Posts Tagged ‘seventeenth century’

Globes
Pair of early nineteenth-century mahogany library globes by Newton, published in 1838 and 1836. The tripod frames with out-scrolled legs ending in brass castors, 3 ft 8 in high        780 0
Large pair of terrestrial and celestial globes by Newton; published 25 March 1875. Supported in mahogany frames on triple curving legs 205 0
Pair of terrestrial and celestial globes in turned stands by James
Wyld, Charing Cross East; published 1847 185 0
Knife Boxes
A pair of mahogany urn-shaped knife boxes, stamped W. Johnston, with domed lids and bodies inlaid with flowers and stripes, 2 ft 5 in high 115 0
Sheraton  inlaid  mahogany serpentine-fronted knife box in
original condition 32 0
Mirrors—Mantel
Empire-style giltwood overmantel with triple mirrored panels
and decorated with classical figures 105 0
Rectangular mantel mirror in a giltwood frame carved with
acanthus and shell motifs, 31 in by 25 in 60 0
Mirrors—Toilet or Dressing
Sheraton serpentine-fronted box-frame toilet mirror fitted with
two drawers, 17 in wide 36 0
Sheraton box-frame shield-shape toilet mirror with two drawers,
18 in wide 30 0
Mahogany box-frame toilet mirror with three drawers, 15 in
wide 15 0
Edwardian   mahogany   box-frame   toilet  mirror   with three
drawers to base, 22 in wide 9 0
Mirrors—Wall
Pair of Chinese-Chippendale giltwood girandoles of rococo outline mounted with phoenix-birds and clusters of flowers from which issue two scrolled candle branches. The base enriched with acorns and oak leaves, 38

in high 650 0
Mid-Georgian wall glass in a giltwood frame carved with scrolls
and foliage and pierced, 44 in high 200 0
Chippendale mahogany mirror with gilt gesso beading
George IV convex mirror in a gilt frame enriched with spherical ornament with two scrolled candle sconces. Crested with a gilt eagle with outspread wings 76 0
Regency giltwood convex mirror with ball encrusted moulded
frame and ebonised slip, 1 ft 11 in diameter 15 0
Settees, Couches and Chaise Longues
Small carved mahogany sofa, the arched back carved with
rococo motifs. Curved arms, carved seat rail and cabriole legs        135 0
some auction room prices ‘. 1968-69
Decorated satinwood cane-panelled settee with loose seat
cushion, 4 ft 4 in George III painted settee with flat rectangular back and arms,
on turned legs. The arms, seat rails and legs are painted
with husks and flowers on a cream ground, 6 ft wide Early George III mahogany settee with stuffed back and arms.
The seat rail and legs are carved with blind fret, 5 ft 8 in
wide, (some restoration) Victorian rosewood frame serpentine-fronted chaise longue on
short cabriole legs
Settles
Eighteenth-century oak settle, 5 ft 5 in wide Seventeenth-century panelled oak settle with box seat, 4 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century carved and panelled tall-back hall settle, 5 ft 7 in wide
Sideboards
Small nineteenth-century sideboard inlaid with ebony lines. Raised back, the centre drawer flanked by a cupboard and deep drawer. Supported on six turned and tapering legs, 4 ft 8 in wide
Hepplewhite-style mahogany serpentine sideboard of rich mellow colour, cross-banded in kingwood and fitted with a napery drawer and cellaret cupboards with octagonal gilt metal handles and supported on chamfered

legs, 7 ft 2 in wide
Georgian mahogany half-moon sideboard with two cupboards to the sides and two drawers with lion ring handles in the centre. Four tapering legs, 4 ft wide
Large mahogany Sheraton-style sideboard fitted with two long drawers and flanked by two deep drawers, supported on tapering legs
Regency Empire mahogany sideboard of architectural form, with a reverse breakfront with two shallow drawers to the centre flanked by deep cupboards. Supported by two curved and four simulated bamboo legs

terminating in brass paw feet. The whole mounted with ormolu and brass griffins, lions’ masks and sphinx and with Adams-style garlands and patera, 7 ft 6 in long
Late Georgian mahogany sideboard with shaped front, the top back rail fitted with three tambour slides. Two cupboards and a centre drawer to the base over a waved apron. Supported on six slender tapering legs, 5 ft

7 in wide
Early nineteenth-century mahogany bow-front sideboard on spiral-turned legs, 6 ft 1 in wide
Tables—Break fast
Regency mahogany breakfast table with brass stringing on the banded top and a turned pillar ending in a reeded quadruped, 5 ft by 3 ft 5 in
Georgian mahogany oval breakfast table with reeded edge and
Tables—Card
Chippendale mahogany card table with shaped folding top on boldly carved cabriole legs ending in claw and ball feet, 2 ft 7 in wide 370 0
Late George II mahogany card table with border of carved flowerheads and legs and frieze carved with blind fret, 3 ft wide 250 0
Regency card table in figured rosewood inlaid with brass flowers and leaves, the D-top on a ringed stem and quadruple brass capped legs, 3 ft wide 190 0
Sheraton mahogany card table inlaid with satinwood lines and
on tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 180 0
George II walnut card table with rectangular top on turned legs
with mantled knees and club feet, 3 ft wide 95 0
Regency mahogany card table with green baize interior on curving quadruple support, ending in brass claw feet. The top is cross-banded 65 0
Victorian mahogany card table with double Sap top supported
on four tapering shafts, terminating in curved legs 44 0
Tables—Centre
Regency painted centre tabic, the circular top simulating green marble, the border with brass mouldings hinged to a carved turned central support on a curved triangular base with lion’s paw feet, 4 ft diameter 120 0
Edwards and Roberts eboniscd centre table with ormolu beading on cluster column and quadruple base, 5 ft 6 in wide 38 0
Red Buhl shaped centre table with heavy ormolu mounts, two
drawers and on cabriole legs. (Poor condition) 11 0
Tables—Dining
Charles I oak dining table with a triple-plank top and the frieze carved with leaves and interlaced arcading, on column legs, 6 ft 5 in long by 2 ft 7 in wide 360 0
Large late George III mahogany dining table, the top richly carved with acanthus, ribbon motifs, satyr masks and a coat of arms. Supported on ten tapering spiral-twist legs with five loose leaves, 12 ft 4 in long 185 0
Georgian mahogany two pillar dining table with triple curving
legs ending in brass-capped feet 122 0
Georgian mahogany oval drop-leaf dining table on turned legs
and pad feet 75 0
Eighteenth-century mahogany oval drop-leaf cottage dining table
on taper legs with pad feet, 3 ft 6 in wide 44 0
Mahogany gadrooned oval dining table with cabriole legs and
claw and ball feet 40 0
Georgian mahogany drum library table with leather top and four real and four dummy drawers. On triple curving legs with brass-capped feet, 3 ft 3 in diameter 680 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
George III mahogany library table fitted with seven drawers and dummy drawers with gilt metal lion ring handles, the top with gilt tooled green leather and the whole raised on a curved quadruple support with

brass-capped feet
Tables—Games and Sewing
Eighteenth-century mahogany, shaped folding top, games table on nutcracker frame with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 34 in wide
William IV games table with sliding and reversible top inlaid as a chess board opening to reveal a backgammon board with two drawers to the side. Central pillar supported on quadruple curving feet
Nineteenth-century mahogany sewing table with rising top and drawers below. The slender tapering legs ending in brass-capped feet
Tables—Gate-leg
George I elmwood gate-leg table, the oval top with flaps on
cabriole legs carved with scrolls and leaves and ending in
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 9 in wide Seventeenth-century oak oval gate-leg dining table with double
flaps supported on bobbin turned legs with plain cross
stretchers, 4 ft 9 in wide Late George II mahogany gate-leg table, the oval top with two
flaps, on unusual legs fluted and ending in paw feet, 3 ft 9 in
wide
Oak oval gate-leg table on turned underframe with drawer, 4 ft wide
Tables—Occasional
Late George II mahogany piecrust table with bird-cage support on fluted stem with carved legs and claw and ball feet, 2 ft 2 in diameter
Large mahogany piecrust tripod table with baluster stem and
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 5 in diameter Mahogany tripod table, the circular top with raised rim, on
cabriole feet, 1 ft 10 in diameter
Tables—Pembroke
Late Georgian mahogany oval Pembroke table with drawer, on
square tapering legs, 2 ft 7 in wide by 3 ft 6 in long Late Georgian mahogany Pembroke table painted with a floral
border and on turned and fluted legs Georgian mahogany Pembroke table with folding flaps and
single drawer, inlaid with satinwood lines and fan motifs, on
tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide
Tables—Refectory
Seventeenth-century oak refectory table of slender plain form, the base having square ends united by a single stretcher, 7 ft 3 in long
Oak refectory table on bulbous end supports with central
stretcher, 7 ft 7 in by 3 ft wide 130 0
An exceptionally long oak refectory table with triple curving
supports, 18 ft 6 in long, 3 ft 3 in wide 90 0
Tables—Side
Queen Anne banded walnut side table with two deep and two
shallow drawers on square legs, 3 ft 3 in wide 170 0
Chinese-Chippendale mahogany side table, the frieze carved with
blind fret. Moulded legs, 3 ft wide 88 0
Oak side table with drawer, on turned legs, 3 ft wide 64 0
Walnutwood side table with cabriole legs carved with acanthus
leaves 31 0
Tables—Sofa
George III satinwood sofa table cross-banded with acacia, fitted with two drawers and false drawers opposite on trestle supports with splayed curved feet and brass castors, 2 ft 10 in wide        750 0
Regency banded mahogany sofa table with tulipwood stringing with two drawers on end supports and central stretcher with brass claw feet, 5 ft 10 in extended 380 0
Late George III mahogany sofa table with two drawers in frieze and raised on flat trestle supports with out-curved legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 270 0
George III mahogany sofa table banded in rosewood and with two drawers. It has trestle supports with tripod splayed legs and brass feet, 3 ft wide 250 0
Tables—Sutherland
Mahogany Sutherland table on turned underframe, 2 ft 9 in
wide 42 0
Victorian walnut-veneered Sutherland table on turned supports,
2 ft 6 in wide 36 0
Tables—Tea
Regency mahogany tea table with folding top on a turned pillar and four curved legs, the whole inlaid with brass stringing, 3 ft wide 120 0
Late George II mahogany tea table, the top with a border of flowerheads and ribbon and the frieze and chamfered legs carved with Chinese blind fret, 3 ft wide 60 0
George III mahogany tea table with folding top, a drawer in
the frieze and square tapering legs, 3 ft 8 in wide 38 0
Tables—Wine
Hepplewhite mahogany wine table, the inlaid octagonal top
supported on triple concave curving legs 105 0
Victorian mahogany wine table on pillar and tripod base, 21 in
diameter 10 0
Tables—Writing
George III mahogany pedestal writing table, the gilt tooled leather top with three drawers at each side of the frieze and
the pedestals with cupboards and drawers at either end, 4 ft wide
Early eighteenth-century banded fruitwood writing table, fitted
with three drawers, a shaped apron and on cabriole legs with
pad feet, 2 ft 4 in wide Victorian lady’s mahogany writing table with two short drawers
on lyre end supports, 3 ft wide Carved mahogany writing table with fitted drawer, the top lined
with leather, on cabriole legs, 2 ft 5 in wide
Tallboys and Lowboys
George II walnut tallboy, the top with reeded and canted corners and three small and three long drawers. The base having three long drawers and bracket feet
Queen Anne small walnut tallboy of mellow colour, the upper chest fitted with two small and three long drawers over a brushing slide, and three long graduated drawers
William and Mary lowboy inlaid with scrolls and motifs. The top fitted with two small and two long drawers and two long drawers to the base, 4 ft 3 in high
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice and two small and three long drawers to the top and tliree long drawers to the base which is supported on bracket feet
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice, the top fitted with two small and three long drawers, the base with three long drawers and supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 1 in high
Waiters
Mid-Georgian mahogany dumb waiter with turned and carved columns supporting three trays. The whole on cabriole tripod feet, 4 ft high
George III mahogany dumb waiter with two revolving tiers and baluster centre on three curved and moulded legs and castor feet applied with roundels, 3 ft 2 in high
George II mahogany dumb waiter with three graduated revolving tiers and spiral fluting on turned central support. Plain cabriole legs, 3 ft 6 in high
Wardrobes
Mahogany breakfront wardrobe fitted with sliding trays, four
drawers and panelled cupboards Small Georgian mahogany wardrobe enclosed by two panelled
doors with three drawers in the base, 3 ft 9 in wide George III mahogany gents wardrobe with pierced swan-neck
cresting, a pair of doors banded in satinwood and two short
and two long drawers below, 7 ft high by 4 ft 4 in wide Regency mahogany wardrobe the upper part with sliding trays
with four drawers under on splay feet, 3 ft 11 in wide
Washstands
Late George III mahogany washstand, the top hinged and opening to form a back, the front with a pair of cupboard doors above one small drawer, on square splayed legs, 2 ft wide
Edwardian three-tier corner washstand with basin 18 0 George III mahogany corner washstand, the slender legs joined
by a stretcher with a drawer, 2 ft wide                                      14 0
Wine Coolers
Georgian inlaid mahogany sarcophagus wine cooler with lion
mask and ring handle on paw feet 65 0
Georgian mahogany octagonal wine cooler with lifting top and
short square moulded legs, 18 in wide 55 0

ceramics - pottery and porcelain
COLLECTING POTTERY and porcelain has been fashionable in England since the end of the seventeenth century, when Queen Man- brought her Japanese porcelain from Holland to decorate Hampton Court. The fashion was wildly popular throughout the eighteenth century, when the great porcelain factories were founded and East Indiamen sailed home from China with a hundred thousand pieces and more aboard.
In the nineteenth century Lady Charlotte Schreiber, whose collection is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, combed western Europe for old pieces, paying C4 for a Chelsea rabbit tureen and complaining that it was too dear. Today, every antique shop has a- least a few pieces, and often dozens from which to choose.
Eighteenth century porcelain is still the goal of most collectors, although that of the nineteenth century is being increasingly collected, studied, and put into cabinets. The bargains go to those who know, but even the novice can, buy well today, at a time when inflation and the increasing popularity of the pastime sees to it that the value of good pieces rises constantly.
Porcelain made in the eighteenth century is now expensive, although even at current prices it is still an excellent investment. Perhaps Worcester porcelain is the safest of all. No one has ever really lost money by buying old Worcester because it has steadily appreciated over the years, and its popularity has never been the subject of fashion in the same way as the wares of other factories. Coloured Worcester is now beyond the reach of most pockets, except for nineteenth century wares, but transfer-printed and blueand-white Worcester are still reasonably priced.
The odd Chelsea or Bow plate is perhaps as much as one can hope for in the provinces, and the collector must turn to specialist dealers for most of it, but good plainly decorated specimens occur, and there is always the possibility of a chance discovery of something more important.
The minor eighteenth century factories, such as Lowestoft and New Hall, are frequently represented among the stock of country dealers, especially cups and saucers and similar items. Buying the wares of the nineteenth century manufacturers – Minton, Spode, Davenport, Worcester and so forth – is an exercise in discrimination, with prizes in the form of enhanced value for those who are able to identify the work of some of the better known artists who worked for these factories.
Wedgwood, wildly popular in the USA, where it is almost a way of life, is becoming scarce in England, but all of it is plainly marked, and the addition of ‘Made in England’ to the mark first used in 1898 forms a watershed between old and new wares. Most sought are the eighteenth century pieces, but these are hard to find. It should be remembered, however, that Wedgwood is by no means confined to the familiar jasper stoneware. Increasing interest is being taken in creamware and the black basalts stonewares, and the search for such rarer varieties as rosso antico with white jasper ornament is worth making.
English pottery generally has always been a popular subject with the collector less able to afford the expensive porcelains. English delft is perhaps the most popular in these days with many collectors, and the cost of the rarer specimens rivals that of good porcelain. But there are many humbler, but no less interesting, examples to be had at a few pounds apiece, particularly blue-painted Bristol delft.
Staffordshire red ware is still reasonably inexpensive although specimens are uncommon, but Whieldon wares, especially those with the tortoiseshell glazes, are met with relative frequency, and the price is not high for plates, although the scarcer varieties, such as figures and teapots, sell for a good deal more.
Good salt-glazed stoneware is always in demand, especially the enamel painted varieties which are apt to be expensive. Cheapest of all are the undecorated plates moulded with a variety of intricate border patterns.
less than they cost when first imported. The collector who likes them, and is prepared to take a chance on their return to fashion, could hardly do better than buy them at present. They will probably be much more expensive in a few years’ time.

The earlier Staffordshire figures, and such related things as Toby jugs, are in a higher price-range, and are correspondingly scarce. Rarest of all are figures decorated with the coloured glazes of Ralph Wood, but the enamelled figures of Enoch Wood are not uncommon, and the finer quality specimens deserve more attention than they get. Staffordshire chimney ornaments of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are popular, despite crudities of modelling and finish, and there has lately been a noticeable increase in the popularity of mid-nineteenth century Tatbacks’, especially portraits of celebrities and notorious criminals of the day.
Railway mugs which were made at the time of the great railway
boom, especially when they depict such well tried favourites of the
enthusiast as the locomotives Rocket and Fury, are becoming ex-
28 tremely popular, and prices have risen considerably within the last year or so. Especially to be sought are such unusual variations as the double-heading – two locomotives coupled in tandem – and locomotives depicted against a background of identifiable scenes. Continental pottery and porcelain are less well-known in England. Here the knowledgeable collector may still find opportunities of picking up notable bargains. Dutch delft is perhaps the commonest variety of Continental pottery to be found, and later copies and reproductions are legion. Much less common are the products of such famous factories as Frankfurt, of which I have bought a number of specimens in country towns at very reasonable prices.
The z.,eilleuse – a tea or food-warmer to be found both in pottery and porcelain – is an extremely popular collector’s item on the Continent, and specimens are sought here. They are usually in the form of a separate base, a cylindrical centre portion and a surmounting basin and cover, or a teapot and cover. A small lamp –the godet – in the base provides heat for the vessel. English versions in delft and creamware from Leeds and Wedgwood exist, but these are food-warmers. The tea-warmer is much more likely to be continental, although a Swansea version exists in the Victoria & Albert Museum. In demand are the nineteenth century figures adapted for this purpose and known in France as personnages, the best of which were made by the Paris firm of Jacob Petit in the i 830’s. Good continental porcelain of the eighteenth century is scarce, but worth looking for. I found recently a group of figures of 1760 from the Italian Doccia factory in the shop of a provincial dealer who had no idea what it was. Few dealers outside the London specialists know anything about the minor German porcelain factories, and both figures and service-ware can be found occasionally, usually at fairly low prices. Mock ‘Sevres’ abounds, especially that decorated in turquoise blue with gilding of a quality which will not stand comparison with the much finer eighteenth century gilding. It must be remembered that these eighteenth century wares were repeated by the factory in the 187o’s, and although they are decorative, they have no enduring value to the collector.
Attention should be drawn to the many reproductions of Italian maiolica, especially drug-jars, seen in many shops. These are hardly ever offered as old, and they have no value to the collector who, however, should be alert to the possibility of a genuine specimen.
Today, when the country is continually being combed for antiques of all kinds, the antique shops of the provinces are probably richer in good things than they have ever been. The proportion of damaged objects, however, is high, and it is now unusual to find figures which do not need repair of some kind. One would not reject a finely painted eighteenth century dish because it was cracked; although the crack reduces the value, it still makes an effective display in the cabinet. Damaged dishes with perhaps a few sprigs of flowers, however, are of little value except to the impecunious enthusiast.
There is still a vast amount of Chinese porcelain to be found, most of it brought to England during the eighteenth century by the East India Company. Much of it was specially made for this large and thriving export trade, and the patterns are those demanded by European shippers. Collecting Chinese porcelain, therefore, is likely to fall into two distinct categories. The first will include the enormous quantity shipped to European order — armorial
pieces decorated with subjects based on contemporary engravings, and even direct copies of European porcelain. The second, inclined to be more exclusive, contains porcelain in the Chinese taste, and such stonewares as the celadons, as v.,ell as T’ang pottery. The latter wares were all imported towards the end of the nineteenth century and later for collectors who demanded purely Chinese things, and the variety met outside the specialist dealers in London are usually painted in blue underglaze. These, once fashionable,
30 are no longer in great demand, and often can be bought for much.
books to read
There have been more books written about ceramics than any other branch of antique art, so our list is highly selective. Incidentally, don’t overlook the second-hand book trade and antiquarian booksellers. Some of the finest works were published in the nineteenth century and have not been reprinted. Examples can often be found and usually they are remarkable for their fine colour plates of interest-mg pieces.
General works
Pocket book of English ceramic marks, j P Cushion, Faber, 12s 6d
Handbook of pottery and porcelain marks, j P Cushion & 11″Honey, Faber, & 12s 6d Encyclopaedia of British pottery and porcelain marks, G Godden, Jenkins, C6 6s Porcelain through the ages, G Savage, Penguin, ros 6d Talking about teapots, Y Bedford, Parrish, C1 5s Pottery and porcelain, F Litchfield, Black, £3 ros Concise encyclopaedia of English pottery and porcelain, W Markowitz & L Haggar, Deutsch, £6 6s
Country Life book of china, G Wills, Country Life, Ci 5s English pottery and porcelain figures, B Hughes, Lutterworth,
,C2 5s
Pottery through the ages, G’Savage, Cn ~sell, C i 5s
English pottery and bone china, B & T Hughes, Lutterworth, C1 5s British pottery and porcelain 1780-185o, G Godden, Barker, L2 15s
Antique English pottery, porcelain and glass, L E C Ramsay, Connoisseur, Cz 5s English blue and white,
B Naine,,, Faber, £3 ros
English pottery and porcelain, JVB Honey, Faber, Cr ros
British pottery and porcelain, S 1v .fisher, Arco Art, r2s 6d
Lutterworth, C2 2S
China-Trade porcelain, Phillips, Country Life, £5 5s
Old English porcelain, W B Honey, Faber, ki zos Porcelain through the ages, G Savage, Cgsell, ,Er ros
English cream coloured earthenware, D C Towner, Faber, £2 Ss
English porcelain of x8th century,, L Dixon, Faber, C2 2S Connoisseur dictionary of marks, M Taylor, Connoisseur, ,Cr 5s
English ceramic figures, B Hughes, Lutterworth, C2 2S Medieval English pottery, B Rackham, Faber, L2 5s
Chelsea
Chelsea porcelain - Red Anchor wares Vol I, F S Mackenna, Lewis, £7 7s
Chelsea porcelain - Gold Anchor wares Vol 11, Lewis, £7 7s
Chinese and oriental
Oriental blue and white, Sir Harry Garner, Faber, £3 3s Ceramic art of China, TV B Honey, Faber, £3 3s
Corean pottery, W B Honey, Faber, Er r5s
Later Chinese porcelain -Ching dynasty, R S,-)-, Faber, £2 10S
Coalport
Caughley and Coalport porcelain, F A Barrett, Lewis, £7 7s
Continental
Dresden china, W B Honey, Faber C. rs
Weidenfeld & Nicolson,& 7s 6d European ceramic art, W B Honey, Faber, Cro ros
French faience, A Lane, Faber, ,Cr ros
French porcelain of the x8th century, W B Honey, Faber, ‘Cr ros
Concise encyclopaedia of continental pottery and porcelain, W Markowitz L Haggar, Deutsch, C6 6s
z7th and x8th century French porcelain, G Savage, Barrie & Rockcliffe, £3 3s
x8th century German porcelain, G Savage, Barrie & Rockdiffe, £3 3s
Pocket book of German ceramic marks,, Cushion, Faber, r5s
German porcelain, W B Honey, Faber, Cr r5s
Italian majolica, B Rackham, Faber, & 15s
Italian Porcelain, A Lane, Faber, & i5s
Roman pottery, R Charleston, Faber, £2 2S
Pocket book of French and Italian ceramic marks, Y P Cushion, Faber, i8s
4D George Savage verifies the genuineness of a new acquisition
Leeds
The Leeds pottery, D Touln Cory Adam, k4 4s
Liverpool
Liverpool porcelain of 18th century and its makers,
K Bonet’, Batsford, £6 6s
Longton Hall
Longton Hall porcelain, B Watney, Faber, C2 5s
Pinxton
The Pinxton china factory,
L C Exley, Coke-Steel, £r 2s 6d
Staffordshire
Good Sir Toby, D EvIes, Lewis, ‘I IOS
Early Staffordshire pottery, B Rackham, Faber, £r i os Collecting Staffordshire pottery, L Stanley, Allen, k3 3s Staffordshire portrait figures of Victorian age, T Balston, Faber, £3 3s
The pictorial pot lid book,
H G Clarke, Tantivy Press, (3 3s
Wedgwood
Wedgwood wares, W B Hone}’, Faber, Ci 15S
Wedgwood, 14′Mankou,itz, Batsford, £7 7s
Wedgwood ABC, HButen, Antique Finder, Ci 5s
Wedgwood artists, H Buten, Antique Finder, Ci 12S 611
Worcester
Worcester porcelain, F S Mackenna, Lewis, £7 7s Worcester porcelain, F A Barrett, Faber, C2 5s
Coloured Worcester porcelain of the first period, R Marshall, ,C12 I2S
Life and work of Robert Hancock, C Cook, Chapman & Hall, £2 2s
Victorian ware
x9th century English pottery and porcelain, G Bemrose, Faber, ,C2 5s
Victorian pottery and porcelain, B Hughes, Country Life, & 12s 6d
Victorian porcelain, A G Godden, Jenkins, C2 2s
Victorian pottery, H 111′a’-Pfield, Jenkins, & 2s
Art Gallery and Museum. Cheltenham, Glos (Englisiporcelain)
Athenaeum annexe, Manchester, Lancs (ceramics; BantockHouse,Wolverhampton, Staffs (Worcesterporcelain)
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham (European porcelain) British Museum, London (all subjects)
Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, Beds (general porcelain,, Charterhouse School, Godahning, Sy (Peruvian pottery, City Art Gallery, Leeds, Yorks (Leeds and Staffordshire pottery)
City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, Works (Wedgwood; County Hall and Museum, Abingdon, Berks (Saxon pottery; The Curtis Museum, Alton Hants (general)
The Dyson Perrins Museum, Worcester, Worcs (It,orceste, porcelain)
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea (Swansea and Nantgarw) Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art, Durham (Malcolm MacDonald collection of Chinese pottery and porcelain)
Holborn of Menstrie Museum, Bath, Som (general) Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port
34 Sunlight, Cheshire (Wedgwood)
Municipal Museum, Warrington, Lancs (Edelsten collection ofeeramics)
Museum and Art Gallery, Bootle, Lancs (Lancaster collection of English figure pottery and Bishop collection of Liverpool pottery) Museum and Art Gallery, Paisley (Renfrew) (ceramics) Museum and Art Gallery, Reading, Berks (Blotch collection of Delft)
Museum and Art Gallery, Rotherham, Yorks (Rockingham) Museum of Art, Hove, Sx (Pocock ceramic collection)
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Gloms (Swansea and Nantgarw)
Parc, Howard Museum, Llanelly, Corms (Llanelly pottery, Pharmaceutical Society’s Museum, London (Lambeth drug
jars)
Public Library, Southall, Middx (Martinware pottery collection)
The Sharp Collection, Wonersh, Surrey (China teapots) Spode-Copeland Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs (Spode and
Copeland)
Townley Hall Art Gallery, Burnley, Lanes (Chinese pottery) Victoria and Albert, London (all subjects)
Wallace Collection, London (English and European porcelain) The Wedgwood Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs (Wedgwood)
London
Take a trip down New Cavendish Street (the Baker Street end) and visit Cavendish Antiques, E A Baker, Artinterias and Dixon Mudd. All offer wide stock at all price ranges. Dixon Mudd is a regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Antique Fairs, where his stand is one of the most colourful and usually surrounded by admirers.
Mr Alexander Raghinsky is always ready with useful advice for the modest collector. He started his business by selling his own magnificent collection of ‘blue and white’ and his current stock includes specimens of most factories at prices ranging from 30s to real collector’s pieces. Mr Rahinsky can be found in Collectors Corner, Portobello Road, on Saturdays.
When you visit the Portobello Market, make a point of stopping at Mercury Antiques i Ladbroke Rd, close to Notting Hill Gate tube. Miss Liane Richards has a good stock for the amateur collector and
always offers continental pieces. She has just extended her premises to include the shop next door and often has a table full of slightly damaged pieces on the pavement outside. Commander Coxon is a familiar name to all collectors who visit antique fairs. He doesn’t have a shop nowadays, but is always available on Saturday in Collectors Corner at the Portobello Market, W1 I.
John Hall and David MacWilliams have a most unusual shop at 17 Harrington Rd, SW7.Theyspecialise in theatrical items and their stock includes a wide selection of Staffordshire portrait figures. The Victorians had the rather gruesome habit of making pottery models commemorating some of the more colourful crimes of the century. Models would be made depicting the murderer, the victim and often the scene of the crime. Examples of these and other portrait figures can be obtained at the above address, also at W W 35
Warner 226 Brompton Rd, SW3 and R Bonnets 582 King’s Rd, SW6.
Beauchamp Place, SW3 close to Harrods, is another centre for the collector’s notebook. David Newbon, Beauchamp Galleries and Gay Antiques have a good range of both English and continental items and at number 16 P & K Embden specialise in eighteenth century pieces, including a fine stock of Chinese ceramics of early date.
Chinese works of art are largely the prerogative of Mayfair dealers. Sydney Moss 51 Brook St, Wi has a fine stock, also John Sparks Ltd at 128. Bluest & Sons, 48 Davies St and Barling of Mount St Ltd together with Spink of King St, SW i are some of the names famous all over the world for their important stock of oriental ceramics.
At 66A Kensington Church St, W8, Hoff Antiques specialise in eighteenth century porcelain and M Impey 172 Walton St, SW3 offer early English pottery as well as eighteenth century Chinese and English porcelain.
36 Miss Fowler has an attractive
little shop at IA Duke St, Manchester Square, Wi. One comes across this shop rather unexpectedly and she has a fine stock of early ceramics.
George Savage of George Savage & Associates Ltd 9 Porchester Place, Connaught St, London W2 is the author of books ranging from the ever - popular Pelican Porcelain through the Ages to the American Birds of Dorothy Doughty which, priced at $6o, is one of the few books ever to enjoy the distinction of being at a premium on publication day. Another director, Diana Imber, is known for her scholarly translations of important books on continental wares and far eastern art. The company specialise in pottery and porcelain for collectors at all price-levels, and everything carries a warranty.
Some other London dealers in ceramics
(full addresses can be found in back of book)
SW: Albert Amor (r8th century English and continental porcelain), Canterburys (Antiques), Ltd, H R Hancock & Sons
(Chinese porcelain)
SW3 H E Backer (Continental porcelain), David Newton, Newman and Newman
Wx Antique Porcelain Co, Peter Boswell (specialists in tea and dinner services),
J J Drukker, Filkins, Lories, Manheim, Peerage Antiques
W8 Delomosne, Finearts, Jean Sewell
NWx F L Caira, T E Gascoigne
George Savage and his partner Diana /mbar discuss the merits of a piece of oriental sculpture
Home counties and southern England
Some of the best porcelain and pottery dealers are ladies. Take Vera Sutcliffe for instance. She has her shop in Croydon, Surrey. Here, many beautiful items will delight the connoisseur and she also undertakes expert restorative work. Swansea and Nantgarw, increasingly difficult to find, are amongst her specialities. Vera Sutcliffe can also be found at the Kensington Antique Fair.
Another specialist is Mrs Vicki Minoprio of 40 West St, Alresford. Although her shop is comparatively new, her experience goes back much further. Her shop is the result of many years collecting by Mrs Minoprio and her husband. Stock is of the finest quality and
does credit to the lovely old town of Alresford, Hants. (Main A31 Farnham to Winchester).
Amongst the south coast dealers we must mention Malcolm Anderson Bexhill, Sussex, for his stock of English, Continental and Chinese porcelain; also Trevor Antiques Brighton and Howard Lington of Bournemouth.
Pot lids have always been popular collectors’ items and are rapidly rising in price. Alexander Antiques Bletchingley, Surrey can be guaranteed to have some always in stock. The Old Forge Hollingbourne, Kent also try to keep a selection of these elusive items.
Hungerford, Barks boasts six antique shops. Riverside Antiques is a branch of the London firm Fine-arts Ltd and always has a good selection of porcelain, English, continental and Chinese.
Drug jars, whether they be maiolica originals or reproduction, have always been popular. Durston Antiques Petersfield, Hants and Quinney’s Sawbridgeworth, Herts, usually have some in stock.
Mr and Mrs Behrens have just moved into new premises in Winchester, and have many smaller pieces of porcelain to choose from.
Some other dealers in the home counties and south
Stewart Acton, Brighton, Sussex Adam House, Henley, Oxon J J Allen, Bournemouth, Hants Bennett & Stow, Alresford, Hants Bishop, Marlow, Bucks Margaret Cadman, Brighton, Sussex
Fortunate Finds, Eastbourne, Sussex (by appointment only)
Major & Mrs Grogan, Horsham, Sussex
Leon’s Antique Shop,
38 Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Winifred Williams, Eastbourne, Sussex
The west country and Wales
We don’t suppose there are many people who would drive miles to buy matching basin and ewer sets; getting rid of the things is usually the bigger problem. If you are thinking of throwing some out, send them down to Mr and Mrs Scammell in Morchard Bishop. In the heart of Devon their Glebe House has several showrooms of small general antiques – including a basin and ewer department!
A porcelain dealer out of the ‘top drawer’ is Andrew Dando of Bath. He has a large stock of all types of ceramics, English, continental and Chinese. Again, the usual warning when recommending Bath – Mr Dando is closed on Saturday afternoon.
Four specialists in Worcester porcelain in the west country are Arthur Philpott in Worcester itself;
Peter Jackson Falmouth and Studio Antiques Bourton - on - the - Water, Glos, who specialises in the Dr Wall period. Incidentally, the small coffee cups, typical of the early Worcester factory make an excellent collection. Many of these pieces are marked with the sign of the artist even if not that of the factory itself, whereas coffee cups from many other factories more often than not do not bear a mark on the cup – only on the saucer.
Stanley Fisher Bewdley, Worcs, is the author of British Pottery and Porcelain, and a leading specialist in Worcester pieces.
Nantgarw (pronounced nangaroo) and Swansea porcelain is the speciality of J Kyrie Fletcher Ltd of Newport. Due to the limited operating period of these factories, good examples are rather rare and collectors who wouldn’t have looked at a cracked dish a few years ago are now keen to snap up any piece that comes their way, especially if it is a marked piece. Mrs S L
0 Part of George Savage’s collection of Chinese porcelain
Chislett of Bradstone House, Lydney, Glos often has some pieces amongst her other porcelain stock, as has D S Hutchings of Newport, Mon.
At Dawlish in Devonshire is Arthur West, right opposite Dawlish Water. Mr West has some excellent pieces, and don’t be put off by the sight of modern Devon pottery on sale in the same premises. He had a most delightful collection of early English blue and white pieces on display in the window at our last visit.
Although primarily a trade supplier, Reginald Andrade gives a warm welcome to the private buyer. Having been in the antique business since 1907 he has a great wealth of experience and knowledge which he willingly passes on to the enthusiastic collector. Mr Andrade can be found in Plympton, Devon, in a large Victorian house, bursting with stock. He has at least ten showrooms devoted to ceramics and you have to pick your way around carefully for fear of trampling a Derby plate underfoot. It is best to know what you’re looking for before calling on Mr Andrade, otherwise the amount of pieces offered tend to confuse to the point of being overwhelming. Mr Andrade himself has a liking for jugs – of which he has a roomful, but he always finds space for one more, even if he has to hang it from the ceiling!
Ruskin pottery is a little known art to most people and we know only of one specialist. Robert Ferneyhough always has examples
as well as English and Chinese porcelain at Brook House, Henleyin-Arden, Warks.
Patrick Walker Burford, Oxon offers delftware with other pottery and porcelain items in this lovely old Costwold town.
In Wimborne Minster, Dorset Metcalfe,7ackson has premises with the strange-sounding name Trumpeters 25 West St. He stocks only top quality pieces and is extremely knowledgeable on Chinese art. Mr Jackson always has some oriental porcelain and pottery for sale.
`Antiques’ Bridport, Dorset, keeps a stock of coronation mugs. These are in a little display right at the back of the shop, easy to miss unless you know what you’re looking for.
Miss Valentine Ackland has a thriving business which she runs from her home in Maiden Newton, near Dorchester. She stocks mainly small items, with quite a lot of ceramic pieces which she sends by mail all over the world. Her house is called Frome Vauchurch and it is. rather difficult to find — so be prepared to ask a local the way. Miss, Ackland collects stock over a period of months and then publishes a mailing list. If you’d like to receive a copy, she’ll be pleased to hear from you.
Highly recommended, and especially for the pretty and peaceful environment in which she works, is, Mrs Gavin Young Longburton, near Sherborae, Dorset. Spring House is one of the prettiest
thatched houses in Dorset. Mrs Young, wife of the show-jumping judge Colonel Gavin Young, restores porcelain, pottery and enamels. She undertakes work by mail and will restore anything within reason. She also has pieces for sale both perfect and restored.
Dormy House Antiques at Marlborough in Wilts, always try to keep a good stock of commemorative jugs. ‘But they go out as fast as I can get them in’, complains Denys Bellerby, the owner.
Some other dealers in Wales and the west
G Deacon, Bath, Som.
Mrs H G James, Bodmin, Cornwall (Staffordshire portrait
figures)
C & D O’Donoghue, Torquay, Devon (by appointment only)
Old Timbers Antiques, Tewkesbury, Glos (lustre pottery)
East Anglia
Some especially fine stock can be seen in Cambridge at the premises of Collins & Clark, also at The Grange, Wroxham, Norfolk.
Edward Levine of Cromer, specialises in English and Chinese porcelain, also S H Partner of Colchester.
There is no sign to the premises of Peter A Crofts who has a lovely stock of English porcelain. To get to ‘Briar Patch’ you must take the
JOSEPH & EARLE D VANDEKAR
Members of the British Antique Dealers Association Porcelain • Glass • Pottery • Paperweights
Ormolu • Furniture

CLOCK CASES
Up to the present we have not dealt with clocks, for the good reason that nothing in the way of a clock case was made before the second half of the seventeenth century. Earlier clocks were of what is known as the lantern type, consisting of a brass framework with turned corner pillars and a round dial fixed at the front. Of the movements of clocks there is no space to deal in this book. It would require a book in itself to explain the various kinds and the phases through which the mechanism passed. Suffice it to say that the early type were fitted with the verge movement in which he teeth of a rotating crown wheel engaged the pallets of a balance arbor. The pendulum came into use soon after the middle of the seventeenth century.
A lantern clock is shown in Fig. 89. It was intended to stand on a bracket, the power being supplied by a weight suspended by a chain. A single hour hand was fitted, pointing to numerals engraved on either a brass or silvered dial. A striking mechanism was usually fitted, the bell being mounted upon curved metal bars as in the present example. Just below it a fretted brass pediment was fitted, this being generally of the dolphin device and engraved as shown. At the corners turned brass finials were fitted.
Bracket Clocks.—During the second half of the seventeenth century wooden bracket clock cases became popular, and these were generally of the form shown in Fig. go. They were roughly square in shape and a ” basket ” top was fitted to provide interior space for the bell. Various kinds were made, some being of walnut, cross-grained as in the general run of contemporary furniture, others were veneered with tortoiseshell, elaborate marquetry (this form of decoration is dealt with later), and some were in ebony. In some the basket top was of brass fretted and engraved, the better to allow the sound of the bell to emerge. In most the cases were glazed on all four sides to allow the mechanism to be seen.
Later, during the first half of the eighteenth century, the
bell-top ” clock was introduced, the name arising out of the formation of the top. One example is given in Fig. 91. In this the square front has been heightened and the top of the door is rounded to give space to the small dial which records either the date or enables the clock to be set either to ” strike ” or ” silent.” It should be noted that no bracket clocks of this type were fitted with a seconds hand because a movement of this kind needs a far longer pendulum than could be accommodated in a small case. The fourth clock on p. H3 belongs to an altogether later period, the second half of the eighteenth century, but it is given here so that easy comparison of the styles can be made.
Grandfather Clocks.—Speaking of the long pendulum brings us to the grandfather case introduced during the reign of Charles II. The details in them were similar to those in the furniture of the time, though there was something characteristic in their treatment which seems to belong peculiarly to clock cases. They were mostly of veneered walnut and occasionally ebony, and the hoods were made to slide either forwards or upwards, usually the former. They were generally flat at the top, as in the example in Fig. 88, and twist columns were fitted at the corners, these opening with the door. In many specimens a piece of bottle glass was introduced in the large door in the waist to enable the movement of the pendulum to be seen. This was fitted in either a round or oval frame.
Frets were often introduced in the frieze, these being backed with silk, and the mouldings were of a delicate type, far finer than those usually used in furniture. The workmanship was invariably of a high quality, and this, coupled with the characteristic details, suggests that it became customary for some men to specialise in case making as distinct from the ordinary cabinet making. The late seventeenth century examples were usually veneered with marquetry, whilst the Queen Anne specimens were of plain walnut, decorated with cross-bandings and herring-bone bandings.

Walnut Period
CHINA CABINETS
It was probably Queen Mary who set the fashion for collecting china. Trade with the East brought about the importation of Chinese pottery and it soon became a popular craze for people of wealth to collect fine specimens. Cabinets to contain them followed as a matter of course, and it was therefore in the last quarter of the seventeenth century that the first china cabinets were made. An example is given in Fig. 85. There are many typical features about it ; the turned legs with the inverted cup detail, the apron piece finished at the edge with a cross-grained bead, the flat stretcher rails, the cross-banded doors, and the shaped cornice, also cross-grained. Glazed doors were essential, and in them we have an early example of the barred door.
The probability is that in the first instance the bars were not purely decorative. Panes of glass in a large size were difficult to produce, and the method of subdividing up the space with bars to enable small panes to be used suggested itself as a solution to the difficulty. In the event it proved extremely successful as a form of decorative treatment ; so much so that during the eighteenth century bars were used in various designs almost as a matter of course. It is just another example of the way in which advantage can be taken of the limitations of material to produce an effect which not only looks well but seems characteristic of the work.
MIRRORS
Whilst on the subject of glasswork, we may turn to the mirror, which was first made in fairly large quantities towards the end of the seventeenth century. Earlier examples are in existence, but they were mostly made in Italy and imported, though a few Italian craftsmen settled in the country early in the seventeenth century and began producing in a small way. The chief impetus came later, when works were established by the Duke of Buckingham in London. Mention of them is made by Evelyn in his diary of 1676, when he paid a visit to them.
Two examples of hanging wall mirrors are given on p. III. That to the left is perhaps the more usual type. The actual framework is a rather flat moulding with the grain running crosswise. Typical sections of the mouldings used are given on p. 125 at the bottom, left. They were built up on a foundation of pine or oak to provide the strength, and the walnut was glued to the upper face in  LACQUERED CABINET ON STAND.
Second half 17th century.
Oriental cabinets were frequently imported, and carved stands were
made to hold them. Later rather crude imitations of Oriental lacquer
were attempted here.
cross-grained strips. The section was then worked as in an ordinary moulding. Usually the top corners were either rounded, as in Fig. 86, or they had the rather typical series of short squares and curves, such as in the door in Fig. 84. The fretted pieces at top and bottom are invariably found in such mirrors.

The other example, Fig. 87, is of quite different feeling, having an architectural character probably inspired by the details found in the windows and doorways of the period. The groundwork is in walnut and the carved mouldings and details are gilt. Both types were produced in fairly large quantities, and the size was invariably small for the reason already given. In addition, small toilet glasses were made, these having either a plain stand with uprights between which the mirror was pivoted, or a small nest of drawers to hold cosmetics arranged with the uprights tenoned in above.

CHAIRS AND STOOLS
The chair as we left it in our chapter on Jacobean work was still a sturdily built piece of work though tending to
DETAILS OF THE CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, FIG. 74.
A. Queen Anne tallboy made in two separate parts.
B. Section through the built-up cross-grained cornice.
C. How thin oak back is fixed on.
D. Side viewof drawer showing dovetails.
E. Cut -away view with construction of carcase and drawer.
become lighter. A few were made with stuffed seats, and occasionally upholstered backs were added, but for the most part they were entirely of wood—or possibly were fitted with a leather seat stretched over the rails. This, though being softer than wood, could hardly be called upholstery.
After the middle of the century there arose a custom of using cane for the better type of chair back, and rushes for the commoner type. Upholstery, too, was used, though this did not become really popular until the reign of William and Mary. We may mention here that springs were never used. As a matter of passing interest, it was not until the nineteenth century that these came into use.
Twist Turning.—Caning is usually associated with the tall-back chairs which became popular during the second half of the seventeenth century, and this brings us to an interesting development, that of twist turning. Until about1625 or so only plain, straightforward turning had been attempted. The work was mounted in a curious contrivance known as the pole lathe, over which a long springy pole (hence the name) was suspended from a bracket in the wall. To the end of the pole was fixed a rope which stretched down to a drum attached to the chuck. It was taken a turn around

this and then down to a treadle. Thus when the operator depressed the treadle the work was revolved in a forward motion and the pole above was bent downwards. When the pressure on the treadle was released the pole sprang back, turning the work in the opposite direction.
It is obvious from this that the actual cutting could be done whilst the work was revolving forwards only, and when one considers the toughness of English oak, and the large size in which many of the old bulbous turnings were made, it is not surpri3ing that the turners did not go in a great deal for experiment. However, some ingenious craftsman, probably noticing the spiral made by his gouge as he passed it rapidly along the surface, did try his hand at forming a spiral or twist, and by a combination of pre-

liminary sawing out, rough turning, and use of carving tools to finish off, produced a rather uneven sort of twist.
It was not an easy business, however, one of the chief difficulties being that of making the same number of twists on each of a set of legs, and as a consequence twist turning did not make a great deal of progress until someone thought of making an attachment which would carry the gouge along sideways at a predetermined rate, which was set in accordance with the rate of revolutions of the work. In this way any number of turnings could be made, all exactly alike. There still are a few of these old pole lathes in use in the outlying districts of Buckinghamshire, where turnings for chairs are still made on a large scale.
A chair with twist turnings was given in Fig. 64 on p. 82, and in this we see the passing out of the old oak tradition. Chair making suffered something of a decline in the third quarter of the seventeenth century, at any rate from the point of view of construction. Instead of the seat rails being strongly tenoned between the legs, they were merely placed on top with no stronger attachment than a dowel

turned at the top of the legs. The same thing applied to the top rail of the back, which was simply fitted to dowels at the ends of the uprights. This detail is shown clearly in the chair in Fig. 75, though in this case the front seat rail is still tenoned between the legs.
This chair is fairly typical of the tall-back which persisted until the end of the seventeenth century. Turning was used considerably, even for the tops of the shaped front legs, and it is interesting to note that the back legs splay backwards. Even the early tall-backs did not have this detail, and if ever it were essential in any chair it was in one which was essentially lightly built and had a high back. For a man to lean back even slightly would be dangerous.

The legs are interesting in that they foreshadow the cabriole leg which was shortly to become popular, though when examined closely it is seen that they consist actually of a number of scrolls joined together with floral and leaf carving. Scroll work of this kind was used widely in chairs and stands of all kinds. It is seen in the front stretcher rail and in the back of that in Fig. 75.
Chairs with Cabriole Legs.—The introduction of the cabriole leg seemed to strike a new note in the design of chairs. It was not simply that a new motif was being used, but that the whole conception of the design became altered. Compare, for example, the two chairs on p. 98. It is obvious that the one has turned uprights whilst the other has shaped ones, but, in addition, there is an entirely new spirit in that in Fig. 76. In the earlier example, Fig. 75, one is conscious of a series of parts jointed together in an obvious sort of way. It is not suggested that this is a fault, but simply that the construction is at once apparent. One can count up the parts—two uprights, cresting rail, lower rail, seat rail, stretcher, and so on. And the earlier the chair the more obvious the parts and their purpose becomes.
Now turn to Fig. 76. It is not easy to see where the uprights and the top rail of the back begin and end. They merge one into the other, and the same thing applies to the slat and the rail beneath. The back is one whole, so to speak, and we shall find that this feeling becomes still more apparent in later chairs.
Reverting to the legs again, these are an early form of the cabriole type, and exemplify the Dutch influence which the accession of William of Orange brought with it. The probability is that many of these chairs were the work of foreign craftsmen who settled down here. A cabriole leg is by no means an easy thing to make, and it is doubtful whether a native craftsman could have turned out a really fine shape without previous experience. The awkward point about making the leg is that it is difficult to set down the true shape on paper. It can be drawn at the front, side, and possibly three-quarter positions, but the actual leg is seen from all angles and is normally viewed from above, a viewpoint which the drawing does not present.
Furthermore, in the very nature of the work the guiding lines on the wood are cut away as the work proceeds,

because the whole thing is more or less rounded in section. In actual practice the leg is cut out of a square right through to the over-all shape when looked at from the front. A corresponding shape is cut at the side, this producing a square cut shape. The point to realise is that the cutting

of the first shape automatically removes the lines of the second shape, and it is only by temporarily replacing the sawn-away parts that the shape can be cut true. In any case the resulting shape has only a distant resemblance to the finished line, and it is in the final shaping that experience is needed, because there are no square lines to which to work. Everything is curved in both directions, and it is only by eye that a really fine shape can be produced, one which looks well when seen from every angle. The whole thing is complicated when carving is to appear, because sufficient thickness has to be allowed for this, and the presence of these plain lumps is apt, to give a false impression of the shape as a whole.
We have gone into these practical points at some length because the cabriole leg became so characteristic a feature of

furniture for the following seventy-five years or so. Really fine legs are few and far between, the majority being overdone in the shape, and we shall find that they deteriorated considerably after Queen Anne’s reign until rescued by the school of Chippendale.
In the present instance, Fig. 76, it will be noticed that the legs terminate in a hoof foot, whilst at the top the sides are scrolled in imitation of the horns of the goat. These details are often found in William and Mary furniture, after which they gave place to the turned club foot, with which we shall meet in the next example. In the meantime it should be noted that the legs are still linked together with stretcher rails. It is true that the last-named are on an altogether lighter scale than in earlier pieces (see Fig. 64) and are gracefully shaped, but the chairmaker has not yet felt confident enough to omit them entirely, which was the next stage in the development of the chair.
Another feature of the chair in Fig. 76 met with for the first time is the curve in the rake of the back, and it is interesting to glance at the diagram in Fig. 78, which shows the various stages of development. There is the earliest straight post (J) cut from a square of timber and continuing from leg to back in a straight line. This was used mostly in the old settles of Gothic times (see Fig. 14, p. 23). Then came the idea of setting the back at an angle (K), a phase which lasted until past the middle of the seventeenth century. An example is given in Fig. 37, P. SO. In the same period in a few chairs little blocks were added at the bottom as at L to help to counterbalance the weight. This is exemplified in Fig. 18, P. 25. Next, the legs were at last splayed as at M, though the back still remained straight without any curve (see Fig. 65, P. 82). N gives the next development, as in the chair in Fig. 76, whilst 0 shows the shape which the majority of chairs in the later eighteenth century had, of which Fig. 102 is an example.
A last point to note about the chair in Fig. 76 is the shaped splat. This was something quite fresh (see last example in Fig. 75), and had certain definite stages in development. It is shown in the armchair in Fig. 77 in its most characteristic form. Apart from its shaped edges it follows the general line of the back when viewed from the side.
These two chairs in Fig. 77 exemplify the walnut period in its fullest stage of development in the Queen Anne period. That to the left is especially characteristic in the shape of the back, the splat, and the full cabriole legs with turned club feet. Note that the back is appreciably lower and that the shaping of the uprights has become more pronounced, especially in the rounded shape at the top. The splat, too, is entirely solid and has an urn-like formation.
The fact that the backs were shaped in both front and side elevations made them extremely expensive to produce, and it was for this reason that the square back type to the right in Fig. 77 was made for a more economical job. The uprights merely taper and they are quite straight in their rake. In the best chairs, however, the full shaping was given, and on some models the back was entirely veneered with cross-grain walnut. Another feature to note is the entire absence of stretcher rails.
Just as the development in the shape of the rake of the
.
back can be followed in a series of stages, so the plain shape of the seats developed on certain characteristic lines. These are shown diagrammatically in Fig. 78, from the square boxlike formation of early Tudor times to the tapering shape of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and the elaborately shaped seats of walnut furniture. Later on there was a return to the simpler form.

One other innovation in the walnut period in connection with the seats was the loose drop-in variety shown in Fig. 77

to the right. These were not used exclusively, the ” stuff-over ” method (left in Fig. 77) being also used frequently.
The development of upholstery has already been mentioned, and in Fig. 79 we have the fully upholstered arm-chair of about 1705. The projecting wings and the scrolled arms are especially characteristic, and bear out the prevailing popularity of shaped work.
.
Stools.—The two stools in Fig. 8o are of the William and Mary (left) and Queen Anne (right) periods. In the earlier specimens the legs are actually turned, and the scrolled and recessed detail is carved out of the shape. The shaped stretchers are similar to those already shown in the chest of drawers in Fig. 70, except that the edges are moulded instead of being square. In the Queen Anne stool the stretchers are omitted. The legs are worth noting in that they terminate with spade feet. These are carved out entirely, no turning being used. Other features often found are the shell carving on the knee with the pendant husks below, and the scrolls at the sides immediately beneath the ears.
The day-bed in the form shown in Fig. 67, P. 84, did not last into the eighteenth century. Its place was taken by the settee, which was rather like two or more chairs joined together side by side. There was sometimes a centre leg, though it was frequently omitted.

FIG. 75. TALL-BACK CHAIR WITH UPHOLSTERED SEAT.
Late 17th century.
Note that the top back rail is simply pegged to the turned uprights. The legs which are suggestive of the cabriole shape are in reality a series of scrolls.
FIG.76. WILLIAM AND MARY
CHAIR.
Late 17th century.
The back shows the hoop form in its embryo stage. It has the appearance of a complete thing in itself instead of consisting of uprights, cross rails and slats as in Fig. 75 above.
The legs have the hoof foot and scrolled ears In Imitation of the goat’s horns.

FIG. 77. WALNUT CHAIRS WITH CABRIOLE LEGS AND CLUB FEET.
Early 18th century.
The left-hand example exemplifies the development of double shaped work in
the hooped back. In the less expensive chair to the right the back is raked only,
with no shaping at the front. Note the use of the urn-shaped splat in both
examples.

FIG. 79. UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR.
Early i8th century.
Although thickly padded, these chairs were
never fitted with springs. The last named
belong to the 19th century.

FIG. 80. STOOLS OF THE WALNUT PERIOD.
Late 17th century.    Early z8th century.
The legs of the left-hand stool are turned and the carving is cut into the turning.
Note the omission of the stretcher in the right-hand stool. The shell and husk
carving is typical.

FIG. 81. SMALL BUREAU AND BUREAU WITH CUPBOARD.
Late 17th century.    Early 18th century.
The inverted cup shape of the turned legs in the small bureau shows the William and Mary period. The mirrored doors of the cupboard in the right-hand example were a common feature in Queen Anne pieces of this kind.

FIG. 82. SMALL WALNUT WRITING TABLE.
Early 18th century.
This exemplifies well the way in which the construction
was entirely concealed by the use of veneer. The apron
piece beneath the drawers is often seen in Queen Anne
tables.

FIG. 83. QUEEN ANNE PERIOD SECRETAIRE.
Early 18th century.
The front of the upper carcase is hinged so that it drops down and Corms a
writing top. The inside is fitted up for stationery.

FIG. 84. WALNUT VENEERED CHINA CABINET.
Early 18th century.
The barred doors owed their origin to the difficulty of producing glass In
large panes. They were cross-grained with a rib at the back.

FIG. 85. CHINA CABINET WITH BARRED DOORS ON STAND.
Late 171h century.
The craze for collecting china encouraged by Queen Mary was the cause
of the introduction of the china cabinet.

WALNUT PERIOD
HAVING seen in the last chapter how new methods
of construction enabled a far more refined kind of
furniture to be made, we may now turn to the actual pieces that were produced from the Restoration up to the end of Queen Anne’s reign in 1714. Perhaps the first thing that strikes one is the multiplicity of types compared with what men had known in the first half of the seventeenth century.
It seems that people had come to have a new outlook on life and were demanding an altogether more luxurious way of living. Perhaps a fair comparison is the way that the average man’s point of view has changed since 1913. Not that the results have been the same, but the Great War and all that it brought with it set men’s minds working along fresh channels. In 166o it was the Restoration instead of war that prompted the change, and in comparison the changes were even greater.
For one thing there was the reaction from a stern, rigorous form of government to one of licence and laxity. For another there was the strong foreign influence which came as the natural result of the accession of a king who had spent most of his life abroad, soon followed by the reign of a king who actually was a foreigner. The remarkable thing is that the resultant style was not more extravagant than it really was. As it turned out, the walnut period was notable rather for its restraint and dignity, especially in its later stages. The probable reason was that William of Orange did a good deal to check the depraved condition into which the court of Charles II had fallen.
Amongst the pieces that made their first appearance during the walnut period were china cabinets fitted with glass doors, bookcases (also often glazed), writing cabinets, chests of drawers, mirrors, tall clock cases, card tables, and various cabinets elaborately fitted up with small drawers and cup-boards. To these may be added chairs with fully upholstered seats and backs. These introductions in themselves reflect the altered conditions, and show that people were no longer content with things which had to answer several purposes. Consider how in earlier days the chest had served as a seat, table, and travelling chest ; or the dining table for every possible purpose for which a table could be needed. By the end of the seventeenth century people indulged in the luxury of collecting china, hence the cabinets for the purpose ; they spent their leisure in playing cards and so needed card tables books were more plentiful, making bookcases essential and they required not one chair and a few stools in a room, but a full set so that everyone could be comfortable.
CHESTS OF DRAWERS
We saw in Chapter III how the chest developed into the chest of drawers, and it is interesting to make a comparison between the Jacobean type in Fig. 53, p. 66, and the Charles II example in Fig. 70. In date there are not many years’ difference between them, but whereas the former is entirely in oak and is made in the old traditional way, the other is of veneered walnut with a flat stretcher and legs of a kind that are not only entirely new in form, but involve a fresh form of construction. From the constructional point of view it is certainly not an advancement upon traditional methods in which the stretcher rails would be strongly tenoned into the legs. As it is the shaped legs have a hole bored at each end, the top one holding a dowel which passes into the bottom of the chest, and the other taking the projecting dowel of the foot, the stretcher fitting between. It is worth taking particular note of this flat stretcher with the foot beneath because it became very popular in the late years of the seventeenth century.
A glance at the chest itself shows that in construction and form it bears out the changes dealt with more fully in the last chapter. The drawer fronts are flat, and around the edges is a herring-bone banding, a typical ” walnut ” feature. One special note of interest is that along the drawer rails and front edges of the ends is a flat half-round moulding with the grain running crosswise. Charles II and William and Mary work often had this feature. Later it declined, its place being taken by a cocked bead fixed around the edges of the drawer fronts. The latter was really a more practical idea because the bead helped to protect the edges of the veneer, preventing the latter from being chipped away.
Cross-grained Mouldings.—Mention of the cross-grained bead brings us to another feature which was used almost exclusively in walnut work, the cross-grained moulding. It will be appreciated that to make a solid cross-grained moulding would not be practical. It would have no strength, it would be liable to twist, and it would certainly shrink. The plan was therefore adopted of applying a thin strip of cross-grained wood to a solid groundwork, the grain of which ran lengthwise. The groundwork provided the strength and the thinness of the layer had sufficient
give ” to overcome the shrinkage difficulty.
If the moulding were extra big the work would be allowed to stand until full shrinkage had taken place, when the inevitable splits would be filled in. All but the smallest mouldings were made in this way, and even these in the best work were cross-grained. It is a point to look for in an old piece. Fig. 71 shows how a cornice moulding was built up, and the plate on p. 125 gives a number of sections, in some of which the facing layer of walnut is also shown.
A rather later chest, dating from about 1690, is given in Fig. 72, and it will be noticed that, although it embodies many similar features to the chest in Fig. 70, it is of altogether better proportions and approaches a period when walnut furniture was at its best. The drawer fronts are veneered and have the herring-bone banding around the edges, and there is the half-round moulding on the drawer rails and cabinet ends. The frieze of flat rounded section veneered with cross-grained walnut should be noted because a great deal of walnut furniture had this detail. It was copied from the cornice and frieze built in many houses of the period. Turned legs with the inverted cup shape are peculiar to William and Mary pieces, and, although other shapes were used, they are usually a good indication of the period. Note that the flat stretcher similar to that in Fig. 70 is still used.
One other point to note is that the veneering has the effect of hiding the construction almost entirely. Take the stand, for instance. There is no indication of where the rails are joined to the legs. This is in contrast with the older oak furniture in which all the joints were apparent, and in which the grain always ran in the direction which strength demanded. The appreciation of points such as this enables one to understand the root of the changes that were taking place.
Tallboys.—Two other chests are given in Fig. 73. That to the left is late seventeenth century, but the other is of Queen Anne’s reign and shows the final development of the walnut period. It is a close approach to that delightful looking, but rather impractical, article the tallboy chest. Presumably men felt that the drawer was so extremely useful (and it undoubtedly was) that the more they could fit into a piece the more useful it became. It was like many another good idea, spoilt by being taken to extremes. Any reader who has possessed one of these tallboys will appreciate the nuisance of having to mount up on a chair to reach the contents of the top drawers.
In this chest we also have a feature which we shall frequently run across in Queen Anne work, the apron piece. This is the shaped rail joining the legs beneath the lower drawers. It appears in the chest in Fig. 72, and in the left-hand example in Fig. 73. It was the natural result of the introduction of veneering, or, to be more accurate, it was a detail which was made possible only by veneering. If, for instance, the veneer were stripped off, the joints of the various rails would be exposed with the applied apron piece showing beneath. Such an arrangement would be unsightly, but when covered with veneer makes an attractive and characteristic feature. Sometimes the shaped edges were covered with a cocked bead. The chest in Fig. 72 has this detail.
One other outstanding feature of this chest, Fig. 73, is that in it we have the first introduction to the cabriole leg which enjoyed so vast a popularity in the eighteenth century. We shall deal with this more fully presently when we come to speak about chairs, but it is worth while noting its use in pieces of this kind.
Drawer Construction.—In all these chests, the drawer sides, backs, and bottoms were invariably of oak. Walnut was still a comparatively rare wood—it was probably not planted in this country until Elizabeth’s reign—and on that account was costly. Furthermore oak was the better calculated to withstand the wear inevitable on the sliding surfaces. Oak was also used for the groundwork of the drawer fronts, though there was a tendency to use pine for the purpose, because experience showed that oak did not grip the glue as well as pine. Also, the figure in the oak was liable to show through the veneer eventually because of the shrinkage of the softer parts of the timber. However, it is no criterion, for both were used for the purpose.
When a walnut moulding was required at the edges (except in the case of the cocked bead) a slip of cross-grained walnut was first let in all round and the veneer laid over this. This enabled the moulding to be worked in the walnut at the edges. It was unnecessary in a cocked bead, for this could be applied afterwards in a rebate worked for the purpose.

FIG. 70. WALNUT CHEST OF DRAWERS ON STAND.
About 1670.
The upright grain of the veneered drawer fronts, the herringbone banding,
the cross-grained bead on the rails, and the flat stretchers are typical
of the period.

FIG. 71. HOW CROSS-GRAINED WALNUT
MOULDINGS WERE BUILT UP.
Strips of cross-grained walnut are glued to a
groundwork of pine or oak.

FIG. 72. WILLIAM AND MARY CHEST OF DRAWERS ON
STAND.
The inverted cup turned legs and flat stretcher were extremely popular at the period. The rounded frieze continued into the Queen Anne period.

TRANSITIONAL PERIOD
WE have already referred to the period beginning with the Restoration in 166o as being very remarkable so far as furniture was concerned. It certainly was. It was not merely that new ideas of form and decoration were evolved, but that a far more advanced technique of craftsmanship was built up, one which belonged essentially to furniture as distinct from joinery and carpentry. In other words, it was the period when the cabinet maker came into being, the man who specialised in furniture making.
The coincidence of many things brought about the change. The austere habits of people during the Commonwealth underwent something like a revolution when Charles II ascended the throne. It was the swing of the pendulum from simplicity to extravagance. Charles had lived for many years on the continent, where conditions (so far as the wealthy classes were concerned) were far more luxurious than here, and it was natural that foreign ideas should spread to this country when he came back as monarch. This influence, coming at the same time as the strong reaction already mentioned, set the stage, as it were, for a new standard of things.
Then again in a closely following reign another powerful foreign influence made itself felt. William III was a Dutchman, and, however good a king he was, he loved the surroundings to which he had been accustomed. Thus in a space of some thirty years two events occurred which laid their mark on the crafts of England.
Thirdly, there was the introduction of walnut as a furniture wood, a material of far finer grain and of a milder nature than oak. It lent itself far more readily to finer workmanship, yet was quite as reliable (though it had not the same durable nature). To make a rough analogy, it was like a mason, who had known no other medium than a coarsesandstone, being given a piece of fine marble to carve. All sorts of possibilities were opened.
Finally, and possibly most important, there was the introduction of the art of veneering. As the reader probably knows, this consists of laying a thin sheet of wood, usually finely marked, upon a groundwork of a less interesting but thoroughly reliable wood. It was something entirely new and presented all sorts of problems of which there was no previous experience. Whilst, on the one hand, it enabled all sorts of decorative effects to be obtained which could not be carried out in the solid, it necessitated methods of construction, the reliability (or otherwise) of which could only be proved by time. The craftsmen learnt much from foreign workmen who were already familiar with veneer, but they had a good deal to find out for themselves, and they undoubtedly did make many mistakes, as the large cracked or twisted panels of some of the work of the period show.
Taken all round, then, there were plenty of circumstances to encourage a new departure in style, and it is a thing that is obvious to anyone who makes a comparison between a cabinet made in the traditional oak style and one of walnut of the same period. Be it remembered that many craftsmen continued to work in oak, especially in country districts, right till the end of the seventeenth century and even later.
NEW METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
As an example, take Figs. 61 and 62, which show two

cabinets made within forty years of each other, but of which one is in oak and the other in veneered walnut. The oak piece is made in precisely the same way that all woodwork had been made for the past century or two. The maker recognised the inevitability of shrinkage, and he accordingly framed up his parts, working grooves at the edges in which the panels were free to shrink. This is shown in both the doors and the sides, where the panels stand in from the level of the framework in line with the grooves.
The joints of the frames are pegged to hold them together (joints were invariably put together dry, without glue) and, to relieve the plainness, a channelling is worked along practically every rail and stile. The finish of the wood is uneven, many of the panels showing plane marks and the edges being anything but straight.
Now turn to the walnut cabinet and note how impossible it would be to apply these methods of construction. In the first place the doors are flat over their entire surface,
what panelled appearance there is being effected by the application of a crossbanding of veneer. The same thing applies to the sides which are flat. It is obvious that a panel fitting loosely in the grooves of a framework could not possibly be used.
Furthermore, a pegged joint put together dry would not be practical because the slightest movement would cause the veneer to split. Then in regard to the channelling, if this were worked it would necessarily cut right through the veneer and expose the groundwork beneath. As for the finish, it can be taken as essential that the groundwork must be prepared perfectly. The slightest blemish in it shows through to the surface of the veneer, and, even though the latter may be laid to look tolerably well at the time, it will eventually part company with the groundwork and cause all sorts of complications after a year or so. In any case, walnut was given a far more highly polished surface than oak, so that the effect of an uneven surface would be like that of a badly distorted mirror.
It is not possible in one short chapter to give all the reasons why a new technique in furniture construction became necessary, but these few points are sufficient to show the fundamental causes of the change. As we say, these early cabinet makers did make mistakes, the lesson of which their followers of the eighteenth century were to profit by, but when one considers the vastness of the change and the short time in which it was carried out, it was on the whole remarkably successful.
Changes in Design.—Turning to the walnut cabinet in Fig. 62 again, and comparing it with, say, the Court cupboard in Fig. 48, one is struck by the vastly different method by which the decorative appearance is obtained. The oak cupboard is carved and moulded everywhere. The wood is just a medium for the carving, so to speak, and there are no large unbroken surfaces. The doors, for instance, are subdivided into small panels, and, in fact, the whole effect is obtained by the constant change in the level of surfaces. It is probably in a large measure this that hides much of the crudity of old work.
On the other hand, the surfaces of the walnut cabinet are flat everywhere, and the grain of the wood is used to produce the decorative appearance. If the wood were plain slabs of timber the effect would be entirely gone. As it is, the cross-banded edges with the herring-bone strip inside and the centre ovals, although quite flat, produce a rich pattern quite as effective in its way as that of the oak piece. The examples of detailed parts in Fig. 63 help to make the point clearer.
As a further example of these changes the little table in Fig. 68 is given. This was probably made towards the end of the seventeenth century, and the interesting feature about it is that the maker has tried to emulate the new scheme of things but has carried on with the traditional construction. It was most likely the work of a country carpenter who had seen some furniture of the walnut kind but who had had no experience in making it, and had not the materials to use  It is in oak, and the legs, although neatly turned, have the baluster shaping reminiscent of an earlier period. The wide apron rail is shaped similarly to that of typical William and Mary walnut furniture, and has a cocked bead around the edge (another ” walnut ” feature), but the joints are all pegged, a thing never done in true walnut work. Then the top and the drawer have an inlaid banding of fruit wood around the edges in imitation of crossbanding (such as that
in Fig. 62), but the grain runs lengthwise and it is let into the solid oak.
A piece like this would never have been made by a cabinet maker of any standing in a town, and in that sense it is not typical of its period, but it is interesting not only in exemplifying the changes that were taking place, but also in showing the constant lag that maintained in the country districts compared with towns.
Figs. 64, 65, and 66 show the gradual evolution taking place in the chair. A note of special interest in that in Fig. 65 is that the back legs are splayed. This is the first example of this feature to be given, chairs up to this time having straight, upright back legs. The day bed in Fig. 67 is a development of the type mentioned by Shakespeare in Richard HI (see P. 54).

FIG. 68. SMALL SIDE TABLE WITH CURIOUSLY
MIXED FEATURES. PROBABLY OF COUNTRY
ORIGIN.
About 1700.
Although the whole thing is of oak and the legs are typically
Jacobean, there are features which belong to a later period,
for example, the shaped rail with cocked bead edging and
the Inlay around top and drawer front.

FIG. 61. CUPBOARD WITH TYPICAL JACOBEAN CONSTRUCTION.
About 165o.
Note that the whole thing is made up of a framework with recessed
panels fitting in grooves. The construction is obvious, no attempt being
made to conceal it. Compare with the veneered example in Fig. 62
opposite.

FIG. 62. WILLIAM AND MARY CABINET IN WALNUT.
Late 17th century.
Here the construction is concealed. The banding around the doors for
instance has no connection with any framing, but is simply a cross-
banding of veneer.

FIG. 64. CHARLES II CHAIR
WITH CROWN EMBLEM
CARVED IN BACK AND
STRETCHER.
About 166o-070.
There is a definite tendency
to a lighter form of construc-
tion in this chair as compared
with earlier examples in Fig.
40. Note too how much
finer is the section of the
scrolled arms than the square
form in Fig. 38.
The interesting point about these chairs is that, whereas in that above the construction dictates the general form (note the obvious arrangement of rails in the back), in the lower chair the design is considered first and the construction adapted to suit. In the back, for instance, it is difficult to tell where the rails join the uprights.
FIG. 65. WILLIAM AND MARY TALL
BACK CHAIR.
About 1690.
This is the first example in this book
of a chair with back legs splayed back-
wards.

FIG. 66. CHAIRS SHOWING EVIDENCE OF THE TRANSITION.
Late 17th century.
In the left-hand example the germ of the cabriole leg is seen. In the other
the coming of the splat back of walnut times is heralded.

FIG. 67. WALNUT DAY BED OF CHARLES II TIME.
About 167o.
The fact that day beds were in use in Elizabeth’s reign is shown by Shake-
speare’s allusionto them. Early specimens are extremely rare, however,
the majority belonging to the restoration period.

THE CHEST
Although many new forms of furniture had been evolved from the chest, the latter was extraordinarily persistent in retaining its popularity more or less in its original form. It continued to be made in large numbers throughout the seventeenth century, and in provincial districts remained as a sort of standard household possession long after oak furniture had gone out of fashion in the towns. The probable explanation was that, for its size, it had maximum accommodation and was as simple a piece of work that a carpenter could undertake. It was not, in fact, until the chest of drawers, with its greater convenience, was invented that it began to decline in popularity.
Fig. 54 is a typical chest of the early years of the seventeenth century. It is well enough made in its way, though the detail is extremely crude when closely examined. It was probably the work of a country carpenter who could make a reasonable job of cutting, say, a mortise and tenon joint, but was rather out of his depth when it came to any carving.
One has to bear things like this in mind when arriving at an opinion on a piece of old furniture. Age may have given it a fine colour and centuries of polishing produced an inimitable surface, but, this apart, the mere fact that it was made in the seventeenth century does not make it beautiful. There were poor workmen then as now.
Chests with Drawers.—Returning to the chest, we now come to the last phase and its final disappearance—or rather conversion. We have seen how certain pieces such as the side table were evolved from it without affecting the chest itself, this still continuing in its old form, probably with varying detail, but virtually the same. Now, however, it was to lose its identity as a chest, although its use remained unaltered. It came about through the invention of the drawer. The latter was becoming increasingly popular in the seventeenth century, and it probably occurred to someone that the inconvenience of having to turn out the entire contents of a chest in order to reach something at the bottom could be avoided to a large extent if the drawer system were applied to it.
These things usually have their beginning in a small way, and the thin end of the wedge can be seen in the left hand chest in Fig. 53, which is virtually just an ordinary chest with two drawers fitted at the bottom. Its advantages must have become immediately apparent, for very shortly the whole of the space was given over to drawers as in the right hand chest in Fig. 53. Once this had happened, the old form of chest which had survived for centuries with practically no change of form became extinct, and it has never again been revived.
Whilst we still have the chest in Fig. 53 in mind, it is worth while noting the method of decoration employed on the drawer fronts. It consists of applied mouldings mitred round to form various patterns. It is the fact that they areapplied that is specially to be noted, because we saw in the Elizabethan period that they were invariably worked in the solid. This method of applying ornament is typical of the later Jacobean period, and it extends to such details as half-named was an innovation of the early years of the seventeenth century, but it hardly comes under the heading of domestic furniture, because it was the type of thing that would not be made for anyone except a person of the highest
quality. There is an example in the famous King’s bedroom at Knole. It was made specially for James I during a visit he paid to the mansion, and it is entirely on the lines of the upholstered chairs mentioned earlier in this chapter. Every portion of the woodwork is covered with rich material, and above the tester are four great plumes, one at each corner.
Such a bedstead was well enough in a palace, but it would not be suitable for use in humbler houses. It is worth noting at this stage, however, because the type became popular again towards the end of the century. The nobleman or rich merchant would use the four poster bedstead, an Elizabethan example of which was given on P. 40. This continued with few alterations except in detail for the greater part of the seventeenth century.
Well-to-do farmers and those of similar standing used the simpler panelled head and foot bedstead. This was practically identical with the modern wood bedstead, except of course that the side rails were of wood and that the mattress was supported by ropes which were threaded through holes bored through the rails. Rather more elaborate specimens had both head and foot made extra high, so to support a simple tester, as that in Fig. 55. This virtually is simply three pieces of panelling, with side rails added to support the mattress.
For the other furnishings of the bedroom there was the chest, which later in the period was fitted with one or more drawers, and eventually the complete chest of drawers. In addition, various forms of cupboards or presses made their appearance for the more convenient storing of clothes and linen. Fig. 56 shows an early piece, and was the origin to which the modern wardrobe can be traced.
JACOBEAN ORNAMENT
This does not differ a great deal from that of the Elizabethan period. It is in the main a rather free rendering of the Renaissance. Certain new features made their appearance—the lozenge panel for instance, which was of diamond shape and was usually ornamented with simple gouge cuts. (See the top panels of the bedstead in Fig. 55.) Such carved details as the guilloche, lunette, and arcaded panels (see P. 42) remained popular through Jacobean times.
Later pieces of the period, however, tended to become more artificial, in that decoration was applied rather than worked in the solid. Take, for instance, the group of panels in Fig. 51. In every case the mouldings are applied, and,

THE JACOBEAN BEDROOM
There were three kinds of bedsteads made in Jacobean times : the four poster, the panelled head and foot type, and that covered over with fabric and heavily draped. The last-although there undoubtedly is a certain decorative value in the arrangement, they tend to become somewhat meaningless since they bear no relationship to the construction. In Elizabethan work mouldings were worked at the edges of rails or were channelled along the centre, and have a definite purpose in taking off the harshness of a square edge or enriching a plain surface. In the Jacobean work they often appear to be laid on in any convenient way that suggested itself to the imagination of the craftsman.
The same thing applies to the other decorative details which were invariably applied.

FIG. 55. SIMPLE CANOPIED BEDSTEAD WITH PANELLED ENDS.
Mid. 17th century.
This is the sort of bedstead used in smaller manor houses or farm houses.
Note the holes in the rails and head and foot to take the roping which supported
the mattress.
turnings, diamonds, studs, and so on. A group of Jacobean panels with applied mouldings is given in Fig. 51.

FIG. 54. JACOBEAN CHEST WITH CARVED PANELS.
First half 17th century.
The development from the chest of the previous century can be seen by comparing
this with the examples on p. 17. In this particular example the whole work-
manship is particularly crude.

FIG. 56 PANELLED WARDROBE WITH CHANNELLED FRAMING.
17th century.
A typical arrangement of the panelling is shown in the doors. It is
similar to that in the court cupboards on pp. 38 and 61. Note the use of
the long horizontal panel in all three examples.

TABLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (FIRST HALF)
The Elizabethan table, either of the draw or fixed top type, continued with little variety in form during the reigns of the early Stuarts and Cromwellian times. The legs were of the heavy bulbous turned kind, generally carved, though the tendency as the seventeenth century progressed was to thin down the turning and omit the carving. In the full bulbous early Jacobean leg extra pieces were glued on at all four sides to provide wood for the required thickness. This can be seen clearly in the table in Fig. 23, P. 29, in which the squares at top and bottom of the legs show the original thickness of the wood. Later Jacobean legs were usually no thicker than could be turned from the squares of wood with no extra applied pieces. Fig. 44 shows a table dating from about the middle of the seventeenth century with turned baluster legs of this kind.
Up to this time the chief, and practically only, use of a table was that of dining, and now that people were settling into a more comfortable way of living the usefulness of a smaller form of table must have become felt. For instance, in the smaller private rooms a huge draw table was unnecessary, yet some form of table was essential. Again, in the smaller houses there would not be room for the large dining table, yet a fairly large one would be needed to seat everyone at meals. The result was the introduction of the gate-leg table, with its circular, oval, or rectangular top divided into three pieces, the centre one of which was fixed to the main framework, the others being hinged to it.

That in Fig. 46 is an example of the better kind, the legs being turned and the whole thing framed together with mortise and tenon joints. A cruder example is that in Fig. 45, in which the uprights are merely solid pieces with a rather crude shaping cut at the sides. The ” gates,” too, are made up from plain strips of square wood.

VARIOUS CABINETS
There were two kinds of cabinets chiefly in use in Jacobean dining-rooms, the Court cupboard and the buffet, with its three tiers open at all sides. Both of these came into use in Elizabethan times, and we now come to the form they took in the seventeenth century. It is instructive to turn to the Elizabethan example of a Court cupboard on p. 38 and compare it with its Jacobean counterpart in Fig. 48. In the former the upper stage is canted at the sides, and the turnings are of the full bulbous kind, richly carved all over. In the later example the upper stage is rectangular and is recessed only slightly, and the turnings are considerably smaller and are plain. In this they follow the tendency already noted in regard to the legs of tables. As the century progressed the turnings became mere pendants beneath the frieze without reaching down to the lower part of the cabinet. This was the final stage of the Court cupboard. It died a natural death during the second half of the century, for it was essentially a piece for the well-to-do man, and when walnut came into popularity it just disappeared.
It was in a different class from the dresser, which belonged more to the farmhouse, and which continued to be made even throughout the eighteenth century. Such a dresser is given in Fig. 49. It may be noted in passing that this was evolved directly from the side table of the kind shown on p. 34. There was no upper staging of shelves, the latter being added later when plates and dishes became more plentiful.

A smaller item that may be mentioned here is the Bible Box, see Fig. 50. Every family of any note had its Bible in those days, and it was a most treasured possession. A place in which it could be kept safely was desirable, hence the various small boxes which have survived. Some of them were provided with a stand and a sloping lid upon which the Bible could rest at a convenient angle when being read. In the finer specimens the fronts were carved with the usual conventional floral work as in the examples given.

Occasionally one finds the interior of these boxes fitted up, probably for the purpose of holding deeds and other valuable papers. It is possible that some were intended specifically for the purpose of writing, but against this there is the fact that few people could write in the seventeenth century, and it would have been most uncomfortable to write at, being far too high. Reading was the more probable purpose of the sloping top, any writing that was done being incidental.

FIG. 49. FARMHOUSE DRESSER WITH PLATE RACK.
Second half 17th century.
Although made in oak there are features which suggest the walnut
period, specially in the shaped headings to the upper cupboards. The
turned legs, however, are purely Jacobean.

FIG. 48. COURT CUPBOARD IN JACOBEAN TIMES.
Mid. 17th century.
An interesting comparison can be made with the cupboard on p. 38. Note the substitution of thinner and plain turnings in the upper storey.

FIG. 50. SMALL BIBLE BOXES AND DESKS.17th
century.
The object of the sloping lid was probably to provide a convenient rest
for the Bible when being read, though it is possible that some were
intended for writing.

English Antique Jacobean Furniture. Jacobean Chairs.

JACOBEAN PERIOD
THIS chapter carries us from the beginning of the house of Stuart in 1603 until the end of the Common-
wealth in 1660. So far- as domestic furniture was concerned, except for certain smaller details and a few innovations, it differed little from that of Elizabeth’s reign. The same wood (oak) was used, the Renaissance was still the source from which ideas were taken, and the quality of the work was similar. It is dealt with in a separate chapter, however, because it was the last phase in a certain definite technique. Vast changes were at hand, the greatest that have ever overtaken furniture throughout its history, and it is
therefore natural that one should pause and give special
emphasis to a style which had run its course and was to become as dead as the proverbial doornail.
However, these changes are dealt with particularly in Chapter IV, and our present purpose is to see what sort of furniture men were making when James the Sixth of Scotland became the First of England, and during the troublous years that followed, culminating in the declaration of the Commonwealth. It may be objected that Charles II was also a Stuart Monarch, and that his period should be included in this chapter. The changes just mentioned, however, began during his reign, so that although all Charles II furniture is, strictly speaking, Jacobean, much of it is usually referred to as ” Early Walnut,” because of the marked differences in style. The terminology is one of style rather than one of period.
The accession of James did not make a great deal of difference in the lives of the majority of the populace. The stirring spirit of the Renaissance was still a great influence, if in rather diminished form, and the endeavour of men to make their homes more comfortable continued. The journeys of discovery and conquest during Elizabeth’s reign had opened up a new source of wealth, trading had increasedtremendously (itself a source of wealth, and, equally important, to a new class), and these coinciding with the coming of Renaissance gave encouragement to the domestic arts.
The outbreak of war in Charles I reign must have acted as a strong brake on the progress of things, yet it was not so marked as one might have imagined.
A campaign in the north might turn men’s thoughts locally from making, or having made, things for their houses, but in even an adjoining county people might know little of what was happening owing to lack of easy transit. Then, again, during the winter months little was possible in the way of military activities, so that altogether there was more time for craftsmanship than might at first be imagined.
Cromwell’s short protectorship of eleven years or so helped to restore the trade which had been largely lost. His naval victories opened the seas again to our ships, and this is always one of the finest tonics the domestic arts can have.
JACOBEAN CHAIRS
The late sixteenth century chair, as exemplified in Fig. 18, was remarkable more for its massiveness and strength than
comfort, and its direct successor in Jacobean times was little different. It had a similar formation, with panelled back sloping at an angle, semi-scrolled arms, and turned legs. The back was usually carved with various conventional designs of leaf and flower work, arcadings, or
geometrical pattern. Fig. 37 is a typical example. -Note that the scrolled cresting still lies above the uprights and that the ear pieces are retained. Chairs of this kind con-tinued to be made throughout the Jacobean period and in country districts until the close of the seventeenth century.
There were, however, changes at hand. It is obvious that for a chair of the type in Fig. 37 to have any comfort at all it would have to be provided with a cushion—certainly one for the seat and if possible one for the back. One can imagine a man seated by the fireside closely considering the point,

and calling in his carpenter to devise some means of padding the chair. Or possibly a man who had travelled abroad had seen the comfort which foreign countries had attained (they were always before us in this sort of thing), felt something of disgust at the comparatively barbaric state of things which still maintained here, and so set his craftsmen to work out a new idea.
Beginning of Upholstery.—However this may be, it was during the reign of James I that the first upholstered chair made its appearance. Possibly the reader may be surprised that the idea had not occurred to men earlier. Upholstery on a chair seems such an obvious thing. It must be remembered that people’s outlook on life dAers. at various periods. What may seem right to one generation may appear to be merely foolish to another. In early days the chair was a seat of honour ; there would probab’.-,- be only one in even a large hall, and a man using it would not

look specially to find comfort in it. In fact, anything :;n the way of comfort was regarded with a certain feeling of contempt and was felt to be effeminate. Shakespeare, in his Richard III, makes Buckingham say, ” This prince is not an Edward ! He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed.” This day-bed was the counterpart of the modern settee. Presumably, when people were really ill, they stayed in bed. If they got up at all they were expected to go about the ordinary business of the day.

There was something effeminate in the character and habits of James I, and this rapidly showed itself in the Royal court : its manners, dress, conditions, and so on. As a consequence there was a general tendency for men to have a less Spartan-like outlook, and an immediate consequence so far as furniture was concerned was the introduction of the upholstered chair.
One of the finest collections of chairs of this type, dating

from the early seventeenth century, is that at Knole House, near Sevenoaks. Many rooms in this old mansion were refurnished in preparation for a visit by James I, and vast numbers of chairs were made for the purpose. They form an interesting example of how men, once they like an idea, will fly to extremes, for practically every portion of the woodwork is covered with material—even the legs, which obviously would not in any way add to the comfort of the chair.
A popular innovation—or rather revival, for the type had been in use earlier—was the X chair, an example of which is given in Fig. 39. The reason for the name is obvious from the general formation. Note how every part of the framing is covered with material. It is, in fact, very like the collection of chairs at Knole. The provision of the footstool is typical.
It will be realised that upholstered chairs of this kind might be well enough in a great mansion or palace, but would not stand up to the everyday use of busy households in a humbler state of life. These needed something sturdier, and Fig. 38 is an example of the sort of upholstered chair that would have been found in the average well-to-do house. Not that all the chairs were of this kind ; there might not be more than one or two in a whole house, the majority being of the plain wood type, but that such upholstered chairs that did exist were mostly of this kind.
Farthingale Chairs.—We have at this period an interesting example of how costume came to influence the design of furniture. The fashion of the time dictated that ladies should wear the huge farthingale dress, and one can imagine how awkward it must have been for a lady to sit down in an armchair of the kind in, say, Fig. 37. So came into being the farthingale chair, of which an example is given in Fig. 41. The absence of arms allows the dress to spread out at each side without hindrance. The X chair in Fig. 39 would serve the purpose equally well, since there is a deep, loose cushion above the upholstered seat and the arms are low.
Two chairs probably made during the Cromwellian period are shown in Fig. 40. They are of a sound, thoroughly reliable form that would stand up to the hardest wear. That to the left has a covering of leather (so thin that it can scarcely be called upholstery), held on with large roundhead nails, and the front legs have the bobbin turning very popular at the time. The other has a wooden seat, and a point worthy of note is the open back with slats. This marks one more step in the progress of the chair from its heavy, massive formation to the light proportions it was eventually to assume. Note that in both chairs the back legs are still upright and that the stretcher rails are retained, although in that to the right the front one is raised from its former lower position level with the side rails.
The Settle.—Whilst on the subject of chairs, it may be noted that the settle was still made in country districts.

The farmhouse in particular usually had its settle, the sturdy construction and plain form making it more suitable for the rougher conditions inevitable in the country. Another similar piece was that which for some unknown reason has been given the curious title of ” monk’s bench,” though what its possible connection with monks can be is difficult to understand. We refer of course to the settle with the movable back, which was made to tilt and slide forward, so forming a table. The example in Fig. 42 shows this feature, and it will also be seen that the lower portion is in the form of a chest, the lid of which forms the seat. Lunette carving, such as that on the rails, was a favourite form of decoration.

PANELLED BACK CHAIR AND FRAMED STOOL.
First half 17th century.
The construction of the chair is practically identical with that shown on
p. 25, and the general treatment is similar. Note the scrolled cresting
and ear pieces. The stool has the baluster shaped legs popular through-
out Jacobean times.

FIG. 45. SIMPLE FORM OF GATE-LEG TABLE.
First half 17th century.
The workmanship is extremely crude, and is probably that of a country
carpenter. The urn-shaped ends are probably copied from the baluster
turnings of the period.
FIG. 46. DOUBLE GATE-LEG TABLE.
Mid. 171h century.
An altogether better specimen of a table. The use of two gates to each
side is rather unusual.

EXAMPLE
OF THE X PATTERN
CHAIR.
Early 17th century.
This is a type of chair that be ame popular during James I reign. At Knole Park, Kent, large numbers of these chairs still exist. They were made specially in honour of a visit paid by James I.

ARMCHAIR COVERED WITH TURKEY WORK.
First half 17th century.
In this we see the early beginning of the upholstered chair, though in itself it can hardly claim to be upholstered. It Is little more than a covering ,stretched over the framework.

CROMWELLIAN AND YORKSHIRE TYPE CHAIRS.
Mid. 171h century.
The example to the left is typical of the plainer sort of chair made during
the Commonwealth. It has a stout leather covering stretched over the
framework. The other chair is characteristic of the kind made in York-
shire or Derbyshire.

FARTHINGALE CHAIR OF JAMES I TIME.
‘this illustration is intended to show the way in which costume affected
the design of the chair. ‘the huge farthingale dress made impossible
the use of the armchair of the type shown in Fig. 37.

COMBINED TABLE, SETTLE, AND CHEST.
Mid. IVh century.
The rarity of domestic furniture is shown by this piece which series
three distinct purposes. These are popularly known as ” monks’
benches,” though there is not the slightest connection between them and
monks.

. THE SETTLE IN JACOBEAN TIMES.
First half 17th century.
The settle in Fig. 15, p. 23, should be compared with this. Note how the
lower portion is completely open and has turned legs.