House and Garden 
GEORGIAN 
Originals at liiltmore, North Carolina 
will always remain true that it is only to 
the few that the antique has a real value; 
to the many, the reproduction, given sym¬ 
metry of outline, the same standard of 
integrity in material and workmanship, will 
he quite as satisfactory. Fortunate it is that 
this is the case, else the art of furnishing must 
come to an end, for there is necessarily a 
limit to the supply of old furniture that can he 
brought into the market, and that limit has 
virtually been reached. Luckily, there is no 
need to place old furniture on a pinnacle of 
unapproachable merit. I he causes which 
have made the furniture of the nineteenth 
century so unsatisfactory can he pointed out 
and in themselves are not beyond remedy. 
It is not essential that it he pretentious 
and covered with meaningless ornament, nor 
is it essential that the cabinet work he dis¬ 
honest and the finish be cheap and glaring. 
d ime was when old furniture could readily he dis¬ 
tinguished from new by superiority of workmanship, 
d'he table stood more firmly, the drawers slipped 
more smoothly, and more care generally was given to 
detail. Now, however, these conditions are reversed. 
If anything, the mechanical construction of some 
of the furniture made in America is more accurate 
and exact, and it is true that there are particular 
classes of furniture in which new retjuirements or 
new invention have given birth to real improvements. 
Fhis is particularly true of upholstered furniture,— 
the davenport and sofa of to-day and the wing 
chair,—though old lines have been retained, are in 
their mechanical construction far more comfortable 
than are the old ones,—and many an old bed about 
which one may use the most enthusiastic expres¬ 
sions of admiration would he shunned, and wisely, 
as a resting place, until it has been modernized as to 
its s j:) ri n g s a n d 
SHERATON 
Original at Charleston, S. C. 
HEPPLEWHITE 
Shield-shaped Back 
CHIPPENDALE 
Originals in Museum of Science and Art, Dublin 
mattress. One of the merits of old furniture is 
simplicity of design, and another, seasoned 
wood, and while there may he no way of defi¬ 
nitely determining the latter point except by 
waiting to see w hether the furniture warps by 
use, still as the cabinet-maker finds his work 
judged by these conditions, he will he propor¬ 
tionately careful to meet the requirements. 
Allowing that these advantages of sound 
workmanship, simplicity of design, and integrity 
of material may be secured in new furniture, is 
it not then equal to old, and for all practical 
and decorative purposes, quite as effective 
d'here are, of course, in New York and 
other centers wood-carvers and cabinet-mak¬ 
ers who can and do construct furniture in 
exact replica of antiques, this work showing the 
most finished craftsmanship. Many of these 
men, wdio for the most part are Germans and 
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