French Provincial Oak Dining Set with Ladderback Chairs
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A French provincial style nine piece dining setting, 20th century Comprising a rectangular oak parquetry top table raised on square tapering legs, and a set of eight country ladderback dining chairs, including two carvers, with drop in rush seats, height 76 cm, length 250 cm, width 120 cm (table), height 110 cm (chair)
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- Parquetry - Parquetry is inlay laid in geometric patterns, the contrast being achieved by the opposing angles of the grain and veneers. The herringbone pattern is the most commonly used in flooring, but this is almost never seen in furniture - the patterns used are more complex and unlike flooring, can include several different varieties of timber.
- Rush Seating - Associated with country style chairs, stools and settees, rush seats are woven from rushes, with the pattern of the weaving often dividing the the chair seat diagonally into four triangles.
The weaving of rushes has been practiced for centuries, and it is believed that some early rush seats of the 18th and 19th century were painted, although common practice now is to leave the rush in its natural state. As the rush ages the colour
Rushes of the type used in Europe for seating are not available in Australia, and instead fibre rush, a man-made product from one-ply twisted paper, is used. Another substitute material is twisted natural sea grass.
Seats in Danish furniture of the 1950s were often finished with Danish cord, a three ply twisted paper cord, which has a similar appearance to rush. - 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Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,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.
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