Victorian Rosewood 3-Level Whatnot with Barley Twist Posts

A fine and intricately carved Victorian rosewood 3 level…
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A fine and intricately carved Victorian rosewood 3 level whatnot having barley twist corner posts, castors, and a single, lower long drawer. Height 112 cm; width 72 cm; depth 41 cm

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  • Castors - Wheels, fitted especially to chair legs, couches, tables and some smaller pieces of furniture, to enable them to be easily moved about. The earliest castors were of brass, with shanks fitting into the base of the leg, and the wheels often made of leather. In the late 18th century, brass 'bucket' or 'cup' castors were introduced, either rounded or square, fitting directly over the end of the leg and held in place with screws. The wheels were generally solid brass. Bucket/cup castors continued in use throughout the 19th century and indeed are still made today. In the later 19th century wheels were sometimes made of wood, china, either white or brown, and sometimes of steel.
  • 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.
  • Rosewood - A dense timber that varies in shade to very light brown to almost black. When rosewood is cut and sanded the colour of the timber will turn black, and after polishing and exposure to daylight, the surface will gradually lighten over time to light brown with black streaks.

    The name comes from the odour emanating from the timber when it is planed, sanded or cut.

    Rosewood was very popular for use in Victorian furniture in the second half of the 19th century, and at that time most of the rosewood was imported from Brazil. However it also grows in India and Indonesia.

    It is used in the sold for chairs and table legs, but for carcase furniture such as side cabinets and bookcases, and for table tops it is always used as a veneer.
  • Barley Twist - The leg, and frequently other uprights such as columns, chair frames, spindles and stretchers, are turned in fairly wide and deep spirals, usually slightly rounded. Also known as the 'Jacobean twist' and common on the dark stained Jacobean Revival furniture of the 1930s and 40s.

    As a rule, the twists on opposite uprights should move in a contrary direction. Thus, if the spiral on a right side is clockwise, that on the left side should move in a counter-clockwise direction.

    This is also true of rope-twist or cable-twist turning, a nautical term that came into fashion after Nelson's victories over the French fleet. The essential difference is that with rope twists, the spirals are more finely turned on the lathe and placed closer together, than they are with barley-sugar turnings.