Antique furniture has to be over 100 years of age to be classed as a genuine antique. In Elizabethan times of 1558 to 1603, furniture was primitive and in oak or fruitwood, very heavily carved. Nobles from the medieval court needed portable furniture as they moved around quite frequently so this lead to large tables of trestle forms with bulbous turned legs, which could be dismantled and transported. Some cupboards were built in and seating was often incorporated into the panelling of a room. Buffets with stepped shelves were used to display silver in great houses, while food and drink was served from simpler pieces. Chests for storage were important like the Bible box, a small box to store the family bible. Flat topped chests (coffers) with raised feet, usually formed part of the permanent furnishings, used for storage and to sit on. Beds were status symbols, often with canopies with rich materials hung.

ANTIQUE BUREAUX

The Antique Bureau is a term used for a writing desk with a sloping fall-front and is one of the earliest forms of writing furniture, first seen in the Mid 17th Century. The antique bureau is a french design but copied by English Cabinet makers. They would use gate legs to support the fall fronts but by the 18th century the gate leg supports were replaced by sliding pull out loppers at each side as this was a much more practical design. Antique bureaux come with interesting features such as small drawers, pigeon holes, sliding bookends or bible wells to conceal important documents or jewellery. Until the mid 18th Century the bureau section was a free standing, but then it was combined with a chest of drawers making the more well known Georgian Bureau design. Mouldings on the fronts of the dust boards can be seen on the earlier versions but the Georgian examples have cock beading on the edges of the drawers with a hinged Fall front and were usually made from Mahogany or Oak. Earlier antique Bureaux would have used more exotic veneers such as burr walnut with feather banding, string inlay or cross banding as decoration. Later Victorian and Edwardian Bureaus were mainly in Mahogany and highly inlaid with decorative floral designs. Have a look below at our lovely examples available for sale.

ANTIQUE CHAIRS

Antique Armchairs are more characterful and usually from the periods of the 18th Century Georgian and 19th Century Victorian eras. These would have been constructed in woods such as Oak, Fruitwood, Elm or Pine as this was locally sourced timbers in Britain. These antique chairs will have had years of use and come with a lovely patina. We preserve this original finish and charm by sympathetically waxing using natural beeswax. Antique country chairs can come in many forms from a Windsor chair, to a ladder back with either a figured solid seat or rush seating. These types of antique chairs will suit most country homes or Cottages, sat around a rustic dining table in your kitchen. The beauty about country antiques like this, is that you can use them and not worry about them being marked as you simply wax over if they get scuffed, ideal if you have a family with children. Our large antique furniture showroom is based in Clitheroe in Lancashire where we display lovely selections of Country furniture for sale along with more finely finished pieces, so you are welcome to view either online or in our showroom as we get new stock arriving daily. Have a look at a few examples we have for sale below.

ANTIQUE COFFERS

Antique coffers are plain and simple country pieces of period antique furniture and are one of the earliest forms of furniture on record. The coffer would usually be constructed from planks of solid oak with a hinged lid and be of simple pegged construction or with the old iron clout nails. They will often have a small hinged compartment on the inside for storing candles. Period antique coffers are mainly seen from the 17th and early 18th century and although are very simply made, they are very strong and robust so have stood the test of time. This is why you can see some stunning examples still in good original condition full of lovely charm and character. They were built as dual purpose, storing goods such as bedding or silver and also a surface for sitting on or using as a side table. Domed topped or ark coffers have a dome shaped lid which can be removed and reversed for kneading dough. The mule chest is basically a form of the coffer but with drawers below and often used for the storage of horse equipment. Here on Antiques world we sell some stunning antique chests for sale and you can see our latest selection of coffers, or look at the few examples we have for sale below.