(1920) How to Collect Old Furniture

8/9/2019 (1920) How to Collect Old Furniture

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAAT LOS ANGELES


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITURE


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LONDON: o. BELL AND SONS, LTD*PORTUGAL STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.CAMBRIDGE : DBIGHTON, BELL & CO..VRW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO.BOMBAY t A. H. WHEELER & CO,


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HOW TO COLLECTOLD FURNITURE

BY

FREDERICK LITCHFIELDAUTHOR OP " ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF FURNITURE,"POTTERY AND PORCELAIN," A GUIDE TO

COLLECTORS, EDITOR OF "CHAFFERS'MARKS AND MONOGRAMS ONPOTTERY AND POR-

CELAIN," ETC.

LONDONG. BELL AND SONS, LTD.

1920


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ArtLibrary

PREFACEIN another work on the subject of FurnitureI have endeavoured to trace the changes instyle and fashion from Antique to Mediaeval,from Mediaeval to Renaissance, and from Renais-sance to Modern, but in the following notes I haveattempted to give the reader some descriptions of

ythe various kinds of furniture, made in different-scountries, from the sixteenth to the middle of the^nineteenth century, omitting the earlier periods.As examples of the latter are seldom seen except

in museums, they are, for all practical purposes,unobtainable by the collector of ordinary means.I have tried to convey by explanatory hints and

^suggestions,advice which may enable the reader toselect the example of the period he is in search of,and avoid the imitation and the sham.The information given in this book is more

elementary and practical, than theoretical and his-torical ; therefore but little has been said of thosemagnificent pieces de luxe which are only to bepurchased by the millionaire collector, and moreattention has been devoted to the domestic furni-ture of the last three hundred years, which somany persons of taste in these latter days like tosee represented among their household gods.A liberal supply of illustrations to these notesshould render them intelligible and useful, and


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PREFACEhelp the readers to have about them some oldfurniture of which they can tell the origin, thecountry, and date of manufacture, and in manycases assist them to identify a favourite specimenas the work of an individual maker.

In order that the collector may be able to com-pare the illustration of a particular specimen withthe article itself, the half-tone blocks are, with fewexceptions, produced from photographs of ex-amples available to the public in the Victoria andAlbert Museum of South Kensington, and to theScience and Art Department, controlling thatuseful national collection, my grateful acknow-ledgements are tendered for the generous per-mission to use Museum photographs.The glossary of terms used in connection withfurniture, many of which have peculiar and tech-nical meanings not to be found in the dictionary,but constantly occurring in catalogues and writtendescriptions of old furniture, will, it is hoped, beof service to the reader.

FREDERICK LITCHFIELD.32, St. James's Street,

Piccadilly, London, W.

VI


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CONTENTSCHAP. PAGB

PREFACE vI. FURNITURE OF THE RENAISSANCE . . iEnd of the fifteenth century and beginning of theRenaissance Andrea Palladio and his work Inigo

Jones The introduction of the cabinet, developmentof the table and the chair Alteration of the chimney-piece Carved work in the Netherlands and SpainTheTudor style in England, Hampton Court PalaceThe Livery cupboard Elizabethan work and famousexamples Silver furniture of late Renaissance.

II. JACOBEAN FURNITURE nPeriod of Jacobean, the Dutch influence Tablein the Carpenters' Hall " Framed " and "joyned"tables Work of Inigo Jones Chairs of James I'stime Knole House and its furniture, chairs andtables of the period, Charles II and the changes of histime The "split balustrade" ornament HamptonCourt Palace Halls of the City companies GrinlingGibbons and his work Qualities of good Jacobeanjoining Holyrood Palace, and Dalkeith Palace.

III. FRENCH FURNITURE 23Change from Gothic to Renaissance Furniture ofLouis XIII period. Louis QUATORZE Public col-lections of French furniture of this period Berainand Lebrun Andre" Charles Boulle, his work andmethods Boulle's successors Reproductions byeminent makers, premiere et centre partie Marque-terie of West Indian veneers, designs of RiesenerChinese lacquer used for furniture. THE REGENCYPERIOD Change in style and characteristic orna-ments of the time. Louis Qumza Change in French

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CONTENTSCHAP. r.\r,Emanners and customs Caffieri and his work The

subjects of tapestry used for furniture Introductionof lighter articles, and descriptions of them. LouisSEIZE AND MARIE ANTOINETTE Influence of theQueen Change of fashion Pierre Gouthiere andhis work Vernis Martin Style of panels and differ-ence in treatment of interior decorations. THEDIRECTORY Changes brought about by the Revolu-tion Pseudo-classicalism ofthe period TheNationalConvention. THE FIRST EMPIRE Napoleon asCaesar Introduction of Egyptian ornament Char-acteristic features of furniture of the time Massivecarved and gilt chairs Furniture subsequent to thetime of Napoleon. REPRODUCTIONS Different kindsof reproductions of the best pieces Remarks andsuggestions.

IV. ITALIAN FURNITURE 47The Renaissance influence Rome and NaplesRoman mosaic Florentine work Marble mosaic,pietra dura, marble in " set " patterns Venetian in-fluence and work Venetian glass, carving and gilding,figure work and methods of enrichment Milanesecabinet work and inlay Ebony and ivory furniture,Certosina work La Certosa di Pavia The influenceof Pompeii on French and English design Marque-terie furniture General character of Italian furnitureMethods of gilding Reproductions of the pasttwenty years Italian Exhibitions.

V. DUTCH FURNITURE 59Old Flemish Gothic carving Flemish RenaissanceDutch influence on English Furniture The settle-ment of Huguenot refugee artisans in Holland, andalso in England Seventeenth-century English furni-ture practically Dutch, either imported or made byDutch workmen The kinds of furniture made at thisperiod Sir William Chambers and Thomas Chippen-dale Difference between French and Dutch designsand manufacture Peculiarities of Dutch marqueterie

Descriptions ofsome of the articles made in Hollandin the eighteenth century Advice to purchase oldDutch furniture of this period The marqueterie ofsome forty years ago Made and "arranged" for

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CONTENTSCHAP. PAGE

auction sales Belgian carved work The SouthKensingtonMuseum Old Dutch painted furniture.

VI. ENGLISH FURNITURE OF THE EIGHT-EENTH CENTURY 68The term Georgian Dutch influence on Englishfurniture, the use of mahogany Gillow estab-lished. THOMAS CHIPPENDALE Early work"The Cabinet Maker and Director" Influenceof Sir W. Chambers Chippendale's second periodThe Society of Upholders and Cabinet makers

Chippendale's designs. HAIG AND CHIPPEN-DALE An old account quoted. INCE AND MAY-HEW Their book of designs. CONTEMPORARYMANUFACTURERS Thomas Johnson, MathiasLock, Manwaring. A. HEPPELWHITE AND Co.Book of designs and list of patterns Influence ofRobert and James Adam. GILLOWS Popularfancies. THOMAS SHERATON "The CabinetMaker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book" De-signer rather than Manufacturer Some particularsof his career His designs and criticisms on hiscontemporaries. PAINTED AND ENAMELLED FUR-NITURE The Adam influence Contemporaryartists who painted furniture Wedgwood's plaquesinserted Process of finishing painted furnitureOld and new work Museum references.

VII. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY .... tooFrench influence on English design about 1 800Sheraton's drawings compared with previouswork George Smith's book The dining-tableGillow's patent Brass inlay Firms of the periodSeddon and Co. Characteristic Gillow furni-ture. EARLY VICTORIAN The Rococo, and thenthe Gothic taste The Royal Commission, and theGreat Exhibition of 1851 The South KensingtonMuseum Evolution of the sideboard Papier-mache* furniture Substantial furniture in the clubhouses Ball-framed chairs Worsted work Re-productions of earlier styles Wright and Mans-field, Jackson and Graham, and contemporaryfirms Concluding remarks on the craze for buyinginferior furniture, which has the semblance of age.ix


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CONTENTSCHAP. PAGBVIII. "FAKED" FURNITURE 113Definition of the word "fake" The different

kinds of reproductions JACOBEAN CHAIRS Oldand new processes of polishing Signs of age andcomparison between old and new work Glorifica-tion of plain pieces Cinderella and the FairyPrincess Description of the special enrichmentof a suite of Louis XV furniture Law of supplyand demand Legitimate restorations, and thereverse Chippendale's mirror frames Fret-cutornament SHERATON MARQUETERIE The dif-ference between genuine old and new inlaid fur-niture Repainted Satinwood.

IX. HINTS AND CAUTIONS 129Buying and collecting SEVENTEENTH-CENTURYOAK -Suggestions for a dining-room A compo-

site sideboard A Jacobean side table, chairs andaccessories EIGHTEENTH -CENTURY ENGLISHBookcases Points for consideration The inad-visability of old chairs for dining-room useLIBRARY FURNITURE Suggestions for bedrooms

Comparison between old and new marqueterieFRENCH REPRODUCTIONS BUYING ON A WAR-RANTY Value ofa correct invoice THE BARGAINHUNTER An amusing instance of the biter bitTHE DEALERS Remarks upon the dealersBUYING AT AUCTION Watching sales Buyingon commission Best method of making a col-lection.

X. NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS 145Being a Glossary of Terms used in Cataloguesand Written Descriptions of Old Furniture The

Knocking out System, Procedure described, andGeneral Remarks.


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSCHAPTER I PAGE

SPANISH RENAISSANCE CABINET, CARVED IN CHESTNUTWOOD, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY .... FrontispieceA WINDOW SEAT. BY A. HEPPELWHITE xivFIVE REPRESENTATIVE PANELS, ENGLISH, FLEMISH,FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN 3(1) ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MIRROR FRAME IN CARVEDWALNUT, LATE SIXTEENTH CENTURY .... face 4(2) ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CASSONE, IN CARVED WALNUT,LATE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 4FRENCH RENAISSANCE CABINET, SIXTEENTH CENTURYface 6CARVED AND GILT VENETIAN MIRROR ...... 7FLEMISH RENAISSANCE CABINET, CARVED IN EBONY, LATESIXTEENTH CENTURY face 8GERMAN RENAISSANCE COFFER, SIXTEENTH CENTURY 8ENGLISH EARLY TUDOR END OF BEDSTEAD (SHOWINGLINEN PATTERN PANELS), SIXTEENTH CENTURY . face IO

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE CABINET, SIXTEENTH CENTURY . 10ENGLISH RENAISSANCE PANELLING OF CARVED OAK FROMAN OLD HOUSE AT WALTHAM, SIXTEENTH CENTURY fact IOCHAPTER II

JACOBEAN BEDSTEAD IN CARVED OAK, EARLY SEVEN-TEENTH CENTURY face 12JACOBEAN FOLDING TABLE, FROM FLAXTON HALL, SUF-

FOLK, circa 1620 14(1) JACOBEAN UPPER PART OF CHIMMNEY-PIECE IN CARVEDOAK face 14(2) JACOBEAN CENTRE TABLE IN CARVED OAK . . 14(1) JACOBEAN CHEST IN CARVED OAK 18(2) JACOBEAN COURT CUPBOARD IN CARVED OAK . 18(i) JACOBEAN CHAIRS IN CARVED WALNUT ... 20

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPACK

(2) JACOBEAN SOFA IN CARVED OAK face 20(h JACOBEAN CHAIR IN CARVED OAK, DATED 1640 20(2) JACOBEAN SIDE-TABLE IN OAK , 20JACOBEAN CHAIRS IN OAK 20JACOBEAN CABINET IN OAK, EARLY EIGHTEENTH CEN-TURY face 22

CHAPTER IIIARMCHAIR IN TAPESTRY, EARLY Louis XIV 25ARMCHAIR IN TAPESTRY, Louis XIV 27FRENCH KNEEHOLE TABLE, BY ANDR CHARLES BOULLE,Louis XIV . . .- face 28FRENCH COMMODE, PROBABLY BY CRESSENT, WITH FINEGILT MOUNTS, Louis XV face 34A CANAP OR SOFA, OF Louis XV PERIOD, CARVED ANDGILT FRAME, AUBUSSON TAPESTRY 35FAUTEUIL OF Louis XV PERIOD, CARVED AND GILT FRAME,COVERED WITH AUBUSSON TAPESTRY 36FRENCH OCCASIONAL TABLES WITH GILT MOUNTS, LouisXVI face 36FAUTEUIL OF Louis XVI PERIOD, CARVED AND GILTFRAMES, WITH AUBUSSON TAPESTRY 37FRENCH UPRIGHT ESCRITOIRE, MOUNTED BY GouraikRE.Louis XVI face 38

(1) FRENCH FAUTEUILS, CARVED AND GILT FRAMES, WITHAUBUSSON TAPESTRY. Louis XVI face 38(2) FRENCH MARQUETERIE COMMODE BY RIESENER, LouisXVI . v face 38A FIRST EMPIRE CHAIR 40FRENCH CHAIR AND SOFA OF THE FIRST EMPIRE PERIOD

face 40A MASSIVE CARVED AND GILT CHAIR OF THE FlRST EM-PIRE, DESIGNED BY LfiCONTE 42

CHAPTER IV(1) VENETIAN CARVED BELLOWS IN WALNUT . . face 50(2) VENETIAN CHAIR AND STOOL, LATE SIXTEENTH CEN-TURY face 50(i) MILANESE COFFER, INLAID WITH IVORY (CERTOSINA

WORK), EIGHTEENTH CENTURY face 52xii


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPAGE

(2) ITALIAN CHAIRS CARVED IN WALNUT, SEVENTEENTHCENTURY face 52CHAPTER V

DUTCH LACQUER CABINET (LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY)face 60

(1) DUTCH MARQUETERIE MIRROR FRAME, EIGHTEENTHCENTURY . . - face 62(2) DUTCH MARQUETERIE TABLE, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

face 62CHAPTER VIENGLISH MIRRORS IN WALNUT WOOD, ALSO CARVED AND

GILT, EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY face 68(1) ENGLISH SETTEE IN WALNUT, EARLY EIGHTEENTHCENTURY, CHIPPENDALE'S FIRST PERIOD . . . face 70(2) CHAIR ATTRIBUTED TO CHIPPENDALE 70(3) CHAIR BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE ... . 70CHIPPENDALE CHAIR (SECOND PERIOD) .... 72THREE PIECES OF FURNITURE ATTRIBUTED TO CHIPPEN-DALE face 72THE FIRST AND LAST PAGES OF HAIG AND CHIPPENDALE'SBILL WITH SIGNATURE OF THOMAS CHIPPENDALE face 74A BATH STOVE, BY INCE AND MAYHEW 77A BEDROOM TABLE BY INCE AND MAYHEW 78TABLE AND LAMP STANDS, ATTRIBUTED TO INCE ANDMAYHEW face 78A BEDROOM TABLE, BY INCE AND MAYHEW 79ENGLISH FURNITURE, LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY face 80ENGLISH CHAIRS, LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY . . 82RUDD'S TABLE BY HEPPELWHITE 83A COUCH BY HEPPELWHITE 84CHAIRS ATTRIBUTED TO HEPPELWHITE face 84A WINDOW SEAT, BY A. HEPPELWHITE 85POLE SCREENS, BY A. HEPPELWHITE 86ENGLISH BUREAU BOOKCASE, LATE EIGHTEENTH CEN-TURY face 88SHIELD -BACK CHAIRS, DESIGNED BY SHERATON ORHEPPELWHITE 89SIDE TABLE, DESIGNED BY T. SHERATON ABOUT 1795 9 1DOUBLE CHEST OF DRAWERS OR TALL-BOY, END OF THEEIGHTEENTH CENTURY 93

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LlST OF ILLUSTRATIONSENGLISH SATIN-WOOD COMMODE WITH PAINTED DECORA-

TIONS, END OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.... facePIER TABLE AND WINDOW SEATS, BY ROBERT ADAM, ENDOF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY face

PAGE9496

CHAPTER VIICHAIRS OF SHERATON'S LATER PERIOD, EARLY NINE-TEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1810 face 100CENTRE TABLE WITH CANDLES, BY SHERATON . . . . 101ROOM IN CLASSIC STYLE, DESIGNED BY T. HOPE, 1807 . 102MANTELPIECE, BY T. HOPE, 1807 103CHAIRS OF SHERATON'S LATE PERibo, EARLY NINE-TEENTH CENTURY face 104SOFA OF LATE GEORGIAN PERIOD, ABOUT 1825 . . 104

A WINDOW SEAT, BY A. HEPPBLWH1TE

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HOW TOCOLLECT OLD FURNITURE

CHAPTER IFURNITURE OF THE RENAISSANCE

End of the fifteenth century and beginning of the RenaissanceAndrea Palladio and his work Inigo Jones The introduc-tion of the cabinet, development of the table and the chairAlteration of the chimney-piece Carved work in the Nether-lands and Spain The Tudor style in England, Hampton CourtPalace The Livery cupboard Elizabethan work and famousexamples Silver furniture of late Renaissance.

IN a popular handbook on furniture it is un-necessary and undesirable to consider in detailthe historical and social events which influencedthe manners and customs, the architecture, andthe domestic arts and industriesofdifferent nations,but without some allusion to these contributorycauses, it is difficult to appreciate the changes andvariations, sometimes sudden and sometimes grad-ual, which affected the designs and styles of thefurniture of successive periods.Towards the latter end of the fifteenth centurya great art movement commenced in Italy, spreadto the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, whichwere then under the widespread sceptre of CharlesV, and passed to France, whose king had marrieda daughter of the great Medici family, and after-

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREwards, during the reign of Henry VIII, was intro-duced into England.We must remember that the ancient or antiqueperiod had passed away with the decline of thevast Roman empire, and had been succeeded bya period of art known as Mediaeval, which em-braced the Byzantine and Gothic styles of building,decoration and ornament. The Gothic, with itsdifferent divisions and varieties, was now to giveway to the new movement, termed Renaissanceor re-birth, which, commencing in the fifteenthfound expression and development in the sixteenthcentury. Every art student knows what an extra-ordinary period was the sixteenth century for theproduction and encouragement of great men in art,painters, sculptors, architects, designersandworkersin gold, silver and bronze, potters and enamellers,weavers of beautiful textiles, and last, though byno means least, makers, carvers, and inlayers ofornamental woodwork and furniture.The illustration which I am able to give of fourpanels of carved oak from the South Kensingtoncollection, shows four different styles of wood-carving of this period of transition, and is usefulto assist one in determining the kind of enrichmentof late fifteenth century ornament.The woodwork of the Mediaeval time waslimited to the spare equipment of the feudal castleand the limited furnishing of the monastic houseor church. The castle was now giving way to thepalace or mansion, the use of gunpowder andfirearms had contributed materially to change thecharacter of the noble's residence; the rich bur-gess and merchant were everywhere asserting thepower and influence of successful trade and enter-

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ENGLISH, FIFTEENTH CENTURY FLEMISH, SIXTEENTH CENTURY

FRENCH, SIXTEENTH CENTURY GERMAN, FIFTEENTH CENTURY

ITALIAN, SIXTEENTH CENTURY

EXAMPLES OF OAK CARVING


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREprise, the arts of war were making way for thearts of peace, and the people of the capitals andcentres of civilization in the different countries ofEurope, were beginning to decorate and furnishtheir homes according to some idea of comfort andluxury.The general scheme of the leaders of the newmovement, chief ofwhom were Leonardo da Vinciand Raphael, was to abolish the Gothic principlesof their predecessors, and to re-establish the sim-plicity and purity of the earlier Greek and Romanstyles.As an architect of the sixteenth century AndreaPalladio probably did more than any other man togive expression to the new movement in the build-ings of his time, and the Italian palaces designedby him were the elaboration of the types of templesand city gates of ancient Rome. He appears tohave been fascinated by the fine proportions, thestateliness and dignity of these ancient piles, andthe school of architecture which came in after yearsto be known as Palladian, had a lasting influenceupon the architectureof other nations. Inigo Jones,our great seventeenth-century designer, may besaid to have built Whitehall Palace under the in-spiration of Palladio's teaching and the Renais-sance influence.

Furniture and woodwork of the period wereaffected as a natural consequence of the alterationin the elevation and plan, in the style and orna-ment of the building itself, and necessarily thepanellings and mouldings, the cornices, enrich-ments, and all the equipment and furnishings, toa great extent followed the lines and spirit of theexterior.


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ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MIRROR FRAME IN CARVED WALNUTLATE SIXTEENTH CENTURY


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FURNITURE OF THE RENAISSANCEThe cabinet as a piece of furniture may be saidto have first made its appearance in the sixteenth

century; the chest, the credence, the buffet hadbeen in existence much earlier, but not the cabinet,and it now took the form of a miniature gatewayor part of a temple or a palace, which served asthe model of the sixteenth-century designer. Theinterior decorations of some of these cabinets werearranged with pilasters, columns, and arcaded orna-ment, like the interiors of the palaces themselves,and not infrequently we find the floor or platformof these interior recesses inlaid with small squaresor geometrical patterns in perspective, to imitatethe floor of the vestibule of the palace from whichthe scheme of design was adopted.To the sixteenth century also belongs the cas-sone or marriage chest, of which there are somegood examples in the South Kensington Museum,and just as the cabinet had its prototype in theclassic temple or gateway, so was the Italian cas-sone an elaboration of the antique sarcophagus. InVenice it was richly carved in walnut wood withRaphaelesque scrolls, and ornamented with thearmorial bearings of the noble family whose daugh-ter was to be married, or it was carved and gilded,and on the gold ground was painted a reproduc-tion of a classic frieze, or the representation ofsome historical event. In Milan it was of ebonizedor brown wood inlaid with ivory ; but whatever theform of enrichment and elaboration, the antiquesarcophagus was the prototype.Tables for the first time in the history of wood-work became more general as complete articles offurniture, made ofwood,and elaborately carved andinlaid. In the fifteenth century, with few excep-

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREtions.the table for mealshad consisted ofan arrange-ment of boards and trestles, and we have somereminiscence of this movable kind of table in theexpression, " a seat at the board," in our languageof to-day. Some of the illustrations will show six-teenth-century tables of Italian workmanship, andin England we had the "drawinge" table, whichin the chapter on Jacobean furniture has receivedmore detailed description.

Until the sixteenth century was well advancedthe chair had been a kind of throne or state seatused by the master of the house, the seigneur orlord, or for his honoured guest ; in cathedrals,abbeys and churches for the bishop, the archbishopor the abbot, and in palaces for the king and queen.As we have remarked upon the expression of "aseat at the board," so that of " taking the chair "is clearly a survival of a time when the chair wasthe place of honour. Gradually the chair becamean article of domestic furniture, and as rooms wereof smaller dimensions and the life of the peoplemore social, chairs became more numerous andmore ordinary. The upholstered seat and backwith padded arms were all of later date; in thesixteenth century they were made of wood with aloose cushion attached by strings.Pictures were framed, and mirrors, which werenowoflarger size than formerly, became ornamentalas well as useful articles of furniture in a house.Rome, Florence,Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Urbino,and other Italian cities produced richly carved

furniture, cabinets, tables, chairs, caskets, cassoni,mirror frames and bellows of elaborate design andbeautiful execution.In France under Francis I the Renaissance:

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KRKNCII RENAISSANCK CAIUNKT IN OAKSIXTEENTH CENTURY (HENRI II)


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FURNITURE OF THE RENAISSANCEmovement found great encouragement. An Italianarchitect was employed to build the new chateauof Fontainebleau, and Leonardo da Vinci and

VENETIAN MIRROR, SEVENTEENTH CENTURYAndrea del Sarto came from Italy to decorate theinterior.The courtiers and nobles followed their king'slead, and their chateaux were decorated in the newItalian style. Chimney-pieces, which in the pre-ceding century had been of stone, were now

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREmade of oak elaborately carved with columns andpilasters, arched recesses and armorial bearings.The prie-dieu chair, which had formerly been usedonly in the private chapel of the castle, becamemore common, benches or sieges and banes werecarved and ornamented, and with the buffet andarmoire, formed part of the furnishing of a noble-man's residence. The Musee Cluny contains num-erous examples of French furniture of the Renais-sance

period.The Netherlands and Spain followed suit. TheFlemish craftsman excelled in the art of carving;both he and his Spanish contemporary added arealistic effect by colouring the faces of their figure-workwith colours au naturel. I n the Netherlands, asin France, oak was the favourite wood, but ebony,cypress, cedar and other woods were used ; while inSpain chestnut was the more usual vehicle for thecarved design. Inlaid patterns were enriched byplaques of ivory, agate, and rare marbles,and hingeand lock plates, with elaborate keyhole mounts ofbeautifully wrought silver and steel, were added.In England the adoption of the Renaissance wasof slower growth. Holbein and John of Paduacame to England under the patronage of HenryVIII, and were apostles of the new style, but theGothic died hard in this country, and during thetransition period, which lasted until the time ofQueen Elizabeth, we had a mixture of Gothicornament and Renaissance design which has cometo be known as the Tudor style. The older por-tions of Hampton Court Palace built by CardinalWolsey, (not the later portions designed by SirChristopher Wren in imitation of the Palace ofVersailles), and the fine Halls of Oxford, were8


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/'. . . = * . ?|- -ijrti^f


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FURNITURE OF THE RENAISSANCEerected about this time, and show the minglingof the Gothic and Renaissance styles. The oakpanelling, which we to-day know as the linenpattern because it represents in carved wood theconvolutions of the linen napkin, is of this period.Written descriptions of furniture are difficult tomake clear and intelligible, but some of the illus-trations selected will serve to show the kind ofTudor woodwork which was in favour during thereign of Henry VIII.What are known as " Livery cupboards" werefirst made in England in the early part of the six-teenth century. They were service cupboardsused for drinking cups, which were hung on hooks,and a ewer and basin were part of the equipment

for the cleansing of vessels after use.As the century advanced, and during the reignof Elizabeth, all trace of the Gothic influencevanished, and carved and ornamental woodworkbecame more ambitious, less restrained, and evenriotous. We find the large acorn-shaped orna-ment as a member of the leg of a carved table,or the pillar of a four-post bedstead ; the highoak carved chimney-pieces are full of ornament,and the panelling of rooms is enriched by flutedpilasters with carved capitals. A favourite designwas the interlaced riband or "strap work," muchused in stone, in the exterior ornamentation ofhouses, and also adopted by the carver in hiswork on panelling and furniture.This over-elaboration of ornament during thelatter part of Elizabeth's reign in England corre-sponds to the later Renaissance in France in thetime of Henri Quatre, where a similar decadencefrom the canons of good taste took effect, as aQ


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREfalling away from the purer style of Frar^oisPremier and of Henri Deux.There are in London several excellent examples

of Elizabethan panelling which, although of easyaccess, are seldom visited, and these are wellworth the reader's attention. The Hall of Gray'sInn with its minstrels' gallery, the magnificentHall of the Middle Temple just out of the Strand,also that fine old monument of Elizabethan days,and the reminder of Thackeray's dear old ColonelNewcome, the Charterhouse, in Aldersgate Street.These valuable relics of sixteenth-century workcan all be seen without trouble or expense by anyLondon resident or visitor, and will give a betteridea of the oak-work of the Renaissance in Englandthan pages of written description.Throughout Europe the latter part of the six-teenth century showed' deterioration from thecommencement of the great Renaissance move-

ment, as designers moved farther away from theiroriginal classic types, and allowed ornament to be-come less restrained, less subsidiary to lines ofconstruction, more fanciful and less reasonable.To the period of late Renaissance belongs themanufacture of silver furniture. This was made inSpain and Italy for the churches, and in Germany,at Augsburg and other cities, where the silversmithflourished, and executed thecommands ofambitiousGerman princes. The famous folding-chair ofwonderfully wrought steel, which is now at Long-ford Castle in Wiltshire, belongs to this type offurniture, and was made at Augsburg.The fine table and pair of torcheres at Knole areof solid silver, and bear the hall-mark of the reignof James II. 10


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ENGLISH, END OF liEDSTKAD IN OAK(SHOWING LINEN PATTERN PANELS)SIXTEENTH CENTURY (EARLY TUDOR STYLE)


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ENGLISH RENAISSANCE CAlilNETSIXTEENTH CENTURY


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ENGLISH RENAISSANCE PANELLING OK CARVED OAKFROM AX OLD HOUSE AT WALTHAM

S I XTE ENTH CE NTf R V


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CHAPTER IIJACOBEAN FURNITURE

Period of Jacobean design, the Dutch influence Table in theCarpenter's Hall "Framed" and "joyned" tables Work ofInigo Jones Chairs of James I's time Knole House and itsfurniture, chairs and tables of the period, Charles II and thechanges of his time The "split balustrade" ornamentHampton Court Palace Halls of the City companies GrinlingGibbons and his work Qualities of good Jacobean joineryHolyrood Palace, and Dalkeith Palace.

THE periodof design which we term Jacobean

may be said to have lasted for about a cen-tury, from the beginning of the reign of James Iuntil the advent of the Dutch influence, whichbecame almost paramount after the accession tothe throne of William and Mary, caused a changeof fashion.In the preceding chapter we have seen how thelater Elizabethan work had been somewhat over-carved and elaborated with grotesque ornament.Under the influence of Inigo Jones, an architectwho came into court favour quite early in the

reign of the new king, a more severe tone wasobserved with regard to ornament in stone andwood, and a period commences which, as regardsthe work ofEnglish joiners, is

full of interest forconnoisseurs and collectors.The bold acorn-shaped ornament which wassuch a marked feature of the carving of the previ-II


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREous reign, was tabooed, and in its place the legsof tables were either quite plain columns with acapital and base, or, if carved, the lines were morestraight, only just breaking into a slight fulness.The octagonal table in the Hall of the Carpenters'Company is a good example of this kind ; it hasthe date 1606 carved in two of the spandrels ofthe arches which connect the legs, while the otherspandrels bear the initials of the Master and theWardens of the Company of that year.

It is a most interesting pieceoffurniturebecause,while the character of the ornamentation has alittle of the Elizabethan spirit, one can see thatthis has been subdued and refined. It is in excel-lent preservation, except that the top is split, andthose who wish to see a representative specimen,made just as a change of style was affecting ourornamental woodwork, should study the tablecarefully.We have seen in the chapter on " Renaissance "how during the sixteenth century the " table " wasdeveloped from boards and trestles into a completeand solid piece of domestic furniture. These" framed",and "joyned" tables, as they were called,were now made with the plain leg alluded to above,and had drawers with plain or carved fronts.There are four excellent tables of this period inthe Hall of the Barber Surgeons' Company inMonkswell Street, City, a building designed byInigo Jones, and there is also a good example ofthe kind in the Chapter House, Westminster.The communion table in the Chapel of theCharterhouse is of a more ornamental character,and shows the influence of the Italian Renais-sance which Inigo Jones had brought with him12


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JACOBEAN BEDSTEAD IN CARVED OAKEARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY


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JACOBEAN FURNITUREfrom his travels in that country. It has a row oflegs running lengthways along the middle of thetable, and four others at the corners, enriched bycarving from the base to a third of the height ofeach leg, while the frieze is also carved in lowrelief.The chairs of James I period were high-backed,moulded rather than carved, that is, the frameswere ornamented only by the members being re-lieved from plainness by mouldings, but not as arule having scrolls or flowers, although occasionallyone sees an early Jacobean chair having scrolls inlow relief.

In the International Exhibition of 1901, held atGlasgow, there were some good specimens ofJacobean chairs, lent by some of the old " TradeHouses " of Aberdeen one of these was " gifted "in 1617 byAlexander Cockie, who had embellishedit with his arms, a cock, on a chief, the sun in itssplendour, and a crescent between two mullets,with his initials, A. C. The back folds down uponthe arms and forms a most convenient card table.An illustration is given here of a somewhatsimilar table which is in the Victoria and AlbertMuseum.Knole House, near Sevenoaks, is probably therichest in upholstered furniture of this period. Theking's bedroom was specially prepared and fur-nished for the visit of James I, and as any visitorcan by the kindness of the present owner, LordSackville, see this stately old English mansionwith its most interesting contents, it is a pity notto take advantage of the opportunity.The house is open on Fridays at a nominal chargeof two shillings, which goes to the restoration fund.

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREThe student has the great advantage ofseeing herefurniture as it was, save for dilapidation by time,but without restoration, and many useful lessonsmay be learned. The famous sofa, probably aboutthe first of its kind, has since been reproduced byLiberty's and one or two other London firms. Itwas upholstered in crimson velvet, and as the armsat either end could be lowered by a rack, the sofa

FOLDING TABLE AT FLAXTON HALL, SUFFOLK(Time of Elizabeth)

or settee became comfortable as a lounge whenthus extended. Armchairs, also richly upholsteredin the same kind ofvelvet,were trimmed with hand-some fringe and studded with copper nails. In thishouse there are five stools with X legs, also invelvet with fringe, and the famous King's Bedstead

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JACOBEAN UPPER PART OF CHIMNEY-PIECE IN CARVED OAKEARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (TIME OF IXIGO JONES)

JACOHEAN CENTRE TAI51.K IN CARVED OAKSEVENTEENTH CENTURY


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JACOBEAN FURNITUREin crimson and gold, now much faded and worn,which is said to have cost ^8,000. These are stillin the room once occupied by the king.There is also another room, the furniture ofwhichis said to have been presented by James I to thefirst Earl of Middlesex, who had married a rela-tion of the Earl of Dorset, to whom Knole at thattime belonged.As an interesting link with the past, one maymention here, that when Sir Charles Eastlake wasat Knole making sketches, some of which he after-wards published in " Hints on Household Taste,"he found underneath thewebbing of a settee a pieceof paper with some old English writing and thedate 1620. This date, as being approximately thatof the furniture which we are now considering, wasconfirmed by the old heirloom books kept at Knolewhich Mr. Lionel Sackville kindly referred to forme when I wrote my " Illustrated History ofFurniture" in 1890.In this work the reader will find some fullerdescriptions and illustrations of the furniture atKnole, also of the table in the Carpenter's Hallreferred to above, the oak work at the Charter-house, Gray's Inn, and some other Jacobean types.Some chairs at Knole are of carved oak, andmuch richer and more decorative than those ofearlier date. The design of two cupids in a flyingattitude supporting a crown surmounting the back,and a similar design enriching the stretcher, whichhad generally been adjudged to a later time, seemsto have come in towards the end of James I's reign.It is probable that about this time a good deal ofthe richly-carved and gilt Venetian furniture wasbrought to England, and that our decorative wood-

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREwork received from this an influence in the direc-tion of elaboration.The times of Charles I were too troublous formuch advancement, or surely this would have beena period when Art in England would have receivedencouragement and made great progress. Beforethe Civil War broke out the king and his queenhad already done a good deal to promote cultiva-tion and luxury. The great Van Dyke had cometo reside in this country, the Mortlake tapestryworks were assisted by the gift from the king ofthe famous Raphael Cartoons, which are now atHampton Court Palace, and it was a time when,had the political atmosphere remained tranquil,there would have been giant strides in the progressof the domestic arts.

Chairs were now articles of ordinary domesticfurniture, tables were made of greater width, andabout this time the legs" were turned with a largeoval member in the middle, an importation fromHolland. The folding-table with turned legstwelve, sixteen, and sometimes twenty in numbercame into fashion, and was probably the first of thekind which we now call the "gate leg " table, havingtwo folding flaps which when put up made a largeoval-topped table. Another kind of table, whichseems to have been introduced during the first halfof the seventeenth century, was the " Drawinge"table, which was oblong in shape, with a square-sided flap pulling out from either end to prolong itslength, and by an ingenious wedge-shaped con-trivance the centre or main table-top was loweredand the flaps came to the new level, so thatthe whole area was then of the same height. Thelong settle and a heavy kind of carved armchair,16


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JACOBEAN FURNITUREcalled the " scrowled" chair, were in use from thetime of Charles I to that of James II. The seatsof chairs and settees were generally of plain oak,and had loose cushions secured by strings to thechair. Cane seats and backs were, however, nowbecoming fashionable, and we find some of theJacobean chairs with a narrow panel of cane workonly seven or eight inches wide, with the mouldedoak as a frame. This panel was probably coveredby a loose cushion.A plain leather chair, which has been called the4( Cromwell, "appears to have been largely importedfrom Holland and to have become fashionable. Itwas ofplain leather, with upholstered seat and back,studded with nails, and only showing just the lowerpart of the legs and stretcher of wood. During theCommonwealth one would have expected to findan utter absence of figure-carving in all woodwork,but there is a very singular fact, quoted by Mrs..S. C. Hall in describing the interior of a housebuilt for Cromwell's daughter, that the staircasewas ornamented by portrait figures of differentgrades of men in the army which was commandedby her husband, General Ireton."With the accession of Charles II more luxuriousfurniture was brought from France and Holland,and copied in this country; carved oak also be-came more ornamental and elaborate.There are one or two new features that havebeen noticed as making their appearance duringthe early part of this reign. One is that spiralturning was first introduced into the legs of chairsand tables, and the writer has seen some chairsparts of which have been carved by hand in imita-tion of spiral turning, showing that there was a

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desire to follow the new fashion by more tediousmethods, since the new invention and appliancesfor eccentric turning, had probably at first onlyreached the metropolis, and the hand spiral workwas done in some provincial town.The panels of oak chests, bedsteads, or otherpieces of Jacobean cabinet-work, not infrequentlyhave some relief given by means of pear treelines stained black, also brown, and a light yellow,similar to the tint of boxwood. A diamond-shapedornament may be found occasionally in the centreof a panel with all three colours, or the date of apiece may be inlaid in thin black lines, which mayalso define or emphasize the stalk or the petals ofa conventionalized floral design. An old Jacobeanhead of a " four-poster " with some excellent carv-ing in relief, now mounted into a chimney-piece,is in the possession of Mr. S. A. P. Kitcat, ofEsher, and has the initials of its former owner,E. N., and the date 1616 inlaid in black, whichhas a good effect against the rich, warm tone ofthe old oak.Another ornament characteristic of this period

is that which for want of a better description hasbeen called "the split balustrade ornament," onchests, presses, and tables. These turned and splitbalustrades, or short sections of them, are laid onto the flat surface, generally on the rail of a panel,the panel itself being carved somewhat richly.Bombay and I ndo-Portuguese furniture, made ofebony or " blackwood," was imported from one ofthe new queen's possessions, given as part of herdowry by the King of Portugal. Some of thisfurniture is at Penshurst Place, and a famouschair of the kind is in the Ashmolean Museum at

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. ->-. v -- '^ .,-

JACOBEAN CHEST IN CARVED OAKSEVENTEENTH CENTURY

JACOBEAN COURT CUPBOARD IN CARVED OAK


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JACOBEAN FURNITUREOxford, having been given to Elias Ashmole byKing Charles. The furnishing of Hampton CourtPalace for the reception of the new queen was,according to Evelyn the famous diarist, a very ex-travagant and costly business ; the bedstead andhangings cost ^8,000, and other furnishings, tapes-tries and accessories, were in accordance with thislavish outlay. We may gather from these andother signs that the time of Charles II was oneof much more comfort and luxury in the furnitureof the upper classes than had previously been thecase.

It is a sad pity that the Great Fire of London,in 1666, destroyed so many public buildings, andwith them the ancient Halls of the City Guilds,which would otherwise have preserved to us somuch valuable and interesting furniture. Some fewof these were only partially destroyed, and wererebuilt and furnished within a few years of the greatcatastrophe, amongst them being the Brewers'Hall and the Stationers' Hall, the Mercers' Chapel,the House of the New River Company, and someothers. These contain furniture dating from thelatter half of the seventeenth century, which thereader should take an opportunity of examining ifhe can obtain the permission of the clerks of thecompanies to do so. The Master's chair of theBrewers' Hall, is massively carved and character-istic, showing the heavy swags of fruit and flowerswhich were coming into our English carvers'scheme of design at this time.To the reign of Charles 1 1 belongs the intro-duction of Grinling Gibbons, who doubtless in-fluenced our school of carving. Evelyn is saidto have discovered him about 1670, and brought

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREhis work to the notice of the king, who gave himan appointment in the Office of Works, favouredhim with orders for Windsor Castle, HamptonCourt Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, and otherpalaces and churches. Gibbons became the fashion,and with his pupils, Samuel Watson, a Derbyshireman, Drevot of Brussels,and Lawreans of Mechlin,carved and decorated the interiors of Chatsworth,Petworth, Burleigh, and many other countryhouses. Grinling Gibbons used pear-tree wood forhis work, which nearly always consisted of groupsof fruit and flowers very elaborately carved, with agreat amount of undercutting and in full relief. Itis a highly realistic kind of ornament and has greatmerit, but the difficulty of keeping such fragilework in a fair state of preservation is a greatdrawback, and, moreover, the most highly-carvedpanels are so elaborate that they seem somewhatout of place- as part of the woodwork of a sub-\stantial building.The reign of James II was too short to leaveany particular record of change in the style ofwoodwork, and we are now approaching the timewhen the Dutch influence, which had alreadyshown signs of power during the reign of CharlesII, was to become more strikingly predominantwhen William III came to the throne.Another very important factor, which has beennoticed m the chapter on French furniture, was'the importation from che West Indies and from 'America, of a great variety of woods available for

the manufacture of ornamental marqueterie. Ma-hogany, although discovered, was not in generaluse until after the first quarter of the eighteenthcentury, but walnut was used largely in Holland,20


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JACOBEAN CHAIRS IN CARVED WALNUT

JACOBEAN SOFA IN CARVED OAKLATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY


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JACOBEAN CHAIR IN CARVED OAKDATED 1640

JACOISKAN SII)K TAI'.LE IN OAKLATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY


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JACOBEAN CHAIRS IN OAKLATE SEVEXTKENTH CKNTURY


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JACOBEAN FURNITUREand furniture ofthis materialwasbeing broughtoverto England at the end of the seventeenth century

Jacobean furniture other than that gilded or up-holstered, was made of oak of English growth,tough in fibre and rich in figure. It was designed,as we have seen, in the earlier part of the centuryon severe and restrained lines, gradually increasingin ornament and comfort as the customs andhabits of the people required, and as importationsfrom other countries influenced our native crafts-men. Writers and connoisseurs are, however,agreed in regarding the English joiners' work ofthe seventeenth century as the best of its kind,good, honest work, which, owing to the quality ofthe oak and the sound principles of construction,will enable those who possess examples to handthem on to future generations. Besides the differ-ence in the appearance of the oak itself, its grainand figure, which is so much better than the oaknow imported from the Baltic and from America,there are signs of good Jacobean work missingfrom modern joinery unless placed there for thepurposes of deception. Nearly all the mortise joinsare riveted with.oak pegs, the ends of which aregenerally to be seen where the tenon has been putinto the mortise. The colour of good old Jacobeanfurniture should be of a rich warm tint, not thedead black of the modern so-called " antique "rubbish, but a fine surface obtained by the coatingof beeswax and turpentine with which the woodwas originally dressed, and to which two hundredyears of rubbing and wear have given a fine sur-face, that can scarcely be imitated, and with whichit is very important the amateur should makehimself quite familiar. 21


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREIt is also the period during which, as we have

seen, richly upholstered furniture was made inEngland, velvet, tapestry and needlework beingused. In addition to the chairs, sofas, and stoolsat Knole, there are some exceedingly handsomesettees, originally carved and gilt, with beautifulvelvet coverings, embroidered with the reversed" C" cypher of Charles II, to be seen at HolyroodPalace. They are in a dilapidated condition, butserve to show what handsome furniture of thiskind was in use.In Dalkeith Palace there is also some beautifulfurniture of the Jacobean time. This place has apeculiar interest, because some of the best pieceswere given by Charles II to his son, the Duke ofMonmouth, and after his rebellion and execution,the house was built and furnished by his widow,who married into the Buccleuch family, and it hasremained there ever since.The illustrations from photographs of the col-lection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, SouthKensington, give an idea of the oak-work of thisimportant period.

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JACOBEAN CABINET IN OAKQUKKN ANNE PERIOD


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CHAPTER IIIFRENCH FURNITURE

Change from Gothic to Renaissance Furniture ofLouisXIIIperiod. Louis QUATORZE Public collections of French furni-ture of this period Berain and Lebrun Andre" Charles Boulle,his work and methods Boulle's successors Reproductionsby eminent makers, premiere et centre partie Marqueterie ofWest Indian veneers, designs of Riesener Chinese lacquerused for furniture. THE REGENCY PERIOD Change in styleand characteristic ornaments of the time. Louis QUINZEChange in French manners and customs Caffieri and his workThe subjects of tapestry used for furniture Introduction oflighter articles, and descriptions of them. Louis SEIZE ANDMARIE ANTOINETTE Influence of the Queen Change offashion Pierre Gouthiere and his work Vernis Martin Styleof panels and difference in treatment of interior decorations.THE DIRECTORY Changes brought about by the RevolutionPseudo-classicalism of the period The National Convention.THE FIRST EMPIRE Napoleon as Caesar Introduction ofEgyptian ornament Characteristic features of furniture of thetime Massive carved and gilt chairs Furniture subsequent tothe time of Napoleon. REPRODUCTIONS Different kinds ofreproductions of the best pieces Remarks and suggestions.

IN France, as in other countries, the mediaevalperiod of art gave way to fifteenth-centuryGothic. In such beautiful monuments of delicatetracery in stone-work as Rouen Cathedral, we cansee to what perfection of design and intricate de-tail, the French architect and craftsman could man-ipulate the stone of Caen. The woodwork in-teriors, and such furniture of a movable kind as

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREW2re in use in those early days, followed the linesofthe stone-work, and French Gothic wood-carvingwas unsurpassed. Unfortunately very few ex-amples remain after the lapse ofnearly five hundredyears, and it is only by studying such fragmentsof panels, mouldings and carved ornament, as areto be found in the collection of Emile Peyre, verywisely purchased by the Victoria and AlbertMuseum a few years ago, that we can estimate themerit of wood-carving in France of the fifteenthcentury.In the chapter on Renaissance furniture, somereference has been made to the great change thatcame about in Italy during the fifteenth century,andwas carried to France during the reign of FrancoisPremier. During the lifetime of this king and hissuccessors, the Renaissance movement in art, andparticularly in stone and woodwork, held swaywith varying taste, from pure to debased, but forthe purpose of this handbook we can only give arapid glance at this century of art progress, andhurry on to a time nearer our own, of which thereare more examples preserved to us.For those who would study the furniture of theFrench Renaissance, there are excellent works byable authors, and the Cluny Museum containsbeautiful specimens of the best and also of the laterperiods. Besides those which are in such publiccollections, there are few pieces of really authenticfurniture of this time to be found. Occasionallywhat appears to be an old buffet, chair, or credencecomes to light, but a careful examination will gener-ally reveal the fact, that, while a panel or a pieceof carved ornament is of the period, the remainderhas been made in the style of such a piece of fur-

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FRENCH FURNITUREniture as was evidently suggested by the genuineold fragments.

During the reign of Louis Treize, furniture be-came more comfortable, and there was more variety.The chairs were high-backed, and were, for the

ARMCHAIR IN TAPESTRY (EARLY LOUIS QUATORZE)first time, made with arms ; the legs and stretchers-were visible and were of oak or walnut wood, thehigh

backs and seats were covered with tapestryfrom the looms of Beauvais. There is a kind ofmarqueterie which we now identify with this period ;it is rich in tone and full of design the scheme of

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREdecoration being a number of panels or cartoucheswith baskets or bouquets of flowers in each panel;the mountings, if there be any, are of carved andgilt wood, instead of the cast and chased giltbronze which came into fashion some fifty yearslater. In the Victoria and Albert Museum thereis a cabinet of this style and period deserving care-ful attention.

Louis QuatorzeAfter Louis XIV came to the throne a new era

may be said to have begun for French decorativeart, and in the palaces of Versailles, the Louvre,the Musde du Garde Meuble, and in such collectionsas that lately given to the nation by Lady Wallace,and the Jones Bequest in South Kensington, wehave proofs of the degree to which the manufactureof sumptuous and elegant furniture was carried.Under the superintendence of Colbert, the king'sminister of finance, the most generous encourage-ment was given to artists and skilled craftsmen,and the making of gorgeous furniture was raisedto the level of painting and sculpture. Orders weregiven for special designs, and cabinet makers wereencouraged by royal patronage and favour, beinghonoured by such newly-coined titles as MaitreEbeniste and Ebeniste au Roi. Immense sums ofmoney were expended to produce those magnificentexamples of the cabinet maker's art and industry,justly entitled to the description Meubles de luxe.Berain and Lebrun furnished the designs exe-cuted by Andre Charles Boulle, his sons and suc-cessors, and the kind of furniture identified withhis name, butwhich has since becomevulgarized and26


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FRENCH FURNITUREcommon, came into fashion. The process adoptedby Boulle is pretty well known, but can scarcelybe passed by without a word of explanation. Thedesign was enlarged from the original drawing into

ARMCHAIR IN TAPESTRY (LOUIS QUATORZE)A little later than the preceding illustrationa full-sized diagram, and then cut out in sheets oftortoise-shell and brass, prepared beforehand forthe purpose. Such portions of the design as wereintended to remain in brass were then eliminatedfrom the sheet of tortoise-shell, and a similar plan

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREwas adopted with the brass which it was intendedto replace with tortoise-shell. The two sheets ofdifferent materials thus treated were then pressedinto each other, much in the same way that we haveseen children's puzzle pictures and maps, when thedesign of the paper picture of which the puzzle isa copy has been completed. A strong solutionof glue was well brushed into the crevices be-tween brass and shell; paper was then laid over thework, and it was allowed to get hard and dry. In aday or two the paper would be scraped off, and theBoulle work, which I should have mentioned hadalready been laid upon the foundation of the pieceof furniture it was proposed to ornament, wouldbe ready for scraping, rubbing down and polishing.The engraving of the surface thus prepared wasa very important branch of the work; the designwas, to use a technical term, " blind," until the defthand of the artist-engraver gave it life. For aninstance let us take the well-known design in oldBoulle work which we call the "squirrel "pattern,because part of its ornament consists of that littleanimal represented in brass inlay. That portionof thin brass which is part of the sheet I have de-scribed, would simply represent tfye shape of thesquirrel until a little shading, the indication ofpaws,tail, eye and other touches from the engraver's tool,here and there, had given the squirrel form and life.It is the same with each figure, each scroll andflower, so that it must be obvious that much of themerit and spirit of the work, depends upon the skillof the engraver. When this process was completea black pigment like thick ink was rubbed into thelines made by the graver, which showed up all thedetails of the design, and this, having the dark shell28


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FRENCH FURNITUREas a background, made a rich picture. Boulle maybe black, red or brown ; sometimes pieces are en-riched by panels of blue, and I have seen panelsof green. These colours are produced by placingunderneath the veneer, a colouring matter whichshows through the transparent portions of thetortoise-shell, a material which everyone knows ispartly opaque and partly transparent. Under theshell, which was intended to remain brown, gilding\vas sometimes introduced to heighten the effect.In the panels of a piece of furniture which theddeniste intended to be more fanciful, he would.sometimes insert a piece of horn, which, unlikethe shaded effect of tortoiseshell, was wholly trans-parent ; under this horn he would place a grayishblue colour, which would come as a relief to theblack boulle and produce a very decorative effect.The furniture made by Boulle in this mannerwas further ornamented by massive mountings of

gilt bronze; some of the beautiful cabinets in theLouvre have figures in high relief, scrolls, birds,and ornamental mouldings standing out from thesurface of the boulle work. The handles of thechests of drawers or commodes are massive andhandsome. The reader will find the best produc-tions of boulle in the Louvre " Galerie d'Apollon,"in the Jones Bequest at South Kensington, andin the Wallace Collection at Hertford House,Manchester Square, London.Long after Boulle and his sons and successorshad passed away, and years after his work hadgone out of fashion, a revival of the taste for thishighly decorative furniture came about, and boulle-work, or buhl, as it is more generally written andpronounced, was made by several firms in London

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREand Paris. Of course, save for the fact that the pro-cess invented by the originator has been adopted,there is not much real similarity between a showybuhl table made in London or Paris, and sold forfrom fifteen to thirty pounds, and the magnificentboulle armoire in the Jones Bequest, which costthat collector about ^5,000.

Quite apart from this modern and cheaper classof buhl there are reproductions of the fine oldpieces made in Paris by such first-class makers asZwiener, Beurdelet, Dasson,and one ortwo others;these are really on the lines of the old work, wellmade and of fine finish, and worth purchasing bythose who admire the style, but are unable orunwilling to pay enormous prices for what arepractically museum specimens.More will be said presently about these first-class reproductions of museum specimens, but be-fore dismissing Boulle work I will explain a littlematter which often puzzles, amateurs.When the sheets of shell and brass are cut and,as already explained, certain portions of eachmaterial are withdrawn, so that the designs maybe completed in the respective proportions of eachmaterial which were arranged in the original draw-ing, these deleted pieces of brass and shell remainover as a surplus. In some instances these werediscarded altogether, and sold to smaller makers;in the majority of cases they were used for the sidepanels of a cabinet, where they would not be somuch en Evidence, or they were made up into a pieceof furniture corresponding in form to the originalpiece, but the relative portions of the design wouldbe exactly the reverse of the original where wasbrass would now be shell, and vice versa.

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FRENCH FURNITUREThis kind of buhl was called contrepartie, some-times by English cabinet makers I have heard thetwo parts called "positive" and "negative," or

distinguished as " male " and " female " ; and I re-member a very amusing incident in which a ladyasked me for the explanation of the puzzling remarkwhich a certain connoisseur colonel, a friend ofhers, had made, by telling her that her buhl cardtable was only the " feminine " kind. Of coursethis kind of buhl, which the French more appro-priately term the contrepartie, is of much less valuethan thepremierepartie, or first selection of the cutsheets of the design.The importation of different choice woods fromthe West Indies no doubt encouraged the pro-duction of marqueterie furniture. A rich darkWest Indian wood, something like Rosewood,darker than mahogany, was called bois du roi, or" Kingwood," because it was favoured by the king.A yellowish and striped veneer was called "tulip"wood because its pretty variegated appearancesomewhat resembled the colours of the commontulip. Holly-tree wood stained different colours,Citron, Coromandel, Brazil, Zebra wood, Sandal,and other fancy and variegated veneers, were usedto give colour and variety to the marqueterie en-richment of the furniture of the time.The designs were numerous and diverse; some-times the veneers of the same wood were placeddifferent ways of the grain or figure, so that thefour sections of a panel would have the figurepointing towards the centre, the outer edge of thepanel being banded by a different, generally adarker wood, with a key pattern or other designas a framework. The panel would sometimes


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREcontain a trophy of musical instruments, a basketof flowers, or a landscape. Riesener, one of thefirst dbenistes of the time of Louis XV and hissuccessor, affected a box-pattern marqueterie as agroundwork of some of his pieces. He also madesome of his beautiful cabinets in three compart-ments, the centre one slightly projecting and havinga panel inlaid with a vase of flowers, while the sidecompartments slightly receded and were orna-mented by the lozenge-shaped squares or diamondswhich were a favourite form ofdecoration with him.

Lacquered panels and boxes had been broughtfrom China and Japan by collectors and merchants ;these were taken to pieces and parts mounted intothe furniture of the period, but as there was con-siderable difficulty in procuring the lacquer fromTonking or Fouchow, the clever French craftsmanwas not long before he contrived to produce asimilar article, and this he used in the panels ofhis tables, secretaires, and commodes. Mountingin gilt bronze completed the ornamental enrich-ment of the furniture of the Louis Ouatorze period.These mounts are of dignified and restrained de-signs; the broken scroll is a characteristic orna-ment, the curves are graceful, and generally thework is stately and massive ; slabs of rare marblesand of Egyptian porphyry surmounted some ofthe sumptuous pieces.

The Regency PeriodAfter the death of the Grand Monarque, asLouis XIV was called, a style for decoration andfurniture came into vogue termed Ptpoque de laR-

gence. It marks a change which took place during32


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FRENCH FURNITUREthe infancy of the grandson of the late king, thecurves and scrolls are more free, and a character-istic form of ornamentation is the frequent intro-duction of the heads and busts of women with thehead-dress of the period, made in gilt bronze, andenriching the marqueterie commodes, tables andcabinets of the time.

Louis QuinzeAbout this period, and during the reign of LouisXV the manners and customs of the French

aristocracy underwent a change; it was the age ofthe Boudoir rather than of the Salon de R&eption,with smaller rooms, in which people lived andtalked, and naturally there was smaller and lesscumbrous furniture. The family of Martin madetheir famous Vernis Martin panels, enriching themore fanciful furniture of the period, metal mount-ings became more ornate and highly chased andfinished, and towards the latter part of the reigndecoration andwood-work became rococo and over-ornate, and design, which in the time of LouisQuatorze had been dignified, became debased byredundant and excessive ornament, a salient fea-ture being the conventionalized curled endive.

Caffieri was the most famous mounter in bronzeof this period, and was largely employed by Kingand Court. His designs were quaint, but somewhatrococo, introducing the Chinese mandarin anddragon, the pagoda and other eccentricities intohis scheme of ornamentation. Monkeys playingwith a skipping rope, and other odd and curiousconceptions, gave to his designs a fanciful andgrotesque effect, but possessing great merit by

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREreason of the vigour and spirit of the work. Anypiece of furniture mounted by Caffieri now realizesan enormous price, but copies of his designs, withthe exception of those made by first-class makers,lack all the merits of his original work, and areonly frivolous and rococo pieces of metal enrich-ment, appealing to those who like plenty of orna-ment, but are not too critical as to its quality.As the habits of French society became moresocial and less formal, the fashion of furniturefollowed suit. Instead of the stately fauteuil ofLouis Quatorze,we have the word chaise as a dimin-utive of chaire coming into vogue, and in place ofthe tapestry covering of Beauvais, with representa-tions of a boar hunt or the chase, we have the loomsof Aubusson or of Gobelins, furnishing the smallerand more domestic subjects for tapestry coverings.La Fontaine's fables, bouquets of flowers, repre-sentationsofcourtlygentlemen and charming ladiesconversing or dancing, are the subjects for thechaises, the fauteuils, the canapes, and bergeres ofthe period. The canapt was a sofa or settee largeenough to hold three persons, as distinct from thecauscuse, which only accommodated two. Thebonheur du jour, a little cabinet table suitable fora lady's room, came in about this time. Thecartonniere, a table with an arrangement for thestorage of papers; the escritoire of a lighter de-scription than formerly, the chaise-longue, and otheruseful and decorative articles were made duringthis reign. Our own comfortable English sofa, the"Chesterfield," has no counterpart in French fur-niture; and the chaise-longtie is the nearest ap-

proach to a lounge.The canapt, or French sofa, is by no means a34


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREluxurious seat, being to all intents and purposesan upholstered settee, which, however beautifuland valuable its tapestry covering, would not restthe tired owner, like our own English sofa.

FAUTEUIL OF LOUIS XV PERIOD, CARVED AND GILT FRAMECOVERED WITH AUBUSSON TAPESTRYA French suite of furniture of this period com-

prised the canape', two or four fauteuils or arm-chairs, and four or six single chairs, or chaises.The accessory furniture would be the above-men-tioned chaise-longue, a pair of bergeres, which wereeasy chairs with padded arms, and perhaps someelegant footstools with carved and gilt frames.

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FRKXCH OCCASIONAL TAHLKS WITH GILT MOUNTSLOUIS SKI/K


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FRENCH FURNITURELouis Seize and Marie Antoinette

It is not until the beautiful bride of the Dauphin,Marie Antoinette, had made her influence a power

FAUTEUIL OF LOUIS XVI PERIOD, CARVED AND GILT FRAMEWITH AUBUSSON TAPESTRYover fashion, that the taste for the frivolity andexcess of ornamentation was checked. A severertone was made to prevail in matters of taste, indress, in decoration and in furniture. The cabrioU

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FKKNCH FAUTKUILS, CARVED AND GILT FRAMES WITH AUBUSSON TAPESTRYLOUIS SEIZE

FRENCH MARQUKTERIE COMMODE HY RIESENERLOUIS SEIZE


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FRENCH FURNITUREwere the fashion of the day, replacing the lavishuse of the rococo scroll, and the curled endiveornament of the latter part of the Louis XVperiod.

The DirectoryA great deal might be written about the beautifulfurniture of Marie Antoinette's time, and in my" Illustrated History of Furniture " I have devotedmore space to this important period of French in-dustrial art; but for the purposes of this slightreview we must press on.The great Revolution brought about a changein the style of furniture as in everything else. Be-tween the period of those terrible tragedies whichmarked this great historical catastrophe and thatof the First Empire, there was a period known asthe Directoire. The style of this time was markedby a mixture of the lines of the period which hadjust passed away, and an affectation of the classical-ism of ancient Rome. We find torcheres of tripodform with a serpent coiling round the centre sup-port ; clocks and candelabra the supports of whichare seated griffins; the same mystic emblem of anold world mythology serves as the support of atable, and Caryatides figures stiff in posture, formthe pilasters of cabinets. These are some of thecharacteristic ornaments of this period of taste.The plainer or more domestic furniture of simplemahogany, or of white painted wood, was notmaterially altered from the Louis Seize designs;the metal mounts, if any, would be a little morestiff and formal, but they would scarcely be dis-tinguishable from those of the previous style, unless

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREmarked by some detail which showed this classicinfluence. The reader will remember that the yearswere renumbered and the months renamed by theNational Convention, which was to destroy mon-archies and set up republics in their place. Natur-ally we find some evidence of this pseudo-classic-alism in the decoration and furniture of the shortlife of Directory government.

A FIRST EMPIRE CHAIR

The First EmpireThen followed the Napoleonic period. As firstConsul and afterwards as Emperor, Napoleon Iloved to pose as Caesar; his portraits by Canova

in marble represent him as a Roman Emperorcrowned with a garland of bay leaves ; and in warand politics the role of a Roman conqueror seemsto have possessed him. The imperial stamp is on40


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FRENCH CHAIR AND SOFA OF THE FIRST EMPIRE PERIOD


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FRENCH FURNITUREeverything, and we find the idea of copying themodels and shapes of antique Greece and Romedeveloped and more pronounced than during hisconsulate. In 1798 Buonaparte, as the general ofthe Directory,had fought the battle of the Pyramids,and this gives us a date for the introduction of thesphinx and other Egyptian ornaments into Frenchdecorative art ; later on we find this Egyptian in-fluence, together with the Greek and Roman orna-ment, paramount. Stiff-winged figures holding gar-lands of victory, their feet close together like thoseof the Egyptian bronzes; animals' feet adapted toornament the legs of chairs and tables; the conven-tionalized honeysuckle ornament, which originatedin Egypt and was adopted by Greece, used as afrieze for table or cabinet ; these are all favouritedecorative emblems of this time. The furnitureitself was generally made of simple but richly-figured Spanish mahogany, stiff in form and classicin type; mahogany columns formed the legs oftables, and had capitals and bases of gilt bronze.Stiffly-draped figures of Terpsichore or her sisterMuses, winged female figures, garlands, chariots ofRoman conquerors or eagles, Roman fasces, griffinsor sphinxes were salient ornaments. Lions' headsformed the handles and their feet adorned thebases of furniture. Whatever difficulty there maybe in deciding between some of the earlier styles,there need not be much hesitation in assigningFrench furniture of this type to that of the latetime ofthe Directory or to that of the First Empire.There is one great merit that this rather aggressivekind of furniture possesses, and that is the excellentquality of the work itself: cabinet work, chasing,gilding, all are good of their kind. The more


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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREordinary and domestic furniture followed the linesof the richer descriptions. Instead of the mounts

SSLA MASSIVE CARVED AND GILT CHAIR OF THE FIRST EMPIRE,DESIGNED BY LECONTE

being many and rich, they were fewer and lessornate, sometimes made of carved wood instead ofmetal, and painted a colour to imitate green bronze.

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FRENCH FURNITUREThe coverings of the chairs and sofas of the periodcorresponded, and carpets, curtains, and also thedecoration of walls and ceilings. Red, green andyellow silks embroidered or woven with wreaths,lyres, or the conventionalized honeysuckle in silverand gold were suitable for the richer kinds of seats.The carved and gilt furniture was particularlysplendid, and some of the massive throne-like chairswe still occasionally find, seem to remind us of atriumphant Marechal of France during Napoleon'ssuccessful campaigns.The Palace of Fontainebleau, about forty milesfrom Paris, is very rich in specimens of the bestkind of Empire furniture, it was furnished byNapoleon in the days of his prosperity.Since the First Empire there has been no pro-nounced style in French furniture. As fashion haschanged it has been the mode to reproduce HenriDeux or Louis Quatorze, Louis Quinze or LouisSeize. Military expeditions and conquests have,from time to time, left their mark, as when theTonking campaign caused the revival of a tastefor Chinese models and shapes for furniture. Black-wood cabinets, tables and chairs were inlaid withmother-of-pearl and carved with fantastic designs;and later on there was an Algerian and Tunisianinfluence on some of the more fanciful articles offurniture, but the different epochs of taste whichI have briefly referred to in this chapter are thosewhich are the classic styles for French furnitureand decoration.

ReproductionsThe almost fabulous prices which within the lastquarter of a century have been given for genuine

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREexamples of the best kinds of French furniture ofthe different styles reviewed in this chapter, havecaused a great demand for copies and reproduc-tions, and I now propose to add some notes aboutthese. They may be roughly divided into threeclasses : I. Those made to deceive the purchaserand to be passed off as genuine; 2. Those whichare ordinary reproductions of furniture of the style;and, 3, Reproductions by the first Sbenistes orcabinet makers and bronze artists of Paris, madenot for the purpose of deception, but producedeither in the execution of orders from wealthyamateurs, who want exact replicas of the finestspecimens, which, being national property, cannotbe purchased ; or else as tours de force for thepurpose of exhibition, or for sale to those who, un-willing or unable to pay several thousand poundsfor a bureau or a commode of the epoch, are yetwilling to give some two or three hundred poundsfor a well-made piece of the best workmanship,correct in every detail as to design and faithfullyreproduced from the original.In the chapter on " faked " furniture I have saidsomething about the first-named kind of reproduc-tion, and in the last chapter of this book, containingsome hints and cautions to the collector, I haveadded some remarks. With regard to the secondclass, they might again be subdivided into good,bad, and indifferent. If the reader wishes to havedecorative furniture of the style he prefers, he mustuse his discretion in endeavouring to select thatwhich is least pretentious, the nearest to the original,and that which is most free from the meretriciousshowy splendour which renders the cheaper kindsof imitations of good old French furniture so ob-

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FRENCH FURNITUREjectionable. It is quite possible to purchase forvery moderate sums,good honest furniture with thegraceful lines and curves of the Louis XV style,or the simpler modesty of the more severe MarieAntoinette period, but the selection should be madefrom those not too generously mounted or too lav-ishly inlaid.

It is about the third class that I feel I may bedoing my reader some service in offering advice.Some of the reproductions of Boulle's work, of thecabinets and tables by Riesener, David Roentgen,Pasquier, Carlin, Leleu, Cressent, and others (afairly complete list of whom has been given in my" History of Furniture"), are really works of art.If the reader has the means to buy, and the kindof house which will accommodate such beautifulspecimens of the cabinet-maker's art, I would re-commend them as an excellent investment ofcapital. They have been made by such mastersas I have named earlier in this chapter, andneither pains nor expense have been spared toproduce the best results. As time goes on andhighly-skilled labour becomes more and morecostly, such pieces as I am referring to will ac-quire a much greater value, especially as, if care-fully preserved, they are allowed to acquire theimproved tone that time gives to well gilt bronzeand fine marqueterie.Many of these rich pieces are only suitable forlarge mansions, since they have been copied fromthe originals intended for the salons of the kings,or their ministers and favourites, but some are ofsmaller and more modest proportion's, and are ex-cellent and most desirable acquisitions. They canonly be found in the hands of the chief dealers,

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREas they are necessarily costly, but they can be ob-tained at a fair price, and to my mind are muchcheaper than the commoner copies produced ingreat quantities and sold for small sums.

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CHAPTER IVITALIAN FURNITURE

The Renaissance influence Rome and Naples Romanmosaic Florentine work Marble mosaic, pietra dura, marblein "set" patterns Venetian influenceand work Venetian glass,carving and gilding, figure work and methods of enrichmentMilanese cabinet work and inlay Ebony and ivory furniture,Certosinawork LaCertosa di Pavia The influence ofPompeiion French and English design Marqueterie furniture Generalcharacter of Italian furniture Methods of/gilding Reproduc-tions of the past twenty years Italian Exhibitions.

IN the chapter on furniture of the Renaissanceit has been shown how, towards the end of thefifteenth century, a radical change came over Italiandesign, subsequently influencing in turn the de-signers and manufacturers of every Europeancountry, and I have attempted, in the case ofFrench, Flemish, and English furniture, to givesome description of the way in which each countryadopted this new force from Italy, and then after-wards developed its own traditions under the in-fluences of local personalities and special circum-stances.The present short chapter will deal more in de-tail with the furniture of Italy itself, and in doingso it should be borne in mind that, although in theearlier centuries for Italy one might almost writeRome, this is by no means the case with the Italyofthe fifteenth, sixteenth,and subsequent centuries.

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREThe Gothic taste predominant in Germany, Eng-land and France, until it was gradually supersededby the Renaissance, was never a Roman style,although in other parts of Italy it reigned supremein the carved-wood furnishings of cathedrals andchurches, and also in the very limited furnitureof the palace.

Rome and NaplesThere is little to help us to determine what wasthe style of domestic furniture in Rome, but itwould appear that both in the Empire City and in

Naples, the designs of everything of an orna-mental character had developed from the antiqueGreek forms adopted by the early Romans; thento a mixture of Classic with Byzantine, and after-wards to Renaissance. The Museum specimenspreserved to us of these early times, are such asshow these changes. The chairs of Dagobert, ofSt. Peter in Rome, and, later, of the tripods, lamp-stands, bedsteads and couches from Pompeii, stillin the museum of Naples, all corroborate this view,and one can only imagine that the more ordinaryfurniture followed similar lines in more modest andless costly materials and workmanship. Mosaicwork in marble had been in vogue from the periodof ancient Greek art, and there are many specimensin the Naples Museum. That particular kind ofmarble enrichment which we now recognize asRoman mosaic, differs from the Florentine variety,inasmuch as the design of the former is composedof infinitesimal portions of the material made intoa pattern, the divisions between the tiny particlesbeing so fine that they can only be noticed by the

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ITALIAN FURNITUREaid of a magnifying glass. In the Florentine worknoticed presently, the design is made up of muchlarger pieces

of marble, and is bolder and moreeffective. Both kinds of mosaic were applied tofurniture.

FlorenceAs the seventeenth century advanced, we finda school of decoration in vogue that is termed

Florentine, and in all probability the kind ofmarble mosaic work which is so well known asFlorentine, originated in the city of the Medici.When the famous collection of Hamilton Palacewas sold in 1882, there were several examples ofthis gorgeous and over-decorated furniture, inwhich plaques of marble formed the fronts of doorsor drawers, and columns of lapis lazuli supportedthe cornices, so that there was little wood to beseen; metal frames inclosed the mosaic plaques,metal-chasedcapitalsand bases finishedthecolumns,and thewhole effectwas exceedinglyrich and hand-some. A favourite design of this inlaid marble wasa bird on a sprig, or some fruit or flowers, generallyin a panel. From this kind of mosaic work with aflat surface, the designers of Italian furniture de-veloped the enrichment of their cabinets by anothermethod of ornamentation in marble and stone,known by the name ofpietra dura, in which differ-ent descriptions of agates and cornelians, marblesand coloured stones, were cut and arranged in suchdesigns as a vase holding fruit and flowers, or thebouquet or group of blossoms without the vase.This pietra dura work was in high relief on thepanels of the cabinet, and gave a sumptuous effectto the piece of furniture. Marbles cut into small

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HOW TO COLLECT OLD FURNITUREshaped pieces were also prepared by being groundto the substance of veneers and used to ornamentthe frames of chairs in patterns more or less geo-metrical, so that only sufficient of the black woodor ebony was visible, as sufficed for a frameworkof the marble. The same taste provided slabs ofthis marble mosaic for the tops of large centretables and for consoles and occasional tables. Itwas against the canons of good taste, for surelysuch combinations ofwood and marble could neverbe quite satisfactory, and, like all such crazes andfashions, it has had its day. When occasionallyfurniture of this kind comes into the market, theprice which it realizes is small compared with itsgreat costliness.

VenueVenice, too, may be said to have had a particularschool of its own. The merchants of this import-ant commercial city were in the sixteenth century

trading extensively with the East, and the richtextiles they imported were admirably suited forcovering carved and gilt furniture. In some ofthe sumptuous furniture at Knole, and in the ratherdilapidated settees which are still to be seen atHolyrood Palace, also in the Duke of Buccleuch'sPalace of Dalkeith, and other mansions containingseventeenth-century furniture, one can trace theinfluence of Venetian carving and gilding in the X-frame chairs and stools, covered in costly materialswhich either came from the Levant or from thelooms of Genoa, Venice, and other manufacturingItalian or Flemish cities. Venice, too, was the greatcentre of ornamental glass manufacture, the glass

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VENETIAN CARVED BELLOWS IN WALNUTLATE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

VENETIAN CHAIRS AND ST

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