Furniture

Every piece of furniture has a practical purpose regardless of how simple or grand it is, even if some pieces were built more for display than function. Today, furniture remains one of the largest areas of the antiques market and items are categorised by type and period.

The term brown furniture refers to traditional pieces made from dark woods such as mahogany, while pieces made from native woods like oak and walnut are sometimes referred to as vernacular furniture.

Famous historical makers include Chippendale, Gillows, William Vile and John Cobb. More recent market trends have seen modern vintage pieces appearing in specialist design and ‘Interior’ auctions.

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Blue john urns at £120,000

24 July 2012

This stunning pair of 19th century blue john pedestal urns was the outstanding star at Tennants’ £1.8m summer sale at Leyburn.

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Yorkshire furniture maker’s collection to be sold

29 May 2012

A collection of work by the late Sid Pollard, a well-known Yorkshire furniture maker, will go under the hammer at Addison’s sale in Barnard Castle, County Durham, on June 2.

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More carvings taken in spate of church thefts

29 May 2012

Two more churches have been hit by thieves in the latest of a series of break-ins targeting medieval monuments and carvings.

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US bidder wins battle for £6900 stereoscope

25 May 2012

This Victorian achromatic cabinet stereoscope was one of the more unusual offerings among the 540 lots offered at Dee Atkinson & Harrison’s recent sale at Driffield and proved the stand-out seller.

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Dragon sideboard in Bristol

21 May 2012

This Chinese export sideboard dating from the late 19th century is estimated to fetch £800-1200 at East Bristol Auctions on May 26.

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Salvaged urns at Summers Place

16 May 2012

This impressive run of lidded urns once adorned the grounds of Witley Court, the palatial mansion in Worcestershire built by Thomas Foley in 1655.

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Windsors return to West Wycombe

30 April 2012

THERE can be few more instantly recognisable forms in English furniture than the Windsor chair. Since the early 1970s, Michael Harding-Hill has been well known as an authority on the subject, publishing ‘Windsor Chairs, An Illustrated Celebration’, a book which pictures many examples that passed through his hands over many decades as a dealer.

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Hunt for stolen reredos panel

02 April 2012

IT survived the Reformation and had been buried in a churchyard for safekeeping before being rediscovered nearly 200 years ago, but this ‘very rare’ medieval reredos panel has now fallen victim to thieves.

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Great Bed of Ware goes home for a year’s visit

26 March 2012

THE Great Bed of Ware is to be loaned by the V&A, for the first time since its acquisition in 1931, to the Ware Museum.

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Tiffany rarities show designer’s versatility

27 February 2012

THE two Tiffany works of art that gave strong performances within days of each other in recent US sales were not the usual lamps, glassware or table silver.

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£150,000 chimneypiece leads Jamb sale at Christie’s

06 February 2012

Bidders in the room, on the phones and the internet were all in action last week to contest the 475-lot sale of the collection of Will Fisher, founder of London dealers Jamb, at Christie’s South Kensington.

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Low seat, high price

30 January 2012

THE Oak Sale at Bonhams Chester is not the obvious place to find a 16th century Indo-Portuguese chair. Hiding in plain sight at the January 19 auction of predominantly British vernacular design was a rare survivor.

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Seat of power – where Wellington stood to watch Napoleon’s defeat

30 January 2012

AT Waterloo, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) is supposed to have directed the battle from a position near the crossroads of the Brussels and Ohain roads.

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Lloyd Wright’s iconic urn sells for $650,000 in Chicago

10 October 2011

MADE by James A. Miller and Brother of Chicago to a design of c.1898, Frank Lloyd Wright’s 18in (45cm) high spherical copper urn worked with repoussé panels of interlocking geometric decoration, shown here, has become an icon of the American Arts & Crafts movement.

MBE for Parker Knoll specialist

20 June 2011

JONATHAN Arnold has been awarded an MBE for services to English furniture makers in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

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Catching the mouse – twice

18 June 2011

IT is interesting to compare the commercial fortunes of these two similar, but not identical, Mouseman adzed oak sideboards sold at auction in recent weeks.

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Lacquer cabinet at £120,000 in Shrewsbury

16 May 2011

"The best piece of furniture sold in Shropshire in a decade," enthused Shrewsbury auctioneer Jeremy Lamond of Halls.

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Detective work pays off as Burges windows head home

04 April 2011

TWO William Burges windows that surfaced at auction in Salisbury last year have been sold back to the house for which they were originally made.

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Rare table in Cheltenham generates strong interest

28 February 2011

AMONG the more unusual entries to Mallams' latest sale in Cheltenham was this early Victorian table carved from parrot coal.

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Bedford Museum secures £850,000 Burges gem

28 February 2011

THE Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum have secured this unique piece of furniture at a price of £850,000.

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