Antique Oak Bookcase

Oak wood antique bookcase

I have a simple oak antique bookcase in my hall that was built by my grandfather in the 1920’s. It is a narrow bookcase and very plain with no carvings or decoration. Throughout the 1800’s the Victorians held the monopoly on highly decorated and polished solid wood mahogany furniture. The beginning of the new century saw the introduction of new styles in furniture, art, fashion and architecture and more use of the native English timbers oak, ash, beech and elm.

Form and function furniture

This period was known as the Arts and craft period where the emphasis was on form and function in all things. Furniture designs became simpler and more organic, carving tools were used to embellish much of the furniture with hand carved flowers and foliage.

Oak furniture designer

Charles Rennie Macintosh was a leader in many areas of design and was renowned for his oak chairs in the ladder back style and other exciting new ideas for home decor.

Oak wood bookcase

Oak is a close grained distinctive wood with a characteristic rough bark. It takes many decades to grow a large oak tree and there are few of them left now of any size. Those that remain are being preserved for future generations. But during the Arts and craft period many items of furniture were made from this native English hardwood.

Strong oakwood furniture

Solid wood

Wooden bookshelves, wardrobes and wooden toy boxes were all constructed using this strong attractive wood. Unfortunately we do not have the resources to keep on using these woods so nowadays we use cheaper imported soft woods like pine and larch for our mass produced furniture.

A wood bookcase is a very important part of any home, keeping your books on display gives an erudite look to your home. Books are invaluable for you and your children as a resource for life and learning and making them visible and available to everyone ensures that they will be used and treasured. A small bookcase in a child’s room for them to keep their most loved books upon is a great idea, you may like to paint it to complement the colour of the room or alternatively keep it the natural wood colour with a simple coat of beeswax to make it easy to clean.

Passed from generation to generation

I hope to keep my antique bookcase to pass on to my own children as part of their heritage, made by their great grandfather, it is something worth keeping.