Joseph P. Sammut, auctioneer at Belgravia Auction Gallery, shares some advice on how to recognise whether 18th- and 19th-century Maltese furniture has been modified.
The phenomenon of modifying furniture to suit existing needs, style, fashion and innovation is a natural progression that runs parallel to the requirements of an era, catered for by the manufacturing industry.
In late 19th-century Malta, the new furniture industry was setting up in the wake of the European industrial revolution – Delia, Koludrovic, Arcidiacono, and Naro were all producing furniture with their newly installed machinery. Suddenly, the traditional handcrafted furniture veneered in olivewood was put on the back burner. In fact, examples of furniture in the traditional 18th- and 19th-century method are not found in the late 19th century, coinciding with the new factories setting up.
The change also seems abrupt. The large chest and bureau so proudly presented in most 19th-century, wealthy, prosperous and noble homes was suddenly a thing of the past. The phenomenon of resizing, cannibalising and reusing old woods for small chests were the few items of proper Maltese furniture still being made in the traditional manner.
The solid mahogany Maltese Victoriana was also replaced by furniture built with new technologies, incorporating ply veneers and mass produced press-carved panelling and brass embossed decorations, leading to the scant Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles poorly represented in Malta and characterised by unsatisfactory long-term quality materials.
This trend of modification can briefly be defined as the altering of all types of existing Maltese veneered olivewood chests of drawers from the 18th and early 19th century to other furniture, namely bureaux and small chests of drawers. It was the carcass of the chests themselves that was modified and resized, while the veneer was removed and replaced.
Understanding the method of modification is the surest way of looking for the telltale signs of a modified piece of furniture.
When investigating whether a piece of Maltese furniture has been modified, perhaps the drawers are the first place where to look for signs. The four-side panels that make up the drawer must have matching front joints and matching rear joints. The original construction joints on the front left and right must be identical, as should be the back joints, although these are made with less attention to detail. If the holes prepared in the original furniture for handles can be seen internally but not externally, then this is clearly a sign of a change, while if the holes are not proportionally centred, then a size modification is clear.
An examination of the rear of the furniture could indicate changes too. The wood planks that form the back should be uniform and of the same colour stain and patination, while a rough cut along or saw slivers on the end of the planks can indicate a height change.
Some external features are fairly easy to detect, with proportion and ratio being the key words. The most commonly used chests are those serpentine large size with cross and medallion motifs, and also the straight fronted type with similar motifs. The measured balance, symmetry, colour and patterns achieved by the cabinet maker on the surfaces of the pine carcass with thick cut olivewood veneers are always disturbed in a modification.
The side motif is always emphatically centred on a panel – an off centre medallion or cross is a modification.
The wide frame of veneer enclosing a centre panel is always of the same width and the top and side medallion is always uniform. Conspicuous variations indicate tampering. The handles on the drawers of a chest are set to a quarter of the length of the drawer as is the medallion or surrounding veneered pattern motif to the handle. Measuring the position of the handles and looking internally for any previous handle holes is indicative of changes.
The bureau that is created from a chest of drawers has a new interior of mahogany, sometimes with string inlay. All Maltese olivewood bureaux have olivewood veneer in the slope-enclosed area. Also, the stationery drawer wood must have a uniform patina and colour.
The serpentine form itself is a smooth flowing centre bow with side dips and a rising end, with the rise being approximately half the projection of the centre bow. A definite modification is evident whenever the rising ends are missing or flat, meaning that the width has been resized.
There is also the proportion and dimension element. Bedsides, commode-sized small chests of drawers are not found in the 18th or early 19th century. The smallest size of the period is approximately 102 to 110cm in length. All chests smaller than 100cm should be thoroughly examined. Keep in mind that the modified straight-fronted bureau is always smaller than the 18th- and 19th-century authentic and often has a clumsy front sloping panel. Also, the paired small chests of drawers with concave and convex fronts are always made from the curve in the serpentine chest, where the cut is made vertically and partially.