they are more consistent and satisfying than the inharmonious mixture that characterized the furniture of the last year of Louis XVI. Many of the Empire chairs indeed are of real dignity and beauty of proportion. In some of these ormolu, introduced for the first time in chairs, was used in combination with polished mahogany; but in most cases the woodwork was sparingly carved with rosettes and enameled in white and gold. For the coverings, silk brocade and appliqué in the prevailing colors of yellow and red took the place of tapestry.

JEWEL CABINET OF MARIE LOUISE

LATE EMPIRE

EMPIRE ARMCHAIR

EMPIRE COMMODE

CHIPPENDALE—THE MASTER OF LINE

CHIPPENDALE PIECRUST TABLE

The French styles were the result of many designers working upon common lines; but in England during the last half of the eighteenth century certain noted individual cabinetmakers set the fashion, and for a period of years the designs of Chippendale, Heppelwhite, and Sheraton were each in turn recognized as the established vogue.

Thomas Chippendale began business in London on his own account about 1735, and evidently rapidly built up a very flourishing establishment, inasmuch as the “Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director,” which he published in 1754, contains a wide variety of designs suitable only for wealthy customers.

CHIPPENDALE SETTEE—FRETWORK

The “Director” contains many designs that are fantastic, and many that are difficult and even impossible to execute. Fortunately Chippendale’s fame does not rest upon these designs, made to catch the eyes of his richer patrons, but upon the pieces actually made, and it is refreshing to see how much finer are these latter, evolved by the trained craftsman, understanding every limitation and every possibility of his material. Chippendale’s chairs represent by far the best expression of his genius. Starting with the modified Dutch forms introduced by William and Mary and Queen Anne, in which the cabriole leg with ball and claw feet and the flowing curved back with solid splat are the prominent features, he soon developed an individual style marked by great dignity, strength, and originality. His earliest chairs are perhaps the finest. In these the cabriole leg is always employed, and the side frames of the back curve outward as they run up to more or less pronounced ears at the top. The top rail takes more or less of a cupid bow shape, and the central splat fills in the inclosed space. It is in the design of these central splats and the inclosed framework that Chippendale is at his best. The almost inexhaustible variety of figure in these pierced and interlaced centers, always in the happiest relation to the framework, gives the principal interest to these chairs, and stamps Chippendale as one of the great masters of design.

CHIPPENDALE ARMCHAIR

Chippendale’s styles