Many people in different countries use their own mahogany furniture styles and there has been a lot of the copying and reproduce in the designs and decorations styles of mahogany furniture. Here we are gong to look at some of the countries and their mahogany furniture designs and works and the different kinds of mahogany timber they used to make the fine mahogany furniture.
GERMANY
At the time when Queen Anne mahogany furniture was being made in England, rather similar pieces were made in parts of Germany. They can be distinguished from one another by the more extravagant mahogany furniture lines of those from Germany: whereas an English chest might have a gently shaped front with straight sides, the German equivalent would have a deeply curved front, and the sides would be curved also.
German mahogany style (a sloping-front bureau with a cupboard above) have been offered from time to time as genuinely of English mahogany furniture manufacture, and in some instances their more obvious curves have been skillfully reduced. Later in the eighteenth century Germany copied the prevailing French styles.
HOLLAND
Dutch mahogany furniture has always had close links with English, and still is, mistaken for English work. In the times of William and Mary and Queen Anne, there was a flow of Dutch craftsmen 10 England and much of the furniture of those periods could have been made in either country. Some of the walnut-veneered and marquetry pieces are, like the German, rather over-shaped and too heavily decorated to be of English make.
Large two-door cupboards of walnut and ebony were popular; these were constructed to take to pieces for transport and are found in Holland and farther a field. Dutch mahogany chairs of a design reminiscent of the work of Robert Adam, with carved ornament of leaves and ribbons, were made in mahogany and can be mistaken for English. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the Dutch cabinetmakers made some attractive furniture of oak veneered with satinwood and inset with shaped panels of lacquer. Tables, cabinets and fall-front secretaires are to be found in this style.
Much of the Dutch walnut and mahogany furniture inlaid with marquetry of flowers and birds, often bookcases with glazed doors, and sloping-front bureaus, have had the marquetry added long after they were made. This was done when plain furniture was temporarily unfashionable.
ITALY
Italian mahogany furniture inspired or followed the design of most of the main types of other European countries. Marquetry was first used there, and developed later in Holland and England, and by Boulle in France. The mahogany furniture of Italy varies from district to district, not only in details of design but in the timber from which it was made. Many pieces were veneered, others were gilded, and others lacquered. The painted or lacquered furniture made in Venice in the eighteenth century is much in demand at present.
SCANDINAVIA
Much English mahogany furniture was imported into the Scandinavian countries in the eighteenth century. The most famous and valuable that was actually made there was the work of a Swede, George Haupt (1741 to 1784), trained in Paris and London, who made furniture in Stockholm in the Louis XVI style. His work is rare and valuable.
German copied English mahogany style and later in the eighteenth century Germany copied the prevailing French reproduction furniture styles. Dutch mahogany furniture has always had close links with English. Italian mahogany furniture inspired or followed the design of most of the main types of other European countries. These countries use different kinds of woods to make fine mahogany furniture like the mahogany reproduction chairs, tables, doors, and other cabinets.
German mahogany style (a sloping-front bureau with a cupboard above) have been offered from time to time as genuinely of English mahogany furniture manufacture, and in some instances their more obvious curves have been skillfully reduced. Later in the eighteenth century Germany copied the prevailing French styles.
HOLLAND
Dutch mahogany furniture has always had close links with English, and still is, mistaken for English work. In the times of William and Mary and Queen Anne, there was a flow of Dutch craftsmen 10 England and much of the furniture of those periods could have been made in either country. Some of the walnut-veneered and marquetry pieces are, like the German, rather over-shaped and too heavily decorated to be of English make.
Large two-door cupboards of walnut and ebony were popular; these were constructed to take to pieces for transport and are found in Holland and farther a field. Dutch mahogany chairs of a design reminiscent of the work of Robert Adam, with carved ornament of leaves and ribbons, were made in mahogany and can be mistaken for English. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the Dutch cabinetmakers made some attractive furniture of oak veneered with satinwood and inset with shaped panels of lacquer. Tables, cabinets and fall-front secretaires are to be found in this style.
Much of the Dutch walnut and mahogany furniture inlaid with marquetry of flowers and birds, often bookcases with glazed doors, and sloping-front bureaus, have had the marquetry added long after they were made. This was done when plain furniture was temporarily unfashionable.
ITALY
Italian mahogany furniture inspired or followed the design of most of the main types of other European countries. Marquetry was first used there, and developed later in Holland and England, and by Boulle in France. The mahogany furniture of Italy varies from district to district, not only in details of design but in the timber from which it was made. Many pieces were veneered, others were gilded, and others lacquered. The painted or lacquered furniture made in Venice in the eighteenth century is much in demand at present.
SCANDINAVIA
Much English mahogany furniture was imported into the Scandinavian countries in the eighteenth century. The most famous and valuable that was actually made there was the work of a Swede, George Haupt (1741 to 1784), trained in Paris and London, who made furniture in Stockholm in the Louis XVI style. His work is rare and valuable.
German copied English mahogany style and later in the eighteenth century Germany copied the prevailing French reproduction furniture styles. Dutch mahogany furniture has always had close links with English. Italian mahogany furniture inspired or followed the design of most of the main types of other European countries. These countries use different kinds of woods to make fine mahogany furniture like the mahogany reproduction chairs, tables, doors, and other cabinets.
