In this period the names of the Caffieri, father and two sons, who were workers in metal, became famous. They executed bronze mounts for furniture like those on the commodes shown in Figure 75, a style which they may be said to have created and by their genius rendered popular. The mounting on these pieces is very simple, and takes the subservient place that ornament always should. But in some of the work executed by the Caffieri the wood became merely the vehicle on which a wealth of ornament was hung. They made not only mounts for furniture, but girandoles, branch-lights, mounts for vases and clocks, and chandeliers--working in bronze and silver as well as in brass. This taste for metal mounts was carried to an extreme, even pieces of richly carved furniture being further ornamented with chiselled brass. It is an item of interest that the monument to General Montgomery which is placed on that side of St. Paul's Chapel, New York city, which faces Broadway, should have been designed and executed by Caffier in Paris in 1777. The General was buried first in Quebec, and afterward removed to New York by act of Congress. In Figure 76 is given what is called a _garderobe_, that is wardrobe, with a basket of flowers at the top, this and the two bunches of flowers at the tops of the doors being in ormolu. [Illustration: Figure 79. ENCOIGNURE, PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI.] Even as early as the middle of the previous century there had been imitators of the splendid lacquer-work of the Orient. By 1723 the three Martin Brothers, Julien, Robert, and Simon-Etienne, had become quite famous for their use of a transparent varnish, which, as "master painters and varnishers," they had perfected in their business. They pushed their trade, and by 1748 were under national protection, so popular had their wares become. In 1742 they perfected a certain green varnish which was immensely popular, and for which they had many orders, some of them from the king himself. They never excelled as painters, but the beauty of this famous green ground, powdered with gold, is very charming. Very little of this famous work remains, a few fire-screens and some splendid coaches, with some small boxes for snuff or patches, are all that exist. But in these small pieces like the boxes, which were considered worthy of gold and jewelled mounts, we can see this famous work to the best advantage. There were ribbings, stripings, waves, and flecks which gleam wonderfully through the varnish. Sometimes there are a few flowers or a Cupid scattered on the surface, but usually, when the green ground was employed, no decoration was considered necessary. With the death of Robert Martin in 1765 the skill necessary to continue this work was lost, and this charming style of decoration dropped back merely to a trade, and "Vernis-Martin" became hardly more than a name.