Antique Oak and Mahogany Bureaux
ANTIQUE ENGLISH BUREAUX
Before antique bureaux in the Middle Ages many small portable oak desks were made consisting of a simple box with sloping hinged lid on which the owner could write and keep his papers inside. Towards the end of the 17th century this form of desk appears to have been also made on a stand and our two first illustrations show clearly the desk form, overlapping the drawers added beneath and raised on legs which were either made in tapering or turned form. This type of bureau is also seen in the Queen Anne period raised on cabriole legs.
However, the usefulness of including drawer storage space beneath the desk could notbe ignored and the fall-front bureau with drawers beneath appeared also at the end of the 17th century. In some early examples the desk section still also overlaps the drawers beneath, but this soon gave way to the straight type with perhaps a moulding under the desk section to mark the transition. Bureaux of this now conventional type continued to be made, first in walnut,then in ma-. hogany, throughout the 18th century, many in country towns, and reflecting the changing styles of the period.
Bureau-Bookcases also appeared at the end of the 17th century and continued the same development but with leanings towards bookcase styles. The increased height of rooms led to a demand for them. Early bookcases above bureaux either had solid doors or were glazed with Vauxhall glass mirrors, bevelled and, in the finer specimens, engraved.
Value Points
Early walnut bureaux on stands of the type illustrated in our first two examples have now become so rare that little can be said on the subject of value points except that the originality of the legs and stretchers is all-important and makes the difference between the prices shown and less than one half of them.
For bureaux generally however the following value points apply:-1680 - 1740 - The Walnut Period
1. Quality and figure of veneers, colour and patination …
2. Structural condition and originality
3. Herring-bone inlays and cross banding
4. Stringing and other inlays
5. Marquetry
6. Original brass handles and keyhole plates
7. Original Bun or bracket feet
8. Colour (faded) and quality of crossgrained mouldings
9. Size: Width 3′ 0″ or under Width 2′ 9″ or under - Width 2′ 6″ or under
10. Interior stepped
11. Well
12. Oak drawer linings
For oak and fruitwood examples of this period, value points also apply with particular reference to size, 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
Structural condition and originality
Original brass handles and keyhole plates
Size:- Width 3′ 0″ or under
Width 2′ 9″ or under
Width 2′ 6″ or under
Interior arrangement
Oak drawer linings (Normal with good mahogany pieces) Quality of mouldings
Original bracket feet
For oak and fruitwood examples of the period the above points also apply.
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 herring-bone inlaydividing it into three veneered panels with a cross-grained band between. The drawers are also herring-bone 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.
Price Range: E1,500-E2,000
Value points: Original legs and stretchers
William and Mary walnut veneered walnut bureau with solid walnut octagonal tapering legs. c. 1690. The X shaped stretcher is a feature found on tables of the period also, as are the bun feet. The fall front has a herring-bone inlay and cross banding. A half-round or D moulding covers the front edges of the carcase around the drawer fronts, which are herring-bone cross banded.
Price Range: $1, 500-$2,500
Value points: Original legs and stretchers
This is a delightfully small piece of furniture and hence its dimensions add greatly to its value.
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. 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.
Price Range: $130-$150
Value points: Qualityof 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 veneer, with a herring-bone 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 area later replacement.
Price Range: $400-$500
Value points: Quality of decoration
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 againexhibits herring-bone cross bandingaround the drawers and double ‘D’ moulding. The bracket feet, brass handles and escutcheons are probably original.
Price Range: $400-$500
Value points: See section notes
A country bureau in solid walnut of c. 1710. The interior shows the earlier William and Mary influence in the stepped concave drawers and well, The shaped aprons over the pigeon holes are also typical. The exterior drawers and outside of the fall are cross banded in walnut or fruitwood. The handles are not original and the bracket feet have been repaired. The drawers are pine lined.
Price Range: $100-$150
Value points: Quality of workmanship A, e, approximation to contemporary town craftsmanship
Country walnut (solid) bureau of c. 1710 again showing William and Mary period influence in the stepped interior, but which is simpler and less refined than the previous example. The stepped drawers for instance are not concave. There is a well and the exterior drawers are again cross banded in walnut or fruitwood.
Price Range: $I20
Value points: See section notes
A walnut bureau of c. 1725-30 showing the interior, where the stepped design of the William and Mary period has given way to the Georgian straight interior with its corresponding loss of charm. The centre door is flanked by pillars with secret drawers. The interior and exterior drawers are inlaid with boxwood and ebony stringing. The carcase fronts around the drawers are flat veneered and the drawer edges have a ‘lip’ ovolo moulding. There is no interior well; a shallow drawer under the fall occupies this space.
Price Range: $325-$375 Value points: See section notes
An oak bureau of c. 1740 with an unusual drawer arrangement in that there is a long drawer under the fall, thus ensuring that no interior well can be made, and subsequently the normal two short drawers and two long ones. The drawers have an ovolo lip moulding around the edge. The front surfaces of the piece are in fairly straight grained oak without the snaking medullary rays which tend to detract from the surface appearance of the wood. The simple bottom edge moulding and bold bracket feet are typical of country construction.
Price Range: This is a smaller bureau - some 2′ 9″ wide - and therefore price would be affected. E140-P-170
Another oak bureau of mid-18th century date which provides an interesting comparison with the preceding example. The four long drawers are well graduated and have cock beaded edges. The fall, however, is not made of one piece but is of a type often seen in mahogany construction, with a large centre section bounded by two edge pieces with vertical grain running at 90 degrees to thehorizontal main section and with mitre joints at the top corners*. The fall shows medullary rays in profusion. At the base the bracket feet are flush with the faces of the main carcase and a reeded moulding has been applied round the bottom edge.
Price Range: $120-$150 (This is also 2′9″ wide) Value points: See section notes
*Apart from a decorative effect, the purpose of this is in order to have edge mouldings running along the grain instead of across it.
A mahogany bureau of c. 1745 in a dark Spanish or Cuban variety of the wood which was the first type introduced. The later Honduras wood was lighter in weight and colour. The high bold bracket feet and simple proportions belie the much later ring handle replacements on the drawers. The original handles would have been much more in the style of the keyhole plates; in fact the escutcheons or back plates of the handles would have been almost exactly the same. Note the vertical grained veneering of the flat carcase fronts between the drawers and the plain vertically grained veneered sides.
Price Range: $100-$150
Value points: See section notes
A typical mahogany bureau of the mid and later 18th century. The example illustrated here is perhaps a rather boldly wide one but as a type such bureaux, with cock beaded drawers, were made in large numbers in a variety of sizes throughout the epoch. The mahogany varies in figure and decoration from piece to piece but they are extremely durable and many survive in almost original condition. At present, with walnut and oak making all the running it could be that they are rather underpriced; the danger is that the larger ones tend to get converted into bureau-bookcases bythe addition of a suitable cabinet. Size is of course an all-important factor in such pieces.
Price Range : $80-$120
Value points: See section notes
The mid-18th century mahogany bureau of the previous example shown with the fall open. In this bureau the interior has not evolved greatly from earlier styles, being simple and straight fronted with shaped pigeon holes above the small drawers. The centre door is given a panelled effect and the overall style is bold and utilitarian as well as decorative. The centre interior well of the walnut styles has now completely disappeared and the top two short drawers slide immediately under the fall. The bracket feet are in solid mahogany with grain running horizontally as on the drawer fronts.
Price Range: $80-$120
An oak bureau of mid-18th century date with the fall decorated by an inlaid star pattern in boxwood and ebony. This example is unusual in that the front edges are inset with a fluted pillar. The drawers are cock beaded and their handles are not original, being in a later style. The original handles would have been in a shape more in keepingwith the keyhole plates.
Price Range: $65-$85
Value points: See section notes
The mid-18th century bureau of the preceding example shown with the fall open. The interior still owes much to earlier styles, with the outer pairs of drawers set forward from the line of the centre; they are not stepped vertically however. The inlaid star decoration and chequered panel line in boxwood and ebony on the centre door also owe their origin to earlier influences but the almost dentilled effect of the frieze under the top edge is of later inspiration. Note that the pillars of earlier designs on either side of the door have been replaced by a fluted surface.
Price Range: $65-$85
A small George III period mahogany bureau on serpentine bracket feet. This is a veneered piece, evidently because the wood is so finely figured and would have been wasteful to use in the solid. There is achequered stringing line around each cock beaded drawer and the fall, which are cross banded. The inside is fitted with pigeon holes and five drawers.
Price Range: $250-$300
Value points: Serpentine bracket feet
A later 18th century mahogany bureau with symmetrical veneers in a vertical grained figure. The interior is straight, with pigeon holes and drawers and the sides are of solid mahogany. In the later period the veneered pieces tended to be of better quality, usually lined in oak.
Price Range: $75-$100
Value points: See section notes
A late 18th century mahogany bureau on splayed feet with a shaped apron. The fall is cross banded and the drawers have a normal cock bead. Due to the angle of the photograph the bureau appears to be perched rather high on its legs but its proportion follows that of the chests of drawers of the same period.
Price Range: $60-$100
Value points: See section notes
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Tags: 17th century, Antique Bureaux, bookcase, bureau, Cabinet, cabriole legs, chest, country, desk section, Desks, ENGLISH, furniture, mahogany, middle ages, oak desks, Price, Queen Anne, table, top drawer, Value, walnut