In his best designs Sheraton was much influenced by Adam and Hepplewhite and the style of Louis XVI, but like them he also developed his own special and beautiful style. He used mahogany and a great deal of satin-wood of beautiful grain and of a delightful straw color, which was often veneered on oak frames. He was exceedingly fond of inlay, and his designs called for inlaid panels, borders, and festoons. He used the shell, bell-flower, fan, etc., all carried out in fine colored woods. He also used much painted furniture, and often designed white and gold furniture for drawing-rooms. His characteristic chair back was rectangular in shape with a central splat resting on a rail a few inches above the seat (see page 83). This splat was in many different forms, both inlaid and painted. The legs of his furniture were tapering and either square or reeded, the square usually being inlaid. He made beautiful sideboards which were inlaid and finished with a brass rail around the sides and back of the top, and round or oval or lion's-head handles with rings. He also designed most graceful inlaid knife boxes. Like Hepplewhite, he designed all kinds of furniture both large and small, and, until his deterioration came when he designed his astonishing Empire furniture, his style is full of beauty and charm and delicacy, and is copied very successfully by our modern makers. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Furnishing the Home of Good Taste by Lucy Abbot Throop