My last blog entry engendered a lot of discussion amongst my 20 or so devoted readers, particularly as it related to color. Frankly, with the use of the shorthand phrase ‘brown furniture’ to opprobriously describe something both twee and wildly unfashionable, a consideration of color has, by association, become no-go area.
When we started in business not quite seven years ago, we sought to offer color by way of a selection of painted furniture. Our Georgian forebears loved color and bright things generally. Moreover, the mahogany that has over nearly three centuries become either considerably darker or considerably lighter, was originally all a fairly bright red, with a redness enhanced by a wash containing red pigments applied by the joiner. Chippendale certainly did this, as an examination of the furniture at Dumfries House has proven. So, of course, brightly painted furniture would be a natural articulation. Unfortunately, the painted surface, no matter how exquisitely wrought, is still the thinnest, most delicate of skins over vernacular woods- deal and beech, most often. Consequently, when after a generation it is knocked about and shows its use, it was discarded. What, then, was ubiquitous in the homes of the quality is now rare as hen’s teeth. None the less, we are always on the lookout for English antiques from the 18th century with their original painted surfaces. I’m not going to hold out much hope, though, that the National Trust will sell out of Nostell Priory Chippendale’s green japanned bedroom suite.
What fared better, clearly, was furniture composed of exotic woods. Even delicate veneers like satinwood still held up better than paint. With the comparative rarity of our sought after painted furniture we of necessity had to make do in our inventory with exotic woods. I am reminded of something one of our colleagues had said, about having a showroom full of tables, all of them shiny and all of them brown. Tables, yes we have plenty of them, and yes, a fair number of them are brown-ish, but none of them are the same. While wear, age, and use contribute patination, timber quality and figuring are features that must have been present from the beginning. 
We are fortunate enough to be able to handle Gillows pieces from time to time. While we see attributions to Gillows, with those attributions based on similarities in design to those contained in the firm’s pattern books, what is generally overlooked is the exquisite quality of Gillows timbers. The figuring, depth of color, and matching of veneers, whether in mahogany, rosewood, or satinwood, are features central to any 18th or early 19th century Gillows piece.
While a collector may develop his connoisseurship toward an ultimate recognition of the merits of Gillows material, the best dealers should always be possessed of that recognition.