The Mentor, No. 30, Furniture and its Makers

The Mentor

“A Wise and Faithful Guide and Friend”

FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS

By PROFESSOR C. R. RICHARDS
Director of Cooper Union, New York.

It is rather surprising to find how late a development furniture is
in the modern sense. Up to the seventeenth century chairs were
far from common. Outside of the large and heavy armchairs reserved
for the head of the family, benches, chests, and stools were the
only seats in all but the wealthiest households. Before the sixteenth
century fixed tables were unusual. Dining tables were almost always
composed of a set of boards placed upon trestles at mealtime. Going a
little further back to the fourteenth century we find furniture, even in
castles of the nobility, of the scantiest and simplest. In the sleeping
rooms the pieces were limited to a bed, one or two chests, a bench before
the fireplace, and seats built into the wall, commonly under the windows.
In the hall where meals were served the only indispensable article besides
the trestle tables and benches was a dressoir or buffet for the display of
plate. All of these pieces were exceedingly heavy and massive, and oftentimes
built into the structure of the room. Not
until the seventeenth century did furniture become
lighter, more easily movable, and more
comfortable. It was at this period that chairs began
to be made with sloping backs and furnished
with cushioned seats of leather or woven stuff.

LOUIS XIV CABINET

EXAMPLE OF BOULLE

Every age has impressed its artistic standards
strongly upon the furniture of the period.
Long after Gothic cathedral building had ceased,
the cabinetmakers of northern Europe continued
to carve their delicate window tracery
upon the panels of chests and buffets and to
copy the moldings of pier and mullion.

FRENCH OR FLEMISH CABINET OF
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

The Renaissance brought a great change
in the surface appearance of furniture, and in
Italy, France, Flanders, and Germany the new
art spirit manifested itself in different forms,
each of which reflected the peculiar genius of the
people of the land.

But all the earlier developments in furniture
were overshadowed
by the splendid achievements
of French art in the latter part
of the seventeenth century. These began
under Louis XIV, and continued with
undiminished productiveness and refinement
of design through the reigns of
Louis XV and Louis XVI, to a decline
under the Empire.

LOUIS XV—FURNITURE OF
THE BOUDOIR

The foundation by Colbert, minister
of Louis XIV, of the Manufactures Royales
des Meubles de la Couronne, commonly
called the Gobelins, brought together for
the production of furniture and tapestry
for the royal palaces the most talented
designers and expert craftsmen of the
time. Of these Charles André Boulle was
the master cabinetmaker. His name is
commonly identified with marquetry of tortoise shell and brass,
which he carried to a high state of perfection; but he was much
more than a craftsman. He developed a furniture style that harmonized
perfectly in its vigor and magnificence with the splendid
proportions of the great royal residences. Large in scale and massive
in construction, his pieces rely for their effect upon bold and
striking decoration of gilded bronze
and marquetry.

AN EXAMPLE OF RIESENER MARQUETRY

STYLE OF LOUIS XV

Boulle’s pieces accord thoroughly
with the years of pomp and
splendor of Le Grand Monarque;
but even before the death of Louis
a notable change in the appearance
of furniture set in. The nobility,
whose resources had been severely
strained to maintain the splendor
set by the king, found it necessary
to substitute smaller apartments for
their great rooms and galleries.
Moreover, the heroic quality of the
earlier Louis XIV decorations was
no longer suited to the growing softness
and effeminacy of the age.
Smaller and more delicate furnishings
were demanded. The Louis
XIV chairs had borrowed the high
upholstered backs, together with the
S curves for arms and legs, from the
Italians—later on the bold bombé
curve appeared in the supports of
the tables. By the time of the
Regency these outlines had become more slender and refined and
the reign of the curved line in furniture became established,—a reign
that lasted for fully half a century, during which time some of the
ablest masters of design that have ever lived played and conjured
with curves delicate and curves bold, now bringing forth an outline
pure and exquisite in quality, and again with amazing inventiveness
interlacing curve with curve in combinations of infinite variety and
bewildering richness.

Most Louis XV furniture develops naturally from that of Louis
XIV, and is built upon thoroughly structural lines. The reaction,
however, against severity and the increasing demand of a frivolous
aristocracy for new and more striking effects, gradually produced a style
in which decoration was often not subordinated to structure, but made
an end in itself.

LOUIS XV TABLE

The rococo (from rocaille, rock, and coquille, shell) ran its extravagant
course with increasing exaggeration and license during the first half of the
reign of Louis XV; but it should not be thought of as affecting all the
furniture even of this period, for its manifestations were mainly in the
field of the carver and bronze
worker, and the outlines of furniture
were very little influenced,
except in the case of the smaller
and lighter pieces, such as console
tables. About the middle
of the reign the limit
of artistic license had
been passed and a reaction
set in. The
ormolu, which had
reached excessive size
and had become overloaded
on the surface,
was withdrawn to the
edges, and made smaller
and more suitable for
the delicate proportions
of the pieces. In its
place marquetry of beautiful colored woods, more or less practised for
over a century, was brought to a perfection never before equaled.

LOUIS XV COMMODE

LOUIS XVI—THE INFLUENCE OF THE CLASSIC

The reaction against the excesses of the rococo which had set in as
early as the middle of the eighteenth century continued to gain strength
during the next two decades, and to carry the design of furniture farther
and farther from the fashion of the early years of Louis XV.

LOUIS XVI COMMODE

The new impulse turned naturally to the straight contour. This
meant almost inevitably the adoption of classic lines. At first the
change showed itself in the straightened bodies of commodes, cabinets,
and writing tables, which still retained their curved supports. Finally
the legs themselves were made straight or rather tapering; until by the
end of the reign of Louis XV the curved outline had quite disappeared
and the style called
Louis XVI was fairly
launched.

LOUIS XVI
TABLE

The ormolu takes
new forms. It is limited
to the edges and
to frames of panels,
to friezes, and to important
centers, and
follows the classic
spirit: not an outright
imitation of Roman
or Greek forms,
but a charming French
interpretation of the
antique. The designs of the metal worker had never been more delicate,
or his execution finer. Delicacy and appropriateness of ornament,
fineness of proportion, and sobriety of treatment were the ideals of the
new cabinetmakers. The art of marquetry was still further advanced,
and reached perhaps its culminating expression in the fine examples of
Riesener and Röntgen.

It was during this reign that mahogany began to be extensively and
almost exclusively used as a cabinet wood, in place of the walnut previously
employed. Where walnut was still used, as in the case of chairs,
it was generally gilded or enameled. The chair and the canape or sofa
stand out as among the most successful achievements of the Louis XVI
designers. Simple as to structural lines, their details were worked out
with scrupulous care and, from fluted
tapering legs to the carved frames inclosing
the beautiful tapestry backs,
they represent extreme elegance and
consistency of style.

Toward the end of the reign of
Louis XVI the quality of furniture design
degenerated. Instead of charming
adaptations and interpretations of the
classic spirit, mechanical imitations of
Greek and Roman forms appear, and
heavy bronze caryatids overweigh and
distort the outlines of cabinets and tables.
Dull heaviness takes the place of elegance
and the play of fertile invention. The
decline had begun.

LOUIS XVI
TABLE

EMPIRE—THE IMITATION
OF THE CLASSIC

EMPIRE ARMCHAIRS

The new order, built on the overthrow
of monarchical society and with no sympathy
for delicacy and refinement, desired a setting
free from the traditions of the past. The
cabinetmakers, however, had only their training
of the reign of Louis XVI, and this they
could not transcend. For motives they had
only their knowledge, or what they considered knowledge, of the antique.
On this they endeavored to build a new style by direct adoption of
classic forms. In chairs and couches they attempted to reproduce the
actual shape used by the Greeks and Romans. Figures of caryatids and
sphinxes take the place of simpler structural supports in tables and stands.

Ormolu was no longer employed in an architectural manner in which
one decorative detail is set off against another in a play of rhythm and
contrast; but was applied as single figures or small ornamental motives on
a plain surface of mahogany. Oftentimes this ornament has so little
relation to the space decorated that it could well be omitted without loss
of real effectiveness. This enthusiasm for the antique passed through
Egyptian, Greek, and Roman phases. Heavy and unimaginative
as most of the Empire
pieces seem, it
can at least be said
that they are more
consistent and satisfying
than the inharmonious
mixture that
characterized the furniture
of the last year
of Louis XVI. Many
of the Empire chairs
indeed are of real
dignity and beauty of
proportion. In some
of these ormolu, introduced
for the first time
in chairs, was used in
combination with polished mahogany;
but in most cases the woodwork
was sparingly carved with
rosettes and enameled in white and
gold. For the coverings, silk brocade
and appliqué in the prevailing colors
of yellow and red took the place of
tapestry.

JEWEL CABINET OF MARIE LOUISE

LATE EMPIRE

EMPIRE ARMCHAIR

EMPIRE COMMODE

CHIPPENDALE—THE
MASTER OF LINE

CHIPPENDALE PIECRUST
TABLE

The French styles were the
result of many designers working
upon common lines; but in England
during the last half of the eighteenth
century certain noted individual
cabinetmakers set the fashion,
and for a period of years the
designs of Chippendale, Heppelwhite,
and Sheraton were each in
turn recognized as the established
vogue.

Thomas Chippendale began
business in London on his own account
about 1735, and evidently rapidly built up a very flourishing
establishment, inasmuch as the “Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director,”
which he published in 1754, contains a
wide variety of designs suitable only for wealthy
customers.

CHIPPENDALE SETTEE—FRETWORK

The “Director” contains many designs
that are fantastic, and many that are difficult
and even impossible to execute. Fortunately
Chippendale’s fame does not rest upon these
designs, made to catch the eyes of his richer
patrons, but upon the pieces actually made,
and it is refreshing to see how much finer are
these latter, evolved by the trained craftsman,
understanding every limitation and every possibility
of his material. Chippendale’s chairs
represent by far the best expression of his
genius. Starting with the modified Dutch
forms introduced by William and Mary and Queen Anne, in which
the cabriole leg with ball and claw feet and the flowing curved back with
solid splat are the prominent features, he soon developed an individual
style marked by great dignity, strength, and originality. His earliest
chairs are perhaps the finest. In these the
cabriole leg is always employed, and the side
frames of the back curve outward as they
run up to more or less pronounced ears at
the top. The top rail takes more or less of
a cupid bow shape, and the central splat fills
in the inclosed space. It is in the design
of these central splats and the inclosed framework
that Chippendale is at his best. The
almost inexhaustible variety of figure in these
pierced and interlaced centers, always in the
happiest relation to the framework, gives
the principal interest to these chairs, and
stamps Chippendale as one of the great masters
of design.

CHIPPENDALE
ARMCHAIR

Chippendale’s styles represent many influences. His early work
was patterned closely upon Queen Anne models; but with the “Director”
appeared many examples of Gothic and fretted furniture. The
Gothic, unsuitable as it was for domestic use, obtained little vogue;
but the ornamentation of chairs and tables, either by open or, more
commonly, applied fretwork, was popular for a dozen years or more,
and is characteristic of some of Chippendale’s most successful if not
most showy productions.

During this same period a rage for things Chinese possessed the
popular taste, and in many latticed chair backs and canopied tops of
cabinets the versatile cabinetmaker catered to this new interest.

Besides his chairs, the name of Chippendale is closely associated with
the charming tripod tables, generally made with tilted top and often with
molded or “piecrust” border, with the flat card tables so much used in
the gaming of the period, and with the all-china cabinets and bookcases
with glass fronts, and oftentimes with a characteristic broken pediment
at the top.

The two other men who identified their names with English styles
worked under the influence of the
classical revival brought about in
England largely
by the influence
of the brothers
Adam. In the
case of Heppelwhite
this influence
greatly affected
but did
not absolutely
determine the
style; for this
practical cabinetmaker
was a
man of independent if not original ideas, and his work
bears a strong stamp of individuality. Heppelwhite
died in 1786, and the “Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer’s
Guide,” published by his widow and partners in 1788,
shows us in the form of a trade catalogue much of the
spirit and quality of his work.

CHIPPENDALE TABLE

This table shows strong Chinese influence.

HEPPELWHITE—THE EXPONENT
OF ELEGANCE

HEPPELWHITE
CORNER CABINET

The most characteristic designs of Heppelwhite are
his chair backs. These are commonly shield or oval
shaped, with open center splats, in the center of which
were often introduced the ostrich plumes of the Prince
of Wales. Another form of back frequently employed
by Heppelwhite was that with slightly curved sides
and strongly bowed top, known as the “camel back.”

The legs of Heppelwhite’s chairs are almost always
tapering and square in sections and end in a spade foot.
The proportions of these chairs give an effect of extreme
elegance and refinement. They seem almost fragile;
but the material is disposed with such skill and the workmanship is
so excellent that in reality they are far stronger than might appear.

EXAMPLES OF HEPPELWHITE CHAIRS

From the time of the Middle Ages the buffet has existed as an
important article of furniture; but to Heppelwhite is due the credit
of perfecting the sideboard in its present English form. He combined
the pedestal cellaret and side table of Robert Adam in one structure,
and effected a union of utility
with elegance, which he executed
in many pleasing designs of bow
and serpentine front.

To Heppelwhite we must also
give credit for the most refined
and tasteful use of inlay and of
veneers to be found in English
furniture. On the doors of wardrobes
and on the front of drawers
he employed veneers of the beautiful
curl mahogany that came
into favor about 1760, and on the
front of his solid mahogany tables,
sideboards, and bookcases he substituted for carving the inlay of low-toned
colored woods in the form of lines and narrow bands and other
ornamental motives.

HEPPELWHITE COMMODE

SHERATON—THE PURIST

The last of the three great cabinetmakers represents the culmination
of the classic spirit derived both from the brothers Adam and the French
Louis XVI style. Sheraton’s productions, or rather his designs, depicted
in the “Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book,” have little of the
vigor and strength of Chippendale’s work; but they are always characterized
by delicacy and refinement.

EXAMPLES OF SHERATON CHAIRS

Sheraton designed furniture both in mahogany and in satinwood,
decorated by inlay and by painting, and it is with this last style, the
introduction of which was largely due to the popularity of the gifted
young artist Angélique Kauffmann, that he is particularly identified.
His work in mahogany is
characterized by simplicity
of form and by the tasteful
use of inlay, in which
respect he was perhaps
the equal of Heppelwhite.

His chair backs are
almost always based upon
the straight line, and,
although sometimes made
petty by the introduction
of inappropriate classic
ornament, they exhibit on the whole much skill and refinement in
composition. In the legs of chairs and tables he almost invariably used
turned and tapering supports, which were frequently decorated by
reeding. In the sides and often the backs of his chairs he reintroduced
the vogue of canework, which had not appeared in fashionable furniture
since the seventeenth century.

Sheraton’s satinwood furniture took the form mainly of commodes or
bureaus, small writing desks, toilet tables, and other lighter articles for
the boudoir. The daintiness and elegance of some of these pieces decorated
by the brush of Angélique Kauffmann or Pergolesi challenge comparison
with some of the exquisite furniture made during the reign of
Louis XVI, and they mark the final culmination of English furniture
before its degeneration into the mediocrity of later times.

SHERATON SIDEBOARD

ANTIQUE CHEST—THIRTEENTH CENTURY

ONE

People have always used furniture; but the kind of
furniture we use today is of comparatively recent
origin. Wood, ivory, precious stones, bronze, silver,
and gold have been used from earliest times in
the construction and for the decoration of furniture, but modern
furniture is a development of little more than four centuries.

Furniture has always varied in kind and
style, according to the needs and customs
of its users. There are few examples left
of really ancient furniture. This is due
partly to the perishable materials used in
its making, and partly to the fact that
the people of olden times had little furniture
of any kind. Even the poorest home
of today is better supplied with some
household appliances than the most aristocratic
house of splendid Egypt, tasteful
Greece, or luxurious Rome.

And in the long period between the destruction
of these ancient civilizations
and the Renaissance the making of furniture
developed very little. The rulers of
Egypt were as well housed as the early
kings of England. Household furnishings
were the privilege of the great alone. No
person of mean degree could or would dare
to have used a chair—one of the commonest
objects in every modern home. Active
people, as they were, living much in the
open air, they needed but benches on
which to sit at meals, and beds on which
to sleep. Our luxuries were not only unknown,
but unnecessary to them.

The Egyptians used wooden furniture,
carved and gilded; they also used chests
in which to keep things. The tables and
couches of the Assyrians were inlaid with
ivory and precious metals. The wood used
was mostly cedar and ebony. Solomon’s
bed was of cedar of Lebanon. The furniture
of Greece was oriental in form, and
from this the Romans absorbed many
ideas. The Roman tables were of marbles
or rare woods. They used gold and
silver plentifully, even cooking utensils
being made of these precious metals.

Most medieval furniture of Italian
make was richly gilded and painted. In
the north of Europe carved oak was used
to a greater extent. The feudal halls
were furnished with benches carved and
paneled. Chests of oak or Italian cypress
were used as receptacles for clothes and
tapestries. The oak coffer with wrought
iron bands shown in the picture is of
French make, of the latter half of the
thirteenth century.

The Renaissance made a great change
in furniture making. Cabinets and paneling
were done in the outlines of palaces
and temples. In Florence, Rome, Venice,
and Milan there began on a large scale
the manufacture of sumptuous cabinets,
tables, chairs, and chests. Spain, France,
and Germany soon followed the fashion,
and in England Henry VIII greatly encouraged
the art of furniture making.

Then came the great period of furniture,
the eighteenth century. From being massive
and exceedingly scarce and costly,
furniture became light, plentiful, and
cheap.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30

LOUIS XIV ARMCHAIR

TWO

There was no limit to the prices a reckless and profligate
court was willing to pay for luxurious beauty
during the sumptuous, extravagant reign of Louis
the Magnificent of France. For much that was
most splendid and beautiful in furniture making at this period
stands the name of Charles André Boulle. His imagination
and skill were given full play, and he proved
equal to the demands made upon him.

Boulle was a remarkable man. In a
court whose only thought was of pleasure
and display, he realized that his furniture
must not only excel all others in richness,
beauty, and cost; it must also be both
comfortable and useful. He was appointed
cabinet maker to the Dauphin,
the heir to the throne of France. This
distinction, together with his own tastes,
led him to copy some of the manners and
bearing of his rich customers.

He was an aristocrat among furniture
makers. He spent the greater part of
his large fortune in filling his workshop
with works of art. His warehouses were
packed with precious woods and finished
and unfinished pieces of magnificent furniture.
In his own rooms were priceless
works of art, the collection of a lifetime—gems,
medals, drawings, and paintings,
which included forty-eight drawings by
Raphael.

Boulle’s ruin came in a single night.
When he was seventy-eight years old all
his property was destroyed by fire. His
loss was not only of fortune, but of reputation
as well; for when he was down and
out he resorted to tricks and questionable
dealings which brought him many lawsuits.
He died in debt and poverty, a discredited
and broken man.

The English court vied with France in
its extravagance, and heaped honors and
wealth on the man who, like Boulle, in
France, was foremost among designers of
furniture in that country. The authorities
on fine furniture frequently speak of
Marot’s work in connection with that of
the great Boulle. Daniel Marot was the
son of Jean Marot, an architect and engraver.
After he went to England with
William III he principally concentrated
his talent upon the adornment of Hampton
Court Palace. Much of the furniture
at Hampton Court bears unmistakable
traces of his authorship. At Windsor
Castle also there is a silver table that is
attributed to him.

Marot’s work differs from that of Boulle
in that he inserted, in medallion form,
pictorial subjects in a heavy framework
of ornament. In other pieces the inlay
took the form of geometrical, floral, and
animal patterns, combined with the warmer
and more beautiful tints of the exotic
woods. The whole was marked by an unsurpassed
degree of excellence in workmanship.

Besides furniture, Marot designed carved
chimney pieces, panels for walls, ceilings,
and wall brackets. He was also famous
as a designer of gold and silver plate, and
he even made tea urns and cream jugs.

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ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30

LOUIS XV SIDEBOARD—MADE BY RIESENER

THREE

The early years of the life of Jean Henri Riesener
would seem to indicate that he was born under a
lucky star. But long before his death, at the age
of seventy-one, in the first decade of the nineteenth
century, his star had set. Before the outbreak of the French
Revolution he commanded enormous prices for his work. One
small table that he constructed is said to
have been sold for more than a thousand
dollars. Yet in his old age he was only
saved from utter ruin by his son, a portrait
painter.

Œben, the famous and successful furniture
maker, under whom Riesener served
as an apprentice, died and left, besides a
young and handsome widow, one of the
largest workshops in Paris and a large
fortune. The young man promptly married
the widow, and upon her death, six
years later, came into possession of both
the property and the fortune. Three
years later he married the daughter of a
citizen of Paris; but again his marriage
proved of short duration, for after a few
stormy years of wedded life he took refuge
in the new divorce laws of the country,
and returned again to the state of
single blessedness.

Œben, his master, had been commissioned
by King Louis XV of France to
make a bureau. King Louis was called
the “well beloved,” although he was really
hated by the majority of his subjects.
This bureau contributed greatly to Riesener’s
fame; for its construction took three
years, and, Œben having died in the meantime,
his pupil completed it.

The massive bronze doors of this royal
bureau were ornamented with elaborate
and intricately modeled figures, and the
whole was fashioned after a complete and
perfect miniature model. The degree of
craftsmanship that was brought to bear
upon this historical piece of furniture was
of such a character that a second bureau,
built similarly, was begun and completed
by a competitor before the original was
finished.

Riesener became a greater artist than
his teacher, Œben, and was recognized as
one of the leading furniture makers of his
time. His great activity is shown by the
quantity and elaborate detail of the furniture
he made.

At the beginning of the French Revolution
evil days came upon Riesener.
Those wealthy customers who did not
flee and escaped the guillotine were made
bankrupt. In 1793 he held a sale of his
prized collection of furniture; but he was
forced to buy most of it back himself. A
little later he tried again to realize some
money on the furniture; but this also was
a failure.

His son, who had joined the army, returned
to Paris and saved the aged furniture
maker from starvation.

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ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30

INTERIOR SHOWING THREE CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS

FOUR

A young art student came to a furniture shop in
London and the talk was of beauty of line, the
dignity of proportion, and the introduction of
mahogany in the manufacture of furniture. The
art student afterward became Sir Joshua Reynolds, the world
famed painter. The furniture maker was Thomas Chippendale,
known as “King of the Eighteenth Century
Furniture Designers.” And to these
early friendly talks and arguments Chippendale
attributes his reputation as
a master of line and a genius of proportion.

Before the time of Chippendale most of
the furniture was made of the heavier
native woods, such as walnut or oak. Mahogany
made a powerful appeal to him,
because of its highly polished surface and
the exquisite beauty of the wood itself;
for the young cabinet maker who came
up to London from Worcestershire had a
passionate love of beauty and he was a
master workman. From his father, who
had achieved considerable local fame, he
inherited this love, and he had learned
how to make the wood carvings that are
characteristic of his designs.

After a fire he converted four adjacent
dwelling houses into a shop, which
was situated on St. Martins Lane, in the
fashionable section of London; and because
he protested against the amount of
his taxes it seems probable he was prosperous.
Moreover, he belonged to the
Society of Arts, with Gibbon the historian,
Richardson the novelist, Dr. Johnson the
lexicographer, and Horace Walpole the
politician. If you add to this that he married
in 1748 and died in 1779, there is
summed up practically all there is known
of Thomas Chippendale himself.

Chippendale made beautiful furniture.
He was recognized by both the nobility
and gentry, not only as an authority on
the subject, but as an artist. He was
probably better known as a designer of
chairs than of any other form of furniture.
Chippendale was familiar with artistic designs
in Japan, Italy, and Spain, and was
ready always to take ideas from the humble
as well as the great, as is shown from
the fact that subscribers to his book, “The
Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director,”
range from the Duke of Northumberland
to a local bricklayer. A large part
of his reputation is attributed to this
book, which was not so much a guide to
his finished productions as an outline of
the designs he would like to make. And
these designs have served as a guide to
furniture makers ever since.

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ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30

LOUIS XVI CHAIR, WITH BEAUVAIS TAPESTRY

FIVE

At forty years of age Thomas Sheraton was a poverty-pinched
journeyman cabinet maker and Baptist
preacher in Stockton-on-Tees. Then in 1790 he
went to London, where he found even a greater poverty,
but where he made for himself as a designer of furniture
a name that will last as long as the world loves beautiful things.
The fifteen remaining years of his life
were tragically sad.

Sheraton’s knowledge was gained through
years of hardship and privation. He lived
to see his chosen art reach its zenith, and
then to see it fall away. He had scarce
perfected his creations when they were
overwhelmed by a wave of bad taste that
swept much beauty from English furniture.

When Sheraton reached London he
hadn’t enough money to set up shop,
much less to employ skilled workmen.
So, instead of making furniture, he wrote
about it, varying this occasionally by
writing sermons or tracts. He made little
money, but many enemies, for he had a
bitter tongue.

Adam Black, afterward the famous publisher,
was then a printer’s apprentice, and
lived for a time in Sheraton’s humble
home. “The night I arrived,” Black
wrote, “there were but two cups and saucers,
one of which I used, Sheraton’s wife
sharing her young daughter’s porridge
bowl.”

Black published Sheraton’s “Encyclopedia
of Furniture.” This brought Sheraton
some fame, but little food. The big
work showed the great range and variety
of Sheraton’s art.

We love his furniture for its finely
curved surfaces, graceful sweeps of sideboards
and cabinets reflecting the light.
Aside from its beauty, Sheraton’s furniture
was essentially practical—sometimes
in most original fashion. For example, he
invented a summer bed, divided in the
center so as to give a greater circulation
of air. There was likewise a hollow-front
sideboard that became popular for the
ease with which a butler could reach
across for a stray glass or piece of china
ware. His “conversation chair” was designed
for the beaux of Georgian times,
whose coat-tails were too costly to be sat
upon. The proper position in this chair
was for the sitter to face the back of the
chair, with his arm resting on the top
rail, so that his coat-tails could hang. The
so-called “Pouch Table,” much beloved
today by neat housewives, was Sheraton’s
invention. It was a work table with a
pouch of silk on each side.

Besides his great book, Sheraton got
up a handbook for the benefit of his
brother craftsmen, in which he gave in a
helpful manner minute descriptions of his
various pieces. The spirit that prompted
him to do this was the finest thing in
Sheraton’s nature. He had his faults.
He was narrow, self-centered, and bitterly
resentful of the success of others, but he
believed it to be a man’s duty to give to
the world the benefit of his full knowledge,
and he sacrificed himself through life to
do this.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30

LOUIS XVI CABINET

SIX

George Heppelwhite was one of the great
names in furniture making. His wife published
after his death a book, “The Cabinet Maker and
Upholsterer’s Guide, or Repository of Design for
Every Article of Household Furniture in the Newest and Most
Approved Taste,” on which his reputation rests. This book
went through three editions in 1788, two
years after the author’s own death.

The designs in his book are characterized
by comfort rather than artificiality.
With this is combined great technical excellence
and extreme lightness and durability.
Curiously, however, these designs
are not all of equal value. Some are as
good as the best work of any era, while
others are most commonplace.

Although even at that time tea cost five
dollars a pound, its use had become very
popular throughout England. Heppelwhite
introduced many articles that had
to do with the tea service. Many peculiarly
constructed and choice urn stands,
tea trays, chests, and caddies are attributed
to him.

Heppelwhite’s furniture had an interesting
characteristic. The legs tapered
delicately on the inside faces only,
and were finished with a square foot.
This gave the impression of grit and
power to otherwise fragile furniture.

There were several stock designs, or ornaments,
of which this furniture maker made
frequent use. He was particularly fond
of inserting ovals in the backs of his chairs.
Frequently a carved ear of corn was used
as a decoration. Heppelwhite also made
abundant use of a Prince of Wales feather
in delicate carving, combined with an inlay
of colored woods. This use of the
royal plume was attributed to his loyalty
to the Prince of Wales. It was conclusive
proof of the popularity of the Prince’s
party when the illness of George III caused
such national strife.

The fact that Heppelwhite was accused by
his enemies of plagiarism does not detract a
bit from his real position. It shows rather
that, like all real artists, he remained a
student until the close of his career. He
never disdained to profit by the experience
and teachings of others, even those
less eminent than himself.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30