Chapter VI: , where specimens of this kind of work are (4)
Mantelpiece, Adam, carved wood, with Corinthian column
supports, carved and figures and festoons. France &
Sons, December 16, 1903 20 0 0
Mirrors, pair, oval, Adam, carved and gilt wood frame.
Christie, March 18, 1904 46 4 0
Cabinet or enclosed buffet, Adam, on Empire lines, veneered
on oak with grained Spanish mahogany, in the frieze is a
long drawer, and below a cupboard, the whole on square
feet, doors inlaid, handles, &c., of ormolu, 3 ft. 9 in.
wide. Flashman & Co., Dover, April 26, 1904 15 0 0
Side-tables, pair hare-wood, by Adam, with rounded corners,
on square-shaped tapering legs, the sides and borders
inlaid with marquetry, in coloured woods, 53 in. wide.
Christie, June 2, 1904 105 0 0
Bookcase, 4 ft. 8 in., mahogany, Heppelwhite, inlaid
tulip-wood with box and ebony lines, fitted shelves and
drawers, enclosed by doors. Phillips, Son and Neale,
November 17, 1903 44 0 0
Settee, Heppelwhite, square-shaped, 6 ft., and three elbow
chairs. Gudgeon & Sons, Winchester, March 9, 1904 38 0 0
Console-table, Heppelwhite satinwood, the top shaped as a
broken ellipse, and of hare-wood with inlays of husks
and flowers round a fan-pattern centre with borderings
in ebony and other woods on a filling of satinwood; the
edge is bound with ormolu, reeded and cross banded,
below is the frieze of satin-wood inlaid with
honeysuckle, paterae, and other ornament in holly, &c.,
and supported on a pair of carved square tapered legs
painted and gilt, and with pendants of husks and
acanthus capitals, 4 ft. 3 in. wide. Flashman & Co.,
Dover, April 26, 1904 40 0 0
Suite of Heppelwhite mahogany furniture, with open shield
backs, with vase-shaped centres carved, the back, arms
and legs widely fluted, consisting of a settee, 74 in.
wide, and ten armchairs. Christie, June 2, 1904 325 10 0
Knife-box, oblong, Sheraton mahogany, with revolving front,
inlaid with Prince-of-Wales's feathers and borders in
satinwood, 19-1/2 in. wide. Christie, November 21, 1902 7 17 6
Sideboard, Sheraton, mahogany, satinwood inlaid, fitted with
brass rails. Dowell, Edinburgh, November 14, 1903 30 9 0
Wardrobe, Sheraton mahogany, banded with satinwood, with
folding doors above and below, and five drawers in the
centre, 7 ft. high, 8 ft. wide. Christie, January 22,
1904 60 18 0
Chairs, set of eighteen Sheraton, with oval backs with rail
centres, fluted and slightly carved with foliage and
beading, the seats covered with flowered crimson damask;
and a pair of settees, _en suite_, 6 ft. wide. Christie,
February 26, 1904 126 0 0
Armchairs, pair, Sheraton, with shield-shaped backs, painted
with Prince of Wales feathers, and pearl ornament on
black ground. Christie, March 28, 1904 28 7 0
Cabinet, Sheraton satinwood, with glazed folding doors
enclosing shelves, drawer in the centre forming
secretary, and folding-doors below, painted with baskets
of flowers, &c., 7 ft. 9 in. high, 41 in. wide.
Christie, March 28, 1904 189 0 0
Secretaire, Sheraton small satinwood, with revolving tambour
front, drawer and folding doors below, inlaid with
arabesque foliage, 23 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 1904
47 5 0
[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
XII
HINTS TO COLLECTORS
XII
HINTS TO COLLECTORS
The demand for old furniture has become so great that there is an increasing difficulty in supplying it. In order to satisfy the collector many artifices have been practised which in varying degree are difficult to detect, according to the skill and ingenuity of the present-day manufacturer of "antique" furniture.
Replicas of old pieces are frequently made, and the workmanship is so excellent, and the copy of the old craftsman's style so perfect, that it only requires a century or two of wear to give to the specimen the necessary tone which genuine old furniture has naturally acquired.
In particular, French ornate furniture from the days of Boule to the Empire period has received the flattering attention of the fabricator by being imitated in all its details. These high-class French pieces are fine examples of cabinetmaking, and it is not easy for anybody who has not a special expert knowledge to pronounce definitely upon their authenticity. Doubts have even been expressed regarding certain pieces in the great national collections; in fact the art of the forger in regard to old French furniture, of which specimens change hands at anything from L1,000 to L10,000, has reached a very high level of excellence, having almost been elevated to one of the fine arts. If a clever workman possessed of great artistic feeling turns his attention to forging works of art, it is obvious that his triumph is complete over amateurs possessed of less artistic taste and knowledge than himself.
Many secret processes are employed to impart an appearance of age to the wood and to the metal mountings. The cruder methods are to eat off the sharper edges of the metal mountings by means of acid, and to discolour the newer surfaces by the aid of tobacco juice, both of which are not difficult to detect. The steady manufacture of these finer pieces goes on in France, and it has been found that the foggy atmosphere of London is especially useful in producing the effect of age upon the finer work, consequently many forged pieces are shipped to London to be stored in order to ripen until considered fit for the American market, where so many forgeries have been planted. The reward is great, and even considering the amount of trouble bestowed upon such pieces and the excellence of the artistic work where the highest skilled labour is employed, the profit is enormous. The parvenu buys his Louis XIV. or Louis XV. suite, and pays an immense sum for pieces which are stated to have come from some French nobleman's chateau, whose name must not be divulged, and so the interesting deal is brought to a successful termination.
The middle portion, consisting of the two drawers and three panelled cupboards above, is genuine old carved oak. The stand, with the finely turned legs and rails, and the whole of the upper portion, is modern.]
As an object-lesson as to the truth of the above remarks, the Wallace Collection contains a modern French copy in facsimile, by Dasson, of the celebrated "Bureau du Roi" of the Louis XV. period, the original being in the Louvre. The original is fully described in the chapter on Louis XV. style, and it is not too much to assert that ninety-nine per cent. of the visitors to the Collection could not say that this copy was not an old French specimen of over a century and a quarter ago, and the remaining one, unless he happened to be an expert, would not question its genuineness.
Old oak has always been a favourite with the public, and from the modern Flemish monstrosities, carved in evil manner and displaying proportions in the worst possible taste, to the equally vulgar home production in buffet or sideboard, and stocked by many dealers in so-called "antique" furniture, the number of grotesque styles foisted upon the public within the last fifteen years has been remarkable. One wonders what has become of the high-backed oak chairs, nearly black with repeated applications of permanganate of potash, having flaming red-leather seats. They seem to have mysteriously disappeared from up-to-date "antique" stores of late. The public has taken to inquiring into art matters a little more closely. Nowadays the latest thing is "fumed" oak, which is modern oak discoloured by means of ammonia, which darkens the surface of the wood to a depth of a sixteenth of an inch. It is not infrequent to find an attempt made to represent this as old oak after an elaborate treatment with linseed oil, turpentine, and beeswax, though an examination of the interior edges of the wood will discover its modernity at once.
Of course, such tricks as these are not practised by any firm of standing, who cannot afford to damage their reputation by any misrepresentation. As a general rule a dealer will readily point out the details of workmanship and offer technical information of much value to a beginner, if he discovers that his customer is a collector desirous of acquiring only fine specimens. It is more often than not the folly of the public, and not the dishonesty of the dealer, which results in trade frauds being committed in the attempt to execute some impossible and imperative order, which the moneyed collector has given. The difference between the genuine and the replica is most clearly made by old-fashioned firms of high standing. It is only when the collector enters into the arena and endeavours to set forth in quest of bargains, where he pits his skill against that of the dealer in the hope of outwitting the latter, that he is obviously on dangerous ground. In the one case he pays a higher price and obtains the benefit of the experience of a firm with expert knowledge, in the other he relies on his own judgment in picking up a bargain from some one whom he believes to be possessed of less knowledge than himself. If he is successful he is not slow to brag about his cleverness; but if he is worsted in the encounter, and pays, let us say, five pounds for an object which he fondly believed was worth fifty, if genuine, and which he subsequently discovers is worth less than he gave, there is nothing too bad to say concerning his antagonist.
It is chiefly by the character of carved work that old pieces can be recognised. There are three classes of pitfalls to avoid.
1. Fraudulent pieces throughout, of modern wood and of modern carving.
2. "Made-up" pieces which often consist of genuine old pieces of carved wood pieced together ingeniously from fragments of carvings, with modern additions.
3. "Restored" pieces which are mainly old and should have received, if admitted to a collection, only the necessary repairs to make them serviceable.
With regard to the first class, fraudulent throughout, it is the hope of the writer that enough has already been written in this volume to point the way to the reader and to assist him to follow his natural inclinations in developing the necessary critical taste to readily detect pieces wholly false in character and feeling.
"Made-up" pieces present a greater difficulty. Considerable skill has been exercised in combining certain parts of old furniture into a whole which is, however, mostly inharmonious. In pieces of this nature there is an absence of feeling in style and carving. It is difficult to define the exact meaning of the word "feeling" as applied to art objects, it is a subtle expression of skill and poetry which communicates itself to the lover of art. It is so subtle and elusive that experts will tell one that such and such a piece requires to be "lived with" to test its authenticity. Mr. Frederick Roe, whose volume on "Ancient Coffers and Cupboards" displays a profound knowledge of his subject, writes, "it occasionally happens that pieces are so artfully made up that only living with them will enable the collector to detect the truth. In dealing with pieces of this suspicious kind one often has to fall back on a sort of instinct. With critical collectors of every sort this innate sense plays a very important part."
Two specimens of "made-up" furniture are reproduced, which will bear close study in order to appreciate the difficulty of collecting old oak.
The illustration of the buffet (p. 261) has many points of interest. The general appearance of the piece is not inharmonious. It has been carefully thought out and no less carefully put into effect. The middle portion, consisting of the three drawers and the three cupboards above, up to and including the shelf partition at the top, is the only old part. The handles, locks, and escutcheons of the two drawers are old, but the hinges above are modern copies of old designs, and the handles of the cupboards are modern replicas.
MADE UP FROM SEVERAL PIECES OF GENUINE OLD CARVED OAK.]
The massive stand with artistically turned rails in Jacobean style, is soft wood artfully fumed and generously beeswaxed. The whole of the top portion has been added and is soft wood very well carved. The carving of the panels is also well executed, and is evidently a copy of some old design.
The older portion is a fine piece of early Jacobean work, and it is not difficult to distinguish between the feeling of this and the expression conveyed by the modern woodwork. The patina of the wood after two centuries of exposure and polishing has that peculiarly pleasing appearance which accompanies genuine old woodwork. The edges of the carving have lost their sharp angles, and the mellowness of the middle panels are in strong contrast to the harsher tone of those of the upper portion.
Such a piece as this would not deceive an expert, nor, perhaps, is it intended to, or greater care would have been bestowed upon it, but it is sufficiently harmonious in composition not to offend in a glaring manner, and might easily deceive a tyro.
The next piece illustrated (p. 267) is interesting from another point of view. It is a more elaborate attempt to produce a piece of old furniture in which the details themselves have all the mellowness of fine old oak. In fact, with the exception of one portion, some eight inches by three, to which allusion will be made later, the whole of it is genuine old oak.
The three panels at the top are finely carved and are Jacobean work. The two outside panels at the bottom, though of a later period, are good work. The middle panel at the bottom is evidently a portion of a larger piece of carving, because the pattern abruptly breaks off, and it was most certainly not designed by the old carver to lie on its side in this fashion.
The two heads at the top corners have been cut from some old specimen, and artfully laid on. The carving on both sides, running below each head from top to bottom, is of two distinct designs joined in each case in a line level with the upper line of the lower panels. The two uprights on each side of the middle lower panel are exquisite pieces of carved work, but certainly never intended to be upright. They are evidently portions of a long, flowing ornament, as their cut-off appearance too plainly shows.
The top panels have done duty elsewhere, as part of the ornamental carving at the top and bottom of each lozenge is lost. The long line of scrolled carving above them is distinctly of interest. On the left hand, from the head to the middle of the panel, a piece of newer carving has been inserted, some eight inches long. The wood, at one time darkened to correspond with the adjacent carving, has become lighter, which is always the case when wood is stained to match other portions. The carving in this new portion follows in every detail the lines of the older design, and is a very pretty piece of "faking."
The cross-piece running from left to right, dividing the lower panels from the upper, is in three parts. An examination of the design shows that the last three circles on the right, and the last four on the left, are of smaller size than the others. The design evidently belonged to some other piece of furniture, and has been removed to do service in this "made-up" production.
In all probability the two uprights enclosing the top middle panel, and the two uprights on the outside at the bottom were once portions of a carved bedstead, as they are all of the same size and design. It is a notorious trick to slice an old carved bedpost into four pieces, skilfully fitting the pieces into "made-up" furniture.
There is a prevalent idea that worm-holes are actually produced in furniture, in order to give a new piece a more realistic appearance. There are traditions of duck-shot having been used, and there is little doubt that holes were drilled by makers who knew their public. But it is improbable that such artifices would be of much use for deceptive purposes nowadays. As a matter of fact, worm-holes are avoided by any one who gives a moment's thought to the matter. To get rid of worm in furniture is no easy task, and they eventually ruin any pieces they tenant.
The illustration (p. 274) shows a piece of Spanish chestnut badly honeycombed by furniture worms. In chairs, especially, their havoc is almost irreparable, and in the softer woods the legs become too rotten to be repaired or even strengthened. Metal plates are often screwed on the sides to prevent the chairs falling to pieces, but they become useless to sit upon without fear of disaster.
The insect is really the boring wood-beetle, which is armed with formidable forceps, to enable it to burrow through the wood. The worm, the larva of this beetle, is also provided with boring apparatus, and this insect, whether as beetle or as worm, is a deadly enemy to all furniture. The "death-watch" is also accused of being a depredator of books and of furniture of soft wood.
To remove worms from furniture is a costly undertaking, requiring the greatest skill. Large pieces of furniture have actually to be taken to pieces and the whole of the damaged parts removed with a chisel. In cases where the legs, or slender supports, have been attacked, the difficulty is one requiring the specialist's most delicate attention. Various applications are recommended, but cannot be stated to be reliable. Injecting paraffin is said to be the best remedy, and putting the pieces in a chamber where all the openings have been sealed, and lighting pans of sulphur underneath the furniture, allowing the specimens to remain in this fumigating bath for some days is another method resorted to.
With regard to Chippendale furniture, a word of caution is necessary. It is as impossible for Chippendale and his workmen to have produced all the furniture attributed to them as it is for the small factory at Lowestoft to have made all the china with which it is credited. As has been shown in the chapter on Thomas Chippendale, his styles were most extensively copied by his contemporaries all over the country and by many makers after him, and modern makers produce a great quantity of "Chippendale" every year. Only a careful examination of museum pieces will train the eye of the collector. The fine sense of proportion, at once noticeable in the genuine Chippendale chair, is absent in the modern copy, and, above all, the carving in the latter is thin and poor. In the old days the wastage of wood was not a thing which the master had in his mind. In modern copies the curl of the arm, or the swell at the top of the back, shows a regard for economy. There is a thin, flat look about the result, which ought not to be mistaken. Scrolls and ribbon-work are often added to later pieces made in the style of Chippendale, which have enough wood in their surfaces to bear carving away.
An ingenious device is adopted in cases of inlaid pieces of a small nature, such as imitation Sheraton clock-cases and knife-boxes and the frames of mirrors. Old engravings are procured of scrollwork, usually from the end of some book. The illustration (p. 259) shows the class of engravings selected. These engravings are coated with a very thin layer of vellum, which is boiled down to a liquid, and carefully spread over them. After this treatment they are ready to be glued on to the panels to be "faked," and, when coated over with transparent varnish, they present the appearance of an ivory and ebony inlay.
The frauds practised in satinwood and painted pieces are many and are exceedingly difficult to detect. Much of Sheraton's furniture was veneered with finely selected specimens of West India satinwood. These carefully chosen panels were painted by Cipriani and others. The modern "faker" has not the material to select from, as the satinwood imported is not so beautiful nor so richly varied in grain as in the old days. He removes a side panel from an old piece, and substitutes another where its obnoxious presence is not so noticeable. To this old panel he affixes a modern coloured print after one of Sheraton's artists, which, when carefully varnished over and skilfully treated so as to represent the cracks in the supposed old painting, is ready for insertion in the "made-up" sideboard, to catch the fancy of the unwary collector.
FINIS.
INDEX
A
Adam, the brothers, and their style, 209, 241-256
Adam armchair (illustrated), 243
Admiralty, screen and gateway, designed by Robert Adam, 242
Anne, Queen, furniture of, prices realised at auction, 153
---- insularity of furniture in reign of, 136
---- well-constructed furniture of period of, 145
Apsley House, collection of furniture at, 209
Armoire, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
Ascham, quotation from, 68
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, chair at, 115
B
Baroque, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
Barrow, Sam, name of maker, on Queen Anne clock, 148
Battersea enamel, its use on furniture, 252
Berain, Jean, 162
Blenheim, chair from, 222
Bodleian Library, Oxford, illustration of chair at, 82
_Bombe_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
Bookcase by Chippendale, 225, 231
Boucher, 182, 195
Boule, Andre Charles, and his marquetry, 160-162
---- cabinet (illustrated), 165
---- _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
---- and counter-boule (illustrated), showing difference between, 163
Bridal chest (German), 43
Bromley-by-Bow, "Old Palace," oak panelling from, 65
Brown and Bool, Messrs., specimens from collection of, 141, 150
Buhl work, 160
Bureau, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Burr-walnut panels, 139
Butter-cupboard, 104
C
Cabinet, ebony, formerly property of Oliver Cromwell, 99
Cabriole, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Cabriole-leg, introduction of into England, 127
Caffieri, 177, 191
Cambridge, King's College Chapel, woodwork of, 63
Cane seats and backs of chairs, adoption of, 117
---- work in chairs, later development of, 122
Carolean, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
Carving supplanted by cane-work panels, 117
Caryatides, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
_Cassette_, (strong box) of period of Louis XIV., 158
_Cassone_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
---- (marriage coffer), the Italian, 42
Catherine of Braganza, fashions introduced by, 114
Cecil, Lord Burleigh, quotation from, 66
Chair, Charles I., 93, 95
---- Chippendale, 223, 224, 226, 227, 232, 233
---- "Cromwellian," 96
---- high-backed, Portuguese, 114
---- Italian (1620), 94
---- Jacobean, made from timber of Drake's _Golden Hind_, 83
---- James I., 87, 89
---- James II., 123
---- Louis XIII. period, 159
---- ribbon-back, 222, 223
---- Oliver Goldsmith's, 215
---- with arms of first Earl of Strafford, 93
Chairs, test as to age of, 100
---- types of Jacobean (illustrated), 97, 100, 105, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124
---- types of Queen Anne period (illustrated), 143
---- upholstered, adopted in late Elizabethan days, 75
Chambers, Sir William, 216
Chardin, picture by, showing ladder-back chair, 245
Charles I. furniture, prices realised at auction, 106
---- II. furniture, prices realised at auction, 129
---- II., repartee of, 114
Charterhouse, specimen at, illustration of, 227
Chatsworth, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
Chests of drawers, Jacobean, 117
China collecting, influence of, on furniture, 127
Chinese and Japanese cabinets, 148
"Chinese" Chippendale, 213, 221
Chippendale, Thomas, and his style, 213-238;
his _Director_, 215
---- bureau-bookcase, 225, 231
---- furniture, tricks concerning, 272;
prices of, 227, 236
Cipriani, 249
Classic models paramount, 205
Claw-and-ball feet adopted by Chippendale, 216
---- feet (prior to Chippendale), 146
---- foot, introduction of, 127
Clock, "Grandfather," introduction of, 127
Clocks, "Grandfather," 147
Colbert, the guiding spirit of art under Louis XIV., 159
Collectors, hints to, 259-274
Commode, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Commodes (illustrated), Cressent, 171;
Louis XIV., 173;
Caffieri, 175;
Riesener, 197
_Contre partie_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Copeland, designs of, 247
Copies of old furniture, 259, 263
---- of fine French pieces, 185, 197
Cottage furniture (Chippendale style), 232
Counter-boule, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
-----boule, 161
Court cupboard, 70
Cowley, quotation from, 85
Cradle, with initials and date, 96
Cressent, Charles, 177, 178
Crispin de Passe, chair designed by, 159
Cromwellian chair, 96
Cromwell's ebony cabinet, 96
Cushions for chairs when adopted, 75
D
Darly, 248
Dated pieces--
1593, Elizabethan bedstead, 66
1603, Mirror, carved oak frame, 71
1603, Court cupboard, 73
1616, Oak table, 85
1623, Chair, 97
1641, Cradle, 96
1642, Chair, 159
1653, Cabinet, _frontispiece_
1760-69, "Bureau du roi," 185
1769, Bureau, 196
1810, Jewel cabinet, 207
David, 195, 208, 209
Derbyshire chairs, 103
Diderot, 205
_Director_, designs of chair-backs from, 222, 225
Drake, Sir Francis, chair made from timber of _Golden Hind_, 82
Drawers, chests of, Jacobean, 117
Dressers, Normandy, 103
---- "Welsh," 100
Dublin Museum, illustration of oak chest at, 44
Dutch art, introduction of, by William of Orange, 124
---- house, interior of (illustrated), 111
---- lacquer work, 151
---- marquetry, 128, 146
---- marquetry chair, illustrated, 143
---- marquetry, prices realised at auction, 132
E
Eassie, Walter, illustrations from drawings by, 171, 183
Egyptian design, influence of, 247
Eighteenth century, early, well-constructed furniture of, 145
---- interior of room (illustrated), 235
Elizabethan mansions, some noteworthy, 67
Elizabethan woodwork, fine example of, 65
Empire style furniture, 202-210
---- its influence on English makers, 209
England, Renaissance in, 37, 59-78
F
Farmhouse furniture, 100
Figure in wood, how obtained, 76, 118
Fire of London, destruction of furniture by, 120
First Empire style, 203-210
Flemish wood-carving, its influence on English craftsmen, 49
Fontainebleau, illustration of jewel cabinet at, 207
Foreign workmen employed in England, 37
Fragonard, 182, 195
France, Renaissance in, 43
Francis I., patron of the new art, 47
Frauds perpetrated on collectors, 259-274
French polish, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24, 236
French Revolution, vandalism during, 204
G
Gate-leg table, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
---- table, 95
Gibbons, Grinling, work of, 121
Gillow, 248
_Golden Hind_, chair made from timbers of, 82
Goldsmith, Oliver, chair of, 215, 216
Gothic, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
---- revival, its influence on Chippendale, 221
Gouthiere, Pierre, 191, 192, 197
Grandfather clock, 147
---- clock, introduction of, 127
Great Hall at Hampton Court, 63
Grimm, quotation from, 205
Grotesque design prevalent in Elizabethan furniture, 69
H
Hall, Hampton Court, the Great, 63
---- Middle Temple, carved screen at, 65
Hampton Court, the Great Hall at, 63
---- Court, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
Hampton & Sons, Messrs., pieces from collection of, 59, 95, 99, 115,
120, 121, 135, 143, 147, 148, 250
Harrington, Sir John, quotation from, 75
Henry VII.'s chapel, Westminster Abbey, 63
---- VIII., patron of the new art, 37
Heppelwhite, the style of, 241-256
---- chairs (illustrated), 243
Herculaneum and Pompeii, influence of excavations at, 204, 209
Hints to Collectors, 259-274
Hogarth, William, 246
Holbein in England, 37
Honey, W. G., Esq., specimen from collection of, 151
Huygens, Dutch lacquer of, 182
I
Ince & Mayhew's designs, 247
India office, specimen at, illustration of, 226
Ingenious contrivances of Sheraton's furniture, 251
Inlay, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
---- in Elizabethan pieces, 69
Italian art dominates Elizabethan fashion, 68
Italy, Renaissance in, 41
J
Jacobean, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
---- furniture, its fine simplicity, 104
Jacobean furniture, prices realised at auction, 106, 129
James I., chair at Knole House, 86
---- II. furniture, prices realised at auction, 130
Japanese and Chinese cabinets, 148
Japanese lac imitated, 182
Jones Bequest, illustrations of specimens in, 165, 179, 193
---- Inigo, his influence, 93
K
Kauffman, Angelica, 249
Kent, eighteenth-century designer, 246
Kew Gardens, pagoda at, 216
King's College Chapel, Cambridge, woodwork of, 63
Kitchen furniture (Chippendale style), 232
Knole House, James I. furniture at, 86
L
Lac, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
---- Japanese and Chinese imitated, 182
Lacquer, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Lancaster & Co., Messrs. Harold G., specimens from collection of, 122, 123,
137, 231, 232, 241, 251
Leather work, cut design, Portuguese chair-back, 128
Le Bas, Rev. H. V., illustration of specimen in possession of, 210
Lebrun, Madame, 205
Leczinski, Stanislas, King of Poland, 196
Linen pattern, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Lock, Matthias, designs of, 247
Louis XIII., chair of period of, 159
---- XIV., period of, 157-167
---- XV., period of, 171-187
---- XVI., period of, 191-200
Louvre, copy of picture in, 203
---- illustration of portrait in, 209
M
Macaulay, Lord, quotation from, 96, 136
"Made-up" pieces, 265
Madrid National Museum, illustration of specimen at, 52
Mahogany period, 34
---- how procured by British captains, 214
---- Sir Walter Raleigh's discovery of, 214
Mansions built in Elizabethan days, 67
Manwaring, designs of, 247
Marie Antoinette, furniture belonging to, 179, 180, 195
Marie Louise, jewel cabinet of, 208
Marquetry, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
---- Dutch, 128
---- Dutch, 146
---- elaborate, 180, 182
---- in Elizabethan pieces, 69
---- work, spurious, 273
Martin, Sieur Simon Etienne (_Vernis-Martin_), 182
Martin's varnish (_Vernis-Martin_), _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Meissonier, inspirer of rococo style, 177
Middle Temple Hall, carved oak screen at, 65
Mirrors, arrangement in Hampton Court galleries, 123
---- at Nell Gwynne's house, 123
---- Chippendale, 229
---- made by French and Italian workmen, 124
---- Queen Anne, 136
---- various forms of, 124
Mortise, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Mother-of-pearl inlay, seventeenth century, 116
Munich National Museum, illustration of specimen at, 39
N
Naples Museum, illustration of table at, 205
Napoleon, his influence on art, 208
Natoire, 182, 195
Needlework decorated cabinet, Charles II. period, 112
Netherlands, Renaissance in, 49
Netscher, Caspar, illustration after picture by, 111
Normandy dressers, 103
Notable examples of sixteenth, century English woodwork, 65
O
Oak, collectors of, hints to, 103, 118
---- furniture, the collector's polish for, 118
---- period, 34
---- polish, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Oeben, Jean Francois, 178
Old oak, polish for, 118
P
Parquetry, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Passe Crispin de, chair designed by, 159
Pater, 192
Penshurst Place, Indo-Portuguese furniture at, 115
Petworth House, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
_Polish_, French, 24;
---- oil, 26
Pollen, J., Hungerford, quotation from, 196
Pompeii, influence of excavations at, 204, 208, 247
Ponsonby-Fane, Right Hon. Sir Spencer, specimens in collection of, 101, 224
Portuguese furniture, late seventeenth century, in England, 114
Q
Queen Anne cabinet (illustrated), 141
---- chairs (illustrated), 143
---- furniture, prices realised at auction, 153
---- mirror frame (illustrated), 137
---- settle (illustrated), 149, 155
R
Raleigh, Sir Walter, mahogany first brought home by, 214
Recamier, portrait of, by David, 209
Reeded, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
Renaissance, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
---- in England, 37, 59-78
---- in France, 43
---- in Italy, 41
---- in the Netherlands, 49
---- in Spain, 48
---- on the Continent, 33-55
---- origin of, 38, 41
Restored, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
---- cupboard showing over-elaboration, 73
"Restored" pieces, 265
Revolution in France, vandalism during, 204
Ribbon-back chair (illustrated), 222
---- ornamentation adapted from France, 64;
(illustrated) 60
---- pattern, early use of, by French woodcarvers, 92
Riesener, Jean Francois, 185, 191, 192, 195, 197, 208
Robinson, V. J., Esq., C.I.E., furniture belonging to, 219
Rococo, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
Roe, Mr. Frederick, quotation from, 266
Roentgen, David, 182
S
Sackville, Lord, early Jacobean furniture in collection of, 86
St. Paul's Cathedral, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
Secret drawers, 114
---- drawers, pieces with, 113, 157, 231
---- drawers, Sheraton's love of, 251
---- processes to impart age to spurious pieces, 260
Settee, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
---- upholstered, early Jacobean, at Knole, 90
Settle, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28, 60
---- Queen Anne style, 145, 149
Sevres porcelain as decoration to furniture, 191
---- porcelain in harmony with furniture, 181
Shattock, Esq., T. Foster, specimens from collection of, 45
Shearer, 248
Sheraton, Thomas, and his style, 209, 241-256
---- chair (illustrated), 243
---- mechanical contrivances of his furniture, 251
---- poverty of, 248;
his opinion of Chippendale, 248
Sigerson, Dr., Dublin, specimens from collection of, 157, 206
Sixteenth-century woodwork, fine example of, 65
Spain, Renaissance in, 48
Spanish furniture (illustrated), cabinet, 51;
chest, 52
Spitalfields' velvet for furniture, 147
---- weaving founded by aliens, 122
Splat, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Stothard, copy of engraving by, 231, 235
Strafford, first Earl of, chair with arms of, 94
Strapwork, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
---- borrowed from Flemish designers, 64;
illustrated, 61, 68
---- Elizabethan, 69
Stretche, Esq., T. E. Price, specimens from collection of, 75, 78, 97, 139, 140
Stretcher, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
---- in chairs, evolution of the, 122
---- wear given to, by feet of sitters, 100
Sutton, Thomas, founder of Charterhouse Hospital, 86
Symonds, John Addington, "The Renaissance in Italy," quoted, 41
T
Table, gate-leg, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Tapestry factory established at Mortlake, 92
---- in harmony with furniture, 181
Tenon, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Terror, Reign of, vandalism during, 204
Timber split to give figure in surface, 76, 118
Transition between Gothic and Renaissance, 44, 47, 63
Turned work, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
U
Upholstered chairs adopted in late Elizabethan days, 75
---- seat (William and Mary), 122
V
Vandyck at the Court of Charles I., 92
Varnish, oil, composition of, not now known, 119
---- spirit, a modern invention, 118
---- _Vernis-Martin_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Veneer, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Veneered work, its adoption, 139
Veneers, woods used as, _see_ GLOSSARY, 29
_Vernis-Martin_ (Martin's varnish), _see_ GLOSSARY, 28, 182
Versailles, sums spent upon building, 166;
vandalism at, 172, 177
W
Wallace Collection, illustrations of specimens, at, 163, 171, 181, 183
Walnut period, 34
Walnut veneer, Queen Anne period, 139
Walpole, Horace, 221
Waring, Messrs., specimens from collection of, 81, 117, 119, 143, 149, 197
Watteau, 192
Wedgwood, Josiah, 247
Wellington, Duke of, collection in possession of, 209
Welsh dresser, 100
Westminster Abbey, Henry VII.'s chapel, 63
William and Mary furniture, prices realised at auction, 130
Winckelmann, 205
Woods preferred by Grinling Gibbons, 121
---- used for delicate carving by foreign schools, 116
---- used in furniture, _see_ GLOSSARY, 29
---- with fancy names, 29;
botanical names of, 196
Woodwork, sixteenth century, fine examples of, 65
Worms, ravages of furniture, 234, 271, 274
Wren, Sir Christopher, 120
Y
Yorkshire chairs, 103
THE GRESHAM PRESS,
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,
WOKING AND LONDON.
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Chats on Old Furniture: A Practical Guide for CollectorsChapter VI: , where specimens of this kind of work are (4)
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