French and English furniture : $b distinctive styles and periods described and illustratedSingleton, Esther
History
French and English furniture : $b distinctive styles and periods described and illustrated
Singleton, Esther
Furniture -- England; Furniture -- France
“For chairs, a new and very elegant fashion has arisen within these few
years, of finishing them with painted or japanned work, which gives a
rich and splendid appearance to the minuter parts of the ornaments,
which are generally thrown in by the painters. Several of these designs
are particularly adapted to this style, which allows a framework less
massy than is requisite for mahogany, and by assorting the prevailing
colour to the furniture and light of the room, affords opportunity, by
the variety of grounds which may be introduced, to make the whole accord
in harmony, with a pleasing and striking effect to the eye. Japanese
chairs should have cane bottoms, with linen or cotton cases over
cushions to accord with the general hue of the chairs.”
The full drawing on Plate LVI. is “an easy chair,” which Heppelwhite
calls also a “Saddle Check,” the “construction and use of which is very
apparent: they may be covered with leather, horsehair, or have a linen
case to fit over the canvas stuffing, as is most usual and convenient.”
Chairs with stuffed backs he called “cabriole.” No. 5, on Plate LVI., is
labelled a “cabriole chair.” Heppelwhite assures us that it “is of the
newest fashion.” It consists of a shield-shaped back; a little cushion
upon the arm, fastened by means of tiny nails; and a leg composed of
reeds bound with ribbon, surmounted by the square patera that hides the
joining.
[Illustration: PLATE LV]
Twelve designs of chair backs, resembling chairs of the Sheraton style,
are “proper to be executed in mahogany or japan; some of them applicable
to the more elegant kind of chairs with back and seats of red, or blue,
morocco leather; in these backs, which are sometimes made a little
circular, are frequently inserted medallions, printed or painted on silk
of the natural colours; when the backs and seats are of leather, they
should be tied down with tassels of silk or thread.”
“Stools,” he says, “should match the chairs, the framework should be of
mahogany, or japanned, and of course should be covered like the chairs.”
His “window stools” are particularly graceful. They are intended to be
placed directly under the window, and their “size must be regulated by
the size of the place where they are to stand; their heights should not
exceed the heights of the chairs.” Two of his designs, which he
considers “particularly adapted for an elegant drawing-room of japanned
furniture,” are covered in “taberray or morine of pea-green or other
light colour.” The one represented on Plate LV. is of “carved mahogany
with furniture of an elegant pattern.” He assures us that this “will
produce a very pleasing effect.” Another one he recommends to be
“japanned and covered with striped furniture;” and two others are
“covered with linen or cotton to match the chairs. One is tufted and
ornamented with buttons and the other has a scalloped valance trimmed
with fringe. A tiny tassel hangs in the centre of each scallop.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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