The masters of vessels that sailed the Eastern Seas, both English and Dutch, were commissioned by nobles and potentates to bring home rare animals. In 1609, for instance, the East India Company issued letters for reserving “all strange fowls and beasts to be found there,” for the Council. In 1623, we find a note that to the governor of the Company a “Caccatoa” was sent from Batavia. The cockatoo is a familiar resident in Dutch homes. He and other kinds of parrots, domiciled in wicker and wire cages, are very much in evidence in the _genre_ pictures of the age. The golden and silver pheasants were also privileged members of the household, and were allowed the freedom of the hall. Sometimes we see them perched on cornices, and sometimes strutting on the tiled floor. The monkey, which played so important a part in the “_singerie_” decoration of the late _Louis Quatorze_, _Régence_ and _Louis Quinze_ periods, was imported in considerable numbers. A gossipy journal—_Le Courrier du temps_, conducted by Fouquet de Croissy who undertook to tell the secret happenings in the court of every prince in Europe— records the following item of news from Amsterdam, under date of September 1, 1649: “This week several ships have arrived here from the Indies. Among the other riches with which the good agent was charged, he has brought a dozen of the rarest and most beautiful monkeys that have ever been seen in these parts. Cardinal Mazarin has sent for them to put them in his wardrobe and anti-chambers to divert those who pay court to him and to judge the affection they have for his service by the civility and good treatment of the animals, the favourites of his Eminence, receive from them.” CHAPTER IX DUTCH FURNITURE UNDER FRENCH AND ORIENTAL INFLUENCE. The Dutch Craftsmen in the Employ of Louis XIV—Huguenot Emigration— Marot—The Sopha—Upholstery—The Bed—Chairs—Sconces—Tables—Rooms— English and Dutch Alliances—Hampton Court—Queen Mary— Looking-glasses—Chandeliers—Chimney-pieces—The _style refugié_— John Hervey’s Purchases—Oriental Furniture manufactured after European Patterns—Complaints of Home Manufacturers—Trade with the Indies—“Prince Butler’s Tale”—Enormous Importations—Imported Textiles—Foreign Textiles for Upholstery. The last designer of furniture of any importance that has hitherto demanded attention is Crispin van de Passe. The next one is also a Dutchman. It is noticeable that the arts and crafts of France and England were always deeply affected by the activities of the Low Countries. France, even during the reign of Louis XIV, owed much to Dutch culture and energy. Boulle, who was of Dutch extraction (_see_ page 115), gave his name to a special kind of furniture which he developed and elaborated.