sh ee ea re ne ey 
they were building. No detail was too trifling to claim their 
attention and, as a result of this fortunate combination of 
the callings of architect and decorator, we have some of the 
choicest creations of that period, admittedly the hey-day of 
cabinet making. The brothers Adam allowed themselves 
great latitude in painting their furniture in colors. Where 
the piece was to be wholly colored it was usual to select 
some neutral hue such as slate, gray or dull green, pick out 
the less important features of the design in lines of color 
“very much as a carriage builder is wont to relieve his 
wheels,” and then garnish the main portion of the design 
by such painted detail as the decorator saw fit. Classic me- 
dallions and plaques, wreaths, festoons and urns were the 
subjects generally employed for embellishment. Very often 
only portions of the furniture were painted, leaving the 
natural wood exposed to view for the most part. This was 
particularly the case where satinwood was used, which was 
beautiful in itself and at the same time afforded an un- 
usually delicate medium for painted decoration. Many of 
the plaques, cameos and panels of this old painted and satin- 
wood furniture were executed by such artists as Angelica 
Kauffman and Cipriani and are exquisite in color and finish. 
Heppelwhite and Sheraton followed the lead of the 
Adams in designing and advocating painted furniture at the 
same time they were putting forth their best productions in 
mahogany and inlaid woods. For the japanned or lac- 
quered furniture, and for the pieces colored in the vernis- 
Martin fashion, what we should now call inferior or white 
woods were almost exclusively used. In addition to light- 
ness they possessed the further recommendation of being 
easily worked. At all times furniture forms have been 
Queen Anne lowboy, chairs and mirror, belonging to a Philadelphia collector. The ground work is a dark blue lacquer, the decor 
ations in gold 
more or less influenced and modified by the kind of wood 
used but in the decadent part of Sheraton’s career, and in 
the early Nineteenth Century, form was often completely 
sacrificed and dependence placed on paint to make up for 
the lack of shape and proportion. Both form and color 
unguestionably have their distinct functions and neither 
should be disregarded nor sacrificed. 
Now, what has all this discourse anent long past and gone 
styles of painted furniture to do with us? What present 
application shall we make of it to our own needs and inclina- 
tions in the garniture of our homes? Never was there a 
period when more attention was paid to interior decoration 
and furnishing than now. During the mid-Victorian era, 
with its dreadful Eastlake, neo-Jacobean and Centennial 
episodes, popular taste seemed to be dead. Now, however, 
there has happily been a revival, a rejuvenation, and un- 
wonted material prosperity has supplied the wherewithal 
to make it potent for good. Natures, artistically starved in 
that jejune period, were ready to welcome deliverance with 
open arms when the renaissance of sound taste began. Since 
that time the movement for better things has grown stead- 
ily. Along with the reawakening, an increasing and com- 
mendable catholicity of outlook has more and more led 
people to accept and cherish whatever has real merit. For 
a while, indeed, only Colonial furniture—whatever we may 
mean by that term—was in favor, but now our horizon has 
sufficiently broadened to admit good things of whatever 
date. Thus, what with the assiduous collecting and im- 
porting on the part of antique dealers, and the reproduc- 
tions and adaptations by workers in the several arts and 
crafts, we are confronted with an array of painted furniture 
