Mid 19th. Rosewood Chiffonier.

After a brief period of overeating we are back hard at work here at the warehouse where there is plenty of new stock to list. One of the nicest items is this mid 19th.c marble top Rosewood chiffonier. A single drawer above two door cupboard base, original marble, oak drawer linings and beautiful veneers. c.1850.
£795.

Christmas Opening Hours.

This will probably be the last post before Christmas as we are closed tomorrow. So best wishes to everyone who is reading this from all at Collinge Antiques. I hope you all have a very happy Christmas.

Here are our opening hours for the next week or so:

Christams Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day - CLOSED.
December 27th to 31st - OPEN 10.30am - 4.30pm.
New Years Day - CLOSED.
January 2nd 2009 - OPEN 9.00am - 5.30pm.

Canopied Porter's Arm Chair c.1920.

The canopy on a porter's chair was designed to keep the drafts from the neck of long suffering footmen sat in chilly hallways and lobbys. This attractive, early 20th.c French example is highly decorative and in splendid condition.
£495.

French Bedside Cabinets. c.1900.

Superb pair of tall early 20th.c. French marble top carved walnut bedside cabinets. A practical design with a small drawer above the cabinet and a hard wearing marble top. With excellent carving to the fronts and each leg, quartered veneers to the sides, oak lined drawer and unsually each cabinet is lined in white marble.
£1795

Biedermeier Chest of Drawers Writing Slope.

Following the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 the overblown gilding and decoration of Empire style furniture was replaced with a calmer, more rational, even functional style of furniture design that later came to be known as Biedermeier. Centered around the German speaking and Scandinavian countries it reflected the tastes of the burgeoning middle classes and typically features clean lines with minimal applied decoration, emphasising the beauty of the timber used.
Purchased locally several weeks ago and now out in the shop having been restored and repolished is this superb piece of Biedermeier. A chest of six drawers with a hinged writing slope opening to reveal three small drawers. With distinctive shell handles, large brass escutcheons and superb flame mahogany veneers on solid oak. Notice how the grain of the mahogany continues from one drawer to the other. We even have the original key which fits all the locks.
£1495.

French Dressing Mirror c.1920.

Just arrived this afternoon this extraordinary French carved walnut dressing mirror from the early part of the 20th.c. With marble topped drawer pedestals either side and featuring original bevelled mirrors, it stands over 90" tall.
£1795.

Ash and Elm Windsor Chair

Purchased locally at the end of last week and out on the floor this morning after a wax and clean this attractive early 19th.c. ash and elm Windsor chair with an unusually shaped elm splat and good pale colour. Elm was invariably used for the seats of Windsor chairs as its unusual grain gives it strength even when pierced by holes for the fitting of spindles (made of straight grained ash). It is also a softwood so easy to shape for the comfort of the sitter.
£225

Edwardian Oak Filing Cabinet.

Get organised with this fantastic quality Edwardian pale oak filing cabinet by J. Hunter of Manchester c.1910. Solidly made and in great condition, the two drawer pulls on the small top drawers are replacements, otherwise it is in complete original condition.
£595.

Mid Century Modern Oak Bookcases

New in this afternoon this quality pair of mid 20th.c. British made pale oak bookshelves with adjustable shelves. Nice plain modern lines and solid oak throughout.
£395

Oak Pembroke Table & Tray

An ingeneous and unsual piece of Edwardian furniture design. A delightful oak pembroke table by the Liverpool manufacturers Ray & Miles. Featuring a small drinks tray stored below the drawer. Solid oak, in fine condition.
£295.

Edwardian Inlaid Mahogany Wardrobe and Dressing Table.

Two fantastic pieces of Edwardian inlaid mahogany bedroom furniture. With superb quality inlays and oak lined for strength, they are in beautiful condition having been repolished in our workshop.
Wardrobe £1495
Dressing Table £545

Victorian Oak Dumb Waiter

Fresh out on the floor this morning after a quick polish this well carved Victorian oak dumb waiter. These were designed to hold and display the dishes and crockery needed for a large meal whilst helping keep the table uncluttered. Ideal for a big family Christmas dinner.
£445.

Victorian Mahogany Extending Dining Table.

Here is another great dining table ideal for brining the family together at Christmas. Fully extended it measures an impressive 116" in length x 4' wide and will easily seat 10 or 12 if don't mind rubbing shoulders. Even better, when you want to send the message its time for everyone to go home again you can simply remove all four leaves and wind down the table till it makes a small four seater just 48" x 46". Restored and repolished, good colour and a nice leg with original castor. c.1840.
£3495

Late 18th.c Oak Dairy Dresser Base.

Woodworm terrifies many customers and it is the last thing we want here in the shop, but it is unfortunately a fact of life when dealing with old furniture. If you do come across those tell tale holes in a piece of furniture don't panic, it can be effectively treated and irradicated. Interstingly woodworm or rather the lavae of the Common Furniture Beetle (Anobium punctatum) will not attack all timber equally. They prefer starchy sapwood to the denser heartwood and will avoid hearder timbers like oak and mahogany in favour of the softer pine and elm.
A case in point is this superb late 18th.c. oak dairy dresser. With three drawers above a two door cupboard base with dummy drawers down the middle. Nice small panels, typical of the Bala area c.1770. The base is fine quality with original solid oak sides, floor and back boards with no sign of worm. The unusual top is a single plank of sycamore and carries the scars of a pretty serious worm attack. A fine piece of North Wales furniture, good colour, loads of rustic character and yes, the worm is long dead!
£3495

Inlaid Chest of Drawers

Fresh out on the floor this morning after some restoration in our workshop this superb inlaid mahogany chest of drawers c.1840. With original and very unusual handles and backplates, oak drawer linings and good decorative inlays.
£1195

Solid Mahogany Rocking Horse

New in this morning this beautiful quality rocking horse in solid mahogany. Well carved features, horse hair main and tail, leather bridal and saddle, adjustable stirrups, fully house trained.
£1095.

Huge Oak Refectory Table

Perfect for the big Chistmas get together this large refectory table in solid oak with an unusual double stretcher base. 8' long and 45"wide it would easily sit 10 people. In good unrestored condition.
£895

Victorian Oak Desk

Almost everyone who has had a desk job has suffered at the hands of cheap office furniture - wobbly desks with broken handles and drawers that fall apart, chairs which sqeak and rattle until a castor drops off, shelving which just isn't up to the job. And what do we do when they finally collapse? Cart them off to the tip to end up as land fill and then go replace them with more poorly made rubbish. Well things used to be done differently.
Here is a good simple oak pedestal desk made in Liverpool by the fatastically named manufacturers Rumney & Love around 1890. The handles are solid brass, the drawers are solid oak. It has already done over 100 years of sterling service and after a new leather and and a polish over from our restorer it is ready for more.
£1195.

1967 Scalextric Lotus Found in Draw!

Funny what turns up inside furniture after we have purchased it. Cash, pictures, gold have all been found - though not very often, usually it's just dust and rubbish. Anyway, here is a great little discovery; a 1967 model Lotus produced by Tri-ang for early Scalextric sets. I wonder when it last saw the track. Check our ebay site if you fancy yourself as Sterling Moss.

Small is Beautiful - Tiny Mahogany Chiffonier

If small is beautiful then here is the Venus de Milo of chiffoniers. A tiny two door mahogany side cabinet just 27" wide by 14" deep. I can't recall ever having seen such an elegant piece on such a small scale.
£525

Davenport Fully Restored

This wonderful little Davenport writing desk by Maple & Co. was purchased locally a few weeks ago and featured on the blog then (see the October 29th post). Here it is again fully restored and with a new leather. A delightful object ready for another 120 years of use.
£895

17th.c Oak Coffer

Probably the earliest piece of furniture our current stock this large pale oak coffer with a genuine date of 1678 carved on the front is a survivor from the reign of Charles II. The quality of the timbers used on the unseen parts of a piece furniture is always a good guide to its age and originality and the wide boards of the floor and panelled back of this coffer will interest collectors.
£595

18th.c.Oak Gate Leg Table

We have several oak drop leaf tables in at the moment but this is by far the pick of the bunch. Interesting how small details can make a big difference to the desirability of a piece of furniture. As well as being a good size (easily seats 6), a good colour, with a useful drawer in one end and being a date of around 178o, what makes this one stand out from the crowd is its feet. Most furniture from this period stood on stone floors and has suffered from rot caused by damp, consequently many of these tables have been 'tipped' with new feet. This one appears to have survived unscathed and is original throughout.
£895

New Stock - Edwardian Roll Top Desk

Give your laptop a secure home and your office a bit of turn of the century style with this wonderful high back, oak panelled desk. Then, when the emails and paperwork get too much just roll down the beautifully tamboured top, turn the key and forget all about work whilst you contemplate a great piece of British design and manufacture.
£895

Robert Meyrick - Hafod Uchtryd.

Acquired today, two prints by Robert Meyrick; artist, art historian and author, of Hafod Uchtryd the celebrated country house designed by John Nash, set amongst fabulous park land near Aberystwyth. After it fell into disuse the house was demolished in the mid 1940's but its reputation as a high point of Georgian gothic and romantic architecture remains and its splendid and eccentric mix of styles is recreated by Meyrick in his work.
Very much in the manor of the great postwar printmakers such as Edward Bawden and the Curwen press these are two excellent quality prints on thick cartridge paper. A framed linocut of the house against the mountains signed and numbered 5/12. With an original lable from the Aberystwyth Printmakers on the reverse. Also a large screenprint of different architectural elements signed and numbered 22/30.
£95 each.

New Stock - Victorian Burr Walnut Bookcase

Wonderful storage for the stuff you do and don't want people to see. Fill the adjustable shelves in the top of this late Victorian bookcase with your best books, photos, china etc etc and hide all the junk behind the handsome burr walnut veneers of the cupboard base. Plus two mahogany lined drawers for all the little stuff. A very practical piece of well made furniture in very good unrestored condition.
£2950.

New Stock - Early 19th.c What-Not

The blog returns after a weeks holiday in London to find lots of new items awaiting its attention including this attractive and very useful early 19th.c. mahogany what-not. Ideal for a small interior, it has a tiny footprint but with two drawers below the shelves it provides useful storage without being bulky. These pieces are popular as music and stereo stands. The original solid brass knobs and castors, faux bamboo detailing and oak drawer linings all point to a date of around 1820.
£795

New Stock - Early 19th.c Rosewood Breakfast Table.

Recently restored and repolished, this superb early 19th.c. rosewood tilt top breakfast table with column base on claw feet.
£1695

New Stock - Early 19th.c Papier Maché Tray

Purchased locally and new in the shop today this wonderful early 19th.c. papier maché tray. Beautifully painted with an exotic scene of peacocks. In excellent original condition.
£795

New Stock - Regency Mirror

Purchased yesterday, this wonderful early 19th.c. mirror with superb carved and gilded frame topped with this powerful looking eagle. Featuring the original, nicely tarnished convex mirror glass.
£795