After seven years of collecting the Queen Anne range of Tri-ang Period furniture, I finally completed the full set a few weeks ago!
It's not, generally speaking, a difficult range to collect and most pieces come up for sale fairly regularly, but there were two pieces which had eluded me for several years:
And here they are:
Queen Anne Upright Piano and Music Stool
Photo © Zoe Handy
I have missed out on the little Music Stool several times in the past, so I was delighted to eventually get my hands on one a couple of months ago.
I thought that was pretty good, but then, lo and behold, the rare as hens' teeth 'upright piano' came up for auction. I wasn't going to miss out on it, so I bid on it for my life and won - dancing around the house was involved, despite the eye-watering price!
Everything I know about this range of furniture comes from Marion Osbourne's excellent research, published in The Book of Tri-ang Furniture for the Dolls' House, 2013.
The range was made by Tri-ang from 1935 to 1940 and, given that it's made from 1mm birch plywood, it's amazing how much of it has survived the test of time, though several of my pieces do bear the scars.
There were twenty-three pieces in the range, identified as QA1-23 in price lists, with the Drawing Room and Dining Room pieces numbered QA1-14, the Bedroom pieces numbered QA15-19 and "Extras" numbered QA20-23.
And here are those twenty-three pieces:
Queen Anne Dining Cabinet (QA1)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Dining Cabinet (QA1) - Interior
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Writing Bureau (QA2)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Writing Bureau (QA2) - Interior
Photo © Zoe Handy
Pull-out Supports for Drop-down Front
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Writing Armchair (QA3)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Bedroom Chair with Ladder Back (QA4)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Chair with Splat Back (QA5)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Fire Screen (QA6)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Bedroom China Cabinet (QA7)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Easy Chair (QA8)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Settee (QA9)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Side Table with Imitation Marble Top (QA10)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Console Table (QA11)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Occasional Table (QA12)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Hanging Mirror (QA13)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Dining Table (QA14)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Footstool (QA15)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Wardrobe (QA16)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Wardrobe (QA16) - Inside
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Wardrobe (QA16) - Close-up of Hanger
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Bedstead (QA17) - Original Mattress and Bolster
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Dressing Mirror (QA18)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Chest of Drawers (QA19)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Grand Piano (QA20)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Grand Piano (QA20) - Open
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Grand Piano (QA20) - Close-up of Music Rest and Graphics Inside
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Upright Piano (QA21)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Upright Piano (QA21) - Keyboard Lid Up
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Upright Piano (QA21) - Top Open
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Music Stool (QA22)
Photo © Zoe Handy
Queen Anne Dresser with Plates (QA23) - (Missing one Back Leg)
The five metal plates are original and are attached to the dresser.
Photo © Zoe Handy
Purist collectors might consider my collection to be incomplete because in addition to the items shown above, the following might also be collected:
- The Grand Piano, the Upright Piano and the Music Stool (QA20-22) were also available in an "Ebony" finish as well as the "Walnut" one which all of my pieces have.
- The range could be bought in boxed sets for the bedroom, dining room and drawing room. Even if these weren't extremely rare, I'm not a boxed set kind of girl and prefer my furniture in dolls' houses!
- For more adventurous children (or parents, more likely), there was a "Constructional Drawing Room Set" and a "Constuctional Bedroom Set" available. These contained pre-cut furniture parts and the necessary tools and instructions to construct the furniture, upholster it and apply the walnut effect finish. Again, this isn't my sort of thing (I would have to construct them!) but they are interesting to see and, though they did include the same "petit point design" upholstery fabric, they do explain why some pieces of the range are to be found with different upholstery fabrics on them (the chair shown above with the QA10 Side Table for example), where perhaps the constructor decided to use a different one to suit the colour scheme in their dolls' house better. It also explains why they the Queen Anne Period furniture is to be found with much variation in the finish, and the instructions reveal that the finish was achieved by applying a white undercoat to the wood and then, when that was dry, applying the varnish on top and dabbing it with a rag.
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So, it took me seven years to collect the Queen Anne range and I wonder how long will it take to complete the even more elusive Jacobean range. To date, I've acquired twelve out of the nineteen different pieces which have been identified so far, so I'm getting there, but the quest continues!
Until next time,
Zoe
Great collection, well done on finding those rare items!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteFabulous! Perseverance paid off in the end!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Frances. I try not to take the collecting side of the hobby TOO seriously, but certain ranges appeal more than others and the QA range is one which is small enough to be able to collect in its entirety without going too batty! 😂
DeleteI don't know if all of you will frown upon this practice, but to make the legs look better where the colour has flaked off, I paint with matching brown water colour paints and the put a dab of clear varnish on. This makes it look neater and also stabilises it from further flaking.
ReplyDeleteI think that’s a good idea, particularly if you’re able to do it competently (which I know you are if you are who I think you are, Mrs Anonymous!). I probably will get around to doing a few small touch ups one day, though the scuffs don’t bother me too much, which is probably why I’ve not done it yet.
DeleteA point about this range being easier to acquire than a few years back is that many of the little girls who were given this furniture when young, have now, sadly, reached their time limit. The furniture could be packed away in boxes and kept, whilst the houses went on their merry way. I was over the moon when I discovered a lot of this furniture back in the 90's - some of it was on display in an antique shop, and when I went in, filled with desire, I was told that it belonged to an elderly lady who had owned it since childhood but was now selling - and she had more, would I like her telephone number? It was very rare to find in those days so I bought all that she was prepared to sell- her prices were a bit hair raising but we came to a compromise. A year of so later, another lady in her eighties, gave me her childhood Triang items - in lovely condition, so the age factor seems to be the reason why so much is to be seen now. A lot has recently come from a keen collector, now deceased, with whom I used to correspond. Getting on a bit myself, the market may be flooded soon and prices drop accordingly! R.
ReplyDeleteR, that’s probably the sad truth of it, though not the last bit - we’ve already agreed that you are definitely going to break all records on the longevity front and have many more happy years of collecting ahead of you! xx
Deletethese are wonderful Zoe.. i hope i can get the whole set. i have a few pieces and will keep looking.. well done you..
ReplyDeleteThank you! You’ll get there - as they say, good things come to those who wait.🤞🤞🤞
Deletethank you for sharing your wonderful collection!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! 🙂
DeleteAbsolutely stunning collection of Queen Anne furniture , well done Zoe
ReplyDeleteWow how fantastic to have the whole collection. I did get a few pieces in an auction job lot once & thought about trying to get the rest but the prices were quite high so I sold the ones I had instead.
ReplyDelete