64 
House & Garden 
FLINT’S FINE FURNITURE 
COMPLETE EXHIBIT OF SUMMER 
FURNITURE FOR HOMES OF 
EVERY SIZE. 
Delightful and interesting as is the furnishing 
of the summer home, the problem becomes not 
only fascinating but extremely simple after in¬ 
spection of our large exhibits of Furniture, Dec¬ 
orations and Rugs. 
The same careful thought and interest have 
been devoted to the requirements of the unpre¬ 
tentious cottage as to those of the spacious manor 
house; the same attention is given to small 
orders as to those involving a large expenditure. 
A staff of artists and experts make possible 
the prompt execution of special decorative 
schemes. 
ORIENTAL AND DOMESTIC RUGS AND 
DRAPERIES 
FLINT ^ HORNER CO., inc. 
20-26 WEST 36tK STREET 
NEW YORK 
U PSTAIRS and down, you will find 
us ready to help you with your 
housekeeping. You can equip your 
kitchen completely, your pantry, your 
dining room—your garden—with the 
things that come from Lewis & 
Conger’s. For every part of the whole 
house, our stocks will suggest the at¬ 
tractive and practical articles which 
you have such a hard time finding else¬ 
where. 
fellSSt^NGER 
45th Street and Sixth Ave. New York City 
Early Italian Tables and Seating Furniture 
{Continued from page 62) 
heightened by the severity of the foil Figure 16a, a long table of the latter 
against which' it appeared. part of the 16th Century, shows a dif- 
Just as the staple wood for English ferent sort of structure, which is also 
furniture prior to the middle of the typical of a large class having a long 
17th Century was oak, so the staple stretcher or brace running from one 
material from which Italian furniture of the main end supports to the other 
of the 16th and 17th Centuries was' and bearing a succession of balusters 
made was walnut, except when the that hold up the middle weight of the 
chest, cabinet, or whatever it might top and the drawers in the under- 
be, was to be covered with poly- framing. The scroll-shaped, lion- 
chrome and gilt decoration, in which footed truss supports at each end ex¬ 
case pine, cypress or some other such hibit a contour that is thoroughly 
wood was used. Of course, in addi- representative of a great many of the 
tion to and in conjunction with wal- 16th and 17th Century tables, 
nut, other woods were employed to a The same principle of construction 
limited extent for purposes of inlay. —a board supported by two trusses 
So far as tables and most of the seat- connected by a brace or stretcher— 
ing furniture go, however, we shall and the same general line of contour, 
be chiefly concerned with walnut. though much simplified in detail, are 
exemplified by figure 16, another 
The Tables specimen of late 16th Century 
workmanship. Figure 4, 7' long, 3' 6" 
Early Italian tables exhibit a great wide and 3' high, also a specimen of 
variety in sizes, shapes and methods 16th Century table-making, not only 
of structure, according to the uses for exhibits the same general principle of 
which they were intended or the construction as figures 16 and 16a, 
amount of carved enrichment to be but, furthermore, proves an admirable 
bestowed upon them. example of the wood-carver’s art and 
The kind of Italian table with shows the characteristic qualities to 
which we are, perhaps, ordinarily be found in nearly all the carved 
most familiar is the long, narrow type work of this period, full of sweep 
such, especially, as those shown in ^-^d vigor and yet full of refinement 
figures 16 and 5. Figure 5 is one of a of conception and execution of detail, 
pair of early 17th Century tables that Looking at such carving, one instinct- 
came out of an old palace in Rome ively feels the virility of it and its 
where they had been wont to stand suitability to the medium; that it is 
against the wall, one at each side of a really carved wood, and not merely 
central doorway in a long salon. It ^ prying applique on ■wood, 
is made of mellow toned walnut. Quite as typical, in its way, is the 
standing 9’ 3" long, 3' 4" high and small octagonal topped table with four 
3'4" wide. It will be noticed that its f^i^ed legs (figure 1) of the early 
beauty, like the beauty of many other Jj^b Century; the generic resem- 
Italian pieces of the same date, lies blance to figure 5 is patent. Other 
in its purity of line and its truthful- small octagonal, hexagonal and 
ness of proportions. The mouldings, round-topped tables were supported 
both of the underframing and of the pedestals, plain or deeply carved 
stretchers, are refined in profile and ™e manner of the 16th Century, 
well considered in arrangement and, 
in this respect, are thoroughly char- Notaries’ Tables and Others 
I acteristic. The design is simple, 
! straightforward and vigorous and en- Notaries’ tables were not unlike in 
I tirely free from the saccharine ab- general plan to the common modern 
surdities that some Llk, unfortu- ironing tables with tilt tops that form 
nately, associate in their minds with a settle-like seat when the top is up. 
Italian furniture. Indeed, a great deal The chest-like compartment in the 
of the early 17th Century furniture is base held papers and parchments and 
simple and virile almost to the point the drawers in the underframing held 
of severity; witness some of the pens, ink and sundries. Then, again, 
credence and cabinets which we shall the 16th Century produced square 
have occasion to discuss later. The tables, sometimes with elaborately in¬ 
resemblance between figure 5 and laid tops, with canted, scrolled and 
some of the English refectory tables carved legs at the corners, uncon- 
invites comparison. While the dimen- nected by stretchers, 
sions are pretty much the same, it will Draw tables, too, were made in the 
be noted that the lines of the Italian 16th and early 17th Centuries and a 
table are graceful and slender, espe- pair of them may be seen in the 
cially in the detail of the baluster- Metropolitan Museum. The draw 
turned legs, while the melon-bulb table may be doubled in length and 
turnings of the correspondent con- seating capacity “by means of two 
temporary English type are apt to shelves under the central top but so 
display a degree of “bogginess,’’ a dif- arranged that upon their being drawn 
ference partly attributable, it may be, out the upper top falls into their place, 
to the genius of design imposed by thus forming a level surface.” The 
the nature of the wood. particular draw table just mentioned 
is 4' 3%" long, when the leaves are 
How They Were Used pushed in, 2' 8" wide and 2' 9%" 
high and the seven turned legs, con- 
While tables of the type just men- nected by stretchers, are so ingeni- 
tioned were habitually used, singly or ously disposed that, whether the 
in pairs, in positions similar to the leaves be open or closed, none of the 
arrangement noted in the description sitters is inconvenienced. Closed, this 
of figure 5, they were also used table will seat four people comfort- 
against the wall in halls or in dining- ably and opened it will hold eight, 
rooms, where they sometimes served As a dining table it permits one to 
in lieu of sideboards, or rather, to be talk easily with his vis-a-vis as well 
accurate, in lieu of the nearest ap- as with his next neighbor, and alto- 
proach to sideboards the Italians of gether it is of a pattern well worthy 
the period we are considering pos- of reproduction. 
sessed. The locations they occupied To sum up, then, the principal types 
in Italian houses at once suggest pos- of tables of the 16th and 17th Cen- 
sibilities of suitable placement in our turies, there are tables with truss sup- 
own interiors—against the wall in ports at each end, connected by a 
large halls, living-rooms or dining- stretcher or brace with or without 
rooms, or standing out from the wall balusters extending upward from it 
in libraries, or, indeed, as dining to the bottom of the table or under¬ 
tables, for which purpose they offer framing, and some of these tables 
definite advantages. {Continued on page 66) 
