THE NEO-CLASSIC MOVEMENT   471
ITALY
Italian Directoire furniture was copied from the French, for
France set the standards of taste in Europe at this time. However,
the Italian designers employed the Classic motifs such as the lyre,
acanthus, scrolls, and flutings in a more lavish manner than the
French. Italian Empire furniture faithfully copied the French.
In fact, this style was so pleasing to upper-class Italians that it cofi-
tinued in fashion during most of the nineteenth century, although
Napoleon fell in 1814. The furniture was chiefly walnut, which
was the most plentiful wood in Italy.
SPAIN
Spanish Directoire and Empire furniture was made for palaces;
provincial products were not affected by this French style. Ex-
quisite metalwork, decorative nail heads, and inlay were the dec-
oration. Upholstery materials were heavy and richly colored.
ENGLAND
The English Regency is the period when George IV was regent
for his insane father, George III. However, the Regency style
began about 1793 and continued to the beginning of Victoria's
reign in 1837, Although the English disliked France and French
politics, their furniture designers copied the French Directoire and
Empire styles. By this time original furniture designing had ceased
in England. The furniture was interesting, however, in the early
part of the period, but at the end it was coarse, grotesque, and ugly,
lacking proportion and comfort.
Regency furniture was dark mahogany or rosewood, or painted
black and touched with gold paint. The fret and the Prince of
Wales feathers were favorite motifs in ornamentation. Typical
Regency pieces were sofas with flaring curved lines in legs and
backs, cross-legged stools, chaises longues, four-legged console
tables mounted on very thick bases, three- or four-legged pedestals
holding urns or marble busts, and huge sideboards and bookcases
with temple fa9ades. See page 88 for a modern Regency room.
The walls were of plain, lively colors. Broad pilasters, wide flat
cornices, flat arches over doors and recesses, and black-and-white
marble floors in important rooms were typical features.