But serves none now but the plebeian hand."
The picture he draws of the farmer who, in face of prevailing
fashion, "yields up the custom that he dearly loves" is pathetic. The
long table and dining in common together had seemingly vanished. "The
_separate_ table and the costly bowl" touch the rustic poet's pride.
He italicises the word "separate."
[Illustration: CHEST. DATED 1636.
With Welsh inscription on lid. (Standing on table of later date.)]
[Illustration: WELSH CUPBOARD.
With typical coarse style of carving. Should be 1650 at latest.
Inscribed I.S. 1710.]
This loving regard for the past is natural at a time when the rural
population jealously feared the oncoming of the age of machinery,
which threatened to supersede many of their local industries and
finally succeeded in so doing. The obstinate adherence to old forms
was possibly part of a nervous fear of the unknown future. The
love for existing forms of furniture was therefore part of this
apprehensive retention of tradition. Not only was the resistance
of town fashions a strong feature, but local prejudices prevailed
against the adoption of designs belonging to rival counties. To
this day the Staffordshire clothes-horse, carried on pulleys to
the ceiling when not in use, differs from the clothes-horse of the
cottager in the South with no such mechanical device. In Edinburgh,
in the narrow closes, there is a kind of gallows projecting from the
windows.
These apparently minor details which find their embodiment in
articles of everyday use, fascinate and hold the attention of the
acute collector of cottage furniture.
The same local types apply to the art of the potter and are well
known to collectors. There are Sussex "tygs" and Nottingham "bears"
and Sunderland and Newcastle jugs and mugs. Bristol had its
characteristic earthenware, and the Lowestoft china factory was
strongly Suffolk in its homely inscriptions with a touch of dialect.
=Welsh Carving.=--Wales is famous for the abundance of the oak
farmhouse furniture proudly kept to this day in families who have
held the same homestead sometimes for centuries. One of the most
noticeable features is the elaboration of the carving and its
native representation, coarsely carved, without foreign influence,
of birds and beasts and heraldic monsters which largely figure
in the decorative panels of chests, and especially dressers. So
popular was oak that it might almost be advanced that there never
was any mahogany in Wales. But it is indisputable that the great
outburst in carved mahogany chairbacks coincident with the advent of
Chippendale and the publication of his _Director_, never penetrated
Wales, although it led to the foundation of a remarkable school of
woodcarving on the new lines in Ireland, known as Irish Chippendale,
a study of which can be made in Mr. Owen Wheeler's volume on old
furniture.
The intense love of the Welsh woodcarver for intricacy is hardly
less than that of the sturdy Swiss craftsmen environed by mountains.
Perhaps the long winters and the solitary life influence the
development of individual character in the applied arts. The Welsh
love-spoons of wood, linked together and exhibiting delicate pierced
work and minute carving of no mean order, are among other attractive
specimens of native art. Ironwork of fine quality is also to be found
in Wales.
[Illustration: LANCASHIRE DRESSER. ABOUT 1730-1750.
Oak inlaid with mahogany.]
[Illustration: ELM WARDROBE (WELSH). ABOUT 1670.]
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)
[Illustration: FLAP-TOP TABLE.
Rare Hertfordshire Example. Diameter of top, 2 ft. 6 ins.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons._)]
[Illustration: LANCASHIRE SPINDLE-BACK CHAIRS.]
A carved oak chest of Welsh origin, dated 1636, with Welsh
inscription on lid, is illustrated (p. 269). The table on which it
stands is of a later date. The carving in this piece is delicate
and the middle panel is typical of the representation of birds and
foliage. The Welsh cupboard on the same page typifies the coarse
woodcarving associated with Welsh farmhouse art. In style this really
belongs to a date not later than 1650. But it is dated 1710 and
bears the initials "I.S." This is an interesting example, showing
how middle-Jacobean styles lingered in country districts remote from
outside influence until the early eighteenth century.
An elm wardrobe, probably about 1670 in date, shows another type,
but still retaining the coarse character of its carving and its
well-filled panels and uprights (illustrated p. 273).
=Scottish Types.=--Scotland has antiquities of her own which are
closely allied to those of all the Gaelic races. As with Welsh
carved farmhouse furniture, there is a marked leaning towards coarse
style. As a rule it is too utilitarian in appearance to display
much carving. The spinning-wheel is still found in farmhouses, and
is still used in Harris and the outlying islands. Sometimes these
old Highland spinning-wheels come into the market with the smooth
surface worn by generations of workers, a surface impossible to
reproduce. The Scottish ironwork is especially interesting. Perhaps
the most curious of the Scottish antiquities is the crusie. This is
undoubtedly a survival of the classic oil lamp. It consists of a
shallow trough with a spout in which the wick stands, the oil being
contained in the trough (see illustration, p. 289).
=Lancashire Furniture.=--The especial characteristics of
Lancashire-made furniture are a strong leaning to solid structure and
a very noticeable reticence in carving. Well-balanced as a rule, and
possessing good joinery, they have been favourites with collectors
of furniture designed for modern use. A Queen Anne oak dresser
illustrated (p. 135) shows this Lancashire sturdiness at its best.
This style of large dresser with cabriole legs is associated with
Lancashire cabinet work.
A Lancashire dresser, the date of which is from about 1730 to 1750,
shows the oak dresser inlaid with mahogany. The carved pediment and
the carved underwork beneath the drawers mark this as an unusual
specimen (p. 273).
A typical Lancashire oak settle is illustrated (p. 279), showing the
Jacobean style in the carved work and in the arms. In date this is
about 1660. It will be noticed that the front of the seat has a row
of holes, which, prior to the upholstered cushion, a later addition,
were intended for ropes to support a cushion, much in the same manner
as the iron laths of a modern bedstead.
On the same page is illustrated an oak chest of drawers of Yorkshire
origin, in date about 1770. Its plain lines suggest the Hepplewhite
types of subdued character.
In regard to spindle-back chairs, Lancashire offers distinctive
varieties. Two examples are illustrated (p. 275) as indicating this
local type.
[Illustration: OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS. _C._ 1770.
Yorkshire type.
Height, 3 ft. 3 ins.; width, 3 ft. 1 in.; depth, 1 ft. 5-1/2 ins.]
[Illustration: LANCASHIRE OAK SETTLE. _C._ 1660.]
[Illustration: ISLE OF MAN TABLE.
Showing three legs with knee breeches and buckle shoes.]
[Illustration: "CRICKET" TABLE. _C._ 1700.]
[Illustration: "CRICKET." _C._ 1750.
(These types are found in Hertfordshire, South Bedfordshire,
South Cambridge, and Essex.)]
=Three Legged Tables.=--Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridge, and
Essex have produced a type of tables termed colloquially "cricket
tables," possibly because the three legs are suggestive of three
stumps. The term is a foolish one and not very appropriate. A very
interesting flap-top table with the three flaps to turn down,
illustrated (p. 275), is a very rare Hertfordshire example. This is
small in size, having only a diameter of two and a half feet.
Two other tables, one in date about 1700 and the other, of slender
form, in date about 1750, are typical of this class of table. A very
interesting table is a specimen from the Isle of Man having three
carved legs with knee-breeches and buckle shoes.
Sussex is also well-known for her ironwork (see Chapter X.).
Norfolk and Suffolk used to have a class of oak furniture of quaint
type, less cumbersome than the Welsh. A type of Sheraton Windsor
chair, often inlaid with brass, used also to be found there.
On the whole, those localities which are removed from important towns
are the richest in cottage furniture, for example, Wales, Devonshire,
Cumberland, Northumberland, and parts of Yorkshire. In places, where
the prosperity of the peasants is of long standing, the cottage
furniture has been maintained whole almost until the present day.
Altogether the study of local types affords considerable scope for
critical study. It is essential that such pieces should be identified
and classified before it is too late. Rapidly all cottage and
farmhouse furniture is being scattered over all parts of England.
Collectors transfer furniture from the North to the South, and
the rural treasures of the peasant have been brought to towns and
dispersed to alien districts. The Education Act of 1870 and the
halfpenny newspaper have brought town fashions to the door of the
cottager, and the motor has laid a heavy tribute on rustic seclusion.
CHAPTER X
MISCELLANEOUS IRONWORK, Etc.
CHAPTER X
MISCELLANEOUS IRONWORK, ETC.
The rushlight-holder--The dipper--The chimney crane--The
Scottish crusie--Firedogs--The Warming-pan--Sussex
firebacks--Grandfather clocks.
The everyday iron utensils and implements of the cottages were
simple. It is one of the curious features of the English peasantry
that just as they clung to their oak of generations back when
mahogany was in vogue, so they adhered tenaciously to ironwork of
almost mediæval character when other metals were in fashionable
everyday use. Thus the cottager did not feel the oncoming desire for
the brass, or later silver and plated candlesticks, but remained
firm in his affection for the rushlight-holders in iron, the same
types which his ancestors had used, and the firedogs and firebacks
of earlier type remained to decorate his hearth. Thus ironwork and
rarely brasswork form the sum total of the metal portion of cottage
furniture. We will deal with these various utilitarian objects one by
one.
It must be remembered that the country farmer was not familiar with
ready-made candles, and it probably no more entered his head to
purchase candles in a town than it occurred to him to do other than
bake his own bread. The cottager therefore made his candles for
himself. If he were well-to-do and could afford to entertain his
friends in modest fashion, he would doubtless like to illuminate his
table with candles of symmetrical form. In which case he would use
a candle-mould, and the wax bought in towns would serve for this
purpose. But he was not always so rich, and perhaps he was happiest
of all with the faintly glimmering rush dips which his forbears used.
These afforded a rough-and-ready form of lighting. They burned and
spluttered like a torch or flickered faintly as the tallow grew thin.
Their form closely resembled an amateur's first attempt at making a
cigarette. They were made in the following manner: the thin wirelike
rushes which grew by the water's edge were gathered and stripped of
their green surface till only the soft white pith remained. This
served as a wick. The wax was then melted over a fire in a trough or
candle-dipper, of which an illustration appears (p. 289).
Across this long receptacle the pith wicks were laid till the wax
soaked into them. They were then taken out for the wax to cool and
were dipped once or twice afterwards in order to form their outer
coating. By such a primitive process a kind of thin taper was
formed. It was not parallel along its sides, but bulged and narrowed
throughout its length in primitive manner.
[Illustration: RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.
Showing rush fixed ready for lighting.
SCOTCH CRUSIE.
With holder.
RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.
Showing forceps for holding
rushlight.]
[Illustration: SUFFOLK PIPE CLEANER.
The long clay "churchwarden" pipes were placed in this iron
rack and put into the fire, after which they came out perfectly
cleaned.
CANDLE-DIPPER.
(_In the collection of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: QUEEN ANNE POT-HANGER.
With original grate. Same date.
(_By the courtesy of Messrs. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: KETTLE TRIVET.
Brass and Iron. Dated about 1770.]
Such a taper, from its uneven thickness, would naturally not
fit the socket of a candlestick, and the only receptacle would be a
scissor-like mechanism with jaws capable of clasping it at any point.
Thus we find the rushlight-holder of common use, as illustrated (p.
289).
The illustrations show two rush-holders with the rushlights affixed
in position ready for lighting, and one showing how the jaws or
forceps clip the rushlight. In practice about an inch or an inch and
a half was above the clip and the rest below. A rushlight some twelve
to fifteen inches long would burn half an hour, and it had to receive
constant attention, being pushed upwards every five minutes. But it
must be remembered that the persons who used this primitive form of
light did not use it for reading nor for a long period at a time.
They usually went to bed early after sunset.
In regard to rushlight-holders the earliest form was without the
accompanying candle-socket, but when the use of tallow dip candles
became prevalent, later forms are found, as illustrated, with the
candle-socket in addition to the holder for the rushlight.
The Scottish crusie is an iron trough of dimensions like a small
sauceboat, which was used for lighting purposes, and was often
suspended, as in the one illustrated (p. 289), from a crane or
hanger. This crusie was filled with oil and the illumination given
by a floating wick, much in the same manner as classic examples, to
which the shape bears a distant resemblance.
The firedogs were always simple, doubtless the product of the local
blacksmith. Where they had hooks along the backs they held crossbars
to prevent the logs falling into the room. The dates of these, as
of all cottage ironwork, are almost impossible to fix, owing to the
survival of the earlier types even so late as the middle of the
nineteenth century.
=The Chimney Crane.=--A most important part of the cottager's
fireplace was his chimney crane. These were of two kinds, the
pot-hook and the swing-arm variety. The pot-hook hung in the chimney
from a chain, and from its teeth was fixed a catch which might be
lowered or raised to keep the cauldron at a level with the flames.
The swing-arm type is more elaborate, and was made to fit very large
fireplaces, where the fire might not invariably be in the same spot
on the hearth. This type was used in the kitchens of the better
farmhouses. Its end was fixed to the wall of the hearth, and the pot
could be swung backwards and forwards and sideways, besides being
raised or lowered to the fire.
The pot-hook is of great antiquity, and belongs to days when man
first learned to cook his food. Frequently in this country early
examples are dug up. There are fine specimens to be seen of the late
Celtic period at the Owens College Museum, at the Northampton Museum,
at the Liverpool Museum, at the Pitt Rivers Museum at Farnham, at the
Victoria and Albert Museum, and elsewhere.
"Pot-hooks and hangers" is an English phrase denoting the beginning
of things academic, and the French phrase _pendre la crémaillère_
(literally to hang the pot-hook) is used to-day in reference to what
we term a "house-warming" party on settling in a new abode.
Another interesting cottage treasure is the cake-baker. This was a
kind of thick frying-pan having a lid, which protected the dough from
the heat when it was held over the smouldering ashes. The tops of
these are often incised with quaint patterns, the impress of which
appears on the cake.
Kettle-trivets are sometimes found in cottages, possibly relics from
better houses or having belonged to the more prosperous farmer.
They are not wholly of iron, being partly of brass. The specimen
illustrated (p. 291) is of late eighteenth-century days.
=The Warming-pan.=--There is an especial charm in the old brass
warming-pan of the farmhouse and the treasured highly-polished
ornament of many a proud cottager to-day. Many modern-made
warming-pans from Holland and elsewhere have found their way into
the possession of unsuspecting collectors. But fine old English
warming-pans are interesting, and summon up memories of careful
housewives and well-aired lavender-smelling sheets in ancient
old-world inns. On fine examples inscriptions may be found, and the
incised work of the pattern on the brass covers is often individual
in character.
Of the examples illustrated (p. 307) one has an incised inscription
around the edge, "The Lord only is my portion." The other has a
dotted geometrical pattern with a star-like design of conventional
floral incised work.
It is unfortunate that the diligence of the housewife has often
obliterated much of the fine work of some of these designs. The
warming-pan offers in itself a complete field for the collector. He
can compare the work of seventeenth-century Dutch examples, with
their quaint religious inscriptions and their finely embossed and
engraved ornamentation, with English specimens of the same date.
That the warming-pan was in use in Elizabethan days is proved by
references in Shakespeare. It has a long history, from Sir John
Falstaff, when Bardolph was bidden to put his face between the
sheets and do the office of a warming-pan, to Mr. Pickwick--to quote
Sergeant Buzfuz, "Don't trouble yourself about the warming-pan--the
warming-pan! Why, gentlemen, who does trouble himself about a
warming-pan?"
=Sussex Firebacks.=--The fireback was usually part of the cottager's
belongings, though perhaps only one would figure in his house, where
possibly his only hearth was in his living-room.
These were cast and forged in various parts of the country, and large
numbers appear to have been made in Sussex, which is, or rather
was, the greatest hunting-ground for good specimens of cottagers'
ironwork. Some highly interesting specimens of these are to be herein
illustrated.
The records of the Sussex iron industry go back to a very early date,
and the town of Lewes, in the thirteenth century, raised taxes by
charging a toll on every cartload of iron admitted. Under Edward
III. the Sussex ironworks provided three thousand horseshoes and
twenty-nine thousand nails for the English army in its campaign in
Scotland. The local rhyme--
"Master Hogge and his man John
They did cast the first cannon"--
is not without reason, as in Bodiam Castle and elsewhere are mortars
of Sussex work of fifteenth-century style. In the sixteenth century a
considerable number of firebacks was made, some with the royal arms
and with the royal cipher, "E.R.," and bearing dates and sometimes
makers' names.
[Illustration: COUNTRY FIREDOGS. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
[Illustration: FIRE GRATE. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
The earliest form was stamped with the _fleur-de-lys_ or with
portions of twisted cable to form some sort of symmetrical design.
We are enabled, by the kindness of Mr. C. Dawson, F.S.A., of Lewes,
to reproduce some Sussex firebacks from his collection. An example
of the first half of the sixteenth century, illustrated (p. 301),
shows the rope-like border impressed on the sand mould, and the field
impressed with repetitions of a _fleur-de-lys_ from a single stamp.
Another interesting fireback is the "Royal Oak" design, with the
initials "C.R." This is commemorative of the escape of Charles II.
from pursuit by Cromwell's Ironsides and his refuge in the oak-tree.
It will be observed that this specimen has a moulded edge, which
is from a single wood pattern carved in one piece. Amidst the oak
foliage will be seen three crowns, and this exuberance of loyalty
bears a resemblance to certain chairs of the period (copied by the
score nowadays), in which the crown finds a place in the stretcher.
One fireback illustrated (p. 303) shows an ironmaster with his hammer
at his forge. The adjacent piece has the Tudor rose surmounted by
the royal crown, and bears the date 1650, slightly earlier than the
"Royal Oak" example.
All the foregoing specimens are native in their conception of design.
They approximate closely to the Jacobean carved panel with its narrow
range of subjects, and have a relationship to Stuart needlework with
its royal symbolism. Later came the Dutch influence, most marked in
its effect upon the shape, height, and character of these firebacks.
This became especially noticeable in the eighteenth century, and
in the illustrations (p. 303) of two wooden patterns from which
the firebacks were made at Ashburnham, Sussex, this is clearly
shown. The designs are ornate and represent either some scriptural
or mythological subject. The woodcarving is of a style strongly
under Dutch influence, and the tall proportions suggest gravestones
(indeed, in Sussex there are headstones made of iron, with pictures
and inscriptions).
The mode of casting these iron firebacks in sand and the employment
of wooden patterns to form the mould into which the molten metal was
to run is familiar to any foundry in casting iron. In regard to the
early examples with the twisted cable rim, it is conjectured that
pieces of twisted rope were actually laid on the wet sand to produce
this pattern--that is, before the use of carved wooden patterns
such as are illustrated. In regard to the bolder "cable twist"
pattern, it is believed this was produced by impression of pieces of
rope stiffened with glue, and twisted around iron rods.
[Illustration: SUSSEX IRON FIREBACK. FIRST HALF OF SIXTEENTH
CENTURY.
Rope-like border impressed on sand mould. The field impressed
with repetitions from a single _fleur-de-lys_ stamp.]
[Illustration: SUSSEX IRON FIREBACK.
The Royal Oak Design, commemorative of the Restoration. Late
Seventeenth Century. Moulded edge and carved in one piece from a
single pattern.
(_In the collection of Charles Dawson, Esq., F.S.A., Lewes._)]
[Illustration: SUSSEX FIREBACKS.
Tudor Rose surmounted by Royal
Crown. Dated 1650.
Depicting Ironmaster at his Forge.
(Very rusty and worn.)]
[Illustration: ORIGINAL WOODEN PATTERNS.
Dutch influence. Eighteenth Century. From which firebacks were
made at Ashburnham, Sussex.
(_By the courtesy of Charles Dawson, Esq., F.S.A., Lewes._)]
The size of the wooden pattern is slightly larger than the resultant
fireback, owing to the shrinkage of the metal on cooling. This
diminution in design is a factor in the potter's art, when figures
in some cases lose nearly a third of their original proportions when
moulded in the clay prior to firing.
Firebacks have attracted a considerable amount of interest. There are
many collectors, and a great deal of close study has been applied to
the subject. Country museums in the vicinity of the Weald of Sussex
and Kent contain many notable examples, especially those of Lewes,
Hastings, Brighton, Rochester, Maidstone, and Guildford. In the first
mentioned there are some very rare and beautiful examples of Sussex
firebacks.
Especially interesting in connection with the Sussex ironworks is the
illustration (p. 309) of a clock face made by a local maker, Beeching
of Ashburnham, in the late seventeenth century. This brass dial of a
thirty-hour clock, with single hand and alarum, is ornamented with
designs showing various phases of the iron industry as carried on in
Sussex. There is a cannon with diminutive figures holding the match.
There are cannon-balls, and a liliputian fireback with a crown on
it. Men with pickaxes, men felling trees, and others tending the
furnaces, symbolise the business of a foundry.
It was not until 1690 that the minute numerals were placed outside
the minute divisions in clock faces, so that this face, having the
minute numerals absent and the minute divisions in the inner circle,
presumably belongs to the late seventeenth century.
=Grandfather Clocks.=--A volume on cottage and farmhouse furniture
would be incomplete without some reference to grandfather clocks.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century this type of clock had
become popular. The early brass-bracket clock known as "Cromwellian,"
varying from six to ten inches in height, had a spring. With the use
of the long pendulum and revolving drums, around which catgut is
wound to support the heavy weights, these unprotected parts required
a wooden case.
The "lantern" or "bird-cage" clocks (wallclocks from which the
pendulum and weights hung unprotected) lasted till about 1680, when
the first grandfather type with wood case came into use.
The early examples with cases exhibiting fine marquetry are outside
the scope of the class of furniture now under consideration. In such
specimens there is frequently a round or oval opening covered with
glass in the centre of the panel.
In earlier types the metal dial is square, and later it became
lunetted at top, and the wood case had a corresponding curve. In
clocks made for great houses there were chimes, and their works
were by well-known town makers. But in cottage examples, instead
of the eight-day movement, more often than not the clock only ran
for twenty-four hours. There is little attempt at ornament in
these plain oak varieties. The case is soundly constructed, and
sometimes, in exceptional examples, the head is surmounted by
brass ball finials, as in the finer examples. As a rule the country
cabinet-maker confined himself to an ornamental scrolled head. In
later examples the metal dial--and these come at the beginning of the
nineteenth century--is painted with some rustic scene with figures,
and frequently there is a revolving dial showing the days of the
month.
[Illustration: WARMING-PANS.
Finely decorated with incised work. One with inscription, "The
Lord only is my portion."
(_By the courtesy of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
[Illustration: GRANDFATHER CLOCK.
With Oak Case.
Made by J. Paxton, St. Neots. Height, 6 ft. 10 ins.]
[Illustration: BRASS DIAL OF THIRTY-HOUR CLOCK.
Single Hand and Alarum. Late Seventeenth Century.
Ornamented with designs showing various phases of the iron
industry, as carried on at Ashburnham, Sussex.
(_In the collection of Charles Dawson, Esq., F.S.A., Lewes._)]
The entire head covering the dial is often removable in old clocks to
which there is no hinged door, as in later made examples.
These country grandfather clocks are much treasured by their owners,
and have been handed down in families for generations. Owing to the
indefatigability of collectors and their persistent and tempting
offers, many have left their old homes. The demand has been great,
and thousands of "grandfather" clocks have been made during the last
twenty years and sold as "antique," or old cases with plain panels
have received the unwelcome attention of the modern restorer and have
been carved to please a popular whim for carved oak panels.
In regard to dates of grandfather clocks the records of the
Clockmakers' Company give a list of makers of the eighteenth century,
enabling the period to be fairly accurately fixed. The walnut
cases inlaid with floral marquetry, often attributed to the period
1690-1725, that is William and Mary and Queen Anne, frequently belong
to a quarter of a century later. The case-makers clung more closely
to old designs than did the clockmakers. Hence the case very often
is of apparently older style than the works, though both were made
contemporaneously. In addition to this, new clocks were put in older
cases, or _vice versa_, which, like putting new pictures in old
frames, adds to the gaiety of collecting.
In general the London clock-cases are only roughly indicative, in
comparison with the Company records, of contemporary styles of
furniture. In country-made pieces the wood cases are anything from
twenty to forty years behind London fashions. For example, the arched
top occurs after 1720 in London, and after 1735 in the provinces. In
the _Director_ of Chippendale and in Sheraton's and Hepplewhite's
books of designs there are illustrations of clock cases. The
progression of styles of eighteenth-century grandfather clock cases
is from plain oak to figured walnut, black and red lacquer, floral,
"seaweed," or mosaic marquetry, and in the latter decades of the
eighteenth century inlaid mahogany cases, and many of these have
finely veneered panels. In many country clocks oak cases are veneered
in mahogany, but as a rule country made grandfather cases are plain
oak. The example illustrated (p. 307) indicates the plain type of
solidly made provincial piece. The clock was made by J. Paxton at St.
Neots.
The mahogany-cased grandfather clock is never found in cottages.
There are no Chippendale styles in this field for the collector to
search for. The plainness of the country style has happily in many
instances preserved them from alien hands. An interesting revival,
chiefly on account of expense, is found in the Dutch clock, with
china face painted with flowers, which the cottager bought in early
and middle nineteenth-century days. This form of clock reverted to
the unprotected pendulum and weights, and is an object-lesson in what
the style of English clock was before the use of a long wooden case.
But these Dutch clocks are interesting rather than valuable, and have
not yet claimed the attention of collectors.
CHAPTER XI
OLD ENGLISH CHINTZES
CHAPTER XI
OLD ENGLISH CHINTZES
BY HUGH PHILLIPS
The charm of old English chintz--Huguenot cloth-printers settle
in England--Jacob Stampe at the sign of the Calico Printer--The
Queen Anne period--The Chippendale period--The age of machinery.
The present chapter has been added with perhaps some justification,
since it seemed to the writer that such a subject as old English
chintzes might appropriately take its place beside the equally homely
craft of the rural cabinet-maker.
For the chintz is the _tapisserie d'aubusson_ of the peasant--it
covers his chairs and drapes his windows, giving warmth and wealth of
colour to the otherwise barren appearance of his cottage. Further,
it reflects his simple horticultural tastes, for the brilliantly
coloured roses, pansies, and convolvuluses which shine prominently on
the glazed surface of the cloth are those flowers which are always to
be found in his garden.
Chintz or printed cotton is the only decorative fabric known to the
village upholsterer. When persons of wealth hung their windows with
silk brocades and covered their chairs with costly needlework and
damasks, the rural cabinet-maker was supplying his modest _clientèle_
with these homely patterns printed upon common cloth.
These unassuming fabrics were as much cherished by the cottagers as
anything which they possessed. The classical ornament of expensive
silks they did not understand, and the freely treated birds and
flowers which figured on chintz represented the Alpha and Omega of
beauty in textile design.
So great, indeed, is the fascination of these for the cottagers that
to-day, in districts less penetrated by modern advance, the rural
populace will not extend their affections to the up-to-date designs
of upholsterers, but insist upon the old spot and sprig patterns of
their ancestors.
There is much wisdom in the conservative taste of the peasant, for
the old chintz of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was
of the highest artistic merit. In the heyday of its fame the fabric
was exceedingly fashionable amongst the richest persons, and there
are abundant records of the popularity of old English chintzes upon
the Continent. For, at its best periods, the chintz was not a base
imitation of more expensive fabrics; it did not, for instance,
occupy the relationship of pewter to silver or moulded composition
to genuine woodcarving. On the contrary, the designing of chintzes
is an art of distinction, governed by canons which bear little
relationship to other decorative textile crafts. For where the
silk-weaver is confined to solid patterns which will appear in his
transverse threads, the printer of cloths can wander unrestrained
into designs of wonderful intricacy and beauty: every colour in
nature he can imitate, and no object is too delicate or too rich to
stamp upon his cotton. Indeed, his art stops little short of that of
the painter of pictures.
[Illustration: OLD TRADE CARD SHOWING CALICO PRINTERS AT WORK.
"Jacob Stampe living at ye Sighn of the Callico Printer in
Hounsditch Prints all sorts of Callicoes Lineings Silkes Stuffs
New or Ould at Reasonable Rates."
(_From old print at British Museum._)]
[Illustration: ENGLISH PRINTED CALICO. ABOUT 1690.
With contemporary portraits.
(_By courtesy of Mr. T. D. Phillips._)]
A glance at the illustrations will more closely confirm this, for
such designs could not be imitated by any other textile process, the
multitudinous twists and curves and the delicate shades and patches
of colour being only possible to the printer.
Interesting as is the study of old chintzes, the history of the art
in England is even more fascinating. From the obscurity of a small
local craft it became one of our great national industries.
Of its earliest history in England we know nothing, and a search
among old documents fails to reveal any traces of chintz-printing
before the Renaissance. There are several vague references to the
subject in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but none of them
disclose any solid information. Thus the question of who was the
first chintz-printer remains an unsolved riddle. It appears, however,
that in the seventeenth century there was a gradual immigration of
foreign workmen of Dutch and French nationalities who were well
versed in the art of cotton-printing--then well established upon the
Continent. These people came over in gradually increasing numbers,
their arrival culminating in the huge influx of foreigners about 1650
to 1700.
The majority of them were by trade silk-weavers and printers. Their
departure was a serious blow to France, for they transferred to
England what had been great national industries in France. Settling
in and about London, the refugees peaceably recommenced their work,
and soon the weaving of silks in Spitalfields and the printing of
chintzes in Richmond, Bow, and Old Ford became a source of great
prosperity to this country.
On p. 319 is an illustration of a seventeenth-century trade card
of one of the chintz-printers, or, as they were then called,
calico-printers. Here we see in a most lucid manner the process by
which chintzes were produced in the time of James II. The inscription
runs: "Jacob Stampe living at Ye Sighn of the Callico Printer in
Hounsditch Prints all sorts of Callicoes Lineings Silkes Stuffs, New
or Ould, at Reasonable Rates."
A printer is standing at a table upon which is stretched a length
of cloth, which falls in folds on the floor. He holds in his hand a
wooden block, which he is applying at intervals to the cloth. The
other hand contains a mallet, which is about to strike the wooden
block and stamp the colour firmly into the threads of the material.
Behind him is an apprentice boy, standing over a tub of colour,
preparing the blocks for his master to use.
[Illustration: HAND-PRINTED CHINTZ.
Queen Anne Period.]
[Illustration: HAND-PRINTED CHINTZ.
Chinese style. Middle Eighteenth Century.]
By so clumsy a process very delicate work could not be produced,
and, indeed, the few examples of this period which remain are very
heavy in character. One of these, which has been lent by Mr. J. D.
Phillips, the owner, is illustrated on p. 319. It belongs to the
end of the seventeenth century and corresponds to the William and
Mary period of English furniture, being contemporary with the pieces
illustrated on pp. 77, 117 in the earlier chapters. It will be seen
that this example contains two portraits in costume of the late
Stuart period, possibly intended for portraits of William and Mary.
Their portraits are of frequent occurrence on Lambeth delft of this
period.
The printer has only produced the outline, the colour being added by
hand with a brush, for at this date the printing of colour by the
successive application of blocks had not been mastered. The black
ink to-day lies thick upon the cloth, as coarsely as though it had
been dabbed on with a stencil. The material is a rough hand-woven
canvas. Printed cloths of the period of Charles II. and James II. and
William and Mary are exceedingly rare and seldom met with, as, owing
to their roughness, they have been destroyed by subsequent owners. A
few, however, are to be found on walnut chairs under the coverings
of later date. Often, indeed, one meets a chair covered in Victorian
horsehair which will reveal underneath the successive coverings of
many generations of owners, including perhaps the material in which
it was first upholstered.
As the seventeenth century wore on and we enter upon the early
years of the eighteenth century--the days of Queen Anne--the
chintz-printers became more prosperous. Their work, owing to its
increasing delicacy, met with great public approval, and it began
to supplant woven silks for the purposes of curtains, coverings, and
dresses. Thus the silk-weavers of Spitalfields found a declining
market for their goods and soon came into friction with the printers.
Much bad feeling ensued, and eventually their quarrels resulted
in the distribution of defamatory literature which is to-day most
amusing. The weavers circulated the curious "Spittlefields Ballad"
against "Calico Madams," or the ladies who wore chintz dresses.
THE SPITTLEFIELDS BALLADS
OR THE
WEAVER'S COMPLAINT AGAINST THE CALLICO MADAMS
Our trade is so bad
That the weavers run mad
Through the want of both work and provisions,
That some hungry poor rogues
Feed on grains like our hogs,
They're reduced to such wretched conditions,
Then well may they tayre
What our ladies now wear
And as foes to our country upbraid 'em,
Till none shall be thought
A more scandalous slut
Than a tawdry Callico Madam.
When our trade was in wealth
Our women had health,
We silks, rich embroideries and satins,
Fine stuffs and good crapes
For each ord'nary trapes
That is destin'd to hobble in pattins;
But now we've a Chince
For the wife of a prince,
And a butterfly gown for a gay dame,
Thin painted old sheets
For each trull in the streets
To appear like a Callico Madam.
[Illustration: HAND-PRINTED CHINTZ.
Exotic-Bird style. Middle Eighteenth Century.]
[Illustration: HAND-PRINTED CHINTZ.
Gothic style. Late Eighteenth Century.]
The poet in several long stanzas warms in his indignation, and
finally directs his verse against the male friends of all fair
wearers of chintzes, suggesting that--
"It's no matter at all
If the Prince of Iniquity had 'em,
Or that each for a bride
Should be cursedly tied
To some damn'd Callico Madam."
It is not surprising that the weavers should find it difficult to
set their productions against those of the cloth-printers, for the
chintzes of this period are surpassingly beautiful. One of them
is illustrated on p. 323. Here the material is no longer a rough
canvas, but is now a light dress cambric, similar to the thin smooth
chintz cloth which has survived till to-day. A delicate pattern of
intertwining stems winds upwards, the stalks having blossoms of
finely cut outline and brilliant colours. Old chintzes of this period
may be recognised by their lightness and by the long thin designs of
intermingling flowers of Indian type. These were all more or less
borrowed from the Marsupalitan printed cloths brought over by the
India trading companies, and the flowers and colourings of this date
are nearly always very closely copied from Eastern originals, the
cornflower and carnation being among those most frequently met with.
The ill-feeling between the printers and weavers was of long
duration, and eventually took the form of open riots and street
demonstrations similar to those of to-day. On one occasion, in
1719, they went from Spitalfields to Westminster and protested
against the popularity of chintzes and suggested that their use be
forbidden. On the return journey they manifested their feelings by
tearing off the chintz gowns of various ladies whom they met upon
the route. Evidently Parliament pandered to these labour riots, for
in 1736 printed cloths were forbidden by Act of Parliament, but this
legislation was of short duration; the Act was soon repealed and the
fascinating material became the rage once more.
The next stage at which we look upon chintz-printing is about
1760, in the middle of the period of Chippendale furniture. This
is the golden period of its printing. Technically and artistically
the hand-printed chintz now reached its climax. Colour-work by
superimposed blocks was in full swing, and the designer had, in
the works of contemporary artists, a wider field for the selection
of subjects suitable for his fabric. Among the many varieties of
chintzes which we find at this date the most prominent are the Gothic
and Chinese designs to suit the current taste in furniture, and the
exotic bird patterns, which are perhaps the finest of all.
[Illustration: HAND-PRINTED CHINTZ. ABOUT 1760.
By R. Jones, of Old Ford, London.]
The formation of the designs has changed considerably by this time
and we no longer find the intertwining or serpentine form as in the
Queen Anne chintzes. The flowers and objects to be printed are now
massed together and represented as little disjointed islands
floating in mid-air. By this distinctive feature they may easily be
recognised. One of these charming exotic bird chintzes is illustrated
on p. 327. Here a pheasant is resting under a palm-tree upon a small
island of densely packed foliage. The whole idea of the design
is taken from the Chinese porcelain of the period. The bird, the
flowers, and every object portrayed come from the East and are drawn
in the manner constantly seen upon the _Famille Rose_ dishes and
vases of the period. These exotic bird patterns are not exclusively
found upon chintzes, for the collector of English porcelain will be
familiar with them in the early productions of the Bow and Worcester
factories.
Another feature which one notices in printed fabrics at this date is
the buff ground. The cloth is white, and the pattern is printed upon
it in this state so that the pinks, blues, and greens of the flowers
may have every advantage of transparency. The buff background is then
printed in afterwards, leaving a thin margin around the design. In
this manner great richness and depth is given to the colours without
undue harshness, which would be the result if they were exhibited
upon a white background. The illustration on p. 323 shows a chintz in
the Chinese manner, designed to conform with the oriental furniture
of Chippendale. Here again we see the detached islets of vegetation,
but instead of exotic birds we have Chinese vases containing flowers,
and in the foreground a rococo shell, one of the then little-known
species from the East greatly treasured in England. The carnations
and foliage will be readily recognised as copies from Chinese
paintings. One might illustrate a very large number of these Chinese
chintzes, but space will only permit one example. This particular
specimen is probably unique; it is taken from an old roll of chintz
printed about 1760 and left over after the owner had curtained
his house. The roll (about twenty yards long) has been carefully
preserved and handed down from generation to generation, so that its
original colours and soft glaze remain intact.
A chintz in the Gothic manner is illustrated on p. 327. It differs
slightly from the others in that the island formation is combined
with serpentine foliage. In the centre is a patch of ground upon
which are the ruins of a Gothic church. The artist, however, has not
forgotten to please those patrons who might prefer the Chinese style,
and therefore he has quietly added the incongruous elements of prunus
flowers in the foreground and palm-trees in the background. At first
this quaint admixture may appear a bad art, but it must be remembered
that at this quaint period the whole principle of decorative design
was upset by the rococo school, and quaintness and delicacy of detail
outweighed the greater considerations of line and proportion. We
find a similar treatment of design later on in many Spode plates,
especially in blue transfer-printed subjects.
[Illustration: PRINTED CHINTZ.
Hepplewhite Period.]
[Illustration: PRINTED CHINTZ.
Victorian Period.]
In the third quarter of the eighteenth century we enter upon a new
era in the history of chintzes. We may appropriately call it the
age of machinery, for from this date the mechanical processes came
in whereby chintz-printing was raised from the position of a
comparatively small craft to that of a huge national industry. The
great manufacturing towns in the North, such as Manchester, were
rising in importance, and Lancashire was forming the basis of its
gigantic cotton trade. Following these trade movements, the old
industry of cloth-printing gradually left its centre in London and
was developed on a larger scale in the North of England.
In spite of this great commercial spirit which seized the printing of
textiles, hand-block printing did not pass away, for it has survived
till to-day as the best method for fine artistic work; cretonnes and
chintzes produced in this manner, even during the nineteenth century,
are always good. Mechanical roller work, however, was responsible for
a large output of work which is little worthy of preservation, and
in the nineteenth century we find much machine-printed chintz which,
to say the least, is not reminiscent of the fine handwork which
preceded it in the mid-eighteenth century. The earliest machine-work
was carried out by means of engraved copper plates applied to the
cloth in a printer's press. One of these is illustrated on p. 331.
It is exceedingly fine in its details, and very few old specimens of
this pattern are in existence. In several places are inserted the
printer's name and date, "R. Jones, Old Ford, 1761." The design is
doubtless borrowed from the _Toiles de Jouy_, printed by a Bavarian
at Jouay, near Versailles, about this time. The drawing, however, is
finer than any specimens of his work which have come to the author's
notice. A shepherdess is tending to her flock amid a classical ruin
while she is listening to the music of a flute. In another portion of
the design, a cock and hen are mourning for the loss of one of their
brood which has been carried off by an eagle. This design is worthy
of interest for its superior quality, as it must have been produced
for some very fine house. There is another specimen printed in red in
the Victoria and Albert Museum. The one which is illustrated here was
found upon an exceedingly fine Chippendale bedstead.
During the Hepplewhite and Sheraton periods of furniture the chintz
ceases to have its pattern detached and grouped. Architectural
details with figures disappear, and once more the designer returns to
flowers as his subject for illustration. The foliage, however, now
takes the form of vertical stripes, being contained within lace-like
ribands placed at even distances. On p. 335 is an illustration of a
chintz about 1790 in which these features will be noticed.
In the nineteenth century we find the chintz covered with disjointed
sprigs, as though the flowers had been plucked and cast upon the
cloth. Their outline is softened by a margin of dots. An illustration
of this style is shown on p. 335.
[Illustration: PRINTED CHINTZ.
From the Calico Printing Factory at Sobden, in Lancashire.
Printed in 1831 under the direction of Richard Cobden.
(_In the collection of Mrs. Cobden Unwin._)]
One need not pursue the history of chintzes further, for to do so
would entail a discussion of modern methods. Suffice it to say that
in the nineteenth century we come across the hideous black grounds,
the base imitation of woven designs, leopard skins, and other
inartistic perversions. We must rather bid adieu to this beautiful
art ere it has begun to decline. It will afford the reader much
pleasure if he should form a collection of old specimens and frame
them around his walls, for then he will fully appreciate their charm.
In examining his own collection the author has spent many a pleasant
hour, for these gaily coloured chintzes are among the most articulate
relics which have come down to us. They breathe the spirit, the
feelings, and the ideals of the periods wherein they were made. They
show lucidly the various changes in fashion and the rise and wane
in the popularity of certain forms of decoration. So delectable are
their soft, faded colours, so fascinating are the designs, and above
all, so enchanting is the old-world musty scent which always clings
to them, that it would be hard indeed to withhold one's affection
from them.
INDEX
Adam style table, 186
America, the Windsor chair acclimatised in, 246
America, spindle-back chairs, 239
America, carved chests of Puritan colonists, 60
America, types coincident with Jacobean, 60
Anachronism in country makers' work, 204
Anne, Queen, chintz printing in time of, 325
Anne, Queen, style--cabriole leg, advent of, 167
Anne, Queen, chests of drawers, 67
Anne, Queen, scandal at Court of, 158
Anne, Queen, so-called style, 167
Back--the chair, and its development, 203
Bacon cupboards, 154
Ball and claw foot, introduction of, 162
"Barley sugar" turning, illustrated, 105
Bedfordshire tables, 283
Bedstead, Jacobean, illustrated, 77
Bevel of panel indicating date, 204
Bible-boxes, 34, 139-154
Bloomfield, Robert, quoted, 268
Bobbins, Buckinghamshire, 153
Brittany dressers, 134
Broken corners, Queen Anne style, 167, 169
Buckinghamshire bobbins, 153
Bureau bookcase and cupboard, 176
Bureaus, marquetry in coloured woods, 169
Byzantine types of furniture existent in Elizabethan days, 37
Cabriole leg, advent of the, 167
Cabriole leg (Queen Anne period), 129
Cambridge tables, 283
Candle dipper, the, 288
Cane-back chairs, 203, 207
Cane-back chairs, late Stuart, 199
Cane-back chair, its influence on farmhouse styles, 208
Caning in chairs out of fashion, 162
Chairs--
America, Windsor chair, types of, 246
Back, the, its development, 203
Caned-back chair, its influence on farmhouse styles, 208
Caned chairs, late Stuart, 199, 203, 207
Caning out of fashion, 162
Charles II. period styles, 211
Chippendale styles, 179
Chippendale, Windsor styles, 254
Corner chairs, 240
Country Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton, 221
Cupid's bow top rail, 218
Cushions, their use with, 199, 207
Derbyshire chairs, 203
Elizabethan turned chairs, 37
Evolution of the chair, 189-241
Fiddle splat chairs, introduction of, 162
Fiddle splat, Queen Anne style, 217
Fiddle splat, Windsor, at its best, 254
"Fiddle-string" backs, 249
Goldsmith, Oliver, his chair, 253
Grandfather variety, 168, 230
Hepplewhite country styles, 221
Hepplewhite Windsor chairs, 254
Horseshoe back, Windsor, 259, 260
Jacobean, typical form, 196
Ladder-back chairs, 233
Lancashire rush-bottom chairs, 241
Lancashire spindle back chairs, 278
Modern office-chair, derivation of, 260
Prince of Wales's feathers in back, 227
Ribbon-back, introduction of, 179
Rush-bottomed chairs, 233
Shell ornament employed, 167
Sheraton country styles, 221
Sheraton Windsor chairs, 259, 260
Spindle-back chairs, 234
Splat, Queen Anne, the, 217
Straight-backed chairs, 203
Stretcher, evolution of the, 200
Tavern chairs, 249
Wheel-back Windsor chairs, 259
Woods used, Windsor chairs, 249, 250
Charles II. chests of drawers, 62
Charles II. period, impetus given to furniture design, 95
Charles II. period, styles of chairs, 211
Chests, Gothic, 34
Chests, sixteenth century, 34
Chests, Welsh carving, 277
Chests of drawers, 60
Chests of drawers, Charles II. period, 62
Chests of drawers, Queen Anne style, 67
Children's stools, Jacobean, illustrated, 77
Chimney crane, the, 294
China and glass cupboards, 180
Chinese designs in chintzes, 333
Chinese style of Chippendale, 227
Chintz printing becomes a national industry, 321
Chintzes, old English, 317-341
Chippendale and his contemporaries, 180
Chippendale clock cases, 312
Chippendale quoted, 227, 228
Chippendale, ribbon designs of, 179
Chippendale style, provincial, 221
Chippendale style Windsor chairs, 254
Chocolate houses, polemic against, 170
Chronology, seventeenth-century, 45-48
Claw-and-ball foot, introduction of, 162
Clock and dresser combined, 129
Clocks, grandfather, 306
Club foot, introduction of, 162
Cobbett, William, quoted, 67
Coffee-drinking and coffee-houses, 170
Coffee, women's petition against, 170
Corner chairs, 240
Cottage furniture and earthenware compared, 31
Country cabinet-maker, his mixture of styles, 211
Country Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton, 221
Country furniture, its sturdy independence, 24
Country makers little influenced by contemporary fashion, 50
Cradles, 148
Cromwellian chests with drawers, 52
Crusie, the Scottish, 277, 293
Cupboard, the bacon, 154
Cupboard, Welsh carving, 277
Cupboards, corner, introduction of, 162
Cupboards and drawers, taste for, 125
"Cupid's bow" underframing, 107, 185
"Cupid's bow" top rail of chair, 218
Cushions, their use with chairs, 199, 207
Delany, Mrs., quoted, 153
Denmark, the conservation of old farmhouse furniture in, 38
Derbyshire chairs, 203
Design books, eighteenth-century, publication of, 222
_Director_, by Chippendale, a working guide, 223
Drawer accommodation a feature in late dressers, 130
Drawers, chests of, 60
Drawers, chests of, Charles II. period, 62
Drawers, chests of, Queen Anne style, 67
Dresser and clock combined, 129
Dressers, farmhouse, 115-135
Dressers--
Brittany, 134
Lancashire, 134
Normandy, 134
Welsh, 133
Dutch artisans print early English chintzes, 321
Dutch influence early eighteenth century, 168, 170
Earthenware and cottage furniture compared, 31
Eighteenth-century dressers, 130
Eighteenth-century pleasure gardens, 249
Eighteenth-century styles, 157-187
Elizabethan turned chairs, 37
English chintzes, old, 317-341
English farmhouse furniture, desirability of its preservation, 42
English joiners' work, its solidity, 51
Essex tables, 283
Exotic bird patterns in chintzes, 333
"Farmer's Boy" (Robert Bloomfield) quoted, 268
Farmhouse furniture (English), desirability of its preservation, 42
Farmhouse furniture influenced by walnut styles, 208
Farmhouse styles contemporary with the cane-back chair, 208
Feet--
Arcaded foot, Charles II. period, 62
Ball, 62;
illustrated, 65
Claw-and-ball foot, introduction of the, 162
Club foot, its introduction, 162
Hoof foot, the, 176
Scroll or Spanish foot, 104, 203
Spanish foot, the, 104, 203
Spanish foot, in corrupted form, illustrated, 105, 109
Trestle, in Gothic style, 90
Fiddle splat chairs, introduction of, 162
Fiddle splat, Queen Anne style, 217
Fiddle splat Windsor chair at its best, 254
"Fiddle-string" backs, 249
Firebacks, Sussex, 296
Firebacks, Sussex, fine examples exhibited, 305
Firedogs, cottage and farmhouse, 294
Food of country population, seventeenth century, 81
Foreign styles, slow assimilation of, 67
French artisans print early English chintzes, 321
Gate-leg tables, 85-112
Gate-leg table, double gates, 96;
illustrated, 93
Gate-leg table, established as a popular type, 90
Gate-leg table, square top, illustrated, 105
Geometric panels, chests of drawers, 61;
dressers, 121
Georgian styles, early types, 179
Gibbons, Grinling, the style of, 56
Goldsmith, Oliver, his chair, 253
Gothic brackets to chests, 34
Gothic chests, 34
Gothic trestle, gate-leg table, 89
Grandfather chair, the, 230
Grandfather chair, curved lines of, 168
Grandfather clocks, 306
Grandfather clock combined with dresser, 129
Great Seal of Queen Anne, showing style of ornament, 168
Hardwick Hall, suite at, 55
Hepplewhite clock cases, 312
Hepplewhite influence on village work, 207
Hepplewhite quoted, 229, 230
Hepplewhite style, provincial, 221
Hertfordshire tables, 283
Hogarth, the line of beauty the curve, 168
Hoof foot, the, 176
Horseshoe-back Windsor chairs, 130, 257, 260
Incongruity of provincial cabinet-maker, 211
Inlaid work rarely employed, 55
Inlaid work with walnut, 169
Inlaid work, woods used, 169
Irish Chippendale, 272
Ironwork, miscellaneous, 287-313
Ironwork, Scottish, 277
Isle of Man tables, 283
Jacobean cradles, 148
Jacobean dressers with geometric panels, 121
Jacobean furniture, typical styles, 49
Jacobean oak chair, typical form, 196
Jacobean period, its characteristics, 95
Jacobean period, late styles of, 115
Jacobean style, its transition to William and Mary, 207
Jacobean Sussex firebacks, 299, 300
Joinery, the solidity of English, 51
Jones, R., of Old Ford, chintz printer, 337
Kettle trivet, the cottager's, 295
Lacquer employed in clock-cases, 312
Ladder-back chair, the, 233
Lancashire chintzes, 337
Lancashire dressers, 134
Lancashire furniture, 278
Lancashire Queen Anne settle, 167
Lancashire rush-bottom chair, 241
Legs--
"Barley sugar" turning illustrated, 105
Cabriole leg, introduction of the, 167
Egg and reel turning, 43;
illustrated, 93
Eight legs (gate table), 99
Elizabethan bulbous leg, 60
Jacobean straight-turned leg, 60
Jacobean, various forms of turning, 89
Queen Anne cabriole leg, 129
Six legs, gate table, illustrated, 99
Split urn leg, illustrated, 91, 119
Straight leg again in vogue, 180
Urn-shaped leg, 60
Urn-shaped splat, 121;
illustrated, 91, 119
Linen-fold pattern on chests, 32
Local types, 33
Local types of furniture, 267-284
London and the vicinity, chintz printed in, 322
Longleat, oak furniture at, 55
Lyngby (near Copenhagen), collection of old farmhouse furniture at, 41
Macaulay quoted, 158
Macaulay, "State of England in 1685" quoted, 76
Mahogany gate-leg tables, 103
Mahogany styles, their gracefulness, 179
Mahogany, the chief designers of, of the golden age, 104
Marlborough, Duchess of, and her intrigues, 158
Marquetry bureaus in coloured woods, 169
Marquetry, woods used in, 169
Minor cabinet-makers' work lacking harmony, 212
Modern office-chair, derivation from Windsor type, 263
More, Hannah, and the agricultural classes, 175
Morris, William, his influence on furniture, 111
"Mule" chests, 52
Norfolk, oak furniture, 283
Normandy dressers, 134
Normans, furniture, styles of, introduced by, 37
North, Roger, quoted, 170
Oak, erroneously used to carry out walnut designs, 212
Oak, general in its use, 55
Oak supplanted by walnut in fashionable furniture, 207
Oak the chief wood employed, 33
Office-chair, derivation from Windsor type, 263
Oriental patterns in chintzes, 333
Panelling, bevel of, indicating date of, 204
Panels, sunk, Jacobean style, 62
Patterns, wood, used for firebacks, 300
People, changing habits of the, in seventeenth century, 72
Pepys's _Diary_, quoted, 79
Pleasure gardens, eighteenth-century, 249
Pot-hook, the, 294
Pot-hooks, fine examples, where exhibited, 294
Prince of Wales's feathers, 227
Provincial furniture many decades behind fashion, 50
Queen Anne, cabriole leg, 129
Queen Anne dressers, 122
Queen Anne flap tables, 89
Queen Anne period, the splat of the, 217
Restoration period, chests of drawers, 62
Ribbon designs, introduction of, 179
Roads in provinces, bad state of, 79
Rush-bottom chair, the, 233
Rushlight holder, the, 288
Scandinavian origin of Elizabethan chair, 37
Scotland, Union with, proclamation by Queen Anne, 161
Scottish types of ironwork, 277
"Seaweed" marquetry in clock-cases, 312
Settle, Lancashire form, 278
Settle, Queen Anne style, 167
Seventeenth-century, chronology of, 45-48
Seventeenth-century settle (Lancashire), 278
Seventeenth-century sideboard, typical style, 56
Seventeenth-century styles, 49-82
Seventeenth-century styles, types of, 72
Shell ornament, early eighteenth-century, 167
Sheraton clock-cases, 312
Sheraton influence on country makers, 234
Sheraton influence in Windsor chairs, 259
Sheraton style, provincial, 221
Sideboard, typical seventeenth-century style, 56
Sixteenth-century chests, 34
Sizergh Castle, oak room at, 55
Spanish foot, its use, 104, 107
Spanish Succession, War of the, 161
Spindle-back chair, the, 234
Spindle-back chairs (Lancashire), 278
Spinning-wheels, 153
Spitalfields weavers, complaint as to chintz fashions, 326, 330
Splat, the Queen Anne, 217
Staffordshire pottery and cottage furniture compared, 31
Stands for chests of drawers, 67
Stockholm, collection of farmhouse furniture at, 38
Stools, children's Jacobean, illustrated, 77
Straight-backed chairs, 203
Stretcher, evolution of the, 200
Stretcher, Yorkshire splat form, 96
Suffolk oak furniture, 283
Sussex firebacks, 296
Sussex ironworks, the, 295, 296
"Swan head" to cupboard, 168
Sweden, the conservation of old farmhouse furniture in, 38
Swift quoted, 161
Tables--
Adam style, 186
Arcaded spandrils, illustrated, 179
Bedfordshire types, 283
Cambridge types, 283
Collapsible form (Charles II.), 103
Cross stretcher, =X= form, 103
Cupid's bow underframing, 107;
illustrated, 109
Elizabethan bulbous-leg form, 60
Essex types, 283
Flap tables (Queen Anne), 89;
(Georgian), illustrated, 183
Gate-leg, 85-112
Gothic trestle, gate-leg table, 89
Hertfordshire types, 283
Isle of Man table, 283
Scalloped-edge tea-table, illustrated, 181
Scalloped underframing, illustrated, 73
Sixteenth-century style, 52
Spandrils, arcaded, illustrated, 179
Stretchers, splat form, 89;
illustrated, 97
Tea-table, Queen Anne style, 185
Three-legged, 283
Underframing, Cupid's bow, illustrated, 109
Various local types, 283
Yorkshire type, 89
Tapers, how made by cottagers, 288
Tavern chair, the, 249
Tea-drinking becomes national, 170
Tea-gardens, eighteenth-century, 249
Tea-table, Queen Anne style, 185
Three-legged tables, 283
Transition from Jacobean to William and Mary styles, 207
Trestle in gate-leg table, 89
Triangular gate form, 86;
illustrated, 87
Tripod tables, 185
Turning, various patterns in Jacobean leg, 89
Union with Scotland, 161
Varangian Guard introduce Byzantine furniture into Scandinavia, 37
Veneer, in walnut, early eighteenth-century, 169
Village cabinet-maker, originality of, 32
Wales, Prince of, feathers in chair back, 227
Walnut gate-leg tables, 103
Walnut in general use, 207
Walnut styles, early eighteenth-century, 169
Walnut supplanted by mahogany, 207
Warming-pan, the, 295
Wardrobe, Lancashire type, 278
Welsh carving, 272
Welsh dressers, 133
Wesley and the Methodist movement, 175
Whitefield and the colliers, 175
Wheel-back Windsor chairs, 257
William and Mary dressers, 126
William and Mary gate-leg tables, 104
William and Mary period, finely turned work, 75
William and Mary style, its development from Jacobean, 207
Windsor chair, the, 243-263
Windsor chair, the, Sheraton influence, 259
Windsor chair, its survival, 260
Windsor chairs, Chippendale style, 254
Wood patterns used for firebacks, 300
Woods employed in farmhouse furniture, 33
Woods used in Windsor chairs, 249, 250
Woods used in walnut marquetry, 169
Women's petition against coffee, 170
Yorkshire chairs, 203
Yorkshire splat stretcher to tables, 96
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.
VOLUMES FOR COLLECTORS
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
Companion volume to "Chats on Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture"
_Press Notices, First Edition_
"Mr. Hayden knows his subject intimately."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
"The hints to collectors are the best and clearest we have seen; so
that altogether this is a model book of its kind."--_Athenæum._
"A useful and instructive volume."--_Spectator._
"An abundance of illustrations completes a well-written and
well-constructed history."--_Daily News._
"Mr. Hayden's taste is sound and his knowledge thorough."--_Scotsman._
"A book of more than usual comprehensiveness and more than usual
merit."--_Vanity Fair._
"Mr. Hayden has worked at his subject on systematic lines, and has
made his book what it purports to be--a practical guide for the
collector."--_Saturday Review._
CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA
_Press Notices, First Edition_
"A handsome handbook that the amateur in doubt will find useful,
and the china-lover will enjoy for its illustrations, and for the
author's obvious love and understanding of his subject."--_St.
James's Gazette._
"All lovers of china will find much entertainment in this
volume."--_Daily News._
"It gives in a few pithy chapters just what the beginner wants to
know about the principal varieties of English ware. We can warmly
commend the book to the china collector."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
"One of the best points about the book is the clear way in which the
characteristics of each factory are noted down separately, so that
the veriest tyro ought to be able to judge for himself if he has a
piece or pieces which would come under this heading, and the marks
are very accurately given."--_Queen._
CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE
(Companion volume to "Chats on English China")
"Complementary to the useful companion volume, in this 'Chats'
Series, on English China which Mr. Hayden issued five years
ago."--_Times._
"Is a compendious account of our native English faïence, abundantly
illustrated and accurately written."--_Guardian._
"A thoroughly trustworthy working handbook."--_Truth._
"It is a mine of knowledge, gathered from all quarters, and the
outcome of personal experience and research, and it is written with
no little charm of style."--_Lady's Pictorial._
"Mr. Hayden knows and writes exactly what is needed to help the
amateur to become an intelligent collector, while his painstaking
care in verifying facts renders his work a stable book of
reference."--_Connoisseur._
"The volume has been written as a companion to Mr. Hayden's 'Chats
on English China' in the same series, and those who recall the
admirable character of that book will find this to be in no way
inferior."--_Nation._
"The illustrations are profuse and excellent, and the author and the
publishers must be commended for offering us so many reproductions of
typical specimens that have not appeared in any previous handbook.
The illustrations alone are worth the cost of the book."--_Manchester
Guardian._
"Mr. Hayden's book is filled to overflowing with beautiful and most
instructive and helpful illustrations, and altogether it is one that
will give immense pleasure to collectors, and much information to the
admiring but ignorant."--_Liverpool Courier._
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS
A Practical Guide to Collecting and Identifying Old Engravings.
"Mr. Hayden writes at once with enthusiasm and discrimination on his
theme."--_Daily Telegraph._
"Any one who, having an initial interest in matters of art, wants to
form sound and intelligent opinions about engravings, will find this
book the very thing for him."--_Literary World._
"These 'Chats' comprise a full and admirably lucid description of
every branch of the engraver's art, with copious and suggestive
illustrations."--_Morning Leader._