Happy Earth Day! We are all aware of and trying to lessen our impact on the climate. Today, of all days, it’s not inconsequential to note that buying and holding onto your antique furniture is better for the planet.
I mean, as if anyone needs any other reason to buy beautiful antique furniture, a 2010 study on greenhouse gas emissions commissioned by the antiques trade 12 was tasked with answering the question: “Are antiques greener than new furniture? And if so, what is the difference between their carbon footprints?” It compared two specific chests of drawers, one from 1830 and the other a contemporary piece.
Ultimately, it was determined that the antique chest of drawers had a lower greenhouse gas emissions impact compared to the new chest of drawers. The life cycle emissions of the antique chest of drawers were less than those of the new chest of drawers. The new chest of drawers had a greenhouse gas emissions impact 16 times higher than the antique. Additionally, they determined that the new chest of drawers had higher emissions in raw materials, production, distribution, and storage compared to the antique. The longer lifespan of the antique and the lower emissions throughout its life cycle contribute to its greener profile.
As we say, buy what you love and buy in good conscience. Happy Earth Day!
…AND.. some stats for the nerds!
^jh
Graph: The typical life cycle emissions of the antique and new chest of drawers between 1830 and 2025
Graph: Green House Gas emissions per year of life in use associated with a new chest of drawers are 16 times higher than those of the antique.
The Victorians loved corresponding by mail and the advent of the uniform one penny postage rate in January 1840 made it a very economical way of staying in touch with loved ones, no matter where they lived in the country. During the latter half of the 19th century, publishers began designing writing stationery with festive images and Easter greetings. Before long, it was the fashion to exchange brightly coloured Easter cards. These could be bought quite cheaply but many preferred to make their own Victorian Easter cards with spiritual images such as lambs and crosses or bunnies and eggs on brightly colored paper all to emphasise the happy and lively nature of spring. 1
Today, Easter is the fourth most popular greeting card holiday, behind Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mothers’ Day. ^jh
by Lisa Hammel, The New York Times, November 5, 1966
Nineteenth-century campaign furniture, is as square-shouldered and bristling with brass as a four-star general.
Campaign furniture refers to those normally austere pieces used by army officers in the field or naval officers at sea. The explanation for its popularity may lie in an offhand remark made by a furniture buyer, who recently referred to the style as “basically boxes.” Basically boxes is right, yet it is probably the simple rectangular lines of the pieces that make them work well in modern rooms, in many period settings or in a mixed decor. The austerity of shape is offset, however, by the warm gleam of brass hardware. Traditionally on these pieces, drawer pulls are recessed rectangles; corners are capped with metal, and sometimes a strip of metal edges the top of the chest or desk.
Although the idea of field furniture is as old as war, the pieces seen today date mainly from the Napoleonic era in style. Some authorities believe the chests were based on the much older portable oriental chests, the boxy frames of which were decorated with a similar metal trim. The military and naval chests of Napoleon’s day were made so they could be stacked, and many of today’s still can be. Handles on the sides facilitated carrying.
Almost all the old pieces are mahogany. Contemporary versions might be anything from rosewood to brightly colored lacquer.
While the pleces may no longer be used under the narrow panoplied tent, or inside the captain’s snug cabin, observers of today’s decorating scene point out that the add-and-subtract, semi-portable pieces have a peculiar usefulness for today’s space-cramped, on-the-move population.
Lisa Hammel (1928-2019) was a staff reporter with the New York Times covering women’s news and education. She later wrote about crafts, artists and exhibitions and interviewed figures such as Edward Albee in their homes. She won a major journalism award in 1969 for an interview with Dr. Spock. In 1978, she became founding editor of Antiques World magazine.
The Sunday Magazine of The St. Louis Republic, November 20, 1910
Creator: Paus, Herbert (creator); Date: November 20, 1910; Material: 4 color print
Three young boys are sitting or kneeling around pumpkins, carving them into jack-o-lanterns. The boys are wearing early 1900s attire. Behind them is a banner that reads: “Thanksgiving 1910,” with wishbones and two boys holding axes with turkeys behind them on a lead. 1
The St. Louis Republic was published daily by George Knapp and Co. between 1888 and 1919. Its weekday editions consistently featured reports on local, national, and international politics; local or statewide criminal investigations; society news; financial news (particularly reports on the price of grain and local markets); classifieds, marriages and deaths; and editorials. Its Saturday edition typically consisted of two news sections with longer articles, poetry or fiction. Sunday editions included three or more news sections, a comics section, and a magazine featuring society news and events, literature reviews and excerpts, and articles about travel and culture. 2
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Further readings and sources:
Paus, Herbert. Thanksgiving 1910. November 20, 1910. 4 color print. Modern Graphic History Library, Washington University in St. Louis. https://jstor.org/stable/community.18968095↩
“The English wing chair, in which we sit protected and alone and enclosed, facing the warmth of the fire, embraced by wings as if those of a soft sheltering angel. The wing chair’s heaviness and solidity stipulate a different form of life, one of security, of solidity, of immobility, of peace. The wing chair goes with the bourgeois interior, the hearth, with an Englishman’s home being his castle. One is padded, buffered, cosseted, soothed. One’s chair is one’s signature.” 1
The wing chair is a high backed, upholstered easy chair with side wings, or ear pieces, on either side of the chair back. It was originally a mid 17th century design. Sometimes referred to as a library chair, grandfather chair, forty-winks chair, or saddle-back chair— the wing chair would often be situated alongside or in front of the hearth. The “wings” would shield it’s occupant from drafts, muffle unnecessary sounds and distractions, and perhaps best of all, trap the warmth from a fireplace into the area where you’d be sitting. 2
Here: A handsome mahogany frame upholstered wing chair with rams head carved legs, English, circa 1880. on Queen Anne legs and pad feet, a distinctive split double-scroll ram’s head motif on the two front legs. height: 43 in. 109 cm., width: 34 in. 86 cm., depth: 32 in. 81 cm. seat height: 18 in. 46 cm., arm height: 26 in. 66 cm.
Karl Springer’s signature styles were classical Chinese and Art Deco, the latter inspired by his predecessors Ruhlmann and Jean-Michel Frank. Other influences seen in his creations ranged from the Bauhaus of Germany, his native country, to the Ashanti of Africa. Craftsmen around the world implemented his designs and he traveled widely to oversee the workshops and to scout for new ideas, forms and materials. 12
“The pieces that attract me have detailing that you can contemplate for hours. Because I insist on the same standards, there could never be any mass production in my workshop—we make one piece at a time.”
Mr. Springer was credited with reviving shagreen, the rough skin of an Asian shark, which had been popular as a fabric in the 1920’s but had fallen out of favor. He brought the use of lacquered parchment back into furniture manufacture as well and also worked with inlaid-wood veneers, rare woods, metals, faux finishes and granite.
Karl Springer managed to establish his first, tiny workshop in the early 1960’s and started concentrating on furniture design in 1965. His business flourished after the Duchess of Windsor came across his designs and praised them to her many acquaintances.
“Once I was discovered by the Duchess and her circle, I probably could have gone on making little leather phone tables forever,” he told an interviewer two years ago, laughing. “But you need a challenge.”
As part of our burgeoning contemporary offerings, Garden Court Antiques has recently acquired an exceptional vintage Karl Springer banker’s coffee table covered in a cream-colored shagreen from the 1980’s. ^jh
Often, buying holiday gifts for well-to-friends is like ‘bringing owls to Athens‘. We suggest a unique bronze owl inkwell from the late nineteenth century now mounted as a table – desk lamp with a painted metal shade .
The idiom, “to bring owls to Athens”, is an ancient Greek proverb ascribed to Plato by Diogenes Laërtius (d. 180 – d.240) biographer to the Greek philosophers. 1
It is said that an abundance of owls famously roosted in the rafters of the original Parthenon (before it was burnt down). The owls became a symbol of the city over the years and were sacred to Athena the goddess.
The silver coins of local Athenian currency featured an owl. The Athenians mined their own silver and from this they minted their own coins, so they had need of nothing more. The proverb is stating that to bring owls (either the birds or coins) to Athens would be a pointless exercise, because they have plenty of their own, anymore would be superfluous. 2
The owl symbolizes wisdom, intelligence, protection, and vigilance. During the Victorian period of the 19th century, owls found their way into nursery rhymes. Lamps and andirons were decorated with owls; the birds came to be associated with libraries and learning. The depiction of owls was just as prevalent during the Arts & Crafts movement.
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diogenes_Laertius/Lives_of_the_Eminent_Philosophers/3/Plato*.html ↩
The Idioms https://www.theidioms.com/bring-owls-to-athens/ ↩
Seasonal Anticipation: A large & rustic country French yellow-glazed pottery bowl, circa 1880 for your Thanksgiving table. diameter: 16 in. 40.5 cm. height: 8 in. 2.3 cm.
Large antique bowls can be used as a base for centerpieces; you can also include them in your seasonal decorating. Changing out the contents of your bowl and voilà, instant update. Garden Court Antiques has quite a few rustic and antique bowls to consider.
Considering the living conditions in such camps and ship hulks, this extraordinarily beautiful work is a celebration of the human spirit over adversity. The technical expertise and the design sense displayed on many pieces are remarkable. Furthermore, the sensitivity of composition, color, and use of material on the best work is breathtaking. The humble materials in the hands of people brought low by circumstances were transformed into treasures reflecting a world of imagination and culture. It is as if the prisoners’ intellects soared while their bodies were confined.
The prisoners sold their wares in the prison markets, where they had the opportunity to interact with the world outside and earn some money towards their keep. Work was sometimes directly commissioned, with the patron providing some of the more specialized materials, such as dyes. There are traditional recipes using chemicals and natural processes and materials for dying straw, as well as theories as to when the straw should be gathered and how it should be kept. However, by the end of the eighteenth century and in prison circumstances, the dying was done by more direct methods.
The prisoners, who were French or Dutch, brought the knowledge of straw work with them. Straw work had been practiced in many parts of the Far East and Europe for centuries.
The technique of straw marquetry appears to be more or less universal. Basically the straw was split, flattened, sometimes bleached and dyed, and then glued onto the wood, or first on paper which was then glued onto the object. Care had to be taken in the application of appropriate pressure to insure the adhesion and flatness of the delicate material. Blotting paper was used to absorb the extra moisture from the glue. Sometimes geometric shapes such as herringbone, lines, chequered squares, and other designs were cutout of long strips of straw that were first glued on paper. For example, lines cut diagonally could give long lengths of sharply defined herringbone designs. These were inspired by traditional tapestry designs, such as the Italian bergamot pattern
The designs on the boxes follow the traditions of other arts. Early boxes on the whole represent scenes typical of period painting and tapestry, framed by designs within contemporary conventions. From the end of the eighteenth century, some boxes follow the neoclassical traditionof arrangement and ornament, although the motifs are often more realistically depicted than in similar wood marquetry. Geometric patterns are also strong within straw work tradition. Sometimes they are used as part of a complex design incorporating representational parts and sometimes as an overall cover for a complete box. Such designs make use of the particular quality of straw, which reflects light according to the way it is arranged. Subtle effects of color and sheen can be achieved by clever juxtaposition of straw following different directions.
After the first two decades of the nineteenth century, straw marquetry became less fashionable. Perhaps the departure of the prisoners meant a ready supply was no longer there. However, if the demand had remained strong, English craftsmen would have continued the work. Instead, as the nineteenth century progressed, the craft continued to decline. It is more likely that the rise of the middle classes and the demand for goods which looked more “manufactured” spelt the end of this fine craft, which allowed for more idiosyncratic and at times playful interpretations of the world.
Another factor could have been the cost. A box, or a picture, decorated by prisoners was sold for 20-40 shillings, as much as any quality box was sold for at the time. Free craftsmen could not have competed in a field that needed so much personal time. In spite of presses and mechanical devices for splitting straw, the work still needed skill and hours of exacting work.
For many decades straw work has been neglected. On account of the fragility of the material and the fact that it cannot be refinished, most old pieces show signs of ageing. This has meant that it was only sought after by connoisseurs who had the confidence to display antiques as antiques and not as over restored pieces from centuries past. With the recent advent of the ever more sophisticated collector who demands genuine period pieces, straw work is showing a rapid and sharp increase in price
Exceptional prisoner of war work and early pieces, which are very rare, command considerably higher prices. With scholarship identifying artists and areas of work, these small treasures are fast disappearing into museums and important collections.
We understand that for the next few weeks, the way we live and do business has changed.
Today, March 17th, San Francisco has issued a ‘shelter in place’ order, to limit the spread of the Coronavirus and to protect its citizens. As small business owners, we realize the need for these drastic measures. We also realize that we need to be resilient to survive these challenges.
Our showroom may be temporarily dark but WE ARE HERE and available to help.
Reach us by phone , email, and through our online portals including our websites, Instagram, facebook, etc.
We are reminded that during World War II, under the most adverse conditions, many French artisans and designers continued to create some of their best work. “We are nothing if not resilient!”
