As the affluent upper classes were the arbiters of taste, then sideboards would have either been solid mahogany or perhaps of oak or beech with mahogany veneers. Of course oak was still, justifiably, held in high regard and so the next ‘layer’ in society would have commissioned one of these new-fangled pieces of furniture but would have had an oak sideboard, rather than a mahogany or imitation mahogany piece.
Oak was in plentiful supply as it covered large parts of the country in the 16th and 17th Centuries. It was an almost universal construction material – the plastic of its day. Oak was used for buildings, furniture, carts and boats or ships, in fact almost everything that was made would have had a version made of oak.
‘Doing most things well'Oak is a slow growing tree. It has a dense timber that does most things well. For example, it is not as rot resistant as sweet chestnut when used for fencing, but it is still a very good material for fencing. It does not work as well (it cannot be carved as easily) as lime, but is still a good wood to carve. It may not be as pretty as walnut or mahogany, but still has a beautiful grain pattern. A perfect material in fact, for making an oak sideboard.
The oak was in plentiful supply until the middle of the 18th Century when the demands for more ships for Britain’s Royal and Merchant navies began to use timber at greater rates. This was later exacerbated by the onset of the Industrial Revolution that demanded wood for iron making before the method of using coal was perfected. This took far more timber than would have been needed to make an oak sideboard for every household in the country and was a time when people first realised that maintaining oak woodlands for the value of their timber was important. One of the areas where woodland management with a view to future timber needs started to be practiced was the Forest of Dean on the Gloucestershire borders.
The connection between the Mary Rose and oak sideboards
The forest of Dean is generally thought to have been the source of the oak used for building such famous ships as the Mary Rose and HMS Victory – the world’s oldest naval ship still in commission.
The next big depredation of the oak woodlands of Britain came about with the advent of the First World War. The trench warfare that characterised fighting on the Western Front needed large supplies of wood to shore up the sides of the trenches and dugouts. Oak woodlands were clear felled to meet this huge demand. After the end of the First World War it was realised that Britain’s woodlands had a strategic value to the defence of the country – without timber supplies, it was argued, Britain would have been unable to prosecute the war. Consequently in 1919 the Forestry Commission was established to protect and enhance Britain’s woodlands.
Despite this, there was still a shortage of wood during the Second World War, to the extent that for a short period it was actually a criminal offence to make wooden furniture.
We hope that our
oak sideboards page has helped you in someway in your search for a
sideboard.A Brief Oak Sideboard History
The humble
Oak sideboard history dates back many years, even hundreds of years when sideboards were primitively used for a family to set up and serve the food from for the family unit, the oak sideboard was normally topped with Marble.
Slowly as the years passed the humble
oak sideboard changed to more of a serving area than a preparation table and the majority of American diners utilised them for serving the food. Oak sideboards were fashionable as they also served as a holding area with cupboards and draws below the top serving area of the oak sideboard, traditionally the storage was used for keeping the silver serving pieces for the food.
Even in today's technical modern world an
Oak sideboard is often used for many different reasons from a decorative piece of furniture in the living room to using it for serving and storing of food cutlery for when you have dinner guests over. There is no right or wrong use for a sideboard, it really is up to you. Whatever a sideboard is used for; it makes a beautiful piece of furniture to admire for many years to come.
If you are looking for a solid oak sideboard, then you have come to the right place. Right now all our Solid Oak Sideboards are on a massive sale, with OVER 50% off and come with free delivery to any room of your choosing. Why not add a
solid oak nest of tables to help you complete the look?
It goes without saying a sideboard is a dominant piece of solid wood furniture, that is why you should only want the best, but at an affordable price. We have a range of sideboards that all come in various solid woods, but our most popular sideboards are
Oak Sideboards. They are built from 100% solid oak and even have oak backed drawers and dovetail joints. We know other retailers are selling veneered oak sideboards for more, so why accept less on quality and more on price, when you can have much better quality, for a lower price?