British quality and value for money

After working flat out on sourcing bedroom furniture for our contract with the Scottish hotel (you can read our previous blog "Suite Success" to find out more) Graham has escaped for a well deserved holiday, travelling in France.  He visited L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a picturesque small town in the southeast, famous for it's antique villages.  Numerous markets and retail outlets provide the consumer with tasty treats for the eye; whilst the refreshing canals that navigate throughout, offer a peaceful setting in which to browse. 

The feminine curves outlining the item of furniture, as well as the carved details are impressive and ornate from the late 18th to early 19th century, a walnut chest of drawers, is for sale in L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue. The price for this piece being the equivalent of £8,414.  

For a lot less but with at least equal quality and good looks from roughly the same era then look to British furniture. Currently we have an eighteenth century mahogany chest comprising of superior quality and great value at £1,850.  Some of the factors which build up the piece's overall quality include oak lining in the drawers and ogee shaped feet; the chest itself being in excellent condition.  For those who are not familiar with the term "ogee" it is in reference to the curved form of the feet, presented in a "S" shape.    

A mid 19th century Victorian Wellington chest, from our website, is another example of top quality.  For those who value security this is the perfect piece because of it's dual locking system.  Mahogany again, the front has a hinged border overlapping the right hand side of the drawers, thus preventing them from opening.  

                                   £1,950.00 

A geometric, Victorian chest of drawers, dressed in smart mahogany with ash lining and original brass handles.  The photograph below describes the chest, which is in original condition and is for sale at £795.  All three chests aforementioned are of particulalry good British quality.  For further information regarding these items you can visit our website, shop or showroom. 

Suite Success

What a high number of people buying bedroom furniture this month!  Not only home owners but hotel owners as well.  Graham Smith Antiques are providing all the period furniture for a Victorian mansion being converted into a hotel, set in beautiful Scottish countryside.  Graham has also furnished Archerfield House, a Grade I, grand estate located between Gullane and North Bewick in East Lothian. The main house has fifteen double bedrooms, individually furnished with traditional and fitting features.  A sight to behold, we have high hopes for the current contract with the Victorian mansion.

Currently located in our Benton showroom, we have a Regency style bedroom suite, displaying exquisite colour and detail.  The set comprises of a three door wardrobe, chest of drawers, triple mirror dressing table and a bedside cabinet.  From the photographs you can see the good quality mahogany with ebony inlay.  The decorated oval panels with honey suckle carving and acanthus leaves make this suite quite memorable.  The suite can be dismantled into managable sizes ready for transport and the price includes minor restoration.  For further information, photographs and dimensions, you can visit our website http://www.grahamsmithantiques.com/ or give us a call on 01912 815 065.

 Regency Style Bedroom Suite

circa, 1910. 

Thank you for reading the Graham Smith Antiques blog. If you are interested in the items we have mentioned then you can visit our website, visit us in store or follow us via Facebook or Twitter.

Case Closed

The summer season and holidays go hand in hand and this year is no exception to that appealing combination.  New to Graham Smith Antiques are some exciting luggages to make you stand out on your travels.  The advantage of buying antique luggage is intrinsic to the suitcase, bag or trunk’s design, the evidence of quality and craftsmanship throughout their skin.  When surveying the leather Gladstone bag, for example, one cannot resist imagining the journeys it had once been on, many years ago in some cases. 

Graham Smith Antiques Website

Made in the early 20th century, this bag is named after the type of fastening, the style of which you may associate with a doctor's bag.  With a central, brass locking catch (with key) and end brass swivel catches, you can have confidence in retaining your belongings whilst travelling (it would be a challenge for even the boldest of pick pocket!).  The bag is lined with sturdy, unblemished cotton and a single pocket for any items you may wish to locate quickly.  Despite the small split to the leather at one end, the bag is still in usable condition and offers the temptations of a dream holiday!

1920's Leather Gladstone Bag

In 18th century Britain, during the Empirical days, it was commonplace for civil servants and high-ranking officers of the military to travel with campaign furniture.  As described by Nicholas A. Brawer in his book entitled: British Campaign Furniture: Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914, campaign furniture was designed to be transported with ease, durability and style.  These credentials are still available today through Graham Smith Antiques with two of our campaign chests in the shop.  

Victorian Oak Campaign Chest

Maker's label

This fine example of barrack furniture, with military plate handles, is designed to split in two and the bun feet can unscrew to be stored within the chest when being transported.  The oak foundations and framework are in good condition and are bound securely with brass.  With brilliant simplicity, this Victorian campaign chest will suit both period and contemporary interiors.  The maker of this military chest was a John Drew of 2.Great Warner Street, London, as seen on the etched, ivory label in the drawer of the chest.  It was Drew's descendants who constructed the fitted leather dressing case in the 1920's, shown in the photograph below.

Fitted Leather Dressing Case

The case is signed by the makers "Drew & Sons Piccadilly Circus" on the inside edge. Brass locking catches and glimmering silk style material holds: beauty vessels, brushes and combs as well as a jewellery box, shoe horn, glove stretcher, a manicure set and mirror.  Not only does this sophisticated case still have the original, built in contents; all the items with lids are silver, complete with hallmarks 1920's London and the maker's name, "George Carsberg & Son".  So no matter where your holiday destination may be, whether it's a business trip, a city break or a country escape, Graham Smith Antiques offers your holiday something really special.

Thank you for reading the Graham Smith Antiques blog. If you are interested in the items we have mentioned then you can visit our website, visit us in store or follow us via Facebook or Twitter.

An Exact Science

Antique scientific items are a very popular purchase at the moment with customers snapping up Barographs and Microscopes both online and in our shop.

It could be the widely jested inaccuracy of the British weather forecast or the interesting aura of a scientific object that keeps barometers and barographs in vogue, whichever the reason - this week's blog gives you an insight into a few different scientific antiques and their uses.

Antique Barographs

Barographs are instruments that continuously record changes in atmospheric pressure. A barograph typically consists of an aneroid barometer connected to a pen; the pen is in contact with a piece of paper mounted on a cylinder that rotates once on a daily or weekly basis. As the atmospheric pressure changes, the pen is displaced in proportion to the change. thus a record of the pressure is traced onto the rotating sheet of paper. This technical measurement of atmospheric pressure was used by early meteorologists to forecast changes in weather. Barographs are often housed within attractive oak or mahogany cases and are popular as gifts as well as with collectors.

At the time of writing we have no Barographs in stock - 

although three are coming into stock next week (Early July)

Antique Microscopes

 

A 19th Century Hartnack Microscope

We often have microscopes in stock, popular as much for their decorative qualities as their scientific uses, microscopes generally make excellent presents and interesting focal points in a study, living room or library. Originally produced in the late 1500's, Microscopes were a huge breakthrough in scientific possibility and there are many collectors of these clever devices worldwide.

Antique Apothecary Cabinets 

Apothecary boxes often referred to as cabinets, house pharmacist's potions and lotions. Historically, pharmacists would carry all manner of potions, powders and lotions on visits to patients in an attempt to cure them of their ailments!

George III Apothecary Cabinet

Thank you for reading the Graham Smith Antiques blog. If you are interested in the items we have mentioned then you can visit our website, visit us in store or follow us via Facebook or Twitter