New Dressing Table

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 285, 22 February 1928, Page 7

New Dressing Table

A RADICAL CHANGE

Noticeable Developments

IN spite of the critics’ complaint that the furniture-designers of the twentieth century are producing nothing that is new, every piece, is, as a matter of fact, undergoing a radical change. This development is to be seen very plainly in the dressing-table, which is c ssentially a feminine piece of furniture.

THE dressing-table, indeed, is itself a comparatively modern piece, for the article we know to-day was quite unknown at the beginning of the 18th century. The piece of furniture then acting as a dressing-table was the “low-boy,” prevalent in the early Queen Anne period, and brought out from Holland with the invasion of Dutch cabinetmakers in William and Mary’s time. Thomas Chippendale and Thomas Sheraton made dressingtables, but these were still of the enclosed type, with separate mirrors. The piece as we know it to-day was a product of the 19th century. The most noticeable development in dressing-tables just now is the way in which they are becoming lower; that is to say, the legs are very much shorter and at times are dispensed with altogether, the body of the dressing-table resting on the floor. The frame of the dressing-table itself is also becoming much lower. The main carcase is not so deep and has a tendency to become wider in most suites. The width depends chiefly on the size of the bedroom to be furnished and the price which it is desired to pay. The low dressing-table, which is il-

lustrated in the picture on this page, has several advantages over the tj r pe with tall legs to which we have become accustomed for many years, its greatest asset is that a woman is enabled to see her reflection in the fixed mirror with greater ease and to see more of her figure. Another advantage is 1

that it improves the appearance of the whole room.

It has been found that dressingtable stools are usually too high for use with these new models, and the beautifully covered poLiffe or low stool is in many instances taking the place of the higher chair or seat. This gives the room a slightly more luxurious appearance, while adding also to its comfort.

These considerations certainly influenced the production of the new low dressing-tables, but * another reason for their introduction was the increased and increasing use of walnut for bedroom furnishing. When oak was used for the bedroom the low dress-ing-table w<|uld have been an anachronism. It" may be pointed out, in fact, that the dressing-table in a correct Jacobean or Carolean room was in itself wrong. Walnut lends itself far more to the designing of dressingtables with low frames.

The example illustrated is in walnut with carving decorated with gold leaf. The triple mirror is a prominent feature of most of the latest designs, and it will be seen that its height confirms the statement that a woman may see a much greater reflection than was previously the case. A new idea js to Have the top

of the dressing-table covered with a sheet of plate glass cut to the exact shape of the wood. This not only preserves the dressingtable’s surface against accidents with scents and powders, but also improves t*je appearance of the wood underneath it.