ANTIQUE CANTERBURIES
Above, typical early Regency mahogany canterbury.
n 1803 Thomas Sheraton used the term ‘Canterbury’ to describe two different items: a small stand with partitions to hold music which could slide under the piano when not in use; and a small trolley for transporting cutlery, condiments and so forth for an informal supper. Although the term [...]

ANTIQUE WHATNOTS
A whatnot is a term usually applied to a shelved piece of furniture for incidental use, with or without a drawer and either mobile (on castors) or fixed. Examples date from about 1800 and have the usual characteristic turned uprights with collars or ‘bamboo’ double-collared designs. Later, like Canterburies, they exhibit Victorian features such [...]

ANTIQUE TREEN
Treen can be described as a smallish wooden object normally made for a specific purpose which is attractive enough to be collectable. It therefore embraces a vast number of objects and anyone who becomes
fascinated in this subject will wish to read Edward H. Pinto’s Treen and Other Wooden Bygones. Obviously we cannot go into [...]

Antique Washstands and Occasional Stands
This one word covers a large number of different types. Most supported some sort of lighting equipment or enabled some work of art to be seen from the right angle. They are popular today because they help to vary
the levels in a room and often find employment for vases of flowers.
One [...]

Wooden Hall Stands (for coats, umbrellas, etc.)
The hall stand is an interesting piece of furniture for sociological reasons as much as stylistic ones. What did the first hall stand look like Are there 18th century hall stands There are boot racks and planks full of pegs or nails from the 18th century but the hall [...]

Art Noveau and Art Deco French and Austrian Tables
TABLES AND STANDS About 1890-1920
Walnut and marquetry table by Galle.
Art nouveau: Centres in Paris, Vienna, Nancy, Munich, Brussels, St Petersburg, Milan, produce tables original in design but not entirely divorced from past or devoid of exotic influences. A gueridon by Galle, though impossible to confuse with anything [...]

Antique TABLES AND STANDS About 1790-1850
Neo-classical, second phase: In late 1780s a more severe neo-classical (’Etruscan’) style emerges in France, continues after Revolution as Directoire, later becoming basis of Empire (1804-15) and Biedermeier (1815-48). Leading designers: Percier, Fontaine, Mesangere in Paris, Schinkel in Berlin. Leading makers: Jacob-Desmalter in Paris, Danhauser in Vienna.
Most important development, originating [...]

TABLES AND STANDS About 1730-1770
Above, a Portuguese side-table, made in the English style, about 1750.
Rococo: After French and Dutch success at end of 17thC in correcting baroque excesses by the use of straight, slightly tapered legs terminating in bun feet, the elongated S-shaped cabriole leg becomes, by 1730, universally adopted for most tables and stands.
Below [...]

Antique TABLES AND STANDS About 1630-1730
Portuguese side table, panels from 16thC Spanish cabinet forming the top.
Until about 1640, Louis X111 style still late-Renaissance with elaborately turned legs – a feature surviving until end of century in provincial France and other regions, e.g.
Portugal. Simultaneously, dramatic Italian baroque spreads through Europe, expressed in sculptural supports for tables [...]

TABLES AND STANDS About 1500-1630
German table on X-supports, before 1600.
Renaissance: After about 1530, mannerist influence in some examples. No dining-rooms as such in 16thC Italy – meals served wherever convenient, so many tables were still on trestles and easily dismantled; tops spread with damask cloths, oriental rugs, or covered with velvet, nailed on or draped. [...]