Style in furniture

The following pages have been written with two distinct aims in view. In the first place, it has been my endeavour to treat my subject in such a vein as to render the text interesting to those who may wish to acquire sufficiently accurate knowledge of old English and some French furniture in order that they may be able to distinguish one style from another, to apportion each to its proper period, and to learn something of the history of all, without entering upon a very deep study of the questions involved. For inquirers of this class, I trust that my general remarks in each chapter will afford the necessary information.

For the non-technical reader, therefore, I have striven to connect the various styles with great political and social changes, so as to impress them the more clearly upon their minds; at the same time an effort has been made to refresh the memory respecting those leaders in art and literature of different ages, whose names are venerated by all, and who, in their day, were unquestionably surrounded in their home life by such household gods as those depicted. By adopting this course, I have hoped to enable those who follow my thoughts to people with familiar friends the interiors which they will furnish in imagination from the store of examples set at their disposal. Though those friends have long since entered into “the great unknowable," we cannot help sometimes fancying that they are still with us in the flesh, holding friendly converse in our midst.

I have attempted also to demonstrate the fact that domestic furnishing, and particularly that of the past, may really be regarded as an outward and visible expression of the spirit underlying all national life ; how far success has attended my efforts in that direction must be left for others to decide.

The requirements of the genuine student are far too exacting to be satisfied with mere generalisation, and they, of course, have had to be borne constantly in mind. That being so, I have, so far as considerations of space have permitted, traced the immediate origin of each style; followed its development; analysed it; instituted all essential comparisons between one style and another; classified characteristics; recorded the names, and, in some cases, briefly sketched the careers of leading designers and makers ; and, as far as lay within my power, have discussed at length every point of importance connected with the subject. If any reader, therefore, has to decide the question whether a chair be Jacobean or Queen-Anne; whether a cabriole be French or Chippendale; to distinguish between a Heppelwhite and a Sheraton tracery; to account conclusively for the character of any style; or to solve any other of the numerous problems which are constantly being encountered by the professional worker, I sincerely trust that material assistance will be afforded by these pages.

If anyone derive from the perusal of this work one- thousandth part of the pleasure that has been associated with its preparation, my labours will not have been in vain.

It is not the pretension of this work, as will be understood when its dimensions are remarked, to provide a complete and exhaustive history of furniture, but simply to convey a knowledge of those national types that are still to be met with, in original form, in the auction sale-rooms, the dealers' shops, the country cottage, or the old family mansion; and which are being perpetuated even to-day by the labours of the designer who draws upon time-honoured sources for inspiration. The study of our domestic furnishing as it was prior to the end of the sixteenth century belongs rather to the field of remote antiquarian research, which interests but comparatively few people, and, on that account, has not been included in the present volume.

I have commenced, therefore, with furniture which was more or less common in the homes of this country at the time when James the First ascended the throne, and have continued by dealing with every style that has won favour here since that time; discussing each as fully as possible under the circumstances. It has, of course, been altogether out of the question to illustrate every old piece available, for their number is far too great to permit of inclusion in a single volume, unless that volume be of truly Gargantuan proportions; but thoroughly characteristic examples of the various phases of all the styles selected have been presented, and dealt with so exhaustively that a knowledge of them will be sufficient to enable the student to pass judgment on all others partaking in any degree of the nature of those styles.

As the French modes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and of the earlier years of the nineteenth, influenced our own very strongly, those modes also have been duly considered, in order that the relationship subsisting between the art and craftsmanship of the two countries may be clearly traced. The development also of "L'Art Nouveau" in France has been accorded a considerable share of attention, as I hold that it marks a movement of the greatest significance and importance, not to France alone, but to the art-workers of all countries.

Finally, though it has not been my intention to deal at any length with modern productions, some explanations have been proffered to account for the character of much of the furniture now being designed and manufactured in this country, and to which the style-and-title “Quaint” has been accorded. For the rest, I trust that the book will prove to be self-explanatory.