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English Furniture Designers

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Eighteenth Century

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English Furniture Designers

of the

Eighteenth Century

by

Constance Simon

London
A. H. Bullen

47, Great Russell Street

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CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

TO MY DEAR PARENTS

I DEDICATE THIS
BOOK

PREFACE

IN the present volume I have endeavoured to trace
the history of English furniture from the reign
of William and Mary to the early years of the nine-
teenth century. The illustrations (most of which
have not appeared before) present choice examples
of the Queen Anne School, the brothers Adam, the
Chippendales, Sheraton, Shearer, and Hepplewhite.
I have not reproduced any fanciful designs from
the illustrated catalogues issued by eighteenth-cen-
tury cabinet-makers, but have preferred to give
illustrations of pieces that were actually made and
are to-day the cherished possessions — by inherit-
ance or purchase — of time-honoured families or dis-
criminating collectors.

My thanks are especially due to the Earl of
Harewood for allowing me to reproduce excellent
specimens of the art of Robert Adam and the
great Chippendale from the collection at Harewood
House, Yorkshire. In the most generous manner
Sir Henry Hoare, Bart., Mr. James Orrock, Mr.
Burghard, Mr. J. E. Schunck, Mr. James Ivory,
Mr. Sidney Letts (for whose help I cannot be
sufficiently grateful), Mr. Alfred Davis, Mr. Stenson

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PREFACE

Webb, and the late Mr. S. T. Smith allowed me
to make illustrations of their finest pieces. To Mr.
Guy Dawber, whose knowledge of the minutiae
of the subject is unsurpassed, and to Mr. Dan.
Gibson I am much indebted for assistance in the
technical portion of the book. Mr. James Orrock's
views on old furniture, in Chapter XIII, cannot
fail to be of interest.

For the biographies many new facts have been
gleaned from parish registers, the records at Somer-
set House, and other original sources. The careers
of the second and third Thomas Chippendale have
been traced to their close ; while the identity of the
hitherto elusive Hepplewhite is for the first time
satisfactorily established. In collecting the bio-
graphical material I have received valuable help
from Mr. Gordon Goodwin.

November ; 1904.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTION xv

I. THE QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL .... i

II. THE CHIPPENDALES 21

III. MATTHIAS DARLY 39

IV. THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL .... 52
V. THE BROTHERS ADAM 79

VI. THE ADAM SCHOOL 96

VII. HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE.
STOURHEAD, BATH, AND ROWTON

CASTLE, SALOP 106

VIII. THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL . . . 121

IX. THOMAS SHERATON 137

X. THE SHERATON SCHOOL 147

XI. LACQUER-WARE 166

XII. . OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES v. . 179
XIII. HINTS TO COLLECTORS AND OPINIONS

OF AN EXPERT 191

GLOSSARY OF TERMS 207

APPENDIX 209

INDEX . 211

IX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG.

TO FACE
PAGE

Gallery of Harewood House, Yorkshire

Frontispiece

I. Queen Anne Court Cupboard 6

II. Queen Anne Carving 6

III. Drunkard's Chairs ......... 8

IV. Country-made pieces 10

V. Country-made pieces 1 1

VI. Desk and Chair — Queen Anne 6

VII. Matthias Darly — portrait 44

VIII. Chippendale Chairs 62

IX. Chippendale Armchair 62

X. Chippendale Gothic Chairs 62

XI. Petit-point Chair and Screen 65

XII. French-Chippendale Chair 65

XIII. Chippendale Settee 66

XIV. Irish-Chippendale Sideboard 66

XV. Chippendale China Cabinet 68

XVI. Detail of same 68

XVII. Hanging Cupboard 68

XVIII. Chippendale Gothic Bookcase ..... 68

XIX. Mahogany Bookcase 70

XX. Coin Cabinet 70

XXI. Chinese-Chippendale Group 70

XXII. Chippendale Card-table and Frame . . .72

XXIII. Chippendale Dining- table 72

xi

Xll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO FACE

FIG. PAGE

XXIV. Chippendale Clock 76

XXV. Chippendale Door ........ 78

XXVI. Robert Adam — portrait and signature 95

XXVII. Adam Chair 101

XXVIII. Adam Side-table 102

XXIX. Adam Globe . 104

XXX. Dining-room, Harewood House. . . 112

XXXI. Side-table, Harewood House , . . 114

XXXII. Inlaid Writing-table, Harewood House 116

XXXIII. Adam Mirror, Harewood House . 116

XXXIV. Door, Harewood House 116

XXXV. Chippendale Table, Adam Mirror,

Harewood House 116

XXXVI. Hall Lanthorn, Harewood House . . 118

XXXVII. Chairs, Stourhead 120

XXXVIlA. Chippendale Mirror, Rowton . . . 120

XXXVIII. Shearer Cabinet, Hepplewhite Chairs . 127

XXXIX. Hepplewhite Chair 128

XL. Hepplewhite Warden's Chair . . . 128
XLL Hepplewhite Sideboard, Grinling Gib-
bons Mirror 134

XLII. Sheraton Chair 152

XLIII. Sheraton Bookcase 152

XLIV. Sheraton Bookcase 154

XLV. Sheraton Sideboard 154

XLVI. Sheraton Kidney-table and Chair . . 152

XLVII. Sheraton Writing-desk 156

XLVI 1 1. Painted Cabinet Writing-table ... 156

XLIX. Inlaid Writing-cabinet 156

L. Pouch-table 159

LI. Drinking-table 159

LI I. Dressing-table, — Sheraton . . . .162

LI 1 1. Sheraton Clock, Table, and Chair . . 164

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xni

TO FACE
PAGE

FIG.

LI V. Lac Corner Cupboard and Mirror, Sheraton

Table 177

LV. Lacquer Cupboard 177

LVI. Lacquer Cabinet 178

LVII. Cabinet that belonged to George III. . . 203

LVI 1 1. Pergolesi Side-table 205

LIX. Pergolesi China Cabinet 205

LX. Pergolesi Cabinet 206

LXI. Pergolesi Chandelier 206

INTRODUCTION

IN Norman and Plantagenet times, except in the
houses of the nobility and the very wealthy,
domestic furniture was but sparingly used in Eng-
land. Until the second half of the sixteenth century
most examples show rude and coarse workmanship,
and were designed more with a view to utility than
beauty; the chief decorative woodwork of the
Middle Ages was made for ecclesiastical purposes
only. In the Elizabethan age there was a great
artistic development, entirely attributable to the in-
fluence of the Italian Renaissance. The old feudal
houses, which had depended chiefly upon tapestry
and other wall hangings for their decoration, soon
began to change their appearance, and oak panel-
lings, friezes, screens, and furniture, were embel-
lished with elaborate and beautiful carvings.

The Restoration brought us into close connec-
tion with the continent, and about that period furni-
ture was sent to this country in large quantities from
Flanders, Holland, France, and Spain. This foreign
work was largely copied, and for a time, at least,
English productions possessed no very distinct
national character of their own. It was then that

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xvi INTRODUCTION

chairs first came into general use. Until the middle
of the seventeenth century they had been reserved
only for the master of the house or for some honoured
guest, and persons of less importance had to accom-
jnodate themselves with stools, benches, or settles.1
With the accession of William and Mary in 1689,
came a new development in furniture design.
Many influences contributed to this result, but at
first the most potent was the great popularity ac-
quired by Dutch models. The style of furniture in
the Netherlands was very striking and character-
istic, and when historical reasons favoured the
general acceptance of Dutch types in this country,
our native cabinet-makers were quickly stimulated
with a desire to improve upon the foreign methods.
It was thus that the great artistic movement
of the eighteenth century began. Through a long
cycle of years, dating from about 1689, various
styles, each having distinctive features, followed
one another in quick succession, and though the
different classes or schools of design naturally
overlapped, they may be approximately divided
into the following periods:

The Queen Anne School, about 1689-1730.
The Chippendale School, about 1730-1770.
The Adam School, about 1760-1790.

1 Settles were simple chests, to which upright backs and some-
times arm-pieces were added.

INTRODUCTION xvii

The Hepplewhite School, about 1785-1795.
The Sheraton School, about 1790-1806.

It is unfortunate that there is no large national
collection of English furniture. There are a few fine
pieces of eighteenth-century work at the Victoria
and Albert Museum, but the best examples can only
be seen in large country houses, or in the hands of
dealers and collectors here and in America. The
numerous books of design issued as trade catalogues
(there is almost a complete collection in the Museum
Art Library, South Kensington) show the different
styles of the eighteenth-century craftsmen, and are
thus a valuable guide to a knowledge of their work.
But with the exception of Robert Adam's designs
and some of Hepplewhite's, very few sketches in
the illustrated catalogues were actually carried out.
Most of the drawings were probably intended merely
to show what could be executed if required. " Book-
pieces " — made to order from the plates — are very
rare, and the greater part of the old furniture now
in existence must have been produced from designs
which have disappeared.

In the present volume, the illustrations have
all been taken from actual examples, and wherever
possible the pieces chosen represent the finest or
most characteristic types of each school.

ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

OF THE

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

CHAPTER I

THE QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL (ABOUT 1689-1730)

ANNE" is the name generally given
to the furniture produced from the time of
William and Mary till the opening years of the
reign of George II. The changes brought about by
the prevalence of French fashions were observable
early in the eighteenth century, but the style which
finally culminated in that known as " Chippendale,"
retained at first so much of the " Queen Anne "
character, that it has been found simpler to regard
the furniture of the transitional stage as " late Queen
Anne" and "early Chippendale," than to treat the
early Georgian types as a separate class by them-
selves.

One of the most important characteristics of the
Queen Anne period was the general adoption of the
Dutch "cabriole" or bent-knee leg. In country dis-
tricts Jacobean square-framed chairs and tables still

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2 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

lingered on for another fifty years, but in towns and
cities bombd curves superseded the old rectangular
shapes, and walnut veneers and delicate carving were
employed for decoration. Whenever supports of
any kind were needed, the cabriole leg was nearly
always used; the bulbous Dutch outlines were soon
toned down, and in the types of this period we find
once more a national school, truly English in feeling
and workmanship.

Another influence, that of the architects, is rarely
taken sufficiently into consideration. The mouldings,
ornaments, and outlines of furniture were largely
based on the researches and work of those who
erected our public and private buildings. Architects
designed the panelling, chimney-pieces, corner cup-
boards, console-tables, and many other details of
the apartment. They were men of much learning
in their profession, and early in the eighteenth
century began to publish books of decoration for
the interior of houses. Their ideas were freely bor-
rowed by the cabinet-makers ; the architectural char-
acter of bookcases, cabinets, and many other pieces,
goes far to prove — indeed, proves conclusively — that
it was primarily due to the architects that the great
bulk of our beautiful eighteenth-century furniture
ever came into existence.

At the close of the seventeenth century Sir
Christopher Wren was rebuilding St. Paul's and
many of the city churches, besides erecting a large

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 3

number of houses and other edifices throughout the
country. His style of work was based upon classical
models very freely interpreted and modified by his
own personality. He established a school of crafts-
men, among whom Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721)
stands out pre-eminent as a carver and modeller.
Thus Wren's school — with Gibbons as chief ex-
ponent— combined with Dutch influences, produced
a distinct class of English carving.

The woods which formed the carcass or founda-
tion work of Queen Anne furniture were walnut,
oak, and chestnut, the finer qualities of walnut being
reserved for veneers. At the beginning of the
eighteenth century mahogany was but sparingly
used; the first large importations of this timber
from Cuba, San Domingo, and Honduras, were
made about 1720 — at the opening of the Chippen-
dale era. Ebony and the native woods, holly, pear,
box, and yew were all employed for banding and
inlay: marquetry (in intricate geometrical or leaf
patterns) which had long been fashionable, was
generally carried out in light yellow upon a walnut
ground. The shading was obtained by placing the
grain of the wood in various directions, also by
means of a hot iron, hot sand, or artificial stain-
ing. Dutch furniture was inlaid in a very similar
manner, but the work was invariably coarser than
the English.

Lacquering and painting in black, gold, and other

4 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

colours was also a favourite mode of decoration.
Not only inlaid panels, but whole pieces of furniture
were ornamented in this manner by English and
Dutch workmen who imitated Chinese methods.

Brass-work in the form of hinges, key-escut-
cheons, handles, angle plates, nails, and ornaments
were hardly ever seen on English furniture until
this period. Now, however, metal-work began en-
tirely to supersede the old wooden knobs and
handles.

CHAIRS

The chairs were very quaint in form with wide
seats, high backs, broad splats — or centre panels —
and cabriole legs. This bent-knee leg in various
shapes was common to many parts of the continent,
and in all probability was of very ancient origin.
It may have been derived from the goat's leg, to
be seen in the furniture of primitive races. Another
characteristic of Queen Anne chairs — the lion's or
eagle's " claw-and-ball " foot — has been traced to the
"Dragon's claw and pearl " of the Chinese; a similar
device was employed by the early Egyptians, and
is found on the base of old Roman tripods. The
various European races adopted the antique de-
signs, and varied them according to their national
taste; the English, too, borrowed from country
after country, but ended by nationalizing every type.
And here lies the great interest and attraction of

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 5

our eighteenth-century schools; the inspiration was
taken from many different sources, yet the hand
of the English craftsman can hardly ever be mis-
taken.

In some examples of Queen Anne chairs the
carving was slight, consisting of a leaf, shell, or
scroll on the top rail; the same design appeared
on the " knee " of the leg, on a " drop " ornament on
the front of the seat and on the under-framing. In
these simple chairs the splat was a solid, curved
and hollowed or spoon-shaped panel, sometimes
with a small piercing, and often decorated with
marquetry. The side uprights almost invariably
curved into the top rail, and the stuffed seat was
let into a rebate or groove. There were, besides,
numerous examples of elaborate carving in which
the ornamental details were principally drawn from
the architectural decorations of Gibbons and his
fellow craftsmen. The splat was pierced with various
openings and the spaces were filled in with fine carv-
ing; the whole framework, the legs, and the arms,
were decorated with acanthus leaves, with Gibbons's
favourite riband and forget-me-not pattern, with
cord and tassels, and egg and tongue mouldings.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century mar-
quetry rapidly went out of fashion. The chair-
backs were made lower and wider, and the pierced
splat gradually developed into an open back cut
into wide sections. Dragons, lions, and birds of

6 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

prey were frequently introduced, and the escalop
shell, though still used occasionally, was no longer
the principal ornament. Side and cross under-braces,
which had characterized nearly all the earlier chairs,
were now omitted, and sometimes only a single rail
was employed to join the back legs.

The foot accompanying the cabriole leg was
made in several different shapes, of which, besides
the " claw-and-ball," the conventional "hoof," the
" club," and the " scroll " foot were the chief.

The chair in illustration I is an example of the
earliest Queen Anne style, which came very much
under Dutch influences. It is executed in walnut;
the shaped splat is inlaid with ivory and various
light coloured woods in a floral design. A leaf
pattern is carved on the top rail, and on the " knees "
of the cabriole legs. With the exception of the legs,
the whole frame is inlaid with coloured woods.
This chair is one of a suite once in the possession
of Mr. James Orrock. The design of the marquetry
varies in every piece.

The walnut chairs in group II, formerly in the
possession of Mr. Orrock, are very fine examples of
Queen Anne carving, dating from about the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century.

In chair A the splat is pierced with small open-
ings, and has a little scroll and leaf-carving on either
side. The top rail is ornamented with an escalop
shell, and this is again repeated on the knees.

Fig. i. QUEEN ANNE COURT CUPBOARD.

Fig. vi. DESK AND CHAIR— QUEEN ANNE.

To face page 6.

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QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 7

Eagles' heads appear at the juncture of the side up-
rights and top rail, and also at the extremity of the
arms. The feet are club-shaped, and the upholstery
of the seat is drawn over the seat-frame.

Chair B exhibits Gibbons's influence upon the
cabinet-makers of his day. On the top rail carved
drapery is interwoven with cord and tassels. On
either side a vulture's head is depicted and the claws
of the same bird appear as feet. The side supports
and splats are ornamented with foliage and flowers;
a leaf design is carved on the knees and arms, and a
shell on the front rail of the seat. The lower end of
the splat is formed into two rolling scrolls, and there
is a squab seat.

In the large armchair c, Gibbons's style of orna-
mentation is again noticeable in the flowers of vari-
ous kinds which are intermingled with the carved
foliage. In the centre of the top rail a large shell is
combined with leaves and scrolls. The foot is a
lion's claw-and-ball.

Chair D resembles in size and general outline
the earliest Queen Anne chairs with a solid spoon-
shaped splat, but in this example the whole back is
elaborately pierced and carved. The details are
chiefly acanthus leaves, honeysuckles and scrolls.
There is a large acanthus leaf on the knee and on
the front rail of the shaped cross-stretchers. The
foot is a conventional hoof.

The armchair in figure VI, which is in the

8 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

possession of Mr. Guy Dawber, belongs to the late
Queen Anne period. It is lower and broader than an
average Chippendale chair — the height is 3 ft., the
width of the seat in front, i ft. 1 1 in., depth, i ft. 6 in.
from front to back. The splat is formed of broad
bands representing a scroll-design, the top rail bows
slightly and the protruding corners terminate in a
rolling scroll. There is some delicate leaf-carving
on the top rail, on the knee of the cabriole legs, and
on the arm supports. At the lower end of the splat
are two small carved tassels and a row of forget-
me-nots. The arms end in conventionalized claws
which are further ornamented on the inner side with
roses. The upholstered seat lies in a rebate ; the foot
is an eagle's claw-and-ball ; a single rail joins the
back legs.

The large chairs in illustration III, owned by
Mr. J. E. Schunck, were known as drunkard's
chairs, probably because their large size enabled our
forefathers to repose comfortably therein after an
evening's carouse. The height is 3 ft. i in. (back, i ft.
9% in.); the width of the seat in front is 2 ft. 9 in.,
the depth, i ft. 10 in. The wood is mahogany; the
pierced splat is unornamented, but the top rail has
four scrolls rolling outwards. The arms, also quite
plain, are curiously twisted. The front cabriole legs
have some delicate leaf-carving on the knees, and end
in a spiral scroll.

Though chiefly limited to country districts, "slat-

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QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 9

back " chairs1 were very popular. Three, five, or six
cut and shaped slats — sometimes perforated — ex-
tended from side to side across the upright back.
These chairs had a rush seat, a " turned " foot and
leg, and the side uprights, which were often " turned,"
ended in small rounded terminals. Similar chairs
were made throughout the century, but those of the
later periods were more elegant in form. Both the
slat -back and the picturesque Windsor chairs were
generally carried out in home-grown woods.

Three-cornered chairs, with two splats and a
semicircular top rail, corresponded in their general
details with the ordinary Queen Anne chairs. Illus-
tration IV represents A a large-sized Queen Anne
three-cornered chair, executed in mahogany. It has
an extension-top or headrest, shaped splats, and an
escalop shell carved upon the knee of the front leg.

In B is shown a mahogany armchair with a
spindle-back, a pierced top rail, and a cane seat. It
is one of a set of six, of Westmorland make — date
about 1745. It runs on small lignum rollers which
are fixed in the bottom of the side rails. Chairs of
similar shape were produced about the same period
in other parts of the country. In an old house in
Devonshire, for example, are two beech and syca-
more chairs, painted white, with wooden seats, in
shape exactly like that in the illustration.

The armchair c is also of Westmorland manu-

1 Called in Lancashire " laggan " or ladder-backed chairs.

io ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

facture, and although the Queen-Anne-shaped splat
is employed, the centre panel is supported by two
side rails instead of being joined into the frame-
work of the seat. It is unusual to find a chair of
this type with arms; the single chairs of a similar
style may often be met with in that district. The
date is probably 1735, but may have been much later
in the century, since the old shapes lingered on for
a long time in the country districts. All three chairs
are owned by Mr. Dan. Gibson.

Stuffed-backed and open-backed settees1 — a de-
velopment of the old " settle " — as well as couches,
with headpiece only, were designed to harmonize with
the prevailing style of the chairs.

" Grandfather " stuffed-back chairs had been in
use for some considerable time, many fine examples
date back to Jacobean days. Even at the beginning
of the eighteenth century the legs of such chairs
were often " turned," not cabriole, and had curved
stretchers between them. The coverings were either
tapestry, or velvet and silk brocade. The arms rolled
outwards in a graceful sweep, and many specimens
had well-shaped wings on either side of the back.

TABLES

Tables, in common with every kind of furniture,
went through various phases of evolution. The

1 Also known as Darby and Joan chairs. » £

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QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL n

earliest type of table consisted of a simple board
placed upon folding trestles and removable at will.
At the beginning of the Queen Anne period, how-
ever, fixed table-tops were almost universal, and
were generally supported by heavily "turned " legs.
With the advent of Dutch fashions lighter and more
elegant tables were executed in large quantities.
Flap-tables, round, square or oval card-tables and
small writing-tables were all in general use. The
gate dining-table, with its elaborate underframing
and numerous "turned" legs, was a common type in
country districts. But, as a general rule, tables were
provided with cabriole legs either plain or slightly
carved.

Illustration V represents three tables: A and c
are country-made oak tables of the early Queen
Anne period with " turned " legs. They are good
types of the furniture produced in Westmorland,
Cumberland, and North Lancashire about the last
quarter of the seventeenth century. The table B is
of mahogany and of somewhat later date. The
cabriole legs and claw-and-ball feet are beautifully
formed and of fine workmanship: the mounts also
are of excellent finish. The elegant little stool is of
walnut. All four pieces are in the possession of
Mr. Dan. Gibson.

The court-cupboard in group i (formerly in the
possession of Mr. J. Orrock) is an example of the fine
English marquetry in walnut and boxwood, which

12 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

was at its best at the time of Charles II and William
and Mary. The court-cupboard is the old traditional
shape which had been executed, with little alteration
in form, since the Elizabethan period. The doors are
veneered and inlaid with delicate intertwined foliage.
The two sides of the cupboard, the inside of the
doors, as well as the interior drawers and small
cupboard are similarly decorated, but in a somewhat
coarser manner. The same two colours are em-
ployed in a border round the doors, and in the mar-
quetry on the shelves which brace the lower part.
Here, however, the inlay is dark on a light ground.
The ormolu drop-handles are pear-shaped and hollow
at the back.

WRITI NG-TABLES

The square "Scriptor" or bureau writing-desk
with a slanting top, appeared far more graceful upon
its new bandy legs. Another form of writing-bureau
had a bookcase or cabinet top, with doors of glass
or wood, and drawers below reaching almost to the
ground. The interior or well of the desks was fitted
with numerous small drawers and partitions, and
both the outside and inside were often banded and
inlaid.

The desk, illustration VI, in the possession of
Mr. Guy Dawber, is an excellent example of the early
Queen Anne type. The wood is oak, and the inlaid

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 13

centre plaque and stars on the lid are of ebony, box,
holly, and walnut; the banding round the top and
the drawers is of walnut. The interior, of stained
oak, is fitted with six drawers of varying sizes — three
on either side and pigeon-holes in the centre. When
opened the desk top rests on two slides which draw
out. The cabriole legs are very typical of the period ;
the knees form a rolling scroll and bulge outwards
and upwards. Legs of this shape seem to afford so
little support to the framework above, that only per-
fection of workmanship can account for the number
of pieces of this type which are still in good preser-
vation at the present day.

CORNER CUPBOARDS

A type of Queen Anne furniture common to
nearly every house was the "corner cupboard."
This was often framed into the panelling and treated
as a structural part of the room. The lower part
had two folding doors, and the upper and larger
portion had a recess of open shelves for the display
of china. These shelves were curved to follow the
shape of the back and were sometimes inclosed
either by a single or double door (glazed or solid).
The top was often finished with a large shell in the
form of an apse and with little or no pediment
above.

Such cupboards designed by architects, together

H ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

with the panelling and other fittings, were after-
wards copied by the cabinet-makers and adapted to
form a separate piece of furniture. A Queen Anne
corner cupboard is illustrated in the chapter on
lacquer work.

CHESTS OF DRAWERS

The chest had, from time immemorial, been put
to a greater number of different uses than any other
article of furniture. It had served as a receptacle
for clothes or goods, as a seat, a table, a desk, and
even a bed. A chest of drawers — that is, a chest to
which one or two long drawers were added below
— was a variation adopted in England during the
seventeenth century; it was made to stand on small
square or rounded supports. The Dutch " high
boy" or "tall boy" was first introduced in the
Queen Anne period, and these quaint articles were
executed in slightly varying styles throughout the
eighteenth century. The pediment, mouldings,
handles, escutcheons, and supports are the main
guides as to the date of manufacture. The shape
was that of an upper set of drawers placed upon
and fixed to a lower set. In the earliest examples
the lower part usually had only one long drawer,
or three small ones placed side by side, and the set
above — which was finished with a moulded or (later)
a broken scroll pediment — ended at the top with

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 15

two small drawers also side by side. The orna-
mentation often consisted of a large single or double
moulding upon the frame around the drawers. The
brass handles were either solid pear-shaped drops,
generally hollowed at the back, or small drooping
handles forming a section of an oblong ring. Some
chests had six "turned" legs with stretchers between,
and others had four cabriole legs with two " turned "
drops on the lower edge of the front framework.
The dressing-tables, now known as "low boys,"
were made to correspond with the chests of drawers,
and consisted practically of the lower part of a
"high boy" with a flat table-top. The toilet-glass
was rarely attached to the dressing-table.

CLOCK-CASES

About 1680 an important change took place in
the shape of clock-cases. It was at this time that
the pendulum, in connection with weights and chains,
first came into general use for the regulation of
clocks. The pendulum required protection, and a
long wooden case was devised for the purpose. All
the early clock-cases had been made of metal, and it
was only at the time of the Restoration that wooden
hoods were provided for " bracket clocks." Both tall
clocks and bracket clocks were divided into "hood,"
"waist," and "base," and these main features were
retained throughout the eighteenth century. The

16 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

details of moulding and ornamentation varied ac-
cording to the fashions of the day, but the beautiful
outlines and proportions seem to have been deter-
mined upon at a very early date.

The grandfather clocks of the Queen Anne
period were tall and severe; narrow in the waist
and without any strongly marked base. The hood
was treated in the classical style, with architrave,
frieze and cornice (later cornice only), supported by
columns — often twisted — at the angles, and was
sometimes surmounted with a domed top. The door
in the trunk was square-headed ; it was finished with
a plain half-round moulding, and a small glass,
circular or oval, was let into the woodwork just
opposite the pendulum. The ornamentation con-
sisted of brass work, perforated or repoussd (later
fretted wood), in the frieze; brass balls or cups
attached to the hood; and engraved or repoussd
cupids and foliage on the spandrels (or angles of the
face). Until the middle of the eighteenth century
the numerals were rarely cut directly on the dial
itself; an hour-circle of silvered brass was fixed to
the face of the clock, and on this the figures were
blackened to contrast with the chased or engraved
brass groundwork below. The hands of the early
clocks were elaborately shaped, carved, and pierced.
At first the framework around the dial was square,
and the name of the maker was inscribed in Latin
immediately below it, or, a few years later, on the

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 17

lower portion of the clock-face. The frame of the
dial-circle next received an arched top, and the maker's
name was engraved in English, after about 1715, on
a name-plate within the arched space. Some clocks
were marked with the name of the owner, or had a
motto or crest in lieu of a name. In many instances
dolphins appeared on either side of the name-plate.

Bracket clocks also had a square case, and the
earliest examples had a dome top of perforated
metal with a handle in the middle. When an arch
was introduced into the upper part of the dial-frame,
the dome gave place to a bell-shaped or curved top.

The wood of both grandfather and bracket
clocks was usually oak, or oak veneered with beau-
tifully figured walnut and inlaid with rich marquetry.
A great many clocks also had their oak cases covered
with English lacquer-painting.

MIRROR FRAMES

Hanging-mirrors with wooden frames first came
into general use in Italy during the sixteenth cen-
tury. These frames began to be imitated both in
England and France about the close of that century,
but it was not until the time of the Restoration
that decorative mirrors were produced in any quan-
tity in this country. Our early wood-frames were
architectural in character and were generally used to

c

i8 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

inclose a space, such as the panel over a chimney-
piece. Occasionally the gilded frames of Charles II
period were almost exact facsimiles of the stone-
work frames (with entablature and supporting
pillars) which encircled church memorial tablets
of the time. The only difference was the orna-
mentation, the memorial frames having skulls and
bones instead of shells, festoons, or masks. The
early Queen Anne frames were of much simpler
construction, often consisting only of a narrow
moulded margin of walnut, either square or oblong,
and shaped, at first at the top, later both top and
bottom. The glass was nearly always bevelled, and
the outline of the bevel followed exactly the grace-
ful curves of the inner frame. Owing to the small
size of the early Vauxhall plates, the mirrors were
frequently divided into two separate pieces. The
upper panel was then finished with a dull surface,
figures or patterns were cut in the back of the glass,
the coating of mercury showed through from the front,
and an effect was thus produced which resembled
intaglio or gem-cutting (see illustration LIV). In
other examples two or three plates were framed
together and the joints were hidden by bands of
metal or strips of coloured glass fastened with
metal or glass rosettes.

The wide frames carved by Grinling Gibbons
had a very distinctive character, they were executed
in lime or other soft woods and gilded. The chief

QUEEN ANNE SCHOOL 19

ornaments were fruit, flowers, and knots of ribbon
carved in bold relief.

Plate XLI shows a Gibbons mirror-frame of
beautiful workmanship. It is of gilded limewood,
size 3 ft. 3 in. high by 2 ft. 9 in. wide. The carvings
of flowers and fruit are wonderfully realistic. They
are executed in high relief and deeply undercut.
An animal's head appears in the centre of the upper
margin, and on the corresponding portion of the
lower border is a cluster of flowers and some fruit ;
many other objects are wreathed around the frame,
and form graceful lines and curves. Grapes, pears,
figs, and pomegranates are the most noticeable
among the fruits, and the chief flowers are the rose,
the sunflower, and the convolvulus. In low relief
are numberless leaves and small forget-me-nots.
The mirror itself is an old piece of Vauxhall glass,
without a bevel at the edge. This frame belongs to
Mr. Alfred Davis.

The French Huguenot workmen, who fled to
England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
in 1685, greatly stimulated the taste for frames in
the style of Louis Quatorze. There are many ex-
amples of the work of these refugees at Hampton
Court Palace. About this time, also, a quantity of
French mirrors were imported ready framed and
glazed with plate-glass from the works at St. Go-
bain.

Even before the beginning of the eighteenth

20 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

century frames covered with old English lac were
by no means uncommon. Illustration LIV shows
a mirror thus ornamented.

About the time of the first two Georges, mirror-
frames of gilded pinewood or mahogany were made
in many different shapes. The one perhaps most
often met with consists of a flat, wide margin cut
into fantastic outlines. A long-beaked bird, which
appears to be flying through a hole in the top, is
introduced by way of ornament. The glass, often
bevelled, has a simple moulding round it as well as
a small inner member, which is carved and gilt.

CHAPTER II

THE CHIPPENDALES

THE eighteenth century is still so near to us
that it seems hard to imagine that men of
any note at the time could have lived, worked, and
died without leaving any record of their existence.
Yet greatly as we appreciate the work of the de-
signers of this period we know but little of the
personality of the workers. They were seldom con-
sidered worthy of notice by chroniclers in their own
day, and their books of design contain very few
autobiographical details. It is only by a diligent
search of old newspapers, registers, and wills that
it is possible to obtain any information on the
subject of their history. Those craftsmen who did
not publish their designs, and others who did pub-
lish, but omitted to sign their drawings, cannot
now be identified even by name.

J. T. Smith in his gossiping volumes on " Nolle-
kens and his Times," 1828, gave an amusing account
of a neighbour and contemporary of Chippendale's,
a cabinet-maker named Cobb, who was frequently
employed by George III. He lived at No. 72, St.

21

22 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Martin's Lane, and was said to have brought into
fashion a table with a rising desk for drawing,
writing, or reading while in a standing position.
He was " perhaps one of the proudest men in Eng-
land, always appeared in full dress of the most
superb and costly kind, in which state he would
strut through his workshop giving orders to his
men."

But of Chippendale himself Smith was unable
to give any character sketch, though his reference
to him is not without interest. "The extensive
premises, No. 60," he writes, "were formerly held
by Chippendale, the most famous upholsterer and
cabinet-maker of his day, to whose folio work on
household furniture the trade formerly made con-
stant reference. ... As most fashions come round
again, I should not wonder, notwithstanding the
beautifully classic change brought in by Thomas
Hope, Esq.,1 if we were to see the unmeaning scroll-
and shell-work with which the furniture of the reign
of Louis Quatorze was so profusely encumbered,
revive, when Chippendale's work will again be
sought after with redoubled avidity, and as many
of the copies must have been sold as waste paper,
the few remaining will probably bear rather a high

1 " Anastasius " Hope, of Deepdene, near Dorking, author of
" Household Furniture and Interior Decoration" (1807), a folio for
which he made most of the drawings, and " procured classic models
and casts from Italy."

THE CHIPPENDALES 23

price." After the lapse of about fifty years, during
which a great decadence took place in furniture
design, Smith's prophecy came true; Chippendale's
book and Chippendale's work were sought after
and treasured by countless lovers of the beautiful.
Smith's words are of especial value as an additional
proof of the high position Chippendale held among
the craftsmen of his day.

Besides this notice and a passing allusion in
Sheraton's " Drawing Book," the only reference to
the great cabinet-maker within fifty years of his
death appears to be that in George Smith's
"Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Guide" (1826):
" The importation of it [French taste] into England
changed the whole feature of design as it related to
Household furniture. This taste continued almost
unchanged through the reign of George II and the
earlier part of George III. The elder Mr. Chippen-
dale was, I believe, the first who favoured the public
with a work consisting of designs drawn from this
school with great merit to himself however defective
the taste of the time might be."

Details of Chippendale's life and personal sur-
roundings can only be gleaned from fragmentary
passages scattered here and there in records of his
time. Many new facts, however, have thus been
brought to light which enable us to follow his
career and that of his son with more accuracy than
has been possible hitherto.

24 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

The first Thomas Chippendale known to history
was a carver and picture-frame maker of consider-
able standing in Worcester during the last half of
the seventeenth century. There his son, the cele-
brated Thomas Chippendale (Chippendale II) was
born and spent a part of his early life. Both father
and son settled in London before the year 1727 and
Chippendale (I) continued his former work with
great success in the metropolis. According to
Redgrave (" Dictionary of Artists of the English
School," 1878), Chippendale (II) first found em-
ployment in London as a joiner, and, by his own
industry and taste, became in the reign of George I
a " most eminent cabinet-maker and carver." At
Christmas, 1749, Chippendale (II) took a shop in
Conduit Street, Long Acre, and in 1753 removed
to the larger premises, No. 60, St. Martin's Lane,
with which his name was henceforth to be associated.
It is not known when Chippendale (II) started
business on his own account, but by the time of his
removal his trade had already grown so extensive
that he was obliged to take over. the three houses
adjoining his own. The rent and taxes on the four
houses amounted to a considerable sum for that
period. The Parish Register for 1755 records an
appeal he made against an overcharge on his rates.
On i Qth May, 1748, a marriage is recorded in the
Parish Register of St. George's Chapel, Mayfair,
between Thomas Chippendale and Catherine Red-

THE CHIPPENDALES 25

shaw of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.1 The identity of
this Thomas Chippendale with the cabinet-maker
is extremely probable. Chippendale is by no
means a common name and it is unlikely that
there were two Thomas Chippendales living in the
same parish. Following the example of a few en-
terprising competitors, Chippendale resolved to
publish his designs, and by the aid of a number of
subscribers, he was enabled to issue his original
sketches in book form. " The Gentleman and Cab-
inet-Maker's Director" was what would now be
known as a trade catalogue, but with its long and
totally extraneous introduction dealing with the five
orders of Architecture, it evidently aspired to be
quite an elaborate work on houses and their furni-
ture. The book was announced among the " New
Publications " in the " Gentleman's Magazine " for
April, 1754:

"Thomas Chippendale published the 'Gentle-
man and Cabinet-Maker's Director,' /V 8. o." 2

There were one hundred and sixty engraved
plates. The list, nf snhsr.Hhers appended to the
" Director " proves that Chippendale had patrons
and customers in all classes of society. From the
preface — an address to his customers — something
of the writer's character can be inferred. Pushing,

1 Register (Harleian Society).

2 It may be mentioned that the present value of this edition is
about £2$.

26 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

energetic, conscious of his superiority over his
rivals, full of the self-assurance due to a knowledge
of his powers, an excellent business man — such is
the rough sketch of Chippendale as he showed him-
self in this, the only writing of his that now exists.
Genius as he was from an artistic point of view it is
evident that in general culture and education he was
not above the class to which he belonged.

His book of designs attrartpH mnrh attention,
the public appreciated his work and seems to have
bought largely, but the true greatness of his pro-
ductions was not recognized until nearly a century
after his death. It is a curious fact that the greater
portion of the furniture bearing the impress of his
genius, or known to have been designed and made
in his shops, is not illustrated in any of the three
editions of the " Director." The elegant ball-and-
claw foot which is seen so constantly in connection
with his chairs and tables is conspicuous by its
absence, nor does this design appear in any of
the illustrated works published by his contempor-
aries.

Furniture is now made for the most part in large
factories, machinery taking the place of the skilled
craftsman. Designers leave to others the execution
of their ideas. It is not the object of this chapter
to discuss the technical qualities of the Chippen-
dales' work, but it must be remembered that they
themselves not only designed but carved much of the

THE CHIPPENDALES 27

best furniture that left their workshop. Their work-
men who were not employed as draughtsmen made
every chair, table, etc., by hand, under their masters'
guidance.

About four years ago a curiously carved doorway
was left temporarily standing near the site of No.
60, St. Martin's Lane, though the premises them-
selves had been pulled down. This doorway once
formed the entrance to the Chippendales' house and
shop. Even that last relic of the old days has now
disappeared, and the home of the famous cabinet-
makers has given place to a pile of tall red-brick
buildings.

The year 1755 brought calamity to the Chippen-
dale shop and its inhabitants — a calamity which
may have threatened its very existence.

''Saturday, April 5th, 1755.

" A fiie broke out in the workshop of Mr. Chip-
pendale, a cabinet-maker, near St. Martin's Lane,
which consumed the same, wherein were the chests
of twenty-two workmen." — Gentleman s Magazine.

Such is the simple announcement, and unfor-
tunately no further details appeared in the daily
papers. Nevertheless even this meagre account of
the fire is of interest, as it shows the condition of
the Chippendale business at that time. There is no
means of ascertaining how far the damage went,
nor whether the shop itself was burned. All that

28 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

can be known for certain is that the disaster had
no permanent results.

A second edition of the "Director" was pub-
lished in 1759, and a third, with 300 plates, in
1761 (price -^i is.). The bookseller, T. Becket, of
Tully's Head, in the Strand, advertised the second
edition among his new books in the daily papers.
Thus:

"Sept. 4. 1760.

" Chippendale's elegant designs for Household
furniture."

A more elaborate advertisement appeared in 1766:

" Household Furniture — being the completest
book of the kind extant.

"This day is published in one large volume, folio,
price ^3. o. CL bound. The 'Gentleman and Cabinet-
Maker's Director:' containing 200 Copper Plates
elegantly engraved from designs of the most useful
and ornamental Household Furniture: consisting of
Chairs, Beds, Bookcases, Library Tables, Cabinets,
Organs, China-Cases, Candlesticks, Pier-glasses,
Chandeliers, Girandoles, Chimney-pieces, Stove-
grates and other Ornaments in the newest and most
fashionable taste.

" By Thomas Chippendale, Cabinet-Maker in
St. Martin's Lane. Printed for the Author and sold
by him at his House in St. Martin's Lane."

THE CHIPPENDALES 29

In the year 1760 Chippendale was elected a
member of the Society for the Encouragement of
Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. This useful
body, generally known as the Society of Arts, was
founded in 1754, and is still flourishing. At the end
of the eighteenth century it enrolled many of the
greatest men in the world of art, literature, and
science. In a small volume containing the auto-
graphs of the earliest members, Chippendale's name
appears beside those of Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Edward Gibbon, Richardson, Dr. Johnson, David
Garrick, Horace Walpole, the Earl of Bute, and
John Wilkes. The Society, when Chippendale was
elected, had its quarters in the Strand, near Beau-
fort Buildings. The house it now occupies in John
Street, Adelphi, was built by Robert Adam, also
a member, in 1774. One cannot help speculating
as to the terms upon which Chippendale stood
with his fellow members. However certain of his
powers as a craftsman he must have felt ill at ease
in the company of men of learning and distinction.
He continued in the Society until his death.

In 1766 a change took place in the Chippendale
firm, owing to the death of a partner, a Scotsman
named James Rannie.1

1 Rannie died very well-to-do. His will, as "of the parish of
Saint Martin in the Fields . . . upholder and cabinet maker," was
made I7th and proved 2ist January, 1766 ; it is registered in the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 32 Tyndall.

30 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

On Monday, roth February, 1766, the follow-
ing announcement appeared in the " Public Adver-
tiser":

"Whereas by the Death of Mr. James Rannie
late of St. Martin's Lane, Cabinet Maker & Up-
holder, the Partnership between him & Mr. Thomas
Chippendale, dissolved at his death & the Trade
will for the future be carried on by Mr. Chippendale
on his own account. All Persons who have any
Claim on the said Partnership are desired forthwith
to send in their Accounts up to the 20 January in-
clusive, to Mr. Thomas Haig at the House of Mr.
Chippendale. And all Persons indebted to the said
Partnership are desired to pay the Same to the said
Thomas Haig, who is lawfully authorised to receive
the Same."

In the following month a great sale of stock was
held. Between March 3rd and 24th this sale was
advertised nearly every day in the " Public Adver-
tiser " as follows:

"To be sold by Audion by Mr. Pervil.

" Some Time this month on the Premises in
St. Martin's Lane.

" All the genuine Stock in Trade of Mr. Chip-
pendale and his late partner Mr. Rannie, deceased,
Cabinet-makers, consisting of a great Variety of
fine Cabinet-Work, Chairs and a Parcel of fine

THE CHIPPENDALES 31

seasoned Feathers ; as also all the large unwrought
Stock consisting of Mahogany and other Woods in
Blank Boards and Wainscot, of which sale timely
notice will be given in this and other Papers.

11 The Business to be carried on for the future
by Mr. Chippendale on the Premises upon his own
Account."

On Monday, lyth, the day of the auction was
fixed for the 24th of that same month, and some
further items were added to the original announce-
ment:

"A great Variety of fine Mahogany £ Tulup
(sic) Wood, Cabinets, Desks, & Bookcases, Cloaths
Presses, double Chests of Drawers, Commodes,
Buroes, fine Library, Writing, Card, Dining and
other Tables, Turkey & other Carpets, one of which
is 13 feet by 19 feet, Six fine Pattern Chairs with
sundry other Pieces of curious Cabinet Work. . . .

"The whole to be viewed on Friday next to the
Hour of Sale (Sunday excepted) which will begin
each day punctually at Twelve.

" Catalogues to be had the Days of Viewing at
the Place of Sale & at Mr. Pervil's, the Upper End
of Bow Street, Covent Garden."

The Sale appears to have lasted three days,
during which time it was advertised daily.

The exact year of the death of Chippendale (II)

32 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

has been ascertained for the first time from the fol-
lowing entry in the burial register of St. Martin's
Church:

" November 13. ... Thomas Chippendale."

No age is given. The fact that a man so busi-
ness-like and practical should have left no will
seems to point to a death of some sudden nature.
Appended is the entry relating to his estate in the
Administration Act Book, Prerogative Court of
Canterbury :

" December 1779
"Thomas Chippendale.

"On the sixteenth day, administration of the
goods, chattels and credits of Thomas Chippendale,
late of the parish of Saint Martin in the ffields in
the co. of Middlesex, deceased, was granted to Eliza-
beth Chippendale widow, the relict of the said de-
ceased, having been first sworn duly to administer."

Another grant was made in January, 1784, and
from this later record we are able to complete the
account of the Chippendale family. Chippendale (I I)
left four children, Thomas, Mary (spinster), John,
and Charles. If the marriage register at St. George's
betaken to refer to the cabinet-maker, Elizabeth must
have been the second wife. She administered to her
late husband's "goods, chattels & credits" until

THE CHIPPENDALES 33

her death, which occurred previously to 1784. A
certain Philip Davies was then appointed as ad-
ministrator in her place in order to " attend and
confirm proceedings then impending in the Court of
Chancery."

The said proceedings were for the recovery of a
long outstanding debt of the Chippendale firm. The
debtor was no other than the notorious singer and
entertainer, Theresa Cornelys, of Carlisle House,
Soho Square. According to John Taylor1 (of " Mon-
sieur Tonson " fame), she was known at one time
"as the empress of the region of elegance and
fashion." Subscription concerts, balls, and mas-
querades patronized by royalty and half the peerage
were held at her house. These entertainments were
said to be of " unparalleled splendour," but she en-
countered much opposition from the proprietors of
the Italian Opera House and theatrical managers,
and lost money year by year. In November, 1772,
she was declared a bankrupt. For some time before
her death she made shift to live as a "vendor of
asses' milk, trailing a small hand-cart from door to
door"; but she ended her days in the Fleet Prison
in 1797. Upon her bankruptcy she had assigned her
estate and property to Chippendale and various
other creditors. Subsequently it was discovered
that the greater part of what she owned had been
previously mortgaged to a certain Arthur Jones.

1 " Records of My Life" (1832).
D

34 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

The final result of the law-suit between these con-
tending creditors is not known; but since Jones, as
mortgagee, had the prior claim, it seems unlikely that
the Chippendales recovered much of their debt.

On the death of Chippendale (II), his eldest son
succeeded to the business.

The third Thomas Chippendale entered into part-
nership with Thomas Haig, a Scotsman, who had
been bookkeeper to James Rannie, and also one of
executors. Haig probably had no practical know-
ledge of upholstery. Rannie's widow, Grizzle, who
survived her husband for many years, lent Haig
money, which he put into the business. According
to the directories the firm from 1779 to 1784 was
styled "Chippendale and Haig"; but in 1785 Haig
appears as the senior partner. Haig withdrew from
the firm in 1796, and made his will on ist October
of that year. He left many liberal legacies, includ-
ing one of ;£i,ooo to his " very old friend and late
partner Thomas Chippendale." Unluckily these
generous bequests, together with all debts and " in-
cidental expenses," were to be paid, so Haig directed,
" out of the Monies secured to me on several Bonds
of Thomas Chippendale, my Successor in Business,
and to be so paid and drawn out according to the
Tenor of such Bonds." As Chippendale still con-
tinued a defaulter, Haig in a codicil dated i6th
August, 1802, directed his executors to take such
measures for the recovery of the money, immediately

THE CHIPPENDALES 35

after his death, as they might see fit, the legacy to
Chippendale to become null and void unless he
settled within a twelvemonth.1

In 1814 Chippendale opened a shop in the Hay-
market — No. 57 — and for four years carried on the
old St. Martin's Lane business simultaneously with
the new venture. In 1821 he removed to 42, Jermyn
Street. Like his father he was a member of the Society
of Arts; his name appears on the list of members
from 1794 to 1814. George Smith (1826) says of
him that "he was known only amongst a few . . .
but possessed a great degree of taste with great ability
as a draughtsman and designer."

This Chippendale devoted himself not only to
decorative, but to fine art as well, and exhibited
five pictures at the Royal Academy.

In 1784, " A Gang of Gypsies," and "Mirth in
Low Life."

In 1785, "A Watchman," and " An Orange Girl."

In 1801, " Inside of a Prison with the effect of
lamplight."

1 Haig died unmarried 23rd May, 1803, in St. Martin's Lane in
his seventy-sixth year ("Gentleman's Magazine," June, 1803, p.
598). In his will, proved 2nd June following, he described himself as
" of Saint Martin's Lane, gentleman," and desired to be buried in
the vault of St. Martin's church " near to the Body of my late re-
vered and venerable Master Mr. Rannie who lays there interred "
(Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 536 Marriott). His cousin and
one of his numerous legatees, John Haig, cabinet-maker, of the
parish of St. Martin-in-the- Fields, may have been in Chippendale's
business.

36 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

His will, of which the following is an abstract,
was dated from 61, Regent Street, Vincent Square,
Westminster, 2nd December, 1822.

" I being of sound mind, but considering myself
in a dying state give and bequeath to Sarah Wheat-
ley, wife of Henry Wheatley of Regent Street afor-
said,the whole of my personal property of whatsoever
description I may die possessed of, for her whole
and sole use independent of her husband and I
hereby constitute her my sole executrix."1

The will was proved by Sarah Wheatley on 28th
January, 1823.

From time to time the Chippendales received
orders to furnish large country houses, and this
proved a considerable source of profit to them. Chip-
pendale (I I) worked at Harewood House, Yorkshire;
at Lord Poulett's seat, Hinton St. George; at Row-
ton Castle, Salop; and probably at Stourhead, Bath.
In each case documents or bills have been preserved
which prove that the great cabinet-maker was pre-
sent in person to supervise the work.

Chippendale (III) and his men spent some
months at Lord Townshend's country place, Rayn-
ham Hall, Norfolk. In a letter dated 3rd July, 1819,
Lord Townshend informed Chippendale that he
had put the sum of ^1,200, "in payment of work

1 Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1 1 Richards.

THE CHIPPENDALES 37

done," to the cabinet-maker's credit at Messrs. Bart-
lay and Co., bankers, Aylsham.

Some original sketches by Chippendale (II) are
preserved in the Art Library, Victoria and Albert
Museum. Three of the drawings have the subscrip-
tion "T. Chippendale" written in ink at the foot,
and are perhaps the only diagrams now in existence
which bear his autograph signature as designer.
These were the original designs for some of the new
plates in the third edition of the " Director," 1761.

The circumstances under which the portfolio
was presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum
are a sufficient proof of their authenticity. In 1862
Mr. George Lock contributed a number of pen-
sketches by eighteenth-century designers to the
Edinburgh section of the International Exhibition.
Of these, seventy were by Chippendale's contem-
porary, Matthias Lock (the grandfather of the ex-
hibitor) ; and twenty, representing chandeliers, glass
and picture-frames, tables, etc., were by Chippen-
dale himself. When the exhibition was over, Mr.
George Lock's whole collection was sent as a gift to
the Museum.

It is interesting to observe from the amount of
detail given in these diagrams, that Chippendale
did not, as so often asserted, roughly sketch his
ideas and leave to the engraver the task of working
out his suggestions. The drawings are all executed
in Indian ink, a " brass-pen " was used for the out-

38 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

lines and a <( hair-pencil " for the curves and delicate
shading. In many of the Chippendale designs which
are not signed, the names of the subjects depicted
are noted in a handwriting identical with that of the
signatures.

At some time between 1820 and 1834, eleven
plates, without the name of either designer or
engraver, were issued as "Chippendale's Designs
for Sconces, Chimney and Looking-glass Frames,
In the Old French Style," etc. These have lately
been proved x to be a mere reproduction of sketches
by Thomas Johnson. Again, in 1834, John Weale,
a well-known publisher, of No. 59, High Holborn,
brought out another book of supposed Chippendale
designs (if, indeed, he was not responsible for the
first), calling it " Chippendale's One Hundred and
Thirty-three Designs of Interior Decorations in the
Old French and Antique Styles." But it has been
clearly shown that this also was a forgery, since the
drawings were all by Johnson and Matthias Lock.
The signatures of the real designers were stoned
out and that of Chippendale substituted at the foot
of each plate — the object being probably to make
the book more saleable. In 1858-9 a second edition
of this book, with additional sketches, was pub-
lished by Weale as " Old English and French
Ornament."

1 Cf. "Thomas Chippendale," by R. S. Clouston, Part III, in
" The Connoisseur " for September, 1903.

CHAPTER III

MATTHIAS DARLY

AMONG the numerous designers of the second
half of the eighteenth century, Matthias Darly
has a place apart. He devoted himself to two dis-
tinct branches of art, the designing nf ornament
and the drawing- of caricatures. As a designer of
ceilings, frames, brackets, and panels for decorative
carving, he was second to none of the great masters
of the period, and he was equally well known as a
caricaturist and printseller. The greater part of his
productions were etcher^ coloured, or engraved by
his own hand, and in the capacity of engraver he
was employed by Thomas Chippendale.

Owing, no doubt, to Darly's remarkable ver-
satility it has been hitherto supposed that there
were two designers and engravers of his name.
Darly the publisher and caricaturist was held to be
a very inferior decorative artist l and an altogether
different man from Darly the designer of note
(author of the " Ornamental Architect "). After a
careful comparison of style, dates, addresses and

1 To this Darly was attributed " A New Book of Chinese
Designs" (1754).

39

40 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

signatures, it is now certain that the two Darlys
were in fact one and the same person.

During the first part of his career Matthias (or
Matthew) Darly (spelt also Barley) often removed
from one part of the Strand to another — sometimes
his business was carried on at two or three branch
depots simultaneously, but his shops were always
known by the sign of the "Acorn" or "Golden
Acorn." An address was printed on all his publica-
tions, and by tracing him from shop to shop it can
easily be seen that the same class of productions
was issued from each fresh address.

Darly is supposed to have begun life as an
architect, afterwards giving up his profession to
start as a publisher with a partner named Edwards.
His first known publication was an engraved carica-
ture partly coloured by hand, "The Cricket-players
of Europe "(Edwards and Darly, 1741, "The Acorn,"
opposite Hungerford Strand). By the middle of the
eighteenth century a distinct English school of
satirical drawing had come into existence. Shops
were opened for the sale of caricatures, which af-
forded a most profitable trade. Darly in the Strand
and Carrington Bowles in St. Paul's Churchyard
were the best known of these printsellers. Thus, in
a print entitled " Ecce Homo" (1775), a rival pub-
lisher was shown attacking Darly's shop windows
with a cane. Another view of his windows, with their
display of caricatures, was given in " The Macaroni

MATTHIAS DARLY 41

Print Shop " (i 772) ; and in a print dated 1 762, " The
Hungry Mob of Scribblers and Etchers," Lord Bute
was represented as distributing money from the
steps of a portico, while the publisher himself and
Dr. Johnson were among the spectators of the scene.
The importance of Darly's shop at the time is further
shown by J. T. Smith, who, in his entertaining
book " Nollekens and his Times" (1828), wrote of
Richard Cosway, R.A. : "So ridiculously foppish
did he become that Matth. Darly the famous carica-
ture print seller, introduced an etching of him in his
window in the Strand as the ' Macaroni Miniature
Painter.' "

Among the marriage registers of St. George's
Chapel, Mayfair (Register, Harleian Soc.), there is an
entry on ist April, 1750, which records the marriage
of " Matthias Darly and Elizabeth Harold of St.
Martin's in the Fields." This is in all probability a
record of Darly's first marriage.

In 1754 Darly issued his earliest book of decor-
ative drawings. It was entitled: "A new book of
Chinese designs price 4/- (published by Edwards
and Darly and sold by the Authors, first house on
the right Northumberland Court, Strand, and also
in Westminster Hall)."

In the same year Darly engraved jnany nf the
platen in Thomas Chippendale's " Direfonr " It
is known that he and Chippendale were

fn'enrk, and as Darly was an architect, the supposi-

42 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

tion is probably correct, which credits him with
having made the draughts and plans for many of
Chippendale's designs.

Between 1757 and 1763 Darly and Edwards
published a highly interesting series of political
prints. They were issued separately on small cards
and also bound together in book form under the
name: "A Political and Satirical History." Each
year a new edition appeared in which fresh plates
were added to the series.

This history represented accurately the state of
party feeling at the close of George II's reign and
the opening of George Ill's. It might be said to
form a set of illustrations for Horace Walpole's
" Letters," so exactly did it verify the facts and de-
tails there recorded. The habits and peculiarities of
the Duke of Newcastle were vividly portrayed, and
Holdernesse, Anson, Henry Fox, as well as George
Ill's hated favourite, Lord Bute, all figured in some
grotesque form. A number of the best caricatures
were by George, Marquis Townshend, who, under
thenom de phtme " Leonardo da Vinci," passed his
spare time in satirizing his fellow statesmen. Other
acting politicians of the day also contributed to the
volume.1

In 1756 Darly and Edwards removed from

1 The five editions of this book, as well as the spurious copy
issued under the title " England's Remembrances " are in the British
Museum.

MATTHIAS DARLY 43

" Northumberland Court," and returned to the
Strand "Opposite Hungerford." A second address
also: "The Acorn, Ryders Court (Cranbourne Alley),
Leicester Fields," was given in the " History" and
was printed on most of Darly's publications for a
period often years (1757-1767). Mary Darly, evid-
ently the second wife of Matthias, appears to have
been the manager of this branch. She advertised in
the daily papers in her own name as " etcher and
publisher," and from the year 1762 onwards brought
out many well-known caricatures. There is a small
engraved portrait of Mrs. Darly in the Print Room,
British Museum, under the title " The Female
Connoisseur" (February, 1772), where she is repre-
sented as examining a caricature sketch. Another
print (July, 1772) called "The Female Macaroni"1
undoubtedly depicts the same woman. It was pub-
lished by " M. Darly, 39, Strand."

Darly was a member of two Art Societies, " The
Incorporated Society of Artists" and "The Free
Society of Artists " : both 2 had sprung out of the

1 Macaronies came into fashion about 1764 and flourished
between 1770 and 1772. They were young fops — foolish rather
than vicious — who affefted ridiculous costumes. They wore false
hair which hung down to their shoulders in a huge bunch, and
absurd hats that lay on their heads and did not cover them at all.
Their coat-sleeves were very tight and so were their breeches, which
were generally white or striped. The female Macaronies wore huge
towering toupees.

2 A few years after the foundation of the Royal Academy both
societies ceased to exist.

44 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Old Academy in St. Martin's Lane. Their Exhibi-
tions were held respectively in " Spring Gardens,
Charing Cross," and at " Christie's Great Rooms,
Pall Mall."

In the Exhibition catalogue of the " Incorporated
Society " are the following entries :

(1765. M. Darly, Cranbourne Alley.) "A sec-
tion of the Gallery of Mr. Wyndham's house at
Hammersmith."

(1766. M. Darly, Cranbourne Alley.) "Front
of the Mansion House — Section of Ditto," (from
Drawings of Mr. Dance).

(1767. M. Darly, 39, Strand?) "Elevation of
the Duke of Bedford's house in Hampshire."

(1768. Darly, 39, Strand?) "A specimen of
vases and brackets for embellishing print-rooms."

(1770. Mr. Darly, Strand?) " Sketches of vases
& other antique ornaments."

From the Free Society's Catalogue :

(1771. Mr. Darly professor and teacher of orna-
ment, No. 39, Strand?) " Fifty-six vases in imita-
tion of the antique for the different manufacturers
of great Britain, etc."

(1775.) "A profile etching of M. Darly" (carica-
turist), 39, Strand.

Of this likeness of Darly by himself, shown in
illustration VII there are two copies in the Print
Room. Two other portraits are in the Print Room

M DAKLY

V £??£. t Wwr- 39

Fig. VII.

To face page 44.

MATTHIAS DARLY 45

collection of caricatures. One depicts a stout man
wearing a wig, and i s marked " M. Darly, P.O. A. G.B."
(Professor of Ornament to the Academy of Great
Britain) — a title in all probability of his own inven-
tion. It is dated 1771, and also bears the words
" Print-seller and publisher, Strand." This affords
a further proof of the identity of the publisher with
the designer of " Ornaments." The second full-
length portrait (undated) signed on the border
"Matt Darley," shows a placard with the words
" The political designer of pots, pans & pipkins."
Two of his business cards are in the same collec-
tion.

The fashion of designing vases in the classical
style was shown in Darly's publication of 1767,
" Sixty Vases by English, French, and Italian
Masters," and the book was followed by the exhi-
bition, as mentioned above, of similar studies in the
two following years.

A caricature of 1763 gives the publisher's name
and address as " M. Darly, Mays Buildings, Coven'
Garden Place." After this year there is no longer
any mention of the partner Edwards, who had by
this time either died or left the firm. In 1766, Darly
took the house and shop, No. 39, Strand (corner of
Buckingham Street), where he lived for the next
fifteen years.1 In 1777 he had a branch shop at

1 Coloured views and plans of this house as it was in Darly's
time are in the British Museum Library.

46 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

1 20, New Bond Street, and another in 1780 at
159, Fleet Street.

" The Ornamental Architect, or Young Artist's
Instructor," Darly's greatest book of original de-
signs, appeared in 1770-1. A few of the plates had
been published separately as early as 1769. In
another edition (1773) the title was changed to " A
compleat body of architecture embellished with a
great variety of ornaments." The dedication (by
"the author and publisher, Matthias Darly, Pro-
fessor of Ornament, and engraver, 39, Strand") is
in reality a short essay on the art of design :

" To the Artists, Manufacturers & mechanics of
Great Britain & Ireland " — " Ornamental drawing
has been too long neglected . . . this kingdom is
more indebted to a Richd. Langcake (neglected by
his own country, is now teaching the French the
art of design . . . they having not his equal in all
France) than to a Godfrey Kneller and we must
own that some of the present architects of this
nation by their introducing the ornaments made
use of by the ancients, have done more good than
all the other polite artists put together. Witness
the pottery of this kingdom ; there is now perform-
ances in clay which will make the heavy-handed
silversmith blush. ..." He further explained that
his book of 102 plates had " something in it adapted
to every profession."

About this time (1770-1) Darly was the means of

MATTHIAS DARLY 47

first bringing Henry Bunbury's humorous sketches
to the public notice. Several of this famous artist's
drawings were produced in the volume "Twenty-
four caricatures by Ladies, Gentlemen and Art-
ists." The designs in this book as well as the six
volumes of " Characters, Macaronies and Carica-
tures," which began to appear in 1771, were ob-
tained by advertisement. Darly announced that
any satirical drawings that were sent to him should
be " engraved or etched on copper plates and then
published." In 1776, Mrs. Darly (address, 39,
Strand) brought out " Darly 's comic prints of
Characters, Caricatures and Macaronies," by Bun-
bury, Darly, Sandby, Topham and others, price
^4 45., dedicated to D. Garrick, Esq. Two years
later Darly himself advertised that he was about
to hold a " comic exhibition, admittance one
shilling." 1

John Williams, who under the name Anthony
Pasquin was afterwards famous as a dramatist and
miscellaneous writer, studied in his early days in
Darly's studio, for with all his other work, Darly
found time to give lessons in " dry-needle engrav-
ing " and " dry colouring " ; indeed, he often adver-
tised for pupils. He engraved plates for the illus-
trated catalogues of other cabinet-makers besides
Chippendale, and was constantly engaged in design-
ing and executing bookplates (Ex Libris). Among

1 See Redgrave's " Di6lionary of the English School."

48 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

the most interesting of his engravings were the illus-
trations for a quaint book of 1764, "The Savages
of Europe."

Darly was several times brought into close
connection with the political movements of his
time. His zealous partisanship of the famous John
Wilkes is illustrated by two letters given below.
In 1763 he was the means of saving the life of that
popular hero from the would-be assassin, James
Dunn. Darly's letter was read in the Court of
King's Bench, where he appeared to bear witness
to the facts.

"Dec. ;th, 1763.'

" SIR,

" I should not do my duty if I did not
acquaint you that the young Scotch Officer that
wanted entrance at your house is a villain and his
intentions are of blackish dye. I had been in his
company for near four hours. That part of our con-
versation that relates to you, consisted chiefly of
his intentions of massacreing you the first oppor-
tunity and that there were thirteen more Gentlemen
of Scotland of the same resolution, and confederates
of his, who was resolved to do it or die in the at-
tempt. Last night when your trial was over the
Gentlemen at the Coffee-House quitted the room
that I was in (on account of the shouts in the Hall)

1 From "Lloyd's Evening Post and British Chronicle," 9th and
1 2th December, 1763.

MATTHIAS DARLY 49

and left the Scotch Hero & I together but I abruptly
left the room, and went after the people to Great
George Street and on hearing a noise at your door,
I went up, and to my great surprise saw the Scots-
man a-trying for entrance; I knocked and had ad-
mittance, which enraged the hero so much, that he
swore revenge against the servant, and was very
troublesome; when I went out, I heard a Gentle-
man taking him to task about his vowing vengeance
on you or your servant, upon which I told the Gen-
tleman a small part of what I knew, and he put him
in the hands of two Watchmen, and ordered him
to the Round-house, but at the corner of Great
George Street I am told, he was rescued, and ran
away. There was conversation passed between him
and the company that is not safe to communicate
by letter; his principles and zeal make it unsafe for
such an abandoned wretch to be at large. Your own
discretion, I hope, will guide you to prevent any-
thing that may be intended.

" I am, with all respect, Sir, yours,
11 M. DARLY,

" Cranborn Alley,

" Leicester Fields.
" To MR. WILKES,

" Great George Street."

This episode was illustrated in a caricature en-
titled, "The Scotch Damien " (1763, Mary Darly,
publisher).

50 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

The second letter was an address on "General
Warrants."

" No GENERAL WARRANTS

MATT DARLY CITIZEN AND CLOCK MAKER,

To HIS BRETHREN THE WORTHY AND

INDEPENDENT LIVERY OF LONDON

" GENTLEMEN,

"In the Year 1747 a GENERAL WARRANT
was issued from the Secretary of State, to appre-
hend, seize, and take, all such persons, papers, &c.
&c. that the acting messenger then in vogue should
think proper; when (with sundry other persons) the
said messenger did, in my absence, enter my house,
and, by force, did search and examine my premises,
but did not, at that time, take or carry anything
away; but two days after the said messenger did
forcibly enter the said premises, with a great num-
ber of thief-takers and other infamous assistants,
and did take away in bags, part of my stock in
trade, vny private papers, and other things of value,
which goods were never returned; and part of them
was sold by one REELE, an assistant to the Said
Messenger. Upon such treatment and open violence
on the body and property of a CITIZEN, let every
liveryman of London reflect, and make the case his
own; consider his situation, to be torn from his
family, imprisoned for fourteen days without exam-
ination, his property taken from him and not re-

MATTHIAS DARLY 51

turned, roughly handled by an Attorney General,
though honourably acquitted by the judge of the
Court of King's Bench, as he not seeing any cause
of complaint. At that time of day, the bare mention
of a Secretary of State's Warranter the appearance
of a King's Messenger, was the terror of every
Englishman that should chance to come in their
way, they not knowing how to get redress, till the
late valuable and glorious decisions obtained by the
Patriotic and Inflexible MR. WILKES shewed the
People of England, that their Persons, Cabinets,
and Property, was not to be taken away by arbitrary
and nameless GENERAL WARRANTS.

" MATT DARLY.

" No. 39, Strand."

A copy of this document is in the Guildhall
Library. It is not dated, but was probably called
forth by the strong popular feeling manifested on
the occasion of Wilkes's candidature for the County
of Middlesex in 1768. Darly called himself a "livery-
man and clockmaker " — apparently his right to join
the Clockmaker's Guild must have been as a de-
signer of clock cases.

The exact date of Darly's death is not known.
All that can be ascertained is the fact that his shop,
No. 39, Strand, was let to a new tenant in 1781,
and that he issued no caricatures after October,
1780.

CHAPTER IV

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL

NO Queen Anne cabinet-maker appears to have
stood out among his fellows; not one at least
is accredited with having established a school of
design, and the high place accorded by tradition to
Thomas Chippendale must have been due to some
very special skill in the combined arts of carving and
furniture making.

There is much difference of opinion among con-
noisseurs on the question whether Chippendale was
the first to introduce into England the style which
bears his name, or was simply one of the craftsmen
who best succeeded in crystallizing and putting into
concrete form the floating ideas fashionable at the
time. Furniture of a specific school, known as
"Chippendale," was executed all over the kingdom
during a great part of the eighteenth century. A
similar type of decoration was adopted by silver-
smiths, potters, and engravers, and the English de-
signs were widely imitated by contemporary crafts-
men, both in our American and other colonies. In
Ireland, also, much beautiful work was produced

52

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 53

during the Chippendale period, and though no
doubt based on the designs of the London makers,
the Irish style of carving showed marked individu-
ality. On the whole it was heavier in design than
the English, and had a flatter surface.

Chippendale's sketches, published as trade ad-
vertisements in the " Gentleman's and Cabinet-
maker's Director" (1754), contained some of the
most beautiful examples of this " English Rococo "
style, and though there can be no historic proof
that the style itself owed its existence to his genius
alone, it is certain that his sphere of influence was
greater than that of any of his contemporaries. Not
only was he " the most famous cabinet-maker of his
day," l but had the reputation of being one of the
finest carvers also.

During the eighteenth century French taste per-
vaded the decorative art of nearly every country in
Europe, and the more refined influences of Italy
were kept in the background. The mirror-frames
made in England by Huguenot refugees have already
been noticed, and there is no doubt that this work
helped greatly in popularizing French designs. Just
as Dutch models had been modified through the
influence of Wren's classicism and of Gibbons's
carving, so ornamentation of a gay and almost
dramatic inventiveness now began to take the place
of the classic. Before the eighteenth century had far

1 J. T. Smith's " Nollekens and his Times" (1828).

54 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

advanced, the massive Louis-Quatorze decoration
and the more extravagant shapes of the Louis-
Quinze period had grafted themselves upon every
kind of furniture. But Chippendale designs were
composed of many elements, and the great crafts-
men showed their skill by so blending and harmon-
izing as to evolve from a number of different types
a beautiful and architectural whole. The passion
for all things Chinese was greatly stimulated by
the researches of Sir William Chambers (1726-
1796), who returned to England from his travels
in the East Indies, China, and Italy in 1755. His
" Designs of Chinese buildings, furniture, dresses,
machines and utensils," published in 1757, un-
doubtedly gave a great impulse to the Chinese
craze. Yet, before Sir William Chambers began
his work, both Chippendale's "Director" (1754)
and Edwards and Darly's book of Chinese designs,
buildings and furniture, which appeared the same
year, prove that the adoption of Chinese forms in
\ furniture decoration was already very popular in
this country. In France, during the period of Louis-
Quatorze and Louis-Quinze, Chinese devices entered
very largely into the scheme of rococo decoration.
Watteau, one of the greatest masters of the rococo
age, contributed largely to the Chinese movement.
When the English adopted the French style of orna-
mentation at the beginning of the Chippendale era,
the French " Chinoiserie," might very naturally have

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 55

been borrowed also. Yet the large importations, even
in the seventeenth century, of Chinese screens and
cabinets, the popularity of English lacquer-ware in
imitation of the Chinese style, as well as the many
fine collections of Chinese porcelain, all point to an
independent "Chinese craze" on this side of the
Channel. It was imitative of, but not necessarily
copied from, the French.

The Gothic revival, ardently encouraged
Horace Walpole, showed itself in Chippendale fur-
niture by the introduction of pointed curves, tre-
foils, and sunken panels. In spite of occasional
breaks, the Gothic style, from its first appearance
in the twelfth century, was always a radical con-
stituent of English decorative art. And although
"Chippendale-Gothic" had little in common with
its prototype in the middle ages, the recurrence of
certain Gothic motives in work of this and even
of the Adam period was not a mere affected imita-
tion, but a direct consequence of the national tend-
ency to repeat the elemental and original types.
Furniture fanciers are much inclined to depreciate
such chairs and cupboards based on Gothic forms
because curves, arches, and ornaments were intro-
duced which were unknown to any period of Gothic
architecture. Nevertheless, if the general effect alone
be taken into consideration, it will be found that
the finest examples display not only beauty and
originality, but are perhaps more truly national in

56 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

/their ornamentation than any productions of the

^Chippendale school.

Lastly, there was the influence of the architects.
As during the Queen Anne period, so throughout
the Chippendale era the main outlines, especially
of the larger pieces, were entirely architectural in
form.

The principal men who issued books of design
in the Chippendale style were Mayhew and Ince,
Johnson, Manwaring and his fellow members of the
" Society of Upholsterers," Lock and Copland.

J. Mayhew and W. Ince's publication was en-
titled "The Universal System of Household Fur-
niture " (undated). The plates were engraved by M.
Darly, and the letterpress was both in French and
English. William Ince, cabinet-maker, appeared
among the list of subscribers in Chippendale's " Di-
rector " in 1759; and the firm, " Mayhew and Ince,
cabinet-makers, upholders, dealers in plate and
glass, Broad Street, Carnaby Market," was given in
the " London Directory " for I776.1 They and their
sons continued the business until 1812. Want of
proportion and exaggeration characterized a great
deal of their published work; but there are existing
specimens of chairs distinctly traceable to these
makers which exhibit much artistic feeling and a
beautiful flow and movement in the ornamenta-
tion.

1 And 20, Marshall Street, 1781-1812.

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 57

Thomas Johnson, carver, Westminster, was the
author of two books of design (1758 and 1761). His
sketches for frames, girandoles, and clock-cases were
very extravagant types of rococo and Chinese-
Chippendale. They seem to have been intended
to advertise his skill as a carver — to show that no
curves, twists, scrolls and ornaments, however fan-
ciful, were beyond his powers of execution — and
can hardly have represented furniture which was
actually made. A few of his small mirrors and hall-
lanthorns, however, were simple and graceful in
design. Some earlier plates giving sketches of
"Twelve girandoles," dated from "Queen Street
near Seven Dials 1755," were inserted in his pub-
lication of 1758, and these also were less extravagant
than the majority of his work.

Robert Manwaring, chair-maker and cabinet-
maker, issued between 1765 and 1766 two books of
furniture-design. A number of his plates, depicting
chairs of all kinds, were also reprinted in the second
edition of a publication brought out about 1766 by
the " Society of Upholsterers," of which Manwaring
was a member. In spite of many exaggerations, his
style was, as a whole, typical of some of the best
work of the period. He gave numerous drawings of
chairs showing plain, graceful scrolls, conceived very
much on the same lines as those of Chippendale
himself. In the preface to Manwaring's " Cabinet-
maker's and chair-maker's real friend and com-

58 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

panion " (Haymarket, 1765), there is a quotation
from Chippendale's "Director," and Manwaringwas
doubtless considerably influenced by that master.
The Chinese chairs in Manwaring's books were,
in many instances, extremely elegant. A small
bracket between the top of the leg and the front rail
of the seat, may be regarded as especially character-
istic of this designer.

Matthias Lock and H. Copland were the authors
of numerous decorative designs which were pub-
lished between the years 1740 and 1770. In Cop-
land's first book, called "A New Book of Orna-
ments" (1746), he was assisted by Bucksher, and
these two men seem to have been in partnership in
Gutter Lane, Cheapside. The title-page of a sub-
sequent volume of ornaments which appeared in
1752, gave the names Copland (of Cheapside), and
Matthias Lock (of "Ye Swan, Tottenham Crt. Road").
Both were well-known cabinet-makers, and from that
time onwards they continued to publish together.
Their work, which can be studied at the South
Kensington Museum Art Library from a number of
original drawings as well as from their published
books, belonged not only to the Chippendale school,
but also to the later Adam, or Classical school. Their
productions in the Chippendale style, to which class
all their earlier designs belonged, were in many cases
overladen with ornament, the multiplicity of lines
and curves being often quite without meaning. In

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 59

their later work, however, such as " A New Book of
Ornaments" (1768), the frames, girandoles, and de-
corations were in purely classical taste.

Matthias Darly, designer, publisher, engraver
and caricaturist, like Lock and Copland, identified
himself, as far as decorative art was concerned, with
both the Chinese and the Classical movements of
the eighteenth century. The book of Chinese de-
signs which has already been mentioned, contained
fantastic Chinese ornaments adapted to pier-tables,
frames, and girandoles. The style cannot be de-
scribed as Chippendale-Chinese, for the sketches
in no way resembled Chippendale's treatment of
similar subjects. A few girandoles, and a couple of
mirror-frames, not too overcrowded with detail, are
the only examples worthy of serious consideration
in that part of the book devoted to furniture. The
great value of the publication, as stated in Chapter
XII, lies in the numerous designs suitable for lac-
quer work.

By the year 1766 Darly had abandoned Chinese
ideas in favour of classical subjects. This is clearly
shown by his " Book of Vases," which came out the
following year, and by his magnum opus, "The
Ornamental Architect" (1769), in which the tripods,
mirrors, panels, ceilings, and fireplaces were severe
and chaste, both in outline and decoration. It is
evident that he had imbibed a'll that was noblest
in the classical methods of Adam and Pergolesi.

6o ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

The best work of the Chippendale period was
characterized by dignity, strength, and well-propor-
tioned lines. The carving, though often of a different
type, was quite as beautiful as that of Gibbons and
his school. The greatest attention was paid to the
laws governing the arrangement of masses. A vary-
ing play of light and shade, a soft transition from
one surface to another, and an absence of sharp
angles and raw edges is always perceptible.1 Span-
ish mahogany of the finest quality and curl, dark in
colour and very heavy, was the wood principally
employed as a veneer for every kind of furniture.
The black-brown shade of this timber is very notice-
able ; it was much deeper than that used by later
craftsmen. No inlay of any kind was employed;
carving, fretting, gilding, and a little brass-work
were the only forms of ornamentation. Many speci-
mens of lacquered furniture also belong undoubtedly
to this period. But as such pieces were probably
only constructed in Chippendale workshops, and
decorated elsewhere, they will be considered in a
separate chapter.

CHAIRS

The chairs of the Chippendale era displayed a
taste and individuality of expression which have

1 The ordinary tools used for oak and lime wood-carving would
not cut mahogany ; special highly-tempered blades were therefore
manufactured for working the newly imported timber.

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 61

never been surpassed in this class of work. The
evolution of the chair from the designs in use at the
close of the seventeenth century can be perceived in
the treatment of the splat. First, a shaped panel,
solid or pierced with a small opening; then a larger
opening and more elaborate piercing; next, a divi-
sion of the splat into broad bands or sections.
Finally, in Chippendale chairs the old panel shape,
joined into the framework of the seat, was still re-
tained, but in many cases a finer division of the
woodwork imparted a new lightness and grace. The
backs were slightly lower and broader than those of
the late Queen Anne period, and the side uprights,
instead of rounding into the top rail, usually ended
in a carved and projecting angle. The great beauty
of these chairs consists in the elegance of the back,
for the construction of the lower part often appears
too heavy for the delicate treatment displayed in the
splat.

Several modifications of the cabriole leg were in
use. Some were of Louis-Quinze type, and others
a modification of Queen Anne, with a " ball-and-
claw," a " club," or a " hoof" foot. The square legs
of the period were quite a new feature, and were
sometimes plain or fluted and sometimes elaborately
carved. They were pentagonal, not quadrangular
as would at first sight appear, for the inner angle
was planed off to form a small fifth side. This pecu-
liarity is almost invariably noticeable in the so-

62 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

called square leg of the Chippendale school. The
fact is very little known, but is a valuable guide in
the recognition of a genuine piece.

Whereas most Queen Anne chairs had been
made with a back rail only, or with side rails joined
together by a shaped stretcher in the middle, Chip-
pendale cabinet-makers oddly enough reverted to
Elizabethan and Jacobean models, and in the square-
legged chairs we often find four rails all tied to-
gether. The wide stuffed seat, mostly carried on the
traditional method of being separate and dropping
into a rebate, and the frame surrounding it was
either carved or left plain. Sometimes, however,
the upholstery was drawn over and secured to the
woodwork by closely-studded, brass-headed nails.

The covering is thus fastened down in chair A,
illustration VIII. This interesting example of a
Chippendale chair, with legs in the French style, is
in the possession of Mr. Sidney Letts. The splat is
pierced and carved with foliage, and leaves are also
used to decorate the knee, the foot, and the seat
rail. The wood is mahogany.

Chair B, also owned by Mr. Letts, is of chestnut.
The open-work splat is carved with an elegant de-
sign of leaves, and a conventional flower in the
centre. There is a suggestion of the Gothic arch in
the spaces. The square legs, frame, and braces are
enriched with carved ornaments. The seat in this
example is let into a rebate.

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Fig. ix. CHIPPENDALE CHAIR.

Fig. x. CHIPPENDALE-GOTHIC CHAIRS.

To face page 62.

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 63

Colledtors, following the method suggested by
Chippendale himself, class his chairs according to
the motives which predominate.

Where French influences prevail, the principal
ornaments were: the Louis-Quatorze ribbon-pattern,
or looped-bows ; the curled endive leaf inseparable
from the style of Louis-Quinze ; crinkled shellwork, or
"coquillage," often used on the outer edge of back or
splat ; scrolls of various shapes and sizes, and, in the
earlier pieces, a large shell. Illustration IX shows
an unusually fine example of a mahogany Chippen-
dale armchair, with carving of the rococo type. The
design is chiefly foliage, with a shell in the middle
of the top rail, and a drooping flower in the centre
of the splat and of the deep seat frame. The side
uprights and arm supports are also richly decorated
with carving. The feet are composed of a massive
lion's claw-and-ball.

In Gothic chairs Louis-Quinze ornamentation
was often mingled with Gothic forms. The legs were
generally square. Illustration X depicts two ma-
hogany Gothic chairs which are characteristic types
of this class of work. The chair, with projecting
scroll-corners, is ornamented with carved foliage.
There is also some carved decoration above the
pointed arches, both on the back and arm supports.
The legs are square and fluted, and the seat lies in a
rebate. The outlines of the oval-backed chair are
more undulating than in the last example. The

64 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

front legs are fluted, have carved cross-bands, and
are further enriched at the top — this is most un-
usual— with Gothic arches to correspond with the
chair back.

In Chinese examples the space between the back
uprights was crossed and recrossed by bars and rails,
but Chinese straight lines were often varied by
French curves and ornaments. As a rule a Chinese
back was accompanied by a square leg (often fretted)
in similar style.

Illustration XXI depidts a beautiful Chinese
Chippendale chair once in the possession of Mr.
Sidney Letts. It is of mahogany and is very finely
proportioned. The pierced splat and arm supports
are composed of elegant arches and cross-pieces;
the uprights and top rail are carved and moulded,
and a pagoda-top ornament appears as though rest-
ing on the protruding corners. The centre ornament
of the top rail, and a similar device on either side of
the splat, also represents a pagoda-top. The legs are
in separate parts, joined together by bands ; they are
further ornamented by curved brackets. Both the
arms and the seat frame are plain, and the contrast
this presents to the decorated portion of the chair is
most pleasing.

Upholstered easy chairs were wide and roomy,
and were carved or fretted on the legs, the frame,
and the end of the arms. The exquisite " petit-
point" embroidery used for chair coverings was a

Fig. XI.

PETIT-POINT CHAIR AND SCREEN.

Fig. XII. FRENCH CHIPPENDALE CHAIR.

To face page 65,

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 65

very important feature of the period. The pattern
was generally a checquer design, and was worked
in many-coloured wools and silks on a canvas
ground. The materials were so strong and durable
that the work is often found in a perfect state of
preservation at the present day. In the opinion of
well-known experts, these covers, as well as certain
kinds of silk damask and thick velvet, are the only
examples of upholstery which have been able to
withstand the wear and tear of time. Horsehair or
leather covers, and cane seats, being very perishable,
are probably never " original." The seat coverings,
mentioned in the " Director," were " Spanish leather
. . . damask . . . tapestry and other needlework";
and for ribbon-back chairs, red morocco.

The Queen Anne easy chair, illustration XI, has
a covering of very fine " petit-point " embroidery
set in a beautiful framework of mahogany. The
cabriole legs have a carved shell on the knee, and
are finished with a club foot.

In illustration XII we have a good type of
French Chippendale.

Many of the armchairs, as well as a few tables
and heavier pieces, were fitted with leather casters.
These curious old rollers were formed of wide
pieces of leather or hard wood, with brass mounts at
either end ; they were often sunk so deeply into the
woodwork of the foot as scarcely to protrude beyond
the surface level. It was not till nearly the end of the

F

66 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

century that brass casters, more like those of modern
times, began to be made.

Illustration XIII shows a Chippendale mahog-
any settee, once the property of Mr. James Orrock,
which is fitted with leather casters. The open-work
back is boldly carved with knots of ribbon, tassels,
scroll foliage, and shellwork; the cabriole legs are
also carved. The settee forms part of a suite of eleven
chairs.1

SIDEBOARDS

The sideboard as designed by Chippendale was
merely a serving table or carving board. The stand
consisted of a rail some four or six inches deep,
generally widening in the centre where a lion's head
or coat of arms was carved in relief. The supports
were four cabriole or square legs, the former with
carved, the latter with fretwork ornamentation. In
the majority of examples the top was formed of a
slab of marble which fitted into a groove in the
framing; occasionally, however, mahogany was used
instead of marble. The sideboard of that date thus
provided no storing place for wine or crockery,
though most oak buffets, even in Jacobean times,
had been constructed in the form of a cupboard
or dresser with drawers.

An interesting fact in connection with Chippen-

1 Sold at Christie's, June, 1904, for 1,800 guineas.

Fig. XIII.

CHIPPENDALE SETTEE.

Fig. XIV.

To face page 66.

IRISH CHIPPENDALE SIDEBOARD.

67

dale sideboards is a record in the old books of John
Broadwood, the famous piano maker. The entry
states that in March, 1790, a piano was sold to
"Mr. Chippendale; to be put in a sideboard." It
was by no means uncommon, both in France and
England, to combine a spinet or a piano with some
useful piece of furniture, a writing-bureau being
perhaps most frequently chosen for this purpose.

The sideboard, illustration XIV, owned by Mr.
Burghard, is of especial interest, as it is a fine
example of Irish-Chippendale. The peculiarity of
the carving is its extreme flatness, even the flower-
basket in the middle being in quite low relief. The
festoons of foliage on either side of this central sub-
ject-piece present a very graceful effect. It will be
observed that the leaf ornamentation on the cabriole
legs extends very far down, and that the claw foot
is surmounted by leaves. The side of the table,
hardly visible in the illustration, is enriched with
a large flat escalop shell as well as leaf scrolls and
flowers matching those in front. The whole piece,
including the top, is carried out in mahogany.

Pier-tables were very similar to the sideboard
tables, but rather smaller, as they were designed to
correspond with the width of the pier-glass beneath
which they stood. Bracket console-tables were
often very elaborate in their ornamentation, and
both these and the pier-tables were usually gilded
and burnished.

68 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

LARGE PIECES

Bookcases and cupboards were architectural and
classical in outline, and generally had triangular or
broken pediments. The ornamentation was often
very elaborate, and in many cases was made to form
a part of the construction itself. As in the case of
the chairs, either Gothic, Chinese, or French types
entered into the scheme of decoration, but probably
not in a single instance was an absolute unity of treat-
ment preserved. The cupboard doors were of plain
glass, looking-glass, or wood. The panel or frieze
borderings on all such pieces as well as on chests
of drawers and writing-desks were generally exe-
cuted in low relief. Interlacing ribbons, the twisted
ribbon and rose, the rose and strap, interwoven
leaves, or the egg and tongue, were perhaps the most
usual of these border patterns. Frequently, however,
frets were employed instead. Corners and hanging-
borders were often enriched by carvings in bolder
relief, and, in a few instances, hanging festoons in the
Grinling Gibbons style were made to depend from a
pediment or other prominent part. Carving of this
type is seen in the splendid mahogany china cabinet,
illustration XV, a very rare piece in the possession
of Mr. Sidney Letts. The upper portion is com-
paratively plain except fora leaf bordering and carved
flowers at wide intervals on the mouldings around

Fig. XV. CHIPPENDALE CHINA CABINET.

To face page 68.

Fig. XIV. DETAIL OF CHIPPENDALE CHINA CABINET.

To face page 68.

Fig. XVII.

To face page 68.

HANGING CUPBOARD.

Fig. xvm. CHIPPENDALE-GOTHIC BOOKCASE.

To face page 68.

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 69

the glass panels. But the carved work on the stand
and legs is of quite unusual beauty. The middle
leg and part of the festoon on either side, is shown
in detail in illustration XVI. In the centre is a
crest — that of the nobleman for whom the cabinet
was originally made. Although the flowers and fruit
are deeply undercut, and are treated somewhat after
the manner of Gibbons, there are also distinct traces
of rococo influence, which point to a later date for
this piece than the time of that celebrated carver.
Those who concur with Mr. James Orrock's views,
as stated in Chapter XIII, will be inclined to as-
cribe this style of work to carvers who directly
followed in the footsteps of Gibbons rather than of
Chippendale. The hanging cupboard, illustration
XVII, is of much earlier date than the last example,
and belongs to the late Queen Anne or the earliest
Chippendale era. The shallow carved borders of the
egg and tongue, of the ribbon and rose, and of the
leaf design, are most delicately worked; there are
many who consider such fine borderings to be of
more artistic beauty than all the twists and twirls
displayed in most examples of Chippendale. The
heads on either side of the pediment, and the one
used as a supporting bracket below the cupboard,
are carried out in brass.

The Gothic bookcase, illustration XVIII, is of
solid dark mahogany. The egg and strap mouldings
round the glass doors, which intersect so as to form

70 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Gothic arches, produce a most pleasing effect. This
bookcase, one of a pair, was probably designed for
a Gothic room in which all the furniture was of a
similar type. But even apart from its original sur-
soundings it loses but little of its charm ; there is
something poetically imaginative about this style of
decoration, even though the Gothic is of a debased
type. The fretted cornice is of a different character
from the remainder of the work.

The mahogany bookcase, illustration XIX, is in
the possession of Mr. James Ivory. It is thoroughly
architectural in character, and the broken scroll pedi-
ment, with its open-work carving, is a good example
_ of Chippendale's use of this ornament.

The coin-cabinet, illustration XX, lately in the
possession of Mr. Sidney Letts, has an interesting
history. It was made for Horace Walpole's house
at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (built between
1753-1776), and was sold by auction with the other
contents of that historic mansion in 1842. The
cabinet appears thus in the sale catalogue: "Tenth
day — lot 104. A very handsome carved mahogany
cabinet for coins, pair of folding doors enclosing 60
trays and 6 deep drawers on finely carved antique
frame, locks and key." A further record states that
it was bought by Charles S. Bale for £g gs.

The antique frame above referred to is a mag-
nificent example of the Chippendale school of carv-
ing. The design represents a lion's head in bold

Fig, xix. CHIPPENDALE BOOKCASE

To face page 70.

Fig. XX.

To face page 70.

COIN CABINET.

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THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 71

relief in the middle, grouped with a conventionalized
hollyhock and other flowers. On either side the
outlines are equally fine — here the central carving
is a large rose in full bloom. The feet are lion's
claws.

Small cabinets, hanging shelves, and ornamental
tables intended for the display of china relied mostly
upon Chinese ornamentation for their effect. The
cabinets, small and light in construction, had pagoda-
tops or fretwork friezes, and glass or wooden doors
to inclose the shelves. Illustration XXI represents
a fine cabinet of this type in mahogany. The stand
has a fretted pattern of scrolls and curves, and on the
legs both tassels and Gothic arches are cunningly
introduced. The cabinet itself has a single glass
door with a plain fretted border, and is surmounted
by a deeply-fluted pagoda-shaped top. Secretary
writing-desks, with three or four drawers, were
frequently made with similar china-cabinets above.
The small tables had a carved or fretted border
round the frame, and were often finished with a rim
of pierced brass or woodwork. They were supported
either by a pillar and claws, or by four firm but
slight legs finely carved. Larger tables had flaps
which could be let down, were fitted with drawers
— ornamented with brass handles — and had square
or cabriole legs. The pillar and claw was not used
for large tables until almost the close of the century.
Group XXI includes a folding table: the frame and

72 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

legs are decorated with fretwork; on the legs this
decoration is broken here and there by the intro-
duction of carved foliage.

Card-tables on an extending frame with a fold-
ing top, were lined with green cloth or fancy em-
broidery. The ornamentation of the frame and of
the legs (square or cabriole) was either carving or
fretwork.

The card table, illustration XXII, belonged to
the late Mr. S. T. Smith. The carving around the
frame, as well as on the knee and foot, is of the
most delicate type. The design represents curling
leaves and rococo curves, while the lower border is
composed of crinkled shellwork. The graceful lines
of the legs are worthy of special notice.

Writing-tables were made in many different
shapes, generally with a knee-hole or wide space
which separated a row of drawers reaching to the
ground on either side. Sometimes cupboards were
used instead of drawers, and many very wide tables
were fitted both at the front and back.

DINING-TABLES

The dining-tables, from the beginning of the
eighteenth century and throughout the Chippendale
period, consisted of two centre-pieces with wide
flaps on either side and two semicircular end-pieces,
all four divisions being joined together or separated

Fig. xxn. CHIPPENDALE CARD TABLE AND FRAME.

To face page 72.

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THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 73

at will by means of small brass adjustments. Each
of the two larger portions stood on four cabriole
legs, and the semicircular pieces on two legs only;
the latter, when not in use, were pushed up against
the wall and served as side-tables.

But what, it may be asked, has become of these
old dining-tables beneath which our ancestors were
wont to repose in drunken slumber? They are, in
fact, very rarely met with now in their entirety, for
the various parts have often in the course of time
been separated from one another ; they are thus re-
garded as single tables, and few collectors realize
the original use for which they were intended.

The fine example in illustration XXIII is in the
possession of Mr. Burghard. It is another variety of
a Chippendale mahogany dining-table, the exten-
sion being obtained by means of additional leaves
in the centre. These leaves are intended to be fixed
to the octagonal ends by small rods of brass which
fit into grooves made for the purpose, and are further
supported by an adjustment of the movable legs.
These legs are beautiful specimens of Chippendale's
Chinese fretwork. The whole frieze of the table is
enriched in a similar manner.

Firescreens, single or double, were mostly Louis-
Quinze in style — low frames inclosing fancy em-
broidery on small curved supports. There were also
screens on a pillar and claws elaborately carved
(see illustration XI), besides a few examples which

74 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

were composed of solid masses of carved mahogany
with small glass panels in the upper portion. These
latter were doubtless designed for special rooms and
ornamented in harmony with the general character
of the chairs. In houses where the original Chip-
pendale furniture still remains intact this fact is
very noticeable.

Not only the furniture of the dining-room and
drawing-room, but that of the bedroom also was
more elaborate than in former days. The old shapes
were varied and improved. Toilet-tables for ladies
and shaving-tables for men were well fitted with
cupboards and drawers and provided with swinging
glasses. The bedposts which supported the large
canopy bedsteads were delicately " turned " —almost
the only instance of turning in furniture of this era.
"Tall-boys" became more ornamental and were
often decorated with a swan-necked pediment, open-
work frets and carving. Commodes or cupboards
were sometimes supported by a stand and square
legs in the Chinese style; in other instances the
lower portion consisted of a deep drawer with a
bombd curve. Many plain models of bedroom fur-
niture were illustrated in the " Director," and pieces
are often to be found without any ornamentation
whatever.

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 75

CLOCK-CASES

Clock-cases displayed hardly any carving at all,
and the fantastic designs which were published by
some of the cabinet-makers seem never to have been
executed. F. J. Britten in his " Old Clocks and
Watches " (1897) remarks upon the slight resem-
blance which the clocks illustrated in the " Direc-
tor " bear to those now attributed to Chippendale.
There can be no doubt that the question of the
actual origin of so-called Chippendale clock-cases
is wrapped in the same obscurity as that of other
pieces of furniture. The designs were based upon
the Queen Anne shapes, and displayed the in-
fluence of the prevalent rococo curves and orna-
ments. Chippendale may very probably have been
one of the most popular case-makers, but there
seems little reason to suppose that he alone was
responsible for the special types which bear his
name.

" Pillars and pilasters rising at the front corners
of the case from the plinth to the entablature under
the hood " ; the bases and caps being generally of
metal and the shafts fluted ; a high hood ending in
a pediment finished with two outward curves or
two horn-shaped terminals curving inwards. Such
are the main features noted by Britten as char-
acteristic of Chippendale grandfather clocks. The

76 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

principal wood used was fine, dark mahogany, re-
lieved by pierced frets in the hood and occasionally
by a little carving round the door or at the corners.
Within the space inclosed by the arch in the upper
portion of the dial-frame there frequently appeared
a painted pidlure which by a mechanical contriv-
ance was set in motion. Ships heaving on the sea
were favourite subjects for such decorative paintings.
The mahogany clock, illustration XXIV, has the
characteristic fluted shafts, curved pediment, and
fretted ornamentation of the Chippendale style.
The capitals of the lower columns are of brass. The
face is white enamel, and the hours are painted
black. The maker's name " Sam1 Toulmin, Strand,
London," appears within the arch. He was a mem-
ber of the Clockmakers' Company from 1765 to

1783-

The bracket-clocks often had pagoda-tops and

Chinese fret decoration. In other examples the hood
was plain, and the lower portion decorated with
foliage and similar carved ornamentation.

MIRRORS

Gilded mirror- frames, picture-frames, and giran-
doles were in bolder relief, and required ornamenta-
tion of a more massive character than most pieces
of mahogany furniture. Louis-Quinze repoussd
scrolls and the endless convolutions of the Louis-

Fig, XXIV.

To face page 76.

CHIPPENDALE CLOCK.

THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL 77

Quinze order were combined with pagoda-tops,
Oriental figures, rockwork, dripping water, flowers,
bones bound together, cherub-heads or long-beaked
birds. Large plates of glass were only within reach
of the wealthy classes, and most mirrors were made
up of two or more small plates of Vauxhall glass
framed together. The joints were hidden by minute
pilasters and gilt mouldings, and the bevelled edge,
almost universal at the beginning of the century,
was often omitted altogether. Mahogany and wal-
nut frames in this style are rarely met with un-
gilded.

Chippendale's picture-frames seem often to have
been designed with a view to the picture they were
to inclose. Frames, enriched at the sides and corners
with trophies of war were, according to the " Direc-
tor," intended for a war picture; if emblems of the
sea appeared in the carving, the painting was to be
some nautical subject.

A Chippendale mirror-frame is seen in illustra-
tion XXXIX, and a picture-frame in illustration
XII.

The door in illustration XXV was taken from
an old house in Soho. It is a splendid piece of
carving in the manner of the Chippendale school.
The wood is dark mahogany, and the carving is
executed in relief. The ornamentation on the side
pilasters is of stucco, stained and painted to match
the rest of the work. The broken pediment is en-

;8 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

riched with a design of scroll foliage and egg and
tongue mouldings, and the frieze is left plain. The
pilasters, curiously enough, although alike in their
general proportions, have their capitals and shafts
each decorated in a different way. The panels of
the door itself, however, match one another exactly.
The design represents exotic birds, figures, and fish
amidst flowers, scrolls, leaves, and fruit. The birds
are no doubt adapted from Oriental lacquer-work.

Fig. XXV.

To face page 78.

CHIPPENDALE DOOR.

CHAPTER V

THE BROTHERS ADAM

BY far the largest portion of eighteenth-century
architecture still to be seen in London was
the work of Robert Adam. And though most of
his houses have, during the last fifty years, been
remodelled, or partially rebuilt, even the little that
remains of the original design is sufficient to show
the transformation he wrought in the appearance of
our squares and terraces.

The Adams were a Scotch family of good social
position. Robert, the most famous of the four
brothers — John, Robert, James, and William — was
born at Kircaldy, co. Fife, 3rd July, 1728, and was
educated at Edinburgh University. His father,
William Adam, of Maryburgh, co. Fife, also a dis-
tinguished architect, held the office of King's, or
Master mason in Edinburgh. His mother was
Mary Robertson, of Gladney, co. Fife. William
Adam, the elder, probably gave his sons their first
architectural training. Robert's juvenile drawings,
dating from his sixteenth year, are in the Soane
Museum. Among his early friends were Adam

79

8o ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Smith, William Robertson, Adam Ferguson, David
Hume, and the dramatist John Home. William
Adam, senior, died in 1748, and his son John suc-
ceeded him in his office and also carried on his
business.

Robert, full of ambition and high ideals, deter-
mined to strike out a new path for himself by some
years of study in Italy. Old Roman architecture
appealed to him just as Greek architecture appealed
to James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, who, at the
time of Adam's journey, were exploring the ruins
of Athens. All three sought to find among classic
models the inspiration they required to bring about
a reform in English architecture.

From Robert's sketches at the Soane Museum
we are able to follow him first to France — Nimes
— December, 1754, then to western Italy, 1755, and
to Rome in 1756.

During three years of travel and hard work he
made much progress, but he had not yet attained
the main object of his search. He wished to examine
a private dwelling-house of the old Romans, in
order that he might apply their ideas to domestic
architecture in this country. At that time the
excavations at Pompeii had barely begun, and
at Rome, and indeed throughout Italy, the ruins
were all those of public buildings. Adam therefore
decided that only a voyage to Venetian Dalmatia
would serve his purpose. Accordingly, on i ith July,

THE BROTHERS ADAM 81

1757, he set sail from Venice with the French archi-
tect, Charles Louis Cle'risseau1 and two draughts-
men, and in eleven days arrived in sight of Spalatro.
Magnificently situated, with a great terrace over-
looking the sea — Adam's description is most
graphic — were the remains of Diocletian's palace.
At last he had found what he sought; the noble
ruins were to influence all his future work. The
vast structure, nine and a half acres in extent, or
about the size of the Escurial in Spain, was a villa
residence which the Emperor Diocletian had built
for himself on his abdication in A.D. 305. Within
the inclosure were private apartments, regimental
quarters, and several temples. On the death of the
Emperor the Palace is said to have been used as
a cloth factory, and later the inhabitants of Spalatro
took a portion of the building material of the
original edifice in order to erect a town on the old
foundations. It was thus no easy task which Robert
Adam had set himself — to reconstruct in imagina-
tion all the missing parts.

It has been related that at Spalatro Adam's
sketches were confiscated and he himself imprisoned
as a spy. It is strange that this story should have
arisen, since Robert's own account of his journey
appears in the introduction to his book. This
folio work was brought out in 1764 as " Ruins of

1 Author of "Antiques de la France," Paris, 1778, folio, of
which Part I (" Monumens de Nismes ") only appeared.

G

82 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in
Dalmatia," with engravings by Bartolozzi and others
from the designs of Adam and Cle'risseau, price
£3 105.

The following is Robert's story of his difficulties.
The architects' permit from the Venetian Senate had
not arrived, and the Governor of Dalmatia, being
unaccustomed to the visits of strangers, thought
that under pretence of taking views and making
architectural plans they were actually surveying the
fortifications. Accordingly he sent an officer to com-
mand Adam ' ' to desist. " Fortunately the commander-
in-chief of the Venetian forces, a great lover of the
arts, happened to be in the town, and was able to
interpose on Adam's behalf. The artists were allowed
to continue their work and the only precaution taken
by the Governor was the appointment of an officer
to attend them each day. By dint of great industry
the sketches were all completed in five weeks.

The next biographical note to be found among
the volumes at the Soane Museum is a drawing
marked " Done since my return to England — 1758,"
and signed Robert Adam. He settled in London,
and immediately began many important works.
The sketches for the Admiralty screen, Kedleston,
and Sion, or Syon, House are all dated between
1759 and 1762.

In the " Library of the Fine Arts," a short-lived
monthly, there appeared in October and November,

THE BROTHERS ADAM 83

1831, a " Journal of a tour in Italy in 1760-1763,"
printed from the original MS., and wrongly ascribed
to Robert Adam. It was, in fact, written by James
Adam. This is amply proved by the evidence of
James's signed sketches at the Soane Museum. One
of these bears the date, "Venice, Aug. 24th, 1760,
and Rome, 1762." The diary opened on ist Odto-
ber, 1760, in Venice, where the writer was staying
with Clerisseau and the painter Zucchi. It is
evident that he had already been there some time,
as the first pages of his chronicle contain descrip-
tions of visits to neighbouring cities of northern
Italy. He proceeded to Rome in 1761, then to
Naples, and then back again to Rome in Novem-
ber of the same year. The remainder of the journal
was not printed, but we learn from the editorial
summary of it that Adam had been unable to visit
the Levant, as the vessel sent out for the purpose by
his brother William had been taken by Spaniards,
and detained in the port of Algiers. He commenced
his route homewards in May, 1763, returning by
Florence, Bologna, and Parma.

The diary is written in homely language, and
was clearly not intended for publication, but it
leaves a remarkable impression of the writer's un-
tiring industry and perseverance. Every day was
devoted to architectural study. To cite one instance :

[Friday the 2Oth November, 1761.] " We went
by sea to Pesto. There are here the remains of two

84 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Basilica, and one temple of the Doric order. Of
these ... we made two views that can enter into
the work."

The personal notes are few : [Monday 3Oth No-
vember, 1761]. " The same evening received Betty's
letter, informing me of Bet's interview with the
King." This refers to his sister Elizabeth.

[Tuesday, iyth November, 1761]. " Clerisseau
took this opportunity to talk to me of his situation,
and seemed to dread the uncertainty of his share of
the designs." It was arranged that the architect was
to receive a fixed annual salary in return for his
designs and general assistance.

A further proof of the authorship of the " Tour
in Italy" is that the designs for the " New Parlia-
ment House," which appear in James's name in the
Soane Museum, are spoken of in the " Journal " as
being the work of the writer.

Robert Adam appears to have leapt quite sud-
denly into fame, and in 1762 was appointed architect
to the King. His nomination to this office occa-
sioned some bitter comment among those who hated
his great patron, Lord Bute, and resented Scotch
favouritism in general. In libellous pamphlets Adam
was accused of " bringing his hungry Scotch kins-
men in his train "; nevertheless, he continued to rise
in the public estimation, and became the most popu-
lar and fashionable architect of his day.

He had learnt in Italy a recipe for making

THE BROTHERS ADAM 85

"composition ornaments," and the secret of this
preparation was a great factor in the prosperity of
his career. This "compo," used to the present day
for decorating doors, ceilings, mantles, etc., was cast
according to various patterns in wood-moulds, and
then applied direct to the wooden framework it was
intended to cover. Being far cheaper than wood-
carving, or the plaster carving which had until then
been executed on the wall or ceiling itself, the new
process was invariably used by Adam for his grace-
ful effects of festoon and tracery. The same substance
was of sufficient strength and hardness to form
hanging - ornaments unsupported save by wire.
Neither carton-pierre nor any similar material was
known at that time in England, and Adam deter-
mined to keep the monopoly of his innovation. The
Italian artisans whom he had brought over for the
purpose, were made to work in locked rooms, and
during Adam's lifetime, the secret of the " compo"
was never divulged. A clerk of the works named
Thomas Jackson, who had penetrated the mystery,
set up in business for himself when Robert died, and
managed to obtain nearly all the latter's original
wood-moulds. These are still in daily use by Jack-
son's descendants, Messrs. Jackson, of Rathbone
Place.

Robert was a man of considerable culture ; his
work on Diocletian's palace showed a wide know-
ledge of the Latin writers ; he was a Fellow of the

86 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Royal Society, of the Society of Antiquaries, and
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1768 he en-
tered Parliament as member for Kinross-shire, and
was in consequence obliged to resign his office at
Court, in which he was succeeded by his brother
and partner, James.

From this time onwards the firm, besides execut-
ing numerous private orders for noblemen's houses
throughout the country, began to undertake specu-
lative building on a large scale. Their greatest enter-
prise of this kind was the design of the Adelphi (the
brothers). In this work all the brothers participated.

On the low-lying ground known as Durham
Yard, between the Strand and the river, had once
stood a palace which Queen Elizabeth presented to
Sir Walter Raleigh. This had given place to a ter-
race of houses, in one of which David Garrick lived
before he became an adlor, with " three quarts of
vinegar in the cellar, calling himself a wine-
merchant." l These houses were now pulled down,
and an Adi of Parliament having been obtained for
the purpose in 1771, a series of underground arches,
two stories in height, were constructed to raise the
land above the level of the Thames. The plan of the
magnificent Adelphi Terrace over the river-wharf was
suggested to Robert Adam by the terrace at Dal-
matia. Here Garrick, already famous, and Topham
Beauclerk, the witty friend of Dr. Johnson, very soon

1 Samuel Foote.

THE BROTHERS ADAM 87

took houses. Robert and James also lived for many
years in Robert Street, Adelphi.1

The bill was not allowed to pass through parlia-
ment without encountering much opposition from
the Corporation of London. "They have stolen
the very river from us," was the burden of a
set of verses directed against the brothers. It was
not, however, the opposition of their enemies, but
the expense involved in the vast sub-struclures,
which made the work a commercial failure. The
Adams were almost ruined, and in 1773 another
bill was passed, allowing the whole property to be
disposed of by lottery. The tickets were £50 each,
and the prize-winners were to have the houses
equally divided between them. David Garrick, in a
letter to John Wilkes, states that his "friends and
neighbours the Adams " have asked him " to desire
Wilkes's interest with the Lord Mayor that they
may be permitted to draw their lottery in the Guild-
hall."2

Another letter from Garrick (printed in Hone's
11 Every-Day Book")3 written a few years earlier,

1 There is a story told of a City dinner at which two royal
princes were present. As the princes were brothers, one of the
company, wishing to show off his scholarship, toasted them as " the
Adelphi." " Now that we are on the subject of streets," retorted a
jocular alderman, " I beg leave to propose ' Finsbury Square.' "

2 Report of Royal Commission on Hist. MSS., Appendix IV,
p. 402.

3 Edit. 1838, vol. i, p. 327.

88 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

shows the terms of friendship which existed be-
tween him and the brothers, and as it refers to the
building undertakings in the Strand, may be quoted
here. It contained a request that the Adams should
assign the corner house of Adam Street — then in
course of erection — to Thomas Becket, the well-
known bookseller of the Strand, whose name appears
as the publisher on the title-page of the Adams'
"Works in Architecture," though the authors bore
the sole cost of production.

" Hampton. Monday, 8.

" MY DEAR ADELPHI,

" I forgot to speak to you last Saturday
about our friend Becket. We shall all break our
hearts if he is not bookseller to ye Adelphi, & has
not ye corner house that is to be built. Pray, my
dear & very good friends, think a little of this
matter, & if you can make us happy, by suiting all
our conveniences, we shall make his shop, as old
Jacob Tonson's was formerly, ye renddvouz for ye
first people in England. I have a little selfishness
in this request — I never go to coffee-houses, seldom
to taverns, & should constantly (if this scheme
takes place) be at Becket's at one at noon, & 6 at
night ; as ye monkey us'd to be punctual in Piccadilly.
. . . Make yr peace wth heav'n by an act of right-
eousness, & bestow that corner blessing (I have

THE BROTHERS ADAM 89

mention'd) upon Becket & his family — this is ye

pray'r & petition

"of yr

" affectionate

"&

"devoted
" D: GARRICK."

Needless to say, Becket had the "corner bless-
ing" conferred upon him.

We are constantly brought face to face with the
fact of the rapid growth of the outlying districts of
London, but it seems hard to realize that one hun-
dred and thirty years ago Bloomsbury was a small
suburb, and Marylebone a country village. A great
part of the Adams' work lay in the building up of
these districts.

The mere enumeration of the streets in which
most of the houses were built by Robert Adam
shows the great extent of his labours in the metro-
polis. We cite from the list given by Mr. Fitz-
gerald: the Adelphi (R. and J. Adam), Portland
Place (James Adam's work, with the exception of
No. 25, which Robert built and decorated for his
own use), Mansfield Street, a portion of Harley
Street, Stratford Place in Oxford Street, Finsbury
Square, portions of Dover Street and Grafton
Street, Spring Gardens, one side of Portman Square,
Portman Street, Hamilton Place, George Street

90 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

(Westminster), Bedford Square, Gower Street, Cum-
berland Place, Seymour Street, Bryanston Square,
mansions in Whitehall, Gwydyr House, houses in
Berkeley Square and Hart Street, Upper and Lower
Phillimore Place (Kensington), Fitzroy Square, York
Place, houses in Weymouth Street, also in Devon-
shire Street and Manchester Square, the late Duke
of Cambridge's house in Park Lane, houses in
Bruton Street, Soho Square, and Russell Square,
terraces in the Old Kent Road, in Walworth Road,
and in Kennington.

Besides Lansdowne House, Harewood House
(London), Montague House, and Osterley House,
there were mansions and public buildings (such as
the North British Coffee House) throughout Lon-
don and the neighbourhood. Robert's work is to
be seen in Edinburgh, Dublin, Glasgow, Newcastle,
Bath, and many other parts of the United King-
dom. Kedleston, which he built for Lord Scarsdale,
was probably the largest of his noblemen's mansions.
Most of the houses erected by Robert Adam were
decorated and furnished from his own designs. The
chimney-pieces, cornices, doors, chairs, tables,
cabinets, mirrors, the wall-papers, chair coverings,
door-knockers — even once, for the King, a counter-
pane— no part of the house and its contents was too
insignificant to be included in his sketches. Every-
thing was carried out in the same style, a style
which combined comfort with elegance.

THE BROTHERS ADAM 91

There is no doubt that Robert was greatly
helped in his decorative work by Michele Angelo
Pergolesi,1 who came over with him from Italy.
Angelica Kauffmann, Cipriani, Zucchi, and Colum-
bani also contributed painted plaques and orna-
mental designs of many kinds. A great deal of
" Adam " decorative work is wrongly attributed to
Angelica Kauffmann. According to Miss Gerard,2
Angelica was employed by Adam on her return from
Ireland in 1771 until 1781, when she returned to
Italy. James Adam does not appear to have been a
furniture designer, but merely an architect pure and
simple.

In 1773 appeared the first part of the Adams'
magnificent volumes, " The Works in Architec-
ture of Robert and James Adam Esquires." The
book came out in folio numbers between 1773
and 1778, and a fifth, or posthumous, part was
published in 1822. The descriptive portions were
printed in parallel columns in French and English.
The plates, 125 in number, consisted of views —
of the exterior and interior of great mansions —
Sion House, Luton House, Caenwood, or Kenwood,
Shelburne (now Lansdowne) House, and many
public buildings. Sixty-four of the plates contained

1 Author of " Designs for Various Ornaments on Seventy
Plates," 1777-1801, folio.

2 " Angelica Kauffmann : a Biography," by Frances A. Gerard
(1892).

92 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

designs for furniture, cabinets, mirrors, and other
carved work.

In 1773 the Adams purchased the patent of a
special cement for covering the exterior of a build-
ing. This preparation, which had all the appearance
of stone, and was yet flexible, was the invention of
John Liardet, a Swiss clergyman resident in London.
Rival builders often infringed the rights, and the
account of one of the prosecutions which ensued was
printed as a pamphlet.1 The defendant's case is most
amusing : ' 'Unless the walls of houses are to be coated
with porridge, almost any mixture might be con-
strued into counterfeiting, imitating, or resembling
that of Liardet": — "Messrs. Adams' patent, like
Aaron's rod, has swallowed up all the rest " ; — such
were the main arguments in the defence. There are
many examples of fa$ades and pillars covered with
Adams' patent stucco which prove it to have been
the most lasting material of the kind before the use
of Portland cement.

Considering the amount of work which Robert
Adam undertook, it is indeed wonderful that he
should have found time to pradlise landscape-paint-
ing. Yet even in this branch of art, he was re-
garded as a water-colour painter of considerable
merit.

1 " Observations on Two Trials at Law respecting Messieurs
Adams' new-invented Patent-Stucco. By a Practical Plaisterer,"
8vo (1778).

THE BROTHERS ADAM 93

Four of his water-colour sketches with pen
outlines are in the Print Room, British Museum.

(1) " A Rocky Landscape and Castle."

(2) " Landscape with Figures," depicting a
raised road winding away under trees.

(3) "A Castle in a Mountainous Landscape."

(4) " Landscape with Figures," representing a
sunset among trees on the shores of a lake. A cot-
tage stands on the further bank.

All the paintings have a certain stiffness and
want of freedom. They have rather the appearance
of coloured etchings, but this effect is probably due
to the pen outlines and the subdued tones of the
colouring.

Robert died on 3rd March, 1792, at his house,
No. 13, Albemarle Street, hardly a fortnight after
the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was buried
on the ninth in the south transept of Westminster
Abbey. The " Gentleman's Magazine," in an obituary
notice, thus compared him with Reynolds : — " It is
difficult to know which excelled most in his par-
ticular profession. Sir Joshua introduced a new and
superior style of portrait-painting. It is equally true
that Mr. Adam produced a total change in the archi-
tecture of this country, and his fertile genius was
not confined to the decoration of buildings, but has
been diffused into almost every branch of manufac-
ture." On nth March, a short sketch of Adam ap-
peared in the " Morning Advertiser," one of the

94 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

most important daily papers. It was there stated
that the year preceding his death he was engaged
upon eight public and twenty-five private buildings.
The list of his pall-bearers was given as follows:
the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Coventry,
the Earl of Lauderdale, Viscount Stormont, Lord
Frederick Campbell, and Mr. Pulteney.

Robert never married. In his will, signed the day
before his death, he left all he possessed to his two
unmarried sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret Adam,
and appointed his brothers, James and William, as
his executors.

He was a very popular man, had a high moral
character, a kindly disposition, and sweet manners.
He won the affection of all his friends. Among his
many admirers the Italian architect, painter and en-
graver, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, should not be
forgotten.

A posthumous volume of Robert's drawings ap-
peared in print: "Designs for vases and foliage
composed from the antique" (1825), — thirteen plates
engraved by Pastorini. His decorative designs are
best seen in the fifty-five volumes of original
sketches (by the brothers Robert and James), which
are preserved in the Soane Museum. These draw-
ings were put up for auction in Edinburgh after
the death of William Adam, the last of the four
brothers, in 1822. They were bought by Sir John
Soane for about ^800, a fourth of the sum at

Pig. XXVI.

ROBERT ADAM— PORTRAIT.

To face page 95.

ROBERT ADAM— SIGNATURE.

THE BROTHERS ADAM 95

which they had been valued during the authors'
lifetime.

James Adam died in Albemarle Street on 2Oth
October, 1794. He, too, remained single. By will
he directed his property to be equally divided among
his brother William and his two sisters Elizabeth
and Margaret. He published two octavo volumes
of " Practical Essays on Agriculture . . . carefully
collected and digested from the most eminent au-
thors, with experimental remarks" (ist edition, 1789,
2nd edition, 1794), and at the time of his death was
engaged upon a " History of Architecture," which
he left unfinished. He held the office of architect to
the King, until Burke, in bringing about the reform
of the Board of Works, abolished the post. He was
likewise master mason to the Board of Ordnance
in North Britain. The descendants of John and
William Adam number many well-known men, in-
cluding the Right Hon. William Adam (1751-1839),
Lord Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Jury
Court; Admiral Sir Charles Adam (1780-1853), and
William Patrick Adam (1823-1881), Liberal "Whip"
in the House of Commons, and afterwards Governor
of Madras.

The signature, illustration XXVI, is from a
letter addressed by Robert Adam to Lord Scars-
dale of Kedleston, and is reproduced by kind per-
mission of the present Earl.

CHAPTER VI

THE ADAM SCHOOL

THE short-lived classical revival which over-
lapped the close of the Chippendale era, is
distinctly attributable to the Adam brothers. A re-
action from the rococo to a severer style of decora-
tion took place almost simultaneously in France, and
French classicism had a considerable influence upon
our cabinet-makers at the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury. But the Adams, basing their designs upon
their studies and researches in Dalmatia and Italy,
were the first to re-establish the taste for Roman
and Grecian architecture and ornamentation in this
country. Robert Adam extended the province of his
art to include interior decorations, fittings and furni-
ture, and thus brought about quite a revolution in
furniture design. "The Works in Architecture of
Robert and James Adam Esquires," which began to
appear in 1773, comprised a large number of de-
corative designs, and assisted greatly in establishing
the Adam style by enabling cabinet-makers and
others to grasp with accuracy the details of the new
ideas.

96

THE ADAM SCHOOL 97

If there was a certain monotony in Adam
methods and decorations, this was due to the re-
currence of the same kind of ornamentation in every
part of the room. The pattern of the carpet often
repeated exactly the design of the ceiling, and the
walls, either in " composition " or paper, were made
to correspond. The furniture, for which Robert Adam
provided the sketches, harmonized both in colour
and general treatment with its surroundings ; every
piece was specially made for the room, and for the
particular part of the room for which it was intended.
Adam's work was always richly embellished, yet the
ornaments did not appear to be introduced merely
for the sake of ornamentation, but in order to give
expression to some specific idea in an artistic,
logical, and intelligible form. The details were never
confused, and were full of movement and animation.

" Grotesques " l from the walls of old Roman
baths, or from Raphael's ceilings at the Vatican;
Greek and Roman altarpieces ; the Palace at Spa-
latro — all these proved fruitful sources of inspiration
to the talented brothers, but the mode of treatment
they adopted was quite original. Their designs were
never slavish copies of the antique, and might, per-
haps, be best described as Anglicized adaptations.

1 Grotesques are fantastic ornaments representing winding stalks
and conventionalized foliage interspersed with flowers, fruit, birds,
and other ornaments or human figures. The name is derived from
the old Roman grottoes, or subterranean chambers, on the walls
of which such designs were painted.

H

98 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

A great difference between the work of the
Chippendale school and that of the Adams lay in
the fad; that while the former was essentially a
"carved style," the latter was a "painted style
rendered in relief." This contrast has been clearly
defined by Mr. Hugh Stannus: "The beauty of
carved ornament was that it covered over the sur-
face rather than showed the interspaces; in the
well-known Trojan scroll, for instance, the spaces
between ornament were much less than the orna-
ment itself. That was the characteristic of carved
ornament — much ornament and little ground. But
in painted ornament, there should be light, delicate
work, with little bits of colour laid on with a brush ;
and such was Adam's decoration." l

Thu^,the bold, sinuous lines of Chippendale
gradually gave place to a stiffer, if more elegant and
correcl^, class of design. Furniture returned once
more to strictly architectural lines under the influ-
ence of a movement more classically correct than
that of the Queen Anne period. Conventional fes-
toons composed of drooping bell-flowers or husks,
or the graceful honeysuckle-spray replaced Chippen-
dale's rock and shellwork and curled endive leaves.
A radiating ornament was greatly used by Adam
both in exterior and interior decorations. It figured
in arched spaces, over doors, spandrels, and ceilings,
and on furniture took the form of a fan, or rising
1 "Journal of Society of Arts," 2nd February, 1894.

THE ADAM SCHOOL 99

sun. The idea was no doubt a survival of the
earlier escalop shell — but classically treated. Thin
swags of drapery, wiry metal stars, medallions, and
the fans also, were said by Mr. Hungerford Pollen
to have been suggested by the fine metal-work of
Pompeii. Other ornaments which Adam brought
into constant requisition were rosettes, wreaths, and
bulls' or rams' heads to catch up the festoons;
acanthus leaves, cupids, caryatides, griffins, sphinxes,
lozenge-shaped panels, knots of ribbon, and Greek,
Roman or Etruscan vases.

Plaques, on which classical subjects were de-
picted by well-known decorative artists of the day,
were frequently used for the ornamentation of
Adam's furniture. Figure subjects were also inlaid
and so delicately executed that at a short distance
they appear to be paintings. _Satin-wood was intro-
duced into iJEnglaadlroni the East Indies about this
period and added a new note of colour to houses
where mahogany or gilded furniture had so long
reigned supreme. At first the new wood was mainly
used for inlaying purposes.

Adam is supposed to have employed Capitsoldi
as well as other Italian and French metal-workers
for the making of gilt bronze mountings. Occasion-
ally the work was fine and delicate, but as a general
rule metal ornaments on English furniture were
not equal either in colour, design, or execution to
those of Gouthiere and Caffieri in France. Even

ioo ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Sheraton, who thought so highly of our native
cabinet-making, acknowledged this fact when in
his "Dictionary" he expressed the wish that "we
might have as elegant brasswork for cabinets cast
in London as they have in Paris. It is in this article
they excel us."

CHAIRS

The chairs were carried out sometimes in maho-
gany, but more often in painted or gilded wood. A
favourite design was an oval upholstered back and
seat, with a very ornamental framework — the cover-
ing being specially designed to accord with the
room. Adam was probably the first to make use of
a splat in the form of a lyre, a style much copied
later by Sheraton. Square backs with small panels
in the top rail, classical foliage and scrolls carved
in low relief, sculptured griffins introduced between
the splat and the back of the seat — all are char-
acteristics of Adam chairs. The roll-back arms of
both chairs and sofas were often supported by
classical figures ending in claw feet. The old cabriole
leg with its ball-and-claw, club, scroll, or hoof foot
was now entirely superseded. The legs were round
or square and tapering (turned or fluted). The flut-
ings were in many cases filled in with husk orna-
ments, and as this was a notable feature in Louis-
Seize furniture, it is probable that Adam copied
the idea from the French. The "dipped " or scooped-

FiK. xxvn. ADAM CHAIR.

To face page 101.

THE ADAM SCHOOLi 101

out seat was also an innovation of the middle
eighteenth century.

The chair in illustration XXVII is of gilded
wood. It is a very typical example of Adam's work,
in the possession of Mr. Sidney Letts. Between the
back and the seat are two large scrolls decorated
with leaf carving. The arms form similar scrolls and
terminate in animals' heads. The legs are round
and tapering, with beading and acanthus leaf orna-
mentation.

The sofas had gracefully curved backs, often
surmounted by a medallion of a honeysuckle and
scroll design. They usually stood on six legs, of
which four supported the straight front of the seat.
In other examples, classical figures were used instead
of legs.

SIDEBOARDS

Robert Adam's sketches for sideboards with
pedestal cupboards surmounted by urns are the
earliest examples that have come down to us of this
type of furniture. It is therefore very likely that he
was the first to conceive the idea of thus elaborating
the simple serving-table of the earlier part of the
eighteenth century. A beautiful Adam sideboard is
shown in illustration XXX. The pedestals were
sometimes fixed to the centre framework, and some-
times detached. The sideboards were often fitted
with a brass rail at the back in order to support the

102 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

silver plate. Some of the finest examples of Adam's
work are to be found in his designs for decorative
silver. The chief wood of which the sideboards were
made was mahogany; the ornaments were wood-
inlay, carving, stucco, and brass. Adam's dining-
rooms frequently had a carved recess at one end
with a concave vault above, and he then designed a
sideboard with a curved back exactly to fit this recess.

ORNAMENTAL SIDE-TABLES

Pier- and console-tables were of mahogany or
gilded wood, and the top of marble. The railing
was ornamented by hanging festoons or similar
decorations, either inlaid or executed in relief (brass,
stucco, or gilt-wood). The tables sometimes stood
on four or six square tapering legs (console-tables
having wall brackets), but in many instances more
elaborate supports were used — rams' heads or carya-
tides, ending in animals' feet. Illustration XXVIII,
shows an Adam side-table upheld by rams' heads,
the property of Mr. James Orrock. It will be ob-
served that similar supports were employed for
sofas, chairs, and sideboards, and that the same idea
was again repeated in the bookcases or commodes.

LARGER PIECES

In such larger pieces the classical figures were
introduced to subdivide the panels and uphold the

X o
X E-

THE ADAM SCHOOL 103

cornices. In some cases, fluted pilasters were used in
place of the figures. The cornices were surmounted
either by urns or sculptured figures.

CABINETS

Most of the cabinets and commodes were semi-
circular in shape, and finely inlaid. Sometimes they
were further ornamented by painted plaques repre-
senting pastoral scenes, classical figures, or musical
instruments.

MIRRORS

Adam's airy fancy literally revelled in designs
for mirror^frames which repeated the scheme of
ornament used in the chimney-piece or side-table
above which they were hung. They were either of
gilded " compo " or gilded wood, often oval in shape,
and surrounded by a bordering of husks and of
hanging festoons, upheld by cupids.

Examples of such mirrors are seen in illustra-
tions XXXIII, XXXV, and XLV.

The globe, illustration XXIX, is one of a pair
in the possession of Mr. Burghard. The mahogany
stand is carved with various running patterns —
ribbon and rose, leaves, husks, and rosettes. The
feet are lions' claws. The beautifully carved heads
represent the four continents, Europe, Asia, Africa,
and America. The carving of the heads is foreign in
character, and it is probable that these were made

io4 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

by Italian workmen in Adam's employ. Each of
the globes is inscribed with the name of the maker
" Adams." At the close of the eighteenth century
several improvements were made in the construction
of artificial globes, which were first manufactured
in England in I592.1 George Adams' invention was
described in the "Universal Dictionary of Arts and
Sciences," 1772:

" The ingenious Mr. Adams, mathematical in-
strument maker to His Majesty, has constructed a
new pair of Globes with very considerable improve-
ments." A long and exact description followed, and
there was also an illustration showing the terrestrial
and celestial globes on heavily "turned" stands.
George Adams of No. 60, Fleet Street, had a world-
wide reputation, not only as a maker of globes, but
also as the author of scientific works. He died in

I773-

The globes and stands, one of which is here de-
picted, are supposed to have been made expressly
for George III, and to have been stolen from the
palace at the beginning of the last century.

As we have already said, the eighteenth-century
furniture makers were greatly indebted to the archi-
tects who built the apartments intended to hold
the chairs, tables, and sideboards designed for the
owner's comfort. In the next chapter it is proposed

1 The first English globe, made by Molyneux in 1 592, is in the
Library of the Inner Temple.

Fig. XXIX.

To face page 104

ADAM GLOBE.

THE ADAM SCHOOL 105

to illustrate this close alliance between the arts by
giving a description of Harewood House, near Leeds.
This mansion is, with the exception of Claydon
House, co. Bucks, the seat of the Verneys,1 probably
the only example now remaining in which the art
of Robert Adam, the designer of the rooms, was
brought into intimate connection with the work of
the second Thomas Chippendale.

1 At Claydon there are no documents to prove the identity of
Chippendale's work.

CHAPTER VII

HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE. STOURHEAD, BATH,
AND ROWTON CASTLE, SALOP

A WRITER has recently remarked that probably
-/~~V few people realize the extent to which objects
of art have been accumulating in this "the only
country which for the last two centuries and a half
has never seen a town sacked, a country mansion
fired, or more than a temporary interruption of the
quiet accumulation of wealth which our laws, unlike
the Code Napoldon, do not force every father to
divide equally among his children." Numerous are
the Elizabethan mansions which remain practically
intact; the panelling of the walls, the bed in which
Queen Elizabeth slept having been handed down
with pride from generation to generation. The works
of artists and craftsmen of the Georgian schools were
bought almost exclusively by English nobles and
wealthy merchants, who alone at that time appreci-
ated the true merit of those native productions which
are now prized throughout the length and breadth of
Europe. Pictures, china, and plate, brought to-
gether in houses built by Wren, Inigo Jones, and the
brothers Adam, have in innumerable instances been

1 06

HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE 107

preserved as they were a hundred and fifty or two
hundred years ago. Unfortunately, however, during
the Early Victorian and Middle Victorian eras
a curious distaste seems to have arisen for the
designs of the furniture of the previous century.
People filled their houses with the productions of
the cabinet-makers of the day and stowed away
their older furniture in cellars or boxrooms, whence
it sometimes drifted to the neighbouring cottages.
With the gradual return of good taste and a re-
newed feeling for art, the beauty of Queen Anne
and Chippendale work was once more recognized.
Choice examples — scattered in all directions, and
having suffered much ill-usage in the interval — were
eagerly sought after by collectors. Once again the
old masterpieces in wood occupied an honoured
place in great houses — but not necessarily in the
houses for which they had first been made. Possibly
owing to the high social position held by the archi-
tect-designer, Robert Adam, " Adam " sideboards
and suites in gilded or painted wood had a better
fate, and were often suffered to remain undisturbed.
But taking into consideration the wonderful dur-
ability of the work, and the fact that mansions
furnished by makers of the Chippendale school
must have been numerous, comparatively few houses
of that date will be found to have preserved their
original furniture.

If the word Chippendale be taken literally as

io8 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

denoting work executed by him or under his imme-
diate direction, the matter is more difficult still. It
is not sufficient to find examples of his style and
period, for such furniture may have been the pro-
duction of some other maker. Documentary evidence
of Chippendale's workmanship — either in the form
of an entry in a steward's ledger or an actual bill —
can alone prove the identity of the master cabinet-
maker. Such proof is extremely rare. In many
cases the old household accounts no longer exist;
and a cabinet-maker's bill, dating back a century
and a half, is even less likely to have been kept.
But at Harewood House these precious documents
are preserved, and through the courtesy of the Earl
of Harewood we are thus enabled to illustrate some
of Chippendale's actual productions.

Harewood House stands on the summit of a
hill about halfway between Leeds and H arrogate,
and overlooks the woods and groves of romantic
Wharfedale. The river Wharfe, after passing Bolton
Abbey, flows through the vast grounds and the
pleasure gardens which were laid out for the first
Earl of Harewood by the famous eighteenth-century
landscape gardener, "Capability" Brown. Some
of the finest muscat grapes to be found in Eng-
land still ripen in the vinery planted in 1783; the
stables were designed by Sir William Chambers ;
the model village on the estate has scarcely been
added to since it was first built about the same

HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE 109

period. In fact, with the exception of the ruins of
old Harewood Castle — erected in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries — everything within Lord Hare-
wood's domain, including Harewood House itself,
is an example of eighteenth-century workmanship.
The foundation stone of the house was laid on
23rd March, 1759, by Edward Lascelles, afterwards
first Earl of Harewood. The architect was John
Carr of York (1721-1807); the elegant structure,
consisting of a centre and two side wings, adapted
from the Corinthian style, has been classed byFer-
gusson as a nobleman's residence of " a thoroughly
English type." The interior of the house was en-
trusted to Robert Adam, as decorative architect;
to Thomas Chippendale as cabinet-maker and carver;
and to Rose, Zucchi, Rebecci, and Collins as decora-
tive artists.

In 1843 Sir Charles Barry made some improve-
ments in the exterior of the building, and ten years
later a certain amount of re-decoration and up-
holstery was carried out in the interior. But in its
main features the mansion remains still in the same
condition as when first inhabited in 1771. The door
shuts behind us, and we are in another world. Even
though a modern note is struck here and there, the
imagination refuses to listen. If the electric light in
the old lanthorns, or the various additions, made by
successive owners of the property, would seem to re-
call the lapse of time, we have but to turn to the

gilded mirrors and side-tables, to the walls and ceil-
ings— those triumphs of eighteenth-century art —
and before us we see only a nobleman's country seat
in the days of Adam and Chippendale.

The association of these two masters in execut-
ing the furniture and decorations of Harewood is a
fact of unique interest. Chippendale, the central
figure of a great artistic movement, was called upon
to make or to superintend the making of furniture,
most of which was probably designed by the initiator
of a rival school.

Coloured sketches of ceilings, mantelpieces,
mirrors, and doors for many of the rooms, are
among Robert Adam's original drawings at the
Soane Museum: "A Chimney-piece for the Hall,
1762 "; two alternate designs for the " Music Room
Chimney-piece, 1767"; two for "the drawing
room " ; two for " the Second Drawing room " ; one
for "the State bed-chamber"; one for "another
bed chamber"; one for the " Principal Gentlemen's
Dressing-room "; four for the chimney-piece of the
gallery, dated 1774, 1776, and 1777, and five others
for rooms which are not named. There are three
drawings of decorative mirrors, one oval and two
square-shaped. The sketches for the ceilings are
dated 1767, 1768, and 1769, and comprise three for
the drawing-room, one for the State bedroom, two
for the gentlemen's dressing-room, two for thegallery
(one completed and a duplicate unfinished), and

HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE in

two alternative designs for "The Dressing Room,"
presenting views of the whole side of the room
with two carved doors. Dressing-rooms in those
days were evidently apartments of much importance ;
the painted ornamentation shown in the two sketches
above named being as elaborate as that of the State
Reception Rooms.

The general scheme of decoration is certainly
carried out in conformity with Adam's notion of
unity in ornamental detail, yet an occasional console-
table, frame, or girandole of pure Chippendale type
shows that the author of the " Director" was per-
mitted to introduce his favourite " rococo " amidst
the Adam classicism. Too little is known of Chip-
pendale's actual work to say with any certainty that
he never designed in the Adam style. About the
years 1765-71, during which Harewood House was
being furnished, the rococo school was already fast
going out of fashion, and there is no proof that Chip-
pendale, who had so far followed the many vagaries
of public taste, may not also have adopted the
classical methods which prevailed at the close of his
career. No fourth edition of the "Director" was
issued to tell us of Chippendale's latest productions,
but it would seem that the prosperity of his business
could hardly have continued had he failed to keep
pace with the times. These are, however, mere con-
jectures, for though Adam's drawings at the Soane
Museum contain no specimen of the furniture at

ii2 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Harewood, it is most likely that all the pieces of
distinctly Adam type were of his own design, while,
with a few exceptions, Chippendale on this occasion
worked chiefly in the capacity of master cabinet-
maker.

The group shown in illustration XXX repre-
sents a side of the dining-room. The walls are
divided into panels by means of stucco mouldings,
and hung with pictures by English eighteenth-cen-
tury masters. There are two sideboards in the room,
and the one here depicted is a magnificent example
of an Adam design. The wood is mahogany, en-
riched with delicately chased brass-work. The ped-
estal cupboards for wine and crockery on either side
stand a little apart from the central portion, and are
surmounted by elegantly shaped urns which served
in the old days either as knife-boxes, or for the re-
ception of hot and cold water. The oval wine-cooler
in the middle adds greatly to the decorative effect
of the whole. The details of the ornamentation con-
sist chiefly of chains of bell-flowers caught up by
rosettes, quaint masks, bows, and clusters of leaves.
The rail is bordered by a leaf and scroll pattern, and
a rose and scroll border encircles the wine-cooler and
urns. In grace, colour, and beauty of workmanship,
the brass-work rivals the best French examples.
The chairs form part of a large suite. The vertical
frame, the tapering legs, the " dipped " seat, and the
form of the splat are clearly Adam in style. The

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HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE 113

carving, however, is very fine, and was no doubt
executed by Chippendale.

The dining-room leads into the music-room,
where the ceiling — painted by Zucchi — is subdivided
by stucco mouldings into large circular divisions.
The whole pattern of this relief work is exactly re-
produced in the carpet, which is still in an excellent
state of preservation. From here we pass into the
Gallery — the great State-room of the house, size
80 ft. by 24 ft. — where, in 1835, a dinner was served
to one hundred and thirty guests, on the occa-
sion of the visit of the late Queen, then Princess
Victoria, who, accompanied by the Duchess of Kent,
spent the night at Harewood. One can picture the
scene — the long tables "groaning beneath the weight
of the gold and silver services of plate with which
they were loaded,"1 while no less brightly in the
background shone the gilt frames of the pictures
and mirrors, all masterpieces of carving.

The windows are decorated by a cornice and
drapery in carved and painted wood; the wonderful
effect of which is shown in the illustration that
forms the frontispiece. In a very scarce Yorkshire
book entitled " The Tourist's Companion," by John
Jewell of Harewood (1817), there is a minute de-
scription of Harewood House and all its apartments.
In the author's account of the Gallery is the follow-
ing: " Over the seven windows are some rich mock-

1 " History and Antiquity of Harewood " by John Jones (1859).

I

ii4 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

curtains hanging in festoons and apparently ready
to let down at pleasure, formed of wood carved and
painted under the directions of Mr. Chippendale in
so masterly a manner as to deceive every beholder."
The cornice, the hanging floral wreaths, the tassels
and fringes are in gilded wood, and the imitation
drapery, which has all the appearance of silk or
wool, is of wood painted a deep, dark blue. Between
the five windows along the side of the room are
mirrors with gilt-wood frames described by Jewell
as "four most superb French looking-glasses nine
feet by seven feet six." They are surmounted by
coloured medallions, cupids, and floral wreaths.
Below each mirror is a gilt-wood side-table, one
of which is seen in illustration XXXI. " Four
elegant sideboards with two (sic) slabs of marble,
each by Fisher, and the frames by Mr. Chippendale
of London." Jewell wrote only forty-six years after
the completion of the house, and his detailed ac-
count, containing as it does the names even of local
artists and artizans who were engaged upon different
portions of the building and decoration, proves be-
yond a doubt that the author had at his command
the fullest and most accurate information. Thus the
side-tables with their ram's head and wreath decora-
tion— a purely Adam conception — are shown to
have been carved by Chippendale himself. And
although the book merely mentions — without nam-
ing the maker — "two library tables" in the same

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HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE 115

room, richly inlaid and ornamented with rams'
heads to correspond with the console-tables, these
— according to the bills — were also made by Chip-
pendale, or under his direction. In front of the
windows are six gilt Adam tripods supported by
sphinxes.

The wall facing the windows is covered with
paintings by our great eighteenth-century masters,
and several of the frames are so manifestly rococo in
character that the traditional account which calls
these frames "Chippendale" is probably correct.
" The ceiling is of the Palmyran taste and the stucco-
work by Rose is esteemed the first of its kind in
England. The paintings are admirably executed by
Rebecca (sic) and represent the seasons of the year
intermixed with figures from heathen mythology."
About ten years ago part of the Gallery caught fire,
the lead melted which secured the painted plaques
to the ceiling and, in consequence, all the ornamental
panels fell to the ground. Fortunately only one
was destroyed, and when the stucco-work was re-
stored by the Leeds School of Art, the panels were
replaced in their original position. Adam's two
coloured sketches for this ceiling at the Soane
Museum bear the date ij6g.1

No description of this interesting apartment
would be complete without mentioning the splendid

1 This date proves that the ceiling was not the work of Angelica
Kauffmann as is generally supposed. See Chap. V.

n6 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

collection of porcelain. The Sevres and Oriental
ware has been valued at ;£ 100,000.

The room which is now Lady Harewood's sit-
ting-room was once the State bedroom. Here the
Czar Nicholas I of Russia slept when, as Czarowitz,
he stayed the night at Harewood in 1816; it was
again occupied by Princess Victoria nineteen years
later. The furniture in former times was uphol-
stered in green and gold ; the bed was " hung with
green damask bordered with gold " and had a
canopy supported by Ionic columns. But nothing
of all this remains, although the ceiling, by Rose,
some of the furniture and the mirrors, are still as
they were in the old days. Illustration XXXII
shows an inlaid cabinet writing-table. The radiating
ornaments, husks, scrolls, and acanthus leaves are
executed in various coloured woods, and both wood
and ivory are used for the plaques on the cup-
board doors. Within the cupboards are numerous
small drawers; there is a large drawer above the
knee-hole and two others on either side. In its
outline, curves, and graceful decorations this piece
constitutes one of Adam's finest designs for fur-
niture. It seems difficult to imagine that Chippen-
dale can have had any share in such a production,
although the old bills prove that he was employed
to superintend its execution.

Another graceful example of an Adam mirror
in gilded wood hangs on the side wall and is shown

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Fig. xxxin. ADAM MIRROR, HAREWOOD HOUSE.

To face page 1 16.

Fig. xxxiv. DOOR, HAREWOOD HOUSE.

To face page 1 16.

HAREWOOD HOUSE, YORKSHIRE 117

in illustration XXXIII. The ornamental portion,
composed of a painting encircled by hanging fes-
toons and with an oblong vase and winged horses
below, springs from the top of the oval glass and
reaches to the ceiling. There are garlands and
plaques on the upper part of the mirror-frame it-
self, together with caryatide figures on either side.
Wreathed foliage, husks, spreading leaves, rams'
heads and bows of ribbon complete the design.

A plainer Adam mirror-frame, composed of
chains of husks, a vase, and a bow of ribbon, is
fixed to the wall above the chimney-piece. But
strangely enough the accompanying girandoles are
typically Chippendale, with pagoda-tops and pro-
nounced rococo ornamentation. The door of this
room, illustration XXXIV, is one of seventy-six
similar doors in various parts of the house. They
are of solid mahogany and four or five inches in
thickness; many of the doors are double— one
opening behind the other with a small recess be-
tween— and thus form a very stronghold against
draughts. The carving of the panels varies; the
door seen in the illustration has a key pattern, corner
rosettes, and small beadings. The treatment of the
handle-plate, filigree brass-work in a scroll design
uniting the keyhole and handle, is eminently char-
acteristic of an Adam door.

Illustration XXXV, which depicts a side-table
and mirror, is another curious example of the associa-

n8 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

tion of Adam and Chippendale. A glance at the gilt-
wood table is sufficient to show that it is a very fine
specimen of a Chippendale design. On the deep
frame leaves and scrolls in Louis-Quinze style are
mingled with grapes and foliage in high relief; elabo-
rate winged figures resting on square blocks form
the feet, and the carving in the centre shows the
animal's head, which is thus placed on nearly all
Chippendale sideboards. The simplicity, classical
severity and general grace of the mirror and sconces
above, form a remarkable contrast. The chains of
husks, the cupids supporting a vase, the delicate
scrolls and honeysuckle, repeated so often in Adam's
work — though always with charming variation —
leave no doubt of the designer's identity. But prob-
ably nowhere else is an Adam mirror to be found in
connection with a rococo pier-table.

The hall lanthorn of gilded wood, illustra-
tion XXXVI, is evidently another Adam design.
There are a number of similar but smaller lanthorns
at Harewood. Chippendale himself is said to have
executed this beautiful piece, and the delicate cupid
heads and wings were certainly produced by the
hand of a master carver.

The old ledgers of the Hoare family at Stour-
head, Bath, contain several entries which prove that
a great deal of the furniture for this mansion was
made by the firm of Chippendale. " Paid Chippen-

Fig, xxxvi. HALL LANTHORN, HAREWOOD HOUSE.

To face page 1 1 8.

STOURHEAD, BATH 119

dale ;£i,ooo," "Paid Chippendale for making
library-furniture," are two extracts from these
ledgers, kindly supplied by Sir Henry Hoare, Bart.
Owing to a great fire which took place at Stourhead
two years ago, the original documents have been
mislaid, and further details, as well as the date of
the extracts, cannot now be obtained. It is known,
however, that one of the Chippendales worked at
Stourhead for a considerable time, and not only the
library furniture but the bedroom and dining-room
suites also, were made by Chippendale or under his
direction.

The chair A, illustration XXXVII, is one of a
set in the library. It is distinctly " English Em-
pire" in style as are also the writing-desks in the
same room. In the desks the angles are orna-
mented to correspond with the sphinx-headed legs
of the chairs. About the year 1800 Sir Richard
Colt Hoare added the library, and this date (to-
gether with the style of the furniture) shows that
the third Chippendale was employed to furnish it.
It is almost certain that the great Chippendale also
worked there some twenty or thirty years previously,
but unfortunately the documents in proof of this
have not yet been brought to light.

Chair B is one of a large suite acquired by the
owners of Stourhead during the early part of the
nineteenth century. It is said that these chairs were
actually designed by Chippendale (II) for Queen

120 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Marie Antoinette. But with the exception of six
which were bought by the French Government for
the Musde Cluny, the whole set have apparently
found their way back to this country. Some from
Roehampton House were exhibited recently at the
Victoria and Albert Museum. A few are in the
possession of Mr. Sidney Letts, and the remaining
twenty-four single chairs and two armchairs are still
at Stourhead. The leaf and scroll carving is very
delicate.

The very characteristic mirror, illustration
XXX VI I A, was made by Chippendale (II) for
Rowton Castle, Salop. The original bills for this,
as well as for much of the Chippendale furniture at
Rowton, have been preserved there to the present
day. This mirror, with its ornaments, is a delightful
example of rococo Chippendale. A similar mirror,
unfinished and ungilded, was lately found in a box-
room at Rowton, where it had doubtless been stowed
away unnoticed since the days of Chippendale.

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Fig. xxxviu CHIPPENDALE MIRROR FRAME— ROWTON.

To face page 120.

CHAPTER VIII

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL

THE furniture of the Hepplewhite School gained
its name from the folio collection of designs
entitled: "The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's
Guide" (three editions, 1788, 1789, and 1794), pub-
lished under the name of "A. Hepplewhite and Co.,
Cabinet Makers," and from the ten designs bearing
the signature " Hepplewhite" or "Heppelwhite" in
"The Cabinet makers London Book of prices and
designs of Cabinet work" (two editions, 1788 and
1793). In the last-named publication, issued by the
" London Society of Cabinet Makers " the majority
of the plates were by Thomas Shearer and a few by
W. Casement.

By dint of patient research at Somerset House
we have found that administration of the goods,
chattels, and credits of George Heppelwhite (sic],
late of the parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London,
was granted on 27th June, 1786, to his widow, Alice.1

1 Administration Aft Book, Prerogative Court of Canterbury,
1786.

121

122 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Accounts were passed in December, and again in
June, 1787, showing that the effects were of con-
siderable value.

George Hepplewhite undoubtedly established
the upholstery business in Cripplegate, which was
carried on after his death by his widow Alice and a
" combine " under the style of " A. Hepplewhite &
Co." Hepplewhite was not buried in St. Giles's
church.1 He may have been a countryman of She-
raton's, for the name still survives in the county of
Durham.

In the " Guide," which was issued nearly two
years after George Hepplewhite's death, the writer
of the preface took occasion to disparage the designs
of other craftsmen, more especially those of Chip-
pendale and Sheraton. With calm superiority he
remarked: "English taste and workmanship have,
of late years, been much sought for by surrounding
nations, and the mutibility (sic) of all things, but
more especially of fashions, has rendered the labours
of our predecessors in this line of little use; nay, at
this day they can only tend to mislead those Foreign-
ers who seek a knowledge of English taste in the
various articles of household furniture."

Sheraton replied scornfully in the preface to
his "Drawing-Book" (1791). "This work" (the
" Guide "), he wrote, " has already caught the decline,
and perhaps, in a little time, will suddenly die in

1 Information from the vicar.

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL 123

the disorder. The Book of Prices," he continued,
" which appeared the same year certainly lays claim
to merit and does honour to the publishers. Whether
they had the advantage of seeing Heppelwhite's
book before theirs was published I know not, but
it may be observed with justice that their designs
are more fashionable and useful than his in propor-
tion to their number."

The "Cabinet Makers London Book of Prices"
was subsequently republished as the " London
Cabinet Makers Book of Prices," in 1811 (third
edition, 1837). The plates in the new edition were
mainly examples of early nineteenth-century dining-
tables, but two designs as well as the frontispiece
were reproduced from the older book. In the later
work the prices were naturally brought up to date.

Collectors are of opinion that there is now in
existence a larger quantity of Hepplewhite furniture
than there is of any of the other eighteenth-century
schools. The most expert craftsmen must have
been employed in its manufacture, for it was often
wonderfully contrived to combine extreme lightness
with durability. The chief fault was a want of pro-
portion, especially in the chairs, a fault which even
graceful lines and perfect workmanship could not
disguise.

V ^ejic^.te_carving was a great feature of the Hep-
plewhite style, and this was in some instances com-
bined with inlay in coloured woods, very sparingly

i24 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

used. But as a general rule a carved piece was not
inlaid, and vice versa.

Hajid-4iaiated_furniture was also a speciality,
particularly a form of decoration styled in the
"Guide" "japanning." It was not the ordinary
wood-lacquer in imitation of Oriental-ware, but a
fashion which sprang up towards the close of that
century for painting a design in varnish-paint on a
black or white ground. In " Knight's Penny Cyclo-
paedia" (1833), this, or a similar process, was thus
referred to : " A good deal of common wood-painting
is called japanning which differs from the more
ordinary painter's work, by using turps instead of
oil to mix the colours with, bedsteads, washhand-
stands, bedroom chairs, and similar articles of furni-
ture are done in this way."

Very few pieces of Hepplewhite japanning have
come down to us in their original condition, for the
varnish-paint soon wore off and left only a dis-
coloured surface. There are many fine examples,
however, which were painted in the usual way on a
plain coloured ground to tone with the room. It is
probable that some of the decorative artists who
painted furniture for Robert Adam were also em-
ployed by cabinet-makers of the Hepplewhite school
as there is a great similarity between the two schools
in this form of ornamentation. Hepplewhite fur-
niture was often placed in an Adam house and
in such cases was evidently specially designed to

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL 125

harmonize with its surroundings. Nevertheless even
the decorative ornaments by no means exclusively
followed the lines laid down by Adam; many ideas
were taken from Louis-Seize types, and numerous
examples showed, especially in outline, marked
originality of treatment.

Curiously enough, Hepplewhite cabinet-makers
made use of what might be called "stock-decora-
tions," certain special motives, few in number, which
were carved, inlaid, or painted on all their produc-
tions. Thus ears of corn, accompanied by swags of
drapery, and 'pointed fern leaves are to be seen on
most specimens of their work. The "Prince of
Wales's feathers " was also a favourite device, and
one to which the firm of Hepplewhite and Co. as-
serted their right by stating that several of their
designs had been executed for the Prince himself.

The chief wood employed was mahogany, satin-
wood in actual examples of this school being used
more for inlay than for structural purposes. In the
" Guide," satin-wood was only mentioned as a suit-
able base for knife-boxes; in the " Book of Prices,"
however, it was spoken of in connection with all
kinds of furniture. The following is a list of other
woods for inlaying which were given in the " Book
of Prices " : manilla, safisco, havannah, king, tulip,
rose, purple, snake, alexandria, panella, yew, and
maple. Some of these, evidently trade names of
the time, cannot now be identified.

126 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

CHAIRS

The size of Hepplewhite chairs marked the great
change in the fashions at the close of the eigh-
teenth century. Ladies' hoops were gradually dis-
appearing; a woman no longer occupied " the space
of six men," and the old wide seats were accord-
ingly superseded by smaller and neater shapes.
Some chairs, both of the Adam and Hepplewhite
classes, belonged to a transitional stage — having
a broad seat combined with a light back and slight
taper legs — and such examples almost invariably
appeared ill-balanced.

The following quotations will show the differ-
ence between the average chair-measurements given
in Chippendale's " Director " and those in Hepple-

white's " Guide."

DIRECTOR. GUIDE.

Height of legs I ft. 4 in. I ft. 5 in.

Height of back I „ 10 „ I „ 8 „

Width in front of seat . . . I „ 10 „ I „ 8 „

Depth of seat I „ 5 „ I „ 5 „

^ The most characteristic Hepplewhite chairs had
"shield" and /'heart "-shaped backs; wheel, oval,
square, and tlaf^acks, however, were also pro-
duced in considerable quantities. Thin moulded
ribs drawn into a medallion at the lower end of the
splat; urns combined with scrolls and convention-
alized foliage; Prince of Wales's feathers, wheat-

A B C

Fig. xxxvni SHEARER CABINET, HEPPLEWHITE CHAIRS.

To face page 127.

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL 127

ears, and swags were forms brought into constant re-
quisition. Other details were pearl-beadings which
took the place of Chippendale's shell or leaf work
as a border ornament; carved husks, and oval,
round, or semicircular rosettes.

Most chairs were either carved, painted, or "ja-
panned " — in the manner above described, but oc-
casionally the decorations were inlaid. The legs,
whether square or round, tapered, and were ended
in a tapering toe. Delicate turning was often em-
ployed, and sometimes fluting; reeded or grooved
arms were also a noticeable feature of these chairs.
The splat, as a rule, was supported by the side up-
rights, and did not run down into the back of the
seat.

The three chairs in group XXXVIII are all
executed in mahogany. In the shield-back armchair
B the bars meet in a medallion at the lower extrem-
ity, and swags of moulded drapery are slung across
from side to side. The front legs and the arms are
surrounded by a slight double moulding; at the
juncture of arms and legs is a carved design of
pointed leaves and rosettes. This chair is very well
proportioned; unlike most examples of this class,
the lower portion corresponds well with the upper,
both as regards size and shape. In the oval-backed
chair c, although the general effect is good, a closer
examination shows that the various parts are not so
well balanced as in chair B. The splat runs down

128 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

into the frame of the seat — rather unusual for Hep-
plewhite — and this fact, combined with the bracing
of the legs, seems to denote that the chair was made
at a period which came more within the Chippen-
dale influence. Wheat-ears are carved at the top of
the splat; the front legs are square and fluted, and
only very slightly tapering.

Chair A has a heart-shaped back, surmounted
by Prince of Wales's feathers and a bow of ribbon.
The splat is further ornamented by the character-
istic swags. The legs are tapering and quite plain.

In illustration XXXIX the graceful splat is
composed of finely-carved Prince of Wales's feathers,
a bow of ribbon, and a shell. Rosettes, the fluting
of the legs, and fine mouldings complete the orna-
mentation. This example shows the wide seat of
the transitional chairs and the cross stretchers of
the Chippendale period.

The Hepplewhite Warden's chair and shorter
chair, illustration XL, in the possession of Mr. J. E.
Schunck, came originally from Ireland, and the
royal emblems, taken in combination with the Bibli-
cal subjects depidled on the painted plaques, point to
the fact that these chairs were evidently designed
for some politico-religious society. It is possible
that they were made for the first lodge of the
Orangemen opened in 1795.

The chairs are of immense size — one has to
climb up to the Warden's chair by means of a stool.

Fig. xxxix. HEPPLEWHITE CHAIR.

To face page 128.

Fi«- XL- HEPPLEWHITE WARDEN'S CHAIR.

To face page 128.

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL 129

The height of this larger armchair is 6 ft. 8^ in.
(back 4 ft.) ; the width of the seat in front, 2 ft. 7 in.,
and the depth, i ft. loj in. The shorter chair is 5 ft.
high (back, 2 ft. 9^ in.) ; width of seat in front, 2 ft.
2 in.; depth, I ft. 8 in. The wood is very dark
Spanish mahogany, magnificently carved, and both
the execution and design are extremely fine. The
outer framework is delicately moulded; the splat
joins the seat at the back; the legs are square, fluted,
very slightly tapering, and braced together by double
side and back rails, and a single front rail; the
moulded arms curve gracefully. The top rail of the
taller chair is surmounted by a pine, ears of corn,
and acanthus leaves. The splat has at the top a
bow of ribbon, rosettes, and leaves, and for its
central design huge Prince of Wales's feathers
waving above a jewelled coronet. At the base is a
cluster of pointed fern leaves flanked by conven-
tionalized foliage in graceful lines. In the inlaid
plaques, although the colouring is somewhat dulled,
the pictures are still quite distinct. The design of
the smaller chair is slightly different, the principal
omission being the coronet and the ornaments on
the top rail.

As regards coverings, it is stated in Hepple-
white's " Guide " that mahogany chairs should have
either seats of horsehair, plain, striped, or chequered,
or else cane-seats covered by cushions of linen, or
leather. Japanned chairs were to have " linen or

K

130 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

cotton cases," and easy chairs covers of horsehair
or leather. Easy chairs usually had curved legs in
Louis-Quinze style, and graceful side-wings similar
in general outline to Queen Anne grandfather chairs.
A settee with a carved back, consisting of several
shield- or heart-shaped splats, generally formed part
of a Hepplewhite suite. An upholstered window-
seat, a long bench with a curved front and upright
ends rolling outwards, was also especially character-
istic of a Hepplewhite room. These seats were some-
times made of painted satin-wood, though in the
" Guide " they were spoken of as seats of " mahogany
or japanned wood," with coverings of "taberray or
morine."

FIRESCREENS

Hepplewhite's firescreens were either " pole,"
or " horse "-shaped. In the pole screens a small,
round, oval, or square frame of mahogany, or other
painted wood, was suspended on a pillar, and sup-
ported either by a firm stand or spreading claw-feet.

The screen depicted in illustration LI 1 1 is of
this class. The base is painted mahogany, and the
screen itself, a piece of eighteenth-century wool
embroidery and painting on a silk ground, repre-
sents a well-known picture of Angelica Kauffmann,
" Una and the Lion."

Horse firescreens were of larger size; the screen-

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL 131

panel itself was generally oval in shape, and was
made to slide up and down in grooves cut on the
inner side of a square frame.

TABLES

Pembroke tables, small ornamental tables with
inlaid tops and brackets to support the two side-
flaps, were very popular at the close of the century,
and the "Guide" contained several examples.

Pier-tables were either circular or serpentine in
shape, and stood on tapering legs.

The dining-tables — fully described in the " Book
of Prices " — were made in a number of different
shapes. Perhaps the most curious was the horse-
shoe table, having an average length of 7 ft.
when closed, but extending to 10 ft. by means of
flaps which folded back over the top of the table.
The width was 2 ft. 6 in. There were, also, semi-
circular tables with folding flaps of the same size
as the table itself, the whole supported by three
"fly" legs; and smaller flap-tables, to be joined
together, each on four tapering legs. Lastly, there
were "pillar and claw" dining-tables — also to be
joined together.

FRAMES

Frames were simple, both in outline and orna-
mentation, and displayed neither the exuberance of

132 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Chippendale examples nor the extreme fancifulness
of those of the Adam school. Pier-glass frames,
oblong or oval, were still made of the same width
as the pier-table. They had simple mouldings and
were ornamented on the upper part with delicate
leaf scrolls, an urn, or an eagle; chains of husks or
drapery hung over the sides, and on the lower border
there was a very slight carving of husks, foliage, or
a bow of ribbon. A pair of candlesticks was often
attached to the sides, or coupled together on the
lower edge. The frames were carried out either in
gilded wood — the flower and leaf ornaments being
often made of plaster wired at the back — in maho-
gany inlaid, or in other woods, "japanned" and
painted. Gilded girandoles were more fantastic in
style. The back- or wall-piece to which they were
fixed consisted of white or coloured cut glass, gilded
urns, or a mirror combined with scrolls and foliage.
Oval convex and concave mirrors were also much in
demand about this period.

SIDEBOARDS

The sideboards were either serpentine or straight
fronted, and stood on four or six long, tapering
(sometimes fluted) legs. If the sides curved, the
angle of the leg was made to correspond exadtly
with the curve of the framework above; thus the
legs were often placed cornerwise with one of the

133

angles turned towards the front. The fittings con-
sisted of a centre drawer, flanked by two deep drawers
or cellarettes. These side drawers were often so
divided on the outside as to present the appearance
of two drawers, one above the other. In Hepple-
white's " Guide " we are told that the drawer on the
left hand was to be lined with lead, and, as it was
intended to hold water to wash the glasses, must
have a valve cock or plug to let this water off.
Straight-fronted sideboards, without drawers, were
often supplemented by Adam pedestals and vases
and brass-hooped cellarettes. The top was maho-
gany, sometimes bordered by a narrow inlaid band.
There was no brass rail at the back and but little
ornamentation, except for vertical flutings, circular
rosettes, fans, a vase, scrolls or husks in the centre
of the rail. In many instances the sideboards were
decorated by fine carving only ; other examples were
inlaid, but the inlay was always very slight. A type
of Hepplewhite sideboard specially mentioned in
the "Guide" had an oval-shaped back to fit into
a recess; such pieces were, no doubt, intended for
dining-rooms designed by Adam or his followers.
Shearer's sketches included a pedestal sideboard,
elaborately decorated with hand-paintings and with
an ornamental wall-piece of wood — in place of a
brass rail — at the back. This is the only example
of Shearer's work in which he departed from his
r61e of extreme simplicity.

i34 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Illustration XLI depicts a mahogany Hepple-
white sideboard belonging to Mr. Alfred Davis.
The serpentine front measures 5 ft. 9 in. by 2 ft. 8 in.
straight across, and is fitted with a long middle
drawer and two smaller drawers on either side. The
front legs are placed with the angle turned towards
the front, corresponding with a similar angle in the
curve of the frame above; all four legs are fluted.
The top is inlaid with a band of king-wood and a
line of satin-wood. The three panels in the front
are of satin-wood, and the festoon of husks is of
stained holly.

The wine-cooler below, also a Hepplewhite
design, is mahogany inlaid with satin-wood. The
knife box of the same materials has a silver key
escutcheon and a small silver ring handle above.

If Hepplewhite himself be taken as the central
figure of the school which bears his name, Thomas
Shearer must be regarded as one of its chief expon-
ents. Shearer's designs in the " Book of Prices,"
were, with two or three exceptions, issued in a
separate publication entitled "Designs for House-
hold Furniture," in 1788. The sketches for bureaus,
bookcases, sideboards, and bedroom furniture were
very elegant, having beautiful mouldings and sim-
ple ornamentation. There were no chairs included
among his drawings, and, as Sheraton informs us
that chair-making was generally a trade apart from
that of cabinet-making, we may conclude that Shearer

Fig. XLI. HEPPLEWHITE SIDEBOARD, GRINLING GIBBONS MIRROR.

To face page 134.

THE HEPPLEWHITE SCHOOL 135

was a cabinet-maker only. The legs of all his pieces
were plain, square, and tapering, and in this respect
he differed from Hepplewhite, who made great use
of turning and fluting. Shearer's principal orna-
mentation consisted of lines and bands of rare woods.
One decorative detail not seen in the work of other
designers was the introduction of a whole sheaf of
corn carved in relief.

Both Hepplewhite and Shearer devised many
specimens of folding furniture. Shearer's arrange-
ments for the partitions, sliding shelves, and drawers
not only of writing-tables, but of dressing- and
shaving-tables, were perhaps the most ingenious of
any produced during that century.

Hepplewhite bookcases and cupboards had
straight moulded cornices, occasionally surmounted
by an urn or scroll-work. The cornices in Shearer's
drawings were slightly arched or curved, but neither
of these makers favoured either the " swan-neck "
or " broken " pediment.

The china-cupboard, illustration XXXVIII, in
the possession of Mr. Alfred Davis, is a choice
example of a Shearer design. The mahogany is
ornamented by mouldings and beautiful carving on
the pediment. The sheaf of wheat-ears which ap-
pears in the centre is most realistic. A similar
decoration occurs on a wardrobe in Shearer's " De-
signs for Household Furniture," which is again
reproduced in the " Book of Prices." The cupboard

136 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

(XXXVIII) is 3 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. wide. Three
small vase-shaped pinnacles are missing from the
pediment.

Writing-tables and dressing-tables often had
sliding " tambour " doors. Such doors were, accord-
ing to Sheraton, made of narrow strips of mahogany
glued to and laid upon canvas, "which binds them
together and suffers them at the same time to yield
to the motion their ends make in the curved groove
on which they run, so that the top may be brought
round to the front and pushed at pleasure to the
back again when it is required to be open."

From the frail nature of these reeded slides, it is
a matter of astonishment that so many should have
come down to us.

The best specimens of turning were to be seen
in the bed posts, frequently converted nowadays
into lamp- or flower-stands. Banded reeding, with
fern-leaf ornamentation, was a special feature of
these posts.

CHAPTER IX

THOMAS SHERATON

THOMAS SHERATON, the last of the greaU
eighteenth-century furniture designers, had a(
very chequered career. He wrote a number of tech-
nical treatises, and though he illustrated them with
his masterly diagrams and designs, not one of the
books proved commercially successful, and his days
were passed in poverty. Born at Stockton-on-Tees
about 1751, the son of a father of the same names,
Sheraton evidently came of very humble stock, for
he had no regular education. He learnt the trade
of cabinet-making and in all his spare time taught
himself perspective, drawing, and geometry. In early
life he was a member of the Church of England,
but ultimately became a zealous Baptist. He occa-
sionally preached in Baptist chapels, and wrote
some religious essays. His first publication was a
pamphlet of this nature, entitled, "A Scriptural
Illustration of the Doctrine of Regeneration . . . To
which is added, A Letter on the Subject of Bap-
tism" (Stockton, 1782). In this tract he describes
himself as a " mechanic, one who never received the

137

138 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

advantage of a collegial or academical education,"
and refers to a short stay he made at Norwich.

About 1790, Sheraton came to London to seek
fame and fortune, just as Chippendale had done
more than half a century before him. In 1793 he
was living at No. 41, Davies Street, Grosvenor
Square; two years later he is found occupying No.
1 06, Wardour Street, Soho; finally, he settled at
No. 8, Broad Street, Golden Square, where he had
a house and shop.

His first (and best) book of decorative designs
was issued in quarto parts, 1791-4, under the title:
"The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing-
Book, "with an "Appendix "and "Accompaniment."
The first edition contained 1 1 1 copperplate engrav-
ings. A second edition appeared in 1793 with 119
plates, and a " third and revised edition," complete
in one volume, "with 122 copperplates," in 1802.
The four sections of the "Drawing-Book" were
divided as follows: ist, geometrical lines; 2nd,
perspective; 3rd, furniture designs; 4th, mouldings
and the ornamental parts of furniture. The chapters
devoted to perspective contain a long dissertation
on the subject of light and shade. " A short View
of the Nature and Principles of Shadows caused by
the Sun coming in different Directions to the Pic-
ture" (p. 326) is a typical heading. The descrip-
tions of the furniture illustrated in the third section
combine minute directions for the working cabinet-

THOMAS SHERATON 139

maker, with an explanation of the exact use of each
object. This last information is of special interest,
as so many articles described as fashionable at the
time are quite unknown in our modern houses.

To this work Sheraton prefixed a lengthy list of
subscribers, which included the names of almost all
the principal craftsmen in London and the provinces.
A German translation was published at Leipzig in
1794 as " Modell- und Zeichnungsbuch fiir Ebenis-
ten, Tischler, &c.," 2 vols., with 95 plates.

There seems little doubt that when Sheraton
first came to London he carried on his former trade
as a journeyman cabinet-maker. It is very likely
that he had not enough capital to establish a good
business and to employ the necessary skilled work-
men to help him. Whatever may have been the
reason, he soon gave up the practical side of his
craft altogether and devoted himself to the writing
of technical treatises. In his introduction to Part
III of the " Drawing- Book" he stated his con-
viction that it was a man's duty to give the whole
world the benefit of his knowledge, and not to be
affected, as so many people were, by the thought
that others would become as wise as himself. A
veritable altruist Sheraton appears to us now-a-
days. A poor, working furniture-maker, who had
learnt, probably by long nights of study, the theory
of design in order to perfect the creations of his
imaginative brain, he never rested until he had im-

140 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

parted to his brother craftsmen a knowledge of those
principles which alone could make their work as
perfect as his own.

Thus Sheraton devoted himself entirely to
authorship, and for some years his designs were
much in demand. He is supposed to have originated
both the furniture and decorations of a Chinese
drawing-room at Carlton House for the Prince of
Wales, afterwards George IV. Two views of the
room are given without a comment in Sheraton's
" Accompaniment " to the " Drawing-Book," and
are dated 1793. This royal residence was in 1783
entrusted to the architect, Henry Holland, to be
remodelled, decorated, and furnished, a large sum
of money being voted by Parliament for the pur-
pose. Among the official accounts and papers for
1791 an exact record is given of the details of ex-
penditure together with the names of the crafts-
men employed, all of whom signed a petition for
increase of pay. In this list Sheraton's name does
not appear, and — unless the omission was purely
accidental — it is evident that Sheraton had no
actual share in the work.

In respect to his commissions from the general
public it seems highly probable, since the great
beauty of his furniture lay in the perfection of its
workmanship, that he himself employed the cabinet-
makers, upholsterers, etc., who were to carry out his
ideas. " In conversing with cabinet-makers," he

THOMAS SHERATON 141

said, " I find no one individual equally experienced
in every job of work." And in describing his
method of gaining exact information he added: "I
have made it my business to apply to the best work-
men in different shops to obtain their assistance in
the explanation of such pieces as they are most ac-
quainted with." But, alas, even if at first Shera-
ton's orders were profitable, his prosperity was of
short duration.

In 1794 an exhortation from his pen, entitled
" Spiritual Subjection to Civil Government," was
appended to " Thoughts on the Peaceable and
Spiritual Nature of Christ's Kingdom," a pamphlet
written by his friend Adam Callander, the landscape
painter. It was reprinted separately the following
year with additions.

An article of Sheraton's, " Recentes Decores,"
appeared in "The Designer's Magazine" (No. i),
in 1 7Q6.1 This publication evidently had a short
existence. No copy has been traced.

During 1802 and 1803 Sheraton published in
fifteen parts, " The Cabinet Dictionary, containing
An Explanation of all the Terms used in the Cabinet,
Chair, & Upholstery branches, containing a dis-
play of useful pieces of furniture," illustrated with
eighty-eight copperplate engravings. The illustra-

1 Cf. Jeremias Davis Reuss' "Alphabetical List of all the
Authors actually living in Great Britain from the year 1770-1803"
(Berlin, 1804).

142 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

tions were very ingeniously introduced. When such
words as bed, couch, sideboard, table, came up for
definition in their alphabetical order in the text,
designs for the articles in question appeared on the
opposite page. In the introduction he pointed out
that "all the designs are capable of being finished
exactly as they appear in the engravings, for I have
not figured away with my pencil on a baseless fabric
as some have done without consulting whether the
particulars out of the common way were or were not
workable by a good mechanic."

The " Dictionary " contained a supplement with
articles on drawing and painting. There was also a
list appended of "most of the Master Cabinet-
makers, Upholsterers, and Chair Makers," 252 in
number, who were then living in and about
London.

By this time Sheraton felt the sting of poverty.
" Though I am thus employed in racking my in-
vention to design fine and pleasing cabinet-work,"
he wrote, " I can be well content to sit on a wooden-
bottom chair myself, provided I can but have com-
mon food and raiment wherewith to pass through
life in peace." In an address to his patrons — or
subscribers — he informed them that the expenses
involved had been so great, that he had been unable
to make any profit out of his publications. Never-
theless he worked on resolutely to the last. In the
" Dictionary " he announced that he was preparing

THOMAS SHERATON 143

an encyclopaedia which was to be completed in 125
folio numbers.

Next year (1804) he began the publication of this
ambitious undertaking; he died after the issue of the
thirtieth number, having reached the letters CAP.

" The Cabinet-maker, Upholsterer, and General
Artists' Encyclopaedia" — so the book was called — is
not merely technical as the title would imply, but
a source of general information. The articles em-
brace biography, history, geography, even science.
Designs for furniture and for effects of drapery
were introduced in the same manner as in the
" Dictionary," and such subjects as astronomy and
botany were illustrated by suitable plates. More
complete descriptions of the furniture designs were
given separately.

In the compilation of this book, Adam Black,
the future publisher of the " Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica" and Macaulay's colleague in Parliament, gave
Sheraton some slight assistance.

In the autumn of 1804, Black, who had served
his apprenticeship in Edinburgh as a bookseller,
came to London in search of work. He called at
8, Broad Street, found that Sheraton wanted assist-
ance, and agreed to write articles or do anything
else that might be required of him. The following
is Black's description of the Sheraton household:
" He (Sheraton) lived in an obscure street, his house,
half shop, half dwelling-house, and looked himself

144 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

like a worn-out Methodist minister, with threadbare
black coat. I took tea with them one afternoon.
There were a cup and saucer for the host, and
another for his wife, and a little porringer for their
daughter. The wife's cup and saucer were given to
me, and she had to put up with another little por-
ringer. My host seemed a good man, with some
talent. He had been a cabinet-maker, was now
author and publisher, teacher of drawing, and, I
believe, occasional preacher."

Black remained with Sheraton for about a week,
writing articles and trying to put the shop in order.
Not only were all the surroundings exceedingly
humble, but also dirty and ill-kept. The assistant re-
ceived half a guinea for his week's work. " Miserable
as the pay was," he wrote, " I was half ashamed to
take it from the poor man." Black then added a
sketch of Sheraton himself, who might well be a
character from the pages of Dickens: " He is a man
of talents, and, I believe, of genuine piety. . . . He
is a scholar, writes well; draws, in my opinion,
masterly; is an author, bookseller, stationer, and
teacher. We may be ready to ask how comes it to
pass that a man with such abilities and resources is
in such a state? I believe his abilities and resources
are his ruin, in this respecl;, for by attempting to
do everything, he does nothing."

This rather pitiless, but no doubt accurate state-

1 "Memoirs of Adam Black," 1885, pp. 31-33.

THOMAS SHERATON 145

ment, makes Sheraton's position clear to us. Unlike
Chippendale he evidently had very little business
capacity. On the other hand he certainly met with
a great deal of bad luck. Not only orders for de-
signs, but his stationer's shop and his pupils would
have brought him in a certain income. To account
for his extreme poverty we must therefore infer
that he lost very heavily through his publishing
enterprises.

The designs with which he illustrated the " Ency-
clopaedia" were very inferior in style to those of
his " Drawing-book." Public taste, say some critics,
began to decline even before the dawn of the early
Victorian era, and the needy artist was obliged to
meet the demands of his customers by forsaking
his earlier ideals. Others assert that the exaggera-
tion— even ugliness — of Sheraton's later produc-
tions was the cause, not the effect, of his failure.

In 1805 Sheraton published "A Discourse on
the Character of God as Love."

On 22nd October, 1806, he died of over- work,
at the age of fifty-five. In an obituary notice, which
appeared the following month in the " Gentleman's
Magazine," the writer stated that Sheraton had
" left his family, it is feared, in distressed circum-
stances." " He was," added his biographer, " a well-
disposed man, of an acute and enterprising disposi-
tion." He had been for many years " a journeyman
cabinet-maker, but since 1793, supported a wife and

L

146 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

two children by authorship." In order to increase
the number of subscribers for his " Encyclopaedia,"
he had journeyed to Ireland, and had there obtained
the patronage of the Lord-Lieutenant and the Mar-
chioness of Donegal. At the time of his death,
"nearly 1,000 copies had been sold."

A series of plates which Sheraton had been pre-
paring for publication appeared in 1812 in a folio
volume, with the title " Designs for Household
Furniture, exhibiting a variety of Elegant and
Useful Patterns in the Cabinet, Chair, and Up-
holstery Branches on eighty-four plates. By the
late T. Sheraton, Cabinet- Maker." Most of these
plates were reprints from the " Cabinet Dictionary"
and " Encyclopaedia."

CHAPTER X

THE SHERATON SCHOOL

THE cabinet-makers of the Sheraton school
still continued to produce furniture in accord
with the Adam style of decoration, for in London
especially, where houses built by Adam or his
followers had been erected by the score, designers
of furniture were obliged to follow out the great
principle oL unity Jn prnamentatipn which marked
the wQ.rk of the architects. During the progress of
the nineteenth century this sense of unity quickly
disappeared, and a single room was made to ex-
emplify a dozen different styles. But the schools of
both Hepplewhite and Sheraton are sufficient proof
that until the end of the eighteenth century at least,
the same idea or cast of thought was reproduced in
the furniture and ornamentation of every room.
Thus style in those days acquired an authority
and dignity which would have been impossible to
mere isolated ideas, and decorative art attained the
ideal which Ruskin claimed for it, "being fitted for
a fixed place, and in that place related, either in
subordination or in command to the effect of other

'47

148 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

pieces of art ... forming part of a great and
harmonious whole."

Adam classicism underlay much of Sheraton's
ornamentation, yet the influence of the classic
movement on the other side of the Channel was
hardly less perceptible. Louis-Seize models fur-
nished the design for many of his outlines, and when
a few years later the Empire types began to change
the trend of French decorative art, Sheraton, with
very poor success, still continued to follow the
French fashions.

His earlier work, however, was quite free from
fantastic conceits, and was characterized by severe
lines and subdued ornament. Like his predecessors,
he borrowed and copied largely, but his work was
none the less individual and distinctive. Sheraton
invented quite a number of new types of furniture,
particularly those of a mechanical nature. His
influence was greatly felt throughout the country,
and a quantity of refined and quiet work was the
result.

Sheraton's best furniture was the very embodi-
ment of elegance; severe in form, yet always light,
graceful, and perfectly balanced. Decorative details
were introduced to emphasize the purely archi-
tectural outlines, or were employed to enrich a per-
fectly finished piece, but ornamentation was never
used as a fundamental part of the construction.
Vertical lines contrasted with curved surfaces;

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 149

graceful sweeps afforded a varying play of light and
shade; and fine inlay, painted patterns, and some-
times a little delicate carving in low relief, added
variety and charm to the whole.

The speciality of this school was the employ-
ment of satin-wood veneers. Certainly the greater
part of English eighteenth-century work carried
out in satin-wood can be classified as belonging to
the Sheraton period. In his "Dictionary" (1803),
Sheraton, describing the different kinds of " Sattin-
wood" employed by cabinet-makers, stated that this
timber had "been in requisition above twenty years."
The East India wood was hard in texture, and of
small, rich figure, the finest specimens being straw-
coloured. West Indian wood was bolder in figure,
less hard and sometimes of a very pale shade; the
logs, however, were often wider than those from
the East Indies, and thus proved more generally
useful.

Hair-wood was a great favourite for the manu-
facture of small ornamental tables. For inlay, the
same woods were employed as those already named
under the Hepplewhite period, and, in addition,
ebony, mahogany, and various light woods stained
green, yellow, and brown.

The ornamental details consisted mainly of
husks, rosettes, fans, urns, floral wreaths, festoons,
acanthus leaves, and classical figures. In general it
may be said that plentiful decoration, though of a

150 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

chaste and subdued nature, vertical lines, lightness
of colour, and delicacy of workmanship, are the chief
distinguishing characteristics of this school.

In common with other cabinet-makers of his
day, Sheraton published designs for window cornices
and drapery based mainly on French models. He
gave also a number of Greek and Roman mouldings
and beautiful plaques in the classical style for
painted panels or table-tops.

After about 1800, Sheraton's work became more
and more an exaggerated imitation of the Empire,
and was often cumbrous, clumsy, and grotesque.
Realistic representations of animal forms, carved
heads and feet of griffins, sphinxes, lions, profuse
brass inlay, and heavy mountings were everywhere
observable. Thus the very master whose watch-
words had been grace and delicacy ushered in the
dawn of an era in which elegance and good taste
were almost unknown.

CHAIRS

The chairs were of satin-wood or mahogany,
light and graceful in design and perfectly propor-
tioned. The framework of the back was usually
rectangular, though the top rail often had a slight
curve. The legs and side uprights appeared to form
a single line, and in most examples a cross-bar

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 151

supported the uprights a few inches above the
seat. The splats varied greatly : a lyre, borrowed
from Robert Adam; a vase with flowers; carved
pillars with capitals and bases; rails, balusters,
curved bars, and cross bars, and occasionally shield
and wheel backs similar to those of Hepplewhite.
In the later chairs the top rail of the back was broad
and hollowed, rolling slightly backwards. The
upholstery was nailed to the framework — the old
drop-seat having gone quite out of fashion. The
legs, whether square or round, were fluted, turned,
or twisted, and always tapered. They ended in a
"therm" foot, and often had brass casters; under-
framing was rarely employed. The ornamentation
of back, legs, and seat-frame, consisted of carving,
cross-fluting, reeding, inlay, sunk panels, and hand-
paintings. A feature often to be observed was the
introduction of an acanthus leaf in the slenderest
parts of the arms or legs. Wedgwood medallions
were sometimes added to the other decorations, but
the ornamentation, though elaborate, was carried
out with such care and judgement, that it never
seems excessive.

The chair coverings which Sheraton considered
most suitable for parlour chairs were "printed silks"
or "printed chintzes."

Stuffed chairs and couches were borrowed largely
from Louis-Seize types.

The chair of the Sheraton school, illustration

152 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

XLII, is in the possession of Mr. Dan. Gibson. It
is one of a set of seven single and two armchairs.
The material is mahogany, with small carved pateras
in the corners, swags on the top rail, and flowers
and husks on the splat. The receding mouldings
of varying sizes, and the whole workmanship show
perfect finish and care.

The mahogany Sheraton chair, group LI 1 1, has
a splat in the form of three bars finely moulded and
carved. The upper portion of each bar consists of
a cluster of leaves, and the bases have similar leaves
inverted. The middle bar is also ornamented with
a design of husks, while the bars on either side are
fluted. The legs are plain and tapering, and have a
square, tapering foot.

In figure XLVI is a Sheraton chair (now in the
possession of Mr. Burghard) which originally came
from George Ill's palace. It is of painted satin-
wood, with a cane seat.

BOOKCASES

Bookcases were of oak or mahogany, and were
veneered either with mahogany or satin-wood; oc-
casionally the carcass was also of satin-wood. In the
shape of the pediment there was much variety of
treatment. Although a very graceful swan-necked
pediment was chiefly characteristic of this school,

Fig. XLII.

SHERATON CHAIR.

Fig. XLVI. SHERATON KIDNEY TABLE AND CHAIR.

To face page 152.

Fig. XLIII.

To face page 152.

SHERATON BOOKCASE.

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 153

broken and curved pediments, as well as plain oval
cornices with vase-shaped terminals were also con-
stantly produced. The panels of glass — if the cup-
boards had glass doors — were edged with fine lines
of moulding, which often assumed the form of an
urn. In other examples the mouldings were drawn
round a central panel of painted glass or wood.
Lattice doors, or, as Sheraton called them, "wire-
worked" doors, with " green, white, or pink silk,
fluted behind," were very fashionable, especially, as
Sheraton wrote, when the cupboards had " a part of
their ornaments gilded." Inlaid lines, bands, and
ornaments were the most usual decorations. Some-
times a little carving was also introduced.

The bookcase in illustration XLIII, is the pro-
perty of Mr. James Ivory. Apart from its fine propor-
tions and excellent workmanship, this piece is par-
ticularly interesting, since the initials of the maker,
Thomas Sheraton himself, are cut in the wood.
Numerous as were the masterpieces produced by
eighteenth-century cabinet-makers, it was only in
the rarest instances that the craftsmen inscribed
their names upon their productions. Occasionally
a dealer has come upon the " address label " of some
little-known maker lying under the drawer of a
cabinet, but only three or four cases are known in
which a piece of furniture has been found marked
with the letters "T. C." — for Thomas Chippen-
dale, or, as in the bookcase here depicted, "T. S."

154 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

for Thomas Sheraton. The initials in this ex-
ample are engraved on the inside of one of the
drawers.

The mahogany bookcase in illustration XLIV,
now owned by Mr. J. E. Schunck, came from a
country seat in Yorkshire, where it had remained
since the eighteenth century. It is of very large
size, consisting of a centre and two side wings very
finely proportioned. The middle part is surmounted
by an elegant swan-necked pediment and a vase;
chains of husks and leaves are inlaid in satin-wood
round the frieze. The wings are ornamented by
carving in low relief.

SIDEBOARDS

Sideboards were plentifully provided with cup-
boards and drawers. The cupboards which reached
to the ground still took the form of pedestals sur-
mounted by vases, but these were often supple-
mented by short cellarette cupboards and drawers,
extending only part-way to the floor. A rail, with
fine brass scrollwork, often with candelabra attached,
was used to support the plate, and added greatly
to the decorative appearance of the piece. The front
was straight, serpentine, or oval, and, if very long,
frequently had a deep recess in the middle. Hollow-
front sideboards were a speciality of Sheraton's, and
were intended to enable the butler to reach across,

Fig. XLIV.

To face page 154.

SHERATON BOOKCASE.

o
^

Z

O

<

a;
u
I
on

r

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 155

and therefore to serve more easily. Sheraton also
pointed out other advantages: a hollowed front occu-
pied less space than a straight one, and the curve
took away from the appearance of undue length.

The legs were long, slender, and tapering, and,
like the chair legs, were often set into a rosette at
the top. This device, however, does not belong ex-
clusively to the Sheraton school.

The sideboard in illustration XLV, the property
of Mr. Sidney Letts, is of inlaid satin-wood, with
large oval panels on the side cupboards ; and with
swags, a vase and various scrolls on the middle
portion. The inlaid taper legs end in a " therm "
foot.

WRITING-DESKS

Many of the writing-desks and tables had ele-
gantly carved backs, in order that the piece might
look equally well in any part of the room. Of such
ornamental tables the most decorative as well as the
most original was that known as the " kidney-"
shaped table, used for a writing-table or a lady's
work-table. It generally had a double set of drawers
with a knee-hole between, or else a 'single row of
drawers and an undershelf.

The kidney table in illustration XLVI, the pro-
perty of Mr. Burghard, is of mahogany, and the top
is inlaid with a band of rosewood and a line of satin-

156 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

wood. The back is surrounded by a brass rim.
Noticeable are the curiously carved handles and the
wheel casters.

There were also writing-tables with an adjust-
able sliding screen to protect the face of the writer
from the heat of the fire; and secretary writing-
tables with bookcase tops, shelves for china, or an
ornamental wall piece.

A beautiful satin-wood cabinet writing-desk,
illustration XLVII, is the property of Mr. Sidney
Letts. The whole piece is inlaid with dark woods
in a design of vases, foliage, scrolls, and has a large
oval subject-picture in the centre. The scroll rail,
the carved head at the top, the ornaments at the
angles, and all the handles are of brass. In the
lower portion are two side cupboards and three long
drawers; above these are two doors which slide
back into a recess and disclose a desk fitted up for
writing purposes. By means of some ingenious
mechanism the desk-shelf, together with its accom-
panying small drawers and pigeon-holes, can be
drawn forward when required for use.

A similar piece — with the exception of the orna-
mental top — was depicted in Sheraton's " Cabinet
Dictionary." It was called a " Gentleman's Sec-
retary."

Illustration XLVII I shows another Sheraton
cabinet writing-table. It is veneered with satin-
wood and charmingly painted on both front and

Fig. XLVII.

To face page 156.

SHERATON WRITING DESK.

Fig. XLVIII. PAINTED CABINET WRITING TABLE.

To face page 156.

Fig XLIX. INLAID WRITING CABINET.

To face page 156

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 157

sides with classical designs. The roll-top of the desk
folds back and discloses a number of partitions and
other interior fittings. There is besides a draw-shelf
which can be used as a writing-table, and below this
again are two drawers. The upper part or cabinet
has glazed and finely moulded doors inclosing
shelves for the display of china.

The cabinet, illustration XLIX, is of satin-wood
inlaid with mahogany. It has a swan-necked pedi-
ment, fluted corners — both in the upper and lower
portions — and fluted legs, springing from a rosette.
The stretchers between the legs support the typical
Sheraton undershelf. The spandrils, or triangular
corners around the glass, are decorated with carved
foliage in low relief. (These two cabinets, XLVIII
and XLIX, belong to Mr. James Orrock.)

OTHER TABLES

In designs for ornamental table-tops, Sheraton
displayed his utmost skill; radiating ornaments,
floral wreaths, scrolls, and arabesques were the most
usual subjects either for inlay or painting. Many
Sheraton tables, as well as cabinets and other pieces,
had an undershelf supported by side braces. As a
shelf of this kind was not represented in Hepple-
white's book, it may be regarded as especially char-
acteristic of the later master.

The Sheraton Pembroke table in group LI 1 1,

158 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

owned by Mr. Alfred Davis, is of mahogany veneered
with hair-wood of beautiful figure. It is banded and
lined with satin-wood, and also with various other
woods stained red and green. The oval plaques in
the top, the sides, and the two flaps, are carried out
in amboyna-wood. The size of this graceful little
table, when open, is 2 ft. 8 in. by 2 ft. The brass
casters which give such a delicate finish to the
tapering legs are original.

Very typical of the period are the three tea
caddies. That on the left is in ivory with banding
and stringing of whalebone and a silver monogram
plate. The caddy on the right is made of hair-wood,
banded with king-wood, lined with satin-wood, and
has a festoon of stained holly inlaid in the front.
The miniature octagonal caddy placed in the middle
of the table measures only 3! in. by 2| in., depth,
i£ in. It is so small and dainty that, except for the
fact of its lead lining, one might suppose it to have
been a snuff-box. The wood is mahogany, veneered
with satin-wood, inlaid with rare woods and deli-
cately painted on every part. The top opens by
means of a double spring.

WORK-TABLES

Ladies work-tables, called by Sheraton " pouch
tables," with a bag or pouch of drawn silk, were an
important feature of a Sheraton room. They were

Fig. L.

'OUCH TABLE.

Fig. LI.

To face page 1 59.

DRINKING TABLE.

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 159

often fitted with drawers and a sliding desk, which
drew forward from beneath the table-top. A satin-
wood pouch table of this kind is shown in illustra-
tion L. This dainty piece is in the possession of
Mr. Stenson Webb.

Group LIV also depicts a Sheraton work-table
of a different shape. It is mahogany, inlaid with
satin and tulip woods, and is most elegant, both in
proportion and design.

DINING-TABLES

At the beginning of the Sheraton period the
most common form of dining-table seems to have
been the pillar and claw shape. A central leg (the
so-called pillar) with projecting feet (the claws), was
fixed to a block, and upon this the table-top was
hinged. This principle was very generally adopted
on the Continent during the seventeenth century; in
England, however, until quite the last part of the
eighteenth century, only small ornamental tables
were made according to this pattern.

Sheraton tables usually had four claws to each
pillar, and brass casters; "A loose flap fixed by
means of iron straps and buttons " 1 was placed be-
tween the separate tables when they were required
to be joined together. At the beginning of the nine-
teenth century a great change was brought about

1 Cf. Sheraton's " Diftionary."

i6o ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

by the invention of the "telescopic" dining-table.
Three or four patents were taken out for tables to
be extended by means of slides moving in grooved
channels. This system, which obviated the necessity
for placing several small tables together, quickly be-
came popular. The best patent was that of Richard
Gillow (1800), and his invention — with but slight
improvements — is the one universally employed at
the present day.

The mahogany drinking-table, illustration LI,
is in the possession of Mr. Burghard. It is in the
shape of a horseshoe, and in the old days was
placed in front of the fire, the curtain at the back
serving to screen off the heat and glare of the flames
from the festive group who sat around the table.
At ordinary times an oval leaf fitted into and covered
the middle of the table ; but when the leaf was taken
out, the net and movable bottle-holders (seen in the
illustration) were disclosed. These sliding wooden
rests were pushed from hand to hand and the net
held the empty bottles and overturned glasses. The
legs are fixed to the table by means of a brass screw;
the brass curtain-rod and pillars, as well as the brass
casters, are original.

CABINETS

The models of many Sheraton cabinets and com-
modes so closely resembled those produced in

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 161

France during the Louis-Seize period, that the
English pieces can only be distinguished from the
French by a careful inspection of the decorative
details. A certain number, however, can be traced
more directly to Adam's influence, while the later
examples were Sheraton-Empire.

The richest and most effective cabinets were in-
laid. The designs, either for inlay or hand-painting,
represented fruit and flowers, subject-pictures based
on the work of Angelica Kauffmann, Cipriani, etc.,
landscapes, and Watteau-like figures.

It is often said that Sheraton furniture was
painted by Angelica Kauffmann. But the fact that
this artist left England for Italy with her husband,
Zucchi, in 1781, proves conclusively that all such
paintings were executed not by Angelica herself but
by other artists in imitation of her style.

A favourite shape for ornamental cabinets was
the oval-convex front, one of which, from the palace
of George III, is shown in illustration LVII.
The satin-wood is finely veined, and is inlaid with
oval panels representing a piping nymph, cupid,
vases, and foliage, in coloured woods. The top is
inlaid with a vase in the centre, and the Royal
Cipher, G. R., for Georgius Rex, in oval panels on
either side. The fluted corners and ribbon orna-
ments are of mahogany ; the width is 74 inches. This
cabinet was lately the property of Mr. James Orrock.1

1 Sold at Christie's, June, 1904, for 470 guineas.
M

162 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

FIRESCREENS

Sheraton designed " horse " and " pole " fire-
screens as well as more decorative pieces. His lyre-
shaped horse-screens were very effective, also the
pole-screens with a small under-shelf between the
tripod claws. There were besides folding screens
and sliding screens.

BEDROOM FURNITURE

Sheraton bedroom furniture was extremely de-
corative and embraced many beautiful examples of
painted and inlaid satin-wood. A single piece
was often adaptable to a number of different uses:
a washstand, when closed, would appear as an
ornamental cabinet; similarly the looking-glasses
attached to a lady's dressing-table could be folded
inwards, leaving only painted panels in their place.
The satin-wood dressing-table shown in illustra-
tion LI I, the property of Mr. Letts, is delicately
ornamented with marquetry in various coloured
woods. The top is elaborately fitted with partitions
and recesses to hold the various articles of a lady's
toilet. In the centre is a mirror which is lifted up
when in use and made to rest on sliding supports.
In the lower part of the toilet-table are cupboards
and drawers.

Fis- LI1- DRESSING TABLE, SHERATON.

To face page 162.

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 163

CLOCKS

The Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton schools
produced a considerable change in the treatment of
clocks. The square form of dial-case gradually
changed to the circular, that is to say, the wooden
and metal cases, were made to fit closely around the
clock-face, and the spandrils at the corners, which
had been one of the chief decorative elements in the
early clocks, were now almost invariably omitted.
The dial itself was generally plain white enamel or
silver, and the hours were engraved upon it in
Roman numerals; it was entirely without orna-
ment, and even the maker's name rarely appeared.
But these simple dials were set in a framework
superb in outline, proportion, and workmanship.
The hood, which had hitherto afforded great scope
for diversity of ideas, was very much simplified.
Broken pediments, scrolls, and complicated curves
gave place to severer and more restrained forms.
The wood used was oak, with a mahogany or satin-
wood veneer. Inlay or banding with different woods
afforded an opportunity for presenting delicate con-
trasts of colour. Painted ornamentation was also
by no means uncommon, the clock doors being often
decorated with painted figure subjects. Sheraton
clocks occasionally had side wings, or ornamental
projections on either side of the clock-waist. In the

164 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

earliest Queen Anne clocks the sides had sometimes
been extended to admit of the swing of the pendulum,
but in Sheraton clocks the addition was purely an
ornamental one.

The hoods of bracket clocks were also made with
an oval-shaped arch, ending on either side with a
short horizontal line. Quite at the close of the cen-
tury the balloon, or, as it is sometimes called, the
banjo-shaped clock, came into fashion. It had a
plain round dial-case and a short curved projec-
tion below; it was usually made to hang on the
wall.

The clock, illustration LI 1 1 (height 7 ft. 6 in.), is
owned by Mr. Alfred Davis. In its shape, its beauti-
ful proportions, in the arrangement of the wood en-
circling the face, the tapering waist, and spreading
base, it is typical of the best work of the Sheraton
school. The dial-frame narrows below ; the clock-
face itself has black numerals painted on a silver
ground. The arched canopy is supported by fluted
and "cabled" Corinthian columns, of which the
cabling is in satin-wood and the capitals and bases
in brass. The whole case is oak, veneered with
deep red Spanish mahogany of very fine figure.
The finials are of brass; and a circular fan above
the door, chains of husks at the angles, and similar
enrichments on different parts of the hood are inlaid
in satin-wood. The subdued ornamentation imparts
a pleasing effedl thoroughly in keeping with the

Fig, LIII. SHERATON CLOCK, TABLE AND CHAIR.

To face page 164.

THE SHERATON SCHOOL 165

severity of treatment noticeable in all the best Eng-
lish grandfather clock-cases of the eighteenth cen-
tury. The clock bears the name of the maker, J.
Brooks, London.

CHAPTER XI

LACQUER-WARE

DURING the seventeenth century a quantity
of lacquered screens and cabinets from China
and Further India were imported into Holland,
France, and England. Japanese lacquer was also
well known, although after 1638 Europe was denied
all direct commerce with Japan except through the
medium of the small Dutch factory on the island
of Deshinia, near Nagasaki. So great was the de-
mand for Oriental lacquered panels, that the large
pieces were often broken up in order that they might
furnish decorations for articles of home manufacture.
In " A Treatise of Japaning and Varnishing" (folio,
1688) by John Stalker of the Golden Ball, St.
James's Market, London, and George Parker of
Oxford, the authors quaintly refer to " some who
have made new Cabinets out of old Skreens. And
from that large old piece, by the help of a Joyner,
make little ones, such as Stands or Tables, — but
never consider the situation of their figures ; so that
in these things so torn and hacked to joint a new
fancie, you may observe the finest hodgpodg and

1 66

LACQUER-WARE 167

medley of Men and Trees turned topsie turvie, and
instead of marching by Land you shall see them
taking journeys through the Air, as if they had
found out Doctor Wilkinson's [sic] way of travelling
to the Moon;1 others they have placed in such order
by their ignorance as if they were angling for Dol-
phins in a Wood, or pursuing the Stag and Chasing
the Boar in the middle of the Ocean."

It is generally supposed that a certain number of
clocks and other pieces of furniture were sent out
on the tea ships of the East India Company to be
lacquered in China, although this procedure would
necessarily have been a lengthy and a very costly one.
The sea voyage in sailing vessels round the Cape,
the delay in China, and the return journey must
have occupied so long a time that years would
often have passed before such a piece could be com-
pleted. It is indeed questionable whether there are
in existence any specimens of English furniture
which can be proved to have been lacquered in the
East.

The first imitation of Oriental japanning has
been attributed to a Dutchman named Huygens,
in the seventeenth century. But the English,
French, Italians, and Americans, speedily adopted

1 Our authors meant to refer to John Wilkins, Bishop of Chester,
who to the third edition (1640) of his " Discovery of a World in the
Moone " added a " Discourse concerning the Possibility of a Pass-
age thither."

168 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

similar methods. The first use of lacquer varnish
in this country was by the author of " The present
state of England" (1683, Part iii, p. 93) l traced to
the year 1633. "That Lacquer Varnish (which
imitating the gold color has saved much cost form-
erly bestowed on the gilding of Coaches) was in this
year 1633 first brought into use in England by the
ingenious Mr. Evelyn of Says Court nearDeptford."
Stalker and Parker in an "Epistle to the Reader
and Practitioner " prefixed to their delightful folio
already cited, stated that as trade in lacquer ware
with Japan was prohibited, both the " English and
Frenchmen have endeavoured to imitate them. . . .
As for our Undertakers in this kind they are very
numerous and their works are different; some of
them have more confidence than skill and ingenuity,
and without modesty or a blush impose upon the
gentry such Stuff and Trash for Japan-work that
whether tis a greater scandal to the Name or Arti-
ficer, I cannot determin. Might we advise such
foolish pretenders, their time would be better im-
ployed in dawbing Whistles and Puppets for the
Toy-Shops to please Children than contriving Or-
naments for a Room of State." Many of these un-
skilled japanners, it seems, professed to teach the
art to young ladies, greatly to the indignation of
Messrs. Stalker and Parker. They therefore offered

1 Quoted by Adam Anderson in " Historical and Chronological
Origin of Commerce" (1764), vol. ii, p. 48.

LACQUER-WARE 169

to show amateurs how the work should be done.
" If any Gentlemen or Ladies having met with dis-
appointments in some of the Receipts . . . they
may for their satisfaction (if it stands with their
convenience) see them tried by the Author according
to the very Rules set down."

From time to time tradesmen advertised their
japanned work in the " London Gazette." Thus in
the number January i6th-2Oth, 1689: "At Tho.
Hulbeart at The Ship and Anchor over against
Gun-Yard in Hounditch London, several sorts of
screwtores, Tables Stands and Looking-Glasses of
Japan and other work " ; while a certain John
Gumley in the number for March ist-5th, 1693,
clearly defined his wares as " Japan Cabinets Indian
and English." Such advertisements were common
during the following century.

Another seventeenth-century book on the subject
of English lacquer was published in London in
1697, with the title, "Art's Master-piece, or A
Companion for the Ingenious of either Sex. By
C. K." It contained, with many other notable things,
"The newest Experiment in Japaning, to immitate
the Indian way, Plain and in Speckles, Rock-work,
Figures, &c." This tiny booklet attained the dignity
of five editions. The author gave a number of re-
cipes for lacquering woods and metals, and regarded
the art as a most useful accomplishment by means
of which any who followed his directions could

1 70 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

decorate their tables, chests of drawers, or mirrors
for themselves.

J. Peele, in 1735, issued: "A new and curious
method of Japanning upon glass, wood or metal
from the M.S. of Mr. Boyle," dedicated to Lady
Walpole, "distinguished for your excellent perform-
ance in painting, japanning and other curious arts."
Again, the intention was merely to describe a mode
of decorative painting for home use, and we seek in
vain in these pages for information on lacquer-work
considered as a trade.

The few encyclopaedias which appeared in the
first part of the eighteenth century such as Ephraim
Chambers' "Cyclopaedia" (1728, second edition,
1738), and the " Didtionarium Polygraphicum, or
whole body of Arts " (1735), contained long treatises
on various methods of japanning. The article in
Chambers' book was taken from a work by D. Rust,
volume I (book not traceable), but an additional
note explained that, " Parker gives ampler and
better instructions."

By the middle of the century — perhaps earlier —
Birmingham, which had long been the chief centre
of metal -japanning, became famous for similar
work in wood, and later in papier-madid also. The
" Modern Dictionary of Arts and Sciences " (1774)
pointed out that the Birmingham wood-lacquer was
greatly superior to the French, owing to the omis-
sion of an undercoating of size. The French sized

LACQUER-WARE 171

their wood because it filled up the inequalities of
the surface, saved the quantity of varnish, and gave
a hardness and firmness to the ground. Neverthe-
less it caused both varnish and colour to crack and
peel off in strips if subjected to any violence. Thus
the work of the Birmingham makers, who treated
wood as they had long treated metals, and used no
size, was far more durable than the French. But
the French lacquer-work of the Martins, inventors
of the varnish known as "Vernis Martin," was
probably the most famous of any European japan-
ning of the eighteenth century. In 1730 Simon
Etienne Martin obtained a twenty years' monopoly,
renewed in 1744, from the French government for
all kinds of lacquer work, and in 1748 the Martin
family had three factories for this class of work in
Paris. Their earlier productions were Oriental in
character; but afterwards they employed a variety
of colours for the ground, especially pale golds and
greens, and the painted designs became purely
French in style.

The essential difference between the lacquer of
the East and of the West is the composition of the
varnish. The Chinese employ the sap of their native
gum-trees — chiefly the "Tsi" — and the Japanese
that of the " Rhus Vernis." This juice must be used
as soon as it is drawn from the tree, for it speedily
dries and becomes quite hard. Thus the Oriental
varnish which imparts such a wonderful lustre can

i;2 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

never be imported, and Europeans have vainly
tried, by using other resinous substances, to pro-
duce a similar effect. But a coating formed of lac,
copal, anime or mastic gum, however carefully pre-
pared and polished, can never equal, either in dur-
ability or brilliance, that of China or Japan. Among
the eastern nations many of the most accomplished
artists were engaged upon the work, and the
lacquer-ware of Japan has from the earliest times
been unrivalled in the whole world. The colour of
the ground is more brilliant than in Chinese ware,
especially the golds and reds; the ornamentation is
bolder, and the varnish itself is stronger and able to
withstand higher temperatures.

In England a mixture of gum and lac or copal
was found to exhibit the best results, and the last
substance is the chief ingredient of our present-day
wood lacquer. Stalker and Parker devoted an im-
portant chapter to the subject of raised-work. This
was produced by means of a paste of gum, whit-
ing and bole-ammoniac, dropped onto the wood
according to pattern from a stick with a taper end ;
and the paste, when hardened, was cut, scraped and
carved into shape with a sharp steel instrument
before being varnished. It is in such relief lacquer
that old English work shows its most glaring de-
fects. In many cases the paste appears to have been
dropped almost at random upon the picture and then
left in coarse blotches, neither " carved " nor "cut."

LACQUER-WARE 173

According to E. Chambers — following the method
of D. Rust — the flat, coloured grounds, after the
application of a layer of varnish, were obtained as
follows: " Incorporate the colour of the ground with
seven times the quantity of varnish, and apply it
with a pencil (i.e., a camel's hair pencil), going over
it three times each a quarter of an hour after the
other. Two hours after polish with a pestle or
Dutch reeds." The colours to be employed were:

For red grounds : " Spanish vermillion with a
fourth part of Venice lacque."

For black: " Black of ivory calcined between two
crucibles."

For blue : " Blue ultramarine and twice as much
varnish as colour." " Green is difficult to make fair
and lively therefore seldom used." Lastly a ven-
turine ground was obtained by gold-wire reduced to
powder, and this required special manipulation.

Another early mode of layingtheground, although
not mentioned in the oldest books on the subject,
is worthy of note as throwing fresh light on eight-
eenth century japanning. The process was known
as the "dip ": " Small quantities of coloured varnish
were dropped in a trough of water over which it
spread in curious and beautiful ramifications. Into
this the article was dipped ; the colour thus trans-
ferred to the work was afterwards varnished and
polished in the usual way."1

1 " Penny Cyclopaedia."

174 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Old English lacquerers seem to have derived
their designs for painted ornamentation almost ex-
clusively from Oriental models, although they treated
the wonderful eastern art with but scant respect.
Stalker and Parker gave a series of designs for
cabinets and various kinds of furniture as well as
for powder and patch boxes, the backs of combs and
brushes, looking-glass frames, boxes, etc., in Indian
or Chinese style. After a perusal of their preface
it is clear that the curious blending of western ideas
with Oriental subjects, noticeable in so much of our
early lacquer-ware, was no mere accident, but a
deliberate attempt to improve upon the original
examples. " Perhaps," they write in the " Epistle''
referred to, "we have helpt them a little in their
proportions, where they were lame or defective, and
made them more pleasant, yet altogether as Antick."

Not only the books on the subject but the early
dictionaries published designs for japanning in
Oriental taste. Before the middle of that century
the Chinese craze made itself felt in all departments
of art. From the year 1740 onwards quite a number
of plates were published illustrating ornaments,
shields, bookplates, mirrors, pier-tables, pavilions,
and bridges after Chinese models. In some cases,
as for instance in "The First Book of Ornaments by
De la Cour" (1741), Indian and Chinese figures ap-
peared side by side with classical columns and orna-
ments. By far the most interesting book of that

LACQUER-WARE 175

period containing, besides furniture designs, pic-
torial illustrations suitable for lacquer painting, was
that issued by Edwards and Darly in 1754. There
can be no doubt that these drawings by Matthias
Darly were largely copied by japan ners of the day.
Although Chippendale stated in the " Director " that
several of his models, hanging China shelves and
ladies' dressing-tables, were intended to be japanned,
he gave no designs of the kind published by Darly
for the decoration itself.

Stalker and Parker were evidently right in their
low estimate of their fellow artists in this branch of
decorative art, and the work of succeeding genera-
tions, though interesting, can rarely be called strictly
beautiful. In many cases the ground is dull, the
design indifferently drawn, and the subject pictures
badly modelled. The want of lustre is probably due
in many cases to the effects of time — that which
now appears merely a layer of black, red, or brown
paint, no doubt had a bright surface when first pro-
duced two hundred years ago. Much of the work
appears to have received an insufficient number of
coats of varnish, for really fine examples still have
a ground so brilliant that they might have been
executed but yesterday.

Stalker recommended olive-wood, walnut, yew,
box, lime, and best of all, pear-tree wood as a base
for japanning, because of their close smooth grain.
Deal and oak, and rough grained woods, entailed a

1 76 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

more troublesome and expensive method of treat-
ment. The work actually produced during the
Queen Anne period was almost invariably executed
upon oak or pine. For this reason one seldom sees
a piece of early lac furniture which is worm-eaten.
Towards the end of the century the lacquerers used
wood of the beech and plane or sycamore trees, and
this later work is generally full of worm holes.
Furniture of every kind was ornamented with lac-
quer, but cupboards, long clocks, chests of drawers,
mirror-frames, and tables are more frequently met
with than lacquered cabriole chairs.

In quite a number of early examples a dual
workmanship is apparent in the manufacture of
pieces intended for japanning. It will often be ob-
served that while the shape and general construc-
tion is Dutch, the mounts and ornaments are of
English origin. Those who have made a study of
lacquered furniture are therefore of opinion that a
great deal of the early work came to us from Holland,
and that even late in the Queen Anne period, lac-
quered panels were imported from the Low Countries
and were then made up here into various articles of
furniture.

The corner cupboard, illustration LIV, is in the
possession of Mr. Dan. Gibson. It is a very fine
specimen of English lac dating from the early years
of the eighteenth century. The upper panels are of
unusual size, 4 ft. 6 in. by I ft. 4 in. The wood is

Fig LIV. LACQUER CORNER CUPBOARD AND MIRROR ; SHERATON TABLE,

To lace page 177,

Fig.LV. LACQUER CUPBOARD.

To face page 177.

LACQUER-WARE 177

oak, except the upright frames, base, and circular
headed cornice, which are of red pine. No doubt
the lacquer ground was originally black, although
now faded to a shade of deep brown ; the figures,
beasts, birds, ducks, and foliage are gilt, with a
touch of coral and chocolate brown added here and
there. The scene depicted is some fable, evidently
very carefully copied from the Oriental. But although
the work is distinctly better in quality than the ma-
jority of English lacquered pieces, it is still greatly
inferior to the Oriental.

In the same group the long mirror has a frame
lacquered on a soft wood ground — probably pine.
The narrow border, the double plate — of which the
upper one is engraved — the broad bevel following the
outline of the frame, all point to the very begin-
ning of the century as the period of its manufacture.

The lac cupboard, illustration LV, from Mr.
Gibson's collection also belongs to the first part of
the eighteenth century. The ground is black, and
the piece is painted all over with Chinese subjects
in yellow, touched here and there with gold. The
whole work is, as far as can be known, an English
production.

The cabinet in illustration LVI is in the Victoria
and Albert Museum, the lacquered doors being the
only examples of old English japanning preserved
in the Museum. The cabinet itself is of south Ger-
man origin, and dates from the beginning of the

N

i;8 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

seventeenth century; it is of pine and oak veneered
with Hungarian ash and walnut. A remarkable
fact in connection with this piece is that it was
made up in England into its present form about
1690. The sides, the top, the bottom drawer of the
interior and the outer doors were added at the latter
period in this country, and were here covered with
black lacquer enriched with gilded designs after the
Chinese style. The brass mounts were also English,
as well as the openwork stand of pine, stained black,
which is carved in a manner thoroughly typical of
the Wren school of design. The height is 5 ft. 4J in.,
width 3 ft. io£ in., depth i ft. uj in. It was pur-
chased for the Museum in 1899, for £60.

Fig. LVI.

To face page 178.

LACQUER CABINET.

CHAPTER XII

OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES

MIRRORS of Vauxhall glass were such an
essential feature of the decoration of English
houses during the Queen Anne and Chippendale
periods, that a short account of the origin of old
English looking-glasses and of the various pro-
cesses of manufacture cannot fail to be of interest.
The first looking-glasses were made in Venice about
the thirteenth century, earlier mirrors having been
constructed of metal only. Small glass-mirrors —
intended chiefly to hang at the girdle — were ex-
ported from Venice to all parts of Europe, and until
the sixteenth century the south Germans alone —
who produced little convex glasses known as bulls-
eyes — were competitors of the Venetians in this
class of manufacture. During the sixteenth century
the process of silvering, which gave a bright, lumin-
ous surface to the glass, was brought to a high state
of perfection at the glass-houses of Murano, and
mirrors of larger size and elaborately framed began
to be employed for wall decoration. At the close of
the sixteenth and beginning of the century follow-

179

i8o ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

ing, Venetian mirrors were imitated in France,
Bohemia, Bavaria, and England; the methods of
the older factories were improved upon and the
Venetian trade gradually decreased until, in 1772,
only a single glass-house in Murano continued to
make looking-glasses.

Sir Robert Mansel, in 1615, obtained the first
patent for the manufacture of mirrors in this
country. The following is an extract from the peti-
tion which he addressed to the House of Commons
in 1624 for the renewal of his patent.

" Sir Robert Mansel did bring into the kingdome
many expert strangers from forraigne parts beyond
the seas to instruct the natives of this kingdome in
the making of looking-glass plates for the grinding,
polishing, foyling and casing of them, being all
several professions which were never before made
nor done in England."1

The material was flint or crystalline glass, brittle,
and of inferior quality, and until after the Restora-
tion, metal mirrors were far more generally em-
ployed in this country than those of glass. About
1663 the manufacture of looking-glasses was greatly
improved. The Duke of Buckingham, Dr. Tilson
and others applied for patents, and as Tilson's pro-
ductions were the best, both as regards colour and
quality, the monopoly was granted to him. But it
was the Duke of Buckingham who, a few years later,

1 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, James I, 152 (63).

OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES 181

brought about the most important change in Eng-
lish mirror-making, by the establishment of a plate-
glass factory at Lambeth. There is no means of
ascertaining the exact change in the materials in
use, since no account of the process of manufacture
appears to have been written, but several writers of
the time testified to its excellence. The Duke had
strong scientific tastes, " he dabbled in chemistry
and had a laboratory of his own"; and it was prob-
ably owing to his personal efforts that plate glass
was substituted for flint.

Evelyn in his " Diary," under date September
1 9th, 1677, writes of a visit to Lambeth as follows:

" We also saw the Duke of Buckingham's glass-
works, where they made huge vases of metal as
clear, ponderous and thick as crystal; also looking-
glasses far larger and better than any that come
from Venice."

In " The present state of England," published
in 1683, the writer dated the establishment of the
factory from 1673. " The first glass plates for look-
ing-glasses and coach-windows were made about
ten years ago at Lambeth by the encouragement of
the Duke of Buckingham" (Part III, p. 94). This
statement is quoted in the " Historical Origin of
Commerce " by A. Anderson, who fixed the date
about. three years earlier, 1670. "About this time
it was that the Duke of Buckingham sent for the
best glass makers, glass-grinders and polishers

i82 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

from Venice ; which public-spirited design has
since so well succeeded, as to be now enabled
to send to that very place and to every other part
of Europe and to Asia, Africa and America the
very finest glass of all sorts that the world can
produce."

Lastly, Allen, in his " History of Lambeth "
(1827), gave the whole history of the new under-
taking: " Among the various manufactures carried
on in this part of the parish, none have been so
celebrated as Vauxhall Plate Glass. In the thir-
teenth century the Venetians were the only people
who had the secret of making looking-glasses; but
about the year 1670, a number of Venetian artists
arrived in England, the principal of whom was
Rossetti ; and under the patronage of the Duke of
Buckingham, a manufactory was established at Fox-
hall, and carried on with amazing success, in the
firm of Dawson, Bowles, and Co. so as to excel
the Venetians, or any other nation in blown plate
glass. The emoluments acquired by the proprietors
were prodigious; but in the year 1780, from a
difference between them and the workmen, a total
stop was put to this great acquisition and valuable
manufactory, and a descendant of the above Rossetti
ungratefully left in extreme poverty. The site of
this celebrated factory is Vauxhall Square."

When Buckingham's factory first started, a
Venetian law forbidding the exportation of rough

OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES 183

plates of glass — to be ground and silvered elsewhere
— gave a great impetus to the English manufacture.
Mirrors made entirely in this country could be
produced at a cheaper rate than if imported from
abroad, and though the trade in foreign looking-
glasses continued, in spite of Charles IFs proclama-
tion (1664) forbidding the importation of any glass
whatsoever, looking-glasses of Vauxhall Plate ap-
pear to have been in great demand. It was not
long, however, before the new manufacture was
hampered by heavy duties. These were first im-
posed in 1695, repealed three years later, re-enacted
in 1745, and only finally abolished by Sir Robert
Peel in 1845.

The methods in use at the various glass-houses
were kept secret as far as possible, and the chief fact
known in connection with the Vauxhall works is
that the glass was blown in the same manner as in
Murano. The mirrors produced were of small size,
not exceeding forty to fifty inches in length. They
could not be made of larger size since the plate be-
came too thin to bear the process of grinding if
blown to a greater length. There were often bubbles
and other defects in the glass, which was of a
blueish or steely tinge. The metal coating or sil-
vering never adhered very firmly to the surface,
and could be easily scraped away with a knife ; in-
deed, unless carefully handled it would often fall
away in pieces. The bevelled edge, or " diamond

i84 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

cut " as it was called, one of the most characteristic
features of the old mirrors, was very shallow and
generally about an inch in width. In cases of a
double bevel, each division was somewhat narrower.
Scarcely any ridge marked the beginning of the
bevel, so slight was the angle of inclination. There
is some difference of opinion as to the manner in
which the " diamond cut " was wrought. Hunger-
ford Pollen, in his "Ancient and Modern Furniture
and Woodwork" (1875), stated that the workman
held the plate over his head, and the edges were
then cut by grinding, " thus giving a prismatic
light to the glass." Fran9ois Haudicquer de Blan-
court also, in describing the processes of the French
glass-houses, wrote: " The diamond cut is done by
grinding the glass with drift-sand and water."1
On the other hand, some of the first modern glass
experts hold that many of the old bevels show un-
doubted indications of having been produced by
pressure when the glass was in a molten condition,
and not by grinding when it had become cold.
The probable solution of the problem no doubt
is that both methods were employed at different
periods.

The "blowing," "grinding," "polishing," and
" silvering " of mirrors were clearly defined in the
" Dictionarium Polygraphicum " (1735), and in E.

1 "De I'Art de la Verrerie" (1697). Our citation is from the
English translation, published in 1699.

OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES 185

Chambers' "Cyclopaedia" (1728, 1738), etc. The
two accounts were almost in the same words; and
although the methods depicted were not identified
with any factory in particular, they were in all
probability those employed at the Vauxhall and
other contemporary glass-houses :

" The melting pots where the materials to be
blown are fixed are 38 inches in diameter and 35 feet
high. After the materials are vitrified by the heat
of the fire and the glass is sufficiently refined, the
master workman dips in his blowing-iron once
and again till he has got matter enough thereon.
This done he mounts a kind of block, or stool to be
more at liberty to balance it as it lengthens in the
blowing. When after several repeated heatings and
blowings the glass is at length brought to the com-
pass proper for its thickness, they cut it off with
forces at the extremity opposite to the iron in order
to point it with the pontil. The pontil is a long,
firm piece of iron ... in the manner of a T. To
point the glass they plunge the head of this T into
the melting-pot and with the liquid sticking thereto
they fasten it to the extremity of the glass before
cut off. When it is sufficiently formed they separate
the other extremity of the glass from the blowing-
iron and instead thereof make use of the pontil to
carry it to the furnace appointed for that end and
where by several repeated heatings they continue to
enlarge it till it is equally thick in every part. This

1 86 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

done they cut it open with the forces not only on the
side by which it stuck to the blowing-iron but like-
wise the whole length of the cylinder. After that
giving it a sufficient heating it is in a condition to
be entirely opened extended and flattened."

For grinding: "The plate of glass is laid horizon-
tal on a stone in manner of a table and to secure it the
better fastened down with mortar or stucco. To sus-
tain it there is a strong wooden frame an inch or two
higher than the glass. The bottom, or base of the
grinding engine is another rough glass about half
the dimensions of the former. On this is a wooden
plank cemented thereto and upon this are proper
weights applied to promote the triture; the plank,
or table being fastened to a wheel which gives it
motion. This wheel which is at least 5 or 6 inches
in diameter is made of very hard but light wood
and is wrought by two workmen placed against each
other who twist and pull it alternately, and some-
times when the work requires it turn it round. By
such means a constant mutual attrition is produced
between the two glasses which is favoured by water
and sands of several kinds bestowed between, sand
still finer and finer being applied as the grinding is
more advanced; at last emery is used. We need not
add that as the upper or incumbent glass polishes
and grows smoother it must be shifted from time
to time and others put in its place. It is to be noted
that only the largest size glasses are thus ground

OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES 187

with a mill, for the middling and smaller sorts are
wrought by the hand to which end there are four
wooden handles at the four corners of the upper
stone or carriage for the workmen to take hold of
to give it motion."

For polishing: "The plate is laid down on a
stone placed horizontally and in a bed of plaster of
paris calcin'd and pulveriz'd very fine and sifted;
which being made into a sort of paste by water and
plaister'd up the edges of the plate dries and hardens
and so keeps it immovable. Then the workman
fixes a strong bow of yew or some other tough
wood to a board fixed up to the ceiling of the room,
fixes also the other end to a pole made in a wooden
parallelepiped of about four inches long, covered
with a sort of coarse woollen cloth well drench'd
with Tripoly tempered with water, works it with
his blocks and bow all over by strength of arm till
the plate has got a perfect politure."

The process of silvering was as follows : " The
plates being polished a thin blotting paper is spread
on a table and sprinkled with fine chalk; and this
done, over the paper is laid a thin lamina or leaf
of tin, on which is poured mercury, which is to be
equally distributed over the leaf with a hare's foot,
or cotton. Over the leaf is laid a clean paper and
over that the glass plate. With the left hand the
glass plate is pressed down, and with the right the
paper is gently drawn out; which done the plate is

1 88 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

covered with a thicker paper and loaden with a
greater weight that the superfluous mercury may be
driven out and the tin adhere more closely to the
glass. When it is dried the weight is removed and
the looking-glass is complete." It is interesting to
note that this process is the same as that described
by G. B. della Porta (" Magiae Naturalis " libri xx,
edit. 1651 l) in his account of the method of silvering
practised at the factories of Murano.

The French were greatly in advance of the
English in their looking-glass manufacture, owing
to their discovery of the art of casting plate glass
like metals by throwing the molten material into
an iron or copper table and then rolling it out into
a plate of equal thickness. Instead of a mirror of
45 to 50 inches in length, looking-glasses were pro-
duced 84 by 50 inches, to the " universal astonish-
ment and admiration " of the public. In 422 A.D.,
St. Jerome mentioned plates of glass — probably
used for windows — which were cast upon a flat
stone. There is no further record of the use of
this process till the end of the fifteenth century,
when it was rediscovered by an accident. A work-
man, while melting the contents of a crucible of
molten glass happened to spill a little upon the
ground. The liquid ran under one of the large flag-
stones with which the glass-house was paved, and

1 An English translation, as " Natural Magick ... in twenty
bookes," was published at London in 1658.

OLD ENGLISH LOOKING-GLASSES 189

when the workman raised the stone he found that
the glass had assumed the form of a flat plate
superior to anything which he could produce by
blowing. Whether or not the man worked out his
invention further is not known, and nearly two
hundred years elapsed before the art of casting
was seriously considered. In a letter dated 1662,
Louis XIV granted to one Bernhard Perotto "the
pleasure of enjoying the fruits of his work and
expenses undergone on account of his curious re-
searches in the matter of the new invention of
casting crystal on a table like metals." l

Thus Perotto was the first in the field, but
Louis Lucas de Nohan is generally accredited with
the invention, as it was he who established the
famous plate glass works of St. Gobain in 1695.

There is no doubt that the process of casting
plates was adopted very early in England, although
it has generally been supposed that all the mirrors
produced at Vauxhall were of blown glass.

A patent, dated 1691, granted a licence to " Rob.
Hooke and Christ. Dodsworth to exercise and put in
practise the new invention ... of casting glass, par-
ticularly looking glass plates much larger than were
ever blown in England."

The " Didlionarium Polygraphicum " amply
proves that at the date of its publication the art of
casting was commonly practised: "The method of

1 Quoted by Mr. Albert Hartshorne in " Old English Glasses," 1 897.

i9o ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

running and casting large looking-glass plates has
been considerably improv'd by our workmen in Eng-
land. . . we can cast all kinds of borders, mouldings,
etc." The same authority explained that a frequent
cause of threads and other defects was the adultera-
tion, by the Spanish producers, of one of the princi-
pal ingredients of plate glass — barillia, which was
obtained from Alicante in Spain.

An interesting book on the subject of glass-
making was issued in 1755, entitled "The Plate-
glass book," by " a Glass-house Clerk."

The object of the publication was to give a list of
prices for mirrors of various sizes, both finished and
unfinished, as produced at the Vauxhall factory and
at the factory of Blackfriars, " lately removed to
Fleet Street." The plates at both factories were
described as being "founded " and prices were quoted
for sizes up to sixty-six inches in length.

The most important looking-glass works of the
close of the eighteenth century were those estab-
lished at Prescott, Lancashire, by a company of
" British Plate Glass Manufacturers." Here the
plates were cast after the French methods, and a
great deal of the machinery was brought over from
France. The old process of blowing plates was still
continued, however, at some of our factories till 1845,
and the tedious hand-grinding and polishing was
not superseded by the introduction of steam power
till about 1830.

CHAPTER XIII

HINTS TO COLLECTORS AND OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT

THE great interest taken in eighteenth-century
furniture has led to its reproduction on a
colossal scale, and many imitations are executed
so cleverly that even experts find it difficult to dis-
tinguish a genuine from a spurious antique. There
are well-known dealers who would be incapable of
disposing of their wares under false pretences; if
they offer reproductions for sale they are sold as
copies, not as " old " pieces. Some of the most skil-
ful craftsmen of modern times are thus employed to
copy the eighteenth-century models in old wood.
Beautiful designs are in this way brought within
the reach of those of moderate means, and the cause
of art and beauty in our homes is thereby furthered.
On the other hand, there are numberless " fakes " or
fraudulent reproductions passed off as genuine
antiques by dishonest — or sometimes merely ignor-
ant— tradesmen ; and much of this so-called " old "
furniture will be found on close inspection to be but
a very poor imitation. It is often ill-made and en-

191

i92 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

riched with ornamentation in the style of one period,
while the main outline is characteristic of another.

At auction sales a rare piece is almost invariably
bought by dealers, either for stock or for collectors
on commission. Many of the large houses join to-
gether to form what is known as a " knock-out " in
order to prevent any outbidding by private pur-
chasers. It is a good advertisement for a big firm
to pay a " record" price, and they find little diffi-
culty in reselling at a small profit. Indeed, the sums
given of late years for choice examples have reached
such a high figure that unless the collector has an
almost unlimited purse, he will have to spend his
time hunting for specimens in out-of-the-waycorners
where their value is not recognized. Even then his
opportunities will be few and far between, for the
larger dealers have expert travellers all over the
country searching for such bargains.

The would-be collector will thus find his path be-
set with many difficulties. But the greatest, without
doubt, is the quick-sand of deception, and some
knowledge of the tricks resorted to by fraudulent
vendors has become a matter of necessity.

We will imagine that the collector has left the
highways and is starting out upon a tour of dis-
covery in the by-ways. He examines a quantity of
supposed eighteenth-century furniture — but a great
deal of it offers no special attraction from the point
of view either of beauty or of elegance. Ultimately

HINTS TO COLLECTORS 193

he comes upon an example — let us say a chair —
which he deems worthy of closer examination.
Under the framework of the seat are a number of
little worm-holes, for many of the old woods are
worm-eaten although the worm itself is dead. But
if by the insertion of a pin the holes are found to be
straight and uniform, they must at once be regarded
with suspicion ; the making of artificial worm-holes
is an industry upon which whole families are brought
up. In the same manner neither perished glue nor
loosened tenons can be regarded as certain signs
that the piece is genuine. As a general rule the
surest guide is the patina, or bloom on the surface
of the wood. A little study of antiques in a fine
state of preservation will accustom the eye to ob-
serve the fine effects of tone and colour which age
alone can impart.

There are also indications by which old surface
wood can be infallibly recognized. No copy, how-
ever faithful, can reproduce the infinite number of
microscopic bruises and indentations with which
time covers the face of even the most carefully pre-
served furniture. Again, if a small piece be sliced
off with a penknife, in a part where such a cutting
could not be observed, the presence of new wood
can at once be perceived. Age always darkens and
hardens wood, and its fibres become shortened. In
doubtful cases the purchase ought to be made sub-
ject to the above trial.

o

i94 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

The old mahogany came from San Domingo,
Cuba, and Honduras. That from the West Indies
was known as " Spanish " and was, according to
Sheraton, hard in texture; the Cuban, which was
generally used for chairs, was close and straight in
grain and of a rosy hue; San Domingo yielded a
great deal of mahogany during the first part of the
eighteenth century, but Sheraton stated that in his
time it was very little in use. Honduras mahogany,
he said, was the one chiefly employed. It was of an
open nature, the best kinds being free from speckles,
of a flashy figure and dark gold hue. This wood
was obtained in planks from 12 to 14 ft. long and
2 to 4 ft. wide, in rare instances even 6 to 7 ft. wide.
Since Sheraton's day a great change has taken place.
The wood imported is almost entirely obtained from
comparatively young trees; it is lighter both in colour
and in weight, poorer in figure, and narrower in width.

The same remarks apply to modern satin-wood.
Whereas a single plank in the old days was often
found sufficient for the front or side of a cabinet or
for a table-top, present-day copies, if carried out in
new wood, have to be joined many times in order
to attain the width of the model. Also the colour
and figure are greatly inferior to that found in
eighteenth-century work.

The fraud most difficult to detecl is the one made
of old wood. Panels from old houses or valueless
old furniture are broken up and then cut, planed,

HINTS TO COLLECTORS 195

and carved in imitation of well-known designs of
the great cabinet-makers of the past. On the other
hand there are genuine specimens which have been
"restored" so carelessly that they might at first
sight be mistaken for reproductions, and in some
instances have actually been sold as copies. " Pick-
ling," that is washing over with an acid and then
polishing, a process still frequently regarded as
essential for bringing out the original colour, grain,
and figure of the wood, cannot be too resolutely
discouraged. There are also several forms of clean-
ing and varnishing hardly less injurious. Against
these mistaken ideas lovers of antique furniture
have made a long and effective protest. In a copy
made up from old wood, manufacturers seek —
though with poor results — to imitate by artificial
means the wonderful surface-tone of the model.
The natural bloom, however, can never be replaced.
Thus any method of so-called cleaning which de-
stroys the beauty of the patina reduces a genuine
antique to the level of a reproduction, and but little
then remains to distinguish the modern from the old
work. If collectors sufficiently realized that not
only the artistic, but the actual value of a piece is
materially lessened by such ill-advised restoration,
a great deal of beautiful furniture might still be
saved from permanent injury.1

1 A very safe method of cleaning and burnishing old furniture
is no doubt that of which Sheraton gave a description in the

i96 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

To proceed with the inspection of the chair:
if the wood itself proves satisfactory, close attention
should next be paid to the carving. Here many de-
vices are resorted to in order to deceive the unwary.
Sometimes the splat is quite modern, although the
framework belongs to a genuine old chair ; for if the
splat, dating from the eighteenth century, happens
to be very plain, it will often be cut away and a new
and more attractively carved piece inserted in its
place. Much modern carving is done by machinery,
the effect being hard, mechanical, and quite wanting
in that delicacy of feeling which the hand of a master
craftsman alone can impart. The machine used is
composed of a number of vertical spindles. A
"template," or model of the work to be carved, is
fixed to a rigid bench, placed directly under one of
the spindles. This pilot-spindle has a point which
is guided by the hand of the workman over the un-
dulating surface of the template, while the other
spindles geared to, and travelling at the same speed
as the " pilot," reproduce in wood the exact design
of the model. The work is then put into the hands
of an experienced carver, who adds a few finishing
touches. The results obtained are often very effect-
ive, but even the merest amateur should easily be

" Cabinet Dictionary " : " Chairs are generally polished with a
hardish composition of wax rubbed upon a polishing brush with
which the grain of the wood is impregnated with the composition
and afterwards well rubbed off." Turpentine is also harmless.

HINTS TO COLLECTORS 197

able to distinguish a machine-carved from a hand-
carved piece. It will be observed that Chippendale
chairs were always carved in separate parts, and then
put together afterwards.

If the chair has arms these also may be modern
additions, since armchairs are as a rule considered
more saleable than " single " chairs. In cases where
the leg and the arm support form a single piece,
this portion will generally be original, as it is un-
likely that entirely new arms and legs would be
added.

The foot ought to show the marks of wear and
tear, but — once again — this effect can be artificially
produced.

In the examination of an inlaid or painted piece
there is the same necessity for caution. Cabinets,
bookcases, side-tables, and chairs are often newly
inlaid and inordinately decorated with paintings.
Nearly all decorated pieces were veneered; but
sometimes a specimen, originally plain, in which the
wood was coarse or of poor figure, will be found to
have been veneered at a recent date. The art of
inlaying was so perfectly understood by the great
masters of the Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton
schools, that imitations as a rule are of much poorer
workmanship. The lines of different coloured woods
were extremely fine and were laid very close to-
gether; in banding and stringing the outlines were
always regular, and the mitres and joints made to

i98 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

meet most accurately. In painted decoration the
colours should naturally be dull and mellow, and
somewhat sunk into the woodwork; the surface,
thus ornamented, should also show signs of wear.

In the drawer of a bureau or bookcase the ordin-
ary fake but seldom displays the same care and
accuracy of detail as a genuine piece. The wood
was so well-seasoned and was made to fit so exactly,
that, after the lapse of a century or more, there is
no sign of warping nor of that expansion — or con-
traction— which is rarely absent in a modern piece.
The drawers of a " real " Chippendale or Sheraton
bureau slide backwards and forwards as though
over an oiled surface. The sides and bottoms are
very thin, the wood being generally about a quarter
of an inch in cross section.

We will imagine the collector to be next in
search of a clock-case. Here an inspection of the
ornamentation is of the first importance, for it is
safe to say that all elaborately carved clocks — though
perhaps more particularly those of the " Grand-
father " type — are of modern workmanship. Chip-
pendale's and Johnson's books represented clocks
with the most fantastic ornamentation; but few
specimens made from these designs are at present
in existence, and it is probable that such sketches
were only intended to be attractive advertisements.
It is a remarkable fact that when so much skill
was bestowed upon the carving of furniture and

HINTS TO COLLECTORS 199

interior fittings, the wooden clock-cases, actually
made during the Queen Anne and Chippendale
periods, were either plainly moulded or very slightly
carved around the door or the angle shafts. In
fakes the carving displayed is curiously enough
often Elizabethan or Jacobean in character — types
of decoration no longer in use — when long clocks
were first made in this country. Not seldom a
genuine old clock is stripped of its veneer and
then carved either in a too antiquated or in quite
modern style. In previous chapters it has been
shown that English eighteenth-century clocks were
simple in structure and depended for their effect
upon their lines, curves, mouldings, and proportions.
The decorations consisted of a little fretwork and
brass in the wood, marquetry, japanning, and — at
the close of the eighteenth century — a veneer of
painted satin-wood.

A maker of reproductions on a somewhat large
scale once explained to the writer the process of
manufacture. When an exact copy had been made
of an eighteenth-century model, the work was held
over a fire of wood shavings until all the sharp
edges and corners had been burned away. Lastly,
the piece was broken up into several parts and glued
together again. Thus was the " real antique " pre-
pared for the market.

200 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT

One of the best authorities on antique furniture
is Mr. James Orrock, R.I., and his opinions on this
subject should be of value to collectors. Artist, col-
lector, and enthusiast, such is the best definition of
Mr. Orrock, who for half a century has made a
study of the Renaissance period of English art in all
its many branches. Above all he is an expert, and
to be an expert in these days when fraudulent imita-
tions are so numerous calls for exceptional powers
of discrimination and exceptional knowledge.

As regards plain, carved, or inlaid furniture, there
are, he considers, many ways of recognizing a genuine
piece. Old wood has, in his opinion, a semi-trans-
parent look, and resembles a jelly-like substance
rather than a solid and opaque mass. " Furniture,"
in Mr. Orrock's words, has indeed a " poetry of its
own," and there can be no doubt that in the eyes of
a true enthusiast the sunshine lights up not only
the visible portions of a piece of Chippendale maho-
gany, but seems to penetrate to its very depths.

In order to detect a clever imitation of eighteenth-
century hand-painted furniture the collector must,
according to Mr. Orrock, be something of an artist;
apart from the colour, tone, and texture of the work
and the softening effects of time, the greatest charm

OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT 201

of the original consists in the manner of treatment
— the special individuality of the eighteenth-century
artist — and this it is which can never be successfully
reproduced.

Mr. Orrock is a great believer in the power exer-
cised by one art upon another, and traces the great
art movement of the eighteenth century to the in-
fluence of the painters, sculptors, and architects
upon the cabinet-makers, potters, and silversmiths.
Taking furniture-making apart from its sister
crafts, he considers the work produced in England
during this period unrivalled by that of any other
nation; no foreign cabinet-work, in his estimation,
can vie with ours either in design, carving, or other
ornamentation. He also holds the opinion that
although our craftsmen undoubtedly borrowed from
Dutch, French, Italian, Gothic, Chinese, Greek,
and Roman sources, they nevertheless so welded
the different styles together — taking a curve here, a
line there, altering, improving, blending — that they
produced an entirely new and distinctive style —
an English style. Again, each of the English schools
had such a marked influence on those which fol-
lowed, that it is often very difficult to classify them
separately.

For the Queen Anne period, with its quaint
shapes, so often said to be wanting in grace, Mr.
Orrock has nothing but praise. "The picturesque
style," he calls it, and its defects seem to merge into

202 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

its beauties at the spell of the word. He quite nega-
tives the theory that the carver Grinling Gibbons
had any direct influence upon the work of Chippen-
dale. He holds that not only the ornamentation
but Gibbons's style of carving is quite different
from the work of the Chippendale school. Gibbons
relied largely upon undercutting for his effects, so
that the portions in relief completely stand out from
the mass to which they belong and appear indeed
" to float in a sea of shadow." His foliage, flowers,
fruit, and birds were faithful and exact copies of
nature; his leaves were so lifelike that they were
said almost to rustle in the wind. Chippendale
carving, on the other hand, was often executed in
low or semi-relief, and the designs, as a rule, were
classic, architectural, and conventional rather than
realistic.

Mr.Orrock finds great beauty in Adam's designs,
and admires particularly his mantelpieces and silver
plate. In Adam's furniture it is the hand-painting
of Angelica Kauffmann, Cipriani, Zucchi, Pergo-
lesi, etc., which attracts him, for although he does
not place these decorative artists in the highest rank
as painters, he thinks their work very fascinating.

He believes Pergolesi to have designed a great
deal for the various houses built by Adam ; chairs,
cabinets, mirrors, and chandeliers by Pergolesi
should be easily recognized by their florid, French
style. Mr. Orrock likes variety in an Adam room,

If t ,

iK. LVII CABINET THAT BELONGED TO GEORGE III.

To face page 203.

OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT 203

and prefers it to be furnished — as indeed is often
the case — with Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Pergolesi,
and even Chippendale models, rather than ex-
clusively from the designs of Robert Adam him-
self.

Hepplewhite pieces are, in his opinion, more
elegant than those of any other eighteenth-century
craftsmen.

As a matter of course Mr. Orrock prizes only
Sheraton's earlier productions — the delicate mar-
quetry and painted ornamentation. He has no
doubt that this great master in satin-wood designed
furniture for George III, Mr. Orrock possesses
two carved caskets as well as a satin-wood cabinet,
which all bear the inscription " G. R." (Georgius
Rex), either carved or inlaid in the wood. And these
pieces — in all probability looted from a royal palace
during one of King George's long illnesses — Mr.
Orrock attributes to Sheraton himself. The cabinet
(described on p. 161) is depicted in illustration LVII.

Mr. Orrock's house in Bedford Square, built by
Robert Adam and with the original Adam decora-
tions still intact, has been for many years the
fitting background for a unique collection of eigh-
teenth-century work.1 The eye is met at every

1 Many of the Orrock treasures were sold at Christie's in June,
1904. The settee and suite of eleven ribbon-back Chippendale chairs
were sold for 1,000 guineas. The marqueterie cabinet with the royal
cipher G. R. fetched 470 guineas. The total collection of furniture
and china realized £20,838.

204 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

turn by paintings from the hands of the great Eng-
lish masters of that time — Gainsborough, Reynolds,
Lawrence, Turner, and many others, with only here
and there a foreign picture introduced by way of
contrast. All the furniture throughout the house —
including the clocks, mirrors, and chandeliers — was
made in English workshops of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. On the ground floor — in the
hall, the dining-room, the library, and studio — the
principal pieces are of walnut and mahogany, and
represent the periods Queen Anne, Chippendale,
Adam, and Hepplewhite. Some examples of the
Queen Anne furniture are illustrated in Chapter I.
A Chippendale bookcase and suite of ribbon-back
chairs, a dining-room set of shield-back Hepple-
white chairs and settee, and an Adam sideboard
might be singled out for their special beauty. On
the first floor the great drawing-rooms are literally
ablaze with satin-wood and light painted pieces.
The glitter and gorgeous appearance of the satin-
wood, which in the eyes of many connoisseurs
far out-rivals French gilded furniture, can no-
where be seen to greater advantage. The chief
designers represented are Sheraton and Pergolesi
— the painted chairs, settees, and cabinets by the
last-named artist being very noteworthy examples
of his work.1

1 The illustrations are reproduced by kind permission of Mr.
Orrock.

FiK. LVIII.

To face page 205.

PERGOLESI SIDE-TABLE.

Fig. LJX. PERGOLESI CHINA CABINET.

To face page 209.

OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT 205

The chairs shown in illustrations XLVIII and
LVIII are part of a suite of chairs, side-tables, and
cabinet made by Pergolesi for the then Marquis of
Stafford.

The framework is of white painted wood orna-
mented with gilt heading, rosettes and foliage in
low relief. In these chairs the great beauty is their
painted covering — a classical design, carried out in
blue upon a white silk ground and almost certainly
executed by the artist himself. After 120 to 130
years the colouring is scarcely dulled by the lapse
of time.

The side-table with china shelves, in illustration
LVIII, also has a framework of gold upon white,
with fluted, turned, and tapering legs to correspond
to those of the chairs. A painted panel is in-
serted in the centre of the front rail, and the top,
which is of satin-wood, has an outer banding of
mahogany. A floral design, forming a second band
within, is painted in colours upon a white ground ;
a style of work especially characteristic of Pergolesi.
Whereas Sheraton's designs were nearly always
painted on the satin-wood itself, Pergolesi first laid
on a flat tint for his ground and then painted upon
that.

The Pergolesi cabinet in illustration LIX also
belongs to the Stafford suite, but is of a some-
what different character from the other pieces.
Except for the side panels, which are of a delicate

206 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

gray-green shade, the ground is white. The cupboard
below curves outwards in a graceful sweep, and all
the proportions are extremely elegant. The inspira-
tion for this beautiful piece seems to have been
derived almost entirely from French sources; the
drapery upon the front and side panels, the delicate
basket of flowers, the floral wreaths and plants show
little or nothing of the Adam influence. The frame-
work is outlined with gilded mouldings.

Illustration LX depicts a cabinet designed by
Pergolesi, probably for a house in Brighton. The
general colour is green, although the two panels
upon the middle shelf are white. The three land-
scapes and three subject-pictures with which the
cabinet is ornamented, are dainty examples of the
hand-painting of the period. The quality and execu-
tion of such pictures, which were to have for their
only setting the furniture they were intended to
decorate, is a remarkable proof of the high esteem
in which cabinet-work was held during the eigh-
teenth century.

The ormolu and glass chandelier, illustration
LXI, is another example of Pergolesi work. The
brass band round the centre is pierced with a graceful
floral design. The idea of glass drops hanging thus
in chains and festoons was in all probability derived
from some very early productions of the Venetians

Fig. LXI. PERCOLESI CHANDELIER.

To face page 206.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Architrave.
Banding.
Bead.
Braces.

Cabled flirtings.

Cabriole.
Club-foot.

Cornice.

Curl.
Entablature.

Escutcheon.

Figure.
Finials.
Frieze.

Hoof-foot.
Lining or

stringing.
Marquetry.

The lowest mouldings of an entablature.

Broad band of inlay.

A round moulding.

Wooden rails used to bind the legs of a
chair or table.

Flutings filled in with a convex bead to
about one-third of their height from the
base.

A bent-knee leg.

A thickening and slight shaping of that
part of the leg which rests on the ground.

(In joinery) the projecting and crowning
mouldings.

The curled markings in mahogany.

Those mouldings which include the archi-
trave, frieze, and cornice.

The ornamental brass-work around a key-
hole.

The markings in wood.

Terminal ornaments or pinnacles.

The flat portion of the entablature which
lies between architrave and cornice.

A horse's foot slightly conventionalized.

A fine line of inlay.

Inlaid work with wood of different colours,
ivory, brass, etc.

207

208

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Mask. A moulded projection resembling a gro-

tesque head.

Mitre. A join at an angle of 45°.

Ormolu. Brass made to imitate gold.

Patera. A circular ornament carved in relief.

Patina. The bloom on the surface of old wood, a

proof of age.

Pediment. A triangular decoration above the cornice.

Pilaster. A square pillar.

Pinnacle. A small pointed top.

Rabbet or A half channelling or groove made in the

rebate. edge of a piece of wood in order to

receive some other piece of wood.
Rail. A bar or band of wood extending from

one support to another.
Slats. For slat-back chairs, horizontal slips of

wood extending from one side support

to another.
Spandril. Triangular space between a redlangle and

the curve of an arch which it incloses.
Splat. The part of the back of a chair which lies

within the outer rails.
Squab-seat. Loose, stuffed seat.
Stringing. See Lining.

Tabberay or Stout satin-striped silk.

tabaret.

Therm. Tapering (Sheraton's " Dictionary ").

Veneer. A thin cut slice of superior quality wood

laid down and glued upon inferior wood.

209

APPENDIX

The following is a list of the engravers employed by
Chippendale in his " Director " :

Matthias Darly.

I. and T. Miiller.

Hemerick.

I. Taylor.

I. Miller.

B. Clowes.

E. Rooker.

W. Foster.

Morris.

Hulett.

Of these Darly, I. Miiller, B. Clowes, E. Rooker, and
W. Foster, were designers of bookplates.

Those who engraved for Sheraton were :

I. J. Newton.

J. Barlow.

•*

G. Terry.
I. Caldwell.
Thornthwaite.
Towes.
G. Walker.
G. Barrett.

J. Barlow, G. Terry, Thornthwaite, and Towes, were
bookplate designers.

210 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

The following is a list of the engravers whose names
appeared in "The Works in Architecture of R. and J.
Adam":

*F. Bartolozzi (1725-1815).

I. Miller.

*E. Rooker (1712-1724).
*P. Mazell.

Alex. Finnic.

T. and C. White.

V. and B. Pastorini.

J. and I. Roberts.

I. Zucchi.

P. Begbie.

Nenton.

T. Vivarez (about 1735-1788).

Dom. Cunego.
*R. Blythe.

T. White.

Caldwall.

F. Patton.
*Ch. Grignion (1754-1804), pupil of Cipriani.

J. B. Piranese (1713-1785).

J. Record.

Norval.

Roe.

T. Morris.

Romee.

B. Malpas.

Harding.

Jas. Caldwall.
*F. Jukes (1746-1812).

Of these both Rooker and Miller engraved for Chippen-
dale. The designers of bookplates are marked with a *.

INDEX

ADAM, R. and J., 79-95.

Agriculture, essays on, 95.

Adelphi, 86.

cement, 92.

"composition ornaments," 85.

Journal, 83.

Ruins of Diocletian's Palace,
81.

Vases and foliage, 94.

Works in Architecture, 91, 96.
Adam School, 96-105, 202.

bookcases, 102.

cabinets, 103.

chairs, 100.

mirrors, 103, 116, 117.

sideboards, 101, 112.

sofas, 101.

tables, 102.

Adelphi. See Adam, R. and J.
Architects, influence of, 2, 13, 56,

98, 104, 20 1.

Architecture, works in. See
Adam, R. and J.

Bartolozzi, 82.
Bedroom furniture:

Chippendale, 74.

Hepplewhite, 136.

Sheraton, 162.
Becket, Thomas, 28, 88.

Bevelled glass, 18, 77, 183.
Bills, original Chippendale, 36,

108, 119, 1 20.
Black, Adam, on Sheraton, 143,

144.

Blowing glass, 185.
Bookcases :

Adam, 102.

Chippendale, 68.

Hepplewhite, 135.

Shearer, 135.

Sheraton, 152.

reproductions, 197, 198.
Bookplates, 47, 209, 210.
Borders, carved, 68.
Brass mountings. See Mount-
ings.

Buckingham, Duke of, glass fac-
tory of, 1 8 1, 182.
Bunbury, Henry, 47.

Cabinet Makers' London Book of

Prices. See Hepplewhite.
Cabinets :

Adam, 103.

Chippendale, 71.

lacquer, 177.

Pergolesi, 205, 206.

Sheraton, 157, 160, 161.
Cabriole legs, 1,61, 100.

211

212 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Caricatures, 40.

Carving, 3, 5, 26, 60, 98, 123,

196, 202.
Casters 65.
Chairs :

Adam, 100.

Chippendale, 60-65, 126, 203 «.

grandfather, or easy, 10, 64.

Hepplewhite, 126-130.

Pergolesi, 205.

Queen Anne, 4-10.

reproductions, 193-197.

Sheraton, 150-152.

slat-back, 8.

three-cornered, 9.

Windsor, 9.

Chambers, Sir William, 54,
Chandelier, 206.
Chests, 14.
Chinese influences, 54, 64, 166,

174-
Designs, a new book of. See

Darly, Matthias,
lacquer, 167, 171, 172.

Chippendales, the, 21-38.
Chippendale I, 24.
Chippendale II, 24-32, 37, 38.
Chippendale III, 34-36.

DireElor, Gentleman and 'Cabinet-
Maker 's, 25, 26, 41, 54, 126,

175-

Chippendale school, 52-78, 202.
bedroom furniture, 74.
bookcases, 68.
cabinets, 71.

chairs, 60-65, 126, 203 n.
clocks, 75, 198, 199.
cupboards, 68.

desks, 71, 72.

doors, 77.

frames, 76, 77, 120.

girandoles, 76.

screens, 73.

settees, 66.

shelves, 71.

sideboards, 66, 67.

tables, 67, 71, 72.
Cipriani, 91, 161, 202.
Classic revival, 3, 96, 98.
Claw-and-ball foot, origin of, 4.
C16risseau, 82, 84.
Clocks:

bracket, 15, 17, 76, 164.

Chippendale, 75, 198, 199.

lacquer, 17, 167.

Queen Anne, 15-17, 199.

reproductions, 198.

Sheraton, 163-165.
Columbani, 91.
Console-tables. See Tables.
Copland (or Copeland), H. See

Lock, M.

Cornelys, Theresa, 33.
Country furniture, I, 10, II.
Coverings, 62, 64, 65, 129, 151.
Cupboards:

Chippendale, 68.

corner, 13, 176.

court, ii.

Hepplewhite, 135.

lacquer, 176, 177.

Shearer, 135.

Darly, Matthias, 39-51, 59.
Chinese designs, by, 41, 54, 59,
175-

INDEX

213

Ornamental architect, and Corn-
pleat body of Architecture,
by, 46, 59.

Sixty Vases, by, 45, 59.
Darly, Mrs., 41, 43, 49.
Designs for Household Furni-
ture. See Shearer.
Desks, writing :
Chippendale, 71, 72.
Queen Anne, n, 12.
Shearer, 135.
Sheraton, 155.

Dictionary, Cabinet. See Shera-
ton.

Dining-tables :
Chippendale, 72.
Hepplewhite, 131.
Sheraton, 159.

Director, Gentleman and Cabinet-
Maker's. See Chippendale.
Doors :
Adam, 117.
Chippendale, 77.
Drawers, chest of. See Tall-boy.
Drawing Book, Cabinet- Maker's.

See Sheraton.
Drinking-table, 160.
Drunkard's chair, 8.
Dutch influences, i, 3, n.

Edwards, partner of Matthias
Darly, 40, 41, 42, 45.

Empire, English, 148, 150.

Encyclopaedia, Cabinet-maker's.
See Sheraton.

Evelyn, John, 168, 181.

Faked furniture, 191-201.

Folding furniture, 135.
Frames, mirror and picture :

Adam, 103, 116, 117.

Chippendale, 76, 77, 120.

Hepplewhite, 131.

lacquer, 20, 177.

Queen Anne, 17-20.
French influences, I, 19, 53, 54,
63, 96, 100, 125, 148, 150,
201.

Garrick, David, 86, 87-89.

Gate-tables, n.

Gibbons, Grinling, 3, 5, 7, 18, 60,

68, 202.

Gillow, Richard, 160.
Girandoles, 76, 132.
Globes, 103, 104.
Gothic influences, 55, 63, 70,

201.
Grandfather, or easy chairs. See

Chairs.

clocks. See Clocks.
Grinding looking-glasses, 186.
Grotesques, 97.

Haig, T., partner of Chippendale

(HI), 34-
Hair-wood, 149.

Harewood House, Yorks, 36, 105,

106-118.
Hepplewhite, or Heppelwhite,

121, 122, 203.

Cabinet Makers' London Book
of Prices, 121, 123, 134, 135.
Guide, Cabinet-Maker's, 121.
Hepplewhite School, 121-136.
bookcases, 135.

2i4 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Hepplewhite School — continued.

chairs, 126-130.

cupboards, 135.

frames, 131, 132.

girandoles, 132.

screens, 130.

sideboards, 132.

tables, 131.
Horseshoe tables. See Tables.

Ince, W. See Mayhew and Ince.
Initials of cabinet-makers, en-
graved, 153.
Inlay. See Marquetry.
Irish-Chippendale, 52, 67.

Japanese lacquer, 166, 171, 172.
Japanning, Hepplewhite, 124.
Johnson, Thomas, 38, 56, 198.

Kauffmann, Angelica, 91, 115,

130, 161, 202.

Kidney-tables. See Tables.
Knife- boxes, 112, 134.

Lacquer furniture, 3, 20, 59, 60,

166-178.

Chinese, 167, 171, 172.
English, 1 68, 170, 172-178.
French, 170, 171.
Japanese, 166, 171, 172.
Stalker and Parker on, 166,

1 68, 172, 174.
Lanthorn, hall, 118.
Lock, Matthias, and H. Copland

(or Copeland), 37, 58.
Looking-glass plates, 179-190.
Low-boys, 15.

Mahogany, 3, 60, 194.

Man waring, Robert, 57.

Marquetry, or inlay, 3, 99, 149,
197.

Martin's lacquer varnish, 171.

Mayhew, J., and W. Ince, 56.

Metal-work. See Mountings.

Mirrors. See Frames and Look-
ing-glass plates.

Mountings, brass, ormolu, gilt-
bronze, 4, 15,99.

Painted furniture, 91, 99, 103,

124, 149, 151,198,200,205,

206.
Pasquin, Anthony, in Darly's

studio, 47.
Patina, 193, 195.
Pembroke tables. See Tables.
Pergolesi, Michele Angelo, 91,

202, 205, 206.

Petit-point embroidery, 64.
Pickling, 195.
Pier-tables. See Tables.
Pillarandclawtables. S^Tables.
Polishing looking-glasses, 187.
Pouch-tables, 158.
Prince of Wales's feather chairs,

128, 129.

Queen Anne School, 1-20, 201.
chairs, 4-10.
chests of drawers, 14.
clocks, 15, 199.
cupboards, 13, 176.
desks, writing, 12.
frames, 17.
tables, 10, u.

INDEX

215

Rannie, J., partner of Chippen-
dale (II), 29, 30, 34, 35.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 29, 93, 204.

Rowton Castle, Chippendale at,
36, 120.

Satin-wood, 99, 125, 149, 194,

204.
Screens :

Chippendale, 73.

Hepplewhite, 130.

Sheraton, 162.
Shearer, Thomas, 121, 134.

Book of Prices. See Hepple-
white.

Designs for Household Furni-
ture, 134, 135.

bookcases, 135.

cupboards, 135,

desks, writing, 135.

dressing-tables, 135.

sideboards, 133.
Settees :

Chippendale, 66.

Hepplewhite, 130.

Queen Anne, 10.
Sheraton, Thomas, 137-146.

Dictionary, Cabinet, by, 100,
141, 142.

Drawing Book, Cabinet-
maker's, by, 23, 122, 138, 139.

Encyclopaedia, Cabinet-
maker's, by, 143, 145.
Sheraton School, 147-165, 203.

bedroom furniture, 162.

bookcases, 152.

cabinets, 157, 160, 203.

chairs, 150-152.

clocks, 163-165.

desks, writing, 155.

screens, 162.

sideboards, 154.

tables, 157-160.
Sideboards :

Adam, 101, 112.

Chippendale, 66, 67.

Hepplewhite, 132-134.

Shearer, 133.

Sheraton, 154.
Silvering looking-glasses, 179,

183, 187.

Slat-back chairs, 8.
Society of Arts, 29.
Sofas and couches, 10, 101, 151.
Stourhead, Bath, Chippendale at,
36, 118-120.

Tables :

Adam, 102.

Card, n, 72.

Chippendale, 71-73.

dining, 11, 72, 131, 159.

dressing, 15, 74, 135, 136, 162.

drinking, 160.

flap, 11,71, 131.

Hepplewhite, 131.

horseshoe, 131.

kidney, 155.

pembroke, 131, 157.

pier and console, 67, 102, 131.

pillar and claw, 71, 131, 159.

Queen Anne, 10, n.

reproductions, 197.

Sheraton, 157-160.

writing. See Desks, writing.
Tall-boy, 14, 74.

216 ENGLISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS

Tambour doors, 1 36.
Tea-caddies, 158.
Three-corner chairs, 9.
Townshend, George, Marquis, 36,

42.
Turning, 10, 11,74, 136.

Vauxhall plates, 18, 179, 183.

Walpole, Horace, 42, 55, 70.
Weale, John, 38.
Wedgwood, 151.

Wilkes, John, 48, 49.
Window cornices:

Chippendale, 113.

Sheraton, 150.
Windsor chairs, 9.
Wine-coolers, 112, 134.
Wood, old, 193, 195, 200.
Worm-holes, 176, 193.
Wren, Sir Christopher, 2, 178.

Zucchi, 83, 91, 109, 161, 202.

CHISWICK PRESS : i'RINTED BY CHARLES WHITT1NGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

NK Simon, Constance

2529 English furniture designers

of the ei^iteenth century