Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

18 Conservation of Furniture
pine were used for drawer fronts. The fixing of
drawers by hanging them on runners and
grooves was improved by drawers sliding on
the dust board. The grain of drawer bottoms at
first ran from front to back but was later
changed to run from side to side. Drawers with
dovetailed fronts replaced nailed and rebated
ones. After 1670, the crude through dovetailing
of the fronts of drawers used in the early part
of the century was replaced with lapped or
stopped dovetailing which gave a better
ground for veneering.
Early panelled work used mouldings that
were run on oak and used as a framing surround.
By the seventeenth century, mouldings
for cornices, plinths, friezes, edges of tables,
drawers and so on were important for decorative
effect and were usually finished with crossgrained
veneer. The cavetto (hollow) shape
was used on tall chests and the half-round on
carcase fronts; the double half-round was used
between 1700 and 1715. On drawers after
1710, an ovolo moulding was set so that the
join between the opening and the drawer was
hidden when closed.
Turning Until the early seventeenth century
turnings were produced on dead-centre
lathes, driven by treadle or wheel or on the
pole lathe. For much of the century, knop and
ring turning and bobbin turning were repeated
but towards the end of the century there were
some contrivances introduced that allowed a
twist or spiral to be put in on the lathe rather
than by using hand-rasping to achieve the
effect.
Surface decoration and finish
In the first half of the seventeenth century, cabinet
work was often decorated with split turnings
and raised faceted mouldings that were
applied to surfaces and sometimes painted
black and inlaid with bone or mother-of-pearl.
Carving was generally flatter than previously,
with acanthus scrolls, guilloche, lunettes and
gadrooning. The Commonwealth period
encouraged simpler decoration. From the
Restoration, decorative processes became very
important again due to the practice of veneering
cabinets.
The techniques associated with the use of
veneer (Figure 1.13) include cross banding,
marquetry, parquetry and oyster veneering. All
these practices involved applying veneers of
Figure 1.13 Detail of a marquetry table top, English,
c.1674. Oyster work (walnut), cross banding and
pictorial decoration executed using contrasting wood
veneers
decorative wood to a suitable substrate, sometimes
separately, other times in conjunction
with each other. In most cases banding was
part of the scheme as it provided a finished
edge treatment. Parquetry and oyster work
used woods to create a geometric effect, whilst
‘seaweed’ marquetry used arabesque designs to
great advantage. Although seaweed marquetry
appears to be the height of the marquetry cutter’s
skill, it was relatively straightforward in
that only two woods were used – box or holly
for the pattern and walnut for the ground. The
skill in seaweed marquetry was in using a very
fine saw to keep to the design lines and at the
same time cut at an angle, to ensure as close a
fit as possible between the pieces. These methods
were often the only way certain woods
could be used satisfactorily.
There was a great demand for floral marquetry
in the last part of the century, perhaps
because it depicted the popular Dutch flower
painters’ scenes; at any rate it certainly showed
the skills of the cabinetmaker. By the end of
the century, marquetry was toned down to two
shades of brown. Veneers were also carefully
matched to form geometric patterns by bookmatching
or quartering.
Interest in oriental products, particularly
imported lacquer wares, encouraged European
makers to attempt to copy them. Oriental lacquer
imported into Europe had two distinct
type characteristics. One type had the orna-