The Age Of Rococo - England - Part 14 (Final Part)

Pierre Langlois was a Frenchman who, by 1759-1760, had established a business in London for making 'all sorts of Fine Cabinets and Commodes made and inlaid in the Politest manner with Brass and Tortoiseshell'. His work in the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles, with marquetry decoration and gilt-bronze mounts, was of the highest quality, and was much admired by the fashionable aristocracy. According to Ambrose Heal 'he appears to have been patronized extensively by the nobility and gentry both here and in France'.

At the other end of the scale was the steady and almost timeless production of country handmade fitted and non fitted furniture. All over England single craftsmen (sometimes estate carpenters for the nobility) or small groups of workers continued to turn out serviceable handmade furniture for the less well off or for the unimportant rooms of important houses. They used oak, fruitwoods, ash, elm and yew - whatever was locally available - and maintained a tradition of vernacular furniture of unpretentious charm. Most of it is impossible to date accurately because styles changed so slowly, but regional differences in design and construction are quite often apparent.
The Windsor chair is probably the most celebrated representative of the country tradition. The type was made all over Britain (although its chief centre of production was High Wycombe) and took many forms, from smart versions with Gothic arches and carved knees suitable for libraries, to rustic chairs for use in the garden.

Another form of seating, the settee of ancient origin, persisted in its usefulness in country taverns and farmhouses long after being outmoded in grander situations. Its draughtproof qualities were undoubtedly the main reason for its popularity in the country, and many were sometimes known as ingle-benches. Low-backed wooden settes, generally of oak, were country cousins of the more luxurious upholstered settee.

The dresser - an extremely useful piece of furniture combining the functions of sideboard and plate rack - was another product of country craftsmen, though not exclusively those of Wales. A typical 18th century dresser is made of oak and has three drawers in the top of the base, with cupboards below the two side drawers and a panel in the central section. In the top tier the two, and sometimes three, shelves for pottery or pewter are surmounted by a protecting canopy. But there are many variants of this scheme: some dressers are smaller, with two drawers and cupboards and some, designed perhaps for large farmhouse kitchens, have four, while drawers sometimes replace the central cupboard panel in the triple-fronted type.

 

Many indeed, especially those made before the late 18th century, had no cupboards in their bases; instead a shelf known as a potboard extended between the customary six legs (two at each end and two as extra front supports). Others had no superstructure, and consisted of a sideboard table with a variable arrangement of drawers and cupboards below.

The space-saving corner cupboard was another favourite in the country. Many were made of oak or painted pine, and most consisted simply of two double-doored cupboards, one on top of the other. In the best examples the upper storey has a rounded back and domed top, sometimes with a shell motif carved inside it.  Other, smaller types, have single doors, and some were designed without base sections to hang on the wall.