Regional Furniture Society


	Regional Furniture Society

Book Reviews.

The Rushlight and Related Holders: A Regional View by Robert Ashley, Ashley Publications, (Brocante, 6 London Road, Marlborough, Wilts SNS lPH), 2001 (£45+ UK postage £4). ISBN 0-9540090-0-2

When I first encountered this considerable volume by Robert Ashley (Duff), my first reaction was that, even for a mad bibliophile of furniture books, this was a book too far and very much a subject of fringe interest to furniture studies. However I was soon convinced otherwise. This is a great feat of self-publishing and the result of long and painstaking study of the subject.

The methodology of Robert's research makes an interesting comparison to that of regional furniture and is well worth taking a close look at. Whether one can spot any direct physical connections between a Merionethshire rushlight holder and a piece of furniture from the same area is a subject for further study, but the book lays out with good and copious drawn and photographic illustrations (who needs colour anyway?), the niceties of numerous local types, covering Wales and Ireland in detail and most counties of England and some examples from Scotland and the Continent. Also included are other interesting objects, such as goffering iron stands, wax jacks, cruisie lamps and grissets. Some rushlight holders have iron bases and some wooden ones. There is even an appendix of comparative features for regional recognition and short sections on reproductions/fakes and on their continued use in the 21st century.

Robert has kindly provided some additional thoughts on the comparative study of regional rush lights and furniture, which I reproduce below:

1) Rural ironwork was mostly sold locally (unless a blacksmith moved from one area to another), so that items tended to stay in the vicinity of the area in which they were made. In the case of furniture, this is less so, apart from built-in pieces. Furniture was passed round families, given to children to help set up their own homes or sold when families were able to afford to 'update'.

2) Furniture usually retained some value and was therefore less likely to be left in situ when people moved homes or died. Rural ironwork was often just discarded in a barn.

3) Documentation, trade labels etc can help a great deal with researching furniture, but hardly exists for my subject. However, my work seems to have succeeded because there was little interest in the subject, except for a few collectors in the 1880s, until the 1960s, when rising values began to bring examples out of their original situations, particularly in Ireland and Wales. A lot more information could have been saved if only collectors and dealers had recorded their sources.

4) Linked with the last is the point that rushlight holders fell out of use in many areas about the time that some museums were starting to collect items in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Local people donated these holders since there was little value in them. Many of these acquisitions were not well recorded, many being taken just for display. Some were bought from dealers and were not necessarily of local origin, but local information such as 'my grandfather made this; he was the local blacksmith' was useful in sorting out some styles. Also, a few early collectors 'saved' examples and sometimes did record where they had found them. This does not apply in the same way to furniture where there was no cut-off date of usefulness which led to collecting by museums.

5) The research into blacksmiths and their local produce does not work for goods produced for a wider market, such as brass candlesticks, foundry items or furniture where a bigger market was needed to sustain production. Rushlight holders were generally made just as a sideline, to order when required. For example, a friend of mine made furniture in Kent for about 15 years, then moved to Wales and still makes the odd piece from time to time. Although by employing local craftsmen some details change in construction and type of finish, his basic style is still recognisable. By contrast, I found that few blacksmiths moved from their village forge (this still applies today) and styles remain recognisable to an area or region.

6) It is important to learn to recognise the different types of ironwork (eg Irish as opposed to Welsh; English as opposed to Continental). Handling the pieces is really the best way to do this. This is perhaps easier than trying to tell where most timber comes from in furniture.

Christopher Claxton Stevens

ENGLISH COUNTRY FURNITURE 1500-1900 by David Knell (Antique Collectors Club, 2000) 415 pp, 100 col, 625 b&w; illus. ISBN 1-85149-302-6 £45 hardback.

This book is like an old-fashioned museum with all its holdings on display so that every nuance of design and technique can be seen and compared with its neighbours. There is a great deal to be said for this approach, especially when supported by detailed captions and a sound text summarising the historical, technical and stylistic background. This new edition of 'English Country Furniture' comes, eight years after the first, with textual revisions, additional illustrations, and a rearranged format which now follows a convenient logic based on furniture types rather than, as before, on period divisions.

In his introductory chapter, Knell discusses historic attitudes to furniture studies in general and the lack of interest in vernacular traditions until relatively recently, and at the same time explores the problems of his title. As he points out, much of the furniture he discusses emanated from town workshops, including those of London, Liverpool, Bristol and Macclesfield, and the 'country' umbrella could be misleading. One senses that he would have felt more comfortable with 'vernacular' in his title, or even 'everyday', for this is the essence of the subject matter.

Sections follow on timber and construction, including finishes and hardware, a historical survey of the main furniture styles in relation to the furniture of ordinary people, and a short section on the regional and domestic context. In this he flags up the huge variety of distinctive regional types and styles - one could call them the dialects and accents of furniture, and he mentions the possibility of connections with other countries' vernacular traditions, yet he seems reluctant to develop this aspect of his study.

The main body of the book, with its generous helpings of illustrations, is divided into sections focusing on storage, tables, seating, sleeping and hygiene, longcase clocks and miscellaneous items. While some of the material inevitably overlaps with Victor Chinnery's Oak Furniture and Bernard Cotton's English Regional Chair, Knell's approach is a more generalised one, and his book should be seen as a companion rather than a competitor for these standard volumes. If there is a weakness in English Country Furniture, it is Knell's reticence in describing regional characteristics. In many of his captions he attributes pieces to particular localities, but rarely tells us why. Among his illustrations of clothes presses and wardrobes, for example, he places several in the 'North' or 'North-West' (plates 254-257) without discussing the reasons or pointing out the distinguishing regional characteristics, either in the captions or in the preceding text; a side table of oak with mahogany cross-banding (plate 312) is labelled 'probably Midlands/East Anglia' for no obvious reason, and two rush-seated ladderbacks (plate 439) of a type usually associated with the North West, are given a 'possibly Lincolnshire' attribution, without any explanation.

The occasional reference to particular characteristics - the concave slab-ends of dressers from West Somerset, and the narrow central drawer above a fixed panel in the base, typical of those from Devon, for instance - is welcome, but all too often the captions are tantalising in their lack of precision with regard to regional features.

This is a serious reservation about an otherwise valuable book, rich in historical insights and admirably clear in imparting constructional and other technical information. Knell is obviously a passionate history man whose warmth for this facet of his subject is evident in his lucid and accessible text. He is meticulous in pointing out alterations and restorations to his illustrated examples; there are some excellent footnotes, and the reproduction is nearly always good.

Noël Riley

'At Ease Gentlemen: A catalogue of 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Campaign Furniture and Travel Equipment.' Christopher Clarke (Antiques Ltd.). £10 plus postage, email: cclarkeantiques@aol.com

This interesting and well-researched catalogue was originally produced to accompany what must have been a fascinating exhibition in the autumn of 2002. It contains colour photographs and detailed descriptions around 40 pieces of furniture relating to the campaign and colonial market, along with another 50 smaller related items.

The furniture covers a wide range of pieces including a bureau, bookcase and bookshelves, chests, chiffonier, dining and other tables, as well as a number of chairs (ranging from dining to an upholstered armchair). Many of the pieces shown are adaptations of familiar designs made in 'knock - down' form to facilitate ease of transport, some also providing multiple functions, such as an ingenious Pembroke table with detachable legs, that also conceals a washstand. Other pieces display their origins in different ways, like a mess chair made from South African stinkwood and fitted with just one arm to allow the officer's sword to hang to the side. Click here for image.

In addition to the stinkwood chair, a number of other items are made from timbers that would suggest their origins in the Colonies; these include an Anglo Indian teak table and a tortora wood table from New Zealand. Click here for image.

The smaller items shown vary from inkwells to candlesticks, a folding bootjack and even a collapsing globe. Of particular interest are some printed items, including brochures, trade cards, invoices and receipts relating to the subject.

This catalogue gives insights into the nature of this market and its supply, both in the UK and the Colonies, the ingenious way in which domestic designs were adapted for the rigours of the campaign trail, and the manner in which stylistic themes might have spread over areas of British influence; it should be of interest to any involved in this area of study.

Chris Currie

'English Furniture 1660-1714, from Charles II to Queen Anne' by Adam Bowett, Antique Collectors' Club, 2002. ISBN 18514939 99.

This book, which is intended to be the first of two covering what has traditionally and too loosely been known as 'The Age of Walnut', is a major work by a past Secretary of the Regional Furniture Society. Its intention is to concentrate on provenanced items and documentary sources, which, unsurprisingly, relate largely to London-made fashionable, royal and aristocratic pieces. However the book's careful reassessment of the dating of English furniture of the period, the first for three quarters of a century, as well as its wealth of technical information on materials and processes, will be of considerable interest to collectors and students of more regional and less genteel furniture.

Adam claims that, because of the rapid pace of stylistic change, pieces can be dated more closely than he had thought possible. He refers here to the introduction of new features and techniques at the top end of fashion. It is well known to enthusiasts of vernacular furniture that such features can linger to a surprising extent as the signatures of a particular workshop or area. This can sometimes be shown to have been the case in more sophisticated circles too.

Divided into two sections, each with an historic overview, the book deals in turn with the chronological development of case furniture, seat furniture, and tables, stands and mirrors, with excellent sections interspersed on topics such as making floral marquetry, staining and colouring wood, gilding metal and wood, japanning and varnishing, and manufacturing mirror plates.

The text is liberally supplied with descriptive illustrations, very largely in colour. The details are particularly welcome. It is refreshing to see so many photographs that one has not encountered on a regular basis in other standard works, but this does sometimes come with the limitations of their not being studio productions. The photographic costs of modern books are a perennial problem, made worse by the expectations of many readers to see so much in colour rather than black and white, sometimes at the expense of clarity.

Adam is not averse to courting controversy, such as querying just how influential were the French Huguenot immigrants who came here in large numbers escaping from the intolerance of Louis XIV's Catholic government (p.33f), or the importance of one Huguenot in particular, Daniel Marot (p.186f). Such questions will no doubt encourage healthy debate as other evidence is brought forward, but the raising of them is part of this new, analytical approach, unencumbered by so many received traditions. None of it should be taken too dogmatically; as Adam himself admits in his potted biography, this is his first book and he.is still learning. Nevertheless, his achievement is remarkable.

Reviewed by Christopher Claxton Stevens

The Portable Empire. Available from Christopher Clarke Antiques, The Fossway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England, GL54 1JS. £12.00 including postage and packing. email: cclarkeantiques@aol.com

This catalogue was produced by Christopher Clarke Antiques to accompany an exhibition of 18th,19th and 20th century campaign furniture and travel equipment in October 2003. It builds upon the high standard set by a similar exhibition in 2002, At Ease Gentlemen, that won 'The British Antiques and Collectables Award' for 'Best In-house Exhibition'. As with the 2002 catalogue, the effort that has gone into The Portable Empire justifies its value beyond the temporary nature of an exhibition.

Along with furniture the catalogue contains a vast range of items as diverse as pocket cutlery sets and mess plates, portable spurs, a boot lacing rest and traveling inkwells. All of the eighty-eight exhibits are illustrated in colour with detailed descriptions, and around half are pieces of furniture specifically designed for portability; the minimum possible compromise to the aesthetics of the stationary versions from which they derive is apparent in many. A large number of the pieces are shown both assembled and 'knocked down' making the mechanics of their construction clear. In many instances the furniture is attributable to known makers, and in several cases provenanced owners. The furniture encompasses the sophisticated, such as an elegant Sheraton period secretaire table with detachable legs, as well as the utilitarian like towel rails and folding washstands. A collapsible mahogany bidet, portable shower and figured mahogany campaign commode (complete with integral plumbing and padded leather seat) give interesting glimpses as to the extent with which home comforts were adapted for transportation around the globe.

The non-furniture items included in the catalogue help place the furniture into the wider context for which it was made. An engraving of the 7th Hussars in their Brighton headquarters dated 1844 provides an interesting example of the comfortable surroundings that campaign furniture was intended to preserve in far flung places. The practicalities of transporting such comforts are amusingly revealed in an eighteen section hand coloured lithograph of the 12th Bengal Lancers on the line of march, complete with chairs dangling from porters shoulders and precariously perched upon a stubborn camel refusing to take another step regardless of a harshly prodding rifle.

The range of exhibits in this catalogue, including makers and suppliers labels and advertisements, give some idea as to the scale of the market that the British Empire created for campaign and travel furniture. In the introduction Nicholas Brawer, author of British Campaign Furniture: Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914, illustrates its magnitude with the example of Captain Hope Grant of the 9th Lancers who required ninety three porters to carry his military and musical equipment into the hills. There are clear implications regarding the dissemination of designs around the globe and examples in the catalogue of items of colonial origin made for this market, and that would ultimately find their way to Britain, suggest the development of that exchange into a two way conversation.

The Portable Empire might have been created as a catalogue for a temporary exhibition, but the range of items it brings together, the effort that has gone into their descriptions and the quality of its production should continue to make it a useful reference for anyone interested in the history of campaign furniture and travel equipment together with the culture that generated it.

Chris Currie

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