More on English drawers, the right date!
david charlesworth
>Dear Adam C,
Thought these might interest you.
At the beginning of the Walnut period.
"The grain direction of the bottom invariably ran from front to back---and since it was rigidly fixed in rebates in the drawer sides, it was bound to split owing to shrinkage".
Quote from English Period Furniture by Charles H. Hayward
"In most pieces made before 1730 the bottom board of the drawer shows the grain of the timber running from front to back; from about that date onwards the grain usually runs from side to side. In the space of the hundred years between about 1650 and 1750 dovetailing became progressively more delicate; this was not a sign of weakness, although certainly the drawer sides also became remarkably thin in the eighteenth century, but rather an indication of increasing refinement in craftsmanship".
Quote from The Story Of English Furniture by Bernard Price.
Hayward again;
"It is often found in these old secretaires that the fall front has split badly along its length, and this is due to the construction. The groundwork was clamped, that is, the grain of the main panel ran horizontally, and at the ends were clamps, the grain of which ran from top to bottom. A certain amount of shrinkage was inevitable, and as the clamps were glued on the panel had to split. Any blemish of this kind inevitably shows through the veneer, with the result that this also splits. It was the early days of veneering and the craftsmen had yet to experience the difficulties that the process entailed."
One will often find very dubious constructional methods in old furniture. I am not convinced that wood movement was particularly well understood and furniture was not subjected to modern day extremes of humidity variation. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!
best wishes,
David Charlesworth