Victorian mahogany oblong snap top wine table, on baluster…
click the photo to enlarge
Victorian mahogany oblong snap top wine table, on baluster turned column and three sabre legs with bun feet

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Baluster (furniture) - An architectural term for a column in a balustrade or staircase, often defined as a "vase shape". The shape is extensively used in furniture and decorative arts.

    In furniture, it is used to describe a chair or table leg turned in that form, or more usually as an inverted baluster, with the bulbous section to the top. Less commonly used to describe a chair back that has the outline of a baluster. A baluster may also be split and applied to the front of a cupboard for ornamentation.

    For ceramics and silver items it is often used to describe the shape of the whole item, rather than a part.

    In Georgian glassware, the shape is commonly seen in the stem of glasses.
  • Column - An architectural feature sometimes used for decorative effect and sometimes as part of the supporting construction. Columns should generally taper slightly towards the top. They may be plain or decorated with carving, fluting or reeding. Columns may be fully rounded or, more commonly, half-rounded and attached with glue, screws or pins to the outer stiles of doors, or the facing uprights on cabinets and bureaux.
  • Bun Feet - Similar to ball feet, though somewhat compressed or flattened in appearance. Introduced during the late 17th century, but they have been used on furniture up to the present day.
  • Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.
  • Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.

    Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.
  • Sabre Leg - The sabre leg is commonly associated with chairs made in the Regency or classical revival manner of the early 19th century. The form was copied from designs of the ancient Grecian chair known as a klismos found on painted classical vases. The characteristic of the sabre leg is a wide, sweeping backward curve which was frequently reeded, similar to a sabre. The sweep of the front legs was sometimes complemented by a corresponding curve in the back legs of the chair, though on most domestic furniture the sweep of the rear support was not as pronounced. Sabre legs are often encountered in reproductions of the regency style. They are uncommon in Australian furniture where, by and large, colonial craftsmen preferred to use turned legs.
  • Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.

    The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Visually similar items

Late George II mahogany tripod table, the rectangular canted top above baluster tapering column on three swept feet. Provenance: The Estate of a Lady, NSW

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A George III mahogany rectangle breakfast table, 73 cm high, 136 cm wide, 102 cm deep

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A George III mahogany tilt-top occasional table, the square top raised on a turned column from a tripod base. 66 cm x 61 cm x 77.5 cm

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

Regency mahogany fold over games table on pedestal platform base. Height 73 cm. Width 92 cm. Provenance: Seddon Estate

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.