=Chippendale and his Contemporaries.=--At first using the cabriole leg with ball-and-claw foot, not quite as he found it, but reduced to slightly more slender proportions to be in symmetry with his less massive backs to chairs, Chippendale came to the straight line. He employed it in the legs of tables and in the seats of chairs, in the bracket supports, and in the top rail of his chairs. Chippendale in his day, made the first straight top rail to the chair. It is interesting to note the phases of changing design in country-made furniture prior to his time, and the sudden mastery of form which became the common inheritance of all after his and other contemporary design-books were promulgated broadcast. [Illustration: QUEEN ANNE TEA TABLE. _C._ 1710. With scalloped edge for cups. Height, 2 ft. 4 ins.; depth, 1 ft. 9 ins.; length, 2 ft. 8 ins.] [Illustration: OAK REVOLVING BOOK-STAND. _C._ 1720. Rare form. Diameter of top, 2 ft.; height, 2 ft. 8 ins. (_In the collection of Miss Holland._)] [Illustration: COUNTRY CHIPPENDALE TABLE. Leg with exaggerated knee, claw, and ball foot. Accuracy in straight joinery. Failure in curved work. Top, 2 ft. 7 ins. × 1 ft. 3 ins.; height, 2 ft. 4 ins.] [Illustration: SQUARE MAHOGANY FLAP TABLE. _C._ 1730. Height, 2 ft. 4 ins.; length, 3 ft. 10-1/2 ins.; width, 2 ft. 1 in. Round cross stretcher. Rare form.] [Illustration: TRIPOD TABLE. _C._ 1760. Chippendale style, probably unique. Elaborate rococo work. (_In the collection of Harold Bendixon, Esq._)] In the table the cabriole leg showed early signs of passing away. The two examples illustrated (p. 173) clearly indicate this. The upper one, of the time of Queen Anne, shows the cabriole leg in fine proportion under due subjection, and is a delicate example of fine cabinet-work. The lower one sees the leg losing its cabriole curve, but still rounded and still possessing the club foot. Even more interesting are the two tables illustrated (p. 177). The country maker was slow to adopt the cabriole leg when it was fashionable, but when it became unfashionable he was equally loth to depart from his accustomed style. These clearly point to the transition between the cabriole leg and the straight leg of Chippendale, and are about 1760 in date. The forms of design of tables of eighteenth-century date are extremely varied in character, denoting the rapidly changing habits of the people. The Queen Anne tea-table, with scalloped edges for cups, marks the note of preciosity creeping into country life. A revolving bookstand in table form, of about 1720 in date, is another rare piece. The adjacent table (p. 181) is country Chippendale. The exaggerated knee and the feeble ball-and-claw foot mark the failure of the provincial hand at curved work, accurate though he might be in straight joinery. The "Cupid's bow" underframing is interesting in combination with the rest of the design.