The author wishes to express his grateful acknowledgments to those who have made possible the preparation of this volume--to Messrs. Condé Nast & Company, Inc., publishers of “House & Garden,” Messrs. Munn & Company, Inc., formerly publishers of “American Homes and Gardens,” the publishers of “The Cosmopolitan,” the publishers of “The House Beautiful,” and the publishers of “The Sun,” New York, for permission to include in this volume portions of the material contributed by him to those periodicals; to Dr. George Frederick Kunz, Mr. Richardson Wright, Mr. Charles Allen Munn, Mr. Robert H. Van Court, Mrs. Elizabeth C. Lounsbery, Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus, Mr. Robert Lemmon, Mr. H. E. Bauer, Miss Mary H. Northend, Mr. André M. Rueff, Mr. T. C. Turner, Mr. William A. Cooper, Mr. William Francis Phillips, Miss Elizabeth Robinson, Mr. William C. Clifford, Mr. G. H. Buek, Mr. Frederick H. Howell, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose photographs have been drawn upon for illustration, the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the New York Public Library, and to those authors whose works are noted in the Bibliography. GARDNER TEALL NEW YORK June 4, 1920 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE PLEASURES OF COLLECTING 3 II COLLECTORS OF YESTERDAY 9 III AMERICAN TABLES 18 IV TEA AND ANTIQUITY 26 V CUP-PLATES 36 VI CHINTZ 42 VII PEWTER 51 VIII SAMPLERS 61 IX WAX PORTRAITS 68 X HAND-WOVEN COVERLETS 74 XI CHAIRS 77 XII ENGLISH DRINKING-GLASSES 84 XIII STUART EMBROIDERIES 94 XIV DELFT 98 XV EARLY DESK FURNITURE 106 XVI CHELSEA 115 XVII WEDGWOOD 125 XVIII SAVING THE PIECES 130 XIX LOUNGING FURNITURE 134 XX SHEFFIELD PLATE 146 XXI STRAW MARQUETERIE 153 XXII CONSOLES 164 XXIII SÈVRES PORCELAIN 170