It's almost impossible to discuss a specific furniture or architecture

style in just one post.  Eastlake is one such movement.

Possibly begun as a backlash to more ornate Victorian designs, Eastlake might be one of the least known furniture movements of the last 200 years.

Introduced by British architect and furniture designer Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906), the intricate designs quickly caught on with Americans in the 1870s.  Eastlake's work had a profound influence on our Empire furniture designs of the Craftsman style in the early 1900s.

A traditional Victorian dresser . . . . 

. . . . . compared to an Eastlake dresser:

     

Although there aren't many photos available of Eastlake projects, today's

Before and After Friday is devoted to this unique and charming style.

The intricate carving is much more pronounced
after the wood was stripped and cleaned.
Before                                               After

Maxwell Fabrics

Before                             After

Home Workshop
As fresh as this update is I have a hard
time with painting such beautiful wood.


I'm just not sure I'm on board with painting this majestic bed:
Before

After:

Blue Roof Cabin
I definitely love the fabric, though.




Call me a traditionalist but I prefer the 'before':
Before                                              After

The Eastlake rocker, below, was restored to it's former beauty:
Before                                                          After
    
Simply Chic Treasures



The Victorians favored velvet but the reupholstered
fabric, below, seems more appropriate:

Jolene Smith Interiors


Although I don't have the before photo for this
chair, the new fabric just doesn't seem right:





Which of these fabrics do you prefer?
Before                                                    After
     
Stitch a Wish Design



An Eastlake divan was painted and reupholstered:

Source




An upholsterer/furniture refinisher experimented with an Eastlake settee,
showing how two different fabrics and stains would look on the same piece: 

Brand Launcher
Which side do you like?



Original velvet on the left, contemporary fabric on the right:

Christa Pirl Furniture



Though not classically Eastlake, this antique
rocker retains some of the period's influence:
Before                               After
     
Alchemy Fine Living

Here's another rocker going through the upholstery process: 

Rowlands Upholstery


As photography became more affordable in the late 1800s,
you'll find examples of Eastlake furniture used as props.




Have a great Friday and enjoy the weekend!

My love and admiration of antique and vintage memorabilia is exponentially increased by the wonders of our forefathers' talents and accomplishments.  Occasionally, I just have to stop and ask myself,

"How?"

How did they create such beauty with the

most basic of instruments and equipment?

 

Source

St. Mary's Church, Beverley, UK

Godshill, Isle of Wight, UK

Source

The old town of Rhodes, Greece

Source
Chateau de Chantilly, France



Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain



Sainte Chapelle de Vincennes, France




St. Peter and St. Paul's Church,
Vilnius, Lithuania



St. Paulinus' Church, Trier, Germany



Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic



Burgtheater, Vienna



Egeskov Castle, Denmark



Mafra National Palace, Mafra, Portugal




King's College, Cambridge, England



Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini, Genoa, Italy



Burg Sooneck, Germany






Plaza de Espana, Madrid





Reims, France




St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Peterhof, Russia





Kalisz, Poland



Edinburgh Castle, Scotland



Santiago de Compostela, Spain



Chipping Campden, Cotswold District
of Gloucestershire, England



"How were you good today?"

"I shared beauty."

"I can't begin to tell you the things I've discovered while I
was looking for something else." -- Shelby Foote, author

Me, too!

Today's post is all about vintage and antique
oddities and useless historical trivia.  Enjoy.

The Bramah Lock, an exhibition padlock, was made by Joseph Bramah in 1801.  He displayed the lock in the window of his Piccadilly shop with a challenge that he would pay 200 guineas (about $5,000 in today's money) to anyone who could invent a device that would open the lock.

The challenge was taken up 50 years later by American locksmith Alfred Charles Hobbs who happened to be visiting England for the Great Exhibition of 1851.  After struggling for 51 hours spread over 16 days, Hobbs opened the lock.  The Bramah company paid him the 200 guineas even though he didn't technically open the lock with a device.


When I was a child I remember my grandmother saying that so-and-so
was so unpopular that, "They'll have to hire mourners for their funeral."

Retronaut

Professional Victorian mourners, the technical term: Undertaker's Mutes
These guys were paid to attend funerals to make the crowd look bigger.

Recognize this handsome young man?

It's a photo taken in 1901 of Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi,

better known to American audiences as Dracula:

Because he never learned to drive, Bela Lugosi
zipped around Hollywood on rollerskates.

     

Vogue UK
Weird fashion isn't anything new.  The model, left, is wearing a Veuve
Clicquot 'champagne' dress from 1902.  The hat is the cork!


Do you know what the 4 people
pictured below have in common?

Hannah Stilley Gorby (1746-1846)


Dr. Ezra Green (1746-1847)

Baltus Stone (1747 - 1846)

Conrad Heyer (1749 - 1846)

Source
These are four of the earliest-born people ever to be photographed.  All were born in the 1740's and lived into their late 90's, long enough to experience the dawn of photography.

All three men served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and would have seen George Washington sworn in as the first President of the United States in 1789.
It astounds me that all 4 were alive when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) were composing and performing.

Source
The laurel leaf, above, is from the laurel wreath used
at the coronation of Napoleon I.  To preserve it the
leaf was dipped in gold and framed.  Circa 1804

Well, here's the Queen Mother of all mother-in-laws:

Source
In this 1863 wedding photo of Prince Albert to Princess Alexandra
of Denmark, his mother, Queen Victoria, insisted on being
photographed while staring at a bust of her late husband.

6th grade history student learns that Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled and died on the remote island of St. Helena, 1,160 miles from the west coast of African.

Atlas Obscura

The small scrap of paper, left, is actually a piece of the wallpaper from the room in which Napoleon died on May 5, 1821.  The locket contains a piece of his hair.  Both were authenticated by officials who were present at his death.  Celebrity hounds were no different in the 18th century than they are today.

Source
Surprised that a Chinese man fought in the American Civil War?   Pvt. Joseph L. Pierce enlisted in the 14th Connecticut Infantry in August, 1862.

Pierce's birthplace was Canton in the Kwangtung Province of China.  In 1851, when he was 10 years old, Pierce was brought to America by Captain Amos Peck.  In Connecticut he was adopted by the Peck family but Pierce chose his last name to honor President Franklin Pierce.

His regiment participated in the Battle of Antietam, Md, on Sept. 17, 1862.  Pierce survived the Civil War, returned to farming in Connecticut and lived to be 73 years old.

Most of us have heard of Dance Cards that originated in the early 18th century.  At a dance or ball a gentleman asked a lady to dance and she had a small card or book on which she wrote their name beside the dance they requested.

This is a very rare early 19th century Dance Fan.  The gentleman's name was written beside the dance (in blue) that he requested - a waltz, a polka, etc.  It was much more practical than keeping track of cards or a book.  An antique Victorian pencil, left, was also used at balls to write on dance and fan cards.  But how did a gentleman keep track of the dances he was scheduled for and with which lady?

Ever get mad at your cat?

National Geographic
Over 300 years ago a mischievous cat walked through a pot of ink
then tracked it onto this 15th century manuscript.  Bad kitty!


Bet you don't know the purpose of these Victorian tongs:

Country Living
The tongs were called Dress Lifters - ladies wore them
hanging from their waists and used them to lift their skirts
if they stepped up into a carriage or had to lift their skirts
to step up on a curb.  

How can you not like a Queen who loves dogs?

The Duke & Duchess
Queen Elizabeth of England with Susan,
right, her faithful companion, Circa 1952


Mugshot of the youngest criminal ever:

It Could Be Amazing

This is the mugshot of Francois Bertillon, age 23 months, who was arrested outside of Paris on Oct. 17, 1893.  His crime?  Gluttony.  He ate all of the pears in a basket!

Source
Imagine the fear that parents felt when
they tried these gas masks on their children.

Historical Indulgences
Written on the back of this photo postcard:
"Aunt Velma, she never married. 1888"
I'm thinking that's because Aunt Velma
was really Uncle Verne in drag.

Source
E.E. Milne, author of the Winnie the Pooh books, named the various characters after his son's stuffed animals.  Christopher Robin Milne gave the collection to publisher E.P. Dutton who donated them to the New York Public Library.

In closing, the most romantic Post-it in history:

Source
On Dec. 9, 1936, King Edward VIII wrote to American divorcee
Wallis Simpson explaining his reason for abdicating the English throne:
"The only conditions on which I can stay
here are if I renounce you for all time."