Jnuuiuy 25, 1916 



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The Furniture Expositions 



The January funiitiiie I'xjiositions are ou in Chieago and at Grand 

 Rapids, Mich. These are 'the regular semi-annual events. The two 

 shows' are meeting with unusual success. The attendance is much 

 larger than that at the last two meetings, and sales are much better. 

 The visitors represent a wide territory and come from most of the 

 states east of the Rocky Mountains and a few have attended from 

 far western states. The exhibitors are much encouraged by the fact 

 that visitors come with their minds made up to buy liberally. This 

 is interpreted to mean that confidence in a large retail trade is firm 

 and widespread. 



No marked evolution or i-evolution is observable in the furniture 

 business, so far as styles and patterns are concerned. Changes are 

 uoing on, but they are conservative. Furniture has fashions, the 

 ^ame as clothing, but there is no tendency to swing quickly from one 

 extreme to another. A style that comes in and meets with approval 

 from the public, is destined to remain a considerable time. 



There is at present, and has been for some time, a tendency to 

 revive period styles, but there is no craze on that subject. Original 

 ideas, if meritorius, meet with favor from the public, and side by 

 side with old period fashions may be seen new creations which meet 

 with instant favor. So far as period furniture is now in use, the 

 various periods may be seen in the exhibits at both Chicago and Grand 

 Rapids, but perhaps to better advantage at the latter place than at 

 the former, because more attention is given to the matter at Grand 

 Rapids. There are a number of well-recognized periods in furniture, 

 some of which are not in vogue now, while others are again in 

 fashion. Following are some of the recognized iieiiod styles, with 

 their characteristics and dates: 



Origin Characteristic Date 



Egyptian <'oM .nnd severe .3500 to .5000 B. C. 



Grecian Graceful 700 to 200 B. C. 



Gothic rnre and religious Twelfth century 



Louis XIV Massive and elaborate 1643-1715 



Louis XV Graceful and feminine 1715-1774 



Louis XVI Severe and geometrical 1774 



Emi>ire Military Napoleon's reign 



Chippendale Oriental 1710 



Heppelwhite Straight 1775-1800 



Sheraton Classical 1764-lSOO 



Adam Cane 1760-1800 



Mission Massive 1692-1750 



William and Mary Plain 



Queen Anne Frail • 



Jacobean Slender and graceful 1750 



Colonial Mixture 1700 



The very old styles do not appeal to the modern user of furniture 

 and they are seldom met with in furniture stores. A few pieces are 

 sold as freaks and curiosities, but not for practical use. The styles 

 of the past two or three centuries are the ones which are having 

 their run now. 



Woods in Use 



The exhibits of furniture bring the fact prominently forward that 

 certain woods have preference in different classes of furniture. In 

 high-class pieces one sees only five or six kinds of wood, as a usual 

 thing, oak, mahogany, walnut, birch, gum, and maple. It would be 

 diifieult to say in what ratio these w'oods are used in fine furniture, as 

 the outside, visible part. Oak clearly holds first place in quantity. 

 Some time ago the word went out that quartered oak was yielding to 

 plain oak. That is not the story told by the January furniture 

 shows. Quartered oak is right at the front. Considerable variation 

 is seen in the finishing. The golden color is seen everywhere, but 

 there are darker tones in great profusion, with much so black that it 

 might pass as an imitation of Austrian oak. The darkest tones are 

 frequently seen in plain wood rather than in quartered. 



Mahogany holds about the same place as in the past, no more or 

 no less of it being in use; nor is there any noticeable change in the 

 finishing. There is one feature, however, which might be rated as a 

 force to push mahogany out of use for certain parts of furniture. 

 Some of the period styles have slight, slender legs, spindles, arms, 

 and other parts; and mahogany not being a strong wood, is giving 



way to substitutes of stronger woods in those slender [larts. Birch 

 is nearly always the substitute in such places. It may be finished 

 to look so much like mahogany that the difference is' hard to detect. 

 It is much stronger than mahogany. 



It should not be inferred that birch 's chief use by furniture makers 

 is as a substitute for mahogany. It has a place of its own. A 

 favorite place for birch is in large chairs, davenports, hall racks, 

 bedsteads and other bedroom furniture. It is a favorite wood for 

 opera chairs. 



Some very fine pieces of furniture are of red gum. It passes fre- 

 quently for Circassian walnut; but since it has become generally 

 kno^vn that this walnut is nearly unobtainable on account of the war 

 there is less disposition to let gum pass as Circassian. Many manu- 

 facturers label it gum, and the public will hardly believe it, fre- 

 quently insisting that it must be imported walnut. Quarter-sawed 

 gum makes a distinctive showing and it is seen in very fine bedroom 

 suits. It is a fact, however, that the furniture exhibits show less of 

 the finest kinds of gimi than might be expected. The appearance is 

 splendid but the quantity seems too small. This wood has a strong 

 run as the inner parts of furniture, in the form of veneer sheets 

 and panels. It is much used for all parts of cheaper furniture, from 

 medium grades of dining and bed room sets to furniture for kitchen 

 and pantry. It thus appears along with yellow poplar, cottonwood, 

 tupelo, willow, elm, basswood, and pine. 



Some fine bird's eye maple is shown, but the quantity does not seem 

 to be so large as formerly. There is no lessening in the quantity of 

 maple used as interior parts or as the sole or chief material of kitchen 

 furniture. 



Black 'Walnut 



Black walnut is having its day again in the furniture trade. It 

 had another day some forty years ago at which time most of the better 

 classes of homes had pieces or sets of walnut furniture; but the 

 product of that day fell considerably short in artistic Morkmauship, 

 compared with the walnut furniture now being turned out by the ' 

 best of factories. It was then considered as a nice but common wood. 

 It now goes in the class of the finest cabinet woods and is treated as 

 such. The wood ranges in cost about with mahogany, or perhaps a 

 little lower ; but the best walnut furniture sells as high as that made 

 of choice mahogany, and it is worth it. The finest workmanship is 

 bestowed upon it. 



Much more walnut is shown at Grand Rapids than in Chicago. 

 Some of it cannot be excelled in appearance by any wood, or by 

 furniture made anywhere. Some veneer is used, but most of the 

 best walnut furniture is solid. This wood supplies a wide field for 

 the exercise of the finisher 's art. Some of the finish is in tones nearly 

 as light as Circassian, other resembles mahogany, and in some in- 

 stances the black walnut finish is so dark that it passes for ebony. 

 The old furniture makers who handled walnut half a century ago fel) 

 short of showing the wood in all its beauty. 



The massive pieces of solid walnut furniture give the wood carver 

 an opportunity to do his best work. Viewed as a whole, the furnitui'e 

 shows lay little stress on figured black walnut. It is doubtful if the 

 walnut burl holds the place in the market that it held once. Very 

 fine figured doors and panels are seen, but there seems to be no 

 straining after effects by making figured walnut prominent. Plain 

 wood, and the ordinary figure due to the annual growth rings, are 

 depended upon to win walnut its place of esteem with the public. 



The clothes chest which has long been made of cedar almost ex- 

 clusively, is beginning to appear in black walnut. It is not claimed 

 that the odor of walnut will drive insects away, as has been claimed 

 for cedar; but no wood presents a more attractive appearance than 

 walnut in this household article. 



Veneeked and Solid 



The statement has been made that veneered furniture is giving 

 way to solid. The correctness of that claim is doubtful. At any 

 rate, it is difBcult to prove, and first of all, a careful definition should 



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