ABC’s of Fine Design

Recently it was pointed out to me on my post on the Resolute Desk that I wrote back in December that the other desk that was made from the HMS Resolute is located in new Bedford MA. Not in London at buckingham palace as the information I had at the time told me.

This second desk called the Grinnell Desk or the Queen Victoria Desk was given to Henery Grinnell’s widow as a thank you for her husbands financial help in finding the ship. In 1983 the desk was given to the New Bedford Whaling Museum as a gift and is now in their collection.

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First of all I’m so sorry it’s late! I had all the research done, but didn’t have time to type it up. So here it is, a post all about our obsession with our own reflection.

There were Mirrors in ancient times, but they were not the same mirrors we know today. They were polished metal and really did not give off a good reflection. Still these primitive mirrors were used for all sorts of things in ancient times. Romans used them in secret orgy rooms of the wealthy. They were also used to keep people in places that the government or other wealthy people wanted them to be.

The mirror as we know it, made of silvered glass does not appear until the Early Renaissance period. Still it was costly to make and only available in small sizes, the frame is what make these mirrors appear huge and luxurious. They were carved and very ornate. It wasn’t until Louis XV that the mirrors assumed and irregular shape and lighter frames.

Modern mirrors come in all shapes sizes and even colors. We find mirror houses at carnivals that distort our shape and perception of ourselves and others. We have mirrors that are used for decoration only and at least one mirror in the bathroom. Some are heated so they don’t steam up while others you have to hope you can see into when you get out of that cold shower.

Mirrors are an important part of our lives, we look into them every morning and almost every night, they tell us how we look to the world. Isaac Newton’s intense experiments with sunlight on mirrors nearly blinded him. That tells you how important mirrors are in our lives.

If you would like to read about some interesting stories on mirrors check out this book.
Mirror Mirror: A History of the Human Love Affair with Reflection

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I’m very sorry this is so late. I had some family things to deal with since Friday and was not able to complete everything on time. So it’s now furniture Sunday! (one time only) I am going to try to have Furniture Friday the third Friday of every month. I you don’t want to miss out subscribe to my feed.

The Bookshelf

When people first started writing words down they did not store these documents on shelves, they put them into cases and carried these cases with them. The cases were made of animal skin or wood. Eventually as the collections of these documents grew usually in wealthy homes or religious centers these cases were traded in for cabinets. a Most of the time these documents were piled up on their sides or rolled this is very diffrent from how we store them today.

When the printing press was invented doors were gotten rid of and the modern bookcase started to emerge. These bookcases were usually made of Oak as the people of the time thought that this was the best wood for a stylish library.

Some well known bookshelf makers were, Chippendale and Sheraton  they had great ornamentation and were considered the best of the best for that time. Even today a authentic Chippendale is a well respected piece of furniture.

Today we make bookshelf’s out of almost anything, boxes, plastic, wood and metal. They come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are round, some are square and I have seen a few that were all curves almost like they were a scribble on the wall. Bookshelf’s have become once again works of art. In a much different way then they were but they still have the same great style and function.

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The Wellington Chest was made primarily for travel purposes. It is known as a campaign piece of furniture since it was often used in war time campaigns. This chest was designed to be folded up so that the moving soldiers could easily take it with them.

The portable chest became more fashionable and decorated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as more solders were taken to far off places and the need for style became more of an issue. The officers of the British army started to take for granted that they would be able to live as if they were at home. They had there tents but once inside them they looked much more like a home, then a military tent. Much of that was in thanks to the Wellington travel chest.

I was hoping to provide you with pictures to go along with this short post, but I could not find any. If I do come across some I will be adding them in later.

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Sorry it’s late!

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So is a vase just a vase or does it do more in your home?

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I am starting something new. Once a week I will talk about a piece of furniture, it’s history, use and so on. I hope you enjoy this and learn some new things from it.

This edition of Furniture Friday will start with the history of the table.

Tables have been used since ancient times. They have changed alot over the years and evolved due to social customs. Even though they have changed many of the tables found in Egypt are very similar to our modern tables.  They were flat and had four legs, just as they do now.

During the Greek period, tables resembled more of an altar shape, there assumed original use for the time. Rome on the other hand used bronze pedestal tables and tables with carved sides. Eventually these types of tables would influence renaissance styles.

Gothic tables were usually used only for ceremonial purposes. As the people of the time usually ate from boards temporarily set on trestles.  This influenced the Italian tables of the 15th century that were a trestle type. Mostly used in monasteries they became known as refectory tables.

The dinning table did not appear until the 16th century. They expanded by either using a drop leaf or a center opening.  These tables are more like the tables we use today.  They were usually more ornate and were mostly used by the upper class as the lower class could not afford them.

Tables now have a variety of uses. They are end tables used to hold books, magazines and lamps. They are used for dinning or just for decoration. Tables have changed and will continue to do so. They are made from different materials such as glass, wood, plastic and metal. Tables are and will always be a large part of our lives and good interior design.

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