LOOKING AHEAD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 125, 9 March 1936, Page 8

LOOKING AHEAD

COLLECTORS AND ANTIQUES. At what age does an article of furniture cease to he “old-fashioned” and become “antique.” The point is not easy to decide. Perhaps it needs the lapse of a century to effect the transformation. In that case, lovers of old furniture will do well to remember that next year is the centenary of Queen Victoria’s accession, states an exchange. A few years ago mention of Victorian furniture was enough to excite ridicule. Of late there has come about a gradual change in attitude. One does not need to assume the mantle of a prophet to assert that it is among the much derided Victorian pieces that the collector of the future will look for antiques. Does this mean the return to favour of the chiffonier and scroll-top washstand, the antimacassar, and the aspidistra? Not at all. These were later atrocities. The term “Victorian” is far too elastic. It embraces furnishing styles as wide apart as the Poles. It is the Early Victorian stuff that is sought. It was a strange mixture of styles which prevailed when the young Queen came to the Throne—a jumble of Sheraton, Trafalgar, Empire, with several surviving eighteenth century motives, but the workmanship was sound and pieces had not grown too bulky. The fashionable ' rosewood was hardy and durable. Even the quaint little pearly papier mache chairs and tables have withstood the test of time amazingly well.

One might instance, also, the type of chair known as the “Trafalgar,” with the curve carried continuously from head to foot. Jane Austen must have seen scores of these in the homes she portrays. They are light, economical, and strong. Early Victorian furniture offers a variety of tables on the small side, and it is these which are likely to find the readiest market. A circular table on tripod legs, or supported by a central column, on which tea could be served or albums placed, was'Usually installed in the “parlour.” The Pembroke table, with its bracket flaps'at either end, had a considerable Vogue. So, too, did a table constructed on similar lines, but longer, known as the sofa table. One does not meet with many or these sofa tables nowadays. Their maiket value has risen greatly. They run to about sft in length, and could be placed before the sofa on which the lady of the house reclined. The collector should not overlook the smaller articles of the period, which are bound to appreciate m value, such as boxstools and footstools with needlework tops, teapots, workboxes, firescreens, and circular wall mirrors.