70 
House & Garden 
K 
pof Eicr 
Doubles the Garden’s Charm 
Classic Simplicity is typical of 
the many beautiful designs 
in our Collection 
Galloway Pottery is everlasting Terra 
Cotta, made in a variety of forms, in¬ 
cluding Bird Fonts, Sun-dials, Flower 
Pots and Boxes, Vases, Benches, Gaz¬ 
ing Globes and other interesting pieces 
that recall the charm of Old World 
Gardens. 
Catalogue will he sent upon request 
GAEOWAf Terra CoTta Gb. 
3218 WALNUT ST. PHILADELPHIA 
Out in the open man 
does hot take cold 
The cause of cold is not COLD 
It is HEAT 
C. A. DUNHAM COMPANY, Marshalltown, Iowa 
DIVISION SALES OFFICES: Chicago, New York, San Francisco 
Boston BRANCHES: Salt Lake City 
Rochester Birmingham Indianapolis Davenport Fort Worth Spokane 
Albany Pittsburgh Louisville Des Moines Dallas Portland, Ore. 
Philadelphia Cleveland Milwaukee St. Louis Denver Seattle 
Washington, D.C. Detroit Minneapolis Kansas City Cheyenne Los Angeles 
C. A. DUNHAM CO,, Ltd., Toronto, Canada 
BRANCH OFFICES: 
Halifax Montreal Ottawa Winnipeg Vancouver 
Bird Bath ji 
No.693 ' 
*14 "w 
$20^2- 
C OLDS are bred in your very 
home. The results of imper¬ 
fect heating breed them. But where 
Dunham Vapor Heating is, there 
exists none of the unhealthy con¬ 
ditions that foster colds. 
Instead, the air in every room is 
fresh and warm. An even, genial 
heat pervades the whole home. 
Radiators do not— cannot —knock 
or pound. Temperature is auto¬ 
matically kept at either one of two 
predetermined levels. And all with 
minimum attention and unusual 
coal economy. 
A little more costly to buy than old- 
fashioned, faulty equipment, the 
Dunham Vapor HeatingSystem is worth 
more—in both material value and serv¬ 
ice. A steam fitter can Dunhamize a 
new or an already-built home. Write 
for full information immediately. Ask 
for a free copy of our invaluable book, 
“The 3 H’s.” 
QUNHflM 
■^VAPOR HEATING SYSTEM 
DUNHAM 
Radiator Trap 
This device is one of the funda^ 
mentals of the DUNHAM VAPOR 
HEA TING S YS TEM, Because it 
makes impossible the presence of 
water in radiators, it prevents 
their pounding and knocking, re- 
duces fuel consumption, causes 
the radiator to heat evenly and 
quickly, eliminates the hissing air 
valve and spurting water. 
Antique Desks and Their Appreciation 
{Continued from page 68) 
the sharp edges are disposed of. and 
something approaching the softness 
of old age is attained. After treat¬ 
ment in this manner the contents 
come out very passable ‘antiques.’ 
This is very clever and in no way 
wrong unless done with the intention 
to deceive. There are not nearly 
enough old handles to ‘go round' and 
honest dealers employ these means to 
make imitations quite legitimately, 
only they tell you that, old as they 
look, they are only clever deceptions.” 
The general furniture collector will 
not now be apt to come across any¬ 
thing in the way of a “find” in a 
desk of the Renaissance, 17th or even 
early 18th Century Italian periods, or 
in the way of the finer pieces of other 
early Continental furniture, as nearly 
all of these, if not in public or great 
private collections alreadjq would be 
justly held at very high prices by 
dealers into whose stock such pieces 
might come. However, there are oc¬ 
casional sales—there have been some 
very important ones at auction in 
New York this winter—of old for¬ 
eign household furnishings, and great 
bargains may well be met with at 
these now and then. In any event, 
the collector must cultivate alertness, 
decision and an intuition for oppor¬ 
tunities to buy, — and once in a 
while to sell, too! 
To the European, the name bureau, 
from its French derivation, is under¬ 
stood to be connected with writing. 
In America we connect the term w ith 
a piece of furniture designed to hold 
articles of clothing in its various 
drawers. It was somewhere about 
the middle of the 17th Century that 
the drawer was added to the lower 
part of the chest. Later in the cen¬ 
tury further drawer capacity was de¬ 
veloped, and by the beginning of the 
next we find the complete chest of 
drawers in use. In vierv of this we 
will not expect to find Jacobean 
desks, though we may find cabinets 
for wTiting materials and documents 
and even occasional desk-like pieces. 
William and !M.\ry Types 
In the William and Mary Period 
(1688-1702) cabinets, secretaires and 
bureaus came rapidly into use. The 
furniture of this period has been 
characterized by Alacquoid as ‘‘attrac¬ 
tive through simplicity of shape and 
quiet elegance of design.” The 
desks displayed distinct character¬ 
istics which differentiate several 
groups. The cabinet with bracket 
(straight) feet or bun feet; a whole 
front flap, which when let doivn dis¬ 
played the drawers and the pigeon¬ 
holes ; a top either single-hooded or 
straight with ovolo frieze may he 
placed in the first division. In the 
second division we have the bureaii- 
hookcase rvith its slant-top desk 
plane. Here we find the taller desk 
styles, sometimes with double-hooded 
tops, with or without vase-shaped 
finlals. The third division includes 
the narrow slant-top desks on cup- 
turned legs, flat stretchers and bun 
feet. The knee-hole desks (desks 
with center portion arranged to per¬ 
mit the knees of the writer to go be¬ 
low the desk plane) constitute the 
fourth division, while a fifth sort of 
desk had gate-legs braced by serpen¬ 
tine flat stretcliers. The center two 
legs, (there were six in all), pulled 
out as a support for the desk flap 
when its plane was let down. 
In writing of the desks of the Wil¬ 
liam and Mary period and of the 
Queen Anne period succeeding, two 
English authorities, Blake and Re- 
veirs-Hopkins, make the following in¬ 
teresting observations: “We look 
back upon the Elizabethan times as 
the Renaissance period of English 
literature, but even then the lettered 
were in the minority. By the end of 
the 17th Century literature had spread 
to the middle classes, and we find the 
Press pouring out countless ponder¬ 
ous volumes on every imaginable 
subject. It is the age of the diarists, 
conspicuous amongst whom were 
Samuel Pepj'S and John Evelyn 
whose gossipy daily journals bring 
us so intimately in touch with. the 
political and social life of the times. 
It is the age of the pamphleteers and 
essayists whose effusions led up to 
the semi-satirical periodicals of the 
early 18th Century—chief amongst 
them being the Spectator, started by 
Joseph Addison and Richard Steele 
in 1710. This vast outpouring of lit¬ 
erature called for more commodious 
writing-desks, and the escritoire or 
bureau is the natural result. Like 
the other furniture of the period, the 
desks were solid and dignified. In 
the main they were severe in outline, 
but generallj' reflected the prevailing 
architecture of the period, which was 
derived from the Italian Renaissance. 
We find the desks often surmounted 
by finely moulded, boldly carved 
cornices and broken pediments. As 
the Dutch influence grew we find the 
lower portions containing commo¬ 
dious long drawers with rounded or 
bombe fronts. The principal wood 
used was walnut, sometimes solid 
and sometimes veneered on oak and 
pine. We also find the same schemes 
in marquetry work, as in the chests 
of drawers, cabinets and clock-cases 
showing Continental influence.” 
The furniture makers of the time 
of George I were beginning to find a 
demand, and to supplj^ it, for writing- 
tables with tiers of drawers at each 
side of the ‘’knee-hole.” From about 
1720 mahogany entered into furni¬ 
ture making extensively. Its use by 
the American furniture makers in 
the Colonies was coincident with, 
and possibly antedated, lacquer 
which had been the rage and as a 
fashional)le fad continued to hold 
the popular favor. 
Styles by Chippend.yle 
Of course, no writing furniture is 
more eagerly sought than that of 
Chippendale. There were the writ¬ 
ing-tables with bombe fronts, the bu¬ 
reaus, standing on legs that support¬ 
ed low bases, the bureau-bookcase 
style of desk, tlie slant-top secre¬ 
taires, etc. In American desks of the 
period we find the block-front to 
have been very popular. 
The writing furniture of the 
Brothers Adam exhibited the orig¬ 
inality and excellence common to 
their other articles. They introduced 
the more general use of satin wood 
and others of the lighter colored 
woods, and a contour of line in de¬ 
sign that struck a new note. Painted 
ornament, too, was more extensively 
used by them than ever before in 
English furniture. 
\\fith the furniture of Heppelwhite 
we find the three section bookcase- 
desk in vogue, and the pull-over top 
(tambour) which was ancestor to 
the modern roll-top. The Heppel¬ 
white desks are in great variety and 
of much beauty and practical utility 
as well. Sheraton included in his 
desks all the forms brought into 
fashion by Heppelwhite or modified 
by him. All these various periods 
were reflected in American desks, 
some of tliem with local modifica¬ 
tions and variations. 
