French Oak Commode with Marble Top and Carvings
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- Pilasters - In furniture a pilaster is a flattened column-like detail
applied to furniture. It is similar to a pilaster in architecture, but it is
typically smaller and less ornate. Pilasters are often used to decorate the
fronts of bookcases, cabinets, and other pieces of furniture. Pilasters can be
made of wood, metal, or other materials. They can be fluted, carved, or plain.
Pilasters are often used to add a touch of elegance and sophistication to
furniture. - 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Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,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. - Commode - The word "commode" when used to describe an item of furniture, has three usuages:
1. As used to describe an item of English furniture, it refers to what is euphemistically called a 'night table', that is a small cabinet concealing a chamber pot.
2. In its 18th century French usuage it describes a low and highly decorated chest of drawers for salons and reception rooms. A bombe commode is a commode with rounded sides and front, giving the chest a somewhat swollen look.
3. It is also used to denote a half round or serpentine shaped cabinet, with panelled doors, standing on legs. They were pieces on which the cabinetmaker lavished his most accomplished art, with rich veneers, marquetry inlays, gilt mounts and other ornamentation.
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