OLD TRADE CARD SHOWING CALICO PRINTERS AT
WORK 319
HUGUENOT PRINTED CHINTZ WITH PORTRAITS 319
HAND-PRINTED CHINTZES. QUEEN ANNE PERIOD AND
CHINESE STYLE 323
EXOTIC BIRD AND GOTHIC STYLES (EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY) 327
HAND-PRINTED CHINTZ BY R. JONES (OLD FORD) 331
HEPPLEWHITE PERIOD AND VICTORIAN PERIOD DESIGNS 335
VICTORIAN CHINTZ (IN THE COLLECTION OF MRS.
COBDEN UNWIN) 339
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
NOTE
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The minor collector--The originality of the village
cabinet-maker--His freedom from foreign influences--The
traditional character of his work--Difficulty to establish
dates to cottage and farmhouse furniture--Oak the chief wood
employed--Beech, elm, and ash used in lieu of mahogany and
satinwood--Village craftsmanship not debased by early Victorian
art--Its obliteration in the age of factory-made furniture--The
conservation of old farmhouses with their furniture in Sweden
and in Denmark--The need for the preservation and exhibition of
old cottages and farmhouses in Great Britain.
In regard to launching another volume on the market dealing with old
furniture, a word of explanation is desirable, for nowadays of making
books there is no end, and much study is a weariness to the collector.
In the present volume attention has been especially given to that
class of furniture known as Cottage or Farmhouse. There is no volume
dealing with this phase of collecting. Prices for old furniture of
the finest quality have gone up by leaps and bounds, and for those
not possessed of ample means the collection of superlative styles is
at an end. Singularly enough, the most native furniture and that most
typically racy of the soil has not hitherto attracted the attention
of wealthy collectors. The plutocrats who buy only the finest
creations of Chippendale, who have immediate private information
when an exquisitely designed Sheraton piece is found, who amass a
mighty hoard of gilt Stuart furniture, or who boast of an unrivalled
collection of Elizabethan oak, do not touch the minor furniture made
during a period of three hundred years for the common people.
The finest classes of English furniture made by skilful craftsmen
for wealthy patrons must always be beyond the range of the minor
collector. Every year brings keener zest among those interested in
furniture of a bygone day, and it is therefore increasingly difficult
for persons of taste and judgment who cannot afford high prices to
satisfy their longings. It is obvious that specimens of massive
appearance finely carved in oak of the Tudor age, or of elegantly
turned work in walnut of Jacobean days, must be readily recognised
as valuable. Sumptuous furniture tells its own story. It is unlikely
nowadays that such wonderful "finds," concerning which imaginative
writers are always telling us, will occur again--except on paper.
Popular enthusiasm has been awakened, and more often than not the
possessor of some mediocre piece of furniture or china attaches a
value to it which is absurd. The publication of prices realised at
auction has whetted the cupidity of would-be sellers who convert
early nineteenth-century chairs by a nod of the head into "Queen
Anne," and who aver with equal veracity that ordinary blue transfer
printed ware has "been in the family a hundred years."
[Illustration: CHEST. MIDDLE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
Gothic carving. Solid wood ends, forming feet. Made from six
boards; with hand-forged nails and large lock, characteristic of
Gothic chests.]
[Illustration: CHEST. SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
Lozenge panels, disc turning, and Gothic brackets (rare).
(_By the courtesy of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
Cottage and farmhouse furniture may be said to be in somewhat
parallel case to English earthenware. A quarter of a century ago, or
even ten years ago, collectors in general confined their attention
mainly to porcelain. The rage was for Worcester, Chelsea, Derby, or
Bow. With the exception of Wedgwood and Turner, the Staffordshire
potters had not found favour with the fashionable collector. Nowadays
Toft dishes, Staffordshire figures by Enoch Wood, vases by Neale and
Palmer, and the entire school of lustre ware, have received attention
from the specialist, and scientific classification has brought prices
within measurable distance of those paid for porcelain.
What earthenware is to porcelain, so cottage and farmhouse furniture
are to the elaborate styles made for the use of the richer classes.
The French insipidities and rococo ornament of Chelsea and Derby and
the oriental echoes of Worcester and of Bow are as little typical of
national eighteenth-century sentiment as the ribbon-back chair and
the Chinese fretwork of Chippendale or the satinwood elegances of
Sheraton.
To Staffordshire and to local potteries scattered all over the
country from Sunderland to Bristol, from Lambeth to Nottingham, from
Liverpool to Rye, one instinctively turns for real individuality and
native tradition. Similarly farmhouse furniture exhibits the work of
the local cabinet-maker in various districts, strongly marked by an
adherence to traditional forms and intensely insular in its disregard
of prevailing fashions. It is as English as the leather black-jack
and the home-brewed ale.
Contemporaneous with the great cabinet-makers who drew their
inspiration from foreign sources--from Italy, from France, from
Holland, and from Spain--small jobbing cabinet-makers in every
village and town had their patrons, and when not making wagons
or farm implements, produced furniture for everyday use. As may
readily be supposed, there is in these results a blind naïveté which
characterises a design handed down from generation to generation.
This is one of the surprising features of the village cabinet-maker's
work--its curious anachronism. The sublime indifference to passing
fashions is astonishingly delightful to the student and to the
collector.
There is nothing more uncertain than to attempt with exactitude to
place a date upon cottage or farmhouse furniture. The bacon-cupboard,
the linen-chest, the gate-table, the ladder-back chair and the
windsor chair, were made through successive generations down to
fifty years ago without departing from the original pattern of the
Charles I. or the Queen Anne period. Oak chests are found carved
with the Gothic linen-fold pattern. They might be of the sixteenth
century except for the fact that dates of the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth century are carved upon them. Whole districts
have retained similar styles for centuries, and the fondness for
clearly defined types is almost as pronounced as that of the Asiatic
rug-weaver, who makes the same patterns as his remote ancestors sold
to the ancient Greeks.
The village cabinet-maker's work knows no sequence of ages of oak,
walnut, mahogany, and satinwood. His wood is from his native trees.
His chairs come straight from the hedgerows. His history can be
spanned in one long age of oak, intermingled here and there with elm
and yew-tree and beech. The early days of primitive work go back to
the marked class distinction between gentles and simples, and the end
came only in the last decades of the nineteenth century, when the
village craftsman was obliterated by the rapid advance of factory and
machine made furniture.
It may at first be assumed by the beginner that cottage and farmhouse
furniture is throughout a weak and feeble imitation of finer pieces.
But this is not so. The craftsmen who made this class of furniture
formed for themselves special types which were never made by the
London cabinet-makers. For instance, the Jacobean gate-table, the
Lancashire wardrobe, the dresser, and the windsor chair, have styles
peculiarly their own. In many of the specimens found it will be seen
that the village cabinet-maker displayed very fine workmanship, and
there are clever touches and delightful mannerisms which make such
pieces of interest to the collector.
In early days of the villeins, furniture was limited to a stool, a
table, and perhaps a chest. Nor was the use of much furniture at the
farm or in the cottage a feature in Tudor and early Stuart days.
Gorgeously carved oak and richly turned walnut filled the mansions
of the wealthy, but one does not find its simpler counterpart made
for cottages till nearly 1660. The few pieces essential to every
dwelling-house may be placed not earlier than the late sixteenth or
early seventeenth century--the chest, the table, the form, and the
Protestant Bible-box.
Chests with scratched Gothic mouldings, tables of the trestle type as
used to-day, forms of the most simple construction, exist, and may be
said to belong to the sixteenth century.
Bible-boxes became common during the early seventeenth century, and
without change in their style were made till the late eighteenth
century. In mid-seventeenth-century days the well-known gate-table
was introduced.
Of early pieces we illustrate a few examples, though in connection
with farmhouse and cottage, the early days afford a poor field, as
the furniture of those days now remaining was mostly made for great
families. The two sixteenth-century chests illustrated (p. 29) are
interesting as showing the early styles. The upper photograph is
of a middle sixteenth-century chest, with Gothic carving and solid
wood ends forming feet. This type of chest is made from six boards.
The hand-forged nails show the rough joinery, and the large lock is
characteristic of such Gothic chests. The lower chest is also of the
sixteenth century. It has lozenge panels, and is further ornamented
by disc turning. The Gothic brackets at the base are rare, and it is
an interesting example.
[Illustration: ELIZABETHAN CHAIR.
This is of Scandinavian origin, and was known in England before
the Roman Conquest, being shown in mediæval MSS. Such designs
survived the Gothic styles.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: CHEST. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Panels with early scratched mouldings (_i.e._, not mitred).
Mitreing came into general use about 1600.]
That the chest remained in somewhat primitive form is shown by the
illustration of a seventeenth-century specimen (p. 35). It will be
observed that the panels have early scratched mouldings, that is to
say they are not mitred. The fashion of mitreing in cabinet-work came
into general use about the year 1600, but minor examples of country
furniture often possess scratched moulding at a much later date.
On the same page is an Elizabethan chair. This type is of exceptional
interest. It has a long and proud history. They are, according
to Mr. Percy Macquoid, "of Byzantine origin; their pattern was
introduced by the Varangian Guard into Scandinavia, and from there
doubtless brought to England by the Normans. They continued to be
made until the end of the sixteenth century." These turned chairs are
interesting as having spindles, which came into use at a much later
period in the spindle-back chair.
With the growth of prosperity and the increased use of domestic
comforts, cottage furniture becomes a wider subject. Carved oak
bedsteads, simple four-posters, bacon-cupboards, linen-chests became
more common. In eighteenth-century days there was quite an outburst
of enthusiasm, and the small cabinet-maker gained knowledge of his
craft and became ambitious. On the promulgation of Chippendale's
designs he made copies in elm and oak and beech for village patrons
and essayed to follow Hepplewhite and even Sheraton.
But this wave of success was followed by the competitive inroad made
by factory-made cabinet-work, and during these last days the local
cabinet-maker adhered closer than ever to the early oak examples of
his forefathers. The village craft practically came to an end in the
fifties, but it was a glorious end, and it is happy that it did not
survive to produce bad work of atrocious design.
The passing of cottage and farmhouse furniture may be said to be like
the disappearance of dialect. The modern spirit has entered into
village life, the town newspaper has permeated the country-side and
disturbed the old-world repose. The lover of English folk-ways and
the simplicity of rural life may echo the line of Wordsworth, "The
things that I have seen I now can see no more."
In the illustrations of two interiors shown on p. 39 it will be seen
how happily placed the furniture becomes when in its old home. The
atmosphere of these rural homesteads is at once soothing and restful,
and the pieces of furniture had an added dignity. It seems almost
sacrilege to tear such relics of bygone days from their ancient
resting-place. But the collector is abroad, and few sanctuaries have
escaped his assiduous attention. The lower illustration shows the
interior of a cottage with its original panelled walls. This cottage
actually has Tudor frescoes.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF FARMHOUSE PARLOUR.]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF COTTAGE.
With original panelled walls. This cottage has Tudor frescoes.]
The study of old farmhouse and cottage furniture has not been
pursued in this country in so scientific a manner as in Sweden and
in Denmark. The conservation of national heirlooms is a matter which
must be speedily dealt with before they become scattered. It is a
point which cannot be repeated too often. At Skansen, Stockholm, old
buildings have, under State supervision, been re-erected, and
with their furniture they afford a practical illustration of the
particular type of life of the district of their origin. At Lyngby,
near Copenhagen, a series of farmhouses similarly illustrate old
types of homesteads from various localities in Denmark, and from
Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
By such a systematic and permanent record of farm and cottage life
and the everyday art of the people it is possible to impart vitality
to the study of the subject.
The English method of museum arrangement in dry-as-dust manner,
with rows of furniture and cases of china, is a valley of dry bones
compared with such a fresh and vigorous handling and method of
exposition as is followed in Scandinavia.
If old English furniture is worth the preservation for the benefit of
students of craftsmanship or as a relic of bygone customs, there is
undoubted room for due consideration of the best means of exhibiting
it. A series of representative farmhouses could be re-erected at some
convenient spot. There are many parks around London and other great
cities which would be benefited by such picturesque buildings.
Before it is too late, and many of these beautiful structures have
been destroyed to make room for modern improvements, and village
life has become absorbed by the growing towns, it should be possible
to step in and preserve some of the most typical examples for the
enjoyment of the nation. The real interest shown by the public in
out-of-door object-lessons of this nature is indicated by the great
crowds at Exhibitions at Earl's Court and the like, which flocked to
Tudor houses replete with old furniture, and villages transplanted in
lath and plaster to simulate the real thing, which seemingly has been
neglected from an educational point of view.
The mountain farms and the homesteads of the men of the dales, fen
farms, and stone cottages from the Cotswolds, half-timbered farms
from Surrey, from Cheshire, and from Hampshire, dating back to early
Stuart days--are not these worthy of preservation? In the Welsh
hills, and nestling in the dips of the Grampians and the Cheviots,
from Wessex to Northumbria, from the Border country to the extremity
of Cornwall, from East Anglia to the Lakes, are treasures upon which
the ruthless hand of destruction must shortly fall. Or far afield in
Harris and in Skye, or remote Connemara, there are types which should
find a permanent abiding place as national records of the homes of
the men of the island kingdom.
This should not be an impossible nor unthinkable problem to
solve before such are allowed to pass away. The intense value of
such a faithful record is worthy of careful consideration by the
authorities, either as a national undertaking or under the auspices
of one of the learned societies, such as the Society of Antiquaries,
or the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Monuments,
interested in the safeguarding of the national heritage bequeathed us
by our forefathers.
CHAPTER II
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY
STYLES
CHRONOLOGY
JAMES I. (1603-25)
=1606= Second colonisation of Virginia begun; Raleigh's first
colony in Virginia was founded in 1585.
=1611= The colonisation of Ulster begun.
Publication of the _Authorised version_ of the _Bible_.
=1620= The sailing of the _Mayflower_ and the foundation of New
England by the Puritans.
CHARLES I. (1625-49)
=1630= John Winthrop and a number of Puritans settle in
Massachusetts.
=1633= Reclamation of forest lands.
=1634= Wentworth introduces flax cultivation into Ireland.
=1635= Taxes for Ship Money levied on inland counties.
=1637= John Hampden, a country gentleman, refuses to pay Ship
Money.
CIVIL WAR (1642-49)
=1642= Battle of Edgehill. Formation of Eastern Association.
Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, and Hertford unite for
purpose of defence against the Royalists.
=1643= Battles of Reading, Grantham, Stratton, Chalgrove
Field, Adwalton Moor (near Bradford), Lansdown, Roundway Down,
Bristol, Gloucester, Newbury, Winceby, Hull.
=1644= Battles of Nantwich, Copredy Bridge, Marston Moor,
Tippermuir, Lostwithiel, Newbury.
=1645= Battles of Inverlochy, Naseby, Langport, Kilsyth,
Bristol, Philiphaugh, Rowton Heath.
=1648= Battles of Maidstone, Pembroke, Preston, Colchester.
THE COMMONWEALTH (1642-58)
=1649= Battle of Rathmines. Storming of Drogheda and Wexford by
Cromwell.
=1650= Montrose defeated at Corbiesdale and executed. Battle of
Dunbar.
=1651= Battle of Worcester.
=1652= War with Holland.
=1656= War with Spain.
=1657= Destruction of Spanish fleet by Blake.
=1658= Battle of the Dunes. Victory of English and French fleet
over Spain.
INTERREGNUM (1658-60)
=1659= Rising in Cheshire for Charles.
CHARLES II. (1660-85)
=1672= _The stop of the Exchequer._ Charles refuses to repay
the principal of the sums he had borrowed and reduces interest
from 12 per cent. to 6 per cent. This resulted in great
distress, felt in various parts of the country.
JAMES II. (1685-88)
=1685= Insurrection of Argyll in Scotland.
Monmouth rising in West of England.
Revocation of Edict of Nantes. The expulsion of a large
number of French Protestant artisans. Settlement of skilled
silk-weavers and others in England.
WILLIAM III. AND MARY (1689-94)
WILLIAM III. (1689-1702)
=1689= Siege of Londonderry.
=1690= Battle of the Boyne. William defeats James, who flees to
France.
=1691= Capitulation of Limerick; 10,000 Irish soldiers and
officers joined the service of the French King.
=1692= Battle of La Hogue, French fleet destroyed.
CHAPTER II
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY STYLES
Typical Jacobean furniture--Solidity of English joiners'
work--Oak general in its use--The oak forests of
England--Sturdy independence of country furniture--Chests of
drawers--The slow assimilation of foreign styles--The changing
habits of the people.
To the lover of old oak, varied in character and essentially English
in its practical realisation of the exact needs of its users, the
seventeenth century provides an exceptionally fine field. The
chairs, the tables, the dower-chests and the four-post bedsteads
of the farmhouse were sturdy reflections of sumptuous furniture
made for the nobility and gentry in Jacobean and Elizabethan times.
The designs may have been suggested by finer and early models, but
the balance, the sense of proportion, and the carving, were the
result of the village carpenter's own individual ideas as to the
requirements of the furniture for use in the farmhouse. Obviously
strength and stability were important factors, and ornament, as
such, took a subsidiary place in his scheme. But, although coarse
and possessing a leaning towards the unwieldy, and often massive
without the accompanying grandeur of the highly-trained craftsman's
work, there is a breadth of treatment in such pieces which is at
once recognisable. They were made for use and no little thought was
bestowed on their lines, and, rightly appreciated, they possess
a considerable beauty. There is nothing finicking about this
seventeenth-century farmhouse furniture. There is no meaningless
ornament. Produced in conditions suitable for quiet and restrained
craftsmanship, contemplative cabinet-makers began to evolve styles
that are far removed from the average design of furniture made to-day
under more pretentious surroundings.
The gate table, with its long history and its amplification of
structure and ornament, to which a separate chapter is devoted
(Chapter III), is a case in point. It was extensively used in inns
and in farmhouses and found itself in set definite types spread
over a wide area from one end of the country to the other. Its
practicability caught the taste of lovers of utility. Its added
gracefulness of form, in combination with its adaptability to modern
needs, has recaptured the fancy of housewives to-day. It is the happy
survival of a beautiful and useful piece of ingenious cabinet-work.
To-day one finds unexpectedly a London fashion lingering in the
provinces years afterwards. A stray air from a light opera or some
catch-phrase of town slang is gaily bandied about as current coin in
bucolic jest long after its circulation in the metropolis has ceased.
The fashions in provincial furniture moved as slowly. Half a century
after certain styles were the vogue they crept imperceptibly into
country use. In speech and song the transplantation is more rapid,
but in craftsmanship, the studied work of men's hands, the use of
novelty is against the grain of the conservative mind of the country
cabinet-maker. Therefore throughout the entire field of this minor
furniture it must be borne in mind that it is quite usual to find
examples of one century reflecting the glories of the period long
since gone.
=Solidity of English Joiners' Work.=--The love of old country
furniture of the seventeenth century is hardly an acquired taste.
Old oak is at once a jarring note in a Sheraton drawing-room with
delicate colour scheme of dainty wallpaper and satin coverings. But
as a general rule, when it is first seen in its proper environment,
in an old-world farmhouse with panelled walls, and mullioned windows,
set squarely on an oak floor and beneath blackened oak beams ripe
with age, it wins immediate recognition as representative of a fine
period of furniture. It is admitted by experts, and it is the proud
boast of possessors of old oak, that the joiner's work of this
style--the seventeenth century at its best--stands unequalled for its
solidity and sound practical adhesion to fixed principles governing
sturdy furniture fashioned for hard and continued usage. Of course,
there were no screws used in those days, and little glue. The joints
dovetailed into each other with great exactness and were fastened by
the wooden pins so often visible in old examples. The modern copyist
has a fine regard for these wooden pegs. He knows that his clients
set store by them, and he accordingly sees to it that they are well
in evidence in his replicas. But there is yet a distinction which may
be noticed between his pegs and the originals. His are accurately
round, turned by machinery to fit an equally circular machine-turned
hole. They tell their own story instantly to a trained eye, to say
nothing of the piece of furniture as a whole, which always has little
conflicting touches to denote its modernity.
As an instance of the form of the sixteenth century continuing in
use until mid-seventeenth-century days the illustration of an oak
table (p. 63) brings out this point. The heavy baluster-like legs,
only just removed from the earlier bulbous types, and the massive
treatment belong to the days of James I., and yet such pieces really
were made in Cromwellian days.
The rude simplicity of much of the farmhouse furniture is indicated
by the Monk's Bench illustrated (p. 53). The back is convertible into
a table top. The early plainness of style for so late a piece as 1650
is particularly noteworthy. This specimen is interesting by reason of
its exceptionally large back.
On the same page is illustrated a chest with two drawers underneath.
This form is termed a "Mule Chest," and is the earliest form of the
chest of drawers. These Cromwellian chests with drawers continued to
be made in the country for a hundred years, but in more fashionable
circles they soon developed into the well-known Jacobean chest of
drawers, the prototype of the form in use to-day. As an instance of
this lingering of fashion the chest illustrated is dated 1701, quite
fifty years after its first appearance as a new style.
[Illustration: MONK'S BENCH. _C._ 1650.
With back convertible into table top. Exceptionally large back.
(Note early plainness of style.)
(_By courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons._)]
[Illustration: OAK CHEST WITH DRAWERS UNDERNEATH.
Termed a "Mule Chest." The earliest form of chest of drawers.
This piece in style is Middle Seventeenth Century, but is dated
1701.]
=Oak General in its Use.=--The oak as a wood was in general use both
in the furniture of the richer classes and in the farmhouse furniture
of seventeenth-century days and earlier. Inlaid work is unknown in
furniture of this type. It was sparingly used in pieces of more
important origin. The room shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum
from Sizergh Castle has inlays of holly and bog oak. And the suite of
furniture at Hardwicke Hall made for Bess of Hardwicke was made by
English workmen who had been in Italy, the same persons who produced
similar work at Longleat. Small panels with rough inlaid work are
not uncommon in the seventeenth century in chests, bedsteads, and
drawers. But the prevailing types of oak without the added inlays of
other woods were rigidly adhered to in cabinet-makers' work for the
farmhouse.
The great oak forests, such as Sherwood, furnished an abundance of
timber for all domestic purposes, and up to the seventeenth century
little other wood was used for any structural or artistic purpose.
Practically oak may be considered as the national wood. From the
_Harry Grâce à Dieu_ of Henry VIII. and the _Golden Hind_ of Drake
to the _Victory_ of Nelson, the great ships were of English oak.
The magnificent hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall is of the same
wonderful wood. All over the country are scattered buildings timbered
with oak beams, from cathedrals and ancient churches to farmhouses
and mills. The oak piles of old London Bridge were taken up after
six centuries and a half and found to be still sound at the heart.
The mass of furniture of nearly three centuries ago has survived
owing to the durability of its wood. To this day English oak commands
great esteem, although foreign oak has taken its place in the general
timber trade, yet there is none which possesses such strong and
lasting qualities. It will stand a strain of 1,900 lbs. per square
inch transversely to its fibres.
=Sturdy Independence of Country Furniture.=--The hardness of the
oak as a wood is one of the factors which determined the styles of
decoration of the furniture into which it was fashioned. It was
not easily capable of intricate carved work, even in the hands of
accomplished craftsmen. The fantastic flower and fruit pieces of
Grinling Gibbons and other carvers were in lime or chestnut, and the
age of walnut, a more pliant and softer wood to work in than oak, was
yet to come. The country maker, little versed in the subtleties of
cabinet-work, contented himself with a narrow range of types, which
lasted over a considerable period. This is especially noticeable in
his chairs, and specimens are found of the same form as the middle
seventeenth century belonging to the last decade of the eighteenth
century.
[Illustration: EARLY OAK TABLE. _C._ 1640.
Retaining Elizabethan bulbous form of leg and having Cromwellian
style feet. Brass handles added later.]
[Illustration: JOINT STOOLS.
Height, 1 ft. 10-1/2 ins. Height, 1 ft. 8-1/2 ins. Height, 1 ft. 5 ins.
(About 1640.) (About 1660.)]
The typical sideboard of the seventeenth century only varies
slightly in form according to the part of the country from
which it comes. The general design is always permanent. A large
cupboard below, two smaller ones above, set somewhat back from
the front of the lower one, the sides of the upper ones sometimes
canted off, leaving two triangular spaces of flat top at the
ends of the bottom one. The whole is surmounted by a top shelf,
supported by the upper cupboards and two boldly turned pillars.
This is usually the design. The decoration is of the simplest,
and presents nothing beyond the powers of the village carpenter.
The mouldings are simple; there is slight conventional carving,
frequently consisting of hollow flutings, and the pillars, boldly
turned, are very rarely enriched by any ornament. A careful
examination of such pieces is always interesting from a technical
point of view. The framing of the panels is seen to be worked out
by the plane, but the panels themselves more often than not have
been reduced to approximate flatness with an adze. If viewed in
a side light the surface is thus slightly varied, showing the
differences in the planes of the various facets produced by the
adze and giving an effect entirely different from the mechanical
smoothing of a surface by the use of a plane.
The framing of the front and ends of these sideboards is in
detail exactly like the ordinary Jacobean wall panelling or
wainscot. The mouldings are all worked on the rails or styles,
not mitred and glued on, no mitred mouldings being used except
occasionally in the centre panel between the doors. The framing
is mortised together and pinned with oak pins. The doors are
usually hung on iron strap hinges, and the handles of the doors
are of wrought iron. Frequently the doors of the upper cupboards
are hung on pivots, not hinges. Such a sideboard belongs to the
middle period of the seventeenth century, and is representative
of a wide class used in farmhouses.
It is easier to follow the various movements in the design of the
seventeenth-century table than a century later, when more complex
circumstances governed its use. The illustrations on p. 57 give
early forms, with some suggestion as to the progression in design.
The early oak Table is a curious compound of design. It has
retained the Elizabethan bulbous form of leg and has the
Cromwellian foot. In date the piece is about 1640. The brass
handle has been added later.
The Joint Stools on the lower half of the page afford a picture
of slowly advancing invention in turned work. The one on the left
of the group is the earliest, and is about 1640 in date. Its legs
are seen to be of coarser work, roughly turned, but typically
early Jacobean in breadth of treatment. The two on the right are
about 1660 in date. The left-hand one shows the urn-shaped leg of
the strong, broad treatment (as in the Table illustrated p. 63),
brought into subjection and exhibiting a gracefulness of form and
balance that make furniture of this type so lovable. The smaller
stool shows the ball-carving associated with the Restoration
period, and found in gate tables. A combination of these styles
of turning is shown in the graceful oak Table illustrated p. 65,
in date about 1680.
=Chests of Drawers.=--The conservative spirit of the minor
craftsmen is especially noticeable in the articles of everyday
use. The merchant's account ledger with its green back and
cross-stitched pattern in vellum strips, still in use, is to
be found in the same style in Holbein pictures of the days of
the Hanseatic League. Brass and copper candlesticks have a long
lineage, and their form is only a slight variant from very early
examples. The evolution of ornament is especially interesting;
the old stoneware Bellarmine form still remains in the bearded
mask at the lip of china jugs at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. The two buttons at the back of the coattails continue
long after their primary use to loop up the sword-belt has
vanished.
In America the early carved chests of the Puritan colonists were
followed by similar designs contemporary with our own Jacobean
style for a period well towards the end of the seventeenth
century. The panels on chairs and chests have the same arcaded
designs as found in Elizabethan bedsteads and fireplaces. These
become gradually crystallised in conventional form, and Lockwood,
the American writer on old colonial furniture, has reduced the
types coincident with our own Jacobean styles into ten distinct
patterns, until the advent of the well-known chests of drawers
with geometric raised ornament laid on, which pieces of furniture
in Restoration days were set upon a stand.
We have shown in the illustration (p. 53) the earliest form
of the chest with drawers underneath. The stage transitional
between this and the multifarious designs with bevelled panels
in geometric design is exemplified by the chest, in date about
1660, illustrated (p. 63), having two drawers and a centre
bevelled panel, and with two arcaded panels on each side of this
and also arcaded panels at the ends of the chest. This form was
rapidly succeeded by the well-known chests of drawers on ball
feet or on stand so much appreciated by collectors.
We illustrate a sufficient number of pieces to cover the usual
styles and to assist the beginner to identify examples coming
under his observation. Although it should be noted that as these
chests of drawers are so much sought after they are manufactured
nowadays by the hundred and out of old wood, so that great care
should be exercised in paying big prices for them unless under
expert guidance.
The specimen appearing on p. 65 is a fine example, in date 1660,
and when the ball feet are original, as in this example, the
genuineness of the chest of drawers is undoubted. Too often
stands or feet are added, and it is exceedingly rare to find that
the brass handles are original. Quite an industry is carried
on in reproducing old brass escutcheons and handles from rare
designs and carefully imparting to them signs of age, so that
they may be used in made-up chests of drawers and tables.
Of types of stands, the two chests of drawers illustrated p. 69
are fair examples. The upper chest is a curious Jacobean type
with sunk panels and having an unusually high stand. There is
a suggestion that this has been added later, as the foot is
eighteenth-century in character.
The lower chest is of the Charles II. type with sunk panels
and having the arcaded foot of that period. It will be observed
that in addition to the four drawers it has a drawer at the
bottom.
[Illustration: OAK TABLE. _C._ 1650.]
[Illustration: CHEST. ABOUT 1660.
With bevelled panels and drawers and arcaded panels and ends.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: SMALL OAK TABLE. _C._ 1680.
Showing two forms of mouldings in legs and stretcher.
(_By courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons._)]
[Illustration: JACOBEAN CHEST OF DRAWERS. _C._ 1660.
Height, 2 ft. 11-3/4 ins.; depth, 1 ft. 11 ins.; width, 3 ft.
3-1/2 ins. The ball foot, not always present, indicates genuine
example.]
The treatment of the stand or legs of these chests exercised the
ingenuity of various generations of cabinet-makers. In the specimen
illustrated p. 69, the eighteenth century is reached. The transition
from passing Jacobean styles into those of Queen Anne is clearly
seen. The bevelled panels still remain, with added geometric
intricacies of design, and a new feature appears in the fluted sides.
But the most interesting feature is the cabriole leg, so definitely
indicative of the eighteenth century.
=The Slow Assimilation of Foreign Styles in Furniture.=--Farmhouse
furniture almost eschewed fashion. In seventeenth-century days it
pursued the even tenor of its way untrammelled by town influences.
England in those days was not traversed by roads that lent themselves
to neighbourly communication. A hundred years later Wedgwood found
the wretched roads in Staffordshire, where waggons sunk axle-deep in
ruts and pits, a hindrance to his business, and William Cobbett in
his _Rural Rides_ leaves a record of Surrey woefully primitive at
Hindhead, with dangerous hills and bogs, where the "horses took the
lead and crept down, partly upon their feet and partly upon their
hocks."
From the days of James I. to those of James II., from the first
Stuart Sovereign to the last of that ill-starred house, the country
passed through rapid stages of volcanic history. The opening years
of the century saw the colonisation of Ulster by the Scots and
the English settlers, and the sailing of the _Mayflower_ and the
foundation of New England by the Puritans, nine years after the
publication of the Authorised version of the Bible. Under Charles I.
came the struggle between the despotic power of the Crown and the
newly awakened will of the people. Parliamentary right came into
conflict with royal prerogative. The smouldering fire burst into
flame when John Hampden, a country gentleman, refused to pay Ship
Money, which was levied on the inland counties in 1637, and the
arrest of five members of Parliament in 1642--Hampden, Pym, Holles,
Haselrig, and Strode--precipitated the country into civil war.
For seven years a continual series of battles were waged by the
contending forces. The Eastern Counties formed themselves into a
martial association, and the King set up his standard at Nottingham.
From Bristol to Hull and from Nantwich to Newbury fierce engagements
tore the country asunder. An Irish army was raised for the King, and
the Scots under Leslie crossed the border in the Parliamentarian
cause. With the execution of Charles I. came other dangers; the sword
was not sheathed, nor had revolution left a contented country-side.
Cromwell divided the kingdom into eleven military districts, and
under his rule England took her place at the head of the Protestant
States in Europe.
[Illustration: OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS.
Curious Jacobean type, with sunk panels and unusually high stand.
This stand is the well-known eighteenth-century foot.]
[Illustration: OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS.
Charles II. type, with sunk panels and arcaded stand and feet
typical of the period.]
With the death of the Protector and the restoration of the Stuarts,
when Charles II. returned home, came an influx of foreign customs
and foreign arts learned by expelled royalists in their enforced
sojourn on the Continent. London and the Court instantly became
the centre of voluptuous fashion. The pages of Pepys's _Diary_ afford
instructive pictures of the last quarter of the century at Whitehall
with the Merry Monarch exhibited in vivid colours, and more intimate
still are the word-portraits cleverly etched by the Count de Grammont
in his _Memoirs_ of the gay circle at Court. And after Charles came
his brother James, nor were civil strife and Court intrigue memories
of the past. Restlessness still characterises the closing years of
the century. The insurrection of Monmouth in the West of England was
followed by the Bloody Assize of Judge Jeffreys. The air is filled
with trouble, and blundering statecraft brings fresh disaster,
culminating in the ignominious flight of the King. Nor does this
complete the changing scenes of the seventeenth century. A new era
under William the Dutchman brought new and permanent influences, and
religious toleration and constitutional government became firmly
rooted as the heritage of the people of this country.
It is essential that a rough idea of the period be gained in order
to appreciate the kaleidoscopic character of the events that rapidly
succeeded each other. The paralysis of the arts during the civil
war had not a little influence on the furniture of the period
belonging to the class of which we treat in this volume. The wealth
of noble and patrician families had been scattered, estates had
been confiscated, and sumptuous furniture and appointments pillaged
and destroyed, especially when it offended the narrow tastes of the
Puritan soldiery. Some of the minor pieces no doubt found their way
into humbler homes and served as models for simpler folk. With
a dearth of aristocratic patrons there were no new art impulses
to stir craftsmen to their highest moods, but in spite of war and
disturbances affecting all classes, furniture for common use had to
be made, and the ready-found types exercised a continued influence on
all the earlier work.
In regard to farmhouse furniture the following types represent in the
main the seventeenth-century styles: the bedstead, the sideboard or
dresser, the table and the chair in its various forms, the Bible-box
and the cradle. The Jacobean chest of drawers, a development of the
dower-chest, came in mid-seventeenth-century days, and prior to
the William and Mary styles. The sideboard, a development of the
bacon-cupboard, came into fashion in the middle of the century. It
was a reflex of the grander furniture of the manor house and the
nobleman's mansion. It is difficult to fix exact dates to Jacobean
furniture of this character. As a general rule it is safer to place
it at a later date than is the usual custom.
[Illustration: OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS.
Showing transition to Queen Anne type. Cabriole feet, bevelled
panels, and fluted sides.]
[Illustration: WILLIAM AND MARY TABLE. _C._ 1670.
With finely turned legs and stretcher and scalloped underwork.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
=The Changing Habits of the People.=--The shifting phases of the
restless seventeenth century make it exceedingly difficult, in spite
of experts, to decide definitely as to the exact date of furniture.
The country being in such an unsettled state obviously influenced the
manufacture of domestic furniture. Its natural evolution was broken
and the restraint of the Jacobean forms was in the main due to the
conditions prevailing in regard to their manufacture. The long list
of battles given in the chronological table at the commencement of
this chapter is advisedly recorded to show the intense upheaval which
was caused by the civil wars which raged from north to south, from
east to west, and convulsed any artistic impulses which may have been
in process of materialisation.
It is obvious the class of Table of the William and Mary period,
in date about 1670, illustrated (p. 73), with finely turned legs
and stretcher and scalloped underwork, belongs to a period far
more advanced in comfort than the days when such a table as that
illustrated p. 63 was the ordinary type.
By the end of the century the growth of sea power and the astonishing
development of trade brought corresponding domestic luxuries. The two
children's stools illustrated (p. 77) must have come from a country
squire's or wealthy provincial merchant's house. Their upholstered
seats emulate the grandeur of finer types. The rare form of oak
bedstead illustrated on the same page is a survival of the early
type. In date this is about 1700; not too often are such examples
found, for enterprising restorers and makers have seized these
old Jacobean bedsteads and converted them into so-called Jacobean
"sideboards," wherein nothing is old except the wood.
It requires some little imagination to conjure up what the daily
meals were in the days of the early Stuarts. There was the leather
jack, the horn mug, and the long table in the hall where the farmer
and his servants ate together. An old black-letter song, entitled
"When this old cap was new," in date 1666, in the Roxburgh "Songs
and Ballads," has two verses which paint a lively picture:--
"Black-jacks to every man
Were fill'd with wine and beer;
No pewter pot nor can
In those days did appear;
Good cheer in a nobleman's house
Was counted a seemly show;
We wanted not brawn nor souse
When this old cap was new.
We took not such delight
In cups of silver fine;
None under the degree of knight
In plate drank beer or wine;
Now each mechanical man
Hath a cupboard of plate for show,
Which was a rare thing then
When this old cap was new."
The "mechanical man" is a delightful touch of the old song-writer.
We fear he would have been shocked at the degeneracy of a later day,
when in place of the mug that was handed round came the effeminate
teacups. The change from ale, at breakfast and dinner and supper,
to tea the beverage of the poor, would be a sad awakening from the
ideals set up by the rollicking song-writer of Restoration days. But
such innovations must needs be closely regarded by the student of
furniture.
We wish sometimes that historians had spared a few pages from
military evolutions and Court intrigues to let us know what the
parlours and bedrooms of our ancestors looked like. A rough résumé
from Macaulay's "State of England in 1685," wherein he quotes
authority by authority, holds a mirror to seventeenth-century life.
[Illustration: CHILDREN'S STOOLS, _C._ 1690.]
[Illustration: RARE BEDSTEAD. _C._ 1700.
Survival of early type.]
At Enfield, hardly out of sight of the smoke of the capital,
was a region of five-and-twenty miles in circumference, which
contained only three houses and scarcely any enclosed fields,
where deer wandered free in thousands. Red deer were as common in
Gloucestershire and Hampshire as they are now in the Grampians. Queen
Anne, travelling to Portsmouth, on one occasion, saw a herd of no
less than five hundred.
Agriculture was not a greatly known science. The rotation of crops
was imperfectly understood. The turnip had just been introduced to
this country, but it was not the practice to feed sheep and oxen with
this in the winter. They were killed and salted at the beginning of
the cold weather, and during several months even the gentry tasted
little fresh animal food except game and river fish. In the days of
Charles II. it was at the beginning of November that families laid in
their stock of salt provisions, then called Martinmas beef.
The state of the roads in those days was somewhat barbarous. Ruts
were deep, descents precipitous, and the way often difficult to
distinguish in the dusk from the unenclosed fen and heath on each
side. Pepys and his wife, travelling in their own coach, lost their
way between Newbury and Reading.[2] In some parts of Kent and Sussex
none but the strongest horses could, in winter, get through the
bog in which they sank deep at every step. The coaches were often
pulled by oxen.[3] When Prince George of Denmark visited the mansion
of Petworth he was six hours travelling nine miles. Throughout the
country north of York and west of Exeter goods were carried by long
trains of packhorses.
[2] _Pepys's Diary_, June 12, 16 8.
[3] Postlethwaite's "Dictionary of Roads."
The capital was a place far removed from the country. It was seldom
that the country squire paid a visit thither. "Towards London and
Londoners he felt an aversion that more than once produced important
political effects" (Macaulay). Apart from the country gentlemen
were the petty proprietors who cultivated their own fields with
their own hands and enjoyed a modest competence without affecting
to have scutcheons and crests. This great class of yeomanry formed
a much more important part of the nation than now. According to the
most reliable statistics of the seventeenth century, there were no
less than a hundred and sixty thousand proprietors, who with their
families made a seventh of the population of those days, and these
derived their livelihood from small freehold estates.
Such, then, were the chief differences dividing the life of the
country from the life of the town. The London merchants had town
mansions hardly less inferior to the nobility. Chelsea was a quiet
village with a thousand inhabitants, and sportsmen with dog and gun
wandered over Marylebone. General Oglethorpe, who died in 1785, used
to boast that he had shot a woodcock in what is now Regent Street, in
Queen Anne's reign.
The days of the Stuarts were not so rosy as writers of romance
have chosen to have us believe. At Norwich, the centre of the cloth
industry, children of the tender age of six were engaged in labour.
At Bristol a labyrinth of narrow lanes, too narrow for cart traffic,
was built over vaults. Goods were conveyed across the city in trucks
drawn by dogs. Meat was so dear that King, in his "Natural and
Political Conclusions," estimates that half the population of the
country only ate animal food twice a week, and the other half only
once a week or not at all. "Bread such as is now given to the inmates
of a workhouse was then seldom seen even on the trencher of a yeoman
or a shopkeeper. The majority of the nation lived almost entirely on
rye, barley, and oats."
The change from these conditions to those we associate with the
eighteenth century was not a sudden but a slow one. With the increase
of average prosperity came the additional requirements in household
furniture. It is impossible now to state accurately what the exact
furniture was of the various classes of the community. Many of the
seventeenth-century pieces now remaining have been treasured in great
houses and belong to a variety which in those days was regarded as
sumptuous. Now and again we catch glimpses of the former life of the
men and women of those days. Little pieces of conclusive evidence
are brought to light which enable safe conclusions to be drawn. But
the everyday normal character has too often gone unrecorded. We are
left with Court memoirs, diaries of the great, literary proofs of the
more scholarly, but the simple annals of the poor are, in the main,
unrecorded.
In view of this series of queer and remarkable facts strung together
to afford the reader a rough and ready picture of those dim days,
one comes to believe that much of the ordinary seventeenth-century
furniture must be regarded as having belonged to the great yeoman
class of the community. With this belief the collector very rightly
regards it of sterling worth, as reminiscent of the men from whose
sturdy stock has sprung a great race.
CHAPTER III
THE GATE-LEG TABLE
CHAPTER III
THE GATE-LEG TABLE
Its early form--Transitional and experimental stages--Its
establishment as a permanent popular type--The gate-leg table
in the Jacobean period--Walnut and mahogany varieties--Its
utility and beauty contribute to its long survival--Its
adoption in modern days.
The gate-leg table is always regarded with veneration by collectors.
It has a charm of style and beauty of construction which afford
never-ending delight to possessors of old examples. It is an inspired
piece of cabinet-work which belongs to the middle of the seventeenth
century, and exhibits the supreme effort of the early Jacobean
craftsmen to break away from the square massive tables, the lineal
descendants of the great bulbous-legged table of the Elizabethan
hall. Dining-tables with the device of slides to draw out when
occasion required, even in early days became a necessity. It is a
note indicating the changing habits of the people. A table was no
longer used for one purpose. The large table required a permanent
place in a large room. But smaller houses fitted with minor
furniture had their limitations of space, and so the ingenuity of a
table that would close together and stand against a wall, or could be
used as a round table for dining, was a welcome innovation.
=Its Early Form.=--The series of illustrations in this chapter afford
a fairly comprehensive survey of the progress and differing character
of the gate-leg table during the hundred years that it held a place
in domestic furniture. It is difficult to say with exactitude which
are the earliest forms, or whether the round table without the moving
gates was a sort of transitional form prior to the use of the movable
legs. It is quite possible that in his attempt to invent something
more convenient than the heavy square dining-table the progressive
cabinet-maker of the middle seventeenth century did strike the
half-way form. But on the other hand it must be admitted that there
is the possibility that the gate-leg table came first, and that the
types with three legs and half circular tops stand by themselves as
later types. On the whole, one is inclined to the belief, especially
as it prettily illustrates forms of natural evolution, that the
three-legged table with fixed legs and half round top came first.
[Illustration: OAK SIDE TABLE. _C._ 1660.
Plain style. The precursor of the gate-leg table.]
[Illustration: TRIANGULAR GATE-LEG TABLE. _C._ 1640.
Fine example. With arcaded spandrils and gate. This is the next
stage of development to above table.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
The two tables illustrated on p. 87 belong to this three-legged type.
The upper one is half circular at the top and the three legs are
stationary. This particular table is in date about 1660, and although
in this instance it is obviously later than other forms we illustrate
having gate-legs, yet by the theory we have advanced above, it
belongs to a type prior to the use of a gate. The lower one is a
fine example, in date about 1640, of a triangular gate-leg table.
The top is round, and the illustration shows the gate open at right
angles to the stretcher. The arcaded spandrils are an interesting and
rare feature.
=Transitional Types.=--Not only is the feeling towards the gradual
establishment of this new form of table shown in its construction,
first with four legs until it developed into a table with twelve
legs and double gates, but the styles of ornament used in the
turning differ greatly in character. The leg is capable of wide and
differing treatment. There is the urn leg, a rare and early type,
the ball turned leg, egg-and-reel turned leg, and the straight leg.
In regard to the stretcher similar varieties occur. Sometimes it is
entirely plain, and when it is decoratively turned it varies from
the early survival of the Gothic trestle to the rare cross stretcher
of the late collapsible table. In some types of Yorkshire tables
the stretchers are splat-form, like a ladder-back chair. The feet
differ in no less degree from the usual Jacobean type to the scroll
or Spanish foot at a later date. In the early eighteenth century
there is the interesting series of Queen Anne flap tables which
have gate-legs. Some have the bottom stretcher to the gate-leg.
These belong to the walnut period, when a greater vivacity became
noticeable in English cabinet work.
It is this picturesque and endless stream of designs which appeals to
the collector. It is quite worthy of study to follow the difference
in the cabinet-work of these gate tables. The long line of craftsmen
who fashioned them added here and there not only touches of
ornament that were personal, but invented details of construction as
improvements to existing forms.
A very early type with urn legs and having plain gates is that
illustrated p. 91. It is small in size and belongs to the first half
of the seventeenth century. The survival of the Gothic trestle feet
of an earlier type is noteworthy. The table on the same page has the
trestle ends still retained. There is still the single leg at each
end, as in the example above. The gates are square and plain and the
legs are ball turned, a combination representing an early type. The
size of this piece is small and its date is about 1650 or somewhat
later.
=Its Establishment as a Popular Type.=--The varied improvements and
the slightly differing characteristics make it perfectly clear, when
examined in detail, that the gate table in various parts of the
country had firmly established itself and had won popular approval as
a permanent type. In the search for tables of this form, however wide
the net is spread by those indefatigable seekers in out-of-the-way
places, and by the small army of trade collectors who scour the
country for the purpose of unearthing something rare and unique,
the story is always the same. In the most remote districts such
tables are still found: the growth of the use of this gate-leg form
permeated every part of the country. It was copied and recopied,
native touches were added, and the old leading lines followed by
generation after generation of craftsmen. It had as great a vogue
during the long period of its history as the styles of Chippendale
chairs had at a later date, when every country cabinet-maker was
seized with the desire to produce minor Chippendale in oak or beech
or elm.
[Illustration: SMALL GATE TABLE. VERY EARLY TYPE.
Length, 3 ft.; breadth, 2 ft. 4 ins.; height, 2 ft. 3 ins. Urn
legs with plain gates with survival of Gothic trestle feet.]
[Illustration: GATE TABLE. MIDDLE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Early example. Height, 2 ft.; top, 2 ft. 9 ins. × 2 ft. 3 ins.
Square gates and turned leg indicate early type. Trestle ends
still retained.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: RARE TABLE.
With double gates. Egg and reel turning. Turned stretchers.
(Examples such as this are worth £18 to £35 owing to rare form.)]
[Illustration: RARE GATE TABLE.
With double gates with only one flap and having turned
stretchers. Tables with one flap are rare and usually have two
gates.
{_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
=The Jacobean Period.=--Essentially the flower of the popular
creations of the Jacobean furniture-designer, the gate table must
always stand as reminiscent of the days of Charles I. and Charles
II. No picture of this period is considered artistically complete
unless there be a gate-leg table with its picturesque lines adding a
technical touch of correctness to interiors. The portrait of Herrick,
the parson-poet of Devon, imaginative though it be, whenever it
appears on canvas or illustrating his lyrics, shows the poet beside
a fine gate-leg table. Stage tradition is equally sure on the same
point. A company of swaggering cavaliers at an inn is not complete
without a group arranged at one of these tables quaffing wine from
flagons.
Without doubt the finest examples are to be found from the year 1660
to the end of the reign of Charles II. A new impetus had been given
to furniture-making in Restoration days. The country had settled
down in tranquillity and the domestic arts began again to thrive in
natural manner following the earlier motives of the days of Charles
I. The recent civil wars had arrested their development, and now they
burst forth again with renewed youth.
Ripe examples of the best period may be assigned to the last three
or four decades of the seventeenth century. These, it should be
explained, are in oak. We illustrate (p. 93) a particularly pleasing
specimen with double gates which belongs to this finest period.
There are, it will be observed, twelve legs, and the stretchers are
finely turned with what is known as the egg-and-reel pattern. As a
matter of fact pieces such as this, on account of the rare form,
bring from £15 to £35, and they are rapidly being gathered into the
folds of collectors.
Another rare form is shown on the same page. This, too, has double
gates, and the stretchers are similarly turned. There is only one
flap to this table, and it will be observed that it makes another
variation from accepted styles in having a rectangular instead of a
circular top. Tables with one flap are always rare, and when found
they usually have two gates.
It will be seen that there are pleasant surprises in following
changing forms all through the period. On p. 97 a table is
illustrated with two gates on one stretcher. This in date is about
1660.
The table below, on the same page, exhibits florid turning in the
legs. The stretchers across the two legs are half way up and are the
Yorkshire form of splat stretcher. This type is found as early as
1660 and as late as 1750.
The difference in structure is noticeable in two tables shown on p.
99. The one has six legs and the other eight legs. The first has
finely turned legs and stretchers in what is familiarly known as the
"barley-sugar" pattern. Among its exceptional features are the legs
being only six in number, the gates being hinged to stretcher, two
legs thus being dispensed with, and the additional bar across the two
central stretchers. This is a rare piece and in date is about
1670. The Gate Table on the same page with eight legs is a good
example of ball turning. This is a type which survived well into the
eighteenth century.
[Illustration: GATE TABLE. _C._ 1660.
Rare form. Two gates on one stretcher. Length, 3 ft. 10 ins.;
width, 3 ft.]
[Illustration: GATE TABLE.
Exhibiting florid turning and Yorkshire type of splat stretchers.
Examples are found as early as 1660 and as late as 1750. Length,
4 ft. 7-1/2 ins.; width, 3 ft. 3-1/2 ins.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: GATE TABLE.
Fine "barley sugar" turned legs and stretchers.
Exceptional features: Only six legs (gates hinged to stretcher,
two legs thus dispensed with). Additional bar across two central
stretchers.
Rare example. Date 1670.]
[Illustration: GATE TABLE.
Good example of ball turning. A type which survived well into the
eighteenth century.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: COLLAPSIBLE TABLE WITH RARE X STRETCHER. _C._ 1660.
The top folds over. Fine example.
(_In the collection of Lady Mary Holland._)]
[Illustration: PRIMITIVE GATE-LEG TABLE. SEVENTEENTH OR EARLY
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Gates at one end. Made by a local carpenter or wheelwright not
conversant with turning.]
As exhibiting two types as wide asunder as the poles, and yet not far
removed in point of time, the two tables illustrated, p. 101, make a
curious contrast. The upper one, in date about 1660, is a slender,
graceful example, with the unusual =X=-shaped stretcher. It will be
seen from the illustration that the two stretchers when closed fit
flat with the legs and the top flaps over, thus making the table
practically collapsible.
The lower Table, of late seventeenth or early eighteenth century,
is a somewhat primitive form, with the gates at one end. This
has obviously been made by a local carpenter or wheelwright not
conversant with turning, as the shaping of the legs is strongly
suggestive of the rude fashioning of the shafts of a farm wagon.
=Walnut and Mahogany Varieties.=--As the mid-Jacobean period is
left behind, and walnut is the chief wood used in ornamental turned
work, so the character of the gate table begins to incline towards
the technique more suitable to walnut than to oak. The turning, more
easily done in the former wood, becomes more intricate. Hence some
examples appear which are practically types of the walnut age. But,
in general, the old gate-leg table is a survival throughout the
William and Mary and Queen Anne periods, wherein country makers clung
to the oak form and employed oak still in its manufacture.
The William and Mary Gate Table illustrated (p. 105) is constructed
with one gate. It is small in size, practically being an ornamental
or occasional table. It has a fine character, and the "barley
sugar" pattern is deeply turned. Side by side with this is a small
square-topped Gate Table with the pillar-leg, denoting a reversion
to early type. The stretcher is of the old trestle form. Both
these pieces, on account of their small size and well-balanced
construction, show that considerable attention was being paid to
symmetry. Such specimens can readily be transplanted to more modern
surroundings, and yet in some subtle manner harmonise with later
furniture.
They share this peculiarity with objects of Oriental art of the
highest type. Old blue Nankin and old lac cabinets, although
anachronisms amid furniture of a later date, possess the property of
being in sympathy with their new environment, much in the same manner
as an old Persian rug becomes a restful acquisition in a luxurious
Western home.
Some of the forms are so rare as to be almost unique. It is seldom
that so interesting a piece is found as the Table illustrated (p.
105) with the scroll feet in Spanish style. It has only one gate,
and the top of the table lifts up, forming a box. The lock is shown
at the front in the photograph. The adjacent table has a corrupted
form of the Spanish foot, doubled under in cramped fashion like the
flapper of a seal. This also has one gate; in date this piece is
about 1680.
[Illustration:
EARLY GATE TABLE.
With square top and pillar leg.
Stretcher: Old trestle form.
Top, 2 ft. 4 ins. × 1 ft. 10 ins.
WILLIAM AND MARY GATE TABLE.
Fine character deep-turning "barley sugar"
pattern with only one gate.
Top, 2 ft. 6 ins. × 2 ft.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons._)]
[Illustration: GATE TABLE WITH SQUARE TOP. _C._ 1680
Having one gate and corrupted form of carved Spanish foot.]
[Illustration: GATE-LEG TABLE. _C._ 1660.
With one gate. Top lifts up to form box. The feet are in Spanish
style.]
The days of mahogany, with Chippendale in his prime and Hepplewhite,
Ince and Mayhew, Robert Manwaring, Matthias Lock, William Shearer,
and a crowd of others, brought intricate carving in mahogany into
intense prominence. This was the golden age of furniture design. An
outburst of enthusiasm, following the architectural triumphs of the
Brothers Adam, wherein they raised interior decoration to a level as
high as that in France, had swept over the country. In spite of the
rich profusion of new design being poured out in illustrated volumes
and in executed furniture, the old gate-leg table still survived.
In form it was the same, but the richness of the new wood was too
enticing for the cabinet-maker not to employ. Accordingly we find
examples in mahogany.
In the Chippendale period =X=-shaped, cluster-leg, gate tables
are found, and turning was used in this cluster-leg form. The
ripe inventiveness of such a design as the gate-leg table was too
evident to escape the adoption by famous makers. When ingenuity of
construction was at its zenith the gate-leg was not likely to be
discarded in fashionable furniture.
On p. 109 two specimens of this period are shown. The upper one is of
somewhat unusual type, having a Cupid's bow underframing. It is seen
that the Spanish foot has still survived into the eighteenth century.
The lower table is again a rare form. It is probably early in date
for mahogany, being about 1740. The Spanish foot is employed, but in
a coarsened form, unusually inelegant, and suggestive of a golf club.
=Its Utility and Beauty.=--It is a natural question that one may ask
as to the reason that the gate table had such a prolonged life. It
passed through several strong periods of fashionable styles that
were overthrown in turn by newer designs. The reason is not far to
seek. It survived because the public could not do without it. There
must have been a continuous demand, unchecked by the excitements of
contemporary substitutes. But apparently there was nothing to take
its place, or which could permanently supplant it. Its utility is
undoubtedly one of its most marked features. This alone affected
its stability as a possession with which the farmer's wife and the
cottager would not part. Customs long established in the country
were not easily discontinued. Mother, daughter, and granddaughter
clung to the old and practical form of table. Nowadays there are
families in the shires whom nothing would induce to sell their old
gate tables. Partly this is for love of the old home, but mainly is
it the common-sense attitude which rebels against the sale of any
piece of furniture which is in constant use. Many objects long gone
into disuse, but really valuable from an artistic point of view, are
readily dispensed with. The cottager imagines that if he disposes of
a mere ornament for a sum of money with which he can buy something
useful he has effected a good "deal."
[Illustration: MAHOGANY GATE TABLE.
Unusual type. With "Cupid's bow" underframing. Spanish foot
surviving into eighteenth century. Height, 2 ft. 5 ins.: diameter
of top, 3 ft. 6 ins.; width, 4 ft.]
[Illustration: MAHOGANY GATE TABLE.
Rare form. Probably made of the new fashionable wood about 1740.
Use of Spanish foot dying out. Diameter of top, 4 ft. 5-1/2 ins.
× 4 ft. 4 ins.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
So much for its utility. Its beauty is a quality which has appealed
to persons of higher artistic instincts. It is not the quaintness,
because there are scores of other objects equally quaint, nor is
it altogether the antiquity, though, of course, nowadays that is
a determining factor, but it is the actual symmetry of form and
ingenious form of construction, enhanced by the wide range of
decorative treatment, which irresistibly appeal to the lover of the
beautiful. These manifold reasons, therefore, endowed the gate-leg
table with great vitality. Its hold of the people was not relaxed
till the age of the factory-made furniture. The banalities of the
early-Victorian period, which destroyed taste in persons of finer
susceptibilities than the common folk, supplanted the old historic
form, and it was made no more.
=Its Adoption in Modern Days.=--After William Morris and his school
had preached the revival of taste and the return to the simple and
the beautiful, and Ruskin with flowing rhetoric had instilled a love
for homespun into men's minds, there came newer ideals which, with
gradual dissemination, have grown into a great modern movement which
has become so overwhelmingly popular that the pendulum has almost
swung the other way. It has now become almost a truism that the
person of taste to-day sees nothing good in anything that is not old.
With this in view, artists and persons of advanced notions, if they
could not procure the old, had copies made for them of some of the
most beautiful styles suitable for modern requirements. In this there
was always the great Morrisian principle in view that the highest art
must show a full utilitarian purpose; so it came about that the gate
table was revived and came gloriously into its own again. To-day, as
in the seventeenth century, there is no more popular form of table,
and the modern cabinet-maker is manufacturing hundreds of these
tables.
The life-history of the gate-leg table is, therefore, shown to be an
interesting one. It is one of our oldest forms, and its construction
nowadays, save that it is now produced in a factory, is singularly
similar to that in the days when Oliver Cromwell was establishing our
power as a voice in Europe, when James II. had an eye towards the
supremacy of our navy, and when later our troops fought in Flanders.
CHAPTER IV
THE FARMHOUSE DRESSER
CHAPTER IV
THE FARMHOUSE DRESSER
The days of the late Stuarts--Its early table form with
drawers--The decorated type with shelves--William and
Mary style with double cupboards--The Queen Anne cabriole
leg--Mid-eighteenth-century types.
The various types of dresser associated with farmhouse use are
interesting as being apart from the sideboard, a later fashion
belonging to furniture of a higher type. It was not until the late
days of Chippendale, and after, that the Side Table began to be
designated a Sideboard, which later became a receptacle for wine,
with a cellaret, and had a drawer for table-linen.
The sideboard is not a modern term, for the word is found in Dryden
and in Milton. In the late eighteenth-century days the sideboard had
a brass rail at the back, and was ornamented by two mahogany urns of
massive proportions. Usually these were used for iced water and for
hot water, the latter for washing the knives and forks.
The Adam sideboard with its severe classical lines, and Sheraton's
elegant bow fronts and satinwood panels decorated with painting,
belong to the later developments of the sideboard as now known.
The dresser is something more homely. It is indissolubly connected
with homeliness and with the farmhouse and the country-side. In its
various forms it has appealed to lovers of simple furniture, and
farmhouse examples have found their way into surroundings more or
less incongruous. The dresser in its more primitive form requires the
necessary environment. It loses its charm when placed in proximity to
pieces of more pretentious character. The cupboard dresser, or the
type with open shelves, is less decorative than some of the forms
without the back. That is to say, it requires the exactly suitable
accompaniment to prevent its simple lines from being eclipsed by
furniture of a higher grade. The dresser is, therefore, especially
desirable to the collector furnishing a country cottage in harmonious
character; but its inclusion in the modern drawing-room is an
incongruity and its presence in the dining-room is more often than
not an unwarrantable intrusion.
=The Days of the Late Stuarts.=--It will be seen that the early
types have fronts finely decorated with geometric designs panelled
in the same fashion as the Jacobean chests of drawers, such as that
illustrated p. 69. The split baluster ornament is a noticeable
feature in this style, and the fine graceful balance of the panels
with the drawers with drop brass handles is an attractive feature
beloved by connoisseurs of the late Stuart period. The decoration in
the fronts of these early dressers is as diverse in character
as the fronts of the contemporary chests of drawers. This variety is
indicative of the personal character imparted to the work of the old
designers. It is rare to find two examples exactly alike. They differ
in details, much in the same manner as the brass candlesticks of the
same period, which possess the same charm of individuality.
[Illustration: OAK DRESSER. ABOUT 1680.
With finely decorated front.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons._)]
[Illustration: OAK DRESSER.
Fine example of the period of James II.]
[Illustration: OAK DRESSER OF UNUSUAL TYPE. EARLY EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.
With arched formation below and serpentine outline at sides.
Height, 6 ft. 8-1/2 ins.; depth, 1 ft. 6 ins.; width, 6 ft. 2
ins.]
[Illustration: EARLY OAK DRESSER. ABOUT 1660.
With urn-shaped legs.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
Of this particular type of oak Dresser the two examples illustrated
(p. 117) have characteristics which are common to the class. The
geometric front panels, the laid-on moulding, and the Jacobean
leg--in most cases the back legs of these side dressers are
square--should be intently noticed. In regard to the number of
the legs, this is governed by the length of the dresser. In the
lower example it will be seen that there are six legs and that the
stretcher is continued round three sides. In this example the legs
begin to show indications of the late-Jacobean style of more delicate
turning. In the upper example the legs are bolder.
These are oak specimens; the walnut varieties of similar design offer
more sumptuous decoration and belong to furniture more suitable for
the manor house than for the farm or cottage.
An earlier type, in date about 1660, illustrated p. 119, exhibits a
less ornate appearance and has the split urn-shaped legs in front and
flat legs at the back. The split legs are found sometimes in gate
tables, but when such is the case it may safely be conjectured that
these tables are not of English origin, as the split leg did not find
great favour with the English cabinet-makers.
Before passing to later examples it should be observed that this
particular form of dresser is most frequently found without a top
with shelves. Examples there are which, as we shall show, have the
original top, but as a rule it is advisable to note this feature
in examining these Jacobean dressers, for there are a great number
in the market to which later tops have been added, as suitable to
more modern requirements, or as likely to prove more attractive to
those collectors not familiar with the dresser in its earlier form.
Originally in early dressers with shelves there is no back, that is
to say, the shelves showed the wall behind them. This deficiency has
been obligingly supplied by later hands.
The dresser, as it found itself after certain transitional stages had
been passed through, is shown in the early eighteenth-century piece
illustrated (p. 119). This is of the early days of the eighteenth
century, that is to say, in the reign of Queen Anne. It is here seen
that the dresser is a set piece of furniture possessing attributes
instantly marking it as having been carefully designed with a due
observance as to the purpose to which it was to be put. The shelf at
the bottom was evidently intended for use; the arched formation below
the drawers has been planned in that manner to admit of utensils
placed there being taken out and replaced with ease. One can only
conjecture what may have stood there, maybe a barrel of cider, or
perhaps only a breadpan.
=The Decorated Type with Shelves.=--The back with shelves was a
useful addition, which, as will be seen in the earlier examples
leading up to this later development, had borne several experiments
in the way of cupboards. In this particular specimen the broken or
serpentine outline at sides of shelves is a noticeable feature, and
always adds a grace and charm to the dresser when employed by the
cabinet-maker. Another example in which this is effectively used is
illustrated on p. 123.
[Illustration:
DRESSER. EARLY JACOBEAN.
Length, 6 ft. 5 ins.; height, 7 ft. 3 ins.; depth, 1 ft. 8-1/2 ins.
DRESSER. EARLIEST DECORATED TYPE.
Date about 1670.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
To return to the early-Jacobean types: two interesting pieces
are illustrated together (p. 123). That on the left, with four
legs and stretcher, has three drawers, and the upper portion or
back is ornamented by a primitive scalloped design suggestive
of the country hand. The other, on the right, has six legs and
four drawers, and the upper portion is beginning to receive
detailed treatment in regard to spacing of the shelves, and a
small cupboard on each side fills the growing need of cupboards
and drawers, a rapidly growing taste in English furniture for
domestic use as the home-life began to be more complex. About
this time nests of boxes and drawers in lac work from the East
began to be imported into this country in the better houses,
first as articles of great luxury and beauty, on account of
their colour and fine gold work, and later as being something
new and essentially utilitarian in regard to the accommodation
they afforded for the treasures the housewife wished to put away
from the prying eyes of her curious neighbours. As time went
on, the art of the cabinet-maker became more intricate. It is
not the place here to enter into the minutiæ of the development
of drawers and bureaus and cabinets, but the late eighteenth
century brought such furniture, apart from points in relation to
beauty of design, to great constructive skill. The age was one of
hidden contrivances and intricately cunning mechanism concealing
secret drawers or receptacles. Such pieces were never made for
farmhouse use; but the germ of the idea is ever present in all
furniture with indications of locked drawers and cupboards. This
is the note of intense civilisation as against the simpler modes
of primitive folk who have no bolt to their door and no lock to
guard their possessions.
=William and Mary Style with Double Cupboards.=--The variety
with double cupboards are interesting as giving a date to the
dressers in which they are found. It is usually accurate to
place such pieces in the William and Mary period, that is to say
from the year 1689 to the end of the seventeenth century. The
tendency in this class of furniture is to cling tenaciously to
older forms, especially in certain portions of the cabinet-work
which presented difficulties to the local cabinet-maker. The legs
retained their early-Jacobean character even when associated with
much later styles. This is noticeable in the William and Mary
example illustrated (p. 127). The arcaded doors are inlaid, the
canopy is decorated, the underwork beneath the drawers belongs
essentially to the "Orange" period of design in its feeling.
That the dresser could be made an ornamental piece of furniture
and found its place as an important possession in the farmhouse,
bright with an array of china, or pewter, or even silver, is
amply shown by the two examples illustrated together of which
the foregoing is one. The other oak dresser has at the top,
where the mugs are hanging, the original mug-hooks. It is of
the square-leg type and the arcaded work below the drawers
gives distinction to its lines; it possesses also the broken or
serpentine ends to the shelves. These curves and simple touches
of ornament all contribute to make such dressers pleasing in
character and representative of native work attempting with
strong endeavour to produce artistic results suitable to their
environment.
[Illustration: WILLIAM AND MARY OAK DRESSER. DATE _C._ 1689.
Decorated canopy, arcaded doors, inlaid and turned legs. Height,
6 ft. 8-1/2 ins.; length, 6 ft. 4 ins.; depth, 1 ft. 8 ins.]
[Illustration: OAK DRESSER.
Square leg type; with original mug hooks. Height, 6 ft.; length,
4 ft. 3 ins.; depth, 1 ft. 5 ins.]
=The Queen Anne Cabriole Leg.=--It is not to be expected that the
long-continued triumph of the cabriole leg of the eighteenth century
would leave the dresser without making its mark thereon. The exact
curve of the cabriole leg is dangerous in the hands of a novice,
who rarely if ever gets the correct balance in conjunction with the
rest of the construction. Accordingly, in farmhouse pieces this
tells its own story. It is as though the cabriole leg were a sudden
afterthought. This touch of representative want of repose is shown in
the specimen illustrated (p. 135). In date this is about 1740, and is
a somewhat rare form, having double cupboards.
A unique Dresser and Clock combined is illustrated (p. 131). The
form of the dresser, it will be seen, is quite different from other
specimens. The back is only sufficiently high to carry a row of small
drawers. The legs are circular and tapered, terminating in circular
feet. In the centre of the dresser is a clock of the familiar
grandfather form in miniature. This clock is not an addition to the
dresser, but is a portion of the dresser and was made with it. The
illustration shows the size of the door of the clock-case, with its
hinges not cut down or in any way interfered with, and the lock on
the other side is in the centre of the panel. It is obvious that no
later hand has tampered with this fine example, and it stands as a
remarkable dresser and unique in form in its construction with this
clock.
=Mid-eighteenth-century Types.=--In the Lancashire Dresser
illustrated (p. 135) the top is reminiscent of early types. The
cupboard has removed its position to the middle, a departure from
all earlier forms. This is a very characteristic example, and the
ample drawer accommodation shows the speedy transition from the old
form of dresser through its varied stages to the later modern variety
of the kitchen dresser, devoid of poetry and lacking interest to
the collector, and yet to the student having traces of its ancient
lineage.
The eighteenth-century farmhouse varieties offer no great departure.
They aim at being capacious and massive. They make no pretensions
to approach the niceties of the sideboard in use in the better
houses. They supply an undoubted want in the farmhouse for storage.
There were cordials and home-made wines and much prized linen and
a bright array of silver and Sheffield plate and pewter, and no
doubt tea services or porcelain from the new English factories of
Worcester, Derby, Bow, or maybe Plymouth or Bristol, to be shielded
from breakage. The farmer's wife and the farmer's daughters were less
than human if they did not follow the new fashions in some degree,
more or less, in tea-drinking and in becoming the proud possessors
of tea services and dinner services somewhat more delicate than the
old delft and coarse Staffordshire ware. The cupboards had ample
accommodation for these more valuable accessories of the farmhouse
parlour. The cabinet-maker therefore developed on lines exactly
suitable for the country clients whom he served.
[Illustration: UNIQUE DRESSER AND CLOCK COMBINED.
The clock is not an addition, but is a portion of the dresser,
and was made for it.
(_In the collection of D. A. Bevan, Esq._)]
The late forms show this marked tendency to provide innumerable
drawers and cupboards, in the farmhouse dressers contemporary with
Chippendale. Many examples are found which are practically elongated
chests of drawers; the old characteristics of the dresser are absent,
the back has disappeared altogether. There is no top with shelves.
Eight large drawers and two capacious cupboards give great storage
room in a piece often 9 feet in length. There is nothing finicking
in this type of furniture. It stands for homely comfort and love of
domestic order. We may be sure that the good dame who used this lower
piece, with its eight solid drawers with sound locks, was a person
of frugal habits and love of the old farmstead. We may safely assume
that she had a well-filled stocking hidden away somewhere in this
old-fashioned repository, put by for the rainy day.
In conclusion it may be said that a good deal has been talked about
Welsh dressers, as though they were a type absolutely apart from
any other. The differences are not great, as the carving, in which
the Welsh craftsman offers characteristics of his own, is absent in
pieces of furniture such as the dresser. Then there is the Normandy
dresser, a much-abused term: a considerable number of these, and
others, too, from Brittany, have been imported and the terms have
become trade descriptions. But in the main the English dresser
has passed through the phases we have described, and the outlines
herein suggested may be filled in by the painstaking collector. In
the chapter dealing with local types there is an illustration of
a Lancashire dresser (p. 273) which adds one more example to the
gallery of dressers we give as types in this chapter.
[Illustration: OAK DRESSER. DATE ABOUT 1740.
With early double cupboards. Legs in Queen Anne style. Height, 6
ft. 7 ins.; width, 9 ft. 5-1/2 ins.; depth, 2 ft. 2-1/2 ins.]
[Illustration: LANCASHIRE DRESSER. MIDDLE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Top reminiscent of early types. Ample drawer accommodation.
Transition to modern dresser. Deeply cut panels. Cupboard in
middle as distinct from earlier forms at sides. Height, 7 ft. 2
ins.; width, 6 ft. 7 ins.; depth, 2 ft.]
CHAPTER V
THE BIBLE-BOX, THE CRADLE, THE SPINNING-WHEEL, AND THE
BACON-CUPBOARD
CHAPTER V
THE BIBLE-BOX, THE CRADLE, THE SPINNING-WHEEL, AND THE BACON-CUPBOARD
The Puritan days of the seventeenth century--The Protestant
Bible in every home--The variety of carving found in
Bible-boxes--The Jacobean cradle and its forms--The
spinning-wheel--The bacon-cupboard.
The Authorised version of the Holy Bible, "translated out of the
original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared
and revised," by His Majesty's command, found a place in every
household in Stuart days. The letter of the learned translators "To
the most High and Mighty Prince James, by the Grace of God, King of
Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith," &c.,
retains its place in modern editions. It is an historic document
worthy of preservation, and perhaps those who have forgotten its
terms may be glad to have their memory refreshed. It is of surpassing
moment to all who recognise the Protestant derivation of the Bible
as we now know it, and the sectarian feelings which inspired the
translators under King James in their fulsome dedication to the
Modern Solomon. "Great and manifold were the blessings, most dread
Sovereign, which Almighty God the Father of all mercies bestowed upon
us the people of England, when first he sent your Majesty's Royal
Person to rule and reign over us. For whereas it was the expectation
of many, who wished not well unto our _Sion_, that upon the setting
of that bright Occidental Star, Queen Elizabeth, of most happy
memory, some thick and palpable clouds of darkness would so have
overshadowed this land, that men should have been in doubt which way
they were to walk; and that it should hardly be known who was to
direct the unsettled State; the appearance of your Majesty, as the
Sun in its strength, instantly dispelled those supposed and surmised
mists, and gave unto all that were well affected exceeding cause of
comfort; especially when we beheld the Government established in Your
Highness and your hopeful seed, by an undoubted title, and this also
accompanied by peace and tranquillity at home and abroad."
It is, as we affirm, an interesting document as showing the Puritan
tendencies at a time when much was in the melting-pot and the first
of the Stuarts, with his broad Scots accent and his ungainly ways,
came down to St. James's from the North. Compare the above literary
dedication to James the First with the word-portrait painted by Green
the historian, and one may draw one's own inferences. "His big head,
his slobbering tongue, his quilted clothes, his rickety legs, stood
out in as grotesque a contrast with all that men recalled of Henry
or of Elizabeth as his gabble and rodomontade, his want of personal
dignity, his buffoonery, his coarseness of speech, his pedantry, his
contemptible cowardice. Under this ridiculous exterior, however, lay
a man of much natural ability, a ripe scholar with a considerable
fund of shrewdness, of mother-wit, and ready repartee."