A pretty dressing table was a vital piece of furniture
for Edwardian ladies with their elaborate hairstyles and complicated costumes.
Turn of the century furniture was produced in a number
of pretty, stylish designs which are light and elegant enough for the modern
bedroom. Although most people tend not to think of auction rooms when
they go shopping for furniture, its often possible to pick up quality pieces at
a bargain price there.
Thomas Chippendale, the cabinet-maker produced the
prototype designs for most 19th and 20th century dressing tables in 1762.
It was an elaborate kneehole table hung with fringed draperies and had a long
fitted mirror on the top, fixed between two narrow cupboards.
By the early Victorian period, there were two basic types of dressing table:
the kneehole style and a four legged table with various arrangements of small
drawers and cupboards. A matching dressing mirror stood on top.
After about 1850, the mirror was fixed to the base and was flanked by small
cupboards or nests of drawers. The only new type to appear before 1900
was the 'duchess', a large dressing table which had a full length mirror
flanked by two pedestals of drawers.
EDWARDIAN DRESSING
TABLES
Edwardian tastes were similar to
Victorians, but included the modern styles of art
nouveau - especially the continental form - and the Arts
and Crafts Movement. English art nouveau was strongly influenced by
the simplicity of Arts and Crafts design, but abroad the characteristically
swirling lines inspired by flowers and plants had lost none of their
flamboyance.
Historic styles were revived, especially the
Adam style. Robert Adam had been very much influenced by the discovery of
Pompeii and his designs had a classical flavour - ideal for the Edwardian vogue
for light, airy bedrooms and white painted furniture.
The
dressing chest, like a chest of drawers with a mirror and small drawers fitted
on the top, was popular with the Edwardians. It was impossible to sit at
comfortably if you wanted to look at the reflection in the mirror, but as most
middle class ladies had a maid to dress them, they didn't need to sit up close.
The most common woods for bedroom furniture were oak and mahogany, although a
lot of inexpensive furniture was made of deal and then stained to resemble
hardwood.
Arts and Crafts furniture, with its emphasis on
function rather than ornament was rather plain and severe. Most was made
in oak, the traditional wood for English country furniture. Large
hinges, locks and handles in beaten copper or pewter were often the only
decoration. Liberty's, the English department store, sold a distinctive
range of oak furniture, including many bedroom suites.
Leading commercial makers such as J.S.Henry, who made furniture for Heal's
stores, designed pieces elaborately inlaid with floral art
nouveau designs in contrasting colored woods. Other makers applied
stylised floral motifs to Arts and Crafts style furniture to soften its plain
lines. These often took the form of small panels of inlay or occasionally
beaten metals set into the front of the drawers and along a deep cornice over
the mirror.
Art nouveau furniture, produced mostly
between 1890 and 1910 was a reaction to the machine-made Victorian furniture
which had copied earlier elaborate styles. Designs were restrained yet
decorative and were often made in pine or oak. Decoration was sometimes
confined to the cresting above the mirror and to the carved mirror
supports. Elaborate metal handles
often in floral patterns were a typical feature.
The
advent of built-in bedroom furniture has led to a drop in demand for large
dressing tables which are now comparatively low in price. Smaller, more
ornamental dressing tables will be more expensive, as not only are they more
suited to a modern house, but they have recently become sought after for use in
other rooms - for example as hall tables.
Dressing tables from the 1920s and 1930s were often based on Queen Anne styles
and were sometimes known as lowboys.
Lowboys are distinguished by their short legs and have drawers: either a single
drawer running the width of the table, or a small central shallow drawer
flanked by a deeper one on either side.
In the 1920s,
there was a revival of the fashion for lacquered furniture and several
lacquered dressing tables were produced. Check the condition of these
carefully as restoration can be very expensive.
Dressing
chests provide extra storage space in a small bedroom and were made in a number
of attractive styles. Satinwood dressing chests are becoming popular and
are now sought after, having been ignored for a number of years.
Many dressing tables were made with a matching wash
stand. If they are sold as a pair, they will be more expensive than
the two sold separately.
Ensure that the mirror is not
spotted or flecked and that the reverse is still sealed against damp.
Mirrors can be taken to a glass merchant for resilvering. The cost should
be reasonable but do telephone around for quotes first as prices can vary
considerably from merchant to merchant.
Damage to veneer
or inlay will need expert restoration and this is never cheap. Check
veneer for splits, cracks and chips, bubbles or lifting. Inlaid patterns
with missing pieces also need expensive restoration, so look closely at all
complex or ornate inlays.
Dressing Tables