Home Help: 22 February
Even door fittings are fashion-led. At the moment, everything is chrome, irrespective of the period of the building. Chrome and nickel are in, brass is out. I feel, though, that it just doesn’t look right to have a nickel front-door knob on a Georgian terrace or a chrome lever handle in a Victorian redbrick building. I believe that investing in the correct, good-quality door furniture adds value to a house. A cheap knob or handle with peeling cellulose lacquer really does let down a place.
Charles Brooking is obsessed with the correct door and window fi ttings. Since he was a child in the 1960s, Brooking has visited demolition sites, rescuing handles, knobs, fingerplates, window latches, staircases and fi replaces, ranging from the 17th century to the 1950s. He has about 200,000 pieces in The Brooking Collection: 01483-274203, www.thebrookingcollection.com
On show in Cranleigh, Surrey is a small part of his collection, with its history clearly explained. Conservation offi cers and the National Trust often defer to him. Brooking will give advice to the public, too.
Brooking was a consultant to JD Beardmore & Co, founded in 1860s. Here, there are 600 doorknob patterns, 100 or so of which are in production. If some original door furniture is missing in a house, the company can copy them and even replicate the worn patina in their South Coast foundry.
When buying a doorknob, don’t get them lacquered – they never were originally. Nowadays, it isn’t necessary to polish them all the time, like a Victorian servant. Besides, tarnish gives character. Choose concealed screw fittings; they look so much smarter. As a rough guide, in Victorian times, carved wooden knobs were often fitted in the typical town or small country house. Holloways of Ludlow has a good selection. China doorknobs were often used upstairs in Georgian and Victorian houses. Priors sells simple black, white and cream knobs, 50mm in diameter, with matching china backs covering the screws. Brass became cheaper in the late 18th and 19th centuries, so was used more widely. In the Arts and Crafts period, rustic black iron fi ttings were fashionable. New buildings from 1920s and 1930s had Art Deco hexagonal knobs and lever handles in chrome. In the following two decades, Bakelite was the latest thing.
Charles Brooking is obsessed with the correct door and window fi ttings. Since he was a child in the 1960s, Brooking has visited demolition sites, rescuing handles, knobs, fingerplates, window latches, staircases and fi replaces, ranging from the 17th century to the 1950s. He has about 200,000 pieces in The Brooking Collection: 01483-274203, www.thebrookingcollection.com
On show in Cranleigh, Surrey is a small part of his collection, with its history clearly explained. Conservation offi cers and the National Trust often defer to him. Brooking will give advice to the public, too.
Brooking was a consultant to JD Beardmore & Co, founded in 1860s. Here, there are 600 doorknob patterns, 100 or so of which are in production. If some original door furniture is missing in a house, the company can copy them and even replicate the worn patina in their South Coast foundry.
When buying a doorknob, don’t get them lacquered – they never were originally. Nowadays, it isn’t necessary to polish them all the time, like a Victorian servant. Besides, tarnish gives character. Choose concealed screw fittings; they look so much smarter. As a rough guide, in Victorian times, carved wooden knobs were often fitted in the typical town or small country house. Holloways of Ludlow has a good selection. China doorknobs were often used upstairs in Georgian and Victorian houses. Priors sells simple black, white and cream knobs, 50mm in diameter, with matching china backs covering the screws. Brass became cheaper in the late 18th and 19th centuries, so was used more widely. In the Arts and Crafts period, rustic black iron fi ttings were fashionable. New buildings from 1920s and 1930s had Art Deco hexagonal knobs and lever handles in chrome. In the following two decades, Bakelite was the latest thing.