A cabinet, slant-front secretary with polychrome decora¬ 
tions by Riccardo. C. 1740. Courtesy of John Wanamaker 
They seem, indeed, to have ceased to 
originate, or even to try to originate, in 
the matter of pattern, and to have been 
content to borrow wholesale from the 
modes in vogue in the other countries 
of Europe—a course diametrically op¬ 
posite to that which had obtained dur¬ 
ing preceding centuries when Italian 
furniture designers supplied the major 
part of the inspiration which bore abun¬ 
dant fruit in all lands wherever mobili- 
ary art was appreciated. Hence the 
manifold styles that followed each other 
in rapid succession as reflections of con¬ 
temporary modes that originated else¬ 
where ; hence the element of decadence 
observable in much of the product put 
forth by Italian craftsmen of the period. 
of the contemporary furniture of 
France is feminine in character be¬ 
cause it is peculiarly suitable for the 
boudoir and drawing room, spheres of 
pre-eminently feminine influence. 
Until well past the first half of the 
century, the curvilinear element was al¬ 
most wholly dominant and straight lines 
were at a discount. What the furni¬ 
ture consequently lost in strength of 
design through this circumstance it 
gained in adaptability to varied appli¬ 
cations. In its proportions it ranges 
all the way from studied and subtle 
elegance to down-right dumpy stodgi¬ 
ness, the latter trait being rather more 
general than the former. But in all 
cases it possesses the admirable quality 
of domesticity. And just because of 
its pliability and easy domesticity it 
lends itself with peculiar readiness to 
modern uses in manifold environments 
where the architectural background is 
not insistently rigid in its emphasis. 
Thence comes much of its special in¬ 
terest for modern furnishing schemes. 
Line and Decoration 
The furniture of the 16th and 17th 
Centuries, on the contrary, is conspicu¬ 
ously rectilinear and exhibits curving 
lines only in a subsidiary capacity. 
Whether ornate or simple, its design 
and ornamentation are essentially mas¬ 
culine. It is more exacting with regard 
to the nature of the setting in 
which it may be placed than is the 
feminine type. 
Italian furniture craftsmen of 
the 18th Century had a sense of 
decoration far stronger than their 
capacity for meritorious design as 
applied to contours. Their fer¬ 
tility of invention in the former 
respect was often truly remark¬ 
able ; in the latter, their ineptitude 
was frequently no less striking. 
Borrowed Styles 
Nevertheless, the Italian craftsmen 
managed to impart to their local inter¬ 
pretations of borrowed styles a national 
turn which gave their work a distinct 
individuality, always unmistakable and 
often pleasing, so that the so-called 
Italian Louis Quinze, Italian Louis 
Seize and other Italian manifestations 
of current stylistic influence, if not to 
be accounted really great, were full of 
interest and of unquestionable decora¬ 
tive value. As to the great variety of 
contours, it is well for the reader bent 
upon systematic investigation to remem¬ 
ber that analogies in form between Ital¬ 
ian furniture and contemporary 
types in France and England are 
sufficiently close to enable anyone 
with a fair knowledge of French 
and English mobiliary develop¬ 
ments to classify Italian pieces 
chronologically and to understand 
their affinities and concomitant 
decorative phenomena. Whatever 
we find in French and English 
furniture—Queene Anne forms, 
evidences of the “Chinese taste,” 
Venetian painted and gilt wardrobe, 
polychrome arabesques on a cream 
ground. Courtesy of Wanamaker 
An 18 th Century painted and gilt 
corner cupboard, polychrome deco¬ 
rations. Courtesy of Wanamaker 
A Venetian wardrobe; red ground, 
landscape panels. C. 1735. Courtesy 
of Penn. School of Industrial Art 
