|
|
|
 Three weeks ago a former student of mine at The University of Alabama in Huntsville came to a meeting at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton. I had not seen him in almost a quarter of a century when we met for lunch during his visit. Among other things he told me about a piece of furniture he and his wife had bought for $600 about 20 years ago. I suggested that he sent me a photograph of it and I would try to write about it for this column.
It is a fine High Victorian dresser or bureau that was made between 1880 and 1895. It has the original cast brass hardware and marble top, and is in excellent condition. The wood appears to be walnut, still with its original finish, and the secondary wood is most likely poplar. From e-mail I judge the mirror to be original. The marquetry and veneering are quite good, and the serpentine front demonstrates a high level of sophistication during the design phase in n the factory or cabinet shop that produced it.
|
|
|
Spring Break in Merrie Olde England |
|
London, England, U.K. This week our family is spending spring break from school here in Merrie Olde England. We have been visiting friends, doing the usual tourist activities, i.e., the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Canterbury, the White Cliffs of Dover, Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor, where we stopped for Prince Philip to pass in front of us driving his wagon with four ponies down the Long Walk.
I had seen these places many times previously, and my wife and I wanted our two teenagers to experience them as well. New to me on this trip were visits to the Cabinet War Rooms where Winston Churchill led the British effort against the Nazis for five years, and Sir John Soane’s Museum. The latter is the subject of this column.
|
|
 An e-mail writer has sent this picture of a Jacobean-style chair she recently acquired. The upholstery is new, and the condition is good. The writer does not mention the type of wood, but I assume it is walnut. She was told that it is Jacobean, but asks if it could be Jacobean Revival from the 19th century.
Indeed, this piece is the latter, a 19th-century version of a style that was popular in the Tudor and Stuart reigns in England. It dates from the 1840s, and exhibits Jacobean arms and legs, with the back panel being a fine example of the folded linen style popular in Tudor times, particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >> |
|
Page 7 of 29 |
I think that really SUCKS< Even Thou-The Cem...
