style; his designs are more symmetrically correct, both in ornamental
detail and in architectural proportion. His conceptions are remarkable
for their fanciful elaboration, and their wealth of profuse scrollwork.
In the French national collections at the Louvre, at Versailles, and
elsewhere there are many beautiful examples of his chandeliers of
magnificent carved and gilded work. The freedom of the spiral arms and
complex coils he introduced into his candelabra have never been
equalled as harmonious portions of a grandly conceived scheme of
magnificent interior decoration, to which, in the days of Louis XIV., so
much artistic talent was devoted.
[Illustration: BOULE CABINET, OR ARMOIRE.
Valued at nearly L15,000.
_Jones Bequest._
(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
With regard to the value of some of the specimens in the national
collections, it is difficult to form an estimate. The Boule cabinet,
probably designed by Berain, executed by Boule for Louis XIV.
(illustrated p. 165) would, if put up for sale at Christie's, probably
fetch L15,000. This piece is held to be grander in style than any in the
galleries in France. At the Wallace Collection there are examples which
would bring fabulous sums if sold. A cabinet by Boule, in the Jones
Bequest, purchased by Mr. Jones for L3,000 in 1881, is now worth three
times that sum.
Upon the building, decorating, and furnishing of Versailles Louis XIV.
spent over five hundred million francs, in addition to which there was
the army of workmen liable to statute labour. Some twenty thousand men
and six thousand horses were employed in 1684 at the different parts of
the chateau and park. In May, 1685, there were no less than thirty-six
thousand employed.
The illustrious craftsmen who were employed upon the magnificent
artistic interior decorations have transmitted their names to posterity.
Berain, Lepautre, Henri de Gissey, are the best known of the designers.
Among the painters are the names of Audran, Baptiste, Jouvenet, Mignard,
and the best known of the sculptors are Coustou and Van Cleve. Of the
woodcarvers, metal-chasers, locksmiths, and gilders Pierre Taupin,
Ambroise Duval, Delobel, and Goy are names of specialists in their own
craft who transformed Versailles from a royal hunting-box into one of
the most splendid palaces in Europe.
RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
L s. d.
Commode, Louis XIV., of inlaid king-wood, with two drawers,
mounted with handles and masks at the corners of chased
ormolu, and surmounted by a fleur violette marble slab,
52 in. wide. Christie, January 22, 1904 31 10 0
Show-cabinet, of Louis XIV. design, inlaid king-wood, with
glazed folding doors, ormolu mounts, chased and
surmounted by vases, 73 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie,
April 12, 1904 30 9 0
Casket, Louis XIV., black Boule, inlaid with Cupids, vases
of flowers and scrolls, and fitted with four
tortoiseshell and gold picque shell-shaped snuff boxes.
Christie, April 19, 1904 73 10 0
Commode, Louis XIV., Boule, of sarcophagus form, containing
two drawers, at either corners are detached cabriole
legs, the various panels are inlaid with brass and
tortoiseshell, the whole is mounted with ormolu,
surmounted by a slab of veined marble, 49 in. wide.
Christie, May 27, 1904 57 15 0
[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_, these items
are reproduced from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale
Prices_.
VII
FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Foley & Eassie._
COMMODE, BY CRESSENT.
(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)
(_Wallace Collection._)]
VII
FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV
Louis XV. 1715-1774
Petit Trianon built at Versailles.
Meissonier, Director of Royal Factories (1723-1774).
Watteau (1684-1721). Pater (1695-1736).
Lancret (1690-1743). Boucher (1704-1770).
1751. The leading ebenistes compelled to stamp their work with
their names.
Louis XIV. died in the year following the death of Queen Anne, so that
it will be readily seen that English art was uninfluenced by France in
the days of William and Mary, and how insular it had become under Anne.
The English craftsman was not fired by new impulses from France during
such an outburst of decorative splendour. The reign of Louis XV. extends
from George I. down to the eleventh year of the reign of George III.,
which year saw the cargoes of tea flung into Boston harbour and the
beginning of the war with America.
In glancing at the Louis Quinze style it will be observed how readily it
departed from the studied magnificence of Louis XIV. In attempting
elegance of construction and the elimination of much that was massive
and cumbersome in the former style, it developed in its later days into
meaningless ornament and trivial construction. At first it possessed
considerable grace, but towards the end of the reign the designs ran
riot in rococo details, displaying incongruous decoration.
It was the age of the elegant boudoir, and the bedroom became a place
for more intimate guests than those received in the large
reception-room. In the days of Louis XIV. the bed was a massive
structure, but in the succeeding reign it became an elegant appendage to
a room. At Versailles the splendid galleries of magnificent proportion
were transformed by the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France (1715-1723)
during the king's minority, into smaller _salons_ covered in
wainscoting, painted white and ornamented with gilded statues. In like
manner the Louis Quinze decorations were ruthlessly destroyed by
Louis-Philippe.
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
LOUIS XV. PARQUETERY COMMODE.
With chased and bronze-gilt mounts.
(_Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection._)]
[Illustration: LOUIS XV. COMMODE.
BY CAFFIERI.]
The commode in the Wallace Collection (illustrated p. 171) is of the
time when Louis XV. was in his minority, and of the days of the Regency.
It is by Charles Cressent (1685-1768), who was cabinetmaker to Philippe
d'Orleans, Regent of France. This is an especially typical specimen of
the class to which it belongs as showing the transition style between
Louis XIV. and the succeeding reign.
To establish Louis the Fifteenth's _petits appartements_ the gallery
painted by Mignard was demolished, and later, in 1752, the Ambassadors'
Staircase was destroyed, the masterpiece of the architects Levau and
Dorbay, and the marvel of Louis the Fourteenth's Versailles.
It is necessary to bear these facts in mind in order to see how a new
French monarch set ruthlessly new fashions in furniture and created a
taste for his personal style in art. In the first part of the Louis
Quinze period the metal mountings by Caffieri and Cressent are of
exquisite style; they are always of excellent workmanship, but later
they betrayed the tendency of the time for fantastic curves, which had
affected the furniture to such an extent that no straight lines were
employed, and the sides of commodes and other pieces were swelled into
unwieldy proportions, and instead of symmetrical and harmonious results
the florid style, known as the "rococo," choked all that was beautiful
in design. Meissonier, Director of the Royal Factories (1723-1774), was
mainly responsible for this unnatural development. He revelled in
elaborate combinations of shellwork and impossible foliage.
In the Louis XV. commodes illustrated (pp. 173, 175) it will be seen how
far superior is the design and treatment of the one which was formerly
in the celebrated Hamilton Collection. Its chased and gilt mounts are
harmoniously arranged, and though the ornamentation is superbly rich, it
breaks no canons of art by overloaded detail or coarse profusion. Not so
much can be said for the other commode of the rococo style, even though
the mounts be by Caffieri and executed in masterly manner. There is a
wanton abandonment and an offensive tone in the florid treatment which
point clearly to the decline of taste in art.
The highest art of concealment was not a prominent feature in a Court
which adopted its style from the caprices of Madame du Pompadour or the
whims of Madame du Barry. But among the finest productions are the
splendid pieces of reticent cabinetmaking by the celebrated Jean
Francois Oeben, who came from Holland. His preference was for
geometrical patterns, varied only with the sparing use of flowers, in
producing his most delicate marquetry. In the pieces by Boule and
others, not in tortoiseshell but in wood inlay, the wood was so
displayed as to exhibit in the panels the grain radiating from the
centre. Oeben did not forget this principle, and placed his bouquets of
flowers, when, on occasion, he used them, in the centre of his panels,
and filled up the panel with geometric design.
[Illustration: LOUIS XV. _ESCRITOIRE A TOILETTE_.
Of tulip-wood and sycamore, inlaid with landscapes in coloured woods.
Formerly in the possession of Queen Marie Antoinette.
(_Jones Bequest: Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
The well-known maker, Charles Cressent (1685-1768), used rosewood,
violet, and amaranth woods in his marquetry, and at this time many new
foreign woods were employed by the cabinetmakers in France and Italy.
In addition to woods of a natural colour, it was the practice
artificially to colour light woods, and inlay work was attempted in
which trophies of war, musical instruments, or the shepherd's crook
hung with ribbon, were all worked out in marquetry. Pictures, in
coloured woods, in imitation of oil paintings on canvas, were foolishly
attempted, and altogether the art of inlay, ingenious and wonderful in
its construction, began to affect trivialities and surprising effects
most unsuited to the range of its technique.
In the toilet-table illustrated (p. 179), this misapplication of inlay
to reproduce pictures is seen on the three front panels and on the
middle panel above. The chief woods employed are tulip and sycamore,
inlaid with tinted lime, holly, and cherry-woods. The mountings of the
table are chased ormolu. The cylindrical front encloses drawers with
inlaid fronts. Beneath this is a sliding shelf, under which is a drawer
with three compartments, fitted with toilet requisites and having inlaid
lids. This specimen of Louis Quinze work is in the Jones Collection at
the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was formerly in the possession of
Queen Marie Antoinette. It is attributed to Oeben, though from
comparison with some of the chaster work known to have come from his
hand it would seem to be of too fanciful marquetry for his restrained
and sober style.
It is especially true of the furniture of this great French period that
it requires harmonious surroundings. The slightest false touch throws
everything out of balance at once. Of this fact the inventors were well
aware. If Dutch furniture requires the quiet, restful art of Cuyp or Van
der Neer, or Metzu or Jan Steen on the surrounding walls, the interiors
of Louis Quinze demand the works of contemporary French genre-painters.
[Illustration: LOUIS XV. SECRETAIRE.
By Riesener, in his earlier manner.
IN TRANSITIONAL STYLE, APPROACHING LOUIS SEIZE PERIOD.
(_Wallace Collection._)]
All things worked together to produce a harmonious _ensemble_ in this
brilliant period. The royal tapestry and Sevres porcelain factories
turned out their most beautiful productions to decorate rooms,
furniture, and for the table. Tapestries from Beauvais, Gobelins, and
Aubusson, rich silks from the looms of Lyons, or from Lucca, Genoa, or
Venice were made for wall-hangings, for chair-backs, for seats, and for
sofas.
Fragonard, Natoire, and Boucher painted lunettes over chimney-fronts, or
panels of ceilings. Of great cabinetmakers, Riesener and David Roentgen,
princes among _ebenistes_, worked in wonderful manner in tulip-wood, in
holly, in rosewood, purple wood, and laburnum to produce marquetry, the
like of which has never been seen before nor since.
Associated with the period of Louis XV. is the love for the lacquered
panel. Huygens, a Dutchman, had achieved good results in imitations of
Oriental lacquer, which in France, under the hand of Martin, a
carriage-painter, born about 1706, rivalled the importations from Japan.
It is stated that the secret of the fine, transparent lac polish that he
used was obtained from the missionaries who resided in Japan before the
date of the massacres and foreign expulsion of all except the Dutch
traders. Vernis-Martin, as his varnish was termed, became in general
request. From 1744 for twenty years, Sieur Simon Etienne Martin was
granted a monopoly to manufacture this lacquered work in the Oriental
style. Although he declared that his secret would die with him, other
members of his family continued the style, which was taken up by many
imitators in the next reign. His varnish had a peculiar limpid
transparency, and he obtained the wavy network of gold groundwork so
successfully produced by Japanese and Chinese craftsmen. On this were
delicately painted, by Boucher and other artists, Arcadian subjects,
framed in rocaille style with gold thickly laid on, and so pure that in
the bronze gilding and in the woodwork it maintains its fine lustre to
the present day.
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Foley & Eassie._
THE "BUREAU DU ROI."
THE MASTERPIECE OF RIESENER.
(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)
(_Wallace Collection._)]
Towards the close of the reign of Louis XV. a new style set in, which
reverted to simpler tastes, to which the name "_A la reine_" was given,
in deference to the taste which is supposed to have emanated from Marie
Leczinska, the queen, but is said to have been due to Madame du
Pompadour.
At the Wallace Collection is a fine secretaire, with the mounts and
ornaments of gilt bronze cast and chased, which is illustrated (p. 181).
The central panel of marquetry shows, in life size, a cock, with the
caduceus, a snake, a banner, and symbolical instruments. It is by Jean
Francois Riesener, and in his earliest manner, made in the later years
of Louis Quinze in the Transitional style approaching the Louis Seize
period.
Among the wonderful creations of Riesener, probably his masterpiece is
the celebrated "Bureau du Roi," begun in 1760 by Oeben, and completed in
1769 by Riesener--who married the widow of Oeben, by the way. Its
bronzes are by Duplesis, Winant, and Hervieux. The design and details
show the transition between the Louis Quinze and the Louis Seize styles.
The original, which is at the Louvre, is in marquetry of various
coloured woods and adorned by plaques of gilt bronze, cast and chased.
The copy from which our illustration is taken (p. 183) is in the Wallace
Collection, and is by Dasson, and follows the original in proportions,
design, and technique.
RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
L s. d.
Table, Louis XV., oblong, the legs are cabriole, it
contains one drawer and a writing-slide; around the
sides are inlaid panels of old Japanese lacquer, each
panel bordered by elaborate scrollwork of chased
ormolu, signed with "B. V. R. B.," surmounted by a slab
of white marble, 39 in. wide. Christie, December 18,
1903 1900 0 0
Writing-table, Louis XV., marquetry, with sliding top and
drawer, fitted with movable writing slab, compartment
for ink-vases, &c., signed "L. Doudin," Louis XV. form,
with cabriole legs, the top decorated with scrolls
forming panels, the centre one containing a Teniers
figure subject, parquetry and inlays of flowers round
the sides, corner mounts, &c., of ormolu, cast and
chased, 30 in. wide. Christie, March 18, 1904 630 0 0
Cartonniere, Louis XV., of inlaid tulip-wood, containing a
clock by Palanson, a Paris, mounted with Chinese
figures, masks, foliage and scrolls of chased ormolu,
48 in. high, 36 in. wide. Christie, April 22, 1904 409 10 0
Secretaires, pair, Louis XV., small marquetry, with
fall-down front, drawer above and door below, inlaid
with branches of flowers, and mounted with chased
ormolu, surmounted by white marble slabs, 46 in. high,
22 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 1904 46 4 0
Cabinet, Louis XV., parquetry, with folding doors enclosing
drawers, mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a Brescia
marble slab, 30 in. high, 44 in. wide. Christie, April
29, 1904 31 10 0
Bergeres, pair of Louis XV., corner-shaped, the frames of
carved and gilt wood, the seats and backs covered with
old Beauvais tapestry. Christie, May 18, 1904 420 0 0
Settee, Louis XV., oblong, of carved and gilt-wood, covered
with panels of old Beauvais tapestry, 3 ft. 8 in. wide.
Christie, May 18, 1904 231 0 0
Canape, Louis XV., of carved and gilt wood, the borders
carved with acanthus scrolls, the seat and back covered
with old Beauvais silk tapestry, decorated, 4 ft. 6 in.
wide. Christie, May 18, 1904 420 0 0
[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
VIII
FRENCH FURNITURE.
THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI
VIII
FRENCH FURNITURE.
THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI
Louis XVI. 1774-1793.
1730-1806. Riesener, _ebeniste_ to Marie Antoinette (born near
Cologne).
1789. Commencement of the French Revolution.
The so-called Louis Seize period embraces much that is good from the
later days of the previous reign. The same designers were employed with
the addition of a few younger men. Caffieri and Riesener were producing
excellent work, and above all was Gouthiere, whose renown as a founder
and chaser of gilded bronze ornaments is unrivalled. Elegance and
simplicity are again the prevailing notes. Straight lines took the place
of the twisted contortions of the rococo style. Thin scrolls, garlands,
ribbons and knots, classical cameo-shaped panels, and Sevres plaques
form the characteristic ornamentation.
The acanthus-leaf, distorted into unnatural proportions in the middle
Louis Quinze period, returned to its normal shape, the egg-and-tongue
moulding came into use, and the delicacy of the laurel-leaf was
employed in design in Louis Seize decorations.
In the jewel cabinet illustrated (p. 193), the new style is shown at its
best. The cabinet is inlaid in rosewood and sycamore, and bears the name
of "J. H. Riesener" stamped on it. The chased ormolu mounts are by
Gouthiere. The geometrical inlay is a tradition which Oeben left to his
successors. The upper portion has a rising lid with internal trays. In
the lower part is a drawer and a shelf. This piece is at the Victoria
and Albert Museum in the Jones Bequest, and it is well worth detailed
examination as being a representative specimen of the most artistic work
produced at this period.
Pierre Gouthiere had a complete mastery over his technique. The
estimation with which his work is regarded has made furniture which he
mounted bring extraordinary prices. In 1882, at the dispersal of the
celebrated Hamilton Palace Collection, three specimens with his
workmanship realised L30,000.
The Vernis-Martin panels were decorated by Watteau and Pater. The age of
artificialities with its _fetes-galantes_ in the royal gardens of the
Luxembourg and in the pleasure parks of the Court, with the ill-starred
Marie Antoinette playing at shepherds and shepherdesses, had its
influence upon art. Watteau employed his brush to daintily paint the
attitudes of _Le Lorgneur_ upon a fan-mount, or to depict elegantly
dressed noblemen and ladies of the Court dancing elaborate minuets in
satin shoes, or feasting from exquisite Sevres porcelain dishes in the
damp corner of some park or old chateau.
[Illustration: LOUIS XVI. JEWEL CABINET.
Inlaid in rose and sycamore woods. Stamped "J. H. Riesener." Chased
Ormolu mountings by Gouthiere.
(_Jones Bequest. Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
The artificial pretence at Arcadian simplicity adopted by the Queen, in
the intervals between her attendance at public _bals-masque_, when she
almost wantonly outraged the susceptibilities of the French people by
her frivolities, found a more permanent form in interior decorations.
Riesener and David designed a great deal of furniture for her. Dainty
work-tables and writing-tables and other furniture of an elegant
description are preserved in the national collection in the Louvre and
at Fontainebleau, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Jones
Bequest, and in the Wallace Collection. Tables of this nature are most
eagerly sought after. A small table with plaques of porcelain in the
side panels, which is said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette, was
sold at Christie's for L6,000 (Hamilton Collection). There is a similar
writing-table in the Jones Collection, given by Marie Antoinette to Mrs.
Eden, afterwards Lady Auckland.
During the period under Louis Seize, when Fragonard and Natoire deftly
painted the panels of rooms and filled ceilings with flying cupids and
chains of roses, when Boucher was Director of the Academy, the interior
of rooms assumed a boudoir-like appearance. The walls were decorated in
a scheme of colour. Handsome fluted pillars with fine classic feeling
were the framework of panelling painted in delicate and subdued tones.
Oval mirrors, avoiding all massive construction, lightened the effect,
and mantelpieces of white marble, and furniture evidently designed for
use, completed the interiors of the homes of the _grands seigneurs_.
Sometimes the walls were painted, giving a lustrous appearance
resembling silk, and this style is the forerunner of the modern
abomination known as wall-paper.
Before leaving this period of French furniture, when so much marquetry
work was done of unsurpassed beauty and of unrivalled technique, a word
may be said as to the number of woods used. Oeben and Riesener and their
contemporaries used many foreign woods, of which the names are
unfamiliar. Mr. Pollen, in his "South Kensington Museum Handbook to
Furniture and Woodwork," has given the names of some of them, which are
interesting as showing the number of woods especially selected for this
artistic cabinetmaking. Tulip-wood is the variety known as _Liriodendron
tulipifera_. Rosewood was extensively used, and holly (_ilex
aquifolium_), maple (_acer campestre_), laburnum (_cytisus Alpinus_),
and purple wood (_copaifera pubiflora_). Snake-wood was frequently used,
and other kinds of light-brown wood in which the natural grain is waved
or curled, presenting a pleasant appearance, and obviating the use of
marquetry (_see_ "Woods used," p. 29).
In the great collections to which reference has been made, in well-known
pieces made by Riesener his name is found stamped on the panel itself,
or sometimes on the oak lining. The large bureau in the Wallace
Collection (Gallery xvi., No. 66) is both signed and dated "20th
February, 1769." This piece, it is said, was ordered by Stanislas
Leczinski, King of Poland, and was once one of the possessions of the
Crown of France.
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Waring._
LOUIS XVI. RIESENER COMMODE.]
With regard to the cost of pieces of furniture by the great master
_ebenistes_, it is on record that a secretaire which was exhibited at
Gore House in 1853, and made originally for Beaumarchais by Riesener,
cost 85,000 francs, a sum not much less than L4,000. Celebrated copies
have been made from these old models. The famous cabinet with mounts by
Gouthiere, now in the possession of the King, was copied about
twenty-five years ago for the Marquis of Hertford, by permission of
Queen Victoria. The piece took years to complete, and it is interesting
to have the evidence of its copyists that the most difficult parts to
imitate were the metal mounts. This replica cost some L3,000, and is now
in the Wallace Collection. The copy of the famous bureau or escritoire
in the Louvre, known as the "Bureau de St. Cloud," was made by
permission of the Emperor Napoleon III., and cost L2,000. Another copy
of the same piece exhibited at the French International Exhibition was
sold for L3,500 to an English peeress. Many fine copies of Riesener's
work exist, and in the illustration (p. 197) a copy is given of a
handsome commode, which exhibits his best style under the influence of
his master, Oeben.
RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
L s. d.
Cabinets, pair of Louis XVI., dwarf ebony, the panels inlaid
with black and gold lacquer, decorated with birds and
trees in the Chinese taste, mounted with foliage borders
of chased ormolu, and surmounted by veined black marble
slabs, 45 in. high, 35 in. wide. Christie, November 20,
1903 39 18 0
Suite of Louis XVI. furniture, with fluted borders and legs,
painted white and pale green, the seats, backs, and arms
covered with old Beauvais tapestry, with vases and
festoons of flowers and conventional arabesques in
poly-chrome, on white ground in pale green borders,
consisting of an oblong settee, 72 in. wide, eight
fauteuils. Christie, December 18, 1903 1470 0 0
Secretaire, Louis XVI., upright marquetry, with fall-down }
front, drawer above, and folding doors below, inlaid }
with hunting trophies on trellis-pattern ground, mounted}
with foliage, friezes, and corner mounts of chased }
ormolu, and surmounted by a Breccia marble slab, stamped}
"J. Stumpff. 315 0 0 Me.," 56 in. high, 40 in. wide. }
Christie, February 12, 1904 Commode, _en suite_, with }
five drawers, 58 in. wide. Christie, February 12, 1904 }
} 714 0 0
Work-table, Louis XVI., oval, in two tiers, upon a tripod }
stand, with double candle branches above; the top tier }
is composed of a Sevres plaque, painted with sprays of }
roses; around this is a gallery of chased ormolu; the }
second tier is of parquetry, this has also a balcony; }
the tripod base is of mahogany, with mounts of ormolu, }
cast and chased; the nozzles for the two candles above }
are similar in material and decoration, width of top }
tier, 13 in. Christie, March 18, 1904
Table, Louis XVI., marquetry, signed "N. Petit," top inlaid
with musical trophy, &c., mounts, &c., of ormolu, cast
and chased, 30 in. wide. Christie, March 18, 1904 99 15 0
Fauteuils, pair, Louis XVI. (stamped "J. Leglartier"),
tapered oblong backs and curved arms, turned legs, white
and gilt, covered with Beauvais tapestry, with subjects
from "Fables de la Fontaine," and other designs.
Flashman & Co., Dover, April 26, 1904 75 0 0
Console-table, Louis XVI., carved and painted wood, with
fluted legs and stretchers, and open frieze in front,
surmounted by a slab of white marble, 5 ft. 4 in. wide.
Christie, May 6, 1904 46 0 0
Commode, Louis XVI., containing three drawers, in front it
is divided into three rectangular sunk panels of
parquetry, each bordered with mahogany, with ormolu
mounts, surmounted by a slab of fleur-de-peche marble,
57 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 1904 357 0 0
Commode, Louis XVI., stamped with the name of "J. H.
Reisener," with tambour panels in front and drawers at
the top; it is chiefly composed of mahogany, the central
panel inlaid in a coloured marquetry; on either side,
and at the ends, are panels of tulip-wood parquetery,
the whole is mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a slab
of veined marble, 34 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 1904
3150 0 0
[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
IX
FRENCH FURNITURE. THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF MADAME RECAMIER.
(After David.)
Showing Empire settee and footstool.
(_In the Louvre._)]
IX
FRENCH FURNITURE--THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE
1789. Commencement of French Revolution.
1798. Napoleon's campaign in Egypt.
1805. Napoleon prepares to invade England; Battle of Trafalgar;
French naval power destroyed.
1806. Napoleon issued Berlin Decree to destroy trade of England.
1812. Napoleon invaded Russia, with disastrous retreat from
Moscow.
1814. Napoleon abdicated.
1815. Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
When Louis XVI. called together the States-General in 1789, which had
not met since 1614, the first stone was laid of the French Republic.
After the king was beheaded in 1793, the Reign of Terror followed,
during which the wildest licence prevailed. Under the Directory, for
four years from 1795, the country settled down until the rise of
Napoleon Bonaparte, who took the government in his own hands with the
title of Consul, and in 1804 called himself Emperor of the French.
During the Reign of Terror the ruthless fury of a nation under mob-law
did not spare the most beautiful objects of art which were associated
with a hated aristocracy. Furniture especially suffered, and it is a
matter for wonderment that so much escaped destruction. Most of the
furniture of the royal palaces was consigned to the spoliation of "the
Black Committee," who trafficked in works of great price, and sold to
foreign dealers the gems of French art for less than a quarter of their
real value. So wanton had become the destruction of magnificent
furniture that the Convention, with an eye on the possibilities of
raising money in the future, ordered the furniture to be safely stored
in the museums of Paris.
After so great a social upheaval, art in her turn was subjected to
revolutionary notions. Men cast about to find something new. Art, more
than ever, attempted to absorb the old classic spirit. The Revolution
was the deathblow to Rococo ornament. With the classic influences came
ideas from Egypt, and the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii
provided a further source of design. A detail of a portion of a tripod
table found at Pompeii shows the nature of the beautiful furniture
discovered.
As early as 1763, Grimm wrote: "For some years past we are beginning to
inquire for antique ornaments and forms. The interior and exterior
decorations of houses, furniture, materials of dress, work of the
goldsmiths, all bear alike the stamp of the Greeks. The fashion passes
from architecture to millinery; our ladies have their hair dressed _a la
Grecque_." A French translation of Winckelmann appeared in 1765, and
Diderot lent his powerful aid in heralding the dawn of the revival of
the antique long before the curtain went up on the events of 1789.
Paris in Revolution days assumed the atmosphere of ancient Rome.
Children were given Greek and Roman names. Classical things got rather
mixed. People called themselves "Romans." Others had Athenian notions.
Madame Vigee-Lebrun gave _soupers a la Grecque_. Madame Lebrun was
Aspasia, and M. l'Abbe Barthelemy, in a Greek dress with a laurel wreath
on his head, recited a Greek poem.
[Illustration: DETAIL OF TRIPOD TABLE FOUND AT POMPEII.
(_At Naples Museum._)]
These, among a thousand other signs of the extraordinary spirit of
classicism which possessed France, show how deep rooted had become the
idea of a modern Republic that should emulate the fame of Athens and of
Rome. The First Consul favoured these ideas, and his portraits
represent him with a laurel wreath around his head posing as a Caesar.
[Illustration: _By kind permission from the collection of Dr. Sigerson,
Dublin._
SERVANTE.
Marble top; supported on two ormolu legs elaborately chased with figures
of Isis. Panelled at back with glass mirror.
FRENCH; LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
In transition days before the style known as Empire had become fixed
there is exhibited in art a feeling which suggests the deliberate search
after new forms and new ideas. To this period belongs the _servante_,
which, by the kindness of Dr. Sigerson, of Dublin, is reproduced from
his collection. The claw-foot, the ram's head, the bay-leaf, and a
frequent use of caryatides and animal forms, is a common ornamentation
in furniture of the Empire period. In this specimen the two legs of
ormolu have these characteristics, and it is noticeable that the shape
of the leg and its details of ornament bear a striking resemblance to
the leg of the Pompeiian table illustrated (p. 205). But the deities of
Egypt have contributed a new feature in the seated figure of the goddess
Isis.
[Illustration: JEWEL CABINET OF THE EMPRESS MARIE LOUISE.
Made on the occasion of her marriage with the Emperor Napoleon
Bonaparte, in 1810.
(_At Fontainebleau._)]
Napoleon himself encouraged the classic spirit which killed all memories
of an _ancien regime_. He would have been pleased to see all the relics
of the former glories of France demolished. He had at one time a project
to rebuild Versailles as a classic temple.
At the height of his splendour he became the patron of the fine arts,
and attempted to leave his impression upon art as he did upon everything
else. New furniture was designed for the Imperial palaces. Riesener was
alive, but it does not appear that he took any part in the new
creations. David, the great French painter, an ardent Republican, was
won over to become a Court painter. At Malmaison and at Fontainebleau
there are many fine examples of the First Empire period which, however,
cannot be regarded as the most artistic in French furniture. Preserved
at Fontainebleau is the jewel cabinet, made by Thomire and Odiot, at the
Emperor's orders as a wedding gift, in 1810, to the Empress Marie
Louise, in emulation of the celebrated Riesener cabinet at the Trianon.
The wood used for this, and for most of the Empire cabinets, is rich
mahogany, which affords a splendid ground for the bronze gilt mounts
(_see_ p. 207).
The portrait of Madame Recamier, by David, which is in the Louvre, given
as headpiece to this chapter, shows the severe style of furniture in use
at the zenith of the Empire period. The couch follows classic models,
and the tall candelabrum is a suggestion from Herculaneum models.
The influence that this classic revival had upon furniture in this
country is told in a subsequent chapter. In regard to costume, the gowns
of the First Empire period have become quite fashionable in recent
years.
Although this style of furniture degenerated into commonplace designs
with affectedly hard outlines, it had a considerable vogue. In addition
to the influence it had upon the brothers Adam and upon Sheraton, it
left its trace on English furniture up till the first quarter of the
nineteenth century. The chair illustrated (p. 210) is about the year
1800 in date. There is presumptive evidence that this chair was made in
Bombay after European design. It is of rosewood, carved in relief with
honeysuckle and floral design. The scrolled ends of the top rail show at
once its French derivation.
In the national collections in this country there are very few specimens
of Empire furniture. The Duke of Wellington has some fine examples at
Apsley House, treasured relics of its historic associations with the
victor of Waterloo. The demand in France, for furniture of the First
Empire style has in all probability denuded the open market of many fine
specimens. Owing to the fact that this country was at war with France
when the style was at its height, the number of Empire pieces imported
was very limited, nor does First Empire furniture seem to have greatly
captivated the taste of English collectors, as among the records of
sales of furniture by public auction very little has come under the
hammer.
[Illustration: _By kind permission of the Rev. H. V. Le Bas._
ARMCHAIR, ROSEWOOD.
Carved in relief with honeysuckle pattern Formerly in possession of the
Duke of Newcastle.
ENGLISH; LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
X
CHIPPENDALE
AND
HIS STYLE
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
TABLE MADE BY CHIPPENDALE.
(Height, 29-3/8 in.; width, 32-3/8 in.; depth, 21-5/8 in.)]
X
CHIPPENDALE AND HIS STYLE
George I. 1714-1727.
George II. 1727-1760.
George III. 1760-1820.
Horace Walpole built Strawberry Hill (1750)
Sir William Chambers (1726-1796) built Pagoda at Kew about 1760.
Chippendale's _Director_ published (1754).
Thomas Chippendale, the master cabinetmaker of St. Martin's Lane, has
left a name which, like that of Boule, has become a trade term to mark
a certain style in furniture. With the dawn of the age of mahogany,
Chippendale produced designs that were especially adapted to the new
wood; he relied solely upon the delicate carving for ornament, and
rejected all inlay.
Discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh, who brought specimens home with him,
mahogany did not come into general use till about 1720. The material
then used by Chippendale and his school was the splendid mahogany from
the great untouched forests, producing at that time timber the like of
which, in dimension and in quality, is now unprocurable. The cheaper
"Honduras stuff" was then unknown, and English crews landed and cut
timber from the Spanish possessions in spite of the protests of the
owners. Many a stiff fight occurred, and many lives were lost in
shipping this stolen mahogany to England to supply the demand for
furniture. These nefarious proceedings more than once threatened to
bring about war between England and Spain.
The furniture of France, during the four great periods treated in the
previous chapters, was designed for the use of the nobility. One wonders
what furniture was in common use by the peasantry in France. In England,
too, much of the furniture left for the examination of posterity was
made for the use of the wealthy classes. In Jacobean days, settles and
chairs, especially the Yorkshire and Derbyshire types, were in more
common use, and the homely pieces of Queen Anne suggest less luxurious
surroundings, but it was left for Chippendale to impress his taste upon
all classes. In the title-page of his great work, the _Director_,
published in 1754, he says that his designs are "calculated to improve
and refine the present taste, and suited to the fancy and circumstances
of persons in all degrees of life."
[Illustration: OLIVER GOLDSMITH'S CHAIR.
Wood, painted green, with circular seat, carved arms, and high back.
Bequeathed by Oliver Goldsmith in 1774 to his friend, Dr. Hawes.
(_Bethnal Green Museum._)]
His book of designs, as may naturally be supposed, was not greatly
bought by the working classes, but fifteen copies of the _Director_ went
to Yorkshire, and many other copies were subscribed for in other parts
of the country, so that local cabinetmakers began at once to fashion
their furniture after his styles.
The common form of chair at the time was similar to the specimen
illustrated (p. 215), which formerly belonged to Oliver Goldsmith, and
was bequeathed by him to his friend, Dr. Hawes. This is of soft wood,
probably beech, painted green, with circular seat, curved arms, and high
back. Chippendale revolutionised this inartistic style, and for the
first time in the history of the manufacture of furniture in England,
continental makers turned their eyes to this country in admiration of
the style in vogue here, and in search of new designs.
It might appear, on a hasty glance at some of Chippendale's work, that
originality was not his strong point. His claw-and-ball feet were not
his own, and he borrowed them and the wide, spacious seats of his chairs
from the Dutch, or from earlier English furniture under Dutch influence.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
CHIPPENDALE SETTEE; WALNUT. ABOUT 1740.
(_From the collection of Sir W. E. Welby-Gregory, Bart._)]
Sir William Chambers, the architect of Somerset House, whose fondness
for Chinese ornament produced quite a craze, and who built the Pagoda in
Kew Gardens, gave Chippendale another source of inspiration. In his
later days he came under the influence of the Gothic revival and
was tempted to misuse Gothic ornament.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
CHIPPENDALE SETTEE, OAK. ABOUT 1740.
(_By courtesy of V. J. Robinson, Esq., C.I.E._)]
His second style shows the Louis XIV. French decoration in subjection.
In his ribbon-back chairs he employed the Louis XVI. ornamentation.
But Chippendale was the most masterly adapter that England has ever
produced. His adaptions became original under his hand, and his
creations are sturdy and robust, tempered by French subtleties, and
having, here and there, as in the fretwork in the chair-legs and angles,
a suggestion of the East. He is the prince of chair-makers. His chairs
are never unsymmetrical. He knew the exact proportion of ornament that
the structure would gracefully bear. The splats in the chairs he made
himself are of such accurate dimensions in relation to the open spaces
on each side that this touch alone betrays the hand of the master, which
is absent in the imitations of his followers.
The illustration given of the Chippendale table in Chinese style (p.
213), is a beautiful and perfect piece of a type rarely met with. It was
made by Chippendale for the great-grandmother of the present owner. A
similar table was in the possession of the Princess Josephine. In
chairs, the back was sometimes of fret-cut work, as was also the design
of the legs, with fretwork in the angles, which betray his fondness for
the Chinese models. The Gothic style influenced Chippendale only to a
slight degree. Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill set the fashion in
England, which fortunately was short-lived.
Collectors divide Chippendale's work into three periods. To the first
they assign the more solid chairs or settees with cabriole legs and
Louis XIV. ornament, harmoniously blended with Queen Anne style. These
chairs and settees are often found with claw-and-ball feet, and are
frequently of walnut. Two fine examples of settees, the one of oak, the
other of walnut, are illustrated.
[Illustration: RIBBON PATTERN. CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACK.
(_From the "Director."_)]
The second period embraces the fine creations which have the celebrated
Louis XVI. ribbon ornamentation in the backs. From one of the designs in
Chippendale's book, here illustrated, the elegance of the style is
shown. It is exuberant enough, but the author complains in his volume
that "In executing many of these drawings, my pencil has but faintly
carved out those images my fancy suggested; but in this failure I
console myself by reflecting that the greatest masters of every art have
laboured under the same difficulties." The ribbon-backed chair
illustrated (p. 223) is one of the two given to an ancestor of the
present owner by the fourth Duke of Marlborough in 1790. They were
formerly at Blenheim, and there is an added interest in them owing to
the fact that the seats were worked by Sarah, the great Duchess of
Marlborough.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
RIBBON-BACKED CHIPPENDALE CHAIR, FORMERLY AT BLENHEIM, THE SEAT WORKED
BY SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.]
The latest style of Chippendale's work is the Gothic. There are many
pieces in existence which he probably had to produce to satisfy the
taste of his fashionable clients, but the style is atrocious, and the
less said about them the better. The illustration (p. 225) of a
chair-back from his design-book shows how offensive it could be.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
CHIPPENDALE CORNER CHAIR, ABOUT 1780.
(_Reproduced by kindness of the Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, G.C.B.,
I.S.O._)]
The fine corner-chair, here illustrated, exhibits the strength and
solidity he could impart to his work. His chairs were meant to sit upon,
and are of excellent carpentry. The square, straight legs are a feature
of much of his work. The examples belonging to the India Office and the
Governors of the Charterhouse illustrated (pp. 226, 227) show the type
that he made his own and with which his name has been associated.
[Illustration: GOTHIC CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACK.
(_From the "Director."_)]
Although his chairs are sought after as especially beautiful in design
(his father was a maker of chairs before him) he made many other objects
of furniture. The mirrors he designed are exquisite examples of fine
woodcarving. The one illustrated (p. 229) shows the mastery he had over
graceful outline. Bureau bookcases with drop-down fronts have been
successfully produced since his day after his models. The one
illustrated (p. 231) shows a secret drawer, which is reached by removing
the left-hand panel. Card-tables, settees, knife-boxes, tea-caddies,
sideboards, and overmantles were made by him, which show by their
diversity of technique that there was more than one pair of hands at
work in carrying out his designs.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
MAHOGANY CHIPPENDALE CHAIR. ABOUT 1740.
(_Property of the India Office._)]
The collecting of Chippendale furniture has become so fashionable of
late years that genuine old pieces are difficult to procure. It is true
that two old chairs were discovered in a workhouse last year, but when
specimens come into the market they usually bring large prices. Two
elbow state-chairs, with openwork backs, were sold a little while ago
for seven hundred and eighty guineas, and a set of six small chairs
brought ninety-three guineas about the same time. But even this is not
the top price reached, for two chairs at Christie's realised eleven
hundred pounds!
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
MAHOGANY CHIPPENDALE CHAIR. 1770.
(_By permission of the Master of the Charterhouse._)]
Chippendale, the shopkeeper, of St Martin's Lane, who took orders for
furniture, which he or his sons, or workmen under their direct
supervision, executed, was one person, and Chippendale, who had
quarrelled with the Society of Upholsterers, and published a book of
designs on his own account, which quickly ran through three editions,
was another person. In the one case he was a furniture maker whose
pieces bring enormous prices. In the other he was the pioneer of popular
taste and high-priest to the cabinetmakers scattered up and down
England, who quickly realised the possibilities of his style, and
rapidly produced good work on his lines.
These pieces are by unknown men, and no doubt much of their work has
been accredited to Chippendale himself. The illustration (p. 232) shows
a mahogany chair well constructed, of a time contemporary with
Chippendale and made by some smaller maker. This type of chair has been
copied over and over again till it has become a recognised pattern. It
finds its counterpart in china in the old willow-pattern, which
originated at Coalport and has been adopted as a stock design.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_
CHIPPENDALE MIRROR.]
Furniture is not like silver, where the mark of the maker was almost as
obligatory as the hall mark. Artists, both great and small, have signed
their pictures, and in the glorious days of the great French _ebenistes_
and metal-chasers, signed work is frequently found. But in England, at a
time when furniture of excellent design, of original conception, and
of thoroughly good workmanship was produced in great quantities, the
only surviving names are those of designers or cabinetmakers who have
published books.
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
CHIPPENDALE BUREAU BOOKCASE.
With drop-down front, showing secret drawer.]
So great was the influence of the style of Chippendale that it permeated
all classes of society. An interesting engraving by Stothard (p. 235)
shows the interior of a room, and is dated 1782, the year that Rodney
gained a splendid victory over the French fleet in the West Indies, and
the year that saw the independence of the United States recognised.
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
MAHOGANY CHAIR.
IN THE CHIPPENDALE STYLE. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
[Illustration: COTTAGE CHAIRS, BEECHWOOD. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, IN
STYLE OF CHIPPENDALE.]
Kitchen furniture or cottage furniture was made on the same lines by
makers all over the country. The wood used was not mahogany; it was most
frequently beech. Chairs of this make are not museum examples, but they
are not devoid of a strong artistic feeling, and are especially English
in character. More often than not the soft wood of this class of chair
is found to be badly worm-eaten. Two chairs of this type, of beech,
are illustrated (p. 233), and it is interesting to note that, as in the
instance of the Yorkshire and Derbyshire chairs of Jacobean days made by
local makers, it is not common to find many of exactly the same design.
The craftsman gave a personal character to his handiwork, which makes
such pieces of original and artistic interest, and cabinetmaking and
joinery was not then so machine-made as it is now.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ROOM, ABOUT 1782.
(_From engraving after Stothard._)]
It may be here remarked that the earlier pieces of the eighteenth
century were polished much in the same manner as was old oak previously
described. Highly polished surfaces and veneers, and that abomination
"French polish," which is a cheap and nasty method of disguising poor
wood, bring furniture within the early nineteenth-century days, when a
wave of Philistine banalities swept over Europe.
RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
L s. d.
Side table, Chippendale, with gadrooned border, the front
boldly carved with a grotesque mask, festoons of
flowers and foliage, on carved legs with claw feet, 64
in. long. Christie, February 14, 1902 126 0 0
Tea-caddy, Chippendale mahogany, square, with four
divisions, the borders carved with rosettes and
interlaced riband ornament, the sides inlaid with four
old Worcester oblong plaques painted with exotic birds,
insects, fruit, flowers, and festoons in colours on
white ground, 10 in. square. Christie, February 6, 1903 52 10 0
Fire-screen, Chippendale mahogany, containing a panel of old
English petit-point needlework, worked with a basket of
flowers in coloured silks, on pillar and tripod carved
with foliage and ball-and-claw feet. Christie, December
4, 1903 17 17 0
Armchairs, pair large Chippendale mahogany, with interlaced
backs carved with foliage, the arms terminating in
carved and gilt eagles' heads. Christie, January 22,
1904 88 4 0
Cabinet, Chippendale mahogany, with glazed folding doors
enclosing shelves, and with cupboards and eight small
drawers below, the borders fluted, 8 ft. high, 8 ft.
wide. Christie, January 22, 1904 67 4 0
Chairs, set of six Chippendale mahogany, with open
interlaced backs, with scroll tops, carved with foliage
and shell ornament, on carved cabriole legs and
ball-and-claw feet. Christie, January 22, 1904 102 18 0
Table, Chippendale, oblong, cabriole legs, carved with
shells, &c., on claw feet, surmounted by a veined white
marble slab, 53 in. wide. Christie, March 4, 1904 73 0 0
Settee, Chippendale mahogany, with double back with scroll
top, carved with arabesque foliage, the arms terminating
in masks, on legs carved with lions' masks and claw
feet, 54 in. wide. Christie, April 12, 1904 278 5 0
Mirror, Chippendale, carved with gilt, 88 in. high, 50 in.
wide. Christie, May 18, 1904 94 10 0
[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
are given from their useful monthly publication _Auction Sale Prices_.
XI
SHERATON, ADAM,
AND HEPPELWHITE
STYLES
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
HEPPELWHITE SETTEE, MAHOGANY.]
XI
SHERATON, ADAM, AND HEPPELWHITE STYLES
Robert Adam 1728-1792.
Thomas Sheraton 1751-1806.
1752. Loch and Copeland's designs published.
1765. Manwaring's designs published.
1770. Ince and Mayhew's designs published.
1788. Heppelwhite's designs published.
In the popular conception of the furniture of the three Georges the
honours are divided between Chippendale and Sheraton. Up till recently
all that was not Chippendale was Sheraton, and all that was not
Sheraton must be Chippendale. The one is represented by the
straight-legged mahogany chairs or cabriole legs with claw-and-ball feet
and the backs elaborately carved; the other with finely tapered legs,
built on elegant lines, and of satinwood, having marquetry decoration or
painted panels.
This is the rough generalisation that obtained in the earlier days of
the craze for collecting eighteenth-century furniture. Heppelwhite and
Adam (more often than not alluded to as Adams), are now added to the
list, and auction catalogues attempt to differentiate accordingly. But
these four names do not represent a quarter of the well-known makers who
were producing good furniture in the days between the South Sea Bubble
in 1720 and the battle of Waterloo in 1815.
In this chapter it will be impossible to give more than a passing
allusion to the less-known makers of the eighteenth century, but to
those who wish to pursue the matter in more detailed manner the
Bibliography annexed (p. 19) gives ample material for a closer study of
the period.
The four brothers Adam, sons of a well-known Scottish architect, were
exponents of the classic style. Robert Adam was the architect of the
fine houses in the Adelphi, and he designed the screen and gateway at
the entrance to the Admiralty in 1758. James is credited with the
designing of interior decorations and furniture. Carriages,
sedan-chairs, and even plate were amongst the artistic objects to which
these brothers gave their stamp. The classical capitals, mouldings and
niches, the shell flutings and the light garlands in the Adam style,
are welcome sights in many otherwise dreary streets in London. Robert,
the eldest brother, lived from 1728 to 1792, and during that time
exercised a great influence on English art.
[Illustration: SHERATON ARMCHAIR; MAHOGANY, ABOUT 1780.
ADAM ARMCHAIR; MAHOGANY, ABOUT 1790.
ARMCHAIR OF WALNUT, SHIELD-BACK CARVED WITH THREE OSTRICH FEATHERS.
IN HEPPELWHITE STYLE. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
CHAIR OF WALNUT, SHIELD-BACK; IN THE STYLE OF HEPPELWHITE.
LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
In 1790, a set of designs of English furniture were published by A.
Heppelwhite. In these chairs with pierced backs, bookcases with
fancifully framed glass doors, and mahogany bureaux, the influence of
Chippendale is evident, but the robustness of the master and the
individuality of his style become transformed into a lighter and more
elegant fashion, to which French _finesse_ and the Adam spirit have
contributed their influence.
In the illustration (p. 243) various types of chairs of the period are
given. A chair termed the "ladder-back" was in use in France at the same
time. In Chardin's celebrated picture of "_Le jeu de l'oye_," showing
the interior of a parlour of the middle eighteenth century, a chair of
this type is shown.
The Heppelwhite settee illustrated as the headpiece to this chapter
shows the delicate fluting in the woodwork, and the elaborated turned
legs which were beginning to be fashionable at the close of the
eighteenth century. The two chairs by Heppelwhite & Co., illustrated (p.
243), are typical examples of the elegance of the style which has an
individuality of its own--a fact that collectors are beginning to
recognise.
The shield-back chair with wheat-ear and openwork decoration, and legs
in which the lathe has been freely used, are characteristic types. The
elegance of the legs in Heppelwhite chairs is especially noticeable. The
designers departed from Chippendale with results exquisitely
symmetrical, and of most graceful ornamentation.
Hogarth, in his biting satires on the absurdities of Kent, the
architect, painter, sculptor, and ornamental gardener, whose claims to
be any one of the four rest on slender foundations, did not prevent
fashionable ladies consulting him for designs for furniture, picture
frames, chairs, tables, for cradles, for silver plate, and even for the
construction of a barge. It is recorded by Walpole that two great ladies
who implored him to design birthday gowns for them were decked out in
incongruous devices: "the one he dressed in a petticoat decorated in
columns of the five orders, and the other like a bronze, in a
copper-coloured satin, with ornaments of gold."
Heppelwhite learned the lesson of Hogarth, that "the line of beauty is a
curve," and straight lines were studiously avoided in his designs. Of
the varieties of chairs that he made, many have the Prince of Wales's
feathers either carved upon them in the centre of the open-work back or
japanned upon the splat, a method of decoration largely employed in
France, which has not always stood the test of time, for when examples
are found they often want restoration. Of satin-wood, with paintings
upon the panels, Heppelwhite produced some good examples, and when he
attempted greater elaboration his style in pieces of involved design and
intricacy of detail became less original, and came into contact with
Sheraton. His painted furniture commands high prices, and the name of
Heppelwhite will stand as high as Chippendale or Sheraton for graceful
interpretations of the spirit which invested the late eighteenth
century.
Before dealing with Sheraton in detail, the names of some lesser known
makers contemporary with him may be mentioned. Matthias Lock, together
with a cabinetmaker named Copeland, published in 1752 designs of
furniture which derived their inspiration from the brothers Adam, which
classic feeling later, in conjunction with the Egyptian and Pompeian
spirit, dominated the style of the First Empire. Josiah Wedgewood, with
his Etruscan vases, and Flaxman, his designer, filled with the new
classic spirit, are examples in the world of pottery of the influences
which were transmitted through the French Revolution to all forms of art
when men cast about in every direction to find new ideas for design.
Ince and Mayhew, two other furniture designers, published a book in
1770, and Johnson outdid Chippendale's florid styles in a series of
designs he brought out, which, with their twisted abortions, look almost
like a parody of Thomas Chippendale's worst features. There is a
"Chairmaker's Guide," by Manwaring and others in 1766, which contains
designs mainly adapted from all that was being produced at the time. It
is not easy to tell the difference between chairs made by Manwaring and
those made by Chippendale, as he certainly stands next to the great
master in producing types which have outlived ephemeral tastes, and
taken their stand as fine artistic creations.
Among other names are those of Shearer, Darly, and Gillow, all of whom
were notable designers and makers of furniture in the period immediately
preceding the nineteenth century.
Thomas Sheraton, contemporary with William Blake the dreamer, shares
with him the unfortunate posthumous honour of reaching sensational
prices in auction rooms. There is much in common between the two men.
Sheraton was born in 1751 at Stockton-on-Tees, and came to London to
starve. Baptist preacher, cabinetmaker, author, teacher of drawing, he
passed his life in poverty, and died in distressed circumstances. He
was, before he brought out his book of designs, the author of several
religious works. Often without capital to pursue his cabinetmaking he
fell back on his aptitude for drawing, and gave lessons in design. He
paid young Black, who afterwards became Lord Provost of Edinburgh, half
a guinea a week as workman in his cabinetmaker's shop in Soho. In a
pathetic picture of those days the Lord Provost, in his _Memoirs_, tells
how Sheraton and his wife and child had only two cups and saucers and
the child had a mug, and when the writer took tea with them the wife's
cup and saucer were given up to the guest, and she drank her tea from a
common mug. This reads like Blake's struggles when he had not money
enough to procure copper-plates on which to engrave his wonderful
visions.
That the styles of Chippendale and Sheraton represent two distinct
schools is borne out by what Sheraton himself thought of his great
predecessor. Speaking in his own book of Chippendale's previous work he
says: "As for the designs themselves they are wholly antiquated, and
laid aside, though possessed of great merit according to the times in
which they were executed." From this it would appear that the
Chippendale style, at the time of Sheraton's "Cabinetmaker's and
Upholsterer's Drawing Book," published in 1793, had gone out of fashion.
The woods mostly employed by Sheraton were satinwood, tulip-wood,
rosewood, and apple-wood, and occasionally mahogany. In place of carved
scrollwork he used marquetry, and on the cabinets and larger pieces
panels were painted by Cipriani and Angelica Kauffman. There is a fine
example of the latter's work in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Sheraton borrowed largely from the French style under Louis XVI., when
the lines had become severer; he came, too, under the influence of the
Adam designs. He commonly used turned legs, and often turned backs, in
his chairs. His later examples had a hollowed or spoon back to fit the
body of the sitter. When he used mahogany he realised the beauty of
effect the dark wood would give to inlay of lighter coloured woods, or
even of brass. The splats and balusters, and even the legs of some of
his chairs, are inlaid with delicate marquetry work.
Ornament for its own sake was scrupulously eschewed by Sheraton. The
essential supports and uprights and stretcher-rails and other component
parts of a piece of furniture were only decorated as portions of a
preconceived whole. The legs were tapered, the plain surfaces were
inlaid with marquetry, but nothing meaningless was added. In France
Sheraton's style was termed "_Louis Seize a l'Anglaise_."
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Hampton &. Sons._
OLD ENGLISH SECRETAIRE.
Rosewood and satinwood. Drop-down front.]
It was the firm of Heppelwhite that first introduced the painted
furniture into England, and under Sheraton it developed into an
emulation of the fine work done by Watteau and Greuze in the days of
Marie Antoinette.
Among the varied pieces that Sheraton produced are a number of ingenious
inventions in furniture, such as the library-steps he made for George
III. to rise perpendicularly from the top of a table frame, and when
folded up to be concealed within it. His bureau-bookcases and
writing-cabinets have sliding flaps and secret drawers and devices
intended to make them serve a number of purposes.
[Illustration: _By permission of Messrs. Harold G. Lancaster & Co._
SHIELD-BACK CHAIR. MAHOGANY.
LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]
On the front of his chairs is frequently found the inverted bell
flower, and another of his favourite forms of decoration is the acanthus
ornament, which he puts to graceful use.
The influence of his work, and of that of Heppelwhite & Co., was
lasting, and much of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth
century cabinetmaking owes its origin to their designs. The old English
secretaire illustrated (p. 250), of rose and satinwood, with drawer
above and fall-down front, having cupboard beneath with doors finely
inlaid with plaques of old lac, is of the date when Heppelwhite was
successfully introducing this class of French work into England. It is
especially interesting to note that the drawer-handles are mounted with
old Battersea enamel.
The difficulty of definitely pronouncing as to the maker of many of the
pieces of furniture of the late eighteenth century is recognised by
experts. The chair illustrated (p. 251) cannot be assigned to any
particular designer, though its genuine old feeling is indisputable. In
the fine collection of old furniture of this period at the Victoria and
Albert Museum will be found many examples of chairs with no other title
assigned to them than "late eighteenth century." This fact speaks for
itself. A great and growing school had followed the precepts of
Chippendale and Heppelwhite and Sheraton. This glorious period of little
more than half a century might have been developed into a new
Renaissance in furniture. Unfortunately, the early days of the
nineteenth century and the dreary Early Victorian period, both before
and after the great Exhibition of 1851, display the most tasteless
ineptitude in nearly every branch of art. From the days of Elizabeth
down to the last of the Georges, English craftsmen, under various
influences, have produced domestic furniture of great beauty. It is
impossible to feel any interest in the Windsor chair, the saddle-bag
couch, or the red mahogany cheffoniere. The specimens of misapplied work
shown at the Bethnal Green Museum, relics of the English exhibits at the
first Exhibition, are unworthy of great traditions.
The awakened interest shown by all classes in old furniture will do much
to carry the designers back to the best periods in order to study the
inheritance the masters have left, and it is to be hoped that the
message of the old craftsmen dead and gone will not fall on deaf ears.
RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]
L s. d.
Chairs, wheel back, set of seven (including armchair), Adam,
carved, mahogany. Good condition. Brady & Sons, Perth,
September 1, 1902 27 2 6
Mirror, Adam, in gilt frame, Corinthian pillar sides,
ornamental glass panel at top, surmounted by a carved
wood eagle figure. Gudgeon & Sons, Winchester, November
11, 1903 7 10 0
Mantelpiece, Adam, carved wood, with Corinthian column
supports, carved and figures and festoons. France &
Sons, December 16, 1903 20 0 0
Mirrors, pair, oval, Adam, carved and gilt wood frame.
Christie, March 18, 1904 46 4 0
Cabinet or enclosed buffet, Adam, on Empire lines, veneered
on oak with grained Spanish mahogany, in the frieze is a
long drawer, and below a cupboard, the whole on square
feet, doors inlaid, handles, &c., of ormolu, 3 ft. 9 in.
wide. Flashman & Co., Dover, April 26, 1904 15 0 0
Side-tables, pair hare-wood, by Adam, with rounded corners,
on square-shaped tapering legs, the sides and borders
inlaid with marquetry, in coloured woods, 53 in. wide.
Christie, June 2, 1904 105 0 0
Bookcase, 4 ft. 8 in., mahogany, Heppelwhite, inlaid
tulip-wood with box and ebony lines, fitted shelves and
drawers, enclosed by doors. Phillips, Son and Neale,
November 17, 1903 44 0 0
Settee, Heppelwhite, square-shaped, 6 ft., and three elbow
chairs. Gudgeon & Sons, Winchester, March 9, 1904 38 0 0
Console-table, Heppelwhite satinwood, the top shaped as a
broken ellipse, and of hare-wood with inlays of husks
and flowers round a fan-pattern centre with borderings
in ebony and other woods on a filling of satinwood; the
edge is bound with ormolu, reeded and cross banded,
below is the frieze of satin-wood inlaid with
honeysuckle, paterae, and other ornament in holly, &c.,
and supported on a pair of carved square tapered legs
painted and gilt, and with pendants of husks and
acanthus capitals, 4 ft. 3 in. wide. Flashman & Co.,
Dover, April 26, 1904 40 0 0
Suite of Heppelwhite mahogany furniture, with open shield
backs, with vase-shaped centres carved, the back, arms
and legs widely fluted, consisting of a settee, 74 in.
wide, and ten armchairs. Christie, June 2, 1904 325 10 0
Knife-box, oblong, Sheraton mahogany, with revolving front,
inlaid with Prince-of-Wales's feathers and borders in
satinwood, 19-1/2 in. wide. Christie, November 21, 1902 7 17 6
Sideboard, Sheraton, mahogany, satinwood inlaid, fitted with
brass rails. Dowell, Edinburgh, November 14, 1903 30 9 0
Wardrobe, Sheraton mahogany, banded with satinwood, with
folding doors above and below, and five drawers in the
centre, 7 ft. high, 8 ft. wide. Christie, January 22,
1904 60 18 0
Chairs, set of eighteen Sheraton, with oval backs with rail
centres, fluted and slightly carved with foliage and
beading, the seats covered with flowered crimson damask;
and a pair of settees, _en suite_, 6 ft. wide. Christie,
February 26, 1904 126 0 0
Armchairs, pair, Sheraton, with shield-shaped backs, painted
with Prince of Wales feathers, and pearl ornament on
black ground. Christie, March 28, 1904 28 7 0
Cabinet, Sheraton satinwood, with glazed folding doors
enclosing shelves, drawer in the centre forming
secretary, and folding-doors below, painted with baskets
of flowers, &c., 7 ft. 9 in. high, 41 in. wide.
Christie, March 28, 1904 189 0 0
Secretaire, Sheraton small satinwood, with revolving tambour
front, drawer and folding doors below, inlaid with
arabesque foliage, 23 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 1904
47 5 0
[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items
are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.
XII
HINTS TO COLLECTORS
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR SPURIOUS MARQUETRY WORK.]
XII
HINTS TO COLLECTORS
The demand for old furniture has become so great that there is an
increasing difficulty in supplying it. In order to satisfy the collector
many artifices have been practised which in varying degree are difficult
to detect, according to the skill and ingenuity of the present-day
manufacturer of "antique" furniture.
Replicas of old pieces are frequently made, and the workmanship is so
excellent, and the copy of the old craftsman's style so perfect, that it
only requires a century or two of wear to give to the specimen the
necessary tone which genuine old furniture has naturally acquired.
In particular, French ornate furniture from the days of Boule to the
Empire period has received the flattering attention of the fabricator by
being imitated in all its details. These high-class French pieces are
fine examples of cabinetmaking, and it is not easy for anybody who has
not a special expert knowledge to pronounce definitely upon their
authenticity. Doubts have even been expressed regarding certain pieces
in the great national collections; in fact the art of the forger in
regard to old French furniture, of which specimens change hands at
anything from L1,000 to L10,000, has reached a very high level of
excellence, having almost been elevated to one of the fine arts. If a
clever workman possessed of great artistic feeling turns his attention
to forging works of art, it is obvious that his triumph is complete over
amateurs possessed of less artistic taste and knowledge than himself.
Many secret processes are employed to impart an appearance of age to the
wood and to the metal mountings. The cruder methods are to eat off the
sharper edges of the metal mountings by means of acid, and to discolour
the newer surfaces by the aid of tobacco juice, both of which are not
difficult to detect. The steady manufacture of these finer pieces goes
on in France, and it has been found that the foggy atmosphere of London
is especially useful in producing the effect of age upon the finer work,
consequently many forged pieces are shipped to London to be stored in
order to ripen until considered fit for the American market, where so
many forgeries have been planted. The reward is great, and even
considering the amount of trouble bestowed upon such pieces and the
excellence of the artistic work where the highest skilled labour is
employed, the profit is enormous. The parvenu buys his Louis XIV. or
Louis XV. suite, and pays an immense sum for pieces which are stated to
have come from some French nobleman's chateau, whose name must not be
divulged, and so the interesting deal is brought to a successful
termination.
[Illustration: "MADE-UP" BUFFET.
The middle portion, consisting of the two drawers and three panelled
cupboards above, is genuine old carved oak. The stand, with the finely
turned legs and rails, and the whole of the upper portion, is modern.]
As an object-lesson as to the truth of the above remarks, the Wallace
Collection contains a modern French copy in facsimile, by Dasson, of the
celebrated "Bureau du Roi" of the Louis XV. period, the original being
in the Louvre. The original is fully described in the chapter on Louis
XV. style, and it is not too much to assert that ninety-nine per cent.
of the visitors to the Collection could not say that this copy was not
an old French specimen of over a century and a quarter ago, and the
remaining one, unless he happened to be an expert, would not question
its genuineness.
Old oak has always been a favourite with the public, and from the modern
Flemish monstrosities, carved in evil manner and displaying proportions
in the worst possible taste, to the equally vulgar home production in
buffet or sideboard, and stocked by many dealers in so-called "antique"
furniture, the number of grotesque styles foisted upon the public within
the last fifteen years has been remarkable. One wonders what has become
of the high-backed oak chairs, nearly black with repeated applications
of permanganate of potash, having flaming red-leather seats. They seem
to have mysteriously disappeared from up-to-date "antique" stores of
late. The public has taken to inquiring into art matters a little more
closely. Nowadays the latest thing is "fumed" oak, which is modern oak
discoloured by means of ammonia, which darkens the surface of the wood
to a depth of a sixteenth of an inch. It is not infrequent to find an
attempt made to represent this as old oak after an elaborate treatment
with linseed oil, turpentine, and beeswax, though an examination of the
interior edges of the wood will discover its modernity at once.
Of course, such tricks as these are not practised by any firm of
standing, who cannot afford to damage their reputation by any
misrepresentation. As a general rule a dealer will readily point out the
details of workmanship and offer technical information of much value to
a beginner, if he discovers that his customer is a collector desirous of
acquiring only fine specimens. It is more often than not the folly of
the public, and not the dishonesty of the dealer, which results in trade
frauds being committed in the attempt to execute some impossible and
imperative order, which the moneyed collector has given. The difference
between the genuine and the replica is most clearly made by
old-fashioned firms of high standing. It is only when the collector
enters into the arena and endeavours to set forth in quest of bargains,
where he pits his skill against that of the dealer in the hope of
outwitting the latter, that he is obviously on dangerous ground. In the
one case he pays a higher price and obtains the benefit of the
experience of a firm with expert knowledge, in the other he relies on
his own judgment in picking up a bargain from some one whom he believes
to be possessed of less knowledge than himself. If he is successful he
is not slow to brag about his cleverness; but if he is worsted in the
encounter, and pays, let us say, five pounds for an object which he
fondly believed was worth fifty, if genuine, and which he subsequently
discovers is worth less than he gave, there is nothing too bad to say
concerning his antagonist.
It is chiefly by the character of carved work that old pieces can be
recognised. There are three classes of pitfalls to avoid.
1. Fraudulent pieces throughout, of modern wood and of modern carving.
2. "Made-up" pieces which often consist of genuine old pieces of carved
wood pieced together ingeniously from fragments of carvings, with modern
additions.
3. "Restored" pieces which are mainly old and should have received, if
admitted to a collection, only the necessary repairs to make them
serviceable.
With regard to the first class, fraudulent throughout, it is the hope of
the writer that enough has already been written in this volume to point
the way to the reader and to assist him to follow his natural
inclinations in developing the necessary critical taste to readily
detect pieces wholly false in character and feeling.
"Made-up" pieces present a greater difficulty. Considerable skill has
been exercised in combining certain parts of old furniture into a whole
which is, however, mostly inharmonious. In pieces of this nature there
is an absence of feeling in style and carving. It is difficult to define
the exact meaning of the word "feeling" as applied to art objects, it is
a subtle expression of skill and poetry which communicates itself to the
lover of art. It is so subtle and elusive that experts will tell one
that such and such a piece requires to be "lived with" to test its
authenticity. Mr. Frederick Roe, whose volume on "Ancient Coffers and
Cupboards" displays a profound knowledge of his subject, writes, "it
occasionally happens that pieces are so artfully made up that only
living with them will enable the collector to detect the truth. In
dealing with pieces of this suspicious kind one often has to fall back
on a sort of instinct. With critical collectors of every sort this
innate sense plays a very important part."
Two specimens of "made-up" furniture are reproduced, which will bear
close study in order to appreciate the difficulty of collecting old oak.
The illustration of the buffet (p. 261) has many points of interest. The
general appearance of the piece is not inharmonious. It has been
carefully thought out and no less carefully put into effect. The middle
portion, consisting of the three drawers and the three cupboards above,
up to and including the shelf partition at the top, is the only old
part. The handles, locks, and escutcheons of the two drawers are old,
but the hinges above are modern copies of old designs, and the handles
of the cupboards are modern replicas.
[Illustration: CABINET OF OLD OAK.
MADE UP FROM SEVERAL PIECES OF GENUINE OLD CARVED OAK.]
The massive stand with artistically turned rails in Jacobean style,
is soft wood artfully fumed and generously beeswaxed. The whole of the
top portion has been added and is soft wood very well carved. The
carving of the panels is also well executed, and is evidently a copy of
some old design.
The older portion is a fine piece of early Jacobean work, and it is not
difficult to distinguish between the feeling of this and the expression
conveyed by the modern woodwork. The patina of the wood after two
centuries of exposure and polishing has that peculiarly pleasing
appearance which accompanies genuine old woodwork. The edges of the
carving have lost their sharp angles, and the mellowness of the middle
panels are in strong contrast to the harsher tone of those of the upper
portion.
Such a piece as this would not deceive an expert, nor, perhaps, is it
intended to, or greater care would have been bestowed upon it, but it is
sufficiently harmonious in composition not to offend in a glaring
manner, and might easily deceive a tyro.
The next piece illustrated (p. 267) is interesting from another point of
view. It is a more elaborate attempt to produce a piece of old furniture
in which the details themselves have all the mellowness of fine old oak.
In fact, with the exception of one portion, some eight inches by three,
to which allusion will be made later, the whole of it is genuine old
oak.
The three panels at the top are finely carved and are Jacobean work. The
two outside panels at the bottom, though of a later period, are good
work. The middle panel at the bottom is evidently a portion of a larger
piece of carving, because the pattern abruptly breaks off, and it was
most certainly not designed by the old carver to lie on its side in this
fashion.
The two heads at the top corners have been cut from some old specimen,
and artfully laid on. The carving on both sides, running below each head
from top to bottom, is of two distinct designs joined in each case in a
line level with the upper line of the lower panels. The two uprights on
each side of the middle lower panel are exquisite pieces of carved work,
but certainly never intended to be upright. They are evidently portions
of a long, flowing ornament, as their cut-off appearance too plainly
shows.
The top panels have done duty elsewhere, as part of the ornamental
carving at the top and bottom of each lozenge is lost. The long line of
scrolled carving above them is distinctly of interest. On the left hand,
from the head to the middle of the panel, a piece of newer carving has
been inserted, some eight inches long. The wood, at one time darkened to
correspond with the adjacent carving, has become lighter, which is
always the case when wood is stained to match other portions. The
carving in this new portion follows in every detail the lines of the
older design, and is a very pretty piece of "faking."
The cross-piece running from left to right, dividing the lower panels
from the upper, is in three parts. An examination of the design shows
that the last three circles on the right, and the last four on the left,
are of smaller size than the others. The design evidently belonged to
some other piece of furniture, and has been removed to do service in
this "made-up" production.
In all probability the two uprights enclosing the top middle panel, and
the two uprights on the outside at the bottom were once portions of a
carved bedstead, as they are all of the same size and design. It is a
notorious trick to slice an old carved bedpost into four pieces,
skilfully fitting the pieces into "made-up" furniture.
There is a prevalent idea that worm-holes are actually produced in
furniture, in order to give a new piece a more realistic appearance.
There are traditions of duck-shot having been used, and there is little
doubt that holes were drilled by makers who knew their public. But it is
improbable that such artifices would be of much use for deceptive
purposes nowadays. As a matter of fact, worm-holes are avoided by any
one who gives a moment's thought to the matter. To get rid of worm in
furniture is no easy task, and they eventually ruin any pieces they
tenant.
The illustration (p. 274) shows a piece of Spanish chestnut badly
honeycombed by furniture worms. In chairs, especially, their havoc is
almost irreparable, and in the softer woods the legs become too rotten
to be repaired or even strengthened. Metal plates are often screwed on
the sides to prevent the chairs falling to pieces, but they become
useless to sit upon without fear of disaster.
The insect is really the boring wood-beetle, which is armed with
formidable forceps, to enable it to burrow through the wood. The worm,
the larva of this beetle, is also provided with boring apparatus, and
this insect, whether as beetle or as worm, is a deadly enemy to all
furniture. The "death-watch" is also accused of being a depredator of
books and of furniture of soft wood.
To remove worms from furniture is a costly undertaking, requiring the
greatest skill. Large pieces of furniture have actually to be taken to
pieces and the whole of the damaged parts removed with a chisel. In
cases where the legs, or slender supports, have been attacked, the
difficulty is one requiring the specialist's most delicate attention.
Various applications are recommended, but cannot be stated to be
reliable. Injecting paraffin is said to be the best remedy, and putting
the pieces in a chamber where all the openings have been sealed, and
lighting pans of sulphur underneath the furniture, allowing the
specimens to remain in this fumigating bath for some days is another
method resorted to.
With regard to Chippendale furniture, a word of caution is necessary. It
is as impossible for Chippendale and his workmen to have produced all
the furniture attributed to them as it is for the small factory at
Lowestoft to have made all the china with which it is credited. As has
been shown in the chapter on Thomas Chippendale, his styles were most
extensively copied by his contemporaries all over the country and by
many makers after him, and modern makers produce a great quantity of
"Chippendale" every year. Only a careful examination of museum pieces
will train the eye of the collector. The fine sense of proportion, at
once noticeable in the genuine Chippendale chair, is absent in the
modern copy, and, above all, the carving in the latter is thin and poor.
In the old days the wastage of wood was not a thing which the master had
in his mind. In modern copies the curl of the arm, or the swell at the
top of the back, shows a regard for economy. There is a thin, flat look
about the result, which ought not to be mistaken. Scrolls and
ribbon-work are often added to later pieces made in the style of
Chippendale, which have enough wood in their surfaces to bear carving
away.
An ingenious device is adopted in cases of inlaid pieces of a small
nature, such as imitation Sheraton clock-cases and knife-boxes and the
frames of mirrors. Old engravings are procured of scrollwork, usually
from the end of some book. The illustration (p. 259) shows the class of
engravings selected. These engravings are coated with a very thin layer
of vellum, which is boiled down to a liquid, and carefully spread over
them. After this treatment they are ready to be glued on to the panels
to be "faked," and, when coated over with transparent varnish, they
present the appearance of an ivory and ebony inlay.
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR SPURIOUS MARQUETRY WORK.]
The frauds practised in satinwood and painted pieces are many and are
exceedingly difficult to detect. Much of Sheraton's furniture was
veneered with finely selected specimens of West India satinwood. These
carefully chosen panels were painted by Cipriani and others. The modern
"faker" has not the material to select from, as the satinwood imported
is not so beautiful nor so richly varied in grain as in the old days. He
removes a side panel from an old piece, and substitutes another where
its obnoxious presence is not so noticeable. To this old panel he
affixes a modern coloured print after one of Sheraton's artists, which,
when carefully varnished over and skilfully treated so as to represent
the cracks in the supposed old painting, is ready for insertion in the
"made-up" sideboard, to catch the fancy of the unwary collector.
FINIS.
[Illustration: PIECE OF SPANISH CHESTNUT SHOWING RAVAGES OF WORMS.]
INDEX
A
Adam, the brothers, and their style, 209, 241-256
Adam armchair (illustrated), 243
Admiralty, screen and gateway, designed by Robert Adam, 242
Anne, Queen, furniture of, prices realised at auction, 153
---- insularity of furniture in reign of, 136
---- well-constructed furniture of period of, 145
Apsley House, collection of furniture at, 209
Armoire, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
Ascham, quotation from, 68
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, chair at, 115
B
Baroque, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
Barrow, Sam, name of maker, on Queen Anne clock, 148
Battersea enamel, its use on furniture, 252
Berain, Jean, 162
Blenheim, chair from, 222
Bodleian Library, Oxford, illustration of chair at, 82
_Bombe_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
Bookcase by Chippendale, 225, 231
Boucher, 182, 195
Boule, Andre Charles, and his marquetry, 160-162
---- cabinet (illustrated), 165
---- _see_ GLOSSARY, 23
---- and counter-boule (illustrated), showing difference between, 163
Bridal chest (German), 43
Bromley-by-Bow, "Old Palace," oak panelling from, 65
Brown and Bool, Messrs., specimens from collection of, 141, 150
Buhl work, 160
Bureau, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Burr-walnut panels, 139
Butter-cupboard, 104
C
Cabinet, ebony, formerly property of Oliver Cromwell, 99
Cabriole, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Cabriole-leg, introduction of into England, 127
Caffieri, 177, 191
Cambridge, King's College Chapel, woodwork of, 63
Cane seats and backs of chairs, adoption of, 117
---- work in chairs, later development of, 122
Carolean, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
Carving supplanted by cane-work panels, 117
Caryatides, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
_Cassette_, (strong box) of period of Louis XIV., 158
_Cassone_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
---- (marriage coffer), the Italian, 42
Catherine of Braganza, fashions introduced by, 114
Cecil, Lord Burleigh, quotation from, 66
Chair, Charles I., 93, 95
---- Chippendale, 223, 224, 226, 227, 232, 233
---- "Cromwellian," 96
---- high-backed, Portuguese, 114
---- Italian (1620), 94
---- Jacobean, made from timber of Drake's _Golden Hind_, 83
---- James I., 87, 89
---- James II., 123
---- Louis XIII. period, 159
---- ribbon-back, 222, 223
---- Oliver Goldsmith's, 215
---- with arms of first Earl of Strafford, 93
Chairs, test as to age of, 100
---- types of Jacobean (illustrated), 97, 100, 105, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124
---- types of Queen Anne period (illustrated), 143
---- upholstered, adopted in late Elizabethan days, 75
Chambers, Sir William, 216
Chardin, picture by, showing ladder-back chair, 245
Charles I. furniture, prices realised at auction, 106
---- II. furniture, prices realised at auction, 129
---- II., repartee of, 114
Charterhouse, specimen at, illustration of, 227
Chatsworth, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
Chests of drawers, Jacobean, 117
China collecting, influence of, on furniture, 127
Chinese and Japanese cabinets, 148
"Chinese" Chippendale, 213, 221
Chippendale, Thomas, and his style, 213-238;
his _Director_, 215
---- bureau-bookcase, 225, 231
---- furniture, tricks concerning, 272;
prices of, 227, 236
Cipriani, 249
Classic models paramount, 205
Claw-and-ball feet adopted by Chippendale, 216
---- feet (prior to Chippendale), 146
---- foot, introduction of, 127
Clock, "Grandfather," introduction of, 127
Clocks, "Grandfather," 147
Colbert, the guiding spirit of art under Louis XIV., 159
Collectors, hints to, 259-274
Commode, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Commodes (illustrated), Cressent, 171;
Louis XIV., 173;
Caffieri, 175;
Riesener, 197
_Contre partie_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Copeland, designs of, 247
Copies of old furniture, 259, 263
---- of fine French pieces, 185, 197
Cottage furniture (Chippendale style), 232
Counter-boule, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
-----boule, 161
Court cupboard, 70
Cowley, quotation from, 85
Cradle, with initials and date, 96
Cressent, Charles, 177, 178
Crispin de Passe, chair designed by, 159
Cromwellian chair, 96
Cromwell's ebony cabinet, 96
Cushions for chairs when adopted, 75
D
Darly, 248
Dated pieces--
1593, Elizabethan bedstead, 66
1603, Mirror, carved oak frame, 71
1603, Court cupboard, 73
1616, Oak table, 85
1623, Chair, 97
1641, Cradle, 96
1642, Chair, 159
1653, Cabinet, _frontispiece_
1760-69, "Bureau du roi," 185
1769, Bureau, 196
1810, Jewel cabinet, 207
David, 195, 208, 209
Derbyshire chairs, 103
Diderot, 205
_Director_, designs of chair-backs from, 222, 225
Drake, Sir Francis, chair made from timber of _Golden Hind_, 82
Drawers, chests of, Jacobean, 117
Dressers, Normandy, 103
---- "Welsh," 100
Dublin Museum, illustration of oak chest at, 44
Dutch art, introduction of, by William of Orange, 124
---- house, interior of (illustrated), 111
---- lacquer work, 151
---- marquetry, 128, 146
---- marquetry chair, illustrated, 143
---- marquetry, prices realised at auction, 132
E
Eassie, Walter, illustrations from drawings by, 171, 183
Egyptian design, influence of, 247
Eighteenth century, early, well-constructed furniture of, 145
---- interior of room (illustrated), 235
Elizabethan mansions, some noteworthy, 67
Elizabethan woodwork, fine example of, 65
Empire style furniture, 202-210
---- its influence on English makers, 209
England, Renaissance in, 37, 59-78
F
Farmhouse furniture, 100
Figure in wood, how obtained, 76, 118
Fire of London, destruction of furniture by, 120
First Empire style, 203-210
Flemish wood-carving, its influence on English craftsmen, 49
Fontainebleau, illustration of jewel cabinet at, 207
Foreign workmen employed in England, 37
Fragonard, 182, 195
France, Renaissance in, 43
Francis I., patron of the new art, 47
Frauds perpetrated on collectors, 259-274
French polish, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24, 236
French Revolution, vandalism during, 204
G
Gate-leg table, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
---- table, 95
Gibbons, Grinling, work of, 121
Gillow, 248
_Golden Hind_, chair made from timbers of, 82
Goldsmith, Oliver, chair of, 215, 216
Gothic, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
---- revival, its influence on Chippendale, 221
Gouthiere, Pierre, 191, 192, 197
Grandfather clock, 147
---- clock, introduction of, 127
Great Hall at Hampton Court, 63
Grimm, quotation from, 205
Grotesque design prevalent in Elizabethan furniture, 69
H
Hall, Hampton Court, the Great, 63
---- Middle Temple, carved screen at, 65
Hampton Court, the Great Hall at, 63
---- Court, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
Hampton & Sons, Messrs., pieces from collection of, 59, 95, 99, 115,
120, 121, 135, 143, 147, 148, 250
Harrington, Sir John, quotation from, 75
Henry VII.'s chapel, Westminster Abbey, 63
---- VIII., patron of the new art, 37
Heppelwhite, the style of, 241-256
---- chairs (illustrated), 243
Herculaneum and Pompeii, influence of excavations at, 204, 209
Hints to Collectors, 259-274
Hogarth, William, 246
Holbein in England, 37
Honey, W. G., Esq., specimen from collection of, 151
Huygens, Dutch lacquer of, 182
I
Ince & Mayhew's designs, 247
India office, specimen at, illustration of, 226
Ingenious contrivances of Sheraton's furniture, 251
Inlay, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
---- in Elizabethan pieces, 69
Italian art dominates Elizabethan fashion, 68
Italy, Renaissance in, 41
J
Jacobean, _see_ GLOSSARY, 25
---- furniture, its fine simplicity, 104
Jacobean furniture, prices realised at auction, 106, 129
James I., chair at Knole House, 86
---- II. furniture, prices realised at auction, 130
Japanese and Chinese cabinets, 148
Japanese lac imitated, 182
Jones Bequest, illustrations of specimens in, 165, 179, 193
---- Inigo, his influence, 93
K
Kauffman, Angelica, 249
Kent, eighteenth-century designer, 246
Kew Gardens, pagoda at, 216
King's College Chapel, Cambridge, woodwork of, 63
Kitchen furniture (Chippendale style), 232
Knole House, James I. furniture at, 86
L
Lac, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
---- Japanese and Chinese imitated, 182
Lacquer, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Lancaster & Co., Messrs. Harold G., specimens from collection of, 122, 123,
137, 231, 232, 241, 251
Leather work, cut design, Portuguese chair-back, 128
Le Bas, Rev. H. V., illustration of specimen in possession of, 210
Lebrun, Madame, 205
Leczinski, Stanislas, King of Poland, 196
Linen pattern, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Lock, Matthias, designs of, 247
Louis XIII., chair of period of, 159
---- XIV., period of, 157-167
---- XV., period of, 171-187
---- XVI., period of, 191-200
Louvre, copy of picture in, 203
---- illustration of portrait in, 209
M
Macaulay, Lord, quotation from, 96, 136
"Made-up" pieces, 265
Madrid National Museum, illustration of specimen at, 52
Mahogany period, 34
---- how procured by British captains, 214
---- Sir Walter Raleigh's discovery of, 214
Mansions built in Elizabethan days, 67
Manwaring, designs of, 247
Marie Antoinette, furniture belonging to, 179, 180, 195
Marie Louise, jewel cabinet of, 208
Marquetry, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
---- Dutch, 128
---- Dutch, 146
---- elaborate, 180, 182
---- in Elizabethan pieces, 69
---- work, spurious, 273
Martin, Sieur Simon Etienne (_Vernis-Martin_), 182
Martin's varnish (_Vernis-Martin_), _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Meissonier, inspirer of rococo style, 177
Middle Temple Hall, carved oak screen at, 65
Mirrors, arrangement in Hampton Court galleries, 123
---- at Nell Gwynne's house, 123
---- Chippendale, 229
---- made by French and Italian workmen, 124
---- Queen Anne, 136
---- various forms of, 124
Mortise, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Mother-of-pearl inlay, seventeenth century, 116
Munich National Museum, illustration of specimen at, 39
N
Naples Museum, illustration of table at, 205
Napoleon, his influence on art, 208
Natoire, 182, 195
Needlework decorated cabinet, Charles II. period, 112
Netherlands, Renaissance in, 49
Netscher, Caspar, illustration after picture by, 111
Normandy dressers, 103
Notable examples of sixteenth, century English woodwork, 65
O
Oak, collectors of, hints to, 103, 118
---- furniture, the collector's polish for, 118
---- period, 34
---- polish, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Oeben, Jean Francois, 178
Old oak, polish for, 118
P
Parquetry, _see_ GLOSSARY, 26
Passe Crispin de, chair designed by, 159
Pater, 192
Penshurst Place, Indo-Portuguese furniture at, 115
Petworth House, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
_Polish_, French, 24;
---- oil, 26
Pollen, J., Hungerford, quotation from, 196
Pompeii, influence of excavations at, 204, 208, 247
Ponsonby-Fane, Right Hon. Sir Spencer, specimens in collection of, 101, 224
Portuguese furniture, late seventeenth century, in England, 114
Q
Queen Anne cabinet (illustrated), 141
---- chairs (illustrated), 143
---- furniture, prices realised at auction, 153
---- mirror frame (illustrated), 137
---- settle (illustrated), 149, 155
R
Raleigh, Sir Walter, mahogany first brought home by, 214
Recamier, portrait of, by David, 209
Reeded, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
Renaissance, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
---- in England, 37, 59-78
---- in France, 43
---- in Italy, 41
---- in the Netherlands, 49
---- in Spain, 48
---- on the Continent, 33-55
---- origin of, 38, 41
Restored, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
---- cupboard showing over-elaboration, 73
"Restored" pieces, 265
Revolution in France, vandalism during, 204
Ribbon-back chair (illustrated), 222
---- ornamentation adapted from France, 64;
(illustrated) 60
---- pattern, early use of, by French woodcarvers, 92
Riesener, Jean Francois, 185, 191, 192, 195, 197, 208
Robinson, V. J., Esq., C.I.E., furniture belonging to, 219
Rococo, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
Roe, Mr. Frederick, quotation from, 266
Roentgen, David, 182
S
Sackville, Lord, early Jacobean furniture in collection of, 86
St. Paul's Cathedral, work of Grinling Gibbons at, 121
Secret drawers, 114
---- drawers, pieces with, 113, 157, 231
---- drawers, Sheraton's love of, 251
---- processes to impart age to spurious pieces, 260
Settee, _see_ GLOSSARY, 27
---- upholstered, early Jacobean, at Knole, 90
Settle, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28, 60
---- Queen Anne style, 145, 149
Sevres porcelain as decoration to furniture, 191
---- porcelain in harmony with furniture, 181
Shattock, Esq., T. Foster, specimens from collection of, 45
Shearer, 248
Sheraton, Thomas, and his style, 209, 241-256
---- chair (illustrated), 243
---- mechanical contrivances of his furniture, 251
---- poverty of, 248;
his opinion of Chippendale, 248
Sigerson, Dr., Dublin, specimens from collection of, 157, 206
Sixteenth-century woodwork, fine example of, 65
Spain, Renaissance in, 48
Spanish furniture (illustrated), cabinet, 51;
chest, 52
Spitalfields' velvet for furniture, 147
---- weaving founded by aliens, 122
Splat, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Stothard, copy of engraving by, 231, 235
Strafford, first Earl of, chair with arms of, 94
Strapwork, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
---- borrowed from Flemish designers, 64;
illustrated, 61, 68
---- Elizabethan, 69
Stretche, Esq., T. E. Price, specimens from collection of, 75, 78, 97, 139, 140
Stretcher, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
---- in chairs, evolution of the, 122
---- wear given to, by feet of sitters, 100
Sutton, Thomas, founder of Charterhouse Hospital, 86
Symonds, John Addington, "The Renaissance in Italy," quoted, 41
T
Table, gate-leg, _see_ GLOSSARY, 24
Tapestry factory established at Mortlake, 92
---- in harmony with furniture, 181
Tenon, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Terror, Reign of, vandalism during, 204
Timber split to give figure in surface, 76, 118
Transition between Gothic and Renaissance, 44, 47, 63
Turned work, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
U
Upholstered chairs adopted in late Elizabethan days, 75
---- seat (William and Mary), 122
V
Vandyck at the Court of Charles I., 92
Varnish, oil, composition of, not now known, 119
---- spirit, a modern invention, 118
---- _Vernis-Martin_, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Veneer, _see_ GLOSSARY, 28
Veneered work, its adoption, 139
Veneers, woods used as, _see_ GLOSSARY, 29
_Vernis-Martin_ (Martin's varnish), _see_ GLOSSARY, 28, 182
Versailles, sums spent upon building, 166;
vandalism at, 172, 177
W
Wallace Collection, illustrations of specimens, at, 163, 171, 181, 183
Walnut period, 34
Walnut veneer, Queen Anne period, 139
Walpole, Horace, 221
Waring, Messrs., specimens from collection of, 81, 117, 119, 143, 149, 197
Watteau, 192
Wedgwood, Josiah, 247
Wellington, Duke of, collection in possession of, 209
Welsh dresser, 100
Westminster Abbey, Henry VII.'s chapel, 63
William and Mary furniture, prices realised at auction, 130
Winckelmann, 205
Woods preferred by Grinling Gibbons, 121
---- used for delicate carving by foreign schools, 116
---- used in furniture, _see_ GLOSSARY, 29
---- with fancy names, 29;
botanical names of, 196
Woodwork, sixteenth century, fine examples of, 65
Worms, ravages of furniture, 234, 271, 274
Wren, Sir Christopher, 120
Y
Yorkshire chairs, 103
THE GRESHAM PRESS,
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,
WOKING AND LONDON.