In the late 1800s the industrial revolution in England marked the end of the era of home-based hand manufacturing. The extensive mechanization of furniture production resulted in less expensive machine-made furniture, making furniture affordable for the middle class. Antiques dealer David Lindquist discusses typical furniture designs and construction of the early Victorian period. An Eastlake parlor chair in walnut is an example of the type of work turned out by machines of the day (figure A). All the carved design work was done by machines (figure B), and factory production allowed a thousand such chairs to be produced daily instead of the one or two that could be made by hand. Linear detailing shows up on many pieces of machine-made furniture, such as a small walnut dresser (figure C), and is an example of easy-to-make machine cuts. An examination of a machine-made dresser drawer reveals perfect dovetailing, with each dovetail identical to the next. Handmade dovetails are irregular and imperfect. With machine production 100,000 dovetails could be cut in a day. Pottery of the period can be dated exactly because of English registry marks imprinted on the bottom of the piece on the day of production. The design of griffins on a piece of porcelain (figure D) produced on September 22, 1862, also appears on an aesthetic-movement miniature cabinet, illustrating that furniture and accessories of the same period often exhibit the same characteristics and motifs. The ornate little cabinet, which features hidden compartments, was made in multiples, with every cut and turning made by machine (figure E).
RESOURCES :
Victorian Furniture With Prices
Model: 0870696645
Author: David P. Lindquist
1995
Chilton Book Company
Westchester, PA 19380
Phone: 610-738-9280
Fax: 610-738-9354
GUESTS :
David Lindquist
1213 E. Franklin St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: 919-942-3179
Fax: 919-942-6600
Email: WHCHNC@aol.com
Website: www.citysearch.com/rdu/whitehall
Whitehall at the Villa Antiques
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