legs or corners give them a distinct looks.

Seed Newsvine

Rating: Not yet rated --Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

Comments

No comments posted.

Add Comment

Your Name:


Your Email:


Comment

Enter the code shown

Popular Articles in this cathegory

1: Learn About The World's Most Valuable Stamps
2: Model Car Diorama Building Ideas
3: The Most Popular Ancient Greek Helmets
4: Teddy Bear Facts
5: The Bowie Knife: A Collector's Guide