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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chats on Old Furniture, by Arthur Hayden
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chats on Old Furniture
+ A Practical Guide for Collectors
+
+Author: Arthur Hayden
+
+Release Date: January 8, 2011 [EBook #34877]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Delphine Lettau, Susan Skinner and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
+
+
+[Illustration: _Jacobean Chair._]
+
+
+CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
+
+_Press Notices, First Edition._
+
+"Mr. Hayden knows his subject intimately."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
+
+"The hints to collectors are the best and clearest we have seen; so that
+altogether this is a model book of its kind."--_Athenaeum._
+
+"A useful and instructive volume."--_Spectator._
+
+"An abundance of illustrations completes a well-written and
+well-constructed history."--_Daily News._
+
+"Mr. Hayden's taste is sound and his knowledge thorough."--_Scotsman._
+
+"A book of more than usual comprehensiveness and more than usual
+merit."--_Vanity Fair._
+
+"Mr. Hayden has worked at his subject on systematic lines, and has made
+his book what it purports to be--a practical guide for the
+collector."--_Saturday Review._
+
+
+CHATS ON OLD CHINA
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
+
+_Second Edition._
+
+_Price_ 5s. _net._
+
+_With Coloured Frontispiece and Reproductions of 156 Marks and 89
+Specimens of China._
+
+A List of SALE PRICES and a full INDEX increase the usefulness of the
+Volume.
+
+This is a handy book of reference to enable Amateur Collectors to
+distinguish between the productions of the various factories.
+
+_Press Notices, First Edition._
+
+"A handsome handbook that the amateur in doubt will find useful, and the
+china-lover will enjoy for its illustrations, and for the author's
+obvious love and understanding of his subject."--_St. James's Gazette._
+
+"All lovers of china will find much entertainment in this
+volume."--_Daily News._
+
+"It gives in a few pithy chapters just what the beginner wants to know
+about the principal varieties of English ware. We can warmly commend the
+book to the china collector."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
+
+"One of the best points about the book is the clear way in which the
+characteristics of each factory are noted down separately, so that the
+veriest tyro ought to be able to judge for himself if he has a piece or
+pieces which would come under this heading, and the marks are very
+accurately given."--_Queen._
+
+
+IN PREPARATION.
+
+CHATS ON OLD PRINTS
+
+_Price_ 5s. _net._
+
+_Illustrated with Coloured Frontispiece and 70 Full-page Reproductions
+from Engravings._
+
+With GLOSSARY of Technical Terms, BIBLIOGRAPHY, full INDEX and TABLE of
+more than 350 of the principal English and Continental Engravers from
+the XVIth to the XIXth centuries, together with copious notes as to
+PRICES and values of old prints.
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, ADELPHI TERRACE.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Chats on Old Furniture
+
+A Practical Guide for Collectors
+
+By Arthur Hayden
+
+Author of "Chats on English China"
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
+1 ADELPHI TERRACE. MCMVI
+
+ * * * * *
+
+_First Edition, 1905._
+_Second " 1906._
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+
+[Illustration: _Portion of Carved Walnut Virginal._]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+This volume has been written to enable those who have a taste for the
+furniture of a bygone day to arrive at some conclusion as to the
+essential points of the various styles made in England.
+
+An attempt has been made to give some lucid historical account of the
+progress and development in the art of making domestic furniture, with
+especial reference to its evolution in this country.
+
+Inasmuch as many of the finest specimens of old English woodwork and
+furniture have left the country of their origin and crossed the
+Atlantic, it is time that the public should awaken to the fact that the
+heritages of their forefathers are objects of envy to all lovers of art.
+It is a painful reflection to know that the temptation of money will
+shortly denude the old farmhouses and manor houses of England of their
+unappreciated treasures. Before the hand of the despoiler shall have
+snatched everything within reach, it is the hope of the writer that this
+little volume may not fall on stony ground, and that the possessors of
+fine old English furniture may realise their responsibilities.
+
+It has been thought advisable to touch upon French furniture as
+exemplified in the national collections of such importance as the Jones
+Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Wallace Collection,
+to show the influence of foreign art upon our own designers. Similarly,
+Italian, Spanish, and Dutch furniture, of which many remarkable examples
+are in private collections in this country, has been dealt with in
+passing, to enable the reader to estimate the relation of English art to
+contemporary foreign schools of decoration and design.
+
+The authorities of the Victoria and Albert Museum have willingly
+extended their assistance in regard to photographs, and by the special
+permission of the Board of Education the frontispiece and other
+representative examples in the national collection appear as
+illustrations to this volume.
+
+I have to acknowledge generous assistance and courteous permission from
+owners of fine specimens in allowing me facilities for reproducing
+illustrations of them in this volume.
+
+I am especially indebted to the Right Honourable Sir Spencer
+Ponsonby-Fane, G.C.B., I.S.O., and to the Rev. Canon Haig Brown, Master
+of the Charterhouse, for the inclusion of illustrations of furniture of
+exceptional interest.
+
+The proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ have generously furnished me with
+lists of prices obtained at auction from their useful monthly
+publication, _Auction Sale Prices_, and have allowed the reproduction of
+illustrations which have appeared in the pages of the _Connoisseur_.
+
+My thanks are due to Messrs. Hampton, of Pall Mall, for their kind
+permission to include as illustrations several fine pieces from their
+collection of antique furniture. I am under a similar obligation to
+Messrs. Waring, who have kindly allowed me to select some of their
+typical examples.
+
+To my other friends, without whose kind advice and valuable aid this
+volume could never have appeared, I tender a grateful and appreciative
+acknowledgment of my indebtedness.
+
+ ARTHUR HAYDEN.
+
+[Illustration: _Italian Chair about 1620_]
+
+[Illustration: _Spanish Chest._]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ PAGE
+
+PREFACE 7
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 13
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY 19
+
+GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED 23
+
+CHAPTER
+
+ I. THE RENAISSANCE ON THE CONTINENT 31
+
+ II. THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE 57
+
+ III. STUART OR JACOBEAN (SEVENTEENTH CENTURY) 79
+
+ IV. STUART OR JACOBEAN (LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY) 109
+
+ V. QUEEN ANNE STYLE 133
+
+ VI. FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XIV. 155
+
+ VII. FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV. 169
+
+VIII. FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI. 189
+
+ IX. FRENCH FURNITURE. THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE 201
+
+ X. CHIPPENDALE AND HIS STYLE 211
+
+ XI. SHERATON, ADAM, AND HEPPELWHITE STYLES 239
+
+ XII. HINTS TO COLLECTORS 257
+
+INDEX 275
+
+[Illustration: _Chippendale Bureau Bookcase._]
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+JACOBEAN OAK CABINET; decorated with mother-of-pearl, ebony, and ivory.
+Dated 1653. (By permission of the Board of Education) _Frontispiece_
+
+CARVED WOOD FRAME; decorated with gold stucco. Sixteenth Century.
+Italian _Title page_
+
+ PAGE
+CHAPTER I.--THE RENAISSANCE ON THE CONTINENT.
+
+ PORTION OF CARVED CORNICE, Italian, Sixteenth Century 33
+
+ FRAME OF WOOD, with female terminal figures, Italian,
+ late Sixteenth Century 35
+
+ FRONT OF COFFER, Italian, late Fifteenth Century 38
+
+ BRIDAL CHEST, Gothic design, middle of Fifteenth Century 39
+
+ FRONT OF OAK CHEST, French, Fifteenth Century 44
+
+ WALNUT SIDEBOARD, French, middle of Sixteenth Century 45
+
+ CABINET, FRENCH (LYONS), second half of Sixteenth Century 48
+
+ EBONY AND IVORY MARQUETRY CABINET, French, middle of
+ Sixteenth Century 50
+
+ SPANISH CABINET AND STAND, carved chestnut, first half
+ of Sixteenth Century 51
+
+ SPANISH CHEST, carved walnut, Sixteenth Century 52
+
+CHAPTER II.--THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE.
+
+ CARVED OAK CHEST, English, Sixteenth Century 59
+
+ BENCH OF OAK, French, about 1500 60
+
+ PORTION OF CARVED WALNUT VIRGINAL, Flemish, Sixteenth Century 61
+
+ CARVED OAK COFFER, French, showing interlaced ribbon-work 61
+
+ FIREPLACE AND OAK PANELLING, "Old Palace," Bromley-by-Bow.
+ Built in 1606 64
+
+ ELIZABETHAN BEDSTEAD, dated 1593 66
+
+ PANEL OF CARVED OAK, English, early Sixteenth Century 68
+
+ MIRROR, in oak frame, English, dated 1603 71
+
+ COURT CUPBOARD, carved oak, English, dated 1603 73
+
+ " " carved oak, early Seventeenth Century 74
+
+ " " about 1580 75
+
+ ELIZABETHAN OAK TABLE 78
+
+CHAPTER III.--STUART OR JACOBEAN. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+ GATE-LEG TABLE 81
+
+ OAK CHAIR, made from Sir Francis Drake's ship, the _Golden Hind_ 83
+
+ OAK TABLE, dated 1616, bearing arms of Thomas Sutton 85
+
+ CHAIR USED BY JAMES I. 87
+
+ JACOBEAN CHAIR, at Knole 89
+
+ JACOBEAN STOOL, at Knole 90
+
+ CARVED WALNUT DOOR (UPPER HALF), French, showing ribbon-work 91
+
+ OAK CHAIR, with arms of first Earl of Strafford 93
+
+ ITALIAN CHAIR, about 1620 94
+
+ HIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR, Early Jacobean, formerly in
+ possession of Charles I. 95
+
+ JACOBEAN CHAIRS, various types 97
+
+ EBONY CABINET, formerly the property of Oliver Cromwell 99
+
+ JACOBEAN CARVED OAK CHAIRS, Yorkshire and Derbyshire types 101
+
+ JACOBEAN OAK CUPBOARD, about 1620 101
+
+ JACOBEAN OAK CHAIRS 105
+
+ CARVED OAK CRADLE, time of Charles I., dated 1641 107
+
+CHAPTER IV.--STUART OR JACOBEAN. LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+ INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSE, latter half of Seventeenth Century 111
+
+ CABINET OF TIME OF CHARLES II., showing exterior 112
+
+ " " " showing interior 113
+
+ PORTUGUESE HIGH-BACK CHAIR 115
+
+ OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS, late Jacobean 117
+
+ " " panelled front, late Jacobean 119
+
+ CHARLES II. OAK CHAIR 120
+
+ CHARLES II. OPEN HIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR 121
+
+ CHARLES II. CHAIR, cane back and seat 122
+
+ JAMES II. CHAIR, cane back and seat 123
+
+ WILLIAM AND MARY CHAIR 125
+
+ PORTUGUESE CHAIR-BACK (UPPER PORTION), cut leather work 128
+
+CHAPTER V.--QUEEN ANNE STYLE.
+
+ QUEEN ANNE OAK SETTLE 135
+
+ QUEEN ANNE MIRROR FRAME, carved walnut, gilded 137
+
+ OAK DESK, dated 1696 139
+
+ OAK CUPBOARD 140
+
+ QUEEN ANNE CABINET, burr-walnut panel 141
+
+ QUEEN ANNE CHAIRS, various types 143
+
+ DUTCH MARQUETRY CABINET 147
+
+ QUEEN ANNE CLOCK 148
+
+ QUEEN ANNE SETTLE, oak, dated 1705 149
+
+ OLD LAC CABINET 150
+
+ LAC CABINET, middle of Eighteenth Century 151
+
+ " " showing doors closed 152
+
+ " " chased brass escutcheon 154
+
+CHAPTER VI.--FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XIV.
+
+ CASSETTE, French, Seventeenth Century 157
+
+ CHAIR OF PERIOD OF LOUIS XIII. 159
+
+ PEDESTALS, showing boule and counter-boule work 163
+
+ BOULE CABINET, OR ARMOIRE 165
+
+CHAPTER VII.--FRENCH FURNITURE. LOUIS XV.
+
+ COMMODE, by Cressent 171
+
+ COMMODE, formerly in the Hamilton Collection 173
+
+ COMMODE, by Caffieri 175
+
+ ESCRITOIRE A TOILETTE, formerly in possession of Marie Antoinette 179
+
+ SECRETAIRE, by Riesener 181
+
+ "BUREAU DU ROI," the masterpiece of Riesener 183
+
+CHAPTER VIII.--FRENCH FURNITURE. LOUIS XVI.
+
+ JEWEL CABINET, "J. H. Riesener," Mounts by Gouthiere 193
+
+ COMMODE, by Riesener 197
+
+CHAPTER IX.--FRENCH FURNITURE. THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE.
+
+ PORTRAIT OF MADAME RECAMIER, after David 203
+
+ DETAIL OF TRIPOD TABLE found at Pompeii 205
+
+ SERVANTE, French, late Eighteenth Century 206
+
+ JEWEL CABINET OF THE EMPRESS MARIE LOUISE 207
+
+ ARMCHAIR, rosewood, showing Empire influence 210
+
+CHAPTER X.--CHIPPENDALE AND HIS STYLE.
+
+ TABLE MADE BY CHIPPENDALE 213
+
+ OLIVER GOLDSMITH'S CHAIR 215
+
+ CHIPPENDALE SETTEE, walnut, about 1740 217
+
+ " " oak, about 1740 219
+
+ CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACK, ribbon pattern 222
+
+ RIBBON-BACKED CHIPPENDALE CHAIR, formerly at Blenheim 223
+
+ CHIPPENDALE CORNER CHAIR, about 1780 224
+
+ GOTHIC CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACK 225
+
+ MAHOGANY CHIPPENDALE CHAIR, about 1740 226
+
+ " " " about 1770 227
+
+ CHIPPENDALE MIRROR 229
+
+ CHIPPENDALE BUREAU BOOKCASE 231
+
+ MAHOGANY CHAIR, Chippendale Style 232
+
+ COTTAGE CHAIRS, beechwood, Chippendale style 233
+
+ INTERIOR OF ROOM OF ABOUT 1782, after Stothard 235
+
+CHAPTER XI.--SHERATON, ADAM, AND HEPPELWHITE STYLES.
+
+ HEPPELWHITE SETTEE, mahogany 241
+
+ SHERATON, Adam, and Heppelwhite Chairs 243
+
+ OLD ENGLISH SECRETAIRE 250
+
+ SHIELD-BACK CHAIR, late Eighteenth Century 251
+
+CHAPTER XII.--HINTS TO COLLECTORS.
+
+ DESIGN FOR SPURIOUS MARQUETRY WORK 259
+
+ "MADE-UP" BUFFET 261
+
+ CABINET OF OLD OAK, "made-up" 267
+
+ DESIGN FOR SPURIOUS MARQUETRY WORK 273
+
+ PIECE OF SPANISH CHESTNUT, showing ravages of worms 274
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+GENERAL.
+
+ Ancient Furniture, Specimens of. H. Shaw. Quaritch. 1836. L10
+ 10s., now worth L3 3s.
+
+ Ancient and Modern Furniture. B. J. Talbert. Batsford. 1876. 32s.
+
+ Antique Furniture, Sketches of. W. S. Ogden. Batsford. 1889. 12s.
+ 6d.
+
+ Carved Furniture and Woodwork. M. Marshall. W. H. Allen. 1888.
+ L3.
+
+ Carved Oak in Woodwork and Furniture from Ancient Houses. W. B.
+ Sanders. 1883. 31s. 6d.
+
+ Decorative Furniture, English and French, of the Sixteenth,
+ Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. W. H. Hackett. 7s. 6d.
+
+ Ecclesiastical Woodwork, Remains of. T. T. Bury. Lockwood. 1847.
+ 21s.
+
+ French and English Furniture. E. Singleton. Hodder. 1904.
+
+ Furniture, Ancient and Modern. J. W. Small. Batsford. 1883. 21s.
+
+ Furniture and Decoration. J. A. Heaton. 1890-92.
+
+ Furniture and Woodwork, Ancient and Modern. J. H. Pollen.
+ Chapman. 1874-5. 21s. and 2s. 6d.
+
+ Furniture and Woodwork. J. H. Pollen. Stanford. 1876. 3s. 6d.
+
+ Furniture of the Olden Time. F. C. Morse. Macmillan. 12s. 6d.
+
+ Gothic Furniture, _Connoisseur_. May, 1903.
+
+ History of Furniture Illustrated. F. Litchfield. Truslove. 25s.
+
+ Marquetry, Parquetry, Boulle and other Inlay Work. W. Bemrose.
+ 1872 and 1882.
+
+ Old Furniture, English and Foreign. A. E. Chancellor. Batsford.
+ L1 5s.
+
+ Old Furniture from Twelfth to Eighteenth Century. Wyman. 1883.
+ 10s. 6d.
+
+ Style in Furniture and Woodwork. R. Brook. Privately printed.
+ 1889. 21s.
+
+
+PARTICULAR.
+
+ ENGLISH.--Adam R. & J., The Architecture, Decoration an
+ Furniture of R. & J. Adam, selected from works published
+ 1778-1822. London. 1880.
+
+ Adam, The Brothers. _Connoisseur._ May, June and August, 1904.
+
+ Ancient Wood and Iron Work in Cambridge. W. B. Redfern. Spalding.
+ 1887. 31s. 6d.
+
+ Chippendale, T. Cabinet Makers' Directory. Published in 1754,
+ 1755 and 1762. (The best edition is the last as it contains 200
+ plates as against 161 in the earlier editions. Its value is about
+ L12.)
+
+ Chippendale and His Work. _Connoisseur_, January, July, August,
+ September, October, November, December, 1903, January, 1904.
+
+ Chippendale, Sheraton and Heppelwhite, The Designs of. Arranged
+ by J. M. Bell. 1900. Worth L2 2s.
+
+ Chippendale's Contemporaries. _Connoisseur_, March, 1904.
+
+ Chippendale and Sheraton. _Connoisseur_, May, 1902.
+
+ Coffers and Cupboards, Ancient. Fred Roe. Methuen & Co. 1903. L3
+ 3s.
+
+ English Furniture, History of. Percy Macquoid. Published by
+ Lawrence & Bullen in 7s. 6d. parts, the first of which appeared
+ in November, 1904.
+
+ English Furniture and Woodwork during the Eighteenth Century. T.
+ A. Strange. 12s. 6d.
+
+ Furniture of our Forefathers. E. Singleton. Batsford. L3 15s.
+
+ Hatfield House, History of. Q. F. Robinson. 1883.
+
+ Hardwicke Hall, History of. Q. F. Robinson. 1835.
+
+ Heppelwhite, A., Cabinet Maker. Published 1788, 1789, and 1794,
+ and contains about 130 plates. Value L8 to L12. Reprint issued in
+ 1897. Worth L2 10s.
+
+ Ince and Mayhew. Household Furniture. N.d. (1770). Worth L20.
+
+ Jacobean Furniture. _Connoisseur_, September, 1902.
+
+ Knole House, Its State Rooms, &c. (Elizabethan and other
+ Furniture.) S. J. Mackie. 1858.
+
+ Manwaring, R., Cabinet and Chairmaker's Real Friend. London.
+ 1765.
+
+ Mansions of England in the Olden Time. J. Nash. 1839-49.
+
+ Old English Houses and Furniture. M. B. Adam. Batsford. 1889.
+ 25s.
+
+ Old English Oak Furniture. J. W. Hurrell. Batsford. L2 2s.
+
+ Old English Furniture. Frederick Fenn and B. Wyllie. Newnes. 7s.
+ 6d. net.
+
+ Old Oak, The Art of Collecting. _Connoisseur_, September, 1901.
+
+ Sheraton, T. Cabinet Maker's Drawing Book. 1791-3 edition
+ contains 111 plates. Value L13. 1794 edition contains 119 plates.
+ Value L10.
+
+ Sheraton T. Cabinet Directory. 1803.
+
+ Staircases and Handrails of the Age of Elizabeth. J. Weale. 1860.
+
+ Upholsterer's Repository. Ackermann. N.d. Worth L5.
+
+ FRENCH.--_Dictionnaire de l'Ameublement._ H. Havard. Paris. N.d.
+ Worth L5.
+
+ _Dictionnaire Raisonne._ M. Viollet-le-Duc. 1858-75. 6 vols.
+ Worth L10.
+
+ French Furniture. Lady Dilke. Bell. 1901.
+
+ French Eighteenth Century Furniture, Handbook to the. Jones
+ Collection Catalogue. 1881.
+
+ French Eighteenth Century Furniture, Handbook to the. Wallace
+ Collection Catalogue. 1904.
+
+ History of Furniture. A. Jacquemart. Chapman. 1878. 31s. 6d.
+ Issued in Paris in 1876, under the title _Histoire du Mobilier_.
+
+ _Le Meuble en France au XVI Siecle._ E. Bonnaffe. Paris. 1887.
+ Worth 10s.
+
+ JAPANESE.--Lacquer Industry of Japan. Report of Her Majesty's
+ Acting-Consul at Hakodate. J. J. Quin. Parliamentary Paper. 8vo.
+ London. 1882.
+
+ SCOTTISH.--Scottish Woodwork of Sixteenth and Seventeenth
+ Centuries. J. W. Small. Waterston. 1878. L4 4s.
+
+ SPANISH.--Spanish and Portuguese. Catalogue of Special Loan
+ Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art. 1881.
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED
+
+
+ _Armoire._--A large cupboard of French design of the dimensions
+ of the modern wardrobe. In the days of Louis XIV. these pieces
+ were made in magnificent style. The Jones Collection at the
+ Victoria and Albert Museum has several fine examples. (See
+ illustration, p. 165.)
+
+ _Baroque._--Used in connection with over ornate and incongruous
+ decoration as in _rococo_ style.
+
+ _Bombe._--A term applied to pieces of furniture which swell out
+ at the sides.
+
+ _Boule._--A special form of marquetry of brass and tortoiseshell
+ perfected by Andre Charles Boule in the reign of Louis XIV. (See
+ Chapter VI., where specimens of this kind of work are
+ illustrated.) The name has been corrupted into a trade term
+ _Buhl_, to denote this style of marquetry. Boule or _Premiere
+ partie_ is a metal inlay, usually brass, applied to a
+ tortoiseshell background. See also _Counter-boule_.
+
+ _Bureau._--A cabinet with drawers, and having a drop-down front
+ for use as a writing-table. Bureaux are of many forms. (See
+ illustration, p. 231.)
+
+ _Cabriole._--Used in connection with the legs of tables and
+ chairs which are curved in form, having a sudden arch outwards
+ from the seat. (See illustration, p. 143.)
+
+ _Caryatides._--Carved female figures applied to columns in Greek
+ architecture, as at the Erectheum at Athens. They were employed
+ by woodcarvers, and largely introduced into Renaissance
+ furniture of an architectural character. Elizabethan craftsmen
+ were especially fond of their use as terminals, and in the
+ florid decoration of elaborate furniture.
+
+ _Cassone._--An Italian marriage coffer. In Chapter I. will be
+ found a full description of these _cassoni_.
+
+ _Commode._--A chest of drawers of French style. In the chapters
+ dealing with the styles of Louis XIV., Louis XV., and Louis
+ XVI., these are fully described and illustrations are given.
+
+ _Counter-Boule._ _Contre partie._--See Chapter VI., where
+ specimens of this work are illustrated. It consists of a brass
+ groundwork with tortoiseshell inlay.
+
+ _French Polish._--A cheap and nasty method used since 1851 to
+ varnish poor-looking wood to disguise its inferiority. It is
+ quicker than the old method of rubbing in oil and turpentine
+ and beeswax. It is composed of shellac dissolved in methylated
+ spirits with colouring matter added.
+
+ _Gate-leg table._--This term is self-explanatory. The legs of
+ this class of table open like a gate. They belong to Jacobean
+ days, and are sometimes spoken of as Cromwellian tables. An
+ illustration of one appears on the cover.
+
+ _Gothic._--This term was originally applied to the mediaeval
+ styles of architecture. It was used as a term of reproach and
+ contempt at a time when it was the fashion to write Latin and to
+ expect it to become the universal language. In woodcarving the
+ Gothic style followed the architecture. A fine example of the
+ transition between Gothic and the oncoming Renaissance is given
+ (p. 44).
+
+ _Inlay._--A term used for the practice of decorating surfaces
+ and panels of furniture with wood of various colours,
+ mother-of-pearl, or ivory. The inlay is let into the wood of
+ which the piece inlaid is composed.
+
+ _Jacobean._--Strictly speaking, only furniture of the days of
+ James I. should be termed Jacobean. But by some collectors the
+ period is held to extend to James II.--that is from 1603 to
+ 1688. Other collectors prefer the term Carolean for a portion of
+ the above period, which is equally misleading. Jacobean is only
+ a rough generalisation of seventeenth-century furniture.
+
+ _Lacquer._ _Lac._--A transparent varnish used in its perfection
+ by the Chinese and Japanese. (See "Consular Report on Japanese
+ Lacquered Work," in Bibliography.) Introduced into Holland and
+ France, it was imitated with great success. Under Louis XV.
+ Vernis-Martin became the rage (_q.v._).
+
+ _Linen Pattern._--A form of carving panels to represent a folded
+ napkin. This particular design was largely used in France and
+ Germany prior to its adoption here. (See illustration, p. 60.)
+
+ _Marquetry._--Inlays of coloured woods, arranged with some
+ design, geometric, floral, or otherwise, are classed under this
+ style. (See also _Parquetry_.)
+
+ _Mortise._--A term in carpentry used to denote the hole made in
+ a piece of wood to receive the end of another piece to be joined
+ to it. The portion which fits into the mortise is called the
+ tenon.
+
+ _Oil Polish._--Old furniture, before the introduction of
+ varnishes and French polish and other inartistic effects, was
+ polished by rubbing the surface with a stone, if it was a large
+ area as in the case of a table, and then applying linseed oil
+ and polishing with beeswax and turpentine. The fine tone after
+ centuries of this treatment is evident in old pieces which have
+ a metallic lustre that cannot be imitated.
+
+ _Parquetry._--Inlays of woods of the same colour are termed
+ parquetry work in contradistinction to marquetry, which is in
+ different colour. Geometric designs are mainly used as in
+ parquetry floors.
+
+ _Reeded._--This term is applied to the style of decoration by
+ which thin narrow strips of wood are placed side by side on the
+ surface of furniture.
+
+ _Renaissance._--The style which was originated in Italy in the
+ fifteenth century, supplanting the Mediaeval styles which
+ embraced Byzantine and Gothic art; the new-birth was in origin a
+ literary movement, but quickly affected art, and grew with
+ surprising rapidity, and affected every country in Europe. It is
+ based on Classic types, and its influence on furniture and
+ woodwork followed its adoption in architecture.
+
+ _Restored._--This word is the fly in the pot of ointment to all
+ who possess antiquarian tastes. It ought to mean, in furniture,
+ that only the most necessary repairs have been made in order to
+ preserve the object. It more often means that a considerable
+ amount of misapplied ingenuity has gone to the remaking of a
+ badly-preserved specimen. Restorations are only permissible at
+ the hands of most conscientious craftsmen.
+
+ _Rococo._--A style which was most markedly offensive in the time
+ of Louis XV. Meaningless elaborations of scroll and shell work,
+ with rocky backgrounds and incongruous ornamentations, are its
+ chief features. _Baroque_ is another term applied to this
+ overloaded style.
+
+ _Settee._--An upholstered form of the settle.
+
+ _Settle._--A wooden seat with back and arms, capable of seating
+ three or four persons side by side.
+
+ _Splat._--The wooden portion in the back of a chair connecting
+ the top rail with the seat.
+
+ _Strapwork._--This is applied to the form of decoration employed
+ by the Elizabethan woodcarvers in imitation of Flemish
+ originals. (See p. 68.)
+
+ _Stretcher._--The rail which connects the legs of a chair or a
+ table with one another. In earlier forms it was used as a
+ footrest to keep the feet from the damp or draughty rush floor.
+
+ _Tenon._--"Mortise and Tenon joint." (See _Mortise_.)
+
+ _Turned Work._--The spiral rails and uprights of chairs were
+ turned with the lathe in Jacobean days. Prior to the
+ introduction of the lathe all work was carved without the use of
+ this tool. Pieces of furniture have been found where the maker
+ has carved the turned work in all its details of form, either
+ from caprice or from ignorance of the existence of the quicker
+ method.
+
+ _Veneer._--A method of using thin layers of wood and laying them
+ on a piece of furniture, either as marquetry in different
+ colours, or in one wood only. It was an invention in order to
+ employ finer specimens of wood carefully selected in the parts
+ of a piece of furniture most noticeable. It has been since used
+ to hide inferior wood.
+
+ _Vernis-Martin_ (Martin's Varnish).--The lacquered work of a
+ French carriage-painter named Martin, who claimed to have
+ discovered the secret of the Japanese lac, and who, in 1774, was
+ granted a monopoly for its use. He applied it successfully to
+ all kinds of furniture, and to fan-guards and sticks. In the
+ days of Madame du Pompadour Vernis-Martin had a great vogue, and
+ panels prepared by Martin were elaborately painted upon by
+ Lancret and Boucher. To this day his varnish retains its lustre
+ undimmed, and specimens command high prices.
+
+
+Woods used in Furniture.
+
+ _High-class Work._--Brazil wood, Coromandel, Mahogany, Maple,
+ Oak (various kinds), Olive, Rosewood, Satinwood, Sandalwood,
+ Sweet Cedar, Sweet Chestnut, Teak, Walnut.
+
+ _Commoner Work._--Ash, Beech, Birch, Cedars (various), Deals,
+ Mahogany (various kinds), Pine, Walnut.
+
+ _Marquetry and Veneers._--Selected specimens for fine figuring
+ are used as veneers, and for marquetry of various colours the
+ following are used as being more easily stained: Holly,
+ Horsechestnut, Sycamore, Pear, Plum Tree.
+
+ _Woods with Fancy Names._
+
+ King Wood, Partridge Wood, Pheasant Wood, Purple Wood,
+ Snakewood, Tulip Wood.
+
+These are more rare and finely-marked foreign woods used sparingly in
+the most expensive furniture. To arrive at the botanical names of these
+is not an easy matter. To those interested a list of woods used by
+cabinet-makers with their botanical names is given in Mr. J. Hungerford
+Pollen's "Introduction to the South Kensington Collection of Furniture."
+At the Museum at Kew Gardens and in the Imperial Institute are
+collections of rare woods worth examination.
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE RENAISSANCE ON THE CONTINENT
+
+
+[Illustration: Portion of carved cornice of pinewood, from the Palazzo
+Bensi Ceccini, Venice.
+
+Italian; middle of sixteenth century.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+
+
+
+CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE RENAISSANCE ON THE CONTINENT
+
+ ITALY. Flight of Greek scholars to Italy upon capture of
+ Constantinople by the Turks--1453.
+
+ Rediscovery of Greek art.
+
+ Florence the centre of the Renaissance.
+
+ Leo X., Pope (1475-1521).
+
+ Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1520). Raphael (1483-1520). Michael
+ Angelo (1474-1564).
+
+ FRANCE. Francis I. (1515-1547).
+
+ Henry IV. (1589-1610).
+
+ SPAIN. The crown united under Ferdinand and Isabella
+ (1452-1516).
+
+ Granada taken from the Moors--1492.
+
+ Charles V. (1519-1555).
+
+ Philip II. (1555-1598).
+
+ GERMANY. Maximilian I., Emperor of Germany (1459-1519).
+
+ Holbein (1498-1543).
+
+
+In attempting to deal with the subject of old furniture in a manner not
+too technical, certain broad divisions have to be made for convenience
+in classification. The general reader does not want information
+concerning the iron bed of Og, King of Bashan, nor of Cicero's table of
+citrus-wood, which cost L9,000; nor are details of the chair of Dagobert
+and of the jewel-chest of Richard of Cornwall of much worth to the
+modern collector.
+
+It will be found convenient to eliminate much extraneous matter, such as
+the early origins of furniture and its development in the Middle Ages,
+and to commence in this country with the Tudor period. Broadly speaking,
+English furniture falls under three heads--the Oak Period, embracing the
+furniture of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; the Walnut
+Period, including the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries;
+the Mahogany Period, beginning with the reign of George III. It may be
+observed that the names of kings and of queens have been applied to
+various styles of furniture as belonging to their reign. Early Victorian
+is certainly a more expressive term than early nineteenth century.
+Cromwellian tables, Queen Anne chairs, or Louis Seize commodes all have
+an especial meaning as referring to styles more or less prevalent when
+those personages lived. As there is no record of the makers of most of
+the old English furniture, and as a piece of furniture cannot be judged
+as can a picture, the date of manufacture cannot be precisely laid down,
+hence the vagueness of much of the classification of old furniture.
+Roughly it may in England be dealt with under the Tudor, the Stuart, and
+the Georgian ages. These three divisions do not coincide exactly with
+the periods of oak, of walnut, and of mahogany, inasmuch as the oak
+furniture extended well into the Stuart days, and walnut was prevalent
+in the reigns of George I. and George II. In any case, these broad
+divisions are further divided into sub-heads embracing styles which
+arose out of the natural development in taste, or which came and went at
+the caprice of fashion.
+
+[Illustration: Frame of wood, carved with floral scrollwork, with female
+terminal figures.
+
+Italian; late sixteenth century.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The formation of a definite English character in the furniture of the
+three periods must be examined in conjunction with the prevailing styles
+in foreign furniture showing what influences were at work. Many
+conditions governed the introduction of foreign furniture into England.
+Renaissance art made a change in architecture, and a corresponding
+change took place in furniture. Ecclesiastical buildings followed the
+continental architecture in form and design, and foreign workmen were
+employed by the Church and by the nobility in decorating and
+embellishing cathedrals and abbeys and feudal castles. The early Tudor
+days under Henry VII. saw the dawn of the Renaissance in England. Jean
+de Mabuse and Torrigiano were invited over the sea by Henry VII., and
+under the sturdy impulse of Henry VIII. classical learning and love of
+the fine arts were encouraged. His palaces were furnished with
+splendour. He wished to emulate the chateau of Francis at Fontainebleau.
+He tried to entice the French king's artists with more tempting terms.
+Holbein, the great master of the German school, came to England, and his
+influence over Tudor art was very pronounced. The florid manner of the
+Renaissance was tempered with the broader treatment of the northern
+school. The art, too, of the Flemish woodcarvers found sympathetic
+reception in this country, and the harmonious blending of the designs of
+the Renaissance craftsmen of the Italian with those of the Flemish
+school resulted in the growth in England of the beautiful and
+characteristic style known as Tudor.
+
+[Illustration: FRONT OF COFFER. CHESTNUT WOOD. ITALIAN; LATE FIFTEENTH
+CENTURY.
+
+With shield of arms supported by two male demi figures terminating in
+floral scrollwork.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The term Renaissance is used in regard to that period in the history of
+art which marked the return to the classic forms employed by the Greeks
+and Romans. The change from the Gothic or Mediaeval work to the classic
+feeling had its origin in Italy, and spread, at first gradually but
+later with amazing rapidity and growing strength, into Germany, Spain,
+the Netherlands, France, and finally to England.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+BRIDAL CHEST. GOTHIC DESIGN.
+
+MIDDLE OF FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_Munich National Museum._)]
+
+The Renaissance was in origin a literary movement, and its influence in
+art came through literature. The enthusiasm of the new learning acting
+on craftsmen already trained to the highest degree of technical skill
+produced work of great brilliance.
+
+Never did the fine arts rise to such transcendent heights as in Italy
+from the fourteenth to the middle of the seventeenth centuries. The late
+John Addington Symonds, in his work on "The Renaissance in Italy," deals
+in a comprehensive manner with this memorable period, during which every
+city in Italy, great or small, was producing wonderful works of art, in
+painting, in sculpture, in goldsmiths' work, in woodcarving, in
+furniture, of which now every civilised country struggles to obtain for
+its art collections the scattered fragments of these great days. "During
+that period of prodigious activity," he says, "the entire nation seemed
+to be endowed with an instinct for the beautiful and with the capacity
+for producing it in every conceivable form."
+
+In the middle of the fourteenth century the Renaissance style in
+woodwork was at first more evident in the churches and in the palaces of
+the nobility in the Italian states. Some of the most magnificent
+examples of carved woodwork are preserved in the choir-stalls, doorways
+and panelling of the churches and cathedrals of Italy. The great artists
+of the day gave their talents to the production of woodwork and
+furniture in various materials. Wood was chiefly employed in making
+furniture, usually oak, cypress, ebony, walnut, or chestnut, which last
+wood is very similar in appearance to oak. These were decorated with
+gilding and paintings, and were inlaid with other woods, or agate,
+lapis-lazuli, and marbles of various tints, with ivory, tortoiseshell,
+mother-of-pearl, or with ornaments of hammered silver.
+
+The Victoria and Albert Museum contains some splendid examples of
+fourteenth and fifteenth century Italian Renaissance furniture, which
+illustrate well the magnificence and virility of the great art movement
+which influenced the remainder of Europe. In particular, carved and
+gilded frames, and marriage coffers (_cassoni_) given to brides as part
+of their dowry to hold the bridal trousseau, are richly and effectively
+decorated. The frame of carved wood (illustrated p. 35), with fine
+scroll work and female terminal figures, is enriched with painting and
+gilding. The frame on the title-page of this volume is of carved wood,
+decorated with gold stucco. Both these are sixteenth-century Italian
+work. In fact, the study of the various types and the different kinds of
+ornamentation given to these _cassoni_ would be an interesting subject
+for the student, who would find enough material in the collection at the
+Victoria and Albert Museum to enable him to follow the Renaissance
+movement from its early days down to the time when crowded design,
+over-elaboration, and inharmonious details grew apace like so many weeds
+to choke the ideals of the master spirits of the Renaissance.
+
+The front of the late fifteenth-century coffer (illustrated p. 38) is of
+chestnut wood, carved with a shield of arms supported by two male
+demi-figures, terminating in floral scroll work. There are still traces
+of gilding on the wood.
+
+At first the lines followed architecture in character. Cabinets had
+pilasters, columns, and arches resembling the old Roman temples. The
+illustration of a portion of a cornice of carved pinewood appearing as
+the headpiece to this chapter shows this tendency. The marriage coffers
+had classic heads upon them, but gradually this chaste style gave place
+to rich ornamentation with designs of griffins and grotesque masks. The
+chairs, too, were at first very severe in outline, usually with a high
+back and fitted with a stretcher between the legs, which was carved, as
+was also the back of the chair.
+
+In the middle of the fifteenth century Gothic art had attained its
+high-water mark in Germany before the new art from Italy had crossed the
+Alps. We reproduce a bridal chest, of the middle of the fifteenth
+century, from the collection in the Munich National Museum, which shows
+the basis of Gothic art in England prior to the revival and before
+further foreign influences were brought to bear on English art (p. 39).
+
+The influence of Italian art upon France soon made itself felt. Italian
+architects and craftsmen were invited by Francis I. and by the
+Princesses of the House of Medici, of which Pope Leo X. was the
+illustrious head, to build palaces and chateaux in the Renaissance
+style. The Tuileries, Fontainebleau, and the Louvre were the result of
+this importation. Primaticcio and Cellini founded a school of sculptors
+and wood-carvers in France, of which Jean Goujon stands pre-eminent. The
+furniture began gradually to depart from the old Gothic traditions, as
+is shown in the design of the oak chest of the late fifteenth century
+preserved in the Dublin Museum, which we illustrate, and commenced to
+emulate the gorgeousness of Italy. This is a particularly instructive
+example, showing the transition between the Gothic and the Renaissance
+styles.
+
+[Illustration: FRONT OF OAK CHEST. FRENCH; FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_Dublin Museum._)]
+
+The French Renaissance sideboard in the illustration (p. 45) is a fine
+example of the middle of the sixteenth century. It is carved in walnut.
+The moulded top is supported in front by an arcading decorated with two
+male and two female terminal figures, which are enriched with masks and
+floral ornament. Behind the arcading is a table supporting a cupboard
+and resting in front on four turned columns; it is fitted with three
+drawers, the fronts of which, as well as that of the cupboard, are
+decorated with monsters, grotesque masks, and scroll work.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of T. Foster Shattock, Esq._
+
+WALNUT SIDEBOARD.
+
+FRENCH; MIDDLE OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+The impulse given by Francis I. was responsible for much decorative work
+in the early period of the French Renaissance, and many beautiful
+examples exist in the churches and chateaux of France to which his name
+has been given. It is noticeable that the chief difference between the
+Italian and the French Renaissance lies in the foundation of Gothic
+influence underlying the newer Renaissance ornament in French work of
+the period. Flamboyant arches and Gothic canopies were frequently
+retained and mingled with classic decoration. The French clung to their
+older characteristics with more tenacity, inasmuch as the Renaissance
+was a sudden importation rather than a natural development of slower
+growth.
+
+The French Renaissance cabinet of walnut illustrated (p. 48) is from
+Lyons, and is of the later part of the sixteenth century. It is finely
+carved with terminal figures, masks, trophies of ornaments, and other
+ornament. In comparison with the sixteenth-century ebony cabinet of the
+period of Henry IV., finely inlaid with ivory in most refined style, it
+is obvious that a great variety of sumptuous furniture was being made by
+the production of such diverse types as these, and that the craftsmen
+were possessed of a wealth of invention. The range of English
+craftsmen's designs during the Renaissance in this country was never so
+extensive, as can be seen on a detailed examination of English work.
+
+[Illustration: CABINET OF WALNUT
+
+FRENCH (LYONS); SECOND HALF OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Carved with terminal figures, masks, and trophies of arms.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+In Spain the Italian feeling became acclimatised more readily than in
+France. In the sixteenth century the wood carving of Spain is of
+exceeding beauty. The decoration of the choir of the cathedral at
+Toledo is held to be one of the finest examples of the Spanish
+Renaissance. In furniture the cabinets and buffets of the Spanish
+craftsmen are of perfect grace and of characteristic design. The older
+Spanish cabinets are decorated externally with delicate ironwork and
+with columns of ivory or bone painted and richly gilded, exhibiting
+Moorish influence in their character. Many of the more magnificent
+specimens are richly inlaid with silver, and are the work of the artists
+of Seville, of Toledo, or of Valladolid. The first illustration of a
+cabinet and stand is a typically Spanish design, and the second
+illustration of the carved walnut chest in the National Archaelogical
+Museum at Madrid is of the sixteenth century, when the Spanish
+wood-carvers had developed the Renaissance spirit and reached a very
+high level in their art.
+
+Simultaneously with the Italianising of French art a similar wave of
+novelty was spreading over the Netherlands and Germany. The Flemish
+Renaissance approaches more nearly to the English in the adaptation of
+the Italian style, or it would be more accurate to say that the English
+is more closely allied to the art of the Netherlands, as it drew much of
+its inspiration from the Flemish wood-carvers. The spiral turned legs
+and columns, the strap frets cut out and applied to various parts, the
+squares between turnings often left blank to admit of a little ebony
+diamond, are all of the same family as the English styles. Ebony inlay
+was frequently used, but the Flemish work of this period was nearly all
+in oak. Marqueterie of rich design was made, the inlay being of various
+coloured woods and shaded. Mother-of-pearl and ivory were also employed
+to heighten the effect.
+
+[Illustration: FRENCH CABINET.
+
+Ebony and ivory marquetry work.
+
+MIDDLE OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_From the collection of M. Emile Peyre._)]
+
+[Illustration: SPANISH CABINET AND STAND. CARVED CHESTNUT;
+
+FIRST HALF OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Width of cabinet, 3 ft. 2 in.; depth, 1 ft. 4 in.; height, 4 ft. 10 in.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The Italian Renaissance laid a light hand upon the Flemish artists, who,
+while unavoidably coming under its influence, at first copied its
+ornateness but subsequently proceeded on their own lines. Much quaint
+figure work, in which they greatly excelled, was used by the Flemish
+wood-carvers in their joinery. It is grotesque in character, and, like
+all their work, boldly executed. The influx of foreign influences upon
+the Netherlands was in the main as successfully resisted as is the
+encroachment of the sea across their land-locked dykes. The growth of
+the Spanish power made Charles V. the most powerful prince in Europe.
+Ferdinand of Spain held the whole Spanish peninsula except Portugal,
+with Sardinia and the island of Sicily, and he won the kingdom of
+Naples. His daughter Joanna married Philip, the son of Maximilian of
+Austria, and of Mary the daughter of Charles the Bold. Their son Charles
+thus inherited kingdoms and duchies from each of his parents and
+grandparents, and besides the dominions of Ferdinand and Isabella, he
+held Burgundy and the Netherlands. In 1519 he was chosen Emperor as
+Charles V. Flooded with Italian artists and Austrian and Spanish rulers,
+it is interesting to note how the national spirit in art was kept alive,
+and was of such strong growth that it influenced in marked manner the
+English furniture of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century,
+as will be shown in a subsequent chapter.
+
+[Illustration: SPANISH CHEST; CARVED WALNUT.
+
+SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_In the National Museum, Madrid._)]
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Chest, Gothic, carved with parchemin panels, with a
+ wrought-iron lock, from Nuremburg Castle, German, about
+ 1500. Christie, January 29, 1904 31 10 0
+
+Cabinet, walnut wood, of architectural design, with folding
+ doors above and below and small drawers, carved with
+ arabesque foliage and scrolls in relief, and with
+ columns at the angles, 69 in. high, 38 in. wide,
+ French, middle of the sixteenth century. Christie,
+ April 12, 1904 21 0 0
+
+Coffer, oak, the front divided by six buttresses, the steel
+ lock pierced with tracery, 65 in. long, 46 in. high,
+ French, late fifteenth century. Christie, May 6, 1904
+ 126 0 0
+
+Coffer, large walnut wood, the whole of the front and sides
+ carved in low relief, the lock is rectangular, and
+ pierced with flamboyant tracery, French (provincial),
+ early part of the fifteenth century, 84 in. wide, 36 in.
+ high. Christie, May 6, 1904 50 8 0
+
+Coffer, walnut wood, the front and sides divided into
+ arch-shaped panels containing Gothic tracery, 86 in.
+ wide, 32 in. high, French, fifteenth century. Christie,
+ May 6, 1904 52 10 0
+
+Chair, walnut wood, with semicircular seat, the back
+ composed of six upright rectangular panels, each
+ containing various forms of Gothic tracery; below is a
+ longitudinal panel of tracery, 27 in. wide, 29 in. high,
+ French or Flemish, fifteenth century. Christie, May 6,
+ 1904 91 7 0
+
+Credence, oak, with folding doors and drawers above and
+ shelf beneath, the corners are returned, the various
+ door panels, &c., carved in low relief; at the back
+ below is linen fold panelling, 54 in. wide, 62 in. high,
+ probably French, early sixteenth century. Christie, May
+ 6, 1904 336 0 0
+
+Cabinet, walnut-wood, in two parts, of rectangular form,
+ with folding doors above and below, and two drawers in
+ the centre, carved with grotesque terminal figure and
+ gadrooned mouldings, strapwork and duplicated rosettes,
+ French work, early seventeenth century, 78 in. high, 48
+ in. wide. Christie, May 6, 1904 110 5 0
+
+Cabinet, walnut-wood, in two parts, of rectangular form,
+ with folding doors below and door above; at the sides
+ are terminal male and female figures, the centres of the
+ doors carved, 92 in. high, 49 in. wide, French work
+ (Lyons School), second quarter of sixteenth century.
+ Christie, May 6, 1904 99 15 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE
+
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+CARVED OAK CHEST.
+
+ENGLISH; SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Panels finely carved with Gothic tracery.]
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE
+
+ Henry VIII. 1509-1547.
+ Edward VI. 1547-1553.
+ Mary 1553-1558.
+ Elizabeth 1558-1603.
+
+ 1525. Hampton Court built.
+
+ 1566. Increased commercial prosperity. Foundation of Royal
+ Exchange by Sir Thomas Gresham.
+
+ 1580. Drake comes home from the New World with plunder worth
+ half a million.
+
+ 1585. Antwerp captured by the Duke of Parma; flight of merchants
+ to London. Transfer of commercial supremacy from Antwerp to
+ London. Beginning of carrying trade, especially with Flanders.
+
+[Illustration: BENCH OF OAK. FRENCH; ABOUT 1500.
+
+With panels of linen ornament. Seat arranged as a coffer.
+
+(Formerly in the collection of M. Emile Peyre.)
+
+(_Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh._)]
+
+
+The opening years of the sixteenth century saw the beginnings of the
+Renaissance movement in England. The oak chest had become a settle with
+high back and arms. The fine example of an early sixteenth-century oak
+chest illustrated (p. 59) shows how the Gothic style had impressed
+itself on articles of domestic furniture. The credence, or tasting
+buffet, had developed into the Tudor sideboard, where a cloth was spread
+and candles placed. With more peaceful times a growth of domestic
+refinement required comfortable and even luxurious surroundings. The
+royal palaces at Richmond and Windsor were filled with costly foreign
+furniture. The mansions which were taking the place of the old feudal
+castles found employment for foreign artists and craftsmen who taught
+the English woodcarver. In the early days of Henry VIII. the classical
+style supplanted the Gothic, or was in great measure mingled with it.
+Many fine structures exist which belong to this transition period,
+during which the mixed style was predominant. The woodwork of King's
+College Chapel at Cambridge is held to be an especially notable example.
+
+[Illustration: PORTION OF CARVED WALNUT VIRGINAL.
+
+FLEMISH; SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FRENCH CARVED OAK COFFER.
+
+Showing interlaced ribbon work.
+
+SECOND HALF OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(Height, 2 ft. 1 in.; width, 3 ft. 1 in.)
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The Great Hall at Hampton Court dates from 1531, or five years after
+Cardinal Wolsey had given up his palace to Henry VIII. Its grand
+proportions, its high-pitched roof and pendants, display the art of the
+woodcarver in great excellence. This hall, like others of the same
+period, had an open hearth in the centre, on which logs of wood were
+placed, and the smoke found its way out through a cupola, or louvre, in
+the roof.
+
+The roofs of the Early Tudor mansions were magnificent specimens of
+woodwork. But the old style of king-post, queen-post, or hammer-beam
+roof was prevalent. The panelling, too, of halls and rooms retained the
+formal character in its mouldings, and various "linen" patterns were
+used, so called from their resemblance to a folded napkin, an
+ornamentation largely used towards the end of the Perpendicular style,
+which was characteristic of English domestic architecture in the
+fifteenth century. To this period belongs the superb woodcarving of the
+renowned choir stalls of Henry VII.'s Chapel in Westminster Abbey.
+
+The bench of oak illustrated (p. 60) shows a common form of panel with
+linen ornament, and is French, of about the year 1500. The seat, as will
+be seen, is arranged as a locked coffer.
+
+[Illustration: FIREPLACE AND OAK PANELLING FROM THE "OLD PALACE" AT
+BROMLEY-BY-BOW. BUILT IN 1606.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The Elizabethan woodcarver revelled in grotesque figure work, in
+intricate interlacings of strapwork, borrowed from the Flemish, and
+ribbon ornamentation, adapted from the French. He delighted in massive
+embellishment of magnificent proportions. Among Tudor woodwork the
+carved oak screen of the Middle Temple Hall is a noteworthy example of
+the sumptuousness and splendour of interior decoration of the English
+Renaissance. These screens supporting the minstrels' gallery in old
+halls are usually exceptionally rich in detail. Gray's Inn (dated 1560)
+and the Charterhouse (dated 1571) are other examples of the best period
+of sixteenth-century woodwork in England.
+
+Christ Church at Oxford, Grimsthorp in Lincolnshire, Kenninghall in
+Norfolk, Layer Marney Towers in Essex, and Sutton Place at Guildford,
+are all representative structures typical of the halls and manor houses
+being built at the time of the English Renaissance.
+
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum has been re-erected a room having the
+oak panelling from the "Old Palace" at Bromley-by-Bow, which was built
+in 1606. The massive fireplace with the royal coat of arms above, with
+the niches in which stand carved figures of two saints, together with
+the contemporary iron fire-dogs standing in the hearth, give a picture
+of what an old Elizabethan hall was like.
+
+[Illustration: ELIZABETHAN BEDSTEAD. DATED 1593.
+
+Carved oak, ornamented in marquetry.
+
+(Height, 7 ft. 4 in.; length, 7 ft. 11 in.; width, 5 ft. 8 in.)
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Under Queen Elizabeth new impulses stirred the nation, and a sumptuous
+Court set the fashion in greater luxury of living. Gloriana, with her
+merchant-princes, her fleet of adventurers on the high seas, and the
+pomp and circumstance of her troop of foreign lovers, brought foreign
+fashions and foreign art into commoner usage. The growth of luxurious
+habits in the people was eyed askance by her statesmen; "England
+spendeth more in wines in one year," complained Cecil, "than it did in
+ancient times in four years." The chimney-corner took the place of the
+open hearth; chimneys were for the first time familiar features in
+middle-class houses. The insanitary rush-floor was superseded by wood,
+and carpets came into general use. Even pillows, deemed by the hardy
+yeomanry as only fit "for women in child-bed," found a place in the
+massive and elaborately carved Elizabethan bedstead.
+
+The illustration of the fine Elizabethan bedstead (on p. 66) gives a
+very good idea of what the domestic furniture was like in the days
+immediately succeeding the Spanish Armada. It is carved in oak; with
+columns, tester, and headboard showing the classic influence. It is
+ornamented in marquetry, and bears the date 1593.
+
+All over England were springing up town halls and fine houses of the
+trading-classes, and manor houses and palaces of the nobility worthy of
+the people about to establish a formidable position in European
+politics. Hatfield House, Hardwick Hall, Audley End, Burleigh, Knole,
+and Longleat, all testify to the Renaissance which swept over England at
+this time. Stately terraces with Italian gardens, long galleries hung
+with tapestries, and lined with carved oak chairs and elaborate cabinets
+were marked features in the days of the new splendour. Men's minds, led
+by Raleigh, the Prince of Company Promoters, and fired by Drake's
+buccaneering exploits, turned to the New World, hitherto under the heel
+of Spain. Dreams of galleons laden with gold and jewels stimulated the
+ambition of adventurous gallants, and quickened the nation's pulse. The
+love of travel became a portion of the Englishman's heritage. The
+Italian spirit had reached England in full force. The poetry and
+romances of Italy affected all the Elizabethan men of letters.
+Shakespeare, in his "Merchant of Venice" and his other plays, plainly
+shows the Italian influence. In costume, in speech, and in furniture, it
+became the fashion to follow Italy. To Ascham it seemed like "the
+enchantment of Circe brought out of Italy to mar men's manners in
+England."
+
+[Illustration: PANEL OF CARVED OAK.
+
+ENGLISH; EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Showing interlaced strapwork.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The result of this wave of fashion on the domestic furniture of England
+was to impart to it the elegance of Italian art combined with a national
+sturdiness of character seemingly inseparable from English art at all
+periods. As the reign of Queen Elizabeth extended from the year 1558 to
+the year 1603, it is usual to speak of architecture and furniture of
+the latter half of the sixteenth century as Elizabethan.
+
+A favourite design in Elizabethan woodwork is the interlaced strapwork
+(see illustration p. 68), which was derived from similar designs
+employed by the contemporary stonecarver, and is found on Flemish
+woodwork of the same period. The panel of a sixteenth-century Flemish
+virginal, carved in walnut, illustrated, shows this form of decoration.
+Grotesque terminal figures, half-human, half-monster, supported the
+front of the buffets, or were the supporting terminals of cornices. This
+feature is an adaptation from the Caryatides, the supporting figures
+used instead of columns in architecture, which in Renaissance days
+extended to woodwork. Table-legs and bed-posts swelled into heavy,
+acorn-shaped supports of massive dimensions. Cabinets were sometimes
+inlaid, as was also the room panelling, but it cannot be said that at
+this period the art of marquetry had arrived at a great state of
+perfection in this country.
+
+It is noticeable that in the rare pieces that are inlaid in the Late
+Tudor and Early Jacobean period the inlay itself is a sixteenth of an
+inch thick, whereas in later inlays of more modern days the inlay is
+thinner and flimsier. In the Flemish examples ivory was often used, and
+holly and sycamore and box seem to have been the favourite woods
+selected for inlay.
+
+Take, for example, the mirror with the frame of carved oak, with scroll
+outline and narrow bands inlaid with small squares of wood, alternately
+light and dark. This inlay is very coarsely done, and unworthy to
+compare with Italian marquetry of contemporary date, or of an earlier
+period. The uprights and feet of the frame, it will be noticed, are
+baluster-shaped. The glass mirror is of nineteenth-century manufacture.
+The date carved upon the frame is 1603, the first year of the reign of
+James I., and it is stated to have come from Derby Old Hall.
+
+The Court cupboard, also of the same date, begins to show the coming
+style of Jacobean ornamentation in the turning in the upright pillars
+and supports and the square baluster termination. The massive carving
+and elaborate richness of the early Elizabethan period have given place
+to a more restrained decoration. Between the drawers is the design of a
+tulip in marquetry, and narrow bands of inlay are used to decorate the
+piece. In place of the chimerical monsters we have a portrait in wood of
+a lady, for which Arabella Stuart might have sat as model. The days were
+approaching when furniture was designed for use, and ornament was put
+aside if it interfered with the structural utility of the piece. The
+wrought-iron handle to the drawer should be noted, and in connection
+with the observation brought to bear by the beginner on genuine
+specimens in the Victoria and Albert Museum and other collections, it is
+well not to let any detail escape minute attention. Hinges and lock
+escutcheons and handles to drawers must not be neglected in order to
+acquire a sound working knowledge of the peculiarities of the different
+periods.
+
+[Illustration: MIRROR.
+
+Glass in oak frame with carved scroll outline and narrow bands inlaid
+with small squares of wood. The glass nineteenth century.
+
+ENGLISH. DATED 1603.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: COURT CUPBOARD, CARVED OAK.
+
+ENGLISH. DATED 1603.
+
+Decorated with narrow bands inlaid, and having inlaid tulip between
+drawers.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+In contrast with this specimen, the elaborately carved Court cupboard of
+a slightly earlier period should be examined. It bears carving on
+every available surface. It has been "restored," and restored pieces
+have an unpleasant fashion of suggesting that sundry improvements have
+been carried out in the process. At any rate, as it stands it is
+over-laboured, and entirely lacking in reticence. The elaboration of
+enrichment, while executed in a perfectly harmonious manner, should
+convey a lesson to the student of furniture. There is an absence of
+contrast; had portions of it been left uncarved how much more effective
+would have been the result! As it is it stands, wonderful as is the
+technique, somewhat of a warning to the designer to cultivate a studied
+simplicity rather than to run riot in a profusion of detail.
+
+[Illustration: COURT CUPBOARD, CARVED OAK.
+
+ABOUT 1580. (RESTORED.)
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Another interesting Court cupboard, of the early seventeenth century,
+shows the more restrained style that was rapidly succeeding the earlier
+work. This piece is essentially English in spirit, and is untouched save
+the legs, which have been restored.
+
+[Illustration: _By kind permission of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq._
+
+COURT CUPBOARD, EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+With secret hiding-place at top.]
+
+The table which is illustrated (p. 78) is a typical example of the table
+in ordinary use in Elizabethan days. This table replaced a stone altar
+in a church in Shropshire at the time of the Reformation.
+
+It was late in the reign of Queen Elizabeth that upholstered chairs
+became more general. Sir John Harrington, writing in 1597, gives
+evidence of this in the assertion that "the fashion of cushioned chayrs
+is taken up in every merchant's house." Wooden seats had hitherto not
+been thought too hard, and chairs imported from Spain had leather seats
+and backs of fine tooled work richly gilded and decorated. In the latter
+days of Elizabeth loose cushions were used for chairs and for window
+seats, and were elaborately wrought in velvet, or were of satin
+embroidered in colours, with pearls as ornamentation, and edged with
+gold or silver lace.
+
+The upholstered chair belongs more properly to the Jacobean period, and
+in the next chapter will be shown several specimens of those used by
+James I.
+
+In Elizabethan panelling to rooms, in chimneypieces, doorways, screens
+such as those built across the end of a hall and supporting the
+minstrels' gallery, the wood used was nearly always English oak, and
+most of the thinner parts, such as that designed for panels and smaller
+surfaces, was obtained by splitting the timber, thus exhibiting the
+beautiful figure of the wood so noticeable in old examples.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Chest, oak, with inlaid panels under arches, with caryatid
+ figures carved in box-wood, English, temp. Elizabeth.
+ Christie, January 29, 1904. 40 9 0
+
+Tudor mantelpiece, with elaborately carved jambs, panels, }
+ brackets, sides, and cornice, 6 ft. by 7 ft. 3 in. high.}
+ Herbert Wright, Ipswich, February 19, 1904 }
+ } 155 0 0
+Old oak panelling, in all about 60 ft. run and 6 ft. 6 in. }
+ high, with 17 carved panels and 3 fluted pilasters }
+ fitted in same, part being surmounted by a cornice. }
+ Herbert Wright, Ipswich, February 19, 1904 }
+
+Credence, walnut-wood, with a cupboard and drawer above and
+ shelf beneath, the corners are returned, the central
+ panel has carved upon it, in low relief, circular
+ medallions, pierced steel hinges and lock, 36 in. wide,
+ 50 in. high, early sixteenth century. Christie, May 6,
+ 1904 346 0 0
+
+Bedstead, Elizabethan, with panelled and carved canopy top,
+ supported by fluted and carved pillars, inlaid and
+ panelled back, with raised figures and flowers in
+ relief, also having a carved panelled footboard. C. W.
+ Provis & Son, Manchester, May 9, 1904 22 10 0
+
+Bedstead, oak Elizabethan, with carved back, dated 1560, and
+ small cupboard fitted with secret sliding panel, and
+ further having carved and inlaid panelled top with
+ inlaid panels, the whole surmounted with heavy cornice.
+ C. W. Provis & Son, Manchester, May 9, 1904 33 0 0
+
+Sideboard, Elizabethan old oak, 6 ft. 2 in. wide by 7 ft. 6
+ in. high, with carved canopy top; also fitted with
+ gallery shelf, supported by lions rampant. C. W. Provis
+ & Son, Manchester. May 9, 1904 60 0 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+[Illustration: _By kindness of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq._
+
+ELIZABETHAN OAK TABLE.]
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+STUART OR JACOBEAN. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
+
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
+
+GATE-LEG TABLE.]
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+STUART OR JACOBEAN. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
+
+ James I. 1603-1625.
+ Charles I. 1625-1649.
+ The Commonwealth 1649-1660.
+
+ 1619. Tapestry factory established at Mortlake, under Sir
+ Francis Crane.
+
+ ---- Banqueting Hall added to Whitehall by Inigo Jones.
+
+ 1632. Vandyck settled in London on invitation of Charles I.
+
+ 1651. Navigation Act passed; aimed blow (1572-1652) at Dutch
+ carrying trade. All goods to be imported in English ships or in
+ ships of country producing goods.
+
+
+With the advent of the House of Stuart the England under James I. saw
+new fashions introduced in furniture. It has already been mentioned that
+the greater number of old houses which are now termed Tudor or
+Elizabethan were erected in the days of James I. At the beginning of a
+new monarchy fashion in art rarely changes suddenly, so that the early
+pieces of Jacobean furniture differ very little from Elizabethan in
+character. Consequently the Court cupboard, dated 1603, and mirror of
+the same year (illustrated on p. 70), though bearing the date of the
+first year of the reign of James, more properly belong to Tudor days.
+
+In the Bodleian Library at Oxford there is preserved a chair of fine
+workmanship and of historic memory. It was made from the oak timbers of
+the _Golden Hind_, the ship in which Sir Francis Drake made his
+adventurous voyage of discovery round the world. In spite of many secret
+enemies "deaming him the master thiefe of the unknowne world," Queen
+Elizabeth came to Deptford and came aboard the _Golden Hind_ and "there
+she did make Captain Drake knight, in the same ship, for reward of his
+services; his armes were given him, a ship on the world, which ship, by
+Her Majestie's commandment, is lodged in a dock at Deptford, for a
+monument to all posterity."
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+OAK CHAIR MADE FROM THE TIMBER OF THE _GOLDEN HIND_. COMMONLY CALLED
+"SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S CHAIR."
+
+(_At the Bodleian Library._)]
+
+It remained for many years at Deptford dockyard, and became the resort
+of holiday folk, who made merry in the cabin, which was converted into a
+miniature banqueting hall; but when it was too far decayed to be
+repaired it was broken up, and a sufficient quantity of sound wood was
+selected from it and made into a chair, which was presented to the
+University of Oxford. This was in the time of Charles II., and the poet
+Cowley has written some lines on it, in which he says that Drake and
+his _Golden Hind_ could not have wished a more blessed fate, since to
+"this Pythagorean ship"
+
+ "... a seat of endless rest is given
+ To her in Oxford, and to him in heaven--"
+
+which, though quite unintentional on the part of the poet, is curiously
+satiric.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the Master of the Charterhouse._
+
+OAK TABLE, DATED 1616, BEARING ARMS OF THOMAS SUTTON, FOUNDER OF THE
+CHARTERHOUSE HOSPITAL.]
+
+The piece is highly instructive as showing the prevailing design for a
+sumptuous chair in the late seventeenth century. The middle arch in the
+back of the chair is disfigured by a tablet with an inscription, which
+has been placed there.
+
+Of the early days of James I. is a finely carved oak table, dated 1616.
+This table is heavily moulded and carved with garlands between cherubs'
+heads, and shields bearing the arms of Thomas Sutton, the founder of the
+Charterhouse Hospital. The upper part of the table is supported on
+thirteen columns, with quasi-Corinthian columns and enriched shafts,
+standing on a moulded H-shaped base. It will be seen that the designers
+had not yet thrown off the trammels of architecture which dominated much
+of the Renaissance woodwork. The garlands are not the garlands of
+Grinling Gibbons, and although falling within the Jacobean period, it
+lacks the charm which belong to typical Jacobean pieces.
+
+At Knole, in the possession of Lord Sackville, there are some fine
+specimens of early Jacobean furniture, illustrations of which are
+included in this volume. The chair used by King James I. when sitting to
+the painter Mytens is of peculiar interest. The cushion, worn and
+threadbare with age, is in all probability the same cushion used by
+James. The upper part of the chair is trimmed with a band of gold
+thread. The upholstering is red velvet, and the frame, which is of oak,
+bears traces of gilding upon it, and is studded with copper nails. The
+chair in design, with the half circular supports, follows old Venetian
+patterns. The smaller chair is of the same date, and equally interesting
+as a fine specimen; the old embroidery, discoloured and worn though it
+be, is of striking design and must have been brilliant and distinctive
+three hundred years ago. The date of these pieces is about 1620, the
+year when the "Pilgrim Fathers" landed in America.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CHAIR USED BY JAMES I.
+
+In the possession of Lord Sackville.]
+
+From the wealth of Jacobean furniture at Knole it is difficult to
+make a representative selection, but the stool we reproduce (p. 90) is
+interesting, inasmuch as it was a piece of furniture in common use. The
+chairs evidently were State chairs, but the footstool was used in all
+likelihood by those who sat below the salt, and were of less
+significance. The stuffed settee which finds a place in the
+billiard-room at Knole and the sumptuous sofa in the Long Gallery, with
+its mechanical arrangement for altering the angle at the head, are
+objects of furniture difficult to equal. The silk and gold thread
+coverings are faded, and the knotted fringe and gold braid have
+tarnished under the hand of Time, but their structural design is so
+effective that the modern craftsman has made luxurious furniture after
+these models.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+JACOBEAN CHAIR AT KNOLE.
+
+In the possession of Lord Sackville.]
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+JACOBEAN STOOL AT KNOLE.
+
+In the possession of Lord Sackville.]
+
+[Illustration: UPPER HALF OF CARVED WALNUT DOOR.
+
+Showing ribbon work.
+
+FRENCH; LATTER PART OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(Height of door, 4 ft. 7 in.; width, 1 ft. 11 in.)
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Carved oak chests were not largely made in Jacobean days--not, at any
+rate, for the same purpose as they were in Tudor or earlier times. As
+church coffers they doubtless continued to be required, but for
+articles of domestic furniture other than as linen chests their
+multifarious uses had vanished. Early Jacobean coffers clearly show the
+departure from Elizabethan models. They become more distinctly English
+in feeling, though the interlaced ribbon decoration, so frequently used,
+is an adaptation from French work, which pattern was now becoming
+acclimatised. The French carved oak coffer of the second half of the
+sixteenth century (illustrated p. 61) shows from what source some of the
+English designs were derived.
+
+In the portion of the French door which we give as an illustration (on
+p. 91), it will be seen with what grace and artistic excellence of
+design and with what restraint the French woodcarvers utilised the
+running ribbon. The ribbon pattern has been variously used by designers
+of furniture; it appears in Chippendale's chair-backs, where it almost
+exceeds the limitations of the technique of woodcarving.
+
+Art in the early days of Charles I. was undimmed. The tapestry factory
+at Mortlake, established by James I., was further encouraged by the
+"White King." He took a great and a personal interest in all matters
+relating to art. Under his auspices the cartoons of Raphael were brought
+to England to foster the manufacture of tapestry. He gave his patronage
+to foreign artists and to foreign craftsmen, and in every way attempted
+to bring English art workers into line with their contemporaries on the
+Continent. Vandyck came over to become "Principal painter of Their
+Majesties at St. James's," keeping open table at Blackfriars and living
+in almost regal style. His grace and distinction and the happy
+circumstance of his particular style being coincident with the most
+picturesque period in English costume, have won him a place among the
+world's great painters. Fine portraits, at Windsor and at Madrid, at
+Dresden and at the Pitti Palace, at the Louvre and in the Hermitage at
+Petersburg, testify to the European fame of the painter's brilliant
+gallery representing the finest flower of the English aristocracy,
+prelates, statesmen, courtiers and beautiful women that were gathered
+together at the Court of Charles I. and his Queen Henrietta Maria.
+
+[Illustration: OAK CHAIR.
+
+CHARLES I. PERIOD.
+
+With arms of Thomas Wentworth, first Earl of Strafford (1593-1641).
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+In Early Stuart days the influence of Inigo Jones, the Surveyor of Works
+to Charles I., made itself felt in woodwork and interior decorations. He
+was possessed with a great love and reverence for the classicism of
+Italy, and introduced into his banqueting hall at Whitehall (now the
+United Service Museum), and St. Paul's, Covent Garden, a chaster style,
+which was taken up by the designers of furniture, who began to abandon
+the misguided use of ornament of later Elizabethan days. In the
+Victoria and Albert Museum is an oak chair with the arms of Thomas
+Wentworth, first Earl of Strafford, which, in addition to its historic
+interest, is a fine example of the chair of the period of Charles I.
+(illustrated p. 93).
+
+[Illustration: ITALIAN CHAIR, ABOUT 1620.
+
+Thence introduced into England.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+It is certain that the best specimens of Jacobean furniture of this
+period, with their refined lines and well-balanced proportions, are
+suggestive of the stately diction of Clarendon or the well-turned lyrics
+of Herrick.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Son_
+
+HIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR. EARLY JACOBEAN.
+
+Elaborately carved with shell and scroll foliage.
+
+(Formerly in the Stuart MacDonald family, and originally in the
+possession of King Charles I.)]
+
+In the illustration of a sixteenth-century chair in common use in Italy,
+it will be seen to what source the Jacobean woodworkers looked for
+inspiration. The fine, high-backed oak Stuart chair, elaborately carved
+with bold shell and scroll foliage, having carved supports, stuffed
+upholstered seats, and loose cushion covered in old Spanish silk damask,
+is a highly interesting example. It was long in the possession of the
+Stuart MacDonald family, and is believed to have belonged to Charles I.
+
+The gate-leg table, sometimes spoken of as Cromwellian, belongs to this
+Middle Jacobean style. It cannot be said with any degree of accuracy
+that in the Commonwealth days a special style of furniture was
+developed. From all evidence it would seem that the manufacture of
+domestic furniture went on in much the same manner under Cromwell as
+under Charles. Iconoclasts as were the Puritans, it is doubtful whether
+they extended their work of destruction to articles in general use. The
+bigot had "no starch in his linen, no gay furniture in his house."
+Obviously the Civil War very largely interfered with the encouragement
+and growth of the fine arts, but when furniture had to be made there is
+no doubt the Roundhead cabinetmaker and the Anabaptist carpenter
+produced as good joinery and turning as they did before Charles made his
+historic descent upon the House in his attempt to arrest the five
+members.
+
+There is a style of chair, probably imported from Holland, with leather
+back and leather seat which is termed "Cromwellian," probably on account
+of its severe lines, but there is no direct evidence that this style was
+peculiarly of Commonwealth usage. The illustration (p. 97) gives the
+type of chair, but the covering is modern.
+
+That Cromwell himself had no dislike for the fine arts is proved by his
+care of the Raphael cartoons, and we are enabled to reproduce an
+illustration of a fine old ebony cabinet with moulded front, fitted with
+numerous drawers, which was formerly the property of Oliver Cromwell. It
+was at Olivers Stanway, once the residence of the Eldred family. The
+stand is carved with shells and scrolls, and the scroll-shaped legs are
+enriched with carved female figures, the entire stand being gilded. This
+piece is most probably of Italian workmanship, and was of course made
+long before the Protector's day, showing marked characteristics of
+Renaissance style.
+
+[Illustration: JACOBEAN CHAIR, CANE BACK CROMWELLIAN CHAIR.
+
+ARMCHAIR. DATED 1623. ARMCHAIR. WITH INLAID BACK.
+
+JACOBEAN CHAIRS.
+
+(_By permission of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq._)]
+
+The carved oak cradle (p. 107), with the letters "G. B. M. B." on one
+side, and "October, 14 dai," on the other, and bearing the date 1641,
+shows the type of piece in common use. It is interesting to the
+collector to make a note of the turned knob of wood so often found on
+doors and as drawer handles on untouched old specimens of this period,
+but very frequently removed by dealers and replaced by metal handles of
+varying styles, all of which may be procured by the dozen in Tottenham
+Court Road, coarse replicas of old designs. Another point worthy of
+attention is the wooden peg in the joinery, securing the tenon into the
+mortice, which is visible in old pieces. It will be noticed in several
+places in this cradle. In modern imitations, unless very thoughtfully
+reproduced, these oaken pegs are not visible.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+EBONY CABINET.
+
+On stand gilded and richly carved.
+
+FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF OLIVER CROMWELL.
+
+(From Olivers Stanway, at one time the seat of the Eldred family.)]
+
+In the page of Jacobean chairs showing the various styles, the more
+severe piece, dated 1623, is Early Jacobean, and the fine unrestored
+armchair of slightly later date shows in the stretcher the wear given by
+the feet of the sitters. It is an interesting piece; the stiles in the
+back are inlaid with pearwood and ebony. The other armchair with its
+cane panels in back is of later Stuart days. It shows the transitional
+stage between the scrolled-arm type of chair, wholly of wood, and the
+more elaborate type (illustrated p. 123) of the James II. period.
+
+[Illustration: JACOBEAN CARVED OAK CHAIRS.
+
+Yorkshire, about 1640.
+
+Derbyshire; early seventeenth century.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the Rt. Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane,
+G.C.B, I.S.O._
+
+JACOBEAN OAK CUPBOARD. ABOUT 1620.]
+
+In addition to the finer pieces of seventeenth-century furniture to be
+found in the seats of the nobility, such as at Penshurst, or in the
+manor houses and homes of the squires and smaller landowners, there was
+much furniture of a particularly good design in use at farmsteads from
+one end of the country to the other, in days when a prosperous class of
+yeoman followed the tastes of their richer neighbours. This farmhouse
+furniture is nowadays much sought after. It was of local manufacture,
+and is distinctly English in its character. Oak dressers either plain or
+carved, were made not only in Wales--"Welsh Dressers" having become
+almost a trade term--but in various parts of England, in Yorkshire,
+in Derbyshire, in Sussex, and in Suffolk. They are usually fitted with
+two or three open shelves, and sometimes with cupboards on each side.
+The better preserved specimens have still their old drop-handles and
+hinges of brass. It is not easy to procure fine examples nowadays, as it
+became fashionable two or three years ago to collect these, and in
+addition to oak dressers from the farmhouses of Normandy, equally old
+and quaint, which were imported to supply a popular demand, a great
+number of modern imitations were made up from old wood--church pews
+largely forming the framework of the dressers, which were not difficult
+to imitate successfully.
+
+The particular form of chair known as the "Yorkshire chair" is of the
+same period. Certain localities seem to have produced peculiar types of
+chairs which local makers made in great numbers. It will be noticed that
+even in these conditions, with a continuous manufacture going on, the
+patterns were not exact duplicates of each other, as are the
+machine-made chairs turned out of a modern factory, where the maker has
+no opportunity to introduce any personal touches, but has to obey the
+iron law of his machine.
+
+As a passing hint to collectors of old oak furniture, it may be observed
+that it very rarely happens that two chairs can be found together of the
+same design. There may be a great similarity of ornament and a
+particularly striking resemblance, but the chair with its twin companion
+beside it suggests that one, if not both, are spurious. The same
+peculiarity is exhibited in old brass candlesticks, and especially the
+old Dutch brass with circular platform in middle of candlestick. One
+may handle fifty without finding two that are turned with precisely the
+same form of ornament.
+
+The usual feature of the chair which is termed "Yorkshire" is that it
+has an open back in the form of an arcade, or a back formed with two
+crescent-shaped cross-rails, the decorations of the back usually bearing
+acorn-shaped knobs either at the top of the rail or as pendants. This
+type is not confined to Yorkshire, as they have frequently been found in
+Derbyshire, in Oxfordshire, and in Worcestershire, and a similar variety
+may be found in old farmhouses in East Anglia.
+
+In the illustration of the two oak chairs (p. 105), the one with arms is
+of the Charles I. period, the other is later and belongs to the latter
+half of the seventeenth century.
+
+The Jacobean oak cupboard (illustrated p. 101) is in date about 1620. At
+the side there are perforations to admit air, which shows that it was
+used as a butter cupboard. The doors have an incised decoration of
+conventional design. The lower part is carved in style unmistakably
+Jacobean in nature. The pattern on the two uprights at the top is
+repeatedly found in pieces evidently designed locally for use in
+farmhouses.
+
+It is not too much to hope that enough has been said concerning Jacobean
+furniture of the early and middle seventeenth century to show that it
+possesses a peculiar charm and simplicity in the lines of its
+construction, which make it a very pleasing study to the earnest
+collector who wishes to procure a few genuine specimens of old
+furniture, which, while being excellent in artistic feeling, are not
+unprocurable by reason of their rarity and excessive cost. It should be
+within the power of the careful collector, after following the hints in
+this volume, and after examining well-selected examples in such a
+collection as that at the Victoria and Albert Museum, to obtain, without
+unreasonable expenditure, after patient search, one or two Jacobean
+pieces of undoubted authenticity.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Fenton & Sons._
+
+JACOBEAN OAK CHAIRS.
+
+Armchair, time of Charles I.
+
+Yorkshire chair. Late seventeenth century.]
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Cabinet, Jacobean oak, with two drawers, and folding doors
+ below enclosing drawers, decorated with rectangular
+ panels in relief, inlaid in ebony and ivory, and with
+ baluster columns at the side--48 in. high, 46 in. wide.
+ Christie, November 27, 1903 44 2 0
+
+Cabinet, Jacobean black oak, 5 ft. wide by 6 ft. 2 in. high,
+ fitted with cupboards above and below, with sunk
+ panelled folding doors, carved with busts of warriors in
+ high relief, the pilasters carved with mask heads and
+ caryatid figures, the whole carved with floral scrolls
+ and other devices. Capes, Dunn & Pilcher, Manchester,
+ December 9, 1903 57 0 0
+
+Chairs, set of three Jacobean oak, with canework seats, and
+ panels in the backs, the borders carved with scrolls,
+ and on scroll legs with stretchers. Christie, January
+ 29, 1904 52 10 0
+
+Table, Cromwell, oak, on spiral legs. Dowell, Edinburgh,
+ March 12, 1904 11 0 6
+
+Elbow-chair, oak, Scotch, back having carved wheel, "A. R.,
+ 1663." Dowell, Edinburgh, March 12, 1904 60 18 0
+
+Cabinet, Jacobean oak, with drawer and folding doors below,
+ with moulded rectangular panels and balusters in relief,
+ 50 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie, July 1, 1904 35 14 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+[Illustration: CRADLE, TIME OF CHARLES I.
+
+CARVED OAK; WITH LETTERS G. B. M. B. DATED 1641.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+STUART OR JACOBEAN.
+
+LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
+
+[Illustration: (_After picture by Caspar Netscher_)
+
+INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSE.
+
+LATTER HALF OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+STUART OR JACOBEAN. LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
+
+ Charles II. 1660-1685.
+ James II. 1685-1688.
+ William and Mary. 1689-1694.
+ William 1694-1702.
+
+ Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723).
+ Grinling Gibbons (1648-1726).
+
+ 1660. Bombay became a British possession. Importation of
+ Indo-Portuguese furniture.
+
+ 1666. Great Fire in London. Much valuable furniture destroyed.
+
+ 1675-1710. St. Paul's Cathedral built under Wren's direction.
+
+ 1685. Edict of Nantes revoked. Spitalfields' silk industry
+ founded by French refugees.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.
+
+With exterior finely decorated with needlework.]
+
+
+After the Civil War, when Charles II. came into his own again, the
+furniture of the Restoration period most certainly took its colour from
+the gay Court with which the Merry Monarch surrounded himself. The
+cabinet which we reproduce has the royal arms embroidered on the cover,
+and is a beautiful example of intricate cabinetmaking. The surface of
+the piece is entirely covered with needlework. On the front stand a
+cavalier and lady, hand-in-hand. On the side panel a cavalier is leading
+a lady on horseback. On the back a man drives a laden camel, and on
+another panel is shown the traveller being received by an old man in the
+grounds of the same castle which appears all through the scenes. This
+suggests the love-story of some cavalier and his lady. The casket is
+worthy to have held the love-letters of the Chevalier Grammont to La
+Belle Hamilton.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.
+
+Showing interior and nest of drawers.]
+
+As is usual in pieces of this nature, the cabinet contains many artfully
+devised hiding places. A tiny spring behind the lock reveals one secret
+drawer, and another is hidden beneath the inkwell. There are in all five
+of such secret compartments--or rather five of them have been at present
+discovered--there may be more. The illustration of the cabinet open
+shows what a nest of drawers it holds.
+
+In the days of plots, when Titus Oates set half the nation by the ears,
+when James solemnly warned the merry Charles of plots against his life,
+provoking the cynical retort, "They will never kill me, James, to make
+you king," secret drawers were no doubt a necessity to a fashionable
+cabinet.
+
+Catherine of Braganza, his queen, brought with her from Portugal many
+sumptuous fashions in furniture, notably cabinets and chairs of Spanish
+and Portuguese workmanship. The cavaliers scattered by the Civil War
+returned, and as in their enforced exile on the Continent they had
+cultivated foreign tastes, it was only natural that Dutch, French, and
+Italian work found its way to this country and effected the character of
+the early furniture of the Charles II. period. From Portugal came the
+high-backed chair, having the back and the seat of leather cut with
+fine design, and coloured or gilded. This leather work is of exquisite
+character, and we reproduce a portion of a Portuguese chair-back of this
+period to show the artistic excellence of the design. With Catherine of
+Braganza came the marriage dower of Bombay, and from India, where the
+settlement of Goa had been Portuguese for centuries, were sent to Europe
+the carved chairs in ebony, inlaid in ivory, made by the native workmen
+from Portuguese and Italian models, but enriched with pierced carving
+and intricate inlay of ivory in a manner which only an Oriental
+craftsman can produce. Having become fashionable in Portugal, they made
+their appearance in England, and rapidly became popular. At Penshurst
+Place there are several fine specimens of this Indo-Portuguese work,
+with the spindles of the chair-backs of carved ivory; and in the
+Ashmolean Museum at Oxford there is the well-known chair which was
+presented by Charles II. to Elias Ashmole.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+PORTUGUESE HIGH-BACK CHAIR.
+
+Seat and back formed of two panels of old stamped leather, studded with
+brass bosses.]
+
+Both in this later Stuart period and in the days of the first Charles
+inlay was considerably used to heighten the carved designs on oak
+tables, chairs, and cabinets. The growth of commerce was responsible for
+the introduction of many varieties of foreign woods, which were used to
+produce finer effects in marquetry than the rude inlay of Elizabethan
+days.
+
+The Frontispiece to this volume represents a very handsome cabinet of
+English workmanship, inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl. It is an
+unusually fine example of the middle seventeenth century, and bears the
+date 1653, the year when Cromwell forcibly dissolved the Rump Parliament
+and was declared "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth."
+
+Up till now oak--the hard, tough, English variety, and not the more
+modern Baltic oak or American varieties now used--was the material for
+the tool of the carver to work upon. With the introduction of more
+flowing lines and curves, a wealth of detail, it is not unnatural to
+find that softer woods began to find favour as more suitable to the new
+decorations. The age of walnut was approaching when, under William the
+Dutchman, and in the days of Queen Anne, a newer style of furniture was
+to arise, made by craftsmen trained in the precepts of Grinling Gibbons
+and following the conceptions of Sir Christopher Wren. It must be borne
+in mind that in Italy the softer woods, such as lime, willow, sycamore,
+chestnut, walnut, and cypress, had long been used for the delicate
+carving during the height of the Renaissance and succeeding period, and
+in France and Spain chestnut and walnut were favourite woods.
+
+In the central panel of the Restoration chair-back, canework began to be
+used instead of the Early Jacobean carving. Cane seats were frequent,
+and loose cushions, attached by means of strings, covered these cane
+panels and seats. The illustration (p. 122) shows a Jacobean chair of
+this period.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring_
+
+OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS. LATE JACOBEAN.
+
+(Height, 3 ft. 3 in.; width, 3 ft.; depth, 1 ft. 10 in.)]
+
+Belonging to these later Jacobean days are chests of drawers of oak with
+finely panelled fronts. We illustrate two specimens, showing the old
+brass metal work and the drop-handles. They are usually in two parts,
+and are very deep from back to front. These are two typical examples of
+this kind of furniture, which was in general use up to the days of Queen
+Anne, when pieces are frequently found supported on a stand.
+
+In the picture by Caspar Netscher, showing a Dutch lady at her toilet, a
+good idea is conveyed of the kind of chair in use in Holland in the
+latter half of the seventeenth century, upholstered in brocade, and the
+rich tapestry tablecloth is a noticeable feature.
+
+Before entering upon the last phase of Stuart furniture, and leaving the
+days of Jacobean oak with its fine carving and handsome appearance--the
+careful result of selecting the timber and splitting it to show the fine
+figure of the wood--the attention of the reader should be drawn to the
+fact that the appearance of the surface of furniture made subsequent to
+this period begins to approach the results of the modern cabinetmaker
+with his polishes and spirit varnishes and highly glazed panels and
+table tops. The lover of old oak abominates varnish. The Elizabethan and
+Jacobean carved oak furniture received only a preliminary coat of dark
+varnish in its early days, mixed with oil and not spirit, which sank
+into the wood and was not a surface polish, and was probably used to
+preserve the wood. These old pieces, which have received centuries of
+rubbing with beeswax and oil, have resulted in producing a rich, warm
+tone which it is impossible to copy by any of the subtle arts known to
+the modern forger. The collector should make himself thoroughly
+familiar with the appearance of this old oak by a careful examination of
+museum pieces, which, when once seen, cannot easily be forgotten.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
+
+CHEST OF DRAWERS. PANELLED FRONT; LATE JACOBEAN.
+
+(Height, 3 ft. 4 in.; width, 3 ft. 10 in.; depth, 1 ft. 10 in.)]
+
+The Italian Renaissance furniture probably received an oil varnish, the
+composition of which, like the varnish employed for old violins, has
+been lost, but after centuries of careful usage and polishing, the
+result, as seen in the fine specimens in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum, is to give to them the appearance of bronze.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+CHARLES II. OAK CHAIR.
+
+Open back carved with shell and scrolled foliage. Stuffed seat covered
+with old damask.]
+
+There is little doubt that the Great Fire, which did such immense
+destruction in London in 1666, in which some eighty-nine churches and
+thirteen thousand houses were demolished, gave a considerable impetus to
+the manufacture of furniture in the new style. It is not a pleasing
+reflection to think how many fine pieces of Elizabethan and early
+Jacobean furniture were consumed in the flames, including much of Inigo
+Jones's work.
+
+Under the genius of Sir Christopher Wren many of the city churches were
+rebuilt, including St. Paul's Cathedral; and Greenwich Hospital and
+Hampton Court were enlarged according to Wren's designs, with the
+co-operation of the master woodcarver, Grinling Gibbons. In later
+Jacobean days a splendour of style and an excellence of workmanship were
+the outcome of the fine achievements in interior woodwork by Grinling
+Gibbons and the school he founded.
+
+The work of Grinling Gibbons consisted of most natural chains of flowers
+and foliage, fruit, or birds or cherubs' heads, all faithfully
+reproduced untrammelled by convention. St. Paul's Cathedral, Hampton
+Court, Chatsworth, and Petworth House all contain work by him of
+singular beauty. He trained many assistants to help him to carry on his
+work, and one of them, Selden, lost his life in endeavouring to save the
+carved room at Petworth from a destructive fire. The soft wood of the
+lime was his favourite for detailed carving; for church panelling or
+choir stalls, such as at St. Pauls, he employed oak; in his medallion
+portraits or figure work he preferred pear or close-grained boxwood.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+CHARLES II. OPEN HIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR.
+
+Finely carved legs and stretcher. Stuffed seat covered in old Spanish
+silk damask.]
+
+The gradual development of the chair in the later Stuart days in the
+direction of upholstered seat will be noticed in the specimens which are
+given as illustrations. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by
+Louis XIV. drove some thousands of French workmen--weavers,
+glass-workers, and cabinetmakers--to this country. The silk-weaving
+industry established by them at Spitalfields was one of the results, and
+silk stuffs and brocades were used for covering the seats and backs of
+furniture. At Hampton Court the crystal glass chandeliers were made by
+French workmen, whom Wren was glad to employ to assist him to make that
+palace a worthy rival to Versailles.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+CHARLES II. CHAIR.
+
+Cane back and seat, finely carved legs and stretcher.]
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Fenton & Sons._
+
+JAMES II. CHAIR.
+
+With cane back and seat, and finely turned legs and stretcher.]
+
+The chair here illustrated shows the commencement of the use of cane
+work in place of wood for the panel in back and for the seat. The James
+II. chair illustrated shows the later development of the cane-back. The
+William and Mary chair (illustrated p. 125) shows how the cane-back was
+retained later than the cane-seat, and how rich damask was employed for
+the upholstered seat. It is interesting to see how the stretcher, which
+in earlier days was of use to keep the feet raised from a wet or
+draughty floor, has now become capable of elaborate ornamentation.
+Genuine examples of chairs of Elizabethan and Early Stuart days show the
+wear of the feet of the sitters. The same wear is observable in the
+lower rail of old tables. In later Stuart days the stretcher has left
+its place at the bottom, between the two front legs. Since its use as a
+foot-rest, owing to carpeted floors, is gone, it is found either joining
+the legs diagonally, or higher up as an ornament with carved front. In
+the eighteenth century it has almost disappeared altogether.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+WILLIAM AND MARY CHAIR.
+
+Cane back. Seat upholstered in damask. Finely carved legs and
+stretcher.]
+
+Mirrors began to take a prominent place in interior decoration. The
+house of Nell Gwynne in St. James's Square had one room entirely lined
+with glass mirrors. Hampton Court is full of mirrors, and they are
+arranged with considerable skill. By an artful arrangement the mirror in
+the King's Writing Closet is placed at such an angle that the reflection
+of the whole suite of rooms may be seen in it. The looking glasses made
+in this country in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
+were the work of Venetian and French workmen. The plates had a bevel of
+an inch in width, and these bevels followed the shape of the frame,
+whether square or oval. A factory was established near Battersea which
+produced some fine work of this nature. It will be noticed by the
+collector who is observant that the bevels differ considerably from
+modern bevels. The angle is not such an acute one, and sometimes the
+edges are double bevelled. Many of the mirrors of the time of William
+and Mary had an ornamented border of blue glass. Sometimes the mirror
+was painted with festoons of flowers and with birds in French manner. In
+imitation of Italian style the back of the mirror, in examples a little
+later, was worked upon in the style of intaglio, or gem cutting, this
+presenting a dull silver surface when seen from the front.
+
+In picture frames, in chimneypieces, or in mirror frames the school of
+Grinling Gibbons was still pre-eminent in carving. Now and again are
+found traces of Italian or Louis XIV. influence, but as a whole the
+English carver held his own, and the traditions of Grinling Gibbons were
+maintained, and he did not easily allow himself to be carried away by
+foreign elaborations.
+
+When William of Orange came over in 1688 he brought with him many of his
+own countrymen as military and civil advisers, and in their train came
+artists and craftsmen, who introduced Dutch art into England, and
+prepared the way for the more homely style of Queen Anne. Walnut
+cabinets inlaid with various woods, and with ivory squares representing
+miniature Dutch courtyards in the recesses of cabinets, had found their
+way into England. With the period of William and Mary the cabriole leg
+in chairs and in tables became popular--at first an English adaptation
+of Dutch models--but later to develop into the glorious creations of the
+age of walnut.
+
+Blue delft jars and bowls, some especially made for William and Mary and
+bearing the Royal arms and the cypher "W. M. R." and the Nassau motto,
+"_Je main tien-dray_," still to be seen in the Queen's Gallery at
+Hampton Court, were introduced, and it became fashionable to collect
+china. Consequently the furniture in rooms had to be adapted for the
+arrangement of this new class of ornament, and cabinets were largely
+made with accommodation to receive vases and beakers and blue bowls on
+their shelves. The earlier form have straight sides; but later,
+especially in the next reign, they follow French designs, and are
+swollen or _bombe_ at the sides.
+
+[Illustration: UPPER PORTION OF CHAIR BACK OF CUT LEATHER.
+
+PORTUGUESE. LATTER PART OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+With William, too, came over the plain walnut card-table. Clock cases of
+the style termed "Grandfather" were of Dutch origin. The seats of chairs
+were shaped and removable. The Dutch trade with the East Indies had
+brought Oriental china and lac cabinets into Holland, and these, with
+the coming of William, found their way into this country. Bureaux with a
+number of secret recesses were introduced, and another Dutch importation
+from the East was the now celebrated chair or table leg with claw and
+ball foot. This came directly from China, and as in the case of delft,
+which is the earthenware replica by the Dutch potter of fine blue
+porcelain vases, from Nankin and Canton, where the Oriental perspective
+and design have been slavishly copied, so with the furniture, the old
+Chinese symbol of a dragon's foot holding a pearl, was repeated in the
+furniture by Dutch cabinetmakers. Dutch marquetry made an early
+appearance with simple ornamentation, sometimes enriched by ivory or
+mother-of-pearl inlay, but later it developed into flowing floral
+designs with figures, vases, fruit, butterflies, and elaborate scrolls
+in various coloured woods, of which yellow was the predominant colour.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+
+Armchair, Charles II., oak, carved with cherubs supporting
+ crowns, and with turned column supports. Christie,
+ November 20, 1903 15 4 6
+
+Chairs, pair, Charles II., oak, with cane seats and oval
+ cane panels in the backs, spirally turned legs,
+ stretchers and rails at the back. Christie, March 4,
+ 1904 63 0 0
+
+Armchair, Charles II., oak, with high back carved with
+ arabesque foliage, with lions' masks and claw legs.
+ Christie, March 29, 1904 63 0 0
+
+Chairs, pair, nearly similar, carved with foliage. Christie,
+ March 29, 1904 39 18 0
+
+Armchair, Charles II., walnut-wood, of Italian design,
+ carved with masks, cane seat and panel in back; and
+ cushion, covered with old Flemish tapestry. Christie,
+ March 4, 1904 77 14 0
+
+Chairs, three, Charles II., oak, with oval panels of
+ canework in the backs, the borders carved with foliage,
+ flowers, and Amorini, and surmounted by busts. Christie,
+ April 12, 1904 42 0 0
+
+Chairs, set of twelve, Charles II., of chestnut-wood, with
+ high backs carved with rosette ornaments, scroll
+ foliage, and formal blossoms, on cabriole legs carved
+ with flowers and shaped stretchers. Christie, July 1,
+ 1904 462 0 0
+
+Chairs, pair of chestnut-wood, with high backs slightly
+ curved, pierced and carved at the top, and each inlaid
+ with two cane panels, on carved cabriole legs and shaped
+ stretchers, _temp._ James II. Christie, June 2,
+ 1904 36 15 0
+
+Cabinet, English marquetry, with folding doors, enclosing
+ twelve drawers and small cupboard, and with four drawers
+ below, the whole elaborately inlaid with vases of
+ tulips, roses, and other flowers, small figures, birds,
+ and insects, on a walnut-wood ground, 69 in. high, 47
+ in. wide, _temp._ William III. Christie, February 12,
+ 1904 105 0 0
+
+Mirror, in case of old English marquetry, inlaid with large
+ flowers and foliage in coloured woods and ivory on
+ walnut-wood ground, 32 in. by 28 in., _temp._ William
+ III. Christie, February 19, 1904 43 3 0
+
+Chairs, set of six, walnut-wood, with high, open backs,
+ carved with foliage, the centre inlaid in marquetry, on
+ carved cabriole legs and eagles' claw-and-ball feet,
+ _temp._ William and Mary. Christie, June 2, 1904 315 0 0
+
+Chairs, set of four, of similar form, open backs, carved
+ with shell, and gadroon ornament, and on carved cabriole
+ legs with hoof feet, the stretcher carved with a shell,
+ _temp._ William and Mary. Christie, June 2, 1904 105 0 0
+
+Cabinet, William and Mary, marquetry, veneered with
+ walnut-wood, decorated with oval and shaped panels,
+ inlaid, upon ebony field, 42 in. wide. Christie, March
+ 18, 1904 65 2 0
+
+Cabinet on stand, ebony, Dutch, seventeenth century,
+ supported by six beaded columns with stage under and
+ mirror panels at back, the upper part composed of doors
+ carved in medallions; the centre doors enclose an
+ architectural hall, inlaid in ivory, &c., with gilt
+ columns and mirror panels, and fitted with secret
+ drawers, 5 ft. 3 in. wide, 6 ft. 6 in. high and 22 in.
+ deep. Jenner & Dell, Brighton, May 3, 1904 100 0 0
+
+Corner cupboard, Dutch marquetry, 8 ft. high, having carved
+ crown-shaped cornice, with centre vase, four doors, with
+ bow fronts, inlaid with flowers and carved raised
+ beadings, the interior fitted. C. W. Provis & Son,
+ Manchester, May 9, 1904 32 0 0
+
+Table, Dutch marquetry, with shaped front and two drawers
+ inlaid with sprays of flowers in coloured woods and
+ ivory, on cabriole legs, 32 in. wide. Christie, March 4,
+ 1904 37 16 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+QUEEN ANNE STYLE
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons_
+
+QUEEN ANNE OAK SETTLE.
+
+Scrolled arms, panelled back and loose cushioned seat. Width 6 feet.]
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+QUEEN ANNE STYLE
+
+ Anne 1702-1714.
+
+ 1707. Act of Union between England and Scotland. First United
+ Parliament of Great Britain met.
+
+ 1713. The National Debt had risen to L38,000,000.
+
+
+With the age of Queen Anne domestic furniture departed from the ornate
+characteristics which had marked previous epochs. The tendency in
+English furniture seems to have made towards comfort and homeliness. The
+English home may not have contained so many articles of luxury then as
+does the modern house with its artistic embellishments, and a popular
+taste rapidly ripening into a genuine love of the fine arts. "A modern
+shopkeeper's house," says Lord Macaulay, "is as well furnished as the
+house of a considerable merchant in Anne's reign." It is very doubtful
+whether this statement holds good with regard to the days of Elizabeth
+or the days of the early Stuarts, but there certainly seems to have been
+in the dawn of the walnut period a curtailment of luxurious effects that
+might well tempt a casual observer to generalise in the belief that the
+days of Anne spelt dulness in art.
+
+The settle, the illustration of which is given (p. 149), bearing the
+date 1705, the year after Blenheim, shows that Jacobean models of early
+days were not forgotten. The inlaid borders are very effective, and
+there is nothing vulgar or offensive in the carving. It is simple in
+style and the joinery is good. A walnut mirror, carved and gilded
+(illustrated p. 137), exhibits the same solidity. There is nothing to
+show that the glorious age of Louis XIV. had produced the most sumptuous
+and richly decorated furniture the modern world had seen. The simplicity
+of this carved mirror frame is as though art had begun and ended in
+England, and probably it is this insularity of the furniture of this
+period, and the almost stubborn neglect of the important movements going
+on in France that makes the Queen Anne style of peculiar interest.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+QUEEN ANNE MIRROR FRAME.
+
+WALNUT, CARVED AND GILDED.]
+
+The oak desk illustrated (p. 139), dated 1696, is similar to the one at
+Abbotsford, in which Sir Walter Scott mislaid his manuscript of
+"Waverley," where it lay among his fishing-tackle for eleven years.
+
+Another piece of the same period is the cupboard with carved doors and
+drawers beneath (illustrated p. 140).
+
+[Illustration: OAK DESK.
+
+WITH INITIALS "L. G." AND DATED 1696.
+
+(_From the collection of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq._)]
+
+Some pretty effects were now obtained by veneering, which was largely
+coming into practice. The pieces with the burr-walnut panels, marked in
+a series of knot-like rings, are especially sought after. This pattern
+was obtained from the gnarled roots of the walnut-tree, and applied in a
+decorative manner with excellent result.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq._
+
+OAK CUPBOARD. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Metal handles of drawers, eighteenth century.
+
+(Height 6 ft. 7 in.; width, 4 ft. 6 in.)]
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Brown & Bool._
+
+Cabinet closed; showing fine mottled figure of burr walnut.
+
+Cabinet open; showing drop-down front and nest of drawers.
+
+QUEEN ANNE WALNUT CABINET.]
+
+[Illustration: DUTCH MARQUETRY CHAIR. QUEEN ANNE CHAIR.
+
+_By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._]
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ANNE WALNUT ARMCHAIR. BLACK AND GOLD LAC CHAIR.
+
+_By permission of Messrs. Waring._]
+
+In the fine cabinet, the illustration of which is given (p. 141), the
+style is typical of this period. The panels of the doors are of
+exquisite finish, and show a beautiful walnut grain of peculiarly-pleasing
+mottled appearance, and the mellow effect which time has given to this
+specimen cannot be imitated with any degree of success in modern
+replicas. In the illustration showing this piece when open, the rich
+effect of the walnut in the middle panel may be noticed; the
+contemporary brass handles to the nest of drawers are typical of this
+style.
+
+In chairs and in tables the elegant cabriole and colt's-foot legs were
+now commonly adopted, and apparently, simple as is the construction, it
+is only when Queen Anne pieces come to be repaired that it is found how
+expensive an undertaking it is, owing to their ingenious construction
+and the patient labour that was expended upon them, to produce
+unpretentious and harmonious effects.
+
+The assertively English spirit which was the dominant note of the
+furniture of the early eighteenth century continued up till the early
+years of the reign of George II. During this period, which covers half a
+century, walnut was the wood mostly used in the manufacture of
+furniture, and this walnut period shows a quiet dignity of style and a
+simple proportion, reticently elegant and inornate without being severe.
+
+The Queen Anne oak settle, with shaped panelled back and scroll arms,
+which appears as the headpiece to this chapter, is especially
+representative of the kind of piece in common use at the time; oak was
+still employed in furniture of this nature. The legs show the newer
+design, which was already departing from the elegant turning of earlier
+Jacobean days.
+
+In the Queen Anne chair which is illustrated in the group of chairs of
+this period (p. 143), with open back and carved scroll foliage, the
+cabriole legs are finely carved with lion masks and acanthus leaf
+ornament, on lion's claw-and-ball feet. The seat is removable, and is
+stuffed. Queen Anne chairs had high carved or plain splat backs. The
+armchair in the same group shows this type of back. The Dutch
+shell-pattern often appears either on back or at the juncture of the leg
+with the seat. Chairs decorated in marquetry, in Dutch fashion, were in
+use at this period. The one illustrated with the two above-mentioned
+chairs is inlaid with birds and flowers, and the legs are cabriole. The
+seat follows the growing usage of being loose and stuffed.
+
+Dutch marquetry cabinets on stands, with straight uprights, were
+imported and became a feature in the early eighteenth century
+drawing-room (see illustration, p. 147). The earlier forms had straight
+sides, but later, as the fashion grew, bureaux and large cabinets, with
+the dimensions of a modern wardrobe, had taken their place, with _bombe_
+or swelled sides, and profusely decorated in marquetry, with vases and
+tulips and unnamed flowers of the cabinetmaker's invention, birds,
+butterflies, and elaborate scrollwork, in which ivory and
+mother-of-pearl were often employed as an inlay.
+
+The stands on which the smaller cabinets stood were turned with the
+spiral leg of Jacobean days, and later they have the cabriole leg, with
+ball-and-claw or club feet. Cabinets and stands are frequently found
+together, in which the one is much earlier than the other.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+DUTCH MARQUETRY CABINET.
+
+Fitted with shelves. Door richly inlaid with flowers and scrolled
+foliage. On stand with turned legs and stretcher.]
+
+Rich damask began to be used in the furnishing of hangings, and in some
+of the palatial furniture of the period the looms of Spitalfields
+produced the coverings. In Queen Anne's bedroom the hangings were of
+rich silk velvet.
+
+Clocks of the variety termed "Grandfather," either with fine walnut
+cases or inlaid with marquetry, came into more general use in the days
+of Queen Anne. An elaboration of carving on grandfather clock cases as
+a rule is to be regarded with suspicion. Plain panels are not so
+saleable as carved ones; the want is supplied, and many fine old clock
+cases are spoiled by having the touch of a modern hand. The clock
+illustrated is an untouched specimen. The walnut case is a fine example
+of Queen Anne marquetry work. The works are by Sam Barrow, Hermitage
+Bridge, London. The steel dial is richly mounted with cupids, masks, and
+scrolls in chased brass.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._
+
+QUEEN ANNE CLOCK.
+
+Walnut case with marquetry work.]
+
+Towards the middle of the eighteenth century and later, cabinets of
+Dutch importation, and Japanese or Chinese in origin, were extensively
+in use. In smaller numbers they had, without doubt, in the days of
+William and Mary, been introduced, but it was not until the commerce
+with the East had been well established that they became popular. In the
+cabinet illustrated (p. 150) the cabinet-work is English, the drawers
+are all dovetailed in the English manner, but the lacquered doors come
+from the East. It is an especially interesting example, as the
+pagoda-like superstructure is not often found complete.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
+
+QUEEN ANNE OAK SETTLE. DATED 1705.
+
+With borders in marquetry.
+
+(Width, 5 ft.)]
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Brown & Bool._
+
+OLD LAC CABINET.
+
+ENGLISH; EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+Lacquered boxes had been sent home from the East by English, French,
+and Dutch merchants, for many years, and with characteristic ingenuity
+the French cabinetmakers had employed these as panels for their
+furniture, but the supply not being sufficient they had attempted a
+lacquer of their own, which is dealt with in a subsequent chapter on
+Louis XIV. furniture. Dutch lacquer-work was a similar attempt on the
+part of the craftsman of Holland to equal the Oriental originals.
+
+[Illustration: LAC CABINET. MIDDLE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(Height, 2 ft. 5 in.; width, 2 ft. 8-1/2 in.; depth, 1 ft. 6-1/2 in.;
+height of stand, 2 ft. 9 in.)
+
+(_From the collection of W. G. Honey, Esq., Cork._)]
+
+[Illustration: _W. G. Honey, Esq., Cork._
+
+FRONT OF LAC CABINET (ILLUSTRATED), WITH DOORS CLOSED.]
+
+In the early eighteenth century the English craftsman tried his skill at
+lacquered furniture, it is true not with very successful results, but it
+is interesting to see what he has left as attempts. The illustration (p.
+143) of a chair in black and gold lac is of English manufacture. The
+splat back and the cabriole leg give the date, and the specimen is a
+noteworthy example. Another piece of the first half of the eighteenth
+century period is the lac cabinet illustrated (p. 151). The metal hinges
+and corners of this are of chased brass and of English or Dutch
+workmanship. The shape and design of the drawer handles are frequently
+found in nests of drawers of this period, and there was a singular
+fondness shown at this time for numbers of small drawers and
+pigeon-holes in furniture. The now familiar bureau with bookcase above,
+and drop-down, sloping front covering drawers and recesses, dates from
+this time. The escutcheon of the lac cabinet is illustrated in detail as
+a tailpiece to this chapter to show the particular style of work found
+on the locks and hinges and drawer-handles of pieces of this nature. As
+has been said before, it is especially useful to the collector to make
+himself thoroughly familiar with these details of the various periods.
+
+It may be readily imagined that at a time when cards were the passion of
+everybody in society, the card-table became a necessary piece of
+furniture in eighteenth-century days, just before the dawn of the great
+age of mahogany, when Chippendale, and the school that followed him,
+eagerly worked in the wood which Raleigh discovered. They produced
+countless forms, both original and adapted from the French, which have
+enriched the _repertoire_ of the cabinetmaker and which have brought
+fame to the man whose designs added lustre to the reputation of English
+furniture.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Chairs, six, mahogany, single, and one armchair to match,
+ with shaped legs and openwork backs (early eighteenth
+ century). F. W. Kidd, & Neale & Son, Nottingham,
+ November 11, 1903 25 4 0
+
+Chairs, eight Queen Anne, walnut-wood, with high backs, on
+ slightly cabriole legs, with stretchers. Christie,
+ December 11, 1903 33 12 0
+
+Armchair, Queen Anne, large walnut-wood, carved with
+ foliage, the arms terminating in masks, on carved
+ cabriole legs and lion's-claw feet. Christie, March 29,
+ 1904 50 8 0
+
+Cabinet, Queen Anne, the lower part fitted with escritoire,
+ the upper part with numerous drawers, shaped cornice
+ above, 3 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft. 6 in. Puttick & Simpson,
+ April 12, 1904 34 0 0
+
+Chairs, four Queen Anne, walnut-wood, with interlaced backs
+ carved with rosettes and a shell at the top, on cabriole
+ legs carved with shells and foliage; and a pair of
+ chairs made to match. Christie, July 8, 1904 44 2 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_, these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+[Illustration: _W. G. Honey Esq., Cork._
+
+CHASED BRASS ESCUTCHEON OF LAC CABINET (ILLUSTRATED).
+
+(Width, 10-1/2 in.)]
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE.
+
+THE PERIOD OF
+
+LOUIS XIV
+
+
+[Illustration: _By kind permission, from the collection of Dr. Sigerson,
+Dublin._
+
+CASSETTE. FRENCH; SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Containing many secret drawers.]
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XIV
+
+ LOUIS XIV. (1643-1715), covering English periods of Civil War,
+ Commonwealth, Charles II., James II., William and Mary, and
+ Anne.
+
+ 1619-1683. Colbert, Minister of Finance and patron of the arts.
+
+ 1661-1687. Versailles built.
+
+ 1662. Gobelins Tapestry Works started by Colbert; Le Brun first
+ director (1662-1690).
+
+ 1664. Royal Academy of Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture
+ founded by Colbert, to which designs of furniture were admitted.
+
+
+In order to arrive at a sense of proportion as to the value of English
+furniture and its relation to contemporary art in Europe, it is
+necessary to pass under hasty examination the movements that were
+taking place in France in the creation of a new style in furniture under
+the impulses of the epoch of the _Grande Monarque_. To estimate more
+correctly the styles of the Early Jacobean and of the later English
+furniture extending to the days of Chippendale and Sheraton, it must be
+borne in mind that England was not always so insular in art as the days
+of Queen Anne would seem to indicate. It is impossible for the
+cabinetmakers and the craftsmen to have utterly ignored the splendours
+of France. Louis XIV. had a long and eventful reign, which extended from
+the days when Charles I. was marshalling his forces to engage in civil
+war with the Parliament down to the closing years of Queen Anne. During
+his minority it cannot be said that Louis XIV. influenced art in
+furniture, but from 1661, contemporary with Charles II., when he assumed
+the despotic power that he exercised for half a century, his love of
+sumptuousness, and his personal supervision of the etiquette of a formal
+Court, in which no detail was omitted to surround royalty with
+magnificence, made him the patron of the fine arts, and gave his Court
+the most splendid prestige in Europe.
+
+As a headpiece to this chapter we give a very fine example of a
+_cassette_, or strong box, of the time of Louis XIV. It is securely
+bound with metal bands of exquisite design. The interior is fitted with
+a number of secret drawers.
+
+In the illustration (p. 159) it will be seen that the chair of the
+period of Louis Treize differed in no great respects from the furniture
+under the early Stuarts in this country. This design is by the
+celebrated Crispin de Passe, and the date is when Charles I. raised his
+standard at Nottingham, a year prior to the birth of Louis XIV.
+
+[Illustration: CHAIR OF PERIOD OF LOUIS XIII.
+
+DESIGNED BY CRISPIN DE PASSE, 1642.]
+
+During the reign of Louis XIV., tables, armoires, and cabinets were
+designed on architectural principles. Under the guiding influence of
+Colbert, Minister of Finance, architects and cabinetmakers were selected
+to design furniture for the Tuileries, the Louvre, and Fontainebleau. In
+the early years of the reign furniture was made with severe lines, but
+gradually it became the practice to fashion larger pieces. Immense
+tables with sumptuous decoration, on gilded claw-feet, and having tops
+inlaid with _pietra-dura_ intended to carry bronze groups and porphyry
+vases, were made at the Gobelins factory, under the direction of the
+celebrated Le Brun. This artist loved grandeur and gorgeousness in
+decoration, and in accord with the personal ideas of Louis XIV., who
+had an inordinate love for perfect symmetry, huge pieces of furniture
+were built in magnificent manner to please the taste of the _Grande
+Monarque_. Men of genius were employed in the manufacture of tapestries,
+of furniture, and of metal mountings, and the interior decorations of
+the palaces were designed in harmony with the furniture intended for use
+therein.
+
+The most illustrious among the cabinetmakers was Andre Charles Boule,
+who was made, in 1673, by letters patent, _Premier ebeniste de la maison
+royale_. The work of this artist in wood has attained a worldwide
+celebrity, and his name even has been corrupted into "buhl" to denote a
+particular class of work which he perfected. His most notable
+productions are the finely chased ormolu, in which he was an
+accomplished worker, and the inlay of tortoiseshell and brass, sometimes
+varied with ebony or silver, which have remained the wonder of
+succeeding generations.
+
+Boule was born in 1642, and lived till 1732. The first Boule, termed
+"_Le Pere_," he was succeeded by no less than four sons and nephews of
+the same name, in addition to his pupils who carried on his traditions
+at the Boule _atelier_, and a crowd of later imitators, even up to the
+present day, have followed his style in lavish decoration without being
+possessed of his skill.
+
+In Italy and in France marquetry of considerable delicacy and of fine
+effect had been produced long before the epoch of Louis XIV., but it was
+Boule who introduced a novelty into marquetry by his veneered work,
+which rapidly grew into favour till it developed into cruder colouring
+in inlays and unbridled licence in ornamentation, to which its
+originator would never have given countenance.
+
+The pieces of furniture usually associated with him are massive
+structures of ebony with their surfaces covered with tortoiseshell, in
+which are inlaid arabesques, scrolls, and foliage in thin brass or other
+metal. Upon the surface of this metal inlay further ornamentation was
+chased with the burin. This alternation of tortoiseshell and brass forms
+a brilliant marquetry. Into the chased designs on the metal a black
+enamel was introduced to heighten the effect, which was further
+increased by portions of the wood beneath the semi-transparent
+tortoiseshell being coloured black or brown or red; sometimes a
+bluish-green was used. Later imitators, not content with the beautiful
+effect of tortoiseshell, used horn in parts, which is more transparent,
+and they did not fear the garish effect of blue or vermilion underneath.
+Boule's creations, set in massive mounts and adornments of masks and
+bas-reliefs, cast in gilt-bronze and chased, were pieces of furniture of
+unsurpassed magnificence, and especially designed for the mirrored
+splendours of the _salons_ of Versailles.
+
+In boule-work all parts of the marquetry are held down by glue to the
+bed, usually of oak, the metal being occasionally fastened down by small
+brass pins, which are hammered flat and chased over so as to be
+imperceptible.
+
+In order to economise the material, Boule, when his marquetry became in
+demand, employed a process which led to the use of the technical terms,
+_boule_ and _counter-boule_. The brass and the tortoiseshell were cut
+into thin sheets. A number of sheets of brass were clamped together with
+the same number of sheets of tortoiseshell. The design was then cut out,
+the result being that each sheet of tortoiseshell had a design cut out
+of it, into which the same design from one of the sheets of brass would
+exactly fit. Similarly each sheet of brass had a design cut out of it
+into which a corresponding piece of tortoiseshell would fit. That in
+which the ground is of tortoiseshell and the inlaid portion is brass, is
+considered the better, and is called _boule_, or the _premiere partie_.
+That in which the groundwork is brass and the design inlaid is of
+tortoiseshell, is called _counter-boule_ or _contre-partie_. This latter
+is used for side panels.
+
+An examination of the specimens preserved in the Louvre, at the Jones
+Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, or in the Wallace Collection
+will enable the student to see more readily how this practice works out
+in the finished result. In the illustration (p. 163) of the two
+pedestals the effect of the employment of _boule_ and _counter-boule_ is
+shown.
+
+[Illustration: (_a._) (_b._)
+
+PEDESTALS SHOWING BOULE AND COUNTER-BOULE WORK.
+
+(_Wallace Collection._)
+
+(_a_) Boule or _premiere partie_.
+
+(_b_) Counter-boule or _contre-partie_.]
+
+Associated with Boule is Jean Berain, who had a fondness for the Italian
+style; his designs are more symmetrically correct, both in ornamental
+detail and in architectural proportion. His conceptions are remarkable
+for their fanciful elaboration, and their wealth of profuse scrollwork.
+In the French national collections at the Louvre, at Versailles, and
+elsewhere there are many beautiful examples of his chandeliers of
+magnificent carved and gilded work. The freedom of the spiral arms and
+complex coils he introduced into his candelabra have never been
+equalled as harmonious portions of a grandly conceived scheme of
+magnificent interior decoration, to which, in the days of Louis XIV., so
+much artistic talent was devoted.
+
+[Illustration: BOULE CABINET, OR ARMOIRE.
+
+Valued at nearly L15,000.
+
+_Jones Bequest._
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+With regard to the value of some of the specimens in the national
+collections, it is difficult to form an estimate. The Boule cabinet,
+probably designed by Berain, executed by Boule for Louis XIV.
+(illustrated p. 165) would, if put up for sale at Christie's, probably
+fetch L15,000. This piece is held to be grander in style than any in the
+galleries in France. At the Wallace Collection there are examples which
+would bring fabulous sums if sold. A cabinet by Boule, in the Jones
+Bequest, purchased by Mr. Jones for L3,000 in 1881, is now worth three
+times that sum.
+
+Upon the building, decorating, and furnishing of Versailles Louis XIV.
+spent over five hundred million francs, in addition to which there was
+the army of workmen liable to statute labour. Some twenty thousand men
+and six thousand horses were employed in 1684 at the different parts of
+the chateau and park. In May, 1685, there were no less than thirty-six
+thousand employed.
+
+The illustrious craftsmen who were employed upon the magnificent
+artistic interior decorations have transmitted their names to posterity.
+Berain, Lepautre, Henri de Gissey, are the best known of the designers.
+Among the painters are the names of Audran, Baptiste, Jouvenet, Mignard,
+and the best known of the sculptors are Coustou and Van Cleve. Of the
+woodcarvers, metal-chasers, locksmiths, and gilders Pierre Taupin,
+Ambroise Duval, Delobel, and Goy are names of specialists in their own
+craft who transformed Versailles from a royal hunting-box into one of
+the most splendid palaces in Europe.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Commode, Louis XIV., of inlaid king-wood, with two drawers,
+ mounted with handles and masks at the corners of chased
+ ormolu, and surmounted by a fleur violette marble slab,
+ 52 in. wide. Christie, January 22, 1904 31 10 0
+
+Show-cabinet, of Louis XIV. design, inlaid king-wood, with
+ glazed folding doors, ormolu mounts, chased and
+ surmounted by vases, 73 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie,
+ April 12, 1904 30 9 0
+
+Casket, Louis XIV., black Boule, inlaid with Cupids, vases
+ of flowers and scrolls, and fitted with four
+ tortoiseshell and gold picque shell-shaped snuff boxes.
+ Christie, April 19, 1904 73 10 0
+
+Commode, Louis XIV., Boule, of sarcophagus form, containing
+ two drawers, at either corners are detached cabriole
+ legs, the various panels are inlaid with brass and
+ tortoiseshell, the whole is mounted with ormolu,
+ surmounted by a slab of veined marble, 49 in. wide.
+ Christie, May 27, 1904 57 15 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_, these items
+are reproduced from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale
+Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV
+
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Foley & Eassie._
+
+COMMODE, BY CRESSENT.
+
+(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)
+
+(_Wallace Collection._)]
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV
+
+ Louis XV. 1715-1774
+
+ Petit Trianon built at Versailles.
+
+ Meissonier, Director of Royal Factories (1723-1774).
+
+ Watteau (1684-1721). Pater (1695-1736).
+
+ Lancret (1690-1743). Boucher (1704-1770).
+
+ 1751. The leading ebenistes compelled to stamp their work with
+ their names.
+
+
+Louis XIV. died in the year following the death of Queen Anne, so that
+it will be readily seen that English art was uninfluenced by France in
+the days of William and Mary, and how insular it had become under Anne.
+The English craftsman was not fired by new impulses from France during
+such an outburst of decorative splendour. The reign of Louis XV. extends
+from George I. down to the eleventh year of the reign of George III.,
+which year saw the cargoes of tea flung into Boston harbour and the
+beginning of the war with America.
+
+In glancing at the Louis Quinze style it will be observed how readily it
+departed from the studied magnificence of Louis XIV. In attempting
+elegance of construction and the elimination of much that was massive
+and cumbersome in the former style, it developed in its later days into
+meaningless ornament and trivial construction. At first it possessed
+considerable grace, but towards the end of the reign the designs ran
+riot in rococo details, displaying incongruous decoration.
+
+It was the age of the elegant boudoir, and the bedroom became a place
+for more intimate guests than those received in the large
+reception-room. In the days of Louis XIV. the bed was a massive
+structure, but in the succeeding reign it became an elegant appendage to
+a room. At Versailles the splendid galleries of magnificent proportion
+were transformed by the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France (1715-1723)
+during the king's minority, into smaller _salons_ covered in
+wainscoting, painted white and ornamented with gilded statues. In like
+manner the Louis Quinze decorations were ruthlessly destroyed by
+Louis-Philippe.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
+
+LOUIS XV. PARQUETERY COMMODE.
+
+With chased and bronze-gilt mounts.
+
+(_Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection._)]
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS XV. COMMODE.
+
+BY CAFFIERI.]
+
+The commode in the Wallace Collection (illustrated p. 171) is of the
+time when Louis XV. was in his minority, and of the days of the Regency.
+It is by Charles Cressent (1685-1768), who was cabinetmaker to Philippe
+d'Orleans, Regent of France. This is an especially typical specimen of
+the class to which it belongs as showing the transition style between
+Louis XIV. and the succeeding reign.
+
+To establish Louis the Fifteenth's _petits appartements_ the gallery
+painted by Mignard was demolished, and later, in 1752, the Ambassadors'
+Staircase was destroyed, the masterpiece of the architects Levau and
+Dorbay, and the marvel of Louis the Fourteenth's Versailles.
+
+It is necessary to bear these facts in mind in order to see how a new
+French monarch set ruthlessly new fashions in furniture and created a
+taste for his personal style in art. In the first part of the Louis
+Quinze period the metal mountings by Caffieri and Cressent are of
+exquisite style; they are always of excellent workmanship, but later
+they betrayed the tendency of the time for fantastic curves, which had
+affected the furniture to such an extent that no straight lines were
+employed, and the sides of commodes and other pieces were swelled into
+unwieldy proportions, and instead of symmetrical and harmonious results
+the florid style, known as the "rococo," choked all that was beautiful
+in design. Meissonier, Director of the Royal Factories (1723-1774), was
+mainly responsible for this unnatural development. He revelled in
+elaborate combinations of shellwork and impossible foliage.
+
+In the Louis XV. commodes illustrated (pp. 173, 175) it will be seen how
+far superior is the design and treatment of the one which was formerly
+in the celebrated Hamilton Collection. Its chased and gilt mounts are
+harmoniously arranged, and though the ornamentation is superbly rich, it
+breaks no canons of art by overloaded detail or coarse profusion. Not so
+much can be said for the other commode of the rococo style, even though
+the mounts be by Caffieri and executed in masterly manner. There is a
+wanton abandonment and an offensive tone in the florid treatment which
+point clearly to the decline of taste in art.
+
+The highest art of concealment was not a prominent feature in a Court
+which adopted its style from the caprices of Madame du Pompadour or the
+whims of Madame du Barry. But among the finest productions are the
+splendid pieces of reticent cabinetmaking by the celebrated Jean
+Francois Oeben, who came from Holland. His preference was for
+geometrical patterns, varied only with the sparing use of flowers, in
+producing his most delicate marquetry. In the pieces by Boule and
+others, not in tortoiseshell but in wood inlay, the wood was so
+displayed as to exhibit in the panels the grain radiating from the
+centre. Oeben did not forget this principle, and placed his bouquets of
+flowers, when, on occasion, he used them, in the centre of his panels,
+and filled up the panel with geometric design.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS XV. _ESCRITOIRE A TOILETTE_.
+
+Of tulip-wood and sycamore, inlaid with landscapes in coloured woods.
+
+Formerly in the possession of Queen Marie Antoinette.
+
+(_Jones Bequest: Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The well-known maker, Charles Cressent (1685-1768), used rosewood,
+violet, and amaranth woods in his marquetry, and at this time many new
+foreign woods were employed by the cabinetmakers in France and Italy.
+In addition to woods of a natural colour, it was the practice
+artificially to colour light woods, and inlay work was attempted in
+which trophies of war, musical instruments, or the shepherd's crook
+hung with ribbon, were all worked out in marquetry. Pictures, in
+coloured woods, in imitation of oil paintings on canvas, were foolishly
+attempted, and altogether the art of inlay, ingenious and wonderful in
+its construction, began to affect trivialities and surprising effects
+most unsuited to the range of its technique.
+
+In the toilet-table illustrated (p. 179), this misapplication of inlay
+to reproduce pictures is seen on the three front panels and on the
+middle panel above. The chief woods employed are tulip and sycamore,
+inlaid with tinted lime, holly, and cherry-woods. The mountings of the
+table are chased ormolu. The cylindrical front encloses drawers with
+inlaid fronts. Beneath this is a sliding shelf, under which is a drawer
+with three compartments, fitted with toilet requisites and having inlaid
+lids. This specimen of Louis Quinze work is in the Jones Collection at
+the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was formerly in the possession of
+Queen Marie Antoinette. It is attributed to Oeben, though from
+comparison with some of the chaster work known to have come from his
+hand it would seem to be of too fanciful marquetry for his restrained
+and sober style.
+
+It is especially true of the furniture of this great French period that
+it requires harmonious surroundings. The slightest false touch throws
+everything out of balance at once. Of this fact the inventors were well
+aware. If Dutch furniture requires the quiet, restful art of Cuyp or Van
+der Neer, or Metzu or Jan Steen on the surrounding walls, the interiors
+of Louis Quinze demand the works of contemporary French genre-painters.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS XV. SECRETAIRE.
+
+By Riesener, in his earlier manner.
+
+IN TRANSITIONAL STYLE, APPROACHING LOUIS SEIZE PERIOD.
+
+(_Wallace Collection._)]
+
+All things worked together to produce a harmonious _ensemble_ in this
+brilliant period. The royal tapestry and Sevres porcelain factories
+turned out their most beautiful productions to decorate rooms,
+furniture, and for the table. Tapestries from Beauvais, Gobelins, and
+Aubusson, rich silks from the looms of Lyons, or from Lucca, Genoa, or
+Venice were made for wall-hangings, for chair-backs, for seats, and for
+sofas.
+
+Fragonard, Natoire, and Boucher painted lunettes over chimney-fronts, or
+panels of ceilings. Of great cabinetmakers, Riesener and David Roentgen,
+princes among _ebenistes_, worked in wonderful manner in tulip-wood, in
+holly, in rosewood, purple wood, and laburnum to produce marquetry, the
+like of which has never been seen before nor since.
+
+Associated with the period of Louis XV. is the love for the lacquered
+panel. Huygens, a Dutchman, had achieved good results in imitations of
+Oriental lacquer, which in France, under the hand of Martin, a
+carriage-painter, born about 1706, rivalled the importations from Japan.
+It is stated that the secret of the fine, transparent lac polish that he
+used was obtained from the missionaries who resided in Japan before the
+date of the massacres and foreign expulsion of all except the Dutch
+traders. Vernis-Martin, as his varnish was termed, became in general
+request. From 1744 for twenty years, Sieur Simon Etienne Martin was
+granted a monopoly to manufacture this lacquered work in the Oriental
+style. Although he declared that his secret would die with him, other
+members of his family continued the style, which was taken up by many
+imitators in the next reign. His varnish had a peculiar limpid
+transparency, and he obtained the wavy network of gold groundwork so
+successfully produced by Japanese and Chinese craftsmen. On this were
+delicately painted, by Boucher and other artists, Arcadian subjects,
+framed in rocaille style with gold thickly laid on, and so pure that in
+the bronze gilding and in the woodwork it maintains its fine lustre to
+the present day.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Foley & Eassie._
+
+THE "BUREAU DU ROI."
+
+THE MASTERPIECE OF RIESENER.
+
+(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)
+
+(_Wallace Collection._)]
+
+Towards the close of the reign of Louis XV. a new style set in, which
+reverted to simpler tastes, to which the name "_A la reine_" was given,
+in deference to the taste which is supposed to have emanated from Marie
+Leczinska, the queen, but is said to have been due to Madame du
+Pompadour.
+
+At the Wallace Collection is a fine secretaire, with the mounts and
+ornaments of gilt bronze cast and chased, which is illustrated (p. 181).
+The central panel of marquetry shows, in life size, a cock, with the
+caduceus, a snake, a banner, and symbolical instruments. It is by Jean
+Francois Riesener, and in his earliest manner, made in the later years
+of Louis Quinze in the Transitional style approaching the Louis Seize
+period.
+
+Among the wonderful creations of Riesener, probably his masterpiece is
+the celebrated "Bureau du Roi," begun in 1760 by Oeben, and completed in
+1769 by Riesener--who married the widow of Oeben, by the way. Its
+bronzes are by Duplesis, Winant, and Hervieux. The design and details
+show the transition between the Louis Quinze and the Louis Seize styles.
+
+The original, which is at the Louvre, is in marquetry of various
+coloured woods and adorned by plaques of gilt bronze, cast and chased.
+The copy from which our illustration is taken (p. 183) is in the Wallace
+Collection, and is by Dasson, and follows the original in proportions,
+design, and technique.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Table, Louis XV., oblong, the legs are cabriole, it
+ contains one drawer and a writing-slide; around the
+ sides are inlaid panels of old Japanese lacquer, each
+ panel bordered by elaborate scrollwork of chased
+ ormolu, signed with "B. V. R. B.," surmounted by a slab
+ of white marble, 39 in. wide. Christie, December 18,
+ 1903 1900 0 0
+
+Writing-table, Louis XV., marquetry, with sliding top and
+ drawer, fitted with movable writing slab, compartment
+ for ink-vases, &c., signed "L. Doudin," Louis XV. form,
+ with cabriole legs, the top decorated with scrolls
+ forming panels, the centre one containing a Teniers
+ figure subject, parquetry and inlays of flowers round
+ the sides, corner mounts, &c., of ormolu, cast and
+ chased, 30 in. wide. Christie, March 18, 1904 630 0 0
+
+Cartonniere, Louis XV., of inlaid tulip-wood, containing a
+ clock by Palanson, a Paris, mounted with Chinese
+ figures, masks, foliage and scrolls of chased ormolu,
+ 48 in. high, 36 in. wide. Christie, April 22, 1904 409 10 0
+
+Secretaires, pair, Louis XV., small marquetry, with
+ fall-down front, drawer above and door below, inlaid
+ with branches of flowers, and mounted with chased
+ ormolu, surmounted by white marble slabs, 46 in. high,
+ 22 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 1904 46 4 0
+
+Cabinet, Louis XV., parquetry, with folding doors enclosing
+ drawers, mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a Brescia
+ marble slab, 30 in. high, 44 in. wide. Christie, April
+ 29, 1904 31 10 0
+
+Bergeres, pair of Louis XV., corner-shaped, the frames of
+ carved and gilt wood, the seats and backs covered with
+ old Beauvais tapestry. Christie, May 18, 1904 420 0 0
+
+Settee, Louis XV., oblong, of carved and gilt-wood, covered
+ with panels of old Beauvais tapestry, 3 ft. 8 in. wide.
+ Christie, May 18, 1904 231 0 0
+
+Canape, Louis XV., of carved and gilt wood, the borders
+ carved with acanthus scrolls, the seat and back covered
+ with old Beauvais silk tapestry, decorated, 4 ft. 6 in.
+ wide. Christie, May 18, 1904 420 0 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE.
+THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE.
+THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI
+
+ Louis XVI. 1774-1793.
+
+ 1730-1806. Riesener, _ebeniste_ to Marie Antoinette (born near
+ Cologne).
+
+ 1789. Commencement of the French Revolution.
+
+
+The so-called Louis Seize period embraces much that is good from the
+later days of the previous reign. The same designers were employed with
+the addition of a few younger men. Caffieri and Riesener were producing
+excellent work, and above all was Gouthiere, whose renown as a founder
+and chaser of gilded bronze ornaments is unrivalled. Elegance and
+simplicity are again the prevailing notes. Straight lines took the place
+of the twisted contortions of the rococo style. Thin scrolls, garlands,
+ribbons and knots, classical cameo-shaped panels, and Sevres plaques
+form the characteristic ornamentation.
+
+The acanthus-leaf, distorted into unnatural proportions in the middle
+Louis Quinze period, returned to its normal shape, the egg-and-tongue
+moulding came into use, and the delicacy of the laurel-leaf was
+employed in design in Louis Seize decorations.
+
+In the jewel cabinet illustrated (p. 193), the new style is shown at its
+best. The cabinet is inlaid in rosewood and sycamore, and bears the name
+of "J. H. Riesener" stamped on it. The chased ormolu mounts are by
+Gouthiere. The geometrical inlay is a tradition which Oeben left to his
+successors. The upper portion has a rising lid with internal trays. In
+the lower part is a drawer and a shelf. This piece is at the Victoria
+and Albert Museum in the Jones Bequest, and it is well worth detailed
+examination as being a representative specimen of the most artistic work
+produced at this period.
+
+Pierre Gouthiere had a complete mastery over his technique. The
+estimation with which his work is regarded has made furniture which he
+mounted bring extraordinary prices. In 1882, at the dispersal of the
+celebrated Hamilton Palace Collection, three specimens with his
+workmanship realised L30,000.
+
+The Vernis-Martin panels were decorated by Watteau and Pater. The age of
+artificialities with its _fetes-galantes_ in the royal gardens of the
+Luxembourg and in the pleasure parks of the Court, with the ill-starred
+Marie Antoinette playing at shepherds and shepherdesses, had its
+influence upon art. Watteau employed his brush to daintily paint the
+attitudes of _Le Lorgneur_ upon a fan-mount, or to depict elegantly
+dressed noblemen and ladies of the Court dancing elaborate minuets in
+satin shoes, or feasting from exquisite Sevres porcelain dishes in the
+damp corner of some park or old chateau.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS XVI. JEWEL CABINET.
+
+Inlaid in rose and sycamore woods. Stamped "J. H. Riesener." Chased
+Ormolu mountings by Gouthiere.
+
+(_Jones Bequest. Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The artificial pretence at Arcadian simplicity adopted by the Queen, in
+the intervals between her attendance at public _bals-masque_, when she
+almost wantonly outraged the susceptibilities of the French people by
+her frivolities, found a more permanent form in interior decorations.
+Riesener and David designed a great deal of furniture for her. Dainty
+work-tables and writing-tables and other furniture of an elegant
+description are preserved in the national collection in the Louvre and
+at Fontainebleau, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Jones
+Bequest, and in the Wallace Collection. Tables of this nature are most
+eagerly sought after. A small table with plaques of porcelain in the
+side panels, which is said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette, was
+sold at Christie's for L6,000 (Hamilton Collection). There is a similar
+writing-table in the Jones Collection, given by Marie Antoinette to Mrs.
+Eden, afterwards Lady Auckland.
+
+During the period under Louis Seize, when Fragonard and Natoire deftly
+painted the panels of rooms and filled ceilings with flying cupids and
+chains of roses, when Boucher was Director of the Academy, the interior
+of rooms assumed a boudoir-like appearance. The walls were decorated in
+a scheme of colour. Handsome fluted pillars with fine classic feeling
+were the framework of panelling painted in delicate and subdued tones.
+Oval mirrors, avoiding all massive construction, lightened the effect,
+and mantelpieces of white marble, and furniture evidently designed for
+use, completed the interiors of the homes of the _grands seigneurs_.
+Sometimes the walls were painted, giving a lustrous appearance
+resembling silk, and this style is the forerunner of the modern
+abomination known as wall-paper.
+
+Before leaving this period of French furniture, when so much marquetry
+work was done of unsurpassed beauty and of unrivalled technique, a word
+may be said as to the number of woods used. Oeben and Riesener and their
+contemporaries used many foreign woods, of which the names are
+unfamiliar. Mr. Pollen, in his "South Kensington Museum Handbook to
+Furniture and Woodwork," has given the names of some of them, which are
+interesting as showing the number of woods especially selected for this
+artistic cabinetmaking. Tulip-wood is the variety known as _Liriodendron
+tulipifera_. Rosewood was extensively used, and holly (_ilex
+aquifolium_), maple (_acer campestre_), laburnum (_cytisus Alpinus_),
+and purple wood (_copaifera pubiflora_). Snake-wood was frequently used,
+and other kinds of light-brown wood in which the natural grain is waved
+or curled, presenting a pleasant appearance, and obviating the use of
+marquetry (_see_ "Woods used," p. 29).
+
+In the great collections to which reference has been made, in well-known
+pieces made by Riesener his name is found stamped on the panel itself,
+or sometimes on the oak lining. The large bureau in the Wallace
+Collection (Gallery xvi., No. 66) is both signed and dated "20th
+February, 1769." This piece, it is said, was ordered by Stanislas
+Leczinski, King of Poland, and was once one of the possessions of the
+Crown of France.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
+
+LOUIS XVI. RIESENER COMMODE.]
+
+With regard to the cost of pieces of furniture by the great master
+_ebenistes_, it is on record that a secretaire which was exhibited at
+Gore House in 1853, and made originally for Beaumarchais by Riesener,
+cost 85,000 francs, a sum not much less than L4,000. Celebrated copies
+have been made from these old models. The famous cabinet with mounts by
+Gouthiere, now in the possession of the King, was copied about
+twenty-five years ago for the Marquis of Hertford, by permission of
+Queen Victoria. The piece took years to complete, and it is interesting
+to have the evidence of its copyists that the most difficult parts to
+imitate were the metal mounts. This replica cost some L3,000, and is now
+in the Wallace Collection. The copy of the famous bureau or escritoire
+in the Louvre, known as the "Bureau de St. Cloud," was made by
+permission of the Emperor Napoleon III., and cost L2,000. Another copy
+of the same piece exhibited at the French International Exhibition was
+sold for L3,500 to an English peeress. Many fine copies of Riesener's
+work exist, and in the illustration (p. 197) a copy is given of a
+handsome commode, which exhibits his best style under the influence of
+his master, Oeben.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Cabinets, pair of Louis XVI., dwarf ebony, the panels inlaid
+ with black and gold lacquer, decorated with birds and
+ trees in the Chinese taste, mounted with foliage borders
+ of chased ormolu, and surmounted by veined black marble
+ slabs, 45 in. high, 35 in. wide. Christie, November 20,
+ 1903 39 18 0
+
+Suite of Louis XVI. furniture, with fluted borders and legs,
+ painted white and pale green, the seats, backs, and arms
+ covered with old Beauvais tapestry, with vases and
+ festoons of flowers and conventional arabesques in
+ poly-chrome, on white ground in pale green borders,
+ consisting of an oblong settee, 72 in. wide, eight
+ fauteuils. Christie, December 18, 1903 1470 0 0
+
+Secretaire, Louis XVI., upright marquetry, with fall-down }
+ front, drawer above, and folding doors below, inlaid }
+ with hunting trophies on trellis-pattern ground, mounted}
+ with foliage, friezes, and corner mounts of chased }
+ ormolu, and surmounted by a Breccia marble slab, stamped}
+ "J. Stumpff. 315 0 0 Me.," 56 in. high, 40 in. wide. }
+ Christie, February 12, 1904 Commode, _en suite_, with }
+ five drawers, 58 in. wide. Christie, February 12, 1904 }
+ } 714 0 0
+Work-table, Louis XVI., oval, in two tiers, upon a tripod }
+ stand, with double candle branches above; the top tier }
+ is composed of a Sevres plaque, painted with sprays of }
+ roses; around this is a gallery of chased ormolu; the }
+ second tier is of parquetry, this has also a balcony; }
+ the tripod base is of mahogany, with mounts of ormolu, }
+ cast and chased; the nozzles for the two candles above }
+ are similar in material and decoration, width of top }
+ tier, 13 in. Christie, March 18, 1904
+
+Table, Louis XVI., marquetry, signed "N. Petit," top inlaid
+ with musical trophy, &c., mounts, &c., of ormolu, cast
+ and chased, 30 in. wide. Christie, March 18, 1904 99 15 0
+
+Fauteuils, pair, Louis XVI. (stamped "J. Leglartier"),
+ tapered oblong backs and curved arms, turned legs, white
+ and gilt, covered with Beauvais tapestry, with subjects
+ from "Fables de la Fontaine," and other designs.
+ Flashman & Co., Dover, April 26, 1904 75 0 0
+
+Console-table, Louis XVI., carved and painted wood, with
+ fluted legs and stretchers, and open frieze in front,
+ surmounted by a slab of white marble, 5 ft. 4 in. wide.
+ Christie, May 6, 1904 46 0 0
+
+Commode, Louis XVI., containing three drawers, in front it
+ is divided into three rectangular sunk panels of
+ parquetry, each bordered with mahogany, with ormolu
+ mounts, surmounted by a slab of fleur-de-peche marble,
+ 57 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 1904 357 0 0
+
+Commode, Louis XVI., stamped with the name of "J. H.
+ Reisener," with tambour panels in front and drawers at
+ the top; it is chiefly composed of mahogany, the central
+ panel inlaid in a coloured marquetry; on either side,
+ and at the ends, are panels of tulip-wood parquetery,
+ the whole is mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a slab
+ of veined marble, 34 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 1904
+ 3150 0 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE. THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE
+
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF MADAME RECAMIER.
+
+(After David.)
+
+Showing Empire settee and footstool.
+
+(_In the Louvre._)]
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+FRENCH FURNITURE--THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE
+
+ 1789. Commencement of French Revolution.
+
+ 1798. Napoleon's campaign in Egypt.
+
+ 1805. Napoleon prepares to invade England; Battle of Trafalgar;
+ French naval power destroyed.
+
+ 1806. Napoleon issued Berlin Decree to destroy trade of England.
+
+ 1812. Napoleon invaded Russia, with disastrous retreat from
+ Moscow.
+
+ 1814. Napoleon abdicated.
+
+ 1815. Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
+
+
+When Louis XVI. called together the States-General in 1789, which had
+not met since 1614, the first stone was laid of the French Republic.
+After the king was beheaded in 1793, the Reign of Terror followed,
+during which the wildest licence prevailed. Under the Directory, for
+four years from 1795, the country settled down until the rise of
+Napoleon Bonaparte, who took the government in his own hands with the
+title of Consul, and in 1804 called himself Emperor of the French.
+
+During the Reign of Terror the ruthless fury of a nation under mob-law
+did not spare the most beautiful objects of art which were associated
+with a hated aristocracy. Furniture especially suffered, and it is a
+matter for wonderment that so much escaped destruction. Most of the
+furniture of the royal palaces was consigned to the spoliation of "the
+Black Committee," who trafficked in works of great price, and sold to
+foreign dealers the gems of French art for less than a quarter of their
+real value. So wanton had become the destruction of magnificent
+furniture that the Convention, with an eye on the possibilities of
+raising money in the future, ordered the furniture to be safely stored
+in the museums of Paris.
+
+After so great a social upheaval, art in her turn was subjected to
+revolutionary notions. Men cast about to find something new. Art, more
+than ever, attempted to absorb the old classic spirit. The Revolution
+was the deathblow to Rococo ornament. With the classic influences came
+ideas from Egypt, and the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii
+provided a further source of design. A detail of a portion of a tripod
+table found at Pompeii shows the nature of the beautiful furniture
+discovered.
+
+As early as 1763, Grimm wrote: "For some years past we are beginning to
+inquire for antique ornaments and forms. The interior and exterior
+decorations of houses, furniture, materials of dress, work of the
+goldsmiths, all bear alike the stamp of the Greeks. The fashion passes
+from architecture to millinery; our ladies have their hair dressed _a la
+Grecque_." A French translation of Winckelmann appeared in 1765, and
+Diderot lent his powerful aid in heralding the dawn of the revival of
+the antique long before the curtain went up on the events of 1789.
+
+Paris in Revolution days assumed the atmosphere of ancient Rome.
+Children were given Greek and Roman names. Classical things got rather
+mixed. People called themselves "Romans." Others had Athenian notions.
+Madame Vigee-Lebrun gave _soupers a la Grecque_. Madame Lebrun was
+Aspasia, and M. l'Abbe Barthelemy, in a Greek dress with a laurel wreath
+on his head, recited a Greek poem.
+
+[Illustration: DETAIL OF TRIPOD TABLE FOUND AT POMPEII.
+
+(_At Naples Museum._)]
+
+These, among a thousand other signs of the extraordinary spirit of
+classicism which possessed France, show how deep rooted had become the
+idea of a modern Republic that should emulate the fame of Athens and of
+Rome. The First Consul favoured these ideas, and his portraits
+represent him with a laurel wreath around his head posing as a Caesar.
+
+[Illustration: _By kind permission from the collection of Dr. Sigerson,
+Dublin._
+
+SERVANTE.
+
+Marble top; supported on two ormolu legs elaborately chased with figures
+of Isis. Panelled at back with glass mirror.
+
+FRENCH; LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+In transition days before the style known as Empire had become fixed
+there is exhibited in art a feeling which suggests the deliberate search
+after new forms and new ideas. To this period belongs the _servante_,
+which, by the kindness of Dr. Sigerson, of Dublin, is reproduced from
+his collection. The claw-foot, the ram's head, the bay-leaf, and a
+frequent use of caryatides and animal forms, is a common ornamentation
+in furniture of the Empire period. In this specimen the two legs of
+ormolu have these characteristics, and it is noticeable that the shape
+of the leg and its details of ornament bear a striking resemblance to
+the leg of the Pompeiian table illustrated (p. 205). But the deities of
+Egypt have contributed a new feature in the seated figure of the goddess
+Isis.
+
+[Illustration: JEWEL CABINET OF THE EMPRESS MARIE LOUISE.
+
+Made on the occasion of her marriage with the Emperor Napoleon
+Bonaparte, in 1810.
+
+(_At Fontainebleau._)]
+
+Napoleon himself encouraged the classic spirit which killed all memories
+of an _ancien regime_. He would have been pleased to see all the relics
+of the former glories of France demolished. He had at one time a project
+to rebuild Versailles as a classic temple.
+
+At the height of his splendour he became the patron of the fine arts,
+and attempted to leave his impression upon art as he did upon everything
+else. New furniture was designed for the Imperial palaces. Riesener was
+alive, but it does not appear that he took any part in the new
+creations. David, the great French painter, an ardent Republican, was
+won over to become a Court painter. At Malmaison and at Fontainebleau
+there are many fine examples of the First Empire period which, however,
+cannot be regarded as the most artistic in French furniture. Preserved
+at Fontainebleau is the jewel cabinet, made by Thomire and Odiot, at the
+Emperor's orders as a wedding gift, in 1810, to the Empress Marie
+Louise, in emulation of the celebrated Riesener cabinet at the Trianon.
+The wood used for this, and for most of the Empire cabinets, is rich
+mahogany, which affords a splendid ground for the bronze gilt mounts
+(_see_ p. 207).
+
+The portrait of Madame Recamier, by David, which is in the Louvre, given
+as headpiece to this chapter, shows the severe style of furniture in use
+at the zenith of the Empire period. The couch follows classic models,
+and the tall candelabrum is a suggestion from Herculaneum models.
+
+The influence that this classic revival had upon furniture in this
+country is told in a subsequent chapter. In regard to costume, the gowns
+of the First Empire period have become quite fashionable in recent
+years.
+
+Although this style of furniture degenerated into commonplace designs
+with affectedly hard outlines, it had a considerable vogue. In addition
+to the influence it had upon the brothers Adam and upon Sheraton, it
+left its trace on English furniture up till the first quarter of the
+nineteenth century. The chair illustrated (p. 210) is about the year
+1800 in date. There is presumptive evidence that this chair was made in
+Bombay after European design. It is of rosewood, carved in relief with
+honeysuckle and floral design. The scrolled ends of the top rail show at
+once its French derivation.
+
+In the national collections in this country there are very few specimens
+of Empire furniture. The Duke of Wellington has some fine examples at
+Apsley House, treasured relics of its historic associations with the
+victor of Waterloo. The demand in France, for furniture of the First
+Empire style has in all probability denuded the open market of many fine
+specimens. Owing to the fact that this country was at war with France
+when the style was at its height, the number of Empire pieces imported
+was very limited, nor does First Empire furniture seem to have greatly
+captivated the taste of English collectors, as among the records of
+sales of furniture by public auction very little has come under the
+hammer.
+
+[Illustration: _By kind permission of the Rev. H. V. Le Bas._
+
+ARMCHAIR, ROSEWOOD.
+
+Carved in relief with honeysuckle pattern Formerly in possession of the
+Duke of Newcastle.
+
+ENGLISH; LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+CHIPPENDALE
+
+AND
+
+HIS STYLE
+
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+TABLE MADE BY CHIPPENDALE.
+
+(Height, 29-3/8 in.; width, 32-3/8 in.; depth, 21-5/8 in.)]
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+CHIPPENDALE AND HIS STYLE
+
+ George I. 1714-1727.
+ George II. 1727-1760.
+ George III. 1760-1820.
+
+ Horace Walpole built Strawberry Hill (1750)
+
+ Sir William Chambers (1726-1796) built Pagoda at Kew about 1760.
+
+ Chippendale's _Director_ published (1754).
+
+
+Thomas Chippendale, the master cabinetmaker of St. Martin's Lane, has
+left a name which, like that of Boule, has become a trade term to mark
+a certain style in furniture. With the dawn of the age of mahogany,
+Chippendale produced designs that were especially adapted to the new
+wood; he relied solely upon the delicate carving for ornament, and
+rejected all inlay.
+
+Discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh, who brought specimens home with him,
+mahogany did not come into general use till about 1720. The material
+then used by Chippendale and his school was the splendid mahogany from
+the great untouched forests, producing at that time timber the like of
+which, in dimension and in quality, is now unprocurable. The cheaper
+"Honduras stuff" was then unknown, and English crews landed and cut
+timber from the Spanish possessions in spite of the protests of the
+owners. Many a stiff fight occurred, and many lives were lost in
+shipping this stolen mahogany to England to supply the demand for
+furniture. These nefarious proceedings more than once threatened to
+bring about war between England and Spain.
+
+The furniture of France, during the four great periods treated in the
+previous chapters, was designed for the use of the nobility. One wonders
+what furniture was in common use by the peasantry in France. In England,
+too, much of the furniture left for the examination of posterity was
+made for the use of the wealthy classes. In Jacobean days, settles and
+chairs, especially the Yorkshire and Derbyshire types, were in more
+common use, and the homely pieces of Queen Anne suggest less luxurious
+surroundings, but it was left for Chippendale to impress his taste upon
+all classes. In the title-page of his great work, the _Director_,
+published in 1754, he says that his designs are "calculated to improve
+and refine the present taste, and suited to the fancy and circumstances
+of persons in all degrees of life."
+
+[Illustration: OLIVER GOLDSMITH'S CHAIR.
+
+Wood, painted green, with circular seat, carved arms, and high back.
+Bequeathed by Oliver Goldsmith in 1774 to his friend, Dr. Hawes.
+
+(_Bethnal Green Museum._)]
+
+His book of designs, as may naturally be supposed, was not greatly
+bought by the working classes, but fifteen copies of the _Director_ went
+to Yorkshire, and many other copies were subscribed for in other parts
+of the country, so that local cabinetmakers began at once to fashion
+their furniture after his styles.
+
+The common form of chair at the time was similar to the specimen
+illustrated (p. 215), which formerly belonged to Oliver Goldsmith, and
+was bequeathed by him to his friend, Dr. Hawes. This is of soft wood,
+probably beech, painted green, with circular seat, curved arms, and high
+back. Chippendale revolutionised this inartistic style, and for the
+first time in the history of the manufacture of furniture in England,
+continental makers turned their eyes to this country in admiration of
+the style in vogue here, and in search of new designs.
+
+It might appear, on a hasty glance at some of Chippendale's work, that
+originality was not his strong point. His claw-and-ball feet were not
+his own, and he borrowed them and the wide, spacious seats of his chairs
+from the Dutch, or from earlier English furniture under Dutch influence.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CHIPPENDALE SETTEE; WALNUT. ABOUT 1740.
+
+(_From the collection of Sir W. E. Welby-Gregory, Bart._)]
+
+Sir William Chambers, the architect of Somerset House, whose fondness
+for Chinese ornament produced quite a craze, and who built the Pagoda in
+Kew Gardens, gave Chippendale another source of inspiration. In his
+later days he came under the influence of the Gothic revival and
+was tempted to misuse Gothic ornament.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CHIPPENDALE SETTEE, OAK. ABOUT 1740.
+
+(_By courtesy of V. J. Robinson, Esq., C.I.E._)]
+
+His second style shows the Louis XIV. French decoration in subjection.
+In his ribbon-back chairs he employed the Louis XVI. ornamentation.
+
+But Chippendale was the most masterly adapter that England has ever
+produced. His adaptions became original under his hand, and his
+creations are sturdy and robust, tempered by French subtleties, and
+having, here and there, as in the fretwork in the chair-legs and angles,
+a suggestion of the East. He is the prince of chair-makers. His chairs
+are never unsymmetrical. He knew the exact proportion of ornament that
+the structure would gracefully bear. The splats in the chairs he made
+himself are of such accurate dimensions in relation to the open spaces
+on each side that this touch alone betrays the hand of the master, which
+is absent in the imitations of his followers.
+
+The illustration given of the Chippendale table in Chinese style (p.
+213), is a beautiful and perfect piece of a type rarely met with. It was
+made by Chippendale for the great-grandmother of the present owner. A
+similar table was in the possession of the Princess Josephine. In
+chairs, the back was sometimes of fret-cut work, as was also the design
+of the legs, with fretwork in the angles, which betray his fondness for
+the Chinese models. The Gothic style influenced Chippendale only to a
+slight degree. Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill set the fashion in
+England, which fortunately was short-lived.
+
+Collectors divide Chippendale's work into three periods. To the first
+they assign the more solid chairs or settees with cabriole legs and
+Louis XIV. ornament, harmoniously blended with Queen Anne style. These
+chairs and settees are often found with claw-and-ball feet, and are
+frequently of walnut. Two fine examples of settees, the one of oak, the
+other of walnut, are illustrated.
+
+[Illustration: RIBBON PATTERN. CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACK.
+
+(_From the "Director."_)]
+
+The second period embraces the fine creations which have the celebrated
+Louis XVI. ribbon ornamentation in the backs. From one of the designs in
+Chippendale's book, here illustrated, the elegance of the style is
+shown. It is exuberant enough, but the author complains in his volume
+that "In executing many of these drawings, my pencil has but faintly
+carved out those images my fancy suggested; but in this failure I
+console myself by reflecting that the greatest masters of every art have
+laboured under the same difficulties." The ribbon-backed chair
+illustrated (p. 223) is one of the two given to an ancestor of the
+present owner by the fourth Duke of Marlborough in 1790. They were
+formerly at Blenheim, and there is an added interest in them owing to
+the fact that the seats were worked by Sarah, the great Duchess of
+Marlborough.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+RIBBON-BACKED CHIPPENDALE CHAIR, FORMERLY AT BLENHEIM, THE SEAT WORKED
+BY SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.]
+
+The latest style of Chippendale's work is the Gothic. There are many
+pieces in existence which he probably had to produce to satisfy the
+taste of his fashionable clients, but the style is atrocious, and the
+less said about them the better. The illustration (p. 225) of a
+chair-back from his design-book shows how offensive it could be.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CHIPPENDALE CORNER CHAIR, ABOUT 1780.
+
+(_Reproduced by kindness of the Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, G.C.B.,
+I.S.O._)]
+
+The fine corner-chair, here illustrated, exhibits the strength and
+solidity he could impart to his work. His chairs were meant to sit upon,
+and are of excellent carpentry. The square, straight legs are a feature
+of much of his work. The examples belonging to the India Office and the
+Governors of the Charterhouse illustrated (pp. 226, 227) show the type
+that he made his own and with which his name has been associated.
+
+[Illustration: GOTHIC CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACK.
+
+(_From the "Director."_)]
+
+Although his chairs are sought after as especially beautiful in design
+(his father was a maker of chairs before him) he made many other objects
+of furniture. The mirrors he designed are exquisite examples of fine
+woodcarving. The one illustrated (p. 229) shows the mastery he had over
+graceful outline. Bureau bookcases with drop-down fronts have been
+successfully produced since his day after his models. The one
+illustrated (p. 231) shows a secret drawer, which is reached by removing
+the left-hand panel. Card-tables, settees, knife-boxes, tea-caddies,
+sideboards, and overmantles were made by him, which show by their
+diversity of technique that there was more than one pair of hands at
+work in carrying out his designs.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+MAHOGANY CHIPPENDALE CHAIR. ABOUT 1740.
+
+(_Property of the India Office._)]
+
+The collecting of Chippendale furniture has become so fashionable of
+late years that genuine old pieces are difficult to procure. It is true
+that two old chairs were discovered in a workhouse last year, but when
+specimens come into the market they usually bring large prices. Two
+elbow state-chairs, with openwork backs, were sold a little while ago
+for seven hundred and eighty guineas, and a set of six small chairs
+brought ninety-three guineas about the same time. But even this is not
+the top price reached, for two chairs at Christie's realised eleven
+hundred pounds!
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+MAHOGANY CHIPPENDALE CHAIR. 1770.
+
+(_By permission of the Master of the Charterhouse._)]
+
+Chippendale, the shopkeeper, of St Martin's Lane, who took orders for
+furniture, which he or his sons, or workmen under their direct
+supervision, executed, was one person, and Chippendale, who had
+quarrelled with the Society of Upholsterers, and published a book of
+designs on his own account, which quickly ran through three editions,
+was another person. In the one case he was a furniture maker whose
+pieces bring enormous prices. In the other he was the pioneer of popular
+taste and high-priest to the cabinetmakers scattered up and down
+England, who quickly realised the possibilities of his style, and
+rapidly produced good work on his lines.
+
+These pieces are by unknown men, and no doubt much of their work has
+been accredited to Chippendale himself. The illustration (p. 232) shows
+a mahogany chair well constructed, of a time contemporary with
+Chippendale and made by some smaller maker. This type of chair has been
+copied over and over again till it has become a recognised pattern. It
+finds its counterpart in china in the old willow-pattern, which
+originated at Coalport and has been adopted as a stock design.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
+
+CHIPPENDALE MIRROR.]
+
+Furniture is not like silver, where the mark of the maker was almost as
+obligatory as the hall mark. Artists, both great and small, have signed
+their pictures, and in the glorious days of the great French _ebenistes_
+and metal-chasers, signed work is frequently found. But in England, at a
+time when furniture of excellent design, of original conception, and
+of thoroughly good workmanship was produced in great quantities, the
+only surviving names are those of designers or cabinetmakers who have
+published books.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+CHIPPENDALE BUREAU BOOKCASE.
+
+With drop-down front, showing secret drawer.]
+
+So great was the influence of the style of Chippendale that it permeated
+all classes of society. An interesting engraving by Stothard (p. 235)
+shows the interior of a room, and is dated 1782, the year that Rodney
+gained a splendid victory over the French fleet in the West Indies, and
+the year that saw the independence of the United States recognised.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+MAHOGANY CHAIR.
+
+IN THE CHIPPENDALE STYLE. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+[Illustration: COTTAGE CHAIRS, BEECHWOOD. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, IN
+STYLE OF CHIPPENDALE.]
+
+Kitchen furniture or cottage furniture was made on the same lines by
+makers all over the country. The wood used was not mahogany; it was most
+frequently beech. Chairs of this make are not museum examples, but they
+are not devoid of a strong artistic feeling, and are especially English
+in character. More often than not the soft wood of this class of chair
+is found to be badly worm-eaten. Two chairs of this type, of beech,
+are illustrated (p. 233), and it is interesting to note that, as in the
+instance of the Yorkshire and Derbyshire chairs of Jacobean days made by
+local makers, it is not common to find many of exactly the same design.
+The craftsman gave a personal character to his handiwork, which makes
+such pieces of original and artistic interest, and cabinetmaking and
+joinery was not then so machine-made as it is now.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ROOM, ABOUT 1782.
+
+(_From engraving after Stothard._)]
+
+It may be here remarked that the earlier pieces of the eighteenth
+century were polished much in the same manner as was old oak previously
+described. Highly polished surfaces and veneers, and that abomination
+"French polish," which is a cheap and nasty method of disguising poor
+wood, bring furniture within the early nineteenth-century days, when a
+wave of Philistine banalities swept over Europe.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Side table, Chippendale, with gadrooned border, the front
+ boldly carved with a grotesque mask, festoons of
+ flowers and foliage, on carved legs with claw feet, 64
+ in. long. Christie, February 14, 1902 126 0 0
+
+Tea-caddy, Chippendale mahogany, square, with four
+ divisions, the borders carved with rosettes and
+ interlaced riband ornament, the sides inlaid with four
+ old Worcester oblong plaques painted with exotic birds,
+ insects, fruit, flowers, and festoons in colours on
+ white ground, 10 in. square. Christie, February 6, 1903 52 10 0
+
+Fire-screen, Chippendale mahogany, containing a panel of old
+ English petit-point needlework, worked with a basket of
+ flowers in coloured silks, on pillar and tripod carved
+ with foliage and ball-and-claw feet. Christie, December
+ 4, 1903 17 17 0
+
+Armchairs, pair large Chippendale mahogany, with interlaced
+ backs carved with foliage, the arms terminating in
+ carved and gilt eagles' heads. Christie, January 22,
+ 1904 88 4 0
+
+Cabinet, Chippendale mahogany, with glazed folding doors
+ enclosing shelves, and with cupboards and eight small
+ drawers below, the borders fluted, 8 ft. high, 8 ft.
+ wide. Christie, January 22, 1904 67 4 0
+
+Chairs, set of six Chippendale mahogany, with open
+ interlaced backs, with scroll tops, carved with foliage
+ and shell ornament, on carved cabriole legs and
+ ball-and-claw feet. Christie, January 22, 1904 102 18 0
+
+Table, Chippendale, oblong, cabriole legs, carved with
+ shells, &c., on claw feet, surmounted by a veined white
+ marble slab, 53 in. wide. Christie, March 4, 1904 73 0 0
+
+Settee, Chippendale mahogany, with double back with scroll
+ top, carved with arabesque foliage, the arms terminating
+ in masks, on legs carved with lions' masks and claw
+ feet, 54 in. wide. Christie, April 12, 1904 278 5 0
+
+Mirror, Chippendale, carved with gilt, 88 in. high, 50 in.
+ wide. Christie, May 18, 1904 94 10 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+SHERATON, ADAM,
+
+AND HEPPELWHITE
+
+STYLES
+
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+HEPPELWHITE SETTEE, MAHOGANY.]
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+SHERATON, ADAM, AND HEPPELWHITE STYLES
+
+ Robert Adam 1728-1792.
+ Thomas Sheraton 1751-1806.
+
+ 1752. Loch and Copeland's designs published.
+
+ 1765. Manwaring's designs published.
+
+ 1770. Ince and Mayhew's designs published.
+
+ 1788. Heppelwhite's designs published.
+
+
+In the popular conception of the furniture of the three Georges the
+honours are divided between Chippendale and Sheraton. Up till recently
+all that was not Chippendale was Sheraton, and all that was not
+Sheraton must be Chippendale. The one is represented by the
+straight-legged mahogany chairs or cabriole legs with claw-and-ball feet
+and the backs elaborately carved; the other with finely tapered legs,
+built on elegant lines, and of satinwood, having marquetry decoration or
+painted panels.
+
+This is the rough generalisation that obtained in the earlier days of
+the craze for collecting eighteenth-century furniture. Heppelwhite and
+Adam (more often than not alluded to as Adams), are now added to the
+list, and auction catalogues attempt to differentiate accordingly. But
+these four names do not represent a quarter of the well-known makers who
+were producing good furniture in the days between the South Sea Bubble
+in 1720 and the battle of Waterloo in 1815.
+
+In this chapter it will be impossible to give more than a passing
+allusion to the less-known makers of the eighteenth century, but to
+those who wish to pursue the matter in more detailed manner the
+Bibliography annexed (p. 19) gives ample material for a closer study of
+the period.
+
+The four brothers Adam, sons of a well-known Scottish architect, were
+exponents of the classic style. Robert Adam was the architect of the
+fine houses in the Adelphi, and he designed the screen and gateway at
+the entrance to the Admiralty in 1758. James is credited with the
+designing of interior decorations and furniture. Carriages,
+sedan-chairs, and even plate were amongst the artistic objects to which
+these brothers gave their stamp. The classical capitals, mouldings and
+niches, the shell flutings and the light garlands in the Adam style,
+are welcome sights in many otherwise dreary streets in London. Robert,
+the eldest brother, lived from 1728 to 1792, and during that time
+exercised a great influence on English art.
+
+[Illustration: SHERATON ARMCHAIR; MAHOGANY, ABOUT 1780.
+
+ADAM ARMCHAIR; MAHOGANY, ABOUT 1790.
+
+ARMCHAIR OF WALNUT, SHIELD-BACK CARVED WITH THREE OSTRICH FEATHERS.
+IN HEPPELWHITE STYLE. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+CHAIR OF WALNUT, SHIELD-BACK; IN THE STYLE OF HEPPELWHITE.
+LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+In 1790, a set of designs of English furniture were published by A.
+Heppelwhite. In these chairs with pierced backs, bookcases with
+fancifully framed glass doors, and mahogany bureaux, the influence of
+Chippendale is evident, but the robustness of the master and the
+individuality of his style become transformed into a lighter and more
+elegant fashion, to which French _finesse_ and the Adam spirit have
+contributed their influence.
+
+In the illustration (p. 243) various types of chairs of the period are
+given. A chair termed the "ladder-back" was in use in France at the same
+time. In Chardin's celebrated picture of "_Le jeu de l'oye_," showing
+the interior of a parlour of the middle eighteenth century, a chair of
+this type is shown.
+
+The Heppelwhite settee illustrated as the headpiece to this chapter
+shows the delicate fluting in the woodwork, and the elaborated turned
+legs which were beginning to be fashionable at the close of the
+eighteenth century. The two chairs by Heppelwhite & Co., illustrated (p.
+243), are typical examples of the elegance of the style which has an
+individuality of its own--a fact that collectors are beginning to
+recognise.
+
+The shield-back chair with wheat-ear and openwork decoration, and legs
+in which the lathe has been freely used, are characteristic types. The
+elegance of the legs in Heppelwhite chairs is especially noticeable. The
+designers departed from Chippendale with results exquisitely
+symmetrical, and of most graceful ornamentation.
+
+Hogarth, in his biting satires on the absurdities of Kent, the
+architect, painter, sculptor, and ornamental gardener, whose claims to
+be any one of the four rest on slender foundations, did not prevent
+fashionable ladies consulting him for designs for furniture, picture
+frames, chairs, tables, for cradles, for silver plate, and even for the
+construction of a barge. It is recorded by Walpole that two great ladies
+who implored him to design birthday gowns for them were decked out in
+incongruous devices: "the one he dressed in a petticoat decorated in
+columns of the five orders, and the other like a bronze, in a
+copper-coloured satin, with ornaments of gold."
+
+Heppelwhite learned the lesson of Hogarth, that "the line of beauty is a
+curve," and straight lines were studiously avoided in his designs. Of
+the varieties of chairs that he made, many have the Prince of Wales's
+feathers either carved upon them in the centre of the open-work back or
+japanned upon the splat, a method of decoration largely employed in
+France, which has not always stood the test of time, for when examples
+are found they often want restoration. Of satin-wood, with paintings
+upon the panels, Heppelwhite produced some good examples, and when he
+attempted greater elaboration his style in pieces of involved design and
+intricacy of detail became less original, and came into contact with
+Sheraton. His painted furniture commands high prices, and the name of
+Heppelwhite will stand as high as Chippendale or Sheraton for graceful
+interpretations of the spirit which invested the late eighteenth
+century.
+
+Before dealing with Sheraton in detail, the names of some lesser known
+makers contemporary with him may be mentioned. Matthias Lock, together
+with a cabinetmaker named Copeland, published in 1752 designs of
+furniture which derived their inspiration from the brothers Adam, which
+classic feeling later, in conjunction with the Egyptian and Pompeian
+spirit, dominated the style of the First Empire. Josiah Wedgewood, with
+his Etruscan vases, and Flaxman, his designer, filled with the new
+classic spirit, are examples in the world of pottery of the influences
+which were transmitted through the French Revolution to all forms of art
+when men cast about in every direction to find new ideas for design.
+
+Ince and Mayhew, two other furniture designers, published a book in
+1770, and Johnson outdid Chippendale's florid styles in a series of
+designs he brought out, which, with their twisted abortions, look almost
+like a parody of Thomas Chippendale's worst features. There is a
+"Chairmaker's Guide," by Manwaring and others in 1766, which contains
+designs mainly adapted from all that was being produced at the time. It
+is not easy to tell the difference between chairs made by Manwaring and
+those made by Chippendale, as he certainly stands next to the great
+master in producing types which have outlived ephemeral tastes, and
+taken their stand as fine artistic creations.
+
+Among other names are those of Shearer, Darly, and Gillow, all of whom
+were notable designers and makers of furniture in the period immediately
+preceding the nineteenth century.
+
+Thomas Sheraton, contemporary with William Blake the dreamer, shares
+with him the unfortunate posthumous honour of reaching sensational
+prices in auction rooms. There is much in common between the two men.
+Sheraton was born in 1751 at Stockton-on-Tees, and came to London to
+starve. Baptist preacher, cabinetmaker, author, teacher of drawing, he
+passed his life in poverty, and died in distressed circumstances. He
+was, before he brought out his book of designs, the author of several
+religious works. Often without capital to pursue his cabinetmaking he
+fell back on his aptitude for drawing, and gave lessons in design. He
+paid young Black, who afterwards became Lord Provost of Edinburgh, half
+a guinea a week as workman in his cabinetmaker's shop in Soho. In a
+pathetic picture of those days the Lord Provost, in his _Memoirs_, tells
+how Sheraton and his wife and child had only two cups and saucers and
+the child had a mug, and when the writer took tea with them the wife's
+cup and saucer were given up to the guest, and she drank her tea from a
+common mug. This reads like Blake's struggles when he had not money
+enough to procure copper-plates on which to engrave his wonderful
+visions.
+
+That the styles of Chippendale and Sheraton represent two distinct
+schools is borne out by what Sheraton himself thought of his great
+predecessor. Speaking in his own book of Chippendale's previous work he
+says: "As for the designs themselves they are wholly antiquated, and
+laid aside, though possessed of great merit according to the times in
+which they were executed." From this it would appear that the
+Chippendale style, at the time of Sheraton's "Cabinetmaker's and
+Upholsterer's Drawing Book," published in 1793, had gone out of fashion.
+
+The woods mostly employed by Sheraton were satinwood, tulip-wood,
+rosewood, and apple-wood, and occasionally mahogany. In place of carved
+scrollwork he used marquetry, and on the cabinets and larger pieces
+panels were painted by Cipriani and Angelica Kauffman. There is a fine
+example of the latter's work in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
+
+Sheraton borrowed largely from the French style under Louis XVI., when
+the lines had become severer; he came, too, under the influence of the
+Adam designs. He commonly used turned legs, and often turned backs, in
+his chairs. His later examples had a hollowed or spoon back to fit the
+body of the sitter. When he used mahogany he realised the beauty of
+effect the dark wood would give to inlay of lighter coloured woods, or
+even of brass. The splats and balusters, and even the legs of some of
+his chairs, are inlaid with delicate marquetry work.
+
+Ornament for its own sake was scrupulously eschewed by Sheraton. The
+essential supports and uprights and stretcher-rails and other component
+parts of a piece of furniture were only decorated as portions of a
+preconceived whole. The legs were tapered, the plain surfaces were
+inlaid with marquetry, but nothing meaningless was added. In France
+Sheraton's style was termed "_Louis Seize a l'Anglaise_."
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton &. Sons._
+
+OLD ENGLISH SECRETAIRE.
+
+Rosewood and satinwood. Drop-down front.]
+
+It was the firm of Heppelwhite that first introduced the painted
+furniture into England, and under Sheraton it developed into an
+emulation of the fine work done by Watteau and Greuze in the days of
+Marie Antoinette.
+
+Among the varied pieces that Sheraton produced are a number of ingenious
+inventions in furniture, such as the library-steps he made for George
+III. to rise perpendicularly from the top of a table frame, and when
+folded up to be concealed within it. His bureau-bookcases and
+writing-cabinets have sliding flaps and secret drawers and devices
+intended to make them serve a number of purposes.
+
+[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
+
+SHIELD-BACK CHAIR. MAHOGANY.
+
+LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+On the front of his chairs is frequently found the inverted bell
+flower, and another of his favourite forms of decoration is the acanthus
+ornament, which he puts to graceful use.
+
+The influence of his work, and of that of Heppelwhite & Co., was
+lasting, and much of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth
+century cabinetmaking owes its origin to their designs. The old English
+secretaire illustrated (p. 250), of rose and satinwood, with drawer
+above and fall-down front, having cupboard beneath with doors finely
+inlaid with plaques of old lac, is of the date when Heppelwhite was
+successfully introducing this class of French work into England. It is
+especially interesting to note that the drawer-handles are mounted with
+old Battersea enamel.
+
+The difficulty of definitely pronouncing as to the maker of many of the
+pieces of furniture of the late eighteenth century is recognised by
+experts. The chair illustrated (p. 251) cannot be assigned to any
+particular designer, though its genuine old feeling is indisputable. In
+the fine collection of old furniture of this period at the Victoria and
+Albert Museum will be found many examples of chairs with no other title
+assigned to them than "late eighteenth century." This fact speaks for
+itself. A great and growing school had followed the precepts of
+Chippendale and Heppelwhite and Sheraton. This glorious period of little
+more than half a century might have been developed into a new
+Renaissance in furniture. Unfortunately, the early days of the
+nineteenth century and the dreary Early Victorian period, both before
+and after the great Exhibition of 1851, display the most tasteless
+ineptitude in nearly every branch of art. From the days of Elizabeth
+down to the last of the Georges, English craftsmen, under various
+influences, have produced domestic furniture of great beauty. It is
+impossible to feel any interest in the Windsor chair, the saddle-bag
+couch, or the red mahogany cheffoniere. The specimens of misapplied work
+shown at the Bethnal Green Museum, relics of the English exhibits at the
+first Exhibition, are unworthy of great traditions.
+
+The awakened interest shown by all classes in old furniture will do much
+to carry the designers back to the best periods in order to study the
+inheritance the masters have left, and it is to be hoped that the
+message of the old craftsmen dead and gone will not fall on deaf ears.
+
+
+RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
+
+ L s. d.
+Chairs, wheel back, set of seven (including armchair), Adam,
+ carved, mahogany. Good condition. Brady & Sons, Perth,
+ September 1, 1902 27 2 6
+
+Mirror, Adam, in gilt frame, Corinthian pillar sides,
+ ornamental glass panel at top, surmounted by a carved
+ wood eagle figure. Gudgeon & Sons, Winchester, November
+ 11, 1903 7 10 0
+
+Mantelpiece, Adam, carved wood, with Corinthian column
+ supports, carved and figures and festoons. France &
+ Sons, December 16, 1903 20 0 0
+
+Mirrors, pair, oval, Adam, carved and gilt wood frame.
+ Christie, March 18, 1904 46 4 0
+
+Cabinet or enclosed buffet, Adam, on Empire lines, veneered
+ on oak with grained Spanish mahogany, in the frieze is a
+ long drawer, and below a cupboard, the whole on square
+ feet, doors inlaid, handles, &c., of ormolu, 3 ft. 9 in.
+ wide. Flashman & Co., Dover, April 26, 1904 15 0 0
+
+Side-tables, pair hare-wood, by Adam, with rounded corners,
+ on square-shaped tapering legs, the sides and borders
+ inlaid with marquetry, in coloured woods, 53 in. wide.
+ Christie, June 2, 1904 105 0 0
+
+Bookcase, 4 ft. 8 in., mahogany, Heppelwhite, inlaid
+ tulip-wood with box and ebony lines, fitted shelves and
+ drawers, enclosed by doors. Phillips, Son and Neale,
+ November 17, 1903 44 0 0
+
+Settee, Heppelwhite, square-shaped, 6 ft., and three elbow
+ chairs. Gudgeon & Sons, Winchester, March 9, 1904 38 0 0
+
+Console-table, Heppelwhite satinwood, the top shaped as a
+ broken ellipse, and of hare-wood with inlays of husks
+ and flowers round a fan-pattern centre with borderings
+ in ebony and other woods on a filling of satinwood; the
+ edge is bound with ormolu, reeded and cross banded,
+ below is the frieze of satin-wood inlaid with
+ honeysuckle, paterae, and other ornament in holly, &c.,
+ and supported on a pair of carved square tapered legs
+ painted and gilt, and with pendants of husks and
+ acanthus capitals, 4 ft. 3 in. wide. Flashman & Co.,
+ Dover, April 26, 1904 40 0 0
+
+Suite of Heppelwhite mahogany furniture, with open shield
+ backs, with vase-shaped centres carved, the back, arms
+ and legs widely fluted, consisting of a settee, 74 in.
+ wide, and ten armchairs. Christie, June 2, 1904 325 10 0
+
+Knife-box, oblong, Sheraton mahogany, with revolving front,
+ inlaid with Prince-of-Wales's feathers and borders in
+ satinwood, 19-1/2 in. wide. Christie, November 21, 1902 7 17 6
+
+Sideboard, Sheraton, mahogany, satinwood inlaid, fitted with
+ brass rails. Dowell, Edinburgh, November 14, 1903 30 9 0
+
+Wardrobe, Sheraton mahogany, banded with satinwood, with
+ folding doors above and below, and five drawers in the
+ centre, 7 ft. high, 8 ft. wide. Christie, January 22,
+ 1904 60 18 0
+
+Chairs, set of eighteen Sheraton, with oval backs with rail
+ centres, fluted and slightly carved with foliage and
+ beading, the seats covered with flowered crimson damask;
+ and a pair of settees, _en suite_, 6 ft. wide. Christie,
+ February 26, 1904 126 0 0
+
+Armchairs, pair, Sheraton, with shield-shaped backs, painted
+ with Prince of Wales feathers, and pearl ornament on
+ black ground. Christie, March 28, 1904 28 7 0
+
+Cabinet, Sheraton satinwood, with glazed folding doors
+ enclosing shelves, drawer in the centre forming
+ secretary, and folding-doors below, painted with baskets
+ of flowers, &c., 7 ft. 9 in. high, 41 in. wide.
+ Christie, March 28, 1904 189 0 0
+
+Secretaire, Sheraton small satinwood, with revolving tambour
+ front, drawer and folding doors below, inlaid with
+ arabesque foliage, 23 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 1904
+ 47 5 0
+
+[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
+are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+HINTS TO COLLECTORS
+
+
+[Illustration: DESIGN FOR SPURIOUS MARQUETRY WORK.]
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+HINTS TO COLLECTORS
+
+
+The demand for old furniture has become so great that there is an
+increasing difficulty in supplying it. In order to satisfy the collector
+many artifices have been practised which in varying degree are difficult
+to detect, according to the skill and ingenuity of the present-day
+manufacturer of "antique" furniture.
+
+Replicas of old pieces are frequently made, and the workmanship is so
+excellent, and the copy of the old craftsman's style so perfect, that it
+only requires a century or two of wear to give to the specimen the
+necessary tone which genuine old furniture has naturally acquired.
+
+In particular, French ornate furniture from the days of Boule to the
+Empire period has received the flattering attention of the fabricator by
+being imitated in all its details. These high-class French pieces are
+fine examples of cabinetmaking, and it is not easy for anybody who has
+not a special expert knowledge to pronounce definitely upon their
+authenticity. Doubts have even been expressed regarding certain pieces
+in the great national collections; in fact the art of the forger in
+regard to old French furniture, of which specimens change hands at
+anything from L1,000 to L10,000, has reached a very high level of
+excellence, having almost been elevated to one of the fine arts. If a
+clever workman possessed of great artistic feeling turns his attention
+to forging works of art, it is obvious that his triumph is complete over
+amateurs possessed of less artistic taste and knowledge than himself.
+
+Many secret processes are employed to impart an appearance of age to the
+wood and to the metal mountings. The cruder methods are to eat off the
+sharper edges of the metal mountings by means of acid, and to discolour
+the newer surfaces by the aid of tobacco juice, both of which are not
+difficult to detect. The steady manufacture of these finer pieces goes
+on in France, and it has been found that the foggy atmosphere of London
+is especially useful in producing the effect of age upon the finer work,
+consequently many forged pieces are shipped to London to be stored in
+order to ripen until considered fit for the American market, where so
+many forgeries have been planted. The reward is great, and even
+considering the amount of trouble bestowed upon such pieces and the
+excellence of the artistic work where the highest skilled labour is
+employed, the profit is enormous. The parvenu buys his Louis XIV. or
+Louis XV. suite, and pays an immense sum for pieces which are stated to
+have come from some French nobleman's chateau, whose name must not be
+divulged, and so the interesting deal is brought to a successful
+termination.
+
+[Illustration: "MADE-UP" BUFFET.
+
+The middle portion, consisting of the two drawers and three panelled
+cupboards above, is genuine old carved oak. The stand, with the finely
+turned legs and rails, and the whole of the upper portion, is modern.]
+
+As an object-lesson as to the truth of the above remarks, the Wallace
+Collection contains a modern French copy in facsimile, by Dasson, of the
+celebrated "Bureau du Roi" of the Louis XV. period, the original being
+in the Louvre. The original is fully described in the chapter on Louis
+XV. style, and it is not too much to assert that ninety-nine per cent.
+of the visitors to the Collection could not say that this copy was not
+an old French specimen of over a century and a quarter ago, and the
+remaining one, unless he happened to be an expert, would not question
+its genuineness.
+
+Old oak has always been a favourite with the public, and from the modern
+Flemish monstrosities, carved in evil manner and displaying proportions
+in the worst possible taste, to the equally vulgar home production in
+buffet or sideboard, and stocked by many dealers in so-called "antique"
+furniture, the number of grotesque styles foisted upon the public within
+the last fifteen years has been remarkable. One wonders what has become
+of the high-backed oak chairs, nearly black with repeated applications
+of permanganate of potash, having flaming red-leather seats. They seem
+to have mysteriously disappeared from up-to-date "antique" stores of
+late. The public has taken to inquiring into art matters a little more
+closely. Nowadays the latest thing is "fumed" oak, which is modern oak
+discoloured by means of ammonia, which darkens the surface of the wood
+to a depth of a sixteenth of an inch. It is not infrequent to find an
+attempt made to represent this as old oak after an elaborate treatment
+with linseed oil, turpentine, and beeswax, though an examination of the
+interior edges of the wood will discover its modernity at once.
+
+Of course, such tricks as these are not practised by any firm of
+standing, who cannot afford to damage their reputation by any
+misrepresentation. As a general rule a dealer will readily point out the
+details of workmanship and offer technical information of much value to
+a beginner, if he discovers that his customer is a collector desirous of
+acquiring only fine specimens. It is more often than not the folly of
+the public, and not the dishonesty of the dealer, which results in trade
+frauds being committed in the attempt to execute some impossible and
+imperative order, which the moneyed collector has given. The difference
+between the genuine and the replica is most clearly made by
+old-fashioned firms of high standing. It is only when the collector
+enters into the arena and endeavours to set forth in quest of bargains,
+where he pits his skill against that of the dealer in the hope of
+outwitting the latter, that he is obviously on dangerous ground. In the
+one case he pays a higher price and obtains the benefit of the
+experience of a firm with expert knowledge, in the other he relies on
+his own judgment in picking up a bargain from some one whom he believes
+to be possessed of less knowledge than himself. If he is successful he
+is not slow to brag about his cleverness; but if he is worsted in the
+encounter, and pays, let us say, five pounds for an object which he
+fondly believed was worth fifty, if genuine, and which he subsequently
+discovers is worth less than he gave, there is nothing too bad to say
+concerning his antagonist.
+
+It is chiefly by the character of carved work that old pieces can be
+recognised. There are three classes of pitfalls to avoid.
+
+1. Fraudulent pieces throughout, of modern wood and of modern carving.
+
+2. "Made-up" pieces which often consist of genuine old pieces of carved
+wood pieced together ingeniously from fragments of carvings, with modern
+additions.
+
+3. "Restored" pieces which are mainly old and should have received, if
+admitted to a collection, only the necessary repairs to make them
+serviceable.
+
+With regard to the first class, fraudulent throughout, it is the hope of
+the writer that enough has already been written in this volume to point
+the way to the reader and to assist him to follow his natural
+inclinations in developing the necessary critical taste to readily
+detect pieces wholly false in character and feeling.
+
+"Made-up" pieces present a greater difficulty. Considerable skill has
+been exercised in combining certain parts of old furniture into a whole
+which is, however, mostly inharmonious. In pieces of this nature there
+is an absence of feeling in style and carving. It is difficult to define
+the exact meaning of the word "feeling" as applied to art objects, it is
+a subtle expression of skill and poetry which communicates itself to the
+lover of art. It is so subtle and elusive that experts will tell one
+that such and such a piece requires to be "lived with" to test its
+authenticity. Mr. Frederick Roe, whose volume on "Ancient Coffers and
+Cupboards" displays a profound knowledge of his subject, writes, "it
+occasionally happens that pieces are so artfully made up that only
+living with them will enable the collector to detect the truth. In
+dealing with pieces of this suspicious kind one often has to fall back
+on a sort of instinct. With critical collectors of every sort this
+innate sense plays a very important part."
+
+Two specimens of "made-up" furniture are reproduced, which will bear
+close study in order to appreciate the difficulty of collecting old oak.
+
+The illustration of the buffet (p. 261) has many points of interest. The
+general appearance of the piece is not inharmonious. It has been
+carefully thought out and no less carefully put into effect. The middle
+portion, consisting of the three drawers and the three cupboards above,
+up to and including the shelf partition at the top, is the only old
+part. The handles, locks, and escutcheons of the two drawers are old,
+but the hinges above are modern copies of old designs, and the handles
+of the cupboards are modern replicas.
+
+[Illustration: CABINET OF OLD OAK.
+
+MADE UP FROM SEVERAL PIECES OF GENUINE OLD CARVED OAK.]
+
+The massive stand with artistically turned rails in Jacobean style,
+is soft wood artfully fumed and generously beeswaxed. The whole of the
+top portion has been added and is soft wood very well carved. The
+carving of the panels is also well executed, and is evidently a copy of
+some old design.
+
+The older portion is a fine piece of early Jacobean work, and it is not
+difficult to distinguish between the feeling of this and the expression
+conveyed by the modern woodwork. The patina of the wood after two
+centuries of exposure and polishing has that peculiarly pleasing
+appearance which accompanies genuine old woodwork. The edges of the
+carving have lost their sharp angles, and the mellowness of the middle
+panels are in strong contrast to the harsher tone of those of the upper
+portion.
+
+Such a piece as this would not deceive an expert, nor, perhaps, is it
+intended to, or greater care would have been bestowed upon it, but it is
+sufficiently harmonious in composition not to offend in a glaring
+manner, and might easily deceive a tyro.
+
+The next piece illustrated (p. 267) is interesting from another point of
+view. It is a more elaborate attempt to produce a piece of old furniture
+in which the details themselves have all the mellowness of fine old oak.
+In fact, with the exception of one portion, some eight inches by three,
+to which allusion will be made later, the whole of it is genuine old
+oak.
+
+The three panels at the top are finely carved and are Jacobean work. The
+two outside panels at the bottom, though of a later period, are good
+work. The middle panel at the bottom is evidently a portion of a larger
+piece of carving, because the pattern abruptly breaks off, and it was
+most certainly not designed by the old carver to lie on its side in this
+fashion.
+
+The two heads at the top corners have been cut from some old specimen,
+and artfully laid on. The carving on both sides, running below each head
+from top to bottom, is of two distinct designs joined in each case in a
+line level with the upper line of the lower panels. The two uprights on
+each side of the middle lower panel are exquisite pieces of carved work,
+but certainly never intended to be upright. They are evidently portions
+of a long, flowing ornament, as their cut-off appearance too plainly
+shows.
+
+The top panels have done duty elsewhere, as part of the ornamental
+carving at the top and bottom of each lozenge is lost. The long line of
+scrolled carving above them is distinctly of interest. On the left hand,
+from the head to the middle of the panel, a piece of newer carving has
+been inserted, some eight inches long. The wood, at one time darkened to
+correspond with the adjacent carving, has become lighter, which is
+always the case when wood is stained to match other portions. The
+carving in this new portion follows in every detail the lines of the
+older design, and is a very pretty piece of "faking."
+
+The cross-piece running from left to right, dividing the lower panels
+from the upper, is in three parts. An examination of the design shows
+that the last three circles on the right, and the last four on the left,
+are of smaller size than the others. The design evidently belonged to
+some other piece of furniture, and has been removed to do service in
+this "made-up" production.
+
+In all probability the two uprights enclosing the top middle panel, and
+the two uprights on the outside at the bottom were once portions of a
+carved bedstead, as they are all of the same size and design. It is a
+notorious trick to slice an old carved bedpost into four pieces,
+skilfully fitting the pieces into "made-up" furniture.
+
+There is a prevalent idea that worm-holes are actually produced in
+furniture, in order to give a new piece a more realistic appearance.
+There are traditions of duck-shot having been used, and there is little
+doubt that holes were drilled by makers who knew their public. But it is
+improbable that such artifices would be of much use for deceptive
+purposes nowadays. As a matter of fact, worm-holes are avoided by any
+one who gives a moment's thought to the matter. To get rid of worm in
+furniture is no easy task, and they eventually ruin any pieces they
+tenant.
+
+The illustration (p. 274) shows a piece of Spanish chestnut badly
+honeycombed by furniture worms. In chairs, especially, their havoc is
+almost irreparable, and in the softer woods the legs become too rotten
+to be repaired or even strengthened. Metal plates are often screwed on
+the sides to prevent the chairs falling to pieces, but they become
+useless to sit upon without fear of disaster.
+
+The insect is really the boring wood-beetle, which is armed with
+formidable forceps, to enable it to burrow through the wood. The worm,
+the larva of this beetle, is also provided with boring apparatus, and
+this insect, whether as beetle or as worm, is a deadly enemy to all
+furniture. The "death-watch" is also accused of being a depredator of
+books and of furniture of soft wood.
+
+To remove worms from furniture is a costly undertaking, requiring the
+greatest skill. Large pieces of furniture have actually to be taken to
+pieces and the whole of the damaged parts removed with a chisel. In
+cases where the legs, or slender supports, have been attacked, the
+difficulty is one requiring the specialist's most delicate attention.
+Various applications are recommended, but cannot be stated to be
+reliable. Injecting paraffin is said to be the best remedy, and putting
+the pieces in a chamber where all the openings have been sealed, and
+lighting pans of sulphur underneath the furniture, allowing the
+specimens to remain in this fumigating bath for some days is another
+method resorted to.
+
+With regard to Chippendale furniture, a word of caution is necessary. It
+is as impossible for Chippendale and his workmen to have produced all
+the furniture attributed to them as it is for the small factory at
+Lowestoft to have made all the china with which it is credited. As has
+been shown in the chapter on Thomas Chippendale, his styles were most
+extensively copied by his contemporaries all over the country and by
+many makers after him, and modern makers produce a great quantity of
+"Chippendale" every year. Only a careful examination of museum pieces
+will train the eye of the collector. The fine sense of proportion, at
+once noticeable in the genuine Chippendale chair, is absent in the
+modern copy, and, above all, the carving in the latter is thin and poor.
+In the old days the wastage of wood was not a thing which the master had
+in his mind. In modern copies the curl of the arm, or the swell at the
+top of the back, shows a regard for economy. There is a thin, flat look
+about the result, which ought not to be mistaken. Scrolls and
+ribbon-work are often added to later pieces made in the style of
+Chippendale, which have enough wood in their surfaces to bear carving
+away.
+
+An ingenious device is adopted in cases of inlaid pieces of a small
+nature, such as imitation Sheraton clock-cases and knife-boxes and the
+frames of mirrors. Old engravings are procured of scrollwork, usually
+from the end of some book. The illustration (p. 259) shows the class of
+engravings selected. These engravings are coated with a very thin layer
+of vellum, which is boiled down to a liquid, and carefully spread over
+them. After this treatment they are ready to be glued on to the panels
+to be "faked," and, when coated over with transparent varnish, they
+present the appearance of an ivory and ebony inlay.
+
+[Illustration: DESIGN FOR SPURIOUS MARQUETRY WORK.]
+
+The frauds practised in satinwood and painted pieces are many and are
+exceedingly difficult to detect. Much of Sheraton's furniture was
+veneered with finely selected specimens of West India satinwood. These
+carefully chosen panels were painted by Cipriani and others. The modern
+"faker" has not the material to select from, as the satinwood imported
+is not so beautiful nor so richly varied in grain as in the old days. He
+removes a side panel from an old piece, and substitutes another where
+its obnoxious presence is not so noticeable. To this old panel he
+affixes a modern coloured print after one of Sheraton's artists, which,
+when carefully varnished over and skilfully treated so as to represent
+the cracks in the supposed old painting, is ready for insertion in the
+"made-up" sideboard, to catch the fancy of the unwary collector.
+
+FINIS.
+
+[Illustration: PIECE OF SPANISH CHESTNUT SHOWING RAVAGES OF WORMS.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Adam, the brothers, and their style, 209, 241-256
+
+Adam armchair (illustrated), 243
+
+Admiralty, screen and gateway, designed by Robert Adam, 242
+
+Anne, Queen, furniture of, prices realised at auction, 153
+ ---- insularity of furniture in reign of, 136
+ ---- well-constructed furniture of period of, 145
+
+Apsley House, collection of furniture at, 209
+
+Armoire, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
+
+Ascham, quotation from, 68
+
+Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, chair at, 115
+
+
+B
+
+Baroque, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
+
+Barrow, Sam, name of maker, on Queen Anne clock, 148
+
+Battersea enamel, its use on furniture, 252
+
+Berain, Jean, 162
+
+Blenheim, chair from, 222
+
+Bodleian Library, Oxford, illustration of chair at, 82
+
+_Bombe_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
+
+Bookcase by Chippendale, 225, 231
+
+Boucher, 182, 195
+
+Boule, Andre Charles, and his marquetry, 160-162
+ ---- cabinet (illustrated), 165
+ ---- _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
+ ---- and counter-boule (illustrated), showing difference between, 163
+
+Bridal chest (German), 43
+
+Bromley-by-Bow, "Old Palace," oak panelling from, 65
+
+Brown and Bool, Messrs., specimens from collection of, 141, 150
+
+Buhl work, 160
+
+Bureau, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+
+Burr-walnut panels, 139
+
+Butter-cupboard, 104
+
+
+C
+
+Cabinet, ebony, formerly property of Oliver Cromwell, 99
+
+Cabriole, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+
+Cabriole-leg, introduction of into England, 127
+
+Caffieri, 177, 191
+
+Cambridge, King's College Chapel, woodwork of, 63
+
+Cane seats and backs of chairs, adoption of, 117
+ ---- work in chairs, later development of, 122
+
+Carolean, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
+
+Carving supplanted by cane-work panels, 117
+
+Caryatides, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+
+_Cassette_, (strong box) of period of Louis XIV., 158
+
+_Cassone_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+ ---- (marriage coffer), the Italian, 42
+
+Catherine of Braganza, fashions introduced by, 114
+
+Cecil, Lord Burleigh, quotation from, 66
+
+Chair, Charles I., 93, 95
+ ---- Chippendale, 223, 224, 226, 227, 232, 233
+ ---- "Cromwellian," 96
+ ---- high-backed, Portuguese, 114
+ ---- Italian (1620), 94
+ ---- Jacobean, made from timber of Drake's _Golden Hind_, 83
+ ---- James I., 87, 89
+ ---- James II., 123
+ ---- Louis XIII. period, 159
+ ---- ribbon-back, 222, 223
+ ---- Oliver Goldsmith's, 215
+ ---- with arms of first Earl of Strafford, 93
+
+Chairs, test as to age of, 100
+ ---- types of Jacobean (illustrated), 97, 100, 105, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124
+ ---- types of Queen Anne period (illustrated), 143
+ ---- upholstered, adopted in late Elizabethan days, 75
+
+Chambers, Sir William, 216
+
+Chardin, picture by, showing ladder-back chair, 245
+
+Charles I. furniture, prices realised at auction, 106
+ ---- II. furniture, prices realised at auction, 129
+ ---- II., repartee of, 114
+
+Charterhouse, specimen at, illustration of, 227
+
+Chatsworth, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
+
+Chests of drawers, Jacobean, 117
+
+China collecting, influence of, on furniture, 127
+
+Chinese and Japanese cabinets, 148
+
+"Chinese" Chippendale, 213, 221
+
+Chippendale, Thomas, and his style, 213-238;
+ his _Director_, 215
+ ---- bureau-bookcase, 225, 231
+ ---- furniture, tricks concerning, 272;
+ prices of, 227, 236
+
+Cipriani, 249
+
+Classic models paramount, 205
+
+Claw-and-ball feet adopted by Chippendale, 216
+ ---- feet (prior to Chippendale), 146
+ ---- foot, introduction of, 127
+
+Clock, "Grandfather," introduction of, 127
+
+Clocks, "Grandfather," 147
+
+Colbert, the guiding spirit of art under Louis XIV., 159
+
+Collectors, hints to, 259-274
+
+Commode, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+
+Commodes (illustrated), Cressent, 171;
+ Louis XIV., 173;
+ Caffieri, 175;
+ Riesener, 197
+
+_Contre partie_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+
+Copeland, designs of, 247
+
+Copies of old furniture, 259, 263
+ ---- of fine French pieces, 185, 197
+
+Cottage furniture (Chippendale style), 232
+
+Counter-boule, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+ -----boule, 161
+
+Court cupboard, 70
+
+Cowley, quotation from, 85
+
+Cradle, with initials and date, 96
+
+Cressent, Charles, 177, 178
+
+Crispin de Passe, chair designed by, 159
+
+Cromwellian chair, 96
+
+Cromwell's ebony cabinet, 96
+
+Cushions for chairs when adopted, 75
+
+
+D
+
+Darly, 248
+
+Dated pieces--
+ 1593, Elizabethan bedstead, 66
+ 1603, Mirror, carved oak frame, 71
+ 1603, Court cupboard, 73
+ 1616, Oak table, 85
+ 1623, Chair, 97
+ 1641, Cradle, 96
+ 1642, Chair, 159
+ 1653, Cabinet, _frontispiece_
+ 1760-69, "Bureau du roi," 185
+ 1769, Bureau, 196
+ 1810, Jewel cabinet, 207
+
+David, 195, 208, 209
+
+Derbyshire chairs, 103
+
+Diderot, 205
+
+_Director_, designs of chair-backs from, 222, 225
+
+Drake, Sir Francis, chair made from timber of _Golden Hind_, 82
+
+Drawers, chests of, Jacobean, 117
+
+Dressers, Normandy, 103
+ ---- "Welsh," 100
+
+Dublin Museum, illustration of oak chest at, 44
+
+Dutch art, introduction of, by William of Orange, 124
+ ---- house, interior of (illustrated), 111
+ ---- lacquer work, 151
+ ---- marquetry, 128, 146
+ ---- marquetry chair, illustrated, 143
+ ---- marquetry, prices realised at auction, 132
+
+
+E
+
+Eassie, Walter, illustrations from drawings by, 171, 183
+
+Egyptian design, influence of, 247
+
+Eighteenth century, early, well-constructed furniture of, 145
+ ---- interior of room (illustrated), 235
+
+Elizabethan mansions, some noteworthy, 67
+
+Elizabethan woodwork, fine example of, 65
+
+Empire style furniture, 202-210
+ ---- its influence on English makers, 209
+
+England, Renaissance in, 37, 59-78
+
+
+F
+
+Farmhouse furniture, 100
+
+Figure in wood, how obtained, 76, 118
+
+Fire of London, destruction of furniture by, 120
+
+First Empire style, 203-210
+
+Flemish wood-carving, its influence on English craftsmen, 49
+
+Fontainebleau, illustration of jewel cabinet at, 207
+
+Foreign workmen employed in England, 37
+
+Fragonard, 182, 195
+
+France, Renaissance in, 43
+
+Francis I., patron of the new art, 47
+
+Frauds perpetrated on collectors, 259-274
+
+French polish, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24, 236
+
+French Revolution, vandalism during, 204
+
+
+G
+
+Gate-leg table, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+ ---- table, 95
+
+Gibbons, Grinling, work of, 121
+
+Gillow, 248
+
+_Golden Hind_, chair made from timbers of, 82
+
+Goldsmith, Oliver, chair of, 215, 216
+
+Gothic, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
+ ---- revival, its influence on Chippendale, 221
+
+Gouthiere, Pierre, 191, 192, 197
+
+Grandfather clock, 147
+ ---- clock, introduction of, 127
+
+Great Hall at Hampton Court, 63
+
+Grimm, quotation from, 205
+
+Grotesque design prevalent in Elizabethan furniture, 69
+
+
+H
+
+Hall, Hampton Court, the Great, 63
+ ---- Middle Temple, carved screen at, 65
+
+Hampton Court, the Great Hall at, 63
+ ---- Court, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
+
+Hampton & Sons, Messrs., pieces from collection of, 59, 95, 99, 115,
+ 120, 121, 135, 143, 147, 148, 250
+
+Harrington, Sir John, quotation from, 75
+
+Henry VII.'s chapel, Westminster Abbey, 63
+ ---- VIII., patron of the new art, 37
+
+Heppelwhite, the style of, 241-256
+ ---- chairs (illustrated), 243
+
+Herculaneum and Pompeii, influence of excavations at, 204, 209
+
+Hints to Collectors, 259-274
+
+Hogarth, William, 246
+
+Holbein in England, 37
+
+Honey, W. G., Esq., specimen from collection of, 151
+
+Huygens, Dutch lacquer of, 182
+
+
+I
+
+Ince & Mayhew's designs, 247
+
+India office, specimen at, illustration of, 226
+
+Ingenious contrivances of Sheraton's furniture, 251
+
+Inlay, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
+ ---- in Elizabethan pieces, 69
+
+Italian art dominates Elizabethan fashion, 68
+
+Italy, Renaissance in, 41
+
+
+J
+
+Jacobean, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
+ ---- furniture, its fine simplicity, 104
+
+Jacobean furniture, prices realised at auction, 106, 129
+
+James I., chair at Knole House, 86
+ ---- II. furniture, prices realised at auction, 130
+
+Japanese and Chinese cabinets, 148
+
+Japanese lac imitated, 182
+
+Jones Bequest, illustrations of specimens in, 165, 179, 193
+ ---- Inigo, his influence, 93
+
+
+K
+
+Kauffman, Angelica, 249
+
+Kent, eighteenth-century designer, 246
+
+Kew Gardens, pagoda at, 216
+
+King's College Chapel, Cambridge, woodwork of, 63
+
+Kitchen furniture (Chippendale style), 232
+
+Knole House, James I. furniture at, 86
+
+
+L
+
+Lac, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+ ---- Japanese and Chinese imitated, 182
+
+Lacquer, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+
+Lancaster & Co., Messrs. Harold G., specimens from collection of, 122, 123,
+ 137, 231, 232, 241, 251
+
+Leather work, cut design, Portuguese chair-back, 128
+
+Le Bas, Rev. H. V., illustration of specimen in possession of, 210
+
+Lebrun, Madame, 205
+
+Leczinski, Stanislas, King of Poland, 196
+
+Linen pattern, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+
+Lock, Matthias, designs of, 247
+
+Louis XIII., chair of period of, 159
+ ---- XIV., period of, 157-167
+ ---- XV., period of, 171-187
+ ---- XVI., period of, 191-200
+
+Louvre, copy of picture in, 203
+ ---- illustration of portrait in, 209
+
+
+M
+
+Macaulay, Lord, quotation from, 96, 136
+
+"Made-up" pieces, 265
+
+Madrid National Museum, illustration of specimen at, 52
+
+Mahogany period, 34
+ ---- how procured by British captains, 214
+ ---- Sir Walter Raleigh's discovery of, 214
+
+Mansions built in Elizabethan days, 67
+
+Manwaring, designs of, 247
+
+Marie Antoinette, furniture belonging to, 179, 180, 195
+
+Marie Louise, jewel cabinet of, 208
+
+Marquetry, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+ ---- Dutch, 128
+ ---- Dutch, 146
+ ---- elaborate, 180, 182
+ ---- in Elizabethan pieces, 69
+ ---- work, spurious, 273
+
+Martin, Sieur Simon Etienne (_Vernis-Martin_), 182
+
+Martin's varnish (_Vernis-Martin_), _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+
+Meissonier, inspirer of rococo style, 177
+
+Middle Temple Hall, carved oak screen at, 65
+
+Mirrors, arrangement in Hampton Court galleries, 123
+ ---- at Nell Gwynne's house, 123
+ ---- Chippendale, 229
+ ---- made by French and Italian workmen, 124
+ ---- Queen Anne, 136
+ ---- various forms of, 124
+
+Mortise, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+
+Mother-of-pearl inlay, seventeenth century, 116
+
+Munich National Museum, illustration of specimen at, 39
+
+
+N
+
+Naples Museum, illustration of table at, 205
+
+Napoleon, his influence on art, 208
+
+Natoire, 182, 195
+
+Needlework decorated cabinet, Charles II. period, 112
+
+Netherlands, Renaissance in, 49
+
+Netscher, Caspar, illustration after picture by, 111
+
+Normandy dressers, 103
+
+Notable examples of sixteenth, century English woodwork, 65
+
+
+O
+
+Oak, collectors of, hints to, 103, 118
+ ---- furniture, the collector's polish for, 118
+ ---- period, 34
+ ---- polish, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+
+Oeben, Jean Francois, 178
+
+Old oak, polish for, 118
+
+
+P
+
+Parquetry, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
+
+Passe Crispin de, chair designed by, 159
+
+Pater, 192
+
+Penshurst Place, Indo-Portuguese furniture at, 115
+
+Petworth House, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
+
+_Polish_, French, 24;
+ ---- oil, 26
+
+Pollen, J., Hungerford, quotation from, 196
+
+Pompeii, influence of excavations at, 204, 208, 247
+
+Ponsonby-Fane, Right Hon. Sir Spencer, specimens in collection of, 101, 224
+
+Portuguese furniture, late seventeenth century, in England, 114
+
+
+Q
+
+Queen Anne cabinet (illustrated), 141
+ ---- chairs (illustrated), 143
+ ---- furniture, prices realised at auction, 153
+ ---- mirror frame (illustrated), 137
+ ---- settle (illustrated), 149, 155
+
+
+R
+
+Raleigh, Sir Walter, mahogany first brought home by, 214
+
+Recamier, portrait of, by David, 209
+
+Reeded, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
+
+Renaissance, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
+ ---- in England, 37, 59-78
+ ---- in France, 43
+ ---- in Italy, 41
+ ---- in the Netherlands, 49
+ ---- in Spain, 48
+ ---- on the Continent, 33-55
+ ---- origin of, 38, 41
+
+Restored, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
+ ---- cupboard showing over-elaboration, 73
+
+"Restored" pieces, 265
+
+Revolution in France, vandalism during, 204
+
+Ribbon-back chair (illustrated), 222
+ ---- ornamentation adapted from France, 64;
+ (illustrated) 60
+ ---- pattern, early use of, by French woodcarvers, 92
+
+Riesener, Jean Francois, 185, 191, 192, 195, 197, 208
+
+Robinson, V. J., Esq., C.I.E., furniture belonging to, 219
+
+Rococo, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
+
+Roe, Mr. Frederick, quotation from, 266
+
+Roentgen, David, 182
+
+
+S
+
+Sackville, Lord, early Jacobean furniture in collection of, 86
+
+St. Paul's Cathedral, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
+
+Secret drawers, 114
+ ---- drawers, pieces with, 113, 157, 231
+ ---- drawers, Sheraton's love of, 251
+ ---- processes to impart age to spurious pieces, 260
+
+Settee, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
+ ---- upholstered, early Jacobean, at Knole, 90
+
+Settle, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28, 60
+ ---- Queen Anne style, 145, 149
+
+Sevres porcelain as decoration to furniture, 191
+ ---- porcelain in harmony with furniture, 181
+
+Shattock, Esq., T. Foster, specimens from collection of, 45
+
+Shearer, 248
+
+Sheraton, Thomas, and his style, 209, 241-256
+ ---- chair (illustrated), 243
+ ---- mechanical contrivances of his furniture, 251
+ ---- poverty of, 248;
+ his opinion of Chippendale, 248
+
+Sigerson, Dr., Dublin, specimens from collection of, 157, 206
+
+Sixteenth-century woodwork, fine example of, 65
+
+Spain, Renaissance in, 48
+
+Spanish furniture (illustrated), cabinet, 51;
+ chest, 52
+
+Spitalfields' velvet for furniture, 147
+ ---- weaving founded by aliens, 122
+
+Splat, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+
+Stothard, copy of engraving by, 231, 235
+
+Strafford, first Earl of, chair with arms of, 94
+
+Strapwork, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+ ---- borrowed from Flemish designers, 64;
+ illustrated, 61, 68
+ ---- Elizabethan, 69
+
+Stretche, Esq., T. E. Price, specimens from collection of, 75, 78, 97, 139, 140
+
+Stretcher, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+ ---- in chairs, evolution of the, 122
+ ---- wear given to, by feet of sitters, 100
+
+Sutton, Thomas, founder of Charterhouse Hospital, 86
+
+Symonds, John Addington, "The Renaissance in Italy," quoted, 41
+
+
+T
+
+Table, gate-leg, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
+
+Tapestry factory established at Mortlake, 92
+ ---- in harmony with furniture, 181
+
+Tenon, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+
+Terror, Reign of, vandalism during, 204
+
+Timber split to give figure in surface, 76, 118
+
+Transition between Gothic and Renaissance, 44, 47, 63
+
+Turned work, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+
+
+U
+
+Upholstered chairs adopted in late Elizabethan days, 75
+ ---- seat (William and Mary), 122
+
+
+V
+
+Vandyck at the Court of Charles I., 92
+
+Varnish, oil, composition of, not now known, 119
+ ---- spirit, a modern invention, 118
+ ---- _Vernis-Martin_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+
+Veneer, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
+
+Veneered work, its adoption, 139
+
+Veneers, woods used as, _see_ GLOSSARY, 29
+
+_Vernis-Martin_ (Martin's varnish), _see_ GLOSSARY, 28, 182
+
+Versailles, sums spent upon building, 166;
+ vandalism at, 172, 177
+
+
+W
+
+Wallace Collection, illustrations of specimens, at, 163, 171, 181, 183
+
+Walnut period, 34
+
+Walnut veneer, Queen Anne period, 139
+
+Walpole, Horace, 221
+
+Waring, Messrs., specimens from collection of, 81, 117, 119, 143, 149, 197
+
+Watteau, 192
+
+Wedgwood, Josiah, 247
+
+Wellington, Duke of, collection in possession of, 209
+
+Welsh dresser, 100
+
+Westminster Abbey, Henry VII.'s chapel, 63
+
+William and Mary furniture, prices realised at auction, 130
+
+Winckelmann, 205
+
+Woods preferred by Grinling Gibbons, 121
+ ---- used for delicate carving by foreign schools, 116
+ ---- used in furniture, _see_ GLOSSARY, 29
+ ---- with fancy names, 29;
+ botanical names of, 196
+
+Woodwork, sixteenth century, fine examples of, 65
+
+Worms, ravages of furniture, 234, 271, 274
+
+Wren, Sir Christopher, 120
+
+
+Y
+
+Yorkshire chairs, 103
+
+
+ THE GRESHAM PRESS,
+ UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,
+ WOKING AND LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chats on Old Furniture, by Arthur Hayden
+
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