“Vitruvius with great reason condemns an over-licentiousness in compositions of this kind, and blames the painters of his time for introducing monstrous extravagances. We mean not to vindicate anything that deserves such appellations, but surely in light and gay compositions, designed merely to amuse, it is not altogether necessary to exclude the whimsical and bizarre.” Footnote 24: “_Rainceau_, apparently derived from rain, an old French word, signifying the branch of a tree. This French term is also used by the artists of this country, to express the winding and twisting of the stalk or stem of the acanthus plant, which flowing round in many graceful turnings spreads its foliage with great beauty and variety, and is often intermixed with human figures, animals and birds, imaginary or real; also with flowers and fruits. “This gay and fanciful diversity of agreeable objects, well composed and delicately executed in stucco or painting, attains a wonderful power of pleasing.” Footnote 25: E. Balch, _Glimpses of Old English Homes_. THE HEPPELWHITE PERIOD [Illustration: PLATE LIII] [Illustration] THE HEPPELWHITE PERIOD Quite different from the sumptuous book by Robert and James Adam is the one that was published in 1788 by the firm of “A. Heppelwhite & Co., Cabinet-Makers.” This is a collection of three hundred designs by cabinet-makers for cabinet-makers and gentlemen. The title-page, which is also a table of contents, reads as follows: “The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, or Repository of Designs, for every article of Household Furniture, in the Newest and most approved Taste, displaying a great variety of patterns for Chairs, Stools, Sofas, Confidante, Duchesse, Side Boards, Pedestal and Vases, Cellerets, Knife-Cases, Desk and Book-Cases, Secretary and Book-Cases, Library-Cases, Library-Tables, Reading-Desks, Chests-of-Drawers, Urn-Stands, Tea-Caddies, Tea-Trays, Card-Tables, Pier-Tables, Pembroke-Tables, Tambour-Tables, Dressing-Glasses, Dressing-Tables and Drawers, Commodes, Rudd’s Table, Bidets, Night-Tables, Bason-Stands, Wardrobes, Pot-Cupboards, Brackets, Hanging-Shelves, Fire-Screens, Beds, Field-Beds, Sweep Tops for Ditto, Bed-Pillars, Candle-Stands, Lamps, Pier-Glasses, Terms for Busts, Cornices for Library-Cases, Wardrobes, etc., at large, Ornamented Tops for Pier-Tables, Pembroke-Tables, Commodes, etc., etc., in the Plainest and most Enriched Styles.” In his preface, Heppelwhite explains his ideas as follows: “To unite elegance and utility, and blend the useful with the agreeable, has ever been considered a difficult, but an honourable task.