Part 17 (1/2)
”Cabriole chair,” implying a stuffed back, and not having reference, as it does now, to the curved form of the leg.
”Bar backed sofa,” being what we should now term a three or four chair settee, i.e., like so many chairs joined and having an arm at either end.
”Library case” instead of Bookcase.
”Confidante” and ”d.u.c.h.esse,” which were sofas of the time.
”Gouty stool,” a stool having an adjustable top.
”Tea chest,” ”Urn stand,” and other names which have now disappeared from ordinary use in describing similar articles.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Ladies' Secretaires, Designed by W. Ince. (Reproduced by Photography from an old Print in the Author's possession.)]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Parlour Chairs, Designed by W. Ince.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Desk and Bookcase, Designed by W. Ince. (Reproduced by Photography from an old Print in the Author's possession.)]
[Ill.u.s.tration: China Cabinet, Designed by J. Mayhew. (Reproduced from an old Print in the Author's possession).]
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”Dressing Chairs,” Designed by J. Mayhew. These shew the influence of Sir W. Chamber's Chinese style.]
Hepplewhite had a _specialite_, to which he alludes in his book, and of which he gives several designs. This was his j.a.panned or painted furniture: the wood was coated with a preparation after the manner of Chinese or j.a.panese lacquer, and then decorated, generally with gold on a black ground, the designs being in fruits and flowers: and also medallions painted in the style of Cipriani and Angelica Kauffmann. Subsequently, furniture of this character, instead of being j.a.panned, was only painted white. It is probable that many of the chairs of this time which one sees, of wood of inferior quality, and with scarcely any ornament, were originally decorated in the manner just described, and therefore the ”carving” of details would have been superfluous. Injury to the enamelling by wear and tear was most likely the cause of their being stripped of their rubbed and partly obliterated decorations, and they were then stained and polished, presenting an appearance which is scarcely just to the designer and manufacturer.
In some of Hepplewhite's chairs, too, as in those of Sheraton, one may fancy one sees evidence of the squabbles of two fas.h.i.+onable factions of this time, ”the Court party” and the ”Prince's party,” the latter having the well known Prince of Wales' plumes very prominent, and forming the ornamental support of the back of the chair. Another noticeable enrichment is the carving of wheat ears on the s.h.i.+eld shape backs of the chairs.
”The plan of a room shewing the proper distribution of the furniture,”
appears on p. 193 to give an idea of the fas.h.i.+on of the day; it is evident from the large looking gla.s.s which overhangs the sideboard that the fas.h.i.+on had now set in to use these mirrors. Some thirty or forty year later this mirror became part of the sideboard, and in some large and pretentious designs which we have seen, the sideboard itself was little better than a support for a huge gla.s.s in a heavily carved frame.
The dining tables of this period deserve a pa.s.sing notice as a step in the development of that important member of our ”Lares and Penates.” What was and is still called the ”pillar and claw” table, came into fas.h.i.+on towards the end of last century. It consisted of a round or square top supported by an upright cylinder, which rested on a plinth having three, or sometimes four, feet carved as claws. In order to extend these tables for a larger number of guests, an arrangement was made for placing several together. When apart, they served as pier or side tables, and some of these--the two end ones, being semi-circular--may still be found in some of our old inns.[17]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Tea Tray.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Girandole.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Tea Tray.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Parlour Chair, with Prince Of Wales' Plumes.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Pier Table.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Parlour Chair.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Designs of Furniture. From Hepplewhite's ”Guide,” Published 1787.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fac-simile of a Page in Hepplewhite's ”Cabinet Maker's Guide.” Published In 1787.]
It was not until 1800 that Richard Gillow, of the well-known firm in Oxford Street, invented and patented the convenient telescopic contrivance which, with slight improvements, has given us the table of the present day. The term still used by auctioneers in describing a modern extending table as ”a set of dining tables,” is, probably, a survival of the older method of providing for a dinner party. Gillow's patent is described as ”an improvement in the method of constructing dining and other tables calculated to reduce the number of legs, pillars and claws, and to facilitate and render easy, their enlargement and reduction.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: Inlaid Tea Caddy and Top of Pier Tables. (_From ”Hepplewhite's Guide”_)]
As an interesting link between the present and the past it may be useful here to introduce a slight notice of this well-known firm of furniture manufacturers, for which the writer is indebted to Mr. Clarke, one of the present partners of Gillows. ”We have an unbroken record of books dating from 1724, but we existed long anterior to this: all records were destroyed during the Scottish Rebellion in 1745.” The house originated in Lancaster, which was then the chief port in the north, Liverpool not being in existence at the time, and Gillows exported furniture largely to the West Indies, importing rum as payment, for which privilege they held a special charter. The house opened in London in 1765, and for some time the Lancaster books bore the heading and inscription, ”Adventure to London.”
On the architect's plans for the premises now so well-known in Oxford Street, occur these words, ”This is the way to Uxbridge.” Mr. Clarke's information may be supplemented by adding that from Dr. Gillow, whom the writer had the pleasure of meeting some years ago, and was the thirteenth child of the Richard Gillow before mentioned; he learnt that this same Richard Gillow retired in 1830, and died as late as 1866 at the age of 90.