172 OLD WEST SURREY 



a good deal of wear from the grinding of hob-nailed boots, 

 and was very loose in the joints when it came into my hands. 

 I should judge that this chair was made in quite the early 

 days of the use of mahogany. 



The two mahogany armchairs have borne their trials 

 bravely, and, after passing through the hands of a carpenter 

 and a polisher, are as good as ever. 



The two light chairs, with frames turned and painted in 

 imitation of bamboo, are examples of patterns in general use 

 in bedrooms early in the nineteenth century. Admirable 

 chairs they are ; light and strong and well-looking. It is a 

 great pity that they are no longer made. 



The lacquer looking-glass must have been a capital piece 

 in its day ; even now, though dinted and abraded, it is a 

 cherished possession. Had it passed through the hands of 

 a clever restorer it would have appeared to be as good as 

 ever; in some ways even better; for old lacquer acquires a 

 beautiful tone with age, rich and deep and delightfully 

 harmonious. 



The lacquer tray, with shaped edge, is of the good old 

 papier-macM. The ground is black ; the ornament a free 

 arabesque, some of whose main spaces are coloured green 

 and chocolate ; the whole is enriched with delicate gold 

 pencillings. The tray was not rightly placed in the photo- 

 graph. What shows as the left-hand side should have been 

 the bottom, as the inner fringe of the pencilled ornament, 

 which has much of the character of the lesser decorations of 

 the rococo style, all droops downward. Its date, judging by 

 the ornament, would be about 17G0. 



