17th Century Antique Furniture !

2023 and it's time for another episode of Antique Acquisitions. Today I want to talk to you about 17th century pre-industrial furniture, particularly the Louis XIII style from the 17th century in France. Although we may look at a few 17th century pieces that were made in England as well for comparison's sake. But behind me you see a Louis XIII period cabinet. So let's start there. Okay welcome back. As you can see this piece is a true work of art. Just take a look at those hand-carved designs and motifs. Notice the design of this drawer. By the mid-17th century dovetails were coming into common use in furniture construction and early drawers were typically secured by just one dovetail. This suggests a date on this cabinet later in the 1600s. In addition to this single dovetail we can see that the drawers slide along a groove on each side of the drawer. This feature would slowly be phased out starting in the early 1700s. It was quite common in fact it was the norm prior to that. Now let's take a look at this lock as well. What a wonderful example of pre-industrial hand forged metalwork. As you can see this piece really does seem to retain significant influences from the renaissance styles which preceded Louis XIII. This piece was made almost 400 years ago in France during the reign of King Louis XIII. He was born on September 27, 1601 and his reign spanned from 1610 to 1643. And this is the period we call the Louis XIII period. He was the son of King Henry IV and Queen Marie de' Medici. Marie was from a powerful family in Florence, Italy. She held power in France as regent for her son after the assassination of her husband King Henry IV in 1610. And she held the regency for a period of approximately seven years from 1610 to 1617. So while he technically became king in 1610 he didn't really assume power until 1617. All right now behind me is another Louis XIII style piece. This one I think may be an 18th century piece but we'll take a look at that. As you can see this piece is really starting to exhibit some of the bold angular designs of the Louis XIII style. We have some well carved foliates as well. Let's open one of the drawers. Notice the thickness of those drawers. The Louis XIII style or Louis Tres as you would say in French was a fashion in French art and architecture especially affecting the visual and decorative arts. Its distinctness as a period in the history of French art has much to do with the regency under which Louis XIII began his reign. His mother and regent Marie de' Medici imported mannerism from her homeland of Italy. And the influence of Italian art was to be strongly felt for several decades. Louis XIII style painting was influenced from the north through Flemish and Dutch Baroque and from the south through Italian mannerism and early Baroque characterized by strength and solidity. Louis XIII furniture stands as a testament to its time. In contrast to the delicate curvatures of the renaissance this furniture embraced straight lines and geometric shapes. Bold rectangles and squares became the foundation of its design language. You cannot find a better example of hand chamfered wood than this. Just beautiful. The back of this piece really does show its age. The final piece that's a Louis XIII style is right there. Carving was a hallmark of fine craftsmanship. It still graced Louis XIII furniture albeit with a new approach. Another lock. Look at the beautiful dovetail. Significantly more refined than what we saw in the first piece and there is no peg in it as we saw in the first one either. Angular and less intricate carvings adorned these new Louis XIII style pieces. They featured motifs like guilloche patterns, acanthus leaves, and scrolling horns. These designs were both visually appealing and pragmatic. It reflected the shift towards functionality and durability. Wood selection was crucial to the Louis XIII style. Sturdy oak, walnut, and chestnut were the preferred materials chosen for their durability and resilience. Just look at this carved bust. Now that's impressive. We must be getting further into the 18th or early 19th century on this one. Okay behind me now you can see an English piece from the 17th century and let's take a little closer look at that one as well. The provenance that I got with this cabinet suggests that it's a late 17th century English Westmoreland or North Yorkshire oak cork cupboard. Look at these turned supports and grotesque faces on the lower door. Okay here again we see the grooves on the drawer side an indicator of 17th century construction. On this cabinet we don't even have a single dovetail on these drawers. To me that would suggest a pre-1650 date. That doesn't go along with what I was told. However it would fit with the Jacobian style elements that we see on the piece. Period. Was 1603 to 1625. Look at the way these doors are hinged. A single piece of metal into a hole in the top and bottom of each door. All right last but not least we have this period 17th century oak cork cupboard. Let's take a closer look at this too. Now this appears to be a period Elizabethan oak cork cupboard from the late 17th to early 18th century. The Elizabethan period was 1558 through 1603. Look at the carving on this piece. A hand wrought handle and those carved baluster supports. This might actually be one of my favorites. It's in really outstanding condition too. Before we move on let's take a look at the back. Okay well since we're talking about some true antiques today I thought I would finish up with some quick video footage of these last two items. The first of these is this late 1600s to early 1700s English oak saddle. Wouldn't it be amazing to know all of the people that have sat on this bench and where it spent most of its life? I just wish that we could have a video documenting its history in life. Now this is the last piece for today's video and probably one of the oldest items here in the shop. This is a 16th century choir stall. How do I know that you may ask? Well fortunately there's a plaque on it that tells me. I'm assuming at some point it was probably donated to a museum and that's when they put the plaque on Can you imagine? This stall may have actually been in use while Columbus was still alive. I mean that's just shortly after the new world was discovered by Europeans. One last look at the back here before we go. Hand chamfering. I mean the age on this piece really is undeniable. All right my antique loving friends that's going to do it for this episode. I hope you've enjoyed it. Please do hit that like button and subscribe to the channel because there will be a lot more antique related content coming soon. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.