Centuries of Clocks.—Lantern, Portable, and Willard or Banjo Clocks

96. Tall-Case Clocks, English and American 97. Mantel Clocks CHAPTER X 98. Kitchen of Whipple House, Ipswich, Mass. 99. Handles, Escutcheons, etc. 100. Feet

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CONTENTS.

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CHAPTER		PAGE
I.	Old Oak, Old Leather, Turkey Work, etc.	1
II.	Dutch Furniture	28
III.	Chippendale	48
IV.	Adam, Sheraton, Empire	73
V.	Colonial and Later Periods	95
VI.	Colonial and Later Periods—Continued	128
VII.	French Furniture	148
VIII.	Musical Instruments	173
IX.	Clocks	197
X.	Handles, Feet, Stuffs, etc.	222
Index		237

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THE OLD FURNITURE BOOK.

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CHAPTER I.
OLD OAK, OLD LEATHER, TURKEY WORK, ETC.

With the revival of interest in all "antiques," which is so widely spread at this time, any of us who chance to own an old piece of furniture feel an added degree of affection for it if we can give it an approximate date and assign it to a maker or a country. There is much good old furniture in the United States, chiefly of Spanish, Dutch and English make, though there are constant importations of other makes, notably French, since it is recognized on all sides that Americans are becoming the collectors of the world. Our public museums are gradually filling with works of art presented by broad-minded citizens, while the private galleries are rich and increasing every day. To keep pace with these possessions, furniture from old palaces and manor-houses is being hauled forth and set up again in our New World homes. Indeed, whole interiors have been removed from ancient dwellings, and the superb carvings of other days become the ornaments of modern houses, like the gilded oak panels from the Hotel Montmorency which were built into the Deacon House in Boston, or like Mrs. Gardiner's Venetian carved wood which decorates her palace in the Boston Fens.

Oak panelling, like everything else, passed through various periods and styles. In Queen Elizabeth's time the panels were carried to within about two feet of the cornice; then, after some years, there came a division into lower and upper panelling, the upper beginning at about the height of the back of a chair from the floor. Pictures became more common, and they were frequently let into the upper panelling, and then it was discarded altogether, only the lower half or dado being retained. This, too, after some years, became old-fashioned, and the board known as skirting, or base-board, was all that was left of the handsome sheathing which extended from the floor almost to the ceiling. This old oak panelling was entirely without polish or varnish of any kind, and grew with years and dust almost black in colour. Sometimes it was inlaid with other woods, and often it was made for the rooms where it was placed. Where the panels are carved, they are generally bought in that state and set in plain framework by the household joiner. If, however, the frame is carved and the panels plain, they were made to suit the taste and purse of the owner of the mansion. Oak panelling took the place of the arras, tapestry hangings, and crude woodwork of earlier times. Of course it was adopted by the rich and luxurious, for it rendered more air-tight the draughty buildings.

The oldest furniture was made of oak, more or less carved, whether of Spanish, Italian, Dutch, or English make. The multiplication of objects which we consider necessary as "furnishings" were pleasingly absent, and chests used as receptacles for clothes or linens, for seats by day and beds by night, with a few beds also of carved oak,