October, 1 907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



385 



bureaus" (1824) ; "a wardrobe with center dressing bureau" 

 (1826); "toilets with hanging wardrobes" (1826); and 

 "ladies' superb dressing bureaus and toilets with glasses" 

 (1826). It will be noted that the word bureau has come 

 into general use for a dressing-table. This originated in the 

 fact that the dressing-table frequently contained a desk or the 

 front of the top drawer let down and formed a desk. Some- 

 times the dressing-bureau was in the form of a chest of 

 drawers. 'I'he examples in Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were very pop- 

 ular during the nineteenth century, and exist to-day in the 

 hundreds. Upon the top slab a dressing-glass with drawers 

 was usually placed. Another form, with a swinging glass 

 on upright posts, is 

 also shown in No. 3. 

 This dates from 

 about 1840 to i860. 



The old - f a s h - 

 ioned chest- u p o n - 

 chest and high-case 

 of drawers, errone- 

 ously called "high- 

 boy," was banished 

 in the nineteenth 

 century bedroom for 

 the cumbrous four- 

 square wardrobe. 

 This was not unfre- 

 quently of huge pro- 

 portions, and from 

 about the middle of 

 the century often 

 had looking - glass 

 ci o o r s or panels. 

 The redeeming fea- 

 tures of the ward- 

 r o b e were that it 

 was usually made of 

 beautiful mahogany, 

 solid or veneered. 



It contained a convenient arrangement of drawers, shelves 

 and pegs for clothes. These wardrobes were often used as 

 linen presses, although they stood in the bedroom. 



In his last years Sheraton fell under the influence of the 

 Empire. He had always followed the French styles, as his 

 first book shows; and he gradually changed the Louis XVI 

 style for that of the Empire. Among his latest plates (he 

 died in 1806) are many designs for the sofa-bed, also called 

 "lit de repos" and "lit anglaise." "The frames of these 

 beds," he says, "are sometimes painted in ornaments to suit 

 the furniture. But when the furniture is of very rich silk 

 they are done in white and gold and the ornaments carved. 

 The cornice cut out in leaves and gilt has a good effect. The 

 drapery under the cornice is of the French kind; it is fringed 

 all round and laps on to each other like unto waves." As 



7 — A Bedroom Furnished and Decorated in Louis Qumze Style 



the "sofa-bed" continued fashionable until about 1830, a 

 few descriptions may be interesting. 



A canopy and sofa-bed in 18 17 has silk draperies of dark 

 green lined with lilac and buff. These fall from a kind of 

 crown and are trimmed with lace and gold fringe. "A mus- 

 lin embroidered drapery is applied as a covering in the day- 

 time." 



A small bed, designed In 18 16, for a "young lady of 

 fashion," has hangings of light blue silk lined with a 

 "tender shade of brown." The curtains, which are drawn 

 up by silk cords and embellished with tassels, are sup- 

 ported by rings and rods of brass. 



A design sent 

 from Paris In 18 16, 

 and labeled "P'rench 

 bed," is described 

 as "an English bed 

 with corner posts, 

 decorated agreeably 

 to Parisian fancy." 

 The framework Is 

 made of rosewood, 

 ornamented with 

 carved foliage, gilt 

 in matt and bur- 

 nished gold. The 

 drapery is of rose- 

 colored silk, lined 

 with azure blue, and 

 consists of one cur- 

 tain gathered up at 

 the ring In the cen- 

 ter of the canopy, 

 being full enough to 

 form the festoons 

 and curtains both of 

 the head and foot. 

 The curtain is 

 edged with fringe. 

 "1 he taste for French furniture," writes an authority In 

 1822, Is carried to such an extent that most elegantly fur- 

 nished mansions, particularly the sleeping-rooms, are fitted 

 up In the French style." He recommends a "sofa or French 

 bed." "The sofa Is highly ornamented with Grecian orna- 

 ments in burnished and matt gold. The curtains and inner 

 coverlids are of white satin. The outer covering Is of muslin 

 In order to display the ornaments to advantage and bear out 

 the richness of the canopy. The dome is composed of alter- 

 nate pink and gold fluting, surrounded with ostrich feathers, 

 forming a novel, light and elegant effect; the drapery is 

 green satin with a salmon-colored lining." 



The Influence of the Empire upon mahogany furniture 

 lasted from 1830 to the period when factory-made articles 

 supplanted those of hand work. 



