March, 1913 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XVII 



C. E. F. The taste for Chinese things, 

 general to-day in England, and becoming 

 more popular every day in America, was 

 first introduced into England by Queen 

 Mary (1689-1702). It is interesting to 

 note that the famous Evelyn mentions in 

 his diary under date of June 13, 161)3, 

 that he "saw the Queen's rare cabinets and 

 collection of China which was wonderfully 

 rich and plentiful." It is a pity Macaulay 

 referred less graciously to the Queen's in- 

 spiration of the Chinese taste. He re- 

 marks : "Mary had acquired at The Hague 

 a taste for porcelain of China, and amused 

 herself by forming at Hampton Court a 

 vast collection of hideous images, and vases 

 upon which houses, trees, bridges, and man- 

 darins were depicted in outrageous defiance 

 of all the laws of perspective. The fashion 

 — a frivolous and inelegant fashion, it must 

 be owned — which was thus set by the ami- 

 able Queen spread fast and wide. In a 

 few years almost every great house in the 

 Kingdom contained a museum of those gro- 

 tesque baubles. Even statesmen and gen- 

 erals were not ashamed to be renowned as 

 judges of tea-pots and dragons, and satir- 

 ists long continued to repeat that a fine lady 

 valued her mottled green pottery quite as 

 much as she valued her monkey and much 

 more than she valued her husband." Per- 

 haps Macaulay had in mind Daniel Defoe's 

 "Tour of Great Britain," wherein that au- 

 thor wrote. "The Queen brought in the cus- 

 tom or humor, as I may call it, of furnish- 

 ing houses with China ware which in- 

 creased to a strange degree afterwards, 

 piling their China upon the tops of Cab- 

 inets, scrutores and every Chymney Piece 

 to the top of the ceilings and even set- 

 ting up shelves for their China ware where 

 they wanted such places, till it became a 

 grievance in the expense of it and even in- 

 jurious to their families and estates." All 

 such historical "side-lights" have an in- 

 teresting bearing to the collector and much 

 of the fascination of collecting lies in the 

 field of historical research which it opens 

 up with little effort. 



K. O. From the photograph of the grand- 

 father's clock you send with your careful 

 description of it in detail it is probable that 

 this is a genuine specimen of the begin- 

 ning of the eighteenth century. Marquetry 

 work became popular in England during 

 the reign of William III, but its employ- 

 ment began to decline about 1710 to make 

 way for the interest in lacquer-work. 



E. G. G. It is very difficult to determine 

 where the hanging-press or wardrobe to 

 which you refer was made since even those 

 specimens absolutely known to have been 

 made in England are thoroughly Dutch in 

 appearance. This article of furniture was 

 introduced in England during the reign of 

 Queen Anne, and nearly all the examples 

 of the period of English make were de- 

 signed by Dutch cabinet-makers who came 

 over with William III. The value of such 

 a wardrobe as you describe would, in the 

 antique furniture mart, be fixed at about 

 $175. 



FRIENDSHIP THAT IS WORTHY 



OH the comfort — the inexpressible com- 

 fort of feeling safe with a person — 

 having neither to weigh thoughts nor meas- 

 ure words, but pouring them all right out 

 just as they are, chaff and grain together, 

 certain that a faithful hand will take and 

 sift them, keep what is worth keeping and 

 with a breadth of kindness blow the rest 

 away. — Dinah Mulock. 



2^ 



'V 



3 |LANDERS" furniture was originated by 

 I T7* 1 the Berkey & Gay Furniture Co. It has 

 I J7 y continually gained favor for the very 

 830f3B30Es good reason that we studied it from the 



greatest work of Vriedmann de Vriese, who five 

 centuries ago was regarded as being as great a master in 

 wood as his contemporary Rubens was in oil. 



FLANDERS pieces bring to perfection the rich beauty 



of our native American oak. Simple, strong and beautiful, they emphasize 

 the almost exclusive appropriateness of oak for these 17th Century de- 

 signs. With age, they acquire the polish and shading which speak of 

 friendliness and comfort. "Flanders" has no harsh lines, yet it offers no 

 undue ornateness. It has been imitated, but without success. Made with 

 the Berkey & Gay purpose of providing the beautiful and the enduring, it is 



For Your Children 9 s Heirlooms 



ASK the salesman to show you the 

 Berkey & Gay shop-mark. It is 

 not a label. It is inlaid. It is made 

 a part of each piece, and is a continuing 

 guaranty of honesty of material, excellence 

 of workmanship, reliability of design and 

 permanence of value. 



Our dealer, with the displays on his 

 floors and our portfolio of direct photo- 

 gravures, enables you to choose from our 

 entire line. Our period pieces are ac- 

 cepted as standards by comparison for 

 faithful studies from the masterpieces of 

 old times. 



YOU will appreciate our de luxe book, 

 "Character in Furniture," giving a 

 history of period pieces, illustrated 

 in colors, from oil paintings by Rene Vin- 

 cent. We have no catalog— our furniture 

 is not that sort. We will send you "Char- 

 acter in Furniture" for fifteen two cent 

 stamps. If you ask we will also send you free 

 "The Story of Berkey & Gay" telling how 

 the ambition of two 

 young men established 

 Grand Rapids as the / 7/^0 

 furniture center of Am- //-T^ 

 erica. It should fire the I I "-J 

 ambition of your boy. 



m*. 



Berkey Q? Gay Furniture C 



178 Monroe Ave., Grand Rapids, Michigan 



This inlaid 



rk of 



honor identifies to you each 

 Berkey & Gay piece 



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