February, 191! 
porcelain; the chimney-pieces were supplied with a multi- 
tude of little shelves, each one holding a cup, bowl, bottle, 
or vase; the hearth itself, in the summer time, was loaded 
with big vases and bowls artistically massed; and chinaware 
occupied every available nook and corner and perched all 
along the cornices and over the doors. In one of Marot’s 
designs for a chimney-piece we may count three hundred 
pieces of porcelain of various shapes and sizes. A Dutch 
poet of the day sings of a ‘Porcelain Room”: “His whole 
house, even his small parlor, shone like a diamond; a thou- 
sand small cups decorated this parlor. How many Japanese 
figures and curios of amber, sea coral and pink mother-of- 
pearl filled also the great room!” 
The Dutch ex- 
ported thousands of — 
their home manufac- 
tured panels to the 
East to be Japanned, 
and supplied the pat- 
terns with which they 
required the Oriental 
workmen to decorate 
the surfaces. 
The complaints of 
the native workmen 
were loud and bitter. 
In 1700 a petition 
recites that the man- 
ufactured cabinet- 
work of the East In- 
dies had of late 
years arrived at such 
a grade of perfection 
as to exceed all FEu- 
rope. The — guilds 
complain further 
that the importers 
had sent to the East 
Indies patterns and 
models of all forms 
of cabinet goods and 
had annually re- 
ceived such vast 
quantities of cabinet 
wares, manufactured 
after the home fash- 
ions that the native 
workmen were ap- 
proaching a _ condi- 
tion of utter ruin. 
The same bitter cry 
went up in England, 
where one complaint 
states that in 1672, aaa 
several artificers 
were sent over by 
the East India Company with a great quantity of English 
patterns, to teach the Indians how to manufacture goods 
so as to make them vendible in England and the rest of 
the European markets. The bills of lading of the ships 
in 1700 alone represented the following amounts in pounds 
sterling: 
Lacquered sticks for fans ......... £13,470 ($65,330) 
Lacquered trunks, escritoires, 
WOWIS: CUPS, GISHES = 0b = 22s aye os 
ad 
——————————— 
~ ~ te 
eames = 
9 a Ria 
——a |e 
— soe ~- es 
‘ 
Lacquered inlaid tables ........... ESO) | 917) 
Lacquered panels, in frames, painted 
and carved for rooms .......... AGE oe 5 42 215,) 
Dacameced Boards 25.2006 ates- jtlgits; eek 863) 
MAcapered Drusiles 40305562. os 3,099 ( 15,030) 
Lacquered tables (not inlaid)...... Dee LGAs) 
Fig. 9—A buffet 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 67 
Wacqueredspellows 7.2.22 eae Ge 843) 
Lacquered boards for screens ...... GA 262) 
It is therefore evident that the paneling of a room a la 
chinois was, as a rule, imported and set up by native work- 
men. ‘The tall clocks, of which the Dutch were so fond, 
were now nearly all Japanned, as were also many of the 
sconces, trays and other metal ware. 
We must not forget another striking beauty of the opu- 
lent Dutch home—the marquetry work—native woods in- 
laid with beautiful exotic wood of various colors making 
life-like imitations of flowers, fruits, birds, etc. 
In a typical well-to-do Dutch house of the Seventeenth 
Century, the first apartment entered from the front door 
was the front-room, 
or voorhuis, where 
visitors were form- 
ally received. ‘This 
was a sort of hall 
and was somewhat 
coldly furnished, with 
chairs, a table and a 
clock. A stairway 
led to the second 
floor, where the 
‘‘show-rooms’ were 
situated. In many 
houses these were 
kept for exhibition 
and were opened 
only to be cleaned 
and on great occa- 
sions. The most im- 
portant of these was 
furnished according 
to the means or class 
of the owner. ‘The 
walls were paneled, 
tiled, or hung with 
tapestry, or gilded 
leather, and adorned 
with paintings and 
rich mirrors. The 
chairs were  hand- 
somely upholstered, 
or supplied with lux- 
urious cushions and 
the cupboards and 
cabinets were carved, 
or of marquetry, and 
: contained rare por- 
celains and rich speci- 
mens of plate and 
many curios. 
The 
kitchen was 
frequently entered 
from this room. 
Here the tiles shone like glass, the pewter and silver 
gleamed from the racks and dressers, the china closets and 
shelves were gay with Oriental and Delft plates, cups, dishes 
and teapots, and the rose-red table and the yellow framed 
rush-bottomed chairs contributed to the general cheerful- 
ness. But was cooking ever allowed to desecrate this 
kitchen? No. All the food for the family was prepared 
in a small cooking-shed, called “snuiver,”’ built for this pur- 
pose back of the kitchen. 
Passing upstairs to the bedroom of the master and mis- 
tress, we find that the floor is of highly polished wood and 
that family portraits adorn the walls. The furniture con- 
sists of chairs with tall backs and low seats, a carved table 
with a rug over it, a large oak cupboard, or kas, a cabinet, 
a treasure chest, a wash-buffet and a toilet table. A heavy 
