A late 18th century oak lambing chair, with a serpentine crest…
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A late 18th century oak lambing chair, with a serpentine crest rail, panel back and outswept scrolling flat arms, the cushioned seat and box form base on rocking sledges
oak. Native to Europe and England, oak has been used for joinery, furniture and building since the beginning of the medieval civilisation. It is a pale yellow in colour when freshly cut and darkens with age to a mid brown colour.
Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,
Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.
Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods.
Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,
Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.
Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods.
serpentine. Resembling a serpent, in the form of an elongated 'S'. A serpentine front is similar to a bow front, except that the curve is shallow at each end, swelling towards the middle. The term presumably derives from its similarity to a moving snake or serpent. Serpentine fronts are usually veneered, with the carcase either being cut and shaped from a solid piece of timber, or built in the 'brick' method.
rail. A term used by cabinet makers for the horizontal sections of the frame of an item such as a chair or settee which have a front rail, a back rail and two side rails, and also on a door or carcase, where the rails are joined to the vertical framings.
spoon back. Applicable to chairs, and as the name indicates, is a type of chair back that is shaped like a spoon, with a rounded top, and curved back made so that the whole of the sitter's back is cocooned within the back of the chair. This type of back was popular in Victorian dining and occasional chairs.
lyre back. Attributed to the 18th century designer Robert Adam, the back splat is in the form of a lyre, a Greek musical instrument similar to a harp. In shape it resembles two reversed scrolls. Chairs continued to be made in this style for at least the next fifty years. In Australia many cedar chairs and tables have survived dating to the 1830s and 1840s, featuring the lyre shape in the back splats and as supports for small tables.
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