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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 1905 



The Furniture of Our Forefathers 



By Francis Durando Nichols 



|H HE love for old furniture is not generally an know, or care to learn, anything about either its history, 



acquired taste, and one is scarcely conscious maker or origin. 



of the time when the beauty of the antiques The illustrations which are presented on these pages 



was first introduced into one's mind. How were made from photographs especially taken for the 



well we remember the feeling of excitement purpose of showing some of the exceptionally fine ex- 



with which we beheld the tall, stately, grand- amples of old furniture found in the old Colonial houses 



father's clock on the staircase, the Sheraton sofa which added in Salem, Mass., which is one of the oldest colonies in 



dignity to the Colonial hall, the old bookcase in grandpa's New England, and is rich in antiquities. 



library, and the grand old 

 four-poster in grandma's 

 room, whose presence 

 seemed to breathe a de- 

 lightful essence of repose 

 and peace. Then there was 

 the old hob grate where the 

 apples were roasted and the 

 corn was popped, and the 

 old card table which was 

 drawn up for a quiet little 

 game after dinner. All 

 these we remember; and 

 how many similar treasure 

 houses of the antique there 

 are, especially in New Eng- 

 land, and yet how little is 

 known of them. 



The love for old pieces 

 of furniture has grown as 

 the years have passed, and 

 one can not enjoy or ap- 

 preciate them to the full 

 until he has learned some- 

 thing of their history, 

 which, in the many interests 

 it arouses, will more than 

 repay him for his trouble. 

 Perhaps one reason why 

 this hobby has become so 

 popular is that specimens of 

 the antiques are so numer- 

 ous that we do not have to 

 seek far to find some gen- 

 uine examples. The won- 

 der is that so few of the pos- 

 sessors of antique furniture 



Fig. 1 — A Console Table of the Adam Style, and at One Time 

 Used in " Cleopatra's Barge " 



The Sheraton design of 

 furniture building must 

 have come into vogue about 

 1773) f° r Thomas Shera- 

 ton, who was a native of 

 Stockton-on-Tees, supported 

 himself about the year 179 1 

 as an author; for he pub- 

 lished at that time a work 

 in two volumes, " The Cab- 

 inet Maker and Uphol- 

 sterer's Drawing Book," by 

 which it would seem that he 

 did not make furniture after 

 1793, and that before that 

 time he had filled orders 

 like any other ordinary 

 workman. 



The console table, Fig. 

 1, is a fine example, and 

 is the property of Mrs. 

 William Waters. It is char- 

 acteristic of the Adam 

 style, for it has been aptly 

 said that the characteristics 

 of the Adam design are 

 simplicity, elegance, slender- 

 ness and the bas-relief. The 

 ornamental brass trim- 

 mings, including the fluted 

 shell at the corners, the grif- 

 fin design in the center, the 

 caryatides at the top of the 

 column, and the claw feet at 

 the bottom, are all charac- 

 teristic of Adam. It is in- 

 teresting to note that this 



-A Sheraton Sofa 



Fig. 3— A Sofa Built in 1 790 



