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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1913 



Chair of Chippendale's second period 



tinguished by their shield-shaped backs, 

 oval, heart-shaped, and sometimes 

 square ones, each of his styles being 

 entirely different from those of 

 Chippendale. 



A typical Heppelwhite chair, 

 with shield-shaped back, adorned 

 with carving of feathers, is in the 

 William West family collection at 

 Salem, Massachusetts. These three 

 feathers represent the crest of the 

 Prince of Wales, and were much 

 in evidence during the illness of 

 George III. Heppelwhite must 

 himself have belonged to the 

 Prince's party, and the movement 

 in favor of this party must have 

 been immensely popular, to judge 

 from the frequency of the feather 

 ornament in the works of both 

 Heppelwhite and Sheraton. 



The shield-shaped back is one of 

 the most popular of Heppelwhite's 

 models. They were all very deli- 

 cate and graceful, and those which 

 did not show the three feathers 

 were decorated with carved drap- 

 ery, with wheat ears, or the bell 



Chippendale chair with cabriole legs Chippendale chair with claw-and-ball feet 



as well as their Some of the best examples of this kind are to be found 



in the Dwight Blaney collection in 

 Boston, Mass. Another showing 

 drapery and ears of wheat is in the 

 Francis H. Bigelow collection at 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



Haircloth had now come into 

 use, and was popular for covering 

 the seats, and in many specimens we 

 find the edges finished with brass- 

 headed nails. These were some- 

 times in plain lines, following the 

 outline of the seat, and again, to 

 simulate festoons. 



The Sheraton chair, which sup- 

 planted the Heppelwhite, retained 

 many of the Heppelwhite features. 

 Sheraton's book of design was 

 published two years after Heppel- 

 white's. The great difference be- 

 tween Heppelwhite's and Shera- 

 ton's was in the construction of the 

 back. The chairs of the latter gen- 

 erally were furnished with the top 

 rail straight or curved like a bow, 

 Sometimes, he designed an easy 

 chair like the one known as the 

 Martha Washington Easy chair, a 

 flower, sometimes although not elegantly called husks, high-backed chair with curved arms, padded and covered 



The "Martha Washington" Sheraton chair 



Fine Heppelwhite chair, urn back 



Heppelwhite chair, Waters collection 



Heppelwhite chair, Osgood collection 



