i8 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
January, 1911 
h 
By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
The sideboard is by Shearer, the first maker of a serpen¬ 
tine pattern. Chippendale’s elaborate ribbon-back chair 
shows a strong French influence 
By courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art 
An inlaid marble mantel by the 
architect and furniture designer, 
Robert Adam 
deal in the Dutch period 
and when the demand be¬ 
came so great that China 
and Japan could not sup¬ 
ply it, the English them¬ 
selves did very beautiful lacquer work. 
Between 1710 and 1730, when the craze for “Indian work" 
was at its height, there were many pieces of old oak and walnut 
furniture covered with lacquer to bring it up to the fashionable 
standard, but their forms were not suitable, and oak especially, 
with jts coarse grain, did not lend itself to the process. The 
stands for lacquer cabinets vary in style, but were often gilded 
in late Louis XIV and Louis XV style. The difference between 
true lacquer and its imitations is hard to explain. The true was 
made by repeated coats of varnish, each rubbed down and al¬ 
lowed to become hard before the next was put on. This gave 
a hard, cool, smooth surface with no stickiness. Modern work, 
done with paint and French varnish, has not this delightful feel¬ 
ing, but is nearly always clammy to the touch, and the colors 
are hurt by the process of polishing. Chippendale did not use 
much lacquer, but in the “Director’’ he often says such and such 
designs would be suitable for it. 
This craze for lacquer, during William’s, Anne's and George 
I’s time, was accompanied by the craze for Chinese porcelain. 
Especially in Queen Anne’s reign, it was put everywhere — over 
mantels, tables, cabinets, cupboards — all of them loaded with it. 
Much of the other furniture that Chippendale made was 
heavy, but the best of it had much beauty. His delicate fretwork 
tea-tables are a delight, with their fretwork cupboards and carv¬ 
ing. He seemed to combine many sides in his artistic tempera¬ 
ment, a fact that many people lay to his power of assimilating 
the work of others. 
Robert Adam, the chief . , ^ ,, , . r , 
, r . , A card-table dating from the first 
member of the him ot half of the 18th Century, showing 
Adam Brothers, came to the wells for money and the cor- 
London in 1758. He at ner candle stands 
once became one of the 
great architects of the day, and his influence cannot be over¬ 
estimated. Having been in Italy, he brought back a love of 
classic simplicity and helped to put an end to the taste for rococo 
decoration that was gaining ground. Chippendale had some in¬ 
fluence on this early work, but Adam's own individuality soon 
asserted itself, and we have the result in the beautiful style called 
by his name. As the Adams cared only to design furniture, 
some one else had to carry out the designs, and it is said that 
Chippendale worked for them. We at least know that they had 
a great influence on his work, and his last period was marked 
again by a greater simplicity of treatment. 
The early furniture of Adam was plain and the walls were 
treated with much decoration that was classic in feeling. After 
1770 he simplified his walls and elaborated his furniture designs 
until they met in a beautiful and graceful harmony. He designed 
furniture to suit the room it was in, and with the dainty and 
charming coloring, the beauty of proportion and the charm of 
the wall decoration, the scheme had great beauty. 
He used the ram’s head, wreaths, honeysuckle, mythological 
subjects, lozenge-shaped, oval and octagonal panels, and many 
others. He was one of the first to use the French idea of dec¬ 
orating furniture with painting and porcelain placques, and the 
furniture itself was simple and beautiful in line. The stucco 
ceilings designed by the brothers were picked out with delicate 
colors. They did not make many chairs, for they did not care 
to, nor did they possess the mechanical knowledge necessary, but 
(Continued on page 52) 
An interesting comparison of two old sofas, the one on the left with the cabriole legs used so frequently by Chippendale, the other with 
the slender tapering legs inlaid with the bellflower ornament of Hepplewhite 
