Edwardian Sheraton-style Dressing Table with Bevelled Glass Mirror

• Thomas Sheraton - Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) was born in Stockton on Tees in the north of England. He was apprenticed to a local cabinetmaker and after working as a cabinetmaker, Sheraton moved to London about 1790. Although he described himself as a cabinet-maker, like Chippendale, no definite piece of furniture can be traced to him as maker. Nevertheless, he was immensely influential and in 1791-4 published his four volume book 'The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book'. The books were used as source of design by the furniture-making trade , who often simplified or modified the designs to suit their own preferences. Sheraton furniture is marked by restraint and sophistication, elegance and discretion, though he also found time to invent fanciful combination furniture.
• Stringing - Fine inlaid lines, in contrasting colour to the carcase timber, found mainly on furniture made in the styles of the later 18th and early 19th centuries. Stringing, which may be of satinwood, pine, ebony, horn, brass or occasionally ivory, is found principally on drawer fronts, around the outer edges of usually tapered legs and French bracket feet, around the edges of inlaid panels and between the joint of the cross banding and carcase timber on table tops, chests of drawers, cabinets etc. The effect is to emphasize the line of the piece and add to the impression of lightness and elegance. Stringing also occurs in Sheraton-revival-style furniture of the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
• 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.
• Boxwood - Boxwood is a hard, yellow coloured, close grained timber. In the 19th century it was often used for inlays, especially stringing, because of its contrasting colour to the darker timbers of the carcase. Stringing is the inlay of a narrow strip of veneer of a lighter colour, such as boxwood along or close to the edges of an object that has been veneered in a darker timber such as mahogany.
  
  Because of its fine grain and resistnce to splitting or chipping it has also been used for treen, turnings, carvings and other small wooden items, such as chess pieces.
• Edwardian - The Edwardian period of English furniture and decorative arts design is 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. It follows the Victorian period, in turn was followed by the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. In Australia, designs of this period are also known as being in the Federation style.
• Inlay - Decorative patterns inserted into the main body of a piece of furniture, generally in wood of contrasting colour and grain, though brass, ivory, ebony, shell and sometimes horn have been used. Inlay may consist of a panel of well figured timber inset into a cabinet door front, geometric patterns, or complex and stylized designs of flowers, swags of foliage, fruits and other motifs. As a general rule, in pieces where the carcase is constructed in the solid, the inlay is relatively simple such as stringing, cross banding and herringbone banding. Where more elaborate and decorative work was required veneer was used. Inlay has been fashionable from at least the latter half of the 17th century, when a variety of elaborate forms were developed
• Bevel / Chamfer - In furniture making, a chamfered corner refers to a technique used to create a smooth, angled edge on the corner of a piece of furniture. This is typically done by cutting away a small portion of the corner at an angle, typically 45 degrees, creating a diagonal edge, rather than a sharp 90-degree angle. This technique can be used on various parts of a piece of furniture such as table legs, drawer fronts, or door frames. Chamfering can add visual interest to a piece and can help to soften the overall look of a piece of furniture. It is often used in conjunction with other techniques, such as rounding edges or using contrasting wood species to create a more elegant, sophisticated look. Chamfering is a simple way to add a touch of elegance to a piece of furniture and it is a common technique used by furniture makers.
• Back Boards - As the name implies, the boards that back a piece of cabinet furniture such as a chest of drawers. The backing timber is usually of cheaper material like pine (often called 'deal' by the British trade), though in early Australian colonial days, red cedar was also used to back a piece. As cedar became scarcer during the later 19th century, craftsmen turned to kauri pine.
  
  On early furniture, made before the first half of the 19th century, the backboards were often chamfered at the edges and the wide boards slotted into grooves in a supporting central frame. In later furniture, the backboards were generally nailed or screwed into rebates cut directly into the carcase and the boards became much thinner and narrower.
  
  From about the first world war plywood was frequently used for cheaper pieces.
  
  Backboards are one important way of judging the age of a piece of furniture.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• dressing tables, period or age - Edwardian 20
• dressing tables, type - mirror back 23