Antique English Oak and Walnut Bureau. William and Mary, Queen Anne and George I
Antique English Bureau.
A William and Mary period, c.1690, antique walnut bureau ia furniture of great quality. The tapering octagonal section solid walnut legs of this antique furniture terminate in bun feet and the flat, shaped stretcher is also veneered in walnut. The arched shaping of the frieze with its small edge moulding, like a cock bead, is a fine example of the period. The fall front is cross-banded and has a herringbone inlay dividing it into three veneered panels with a cross-grained band between. The drawers are also herringbone cross-banded and there is a double ‘D’ moulding on the carcase edge around them. Note the book or bible-rest moulding on the bottom edge of the fall.
Value Points: Original legs and stretchers
A William and Mary period, c.1690, walnut bureau of great quality. The tapering octagonal section solid walnut legs terminate in bun feet and the flat, shaped stretcher is also veneered in walnut. The arched shaping of the frieze with its small edge moulding, like a cock bead, is a fine example of the period. The fall front is cross-banded and has a herringbone inlay dividing it into three veneered panels with a cross-grained band between. The drawers are also herringbone cross-banded and there is a double ‘D’ moulding on the carcase edge around them. Note the book or bible-rest moulding on the bottom edge of the fall.
An oak bureau of c.1680, in which the union of the oak desk and a chest of drawers to make one piece of furniture is evident. A moulding still continues round the bottom of the desk section, even round the sides, and above the top drawer. The swan-neck handles are a later addition to this furniture. The piece has the book or bible-rest moulding on the fall. The mouldings around the drawers and the division of the drawer fronts into panelled halves with a narrow raised centre panel is another contemporary feature which may be seen in the chest section of this book. The bun feet are also probably an original feature although, like the chests, some pieces had feet formed by the continuation of the carcase frame to the floor.
Value points: Quality of mouldings
A walnut bureau of c.1690, the refined high quality version of the preceding example, made some years later. The style and origin are clear, even to the retention of the moulding around the base of the ‘desk’ section even though unnecessary structurally. The fall is divided into four beautifully matched sections of antique veneer, with a herringbone cross-banding and this effect is repeated on the drawer fronts. There is a double ‘D’ moulding on the carcase edges around the drawers. The heavy bracket feet are probably original but the handles and escutcheons are a later replacement.
Another walnut bureau of William and Mary period, c.1700. this time open to show the stepped interior with fine concave drawer fronts. The pillars on either side of the centre drawer and pigeon hole can often be withdrawn as a ’secret’ slender vertical drawer. There is a well in the centre interior reached by sliding the surface section in the centre back under the centre drawers. A cross-banded division on the side of the bureau is all that remains of the moulding dividing desk and drawers on the previous examples. The piece again exhibits herringbone cross-banding around the drawers and double ‘D’ moulding. The bracket feet, brass handles and escutcheons are probably original.
A Queen Anne, c.1710, antique walnut bureau bookcase of the slender ’single width’ type with simple bookcase above. There is a bevelled edge period glass mirror in the door. The bureau section exhibits all the characteristics of ordinary bureaux of the period — herringbone inlays and cross-banding, drawer edge mouldings and stepped interior. The door on the bookcase is beautifully veneered in cross-banded effect.
A burr walnut bureau-bookcase of fine quality, c. 1720, with a broken pediment showing a fine bold cross-grained moulding. The bevelled door mirrors are edged by a thin ‘D’ moulding and beneath the doors the two tiny brass knobs indicate candle slides. The interior shows the pillar flanked door of this furniture which has a star pattern inlay in boxwood and ebony. The exterior drawers are edged with cock-beading and have a herringbone inlay.
A George I period walnut bureau-bookcase of heavier proportions, c.1720. The top of the bookcase shows the deep concave section, called a cavetto, below the moulding, veneered in crossgrained wood, which was a feature of later pieces of the walnut period. There are candle slides beneath the bookcase doors. The drawers have a lip edge moulding to overlap the flat veneered carcase edges.
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Tags: Antique, antique furniture, bookcase, bun feet, bureau, chest of drawers, Door, ENGLISH, Front, mary period, oak, octagonal, Original, piece of furniture, quality, veneered panels, william and mary