Bibliography 1
Avella, T., Dechamps, R. and Bastil, M. 1988 Fluorescence study of 10,610 woody species from the Tervuren Collection, Belgium, IAWA Bulletin, 9 4 , 346-52 Barefoot, A.C. and Hawkins, F.W. 1982 Identification of Modern and Tertiary Woods, Oxford University Press Baumeister, M. and M ller-Arnecke, S. 1989 Die Ver nderung eines barocken Chorgest hldorsals aus der ehemaligen Kartause zu Mainz, Zeitschrift f r Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, 3 2 , 378-93 Blanchette, R.A. and Simpson, E. 1992a...
Materials used Vvd
The search for novelty and control of material and cost resulted in an eclectic range of materials being used during the nineteenth century. The Regency period favoured striped figured timber, especially rosewood, calamander and zebrawood, all of which would contrast with the use of brass. From 1840 African mahogany was imported as a substitute for the expensive Central American type. Walnut remained popular in Scandinavian countries where exotic woods were too expensive. The Biedermeier style...
Optical properties
The most important optical properties of coating materials are clarity transparency , gloss, refractive index and colour. High clarity requires that the refractive index is constant throughout the sample in the viewing line. The presence of interfaces between regions of different refractive index causes scattering of light and reduction in transparency. This can be seen in otherwise transparent coatings containing very fine air bubbles, or matting agents such as wax or silica. Amorphous...
Types of joints
Any junction between two components or materials that are intended to stay together could be considered a joint. Joints may rely on adhesion e.g. butt joints or they may be mechanically interlocked e.g. dovetail joints or they may involve some form of mechanical fastening such as screws, nails or other more specialized hardware. Many specialized types of worked or interlocking joints have been developed for use in joining wood in cabinet-making and these can be classified into three main groups...
Mortise and tenon joints
The classic, and a most successful, way of joining end-grain to side-grain, the mortise and tenon joint Figure 2.25 can have hundreds of different variations. The mating parts can be rectangular traditional mortise and tenon or round dowels . A well-made joint offers mechanical restraint in all directions except direct withdrawal of the tenon from the mortise and is therefore able to offer good resistance to compression, shear and racking. The basic joint can be improved in several ways....
Tools and techniques Juy
The use of machines in the conversion of raw material and the construction of furniture during the nineteenth century is a story of both important changes and minor developments. The development of machines such as circular saw planers, mortisers, borers, dovetail-cutters and veneer cutters for preparing and shaping timber was the most important change, which affected all woodworking industries, including particularly shipbuilding and house building. Machines for processing and shaping parts...
Design and construction
The relationship between architectural decoration and furniture was important, so it is evident that there would be some use of the same a Solid hewn or dugout chest up to the fifteenth century . These were made from a solid baulk of timber from which the interior had been bored out or dug out with an adze, axe or chisel. The unhewn end walls varied in thickness but were prone to shakes and splits that radiated from the pith of the log. The timber was often reinforced with multiple iron straps....
Specific texts relating to upholstery
Beard, G. 1997 Upholsterers and Interior Furnishing in England, 1530-1840, Yale University Press Bimont, Jean Fran ois 1766 Manuel des Tapissiers, Paris Bimont, Jean Fran ois 1770 Principes de l'art du Tapissier ouvrage utile aux gens de la profession, et ceux qui les emploient, Paris Bitmead, R. 1876 Practical Upholsterer and Cutter-Out, London Bland, S. 1995 Take a Seat. The Story of Parker-Knoll, 1834-1994, Baron Birch Cooke, E.S. 1988 Upholstery in America and Europe from the Seventeenth...
Earliest times to the Middle Ages Egypt
The earliest evidence of true furniture is found in the Egyptian society that existed some five thousand years ago. The exceptional circumstances of survival in royal tombs have given us famous examples of furniture. It is apparent that beds, chairs, stools, tables and storage boxes had all been created by 3000 bc, and there is no doubt that a skilled workforce existed in Egypt. Beds were developed from crude frames lashed together, to sophisticated jointed frames and proper suspensions of...
Materials used Dmj
The choice and range of materials available to furniture-makers in the twentieth century have been extremely wide. The continued develop ment of metal, plastics, and wood-based products has been essential to complement the traditional materials still in use. Metals The use of metal was revived in the twentieth century by Frank Lloyd Wright who developed office furniture made from metal which started a trend that has remained as a type form. The nineteenth century experiments with metal tubing...
Gesso grounds
Gesso consists of an adhesive with an inert filler. Traditionally, animal glue is used as the adhesive but gesso can be based on casein, acrylic or other materials. The term gesso originally referred to a gypsum- calcium sulphate based gilding ground such as those commonly used in southern Europe. In the general context of painted, japanned or gilded furniture, the term is extended to include grounds based on calcium carbonate. This may not be the case in other conservation disciplines, where...
Rubber cloths
Textiles, commonly unbleached plain weave cottons coated with rubber, were used to produce inflatable cushions from 1813 and waterbeds from 1832. The material was exploited for its waterproof properties in clothing e.g. the Macintosh and carriage work. However, it was hard and inflexible during cold weather, soft and sticky in hot weather - two disadvantages which led to its being superseded, first by superior forms of rubber and later by synthetic materials such as those based on cellulose...
The nineteenth century 1
Agius, P. 1978 British Furniture, 1880-1915, Antique Collectors Club Aslin, E. 1962 Nineteenth Century English Furniture, The Collectors Book Club Briggs, A. 1988 Victorian Things, Batsford Cathers, D. 1996 Furniture of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, Turn of the Century Editions Collard, F. 1985 Regency Furniture, Antique Collectors Club Cooper, J. 1987 Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, Thames and Hudson Darling, S. 1984 Chicago Furniture. Art and Industry, 1833-1933,...
Transparent coatings
Transparent coatings used over painted wood include varnishes and waxes. Oils may be added to the list of transparent coating materials used to finish unpainted wood. Varnishes are transparent or translucent top coatings that give a gloss Perry, 1804 . They are similar to glazes but generally unpigmented and are used to protect the finished work against moisture, pollutant gases, dust and handling. Transparent finishes increase the sheen and deepen the colour of the surface by filling pits and...
Estimating dimensional change
There is a difference between shrinkage, which occurs as the change in dimensions of wood on initial drying from the green condition, and movement, the dimensional change which takes place when wood that has been dried is subjected to changes in atmospheric conditions below the fibre saturation point Farmer, 1972 . It is possible that a wood may shrink quite appreciably in drying from the green condition yet it may undergo comparatively small dimensional changes when subjected to a given range...
Preparing the lacquer
The first stage in the production of lacquer is obtaining the raw materials. Sap is collected from mature trees through incisions made in the bark Quin, 1882 . When first collected, the sap is a double emulsion of water in oil in water containing 27-50 water Figure 4.4 . During maturation the sap converts to raw lacquer, a water in oil emulsion. Raw lacquer contains urushiol 60-65 and glycoprotein 2-5 in the oil phase of the emulsion and polysaccharide 5-7 , laccase enzyme 1-2 and water 20-25...
Woodwater relations and movement
No other area of wood science and technology is more important to object conservation than wood-moisture relationships. The moisture condition of wood is related to properties ranging from thermal conductivity and strength to adhesive bonding and fungal development. However, the most telling influence of moisture in wood is upon dimensional behaviour. Solving and preventing the array of problems related to dimensional movement in wooden objects begins by recognizing the fundamental...
Handlens examination
A routine starting point in identifying a given piece of wood is to locate a tiny area of end-grain surface where the wood can be cut cleanly with a razor blade or equally sharp tool to expose longitudinal cells in cross-section. When the exposed surface is examined with a good quality 10 X magnifier or hand lens, it can immediately be identified as a hardwood pores visible or softwood pores absent . In addition, placement of growth rings and rays indicates the orientation of radial and...
Specific texts relating to tools and techniques
NB Many of the other texts have sections on the subject of tools and techniques. Adair, W. 1983 The Frame in America, 1700-1900 a Survey of Fabrication Techniques and Style, The American Institute of Architects Foundation, Washington, DC Austen, B. 1992 Tunbridge Ware and Related European Decorative Woodware, Foulsham Beecroft, E. 1976 Carving Techniques, Batsford Bigelow, D. et al. eds 1992 Gilded Wood, Conservation and History, Sound View Press Bruggemann, E. 1988 Kunst und Technik des...
Taxonomy the classification of plants
To delve further into the anatomical nature of wood, generalities must now give way to specifics, and individual types and species must be considered at the cellular level. Taxonomy, the science of classifying living things, provides a logical approach to studying the cellular nature of wood, because, as expected, closely related trees will have similar wood tissue. It follows that wood identification is based on the systematic knowledge and recognition of cell structure. The plant kingdom is...
Design and construction Ywe
The first half of the century saw the culmination of the 'age of oak'. Conservative attitudes to design and change resulted from the unsettled political situation. By the mid-century there was a diminution in the influence of architecture which gave cabinetmakers the opportunity to develop decorative techniques of their own, without being tied by the strict constraints of classical detailing and architectural features. The influence of styles and techniques based on the original homes of...
Cellulose nitrate
Introduced in the 1850s, most cellulose nitrate imitation leathers are essentially combinations of castor oil and cellulose nitrate with colouring added Thorp, 1990 . Much in use until the 1950s for carriage work, prams and motor cars, where waterproof or leather-like qualities were Figure 3.7 An early example of textile trimmings from a bed valance, English, c. 1675 Figure 3.7 An early example of textile trimmings from a bed valance, English, c. 1675 desired, it was superseded by polyvinyl...
Microscopic examination
Using a cross-section to provide orientation, surfaces can subsequently be split or shaved along the radial or tangential planes. For microscopic examination, tissue sections must be accurately cut along radial, tangential or transverse surfaces using a razor blade or comparably sharp instrument. When working on objects, it is sometimes possible to cut sections from furniture parts directly. In other cases it is more expedient to dissect first a tiny piece from the object, which can then be...
Chemical constituents of wood
The cell substance of wood is described chemically as a composite material consisting of three types of organic polymers cellulose 40-50 , hemicelluloses 20-30 and lignin 25-30 . These constituents serve as skeletal, matrix and encrusting substances, respectively. In addition, a minor amount of inorganic ash content 0.1-0.5 is present in wood. Depending upon species, extractives extraneous substances, 1-5 may also be present, mainly in heartwood. Cellulose, the major chemical constituent of...
Surface decoration and finish 1
The trades of turner, carver, inlayer, painter-stainer and blacksmith all assisted the joiner in decorating furniture. It was only in the 1560s that the merits of turning were fully appreciated. Although it had been used for making rudimentary chairs, it was in the middle of the century that turning became an essential part of furniture decoration. Large bulbous melon-like turnings, sometimes called cup and cover, were popular on table legs and bedposts. Constructionally unnecessary, they...
Structure processing and properties
While the chemical properties of a leather are indicative of the mechanism of tanning, the mechanical and physical properties of a leather are the result not only of the method of tanning but also of changes induced in the collagen during its preparation for tanning and of the subsequent lubricating and mechanical working of the tanned fibres. It is possible to produce leathers of quite markedly different structure and properties from skin of the same animal type by varying the degree of...
Cell structure hardwoods
In comparing the anatomy of the hardwoods with that of the softwoods several general differences are apparent. There are many more cell types present in hardwoods, and there is more variation in their arrangement. Rays in hardwoods vary widely in size, from invisibly small to conspicuous to the eye. Hardwoods do not have resin canals as such but may have gum canals in rays. Hardwood trees have evolved specialized conductive cells called vessel elements, which are distinct in having relatively...
Greece
Very few pieces of Greek furniture survive, so the main sources are the illustrations on pottery and a few remaining stone-carved items. Nevertheless, there is enough evidence to identify the main furniture types. It is not surprising that the main categories resembled Egyptian prototypes but there were other developments that had a long-lasting influence. The most important of these was the introduction of the couch as a development of the Egyptian bed. It was used not only as a bed but also...
Wood anatomy softwoods
The cell structure of softwoods is relatively simple compared to that of the hardwoods see Figure 2.4 . Most of the cells found in conifer ous woods are tracheids, which comprise 90-95 of the volume of the wood. Tracheids are fibre-like cells with lengths of approximately 100 times their diameter. Average tra-cheid length ranges from 2 to 6 millimetres among coniferous species, with a corresponding diameter range of approximately 20-60 pm 1 pm 0.001 mm . The relative diameter of tracheids is a...
Bibliography Ehl
Adrosko, R.J. 1990 Identifying late 19th century upholstery fabrics, in Upholstery Conservation Preprints of a Symposium held at Colonial Williamsburg, 2-4 February 1990 , American Conservation Consortium Ltd, Kingston, New Hampshire, pp. 103-35 Annis, P.A., Quigley, T.W and Kyllo, K.E. 1992a Useful techniques in textile microscopy, Textile Chemist and Colorist, 24, 19-22 Annis, P.A., Quigley, T.W and Kyllo, K.E. 1992b Hand techniques for cross-sectioning fibers and yarns, Textile Chemist and...
Oriental lacquer urushi
The term 'lacquer' is sometimes rather indiscriminately used to represent various different materials including natural resin varnishes and synthetic coatings based on polyesters, acrylics and cellulose derivatives. Oriental lacquer, which the Japanese call urushi, is, however, a unique material. The main raw material used in the lacquer process, that is the lacquer itself, is made from the sap of several species of trees of the family Anacardiaceae, the most important of which is Rhus...
Polymer materials history and technology
Many purely natural polymers were traditionally used to manufacture small objects by moulding and pressing. Horn and turtleshell are quite thermoplastic and were die-pressed into complex shapes such as decorative snuff boxes. When used as thin veneers they could be made to conform to mouldings or turned pilasters by gluing under heated cauls. Most natural resins are also thermoplastic. Shellac was used to polish turned wood articles in India and Europe by simply rubbing solid sticks of the...
Coated fabrics and leather cloths Oil cloths
In Europe, from the fourteenth century, oil cloths were made in imitation of leather and came to be used for upholstery. The cloth was made by applying coatings of a filling, typically a paste of china clay or lithopone in thickened linseed oil, to one side of a suitable cloth base, typically unbleached, plain woven cotton or linen. Several applications of these materials would be required to produce the finished cloth, which was allowed to dry at moderate temperature between applications. The...