Antique Sideboard

SIDEBOARDS
About 1770-1915
Inlaid mahogany bow-fronted sideboard, about 1780-1790.
Auseful piece of dining-furniture comprising a number of drawers and cupboards for the storage of cutlery, table linen, condiments and so on, which evolved during the 1770s from the very grand side-table and pedestal ensembles first designed by Robert Adam. In the late-18th/ early-19thC, they often incorporated a plate-warmer, wine cooler, cistern or cellaret, hence their original name, `cellaret sideboard’. Occasionally a pot cupboard was included, sometimes set discreetly in one side.
Usually replaced in large houses around 1825 by vast serving tables accompanied by chiffoniers. In Victorian times, sideboards were less easily defined. They can be of dresser form, or a smaller chiffonier type; some best described simply as cabinets.
About 1770-1810: Standard form had a central drawer flanked either side by drawers
(one shallow, one deep), and a single cupboard; or one of each. Cupboards may have dummy drawer fronts. Central recess fronted by shaped or arched apron; its back either open or solid; sometimes the cupboard set half-way back. All cupboards may be tambour-fronted. Central cutlery drawer compartmented and lined with baize.
Most were bow- or serpentine-fronted; some semi-elliptical or straight. Thick, flat, over-hanging top with flush edges. Majority on six square-sectioned, tapering legs; sometimes eight. After 1800, legs were often turned with ring mouldings; sometimes reeded or fluted. Drawers flush with carcase when inlaid (edged with stringing or cross-banding); cockbeaded when simply veneered.
Later versions with brass back-rail, either to support plate, or to suspend splashback curtain. Occasionally fitted with adjustable candleholders.
About 1800-1850: Previous type (with turned legs) joined by pedestal sideboards with central shallow drawer retained, but sides extending to floor to form pedestal cupboards. Either carved (often paw) feet, or continuous plinth. By 1810 pedestal could extend upwards too, joined at rear by shaped wooden splashback. Separate wine cooler (now often missing) placed in central recess.
Majority in Grecian style; early Victorian plainer.
1850 onwards: Considerable variation. Made in all revival styles  Elizabethan, Gothic, Renaissance, Chippendale, Sheraton and Queen Anne. Many highly carved; some cheaply made and poorly executed. Later
Mahogany sideboard with brass back-rail, about 1800.
examples (of all types) sometimes with mirror at back (now usually removed).
Principally mahogany; occasionally satinwood. Rosewood during Regency and early Victorian periods. Occasionally walnut around 1850; birch or satin maple (to simulate satinwood) on cheaper reproductions towards 1900. Pine or mahogany for carcases; oak or mahogany for drawer linings. Satinwood and other light-coloured woods used for decorative inlay.
Standard methods employed; majority veneered. See CHESTS OF DRAWERS, p. 93, for drawer construction.
Watch out for alterations. The comonest include: I Removal of brass rails  look for filled holes at rear of top. 2 Reduction in depth  examine back for newly cut and stained timber, and look inside the carcase for cut-off drawer runners. If in original condition, the `wear’will stop at least 1/2 inch from the back. 3 Replacement of less saleable turned legs with square-sectioned ones. If correct, the legs will extend upwards to form the stiles of the carcase and the grain of the timber will be continuous. If wrong, the new join will be concealed either by a fine line of inlay, or by an applied astragal moulding, and the grain will not match above and below.
Watch also for quality Edwardian reproductions of Sheraton types. Their design may look authentic, but the veneer will be thin, and machine-cut; the dovetails, machine-cut, will look regular; and the legs will probably look too thin. The poorest of the reproductions will be recognizable by their lack of proportion and sometimes an odd combination of features.
1930s Art Moderne sideboard.
Restrained inlay of light-coloured woods until about 1810; mostly stringing lines; some fan shapes and oval paterae. Ebony or brass inlay of classical design in early 19thC.
Handles: Standard for their day (see p. 93). Bold lion’s mask ring handles especially popular after 1800, and on reproductions.
Stain or varnish followed by wax polish. French polish after about 1820. Dark stain on Victorian ‘Elizabethan’ and Renaissance. Art Furniture pieces ebonised.
VALUES
Prices for the best late-18thC inlaid sideboards in original condition are in five figures; post-1800 versions (with turned legs) about a quarter to half the price. Pedestal sideboardsnever very popular  even less. Plus points are decorative inlay or carving, small size and surviving interior fittings.
Regency pedestal sideboard, about 1810, mahogany with ebony inlay.