‘Vicobethan’ and ‘Vicobean’ furniture

[jacon4]

Forum is slooooooooooooooooo ooooow  (not as slow as Kovels though!) so i thought i'd post something from blogs/forums i visit. IF you are a victorian furniture person, STOP READING THIS NOW! As post is about what happened in england during the victorian era to some  17th & 18th century furniture, it's not a pretty sight.
http://pegsandtails.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/picture-this-xxxix/

[Rauville]

I once came across a government issued handbook from the late 1940's, dedicated to "Modernizing your old antique furniture". One section showed how to update what appeared to be a Craftsman style round oak dining table. Their illustrations took you through the steps as to how to remove the apron, paint the legs, and glue a sheet of asphalt asbestos flooring over the top!

[frogpatch]

Interesting! In the thirties they painted all of the older furniture green or white. I spent countless hours taking it off. Now everyone wants it back again.

[jacon4]

Yeah, I like the painting thing, at least it's reversible, carving chisel's though is a whole OTHER THING!

[mart]

Oh yes !!  Frogpatch I have dug enough of that stuff out to last me another lifetime !! Beautiful golden oak with fourteen hundred and thirty two coats (seemed like) of various colors of paint in those two colors !!
You mean all that carving was done later ??  How in the world would one tell that it wasn`t original !! I admit I am not a fan of it,,just too much for my taste !! I prefer the plain, simple classic lines of the original !!

[jacon4]

You mean all that carving was done later ??

Yes, during the victorian period in England. Jack is a retired antique dealer from the UK who now lives in Australia. He knows a great deal about english-irish furniture in the 17th & 18th centuries. What happened was, sometime during the victorian age (19th century) in the UK, there was an elizabethan & jacobean revival fashion in new modern furniture. This in turn led some folks in england to take PERIOD 17th & 18th century furniture and "improve" it by carving earlier styles into it. Naturally, that sort of thing can not be reversed like paint can and pretty much destroys the value of these pieces. This is one reason (among many) why there are some hard feelings by early furniture folks towards what the victorians did, on both sides of the pond.
For many in the early furniture world, just mentioning the word "victorian" in regards to furniture brings a sour look and rolling of the eyes  . Thats kinda sad in a way because there were giants during that age in furniture building, Herter, Belter to name just 2 who built some masterpieces in the victorian style.

[jacon4]

How in the world would one tell that it wasn`t original !!

It's pretty easy to tell if you are familiar with a particular period of furniture. If you notice, during the victorian "improvements", almost every square inch of surface is carved which would not be the case in earlier periods for one thing. In america during the victorian period, they were quite fond of slathering "spanish brown" paint on just about everything, including earlier pieces of american furniture. It's easy to judge the victorians harshly from todays perspective however, it's the first time in the history of Man that "regular" people had free time for recreation so i say, lets cut them some slack. There was bound to be some excesses when people experimented for the first time with this new freedom.

[jacon4]

Additionally, the victorians invented Christmas as we know it today, Prince Albert & all that soooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo.

                                                                 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

[KC]

I am really enjoying this jacon4.  Thanks for the information.  I have always been interested in all phases of history...but somehow the Victorians have kept me a little more occupied/spellbound.  The lengths that they went to to try and "impress" their status with others.  To lift themselves up by the boot straps to a "higher class" (even if only in appearance) was such a central theme to this time period.  It really set the state for generations to come.

I have always searched/researched the kitchen/dining items and have become pretty well versed in this area.  It just confounds me the excess they went to.  I do still like many of the furniture pieces of the time with the less ornate (that what you have shown) but still gorgeous.

I understand how it devalued earlier pieces by their carving pieces.  But, they were "upcycling", "recycling" long before these buzz words were founded and established these days.  I admire those that didn't have the money to go out and buy new pieces - that were talented and industrious enough to "reinvent" pieces that brought pleasure to them. 

We had a very talented relative in the family who could carve/whittle amazing pieces.  (We are blessed to have collections he would make us for each Christmas.)  He had a barn full of family inheritances that he would "rework" into some jaw-dropping pieces.  He just used what he had with the talents he had on furniture that most people wouldn't have wanted at the time.  (Now many an antique dealer in our area would want it but living where he did was another thing).  He wasn't a lavish person of wealth in money....but he updated old pieces and then gave them to folks in his area that were in very dire straits.  We know from meeting many at his funeral that they became heirlooms that are being passed down through their families - a reminder of kindness and a symbol of hope.  Okay, off the story line....just had to share the why from my perspective.  He really changed my view!

[jacon4]

Yes, the victorian age was very fluid and change was as dramatic as it is today, maybe more so. It also covered 6o years of history, a long time. The middle class was born, leisure time at home was new and, just as important, LIGHT!!!! Prior to the victorian age, people lived in the dark, when the sun went down, that was THAT! most people went to bed, what else ya gonna do? Sure, you could sit by the fireside or a candle but that was very limited, oil lamps changed EVERYTHING!

[frogpatch]

Sort of like today where solar power is bringing light to remote areas where there is no electricity to tap into. Kids are able to read at night in Africa with one solar panel and a storage battery.

[jacon4]

Frogpatch, yessssssssss, it's hard to over estimate the power of such a seemingly simple thing, something most take for granted.

I have always searched/researched the kitchen/dining items and have become pretty well versed in this area.  It just confounds me the excess they went to.

Well, the victorians were into that "cluttered look", doo dads on top of doo dads which is perfectly understandable considering they were puttering around the house for the first time in history.