| History may not be exciting to many people but if you | | | | abject poverty. |
| have an interest in antiques then history can come | | | | Antiques and history are part of a whole as each era |
| alive and you can learn many facts just by delving into | | | | brings to life the reign of a King or Queen of that |
| the past lives of many of the great furniture cabinet | | | | period. Victorian furniture is more plentiful due to long |
| makers. | | | | reign of Queen Victoria; Many pieces of Victorian |
| Thomas Chippendale a master cabinet maker was | | | | antique furniture can be bought quite cheaply especially |
| reputed to be born in Otley, Yorkshire. Details of his life | | | | from the later years of her reign. |
| can be found in the Otley museum. The town dates | | | | Late Victorian furniture was more solidly built than in |
| from before the Roman times and belonged to the | | | | the early years, dark browns and green being the |
| Archbishop of York. | | | | more predominant colours, and much of it could be |
| The first church to be built in Otley was in the early 7th | | | | considered large and heavy, but as Victorian houses |
| century and buried in the All Saints Parish Church lies | | | | have large rooms with high ceilings this type of |
| the remains of Thomas Fairfax who commanded | | | | furniture fitted its abode. |
| Parliaments forces at the Battle of Marston Moor in | | | | In 1888 the Arts and Crafts Movement came into |
| 1644. | | | | being. This movement being against the use of |
| Otley might be better known by the fact that it plays | | | | machinery and the loss of work it caused for the |
| the town of Hotten in the television soap opera | | | | ordinary working people. Victorian Arts and Crafts |
| Emmerdale, and the old police station in Heartbeat is | | | | style furniture made in England was handmade in a |
| actually the Otley courthouse. | | | | country or farmhouse style and although it looked nice |
| Many of the great antique furniture makers were | | | | comfort was not always first and foremost. |
| more designers than furniture builders although their | | | | Queen Elizabeth 1 was the daughter of King Henry |
| earlier years were probably spent learning their trade. | | | | v111. During the Elizabethan age house designs |
| Thomas Sheraton learned the trade and became a | | | | changed which brought about the change in furniture |
| journeying cabinet maker but changed course and | | | | designs. |
| became a church minister. His fame in antique furniture | | | | Furniture became lighter and more decorative much of |
| came from his drawings and four volumes of "The | | | | it being made with walnut, a a lighter and less sturdy |
| Cabinet Maker's and Upholsterer's book. | | | | wood, although chairs were still made with oak. Due to |
| It is believed that Sheraton himself never made any of | | | | the weakness of walnut this furniture has not survived |
| the pieces shown in his books. No pieces of furniture | | | | through the years whereas the sturdier Elizabethan |
| have ever been traced to him. It is said he died in | | | | oak antique tables and chairs are still around. |