Frederick Litchfield

THE GREAT EXHIBITION:—Exhibitors and contemporary Cabinet Makers—Exhibition of 1862, London; 1867, Paris; and subsequently—Description of Illustrations—Fourdinois, Wright and Mansfield—The South Kensington Museum—Talbert's Work—Revival of Marquetry—Comparison of Present Day with that of a Hundred Years Ago—Æstheticism—Traditions—Trades-Unionism—The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society—Kensington School of Wood-carving—Independence of Furniture—Present Fashions—Writers on Design—The New Renaissance—"Trade" Journals—Modern Furniture in other Countries—Concluding Remarks.

IN the previous chapter, attention has been taken of the success of the National Exhibition in Paris of 1849; in the same year the competition of our manufacturers at Birmingham gave an impetus to Industrial Art in England, and there was about this time a general forward movement, with a desire for an International Exhibition on a grand scale. Articles advocating such a step appeared in newspapers and periodicals of the time, and, after much difficulty, and many delays, a committee for the promotion of this object was formed. This resulted in the appointment of a Royal Commission, and the Prince Consort, as President of this Commission, took a keen personal interest in every arrangement for this great enterprise. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the success which crowned the work was, in a great measure, due to his taste, patience, and excellent business capacity. It is no part of our task to record all the details of an undertaking which, at the time, was a burning question of the day; still, as we cannot but look upon this Exhibition of 1851 as one of the landmarks in the history of furniture, it is worth while to record some particulars of its genesis and accomplishment.

The idea of the Exhibition of 1851 is said to have been originally due to Mr. F. Whishaw, Secretary of the Society of Arts, as early as 1844, but no active steps were taken until 1849, when the Prince Consort, who was President of the Society, took the matter up very warmly. His speech at one of the meetings contained the following sentence:—

"Now is the time to prepare for a great Exhibition—an Exhibition worthy of the greatness of this country, not merely national in its scope and benefits, but comprehensive of the whole world; and I offer myself to the public as their leader, if they are willing to assist in the undertaking."

LADY'S ESCRITOIRE.

In White Wood, Carved with Rustic Figures. Designed and Manufactured by M. Wettli, Berne, Switzerland. 1851 Exhibition, London.

To Mr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Paxton, then head gardener to the Duke of Devonshire, the general idea of the famous glass and iron building is due. An enterprising firm of contractors, Messrs. Fox and Henderson, were entrusted with the work; a guarantee fund of some £230,000 was raised by public subscriptions; and the great Exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria on the 1st of May, 1851. At a civic banquet in honor of the event, the Prince Consort very aptly described the object of the great experiment:—"The Exhibition of 1851 would afford a true test of the point of development at which the whole of mankind had arrived in this great task, and a new starting point from which all nations would be able to direct their further exertions."

The number of exhibitors was some 17,000, of whom over 3,000 received prize and council medals; and the official catalogue, compiled by Mr. Scott Russell, the secretary, contains a great many particulars which are instructive reading, when we compare the work of many of the firms of manufacturers, whose exhibits are therein described, with their work of the present day.

The Art Journal published a special volume, entitled "The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue," with woodcuts of the more important exhibits, and, by the courtesy of the proprietors, a small selection is reproduced, which will give the reader an idea of the design of furniture, both in England and the chief Continental industrial centres at that time.

They have been selected as being fairly representative of the work of the time, and not on account of their own intrinsic excellence.

With regard to the exhibits of English firms, of which these illustrations include examples, little requires to be said, in addition to the remarks already made in the preceding chapter, of their work previous to the Exhibition. One of the illustrations, however, may in passing be further alluded to, since the changes in form and character of the Pianoforte is of some importance in the consideration of the design of furniture. Messrs. Broadwood's Grand Pianoforte (illustrated) was a rich example of decorative woodwork in ebony and gold, and may be compared with the illustration on page 172 of a harpsichord, which the Piano had replaced about 1767; and this supplies evidence of the increased attention devoted to decorative furniture at and since the time of the 1851 Exhibition. In the Appendix will be found a short notice of the different phases through which the ever-present piano has passed, from the virginal, or spinette—of which an illustration will be found in "A Sixteenth Century Room" in Chapter III.—down to the latest development of the decoration of the case of the instrument by leading artists of the present day. Mr. Algernon Rose, of Messrs. Broadwood, whose firm was established at their present address in 1732, has been good enough to supply the author with the particulars for this notice.

It will be seen from the illustrations of these exhibits that, so far as figure carving and composition are concerned, our foreign rivals, the Italians, Belgians, Austrians, and French, were far ahead of us. In mere construction and excellence of work, we have ever been able to hold our own, and, so long as our designers have kept to beaten tracks, the effect is satisfactory. It is only when an attempt has been made to soar above the conventional, that the effort is not so successful.

LADY'S WORK TABLE AND SCREEN.

In Papier-machÉ. 1851 Exhibition, London.

In looking over the list of exhibits, one finds evidence of the fickleness of fashions. The manufacture of decorative articles of furniture of papier-machÉ was then very extensive, and there are several specimens of this class of work executed, both by French and English firms. The drawing-room of 1850 to 1860 was apparently incomplete without occasional chairs, a screen with painted panel, a work table, or some small cabinet or casket of this decorative but somewhat flimsy material.

The design and execution of mountings of cabinets in metal work, particularly of the highly-chased and gilt bronzes for the enrichment of meubles de luxe, was then, as it still to a great extent remains, the specialitÉ of the Parisian craftsman, and almost the only English exhibits of such work were those of foreigners who had settled amongst us.

SIDEBOARD.

In Carved Oak, with subjects taken from Sir Walter Scott's "Kenilworth."

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MESSRS. COOKES, WARWICK. 1851 EXHIBITION, LONDON.

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A STATE CHAIR.

Carved and Gilt Frame, Upholstered in Ruby Silk, Embroidered with the Royal Coat of Arms and the Prince of Wales' Plumes.

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY M. JANCOWSKI, YORK. 1851 EXHIBITION, LONDON.

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SIDEBOARD IN CARVED OAK.

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY M. DURAND, PARIS. 1851 EXHIBITION, LONDON.

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BEDSTEAD IN CARVED EBONY.

RENAISSANCE STYLE. DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY M. ROULÉ, ANTWERP. 1851 EXHIBITION, LONDON.

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PIANOFORTE

In Rosewood, inlaid with Boulework, in Gold, Silver, and Copper.

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY M. LEISTLER, VIENNA. 1851 EXHIBITION, LONDON.

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BOOKCASE.

In Carved Lime Tree, with Panels of Satinwood.

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY M. LEISTLER, VIENNA. 1851 EXHIBITION, LONDON.

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CABINET.

In Tulipwood, ornamented with Bronze, and inlaid with Porcelain.

MANUFACTURED BY M. GAMBS, ST. PETERSBURG. 1851 EXHIBITION.

Amongst the latter was Monbro, a Frenchman, who established himself in Berners Street, London, and made furniture of an ornamental character in the style of his countrymen, reproducing the older designs of "Boule" and marqueterie furniture. The present house of Mellier and Cie. are his successors, Mellier having been in his employ. The late Samson Wertheimer, father of Messrs. Charles and Asher Wertheimer, now so well known in the Art world, then in Greek Street, Soho, was steadily making a reputation by the excellence of the metal mountings of his own design and workmanship, which he applied to caskets of French style. Furniture of a decorative character and of excellent quality was also made some forty years ago by Town and Emanuel, of Bond Street, and many of this firm's "Old French" tables and cabinets were so carefully finished with regard to style and detail, that, with the "tone" which time has given them, it is not always easy to distinguish them from the models from which they were taken. Toms was assistant to Town and Emanuel, and afterwards purchased and carried on the business of "Toms and Luscombe," a firm well known as manufacturers of excellent and expensive "French" furniture, until their retirement from business over twenty years ago.

CASKET OF IVORY.

With Ormolu Mountings. Designed and Manufactured by M. Matifat, Paris. 1851 Exhibition, London.

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TABLE.

In the Classic Style, inlaid with Ivory. Manufactured for the King of Sardinia by M. G. Capello, Turin. 1851 Exhibition, London.

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CHAIR.

In the Classic Style, inlaid with Ivory. Manufactured for the King of Sardinia by M. G. Capello, Turin. 1851 Exhibition, London.

Webb, of Old Bond Street, succeeded by Annoot, and subsequently by Radley,[23] was a manufacturer of this class of furniture; he employed a considerable number of workmen, and carried on a very successful business.

The name of "Blake," too, is one that will be remembered by some of our older readers who were interested in marqueterie furniture of forty years ago. He made an inlaid centre table for the late Duke of Northumberland, from a design by Mr. C. P. Slocombe, of South Kensington Museum; he also made excellent copies of Louis XIV. furniture.

CABINET OF EBONY IN THE RENAISSANCE STYLE.

With Carnelions inserted. Litchfield and Radclyffe. 1862 Exhibition.

The next International Exhibition held in London was in the year 1862, and, though its success was somewhat impaired by the great calamity this country sustained in the death of the Prince Consort on 14th December, 1861, and also by the breaking out of the Civil War in the United States of America, the exhibitors had increased from 17,000 in '51 to some 29,000 in '62, the foreign entries being 16,456, as against 6,566.

Exhibitions of a National and International character had also been held in many of the Continental capitals. There was in 1855 a successful one in Paris, which was followed by one still greater in 1867, and, as every one knows, they have been lately of almost annual occurrence in various countries, affording the enterprising manufacturer better and more frequent opportunities of placing his productions before the public, and of teaching both producer and consumer to appreciate and profit by every improvement in taste, and by the greater demand for artistic objects.

The few illustrations from these more recent Exhibitions of 1862 and 1867 deserve a passing notice. The cabinet of carved ebony with enrichments of carnelion and other richly-colored minerals (illustrated on previous page), was made by the firm in which the author's father was senior partner; it received a good deal of notice, and was purchased by William, third Earl of Craven, a well-known virtuoso of some forty years ago.

The work of Fourdinois, of Paris, has already been alluded to, and in the 1867 Exhibition his furniture acquired a still higher reputation for good taste and attention to detail. The full page illustration of a cabinet of ebony, with carvings of boxwood, represents a remarkably rich piece of work of its kind; the effect is produced by carving the boxwood figures and ornamental scroll work in separate pieces, and then inserting these bodily into the ebony. By this means the more intricate work is able to be more carefully executed, and the close grain and rich tint of Turkey boxwood (perhaps next to ivory the best medium for rendering fine carving) tells out in relief against the ebony of which the body of the cabinet is constructed. This excellent example of modern cabinet work by Fourdinois was purchased for the South Kensington Museum for £1,200, and no one who has a knowledge of the cost of executing minute carved work in boxwood and ebony, will consider the price excessive.

The house of Fourdinois no longer exists; the names of the foremost makers of French meubles de luxe, in Paris, of this time were Beurdely, Dasson, Roux, Sormani, Durand, and Zwiener. Some mention has already been made of Zwiener, as the maker of a famous bureau in the Hertford Collection,[24] and a sideboard exhibited by Durand in the '51 Exhibition is amongst the illustrations selected as representative of cabinet work at that time.

The illustration of Wright and Mansfield's satinwood cabinet, with Wedgwood plaques inserted, and with wreaths and swags of marqueterie inlaid, is in the Adams style, a class of design of which this firm made a specialitÉ. Both Wright and Mansfield had been assistants at Jackson and Graham's, and after a short term in Great Portland Street, they removed to Bond Street, and carried on a successful business of a high class and somewhat exclusive character, until their retirement some years ago. This cabinet was exhibited in Paris in 1867, and was purchased by our South Kensington authorities. Perhaps it is not generally known that a grant is made to the Department for the purchase of suitable specimens of furniture and woodwork for the Museum. This expenditure is made with great care and discrimination. It may be observed here that the South Kensington Museum, which was founded in 1851, was, at the time of which we are writing, playing an important part in the Art education of the country. The literature of the day also contributed many useful works of instruction and reference for the designer of furniture and woodwork.

CABINET OF EBONY WITH CARVINGS OF BOXWOOD.

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY M. FOURDINOIS, PARIS. 1867 EXHIBITION, PARIS.

(PURCHASED BY S. KENSINGTON MUSEUM FOR £1,200.)

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CABINET IN SATINWOOD.

With Wedgwood plaques and inlay of various woods in the Adams style.

DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MESSRS. WRIGHT & MANSFIELD, LONDON. 1867 EXHIBITION, PARIS.

(PURCHASED BY THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.)

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EBONY AND IVORY CABINET.

In the Style of Italian Renaissance by ANDREA PICCHI, Florence.

EXHIBITED PARIS, 1867.

Note.—A marked similarity in this design to that of a 17th Century cabinet, illustrated in the Italian section of Chapter iii., will be observed.

The work of Mr. Bruce J. Talbert deserves mention here, and should not have been omitted in the first edition. His designs for furniture, conceived on the basis of modified Gothic, adapted to modern requirements, were appreciated by a considerable following; and the dining room and library furniture especially, made from his drawings, stand the test of time. He published a book of designs in 1868, entitled "Gothic Forms applied to Furniture, Metal Work, and Decoration for Domestic Purposes," and, subsequently, in 1876, "Examples of Ancient and Modern Furniture, Tapestries, Metal Work, Decoration, &c." In this latter work he reproduced several of his drawings, which had been exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1870 and five following years; and he compiled a reference table of the dates when the various periods of architecture came in, with marginal notes, which will be found very useful to the reader in connection with our subject. We have, by permission of Mr. Talbert's publisher (Mr. Batsford, of Holborn), been able to give here a full-page illustration of part of a design for a dining room, from his Academy drawing of 1870, which will convey a fair idea of the character of his work. Talbert made designs for furniture exhibited in Paris in 1867, one of which, that of a Sideboard, made by Gillows, was purchased for the South Kensington Museum. Shortly before his death he turned his attention to Renaissance designs.

One noticeable feature of modern design in furniture, is the revival of marquetry. Like all mosaic work, to which branch of Industrial Art it properly belongs, this kind of decoration should be quite subordinate to the general design; but, with a rage for novelty which seized public attention some forty years ago, it developed into the production of all kinds of fantastic patterns in different veneers. A kind of minute mosaic work in wood, which was called "Tunbridge Wells work," became fashionable for small articles. Within the last twenty-five years, the reproductions of what is termed "Chippendale," and also of Adam, and Sheraton, designs in marqueterie furniture, have been manufactured to an enormous extent. Partly on account of the difficulty in obtaining the richly-marked and figured old mahogany and satin-wood, of a hundred years ago, which needed little or no inlay as ornament, and partly to meet the public fancy, by covering up bad construction with veneers of marquetry decoration, a great deal more inlay has been given to these reproductions than ever appeared in the original work of the eighteenth century cabinet makers. Simplicity was sacrificed, and veneers, thus used and abused, came to be a term of contempt, implying sham or superficial ornament. Dickens, in one of his novels, has introduced the "Veneer" family, thus stamping the term more strongly on the popular imagination.

The method now practised in using marquetry to decorate furniture is very similar to the one explained in the description of "Boule" furniture given in Chapter VI., except that instead of shell, the marquetry cutter uses the veneer, which he intends to be the groundwork of his design, and as in some cases these veneers are cut to the thickness of ¹/₁₆ of an inch, several layers can be sawn through at once. Sometimes, instead of using so many different kinds of wood, when a polychromatic effect is required, holly wood and sycamore are stained different colors, and the marquetry thus prepared, is glued on to the body of the furniture, and subsequently prepared, engraved, and polished.

This kind of work is done to a great extent in England, but still more extensively and elaborately in France and Italy, where ivory and brass, marble, and other materials are also used to enrich the effect. This effect is either satisfactory or the reverse, according as the work is well or ill-considered and executed.

It must be obvious, too, that in the production of marquetry the processes are obtainable by machinery, which saves labour and cheapens productions of the commoner kinds; this tends to produce a decorative effect which is often inappropriate and superabundant.

Perhaps it is allowable to add here that marquetry, or marqueterie, its French equivalent, is the more modern survival of "Tarsia" work, to which allusion has been made in previous chapters. Webster defines the word as "Work inlaid with pieces of wood, shells, ivory, and the like," derived from the French word marqueter, to checker, and marque (a sign), of German origin. It is distinguished from parquetry (which is derived from "parc," an enclosure, of which it is a diminutive), and signifies a kind of joinery in geometrical patterns, generally used for flooring. When, however, the marquetry assumes geometrical patterns (frequently a number of cubes shaded in perspective), the design is often termed in Art catalogues a "parquetry" design.

DESIGN FOR A DINING ROOM.

BY BRUCE J. TALBERT. EXHIBITED IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1870.

In considering the design and manufacture of furniture of the present day, as compared with that of, say, a hundred years ago, there are two or three main factors to be taken into account. Of these the most important is the enormously increased demand, by the multiplication of purchasers, for some classes of furniture, which formerly had but a limited sale. This enables machinery to be used to advantage in economising labour, and therefore one finds in the so-called "Queen Anne" and "Jacobean" cabinet work of the well-furnished house of the present time, rather too prominent evidence of the lathe and the steam plane. Mouldings are machined by the length, then cut into cornices, mitred round panels, or affixed to the edge of a plain slab of wood, giving it the effect of carving. The everlasting spindle, turning rapidly by the lathe, is introduced with wearisome redundance, to ornament the stretcher and the edge of a shelf; the busy fret or band-saw produces fanciful patterns which form a cheap enrichment when applied to a drawer-front, a panel, or a frieze; and carving machines can copy any design, which a century ago were the careful and painstaking result of a practised craftsman's skill.

Again, as the manufacture of furniture is now chiefly carried on in large factories, both in England and on the Continent, the sub-division of labour causes the article to pass through different hands, in successive stages, and the wholesale manufacture of furniture by steam, has taken the place of the personal supervision by the master's eye, of the task of the few men who were in the old days the occupants of his workshop. As a writer on the subject has well said, "the chisel and the knife are no longer in such cases controlled by the sensitive touch of the human hand." In connection with this we are reminded of Ruskin's precept that "the first condition of a work of Art is that it should be conceived and carried out by one person."

Instead of the carved ornament being the outcome of the artist's educated taste, which places on the article the stamp of individuality—instead of the furniture being, as it was in the seventeenth century in England, and some hundred years earlier in Italy and in France, the craftsman's pride—it is now the result of the rapid multiplication of some pattern which had caught the popular fancy, generally a design in which there is a good deal of decorative effect, for a comparatively small price.

The difficulty of altering this unsatisfactory state of things is evident. On the one side, the manufacturers or the large furnishing firms have a strong case in their contention, that the public will go to the market it considers the best: and when decoration is pitted against simplicity, though the construction which accompanies the former be ever so faulty, the more pretentious article will be selected. When a successful pattern has been produced, and arrangements and sub-contracts have been made for its repetition in large quantities, any considerable variation made in the details (even if it be the suppression of ornament) will cause an addition to the cost which those only who understand something of a manufacturer's business can appreciate.

During the present generation an Art movement has sprung up called Æstheticism, which has been defined as the "Science of the Beautiful and the Philosophy of the Fine Arts," and aims at carrying a love of the beautiful into all the relations of life. The fantastical developments which accompanied the movement brought its devotees into much ridicule about twenty years ago, and the pages of Punch of that time will be found to happily travesty its more amusing and extravagant aspects. The great success of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, "Patience," produced in 1881, was also to some extent due to the humorous allusions to the extravagance of the "Æsthetes." In support of what may be termed a higher Æstheticism, Mr. Ruskin has written much to give expression to his ideas and principles for rendering our surroundings more beautiful. The names of the late Sir Frederic Leighton and of Sir Alma Tadema are conspicuous amongst those who have in their houses carried such principles into effect, and among others who have been and are, more or less, associated with this movement, may be named Rossetti, Burne Jones, Holman Hunt, and William Morris. As a writer on Æstheticism has observed:—"When the extravagances attending the movement have been purged away, there may be still left an educating influence, which will impress the lofty and undying principles of Art upon the minds of the people."

For a time, in spite of ridicule, this so-called Æstheticism was the vogue, and considerably affected the design and decoration of furniture of the time. Woodwork was painted olive green; the panels of cabinets, painted in sombre colors, had pictures of sad-looking maidens, and there was an attempt at a "dim religious" effect in our rooms, quite inappropriate to such a climate as that of England. The reaction, however, from the garish and ill-considered colorings of a previous decade or two, has left behind it much good, and with the catholicity of taste which marks the furniture of the present day, people see some merit in every style, and are endeavouring to select that which is desirable without running to the extreme of eccentricity.

Perhaps the advantage thus gained is counterbalanced by the loss of our old "traditions," for amongst the wilderness of reproductions of French furniture, more or less frivolous—of Chippendale, as that master is generally understood—of what is termed "Jacobean" and "Queen Anne"—to say nothing of a quantity of so-called "antique furniture," we are bewildered in attempting to identify the latter end of the nineteenth century with any particular style of furniture. By "tradition" it is intended to allude to the old-fashioned manner of handing down from father to son, or master to apprentice, for successive generations, the knowledge and skill to produce any particular class of object of Art or manufacture. Surely Ruskin had something of this in his mind when he said, "Now, when the powers of fancy, stimulated by this triumphant precision of manual dexterity, descend from generation to generation, you have at last what is not so much a trained artist, as a new species of animal, with whose instinctive gifts you have no chance of contending."

Tradition may be said to still survive in the country cartwright, who produces the farmer's wagon in accordance with custom and tradition, modifying the method of construction somewhat perhaps to meet altered conditions of circumstances, and then ornamenting his work by no particular set design or rule, but partly from inherited aptitude and partly from playfulness or fancy. In the house-carpenter attached to some of our old English family estates, there will also be found, here and there, surviving representatives of the traditional "joyner" of the seventeenth century; and in Eastern countries, particularly in Japan, we find the dexterous joiner or carver of to-day is a descendant of a long line of more or less excellent mechanics.

It must be obvious, too, that "Trade Unionism" of the present day cannot but be, in many of its effects, prejudicial to the industrial Arts. A movement which aims at reducing men of different intelligence and ability to a common standard, and which controls the amount of work done, and the price paid for it, whatever are its social or economical advantages, must have a deleterious influence upon the Art products of our time.

Writers on Art and manufactures, of varying eminence and opinion, are unanimous in pointing out the serious drawbacks to progress which will exist, so long as there is a demand for cheap and meretricious imitations of old furniture, as opposed to more simply made articles, designed in accordance with the purposes for which they are intended. Within the past few years a great many well directed endeavours have been made in England to improve design in furniture, and to revive something of the feeling of pride and ambition in his craft, which, in the old days of the Trade Guilds, animated our Jacobean joiner. One of the best directed of these enterprises is that of the "Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society," of which Mr. Walter Crane, A.R.W.S., is president, and which includes, in its committee and supporters, a great many influential names. As suggested on the "cover" of their Exhibition Catalogue, designed by the President, one chief aim of the Society is to link arm and arm "Design and Handicraft," by exhibiting only such articles as bear the names of individuals who, respectively, drew the design and carried it out: each craftsman has thus the credit and responsibility of his own part of the work, instead of the whole appearing as the production of Messrs. A. B. or C. D., who may have known nothing personally of the matter beyond generally directing the affairs of a large manufacturing or furnishing business.

In the catalogue published by this Society there are several short and useful essays in which furniture is treated, generally and specifically, by capable writers, amongst whom are Mr. Walter Crane, Mr. Edward Prior, Mr. Halsey Ricardo, Mr. Reginald T. Blomfield, Mr. W. R. Letharby, Mr. J. H. Pollen, Mr. Stephen Webb, and Mr. T. G. Jackson, R.A., the order of names being that in which the several essays are arranged. This small but valuable contribution to the subject of design and manufacture of furniture, is full of interest, and points out the defects of our present system. Amongst other regrets, one of the writers (Mr. Halsey Ricardo) complains that the "transient tenure that most of us have in our dwellings, and the absorbing nature of the struggle that most of us have to make to win the necessary provisions of life, prevent our encouraging the manufacture of well wrought furniture. We mean to outgrow our houses—our lease expires after so many years, and then we shall want an entirely different class of furniture—consequently we purchase articles that have only sufficient life in them to last the brief period of our occupation, and are content to abide by the want of appropriateness or beauty, in the clear intention of some day surrounding ourselves with objects that shall be joys to us for the remainder of our life."

The School of Art Woodcarving at South Kensington, which was established some twenty years ago at "the City and Guilds Institute," is also doing a useful and practical work. With a very moderate grant from the City Guilds and the use of free quarters, the School maintains itself, and is the means of educating, either free or at reduced terms, a great many students who go out into the world the better prepared to compete with their foreign rivals. The Committee of Management, under the presidency of Major-General Sir J. F. D. Donelly, K.C.B., is composed of artists and architects of note and others who not only give their moral support to the institution but bring some of their ornamental woodwork to the School for execution under their direction.

The management of Miss Rowe[25] is evidence of the success which attends the effort of an intelligent and enthusiastic lady, and the instructors, Messrs. Grimwood and Ross, are practical carvers, who can not only correct but can design and cut the patterns set for their pupils. After the first year probation the professional students receive a fair proportion of the value of their work, which is assessed by the instructors.

It is by the maintenance of such technical schools, which with more or less success are now being started by our local authorities in different parts of England, that we can to some extent replace the advantages which the old system of apprenticeship gave to the learners of a craft.

Many other societies, guilds, and Art schools have been established with more or less success, with a view of improving the design and manufacture of furniture, and providing suitable models for our young woodcarvers to copy. The Ellesmere Cabinet (illustrated on page 243) was one of the productions of the "Home Arts and Industries Association," founded in 1883 by the late Lady Marian Alford, a well known connoisseur and Art patron. It will be seen that this is virtually a Jacobean design.

In the earlier chapters of this book, it has been observed that as Architecture became a settled Art or Science, it was accompanied by a corresponding development in the design of the room and its furniture, under, as it were, one impulse of design, and this appropriate concord may be said to have obtained in England until nearly the middle of the last century, when, after the artificial Greek style in furniture and woodwork which had been attempted by Wilkins, Soane, and other contemporary architects, had fallen into disfavour, there was first a reaction, and then an interregnum, as has been noticed in the previous chapter. The Great Exhibition marked a fresh departure, and quickened, as we have seen, industrial enterprise in this country: and though, upon the whole, good results have been produced by the impetus given by these international competitions, they have not been exempt from unfavourable accompaniments. One of these was the eager desire for novelty, without the necessary judgment to discriminate between good and bad. For a time, nothing satisfied the purchaser of so-called "artistic" products, whether of decorative furniture, carpets, curtains, or merely ornamental articles, unless the design was "new." The natural result was the production either of heavy, or ugly, or flimsy and inappropriate furniture, which has been condemned by every competent writer on the subject. In some of the designs selected from the exhibits of '51 this desire to leave the beaten track of conventionality will be evident; and for a considerable time after the Exhibition, we can see, in our designs, the result of too many opportunities for imitation, acting upon minds insufficiently trained to exercise careful judgment and selection.

About the early part of the nineteenth century, the custom of employing architects to design the interior fittings and the furniture of their buildings, so as to harmonize, appears to have been abandoned; this was probably due, partly to some indifference to this subsidiary portion of their work, but also to the change of taste which led people to prefer the cheapness of painted and artificially grained pine-wood, with decorative effects produced by wall-papers, to the more solid but expensive though less showy wood-panelling, architectural mouldings, well-made panelled doors and chimney pieces, which one finds, down to quite the end of the previous century, even in houses of moderate rentals. Furniture therefore became independent, and, "beginning to account herself an Art, trangressed her limits" ... and "grew to the conceit that it could stand by itself, and, as well as its betters, went a way of its own."[26] The effect of this is to be seen in "interiors" of our own time which are handed over from the builder, as it were, in blank, to be filled up from the upholsterer's store, the curiosity shop, and the auction room, while a large contribution from the conservatory or the nearest florist, gives a finishing touch to a mixture, which characterises the present taste for furnishing a boudoir or a drawing room.

There is, of course, in very many cases, an individuality gained by the "omnium gatherum" of such a mode of furnishing. The cabinet which reminds its owner of a tour in Italy, the quaint stool from Tangier, and the embroidered piano-cover from Spain, are to those who are in the habit of travelling, pleasant souvenirs; as are also the presents from friends (when they have taste and judgment), the screens and flower-stands and the photographs, which are reminiscences of the forms and faces separated from us by distance or removed by death. The test of the whole question of such an arrangement of furniture in our living rooms, is the amount of judgment and discretion displayed. Two favourable examples of the present fashion, representing the interior of the Saloon and Drawing Room at Sandringham House, are here reproduced.

There is at the present time an ambition on the part of many well-to-do persons to imitate the effect produced in houses of old families, where, for generations, valuable and memorable articles of decorative furniture have been accumulated, just as pictures, plate and china have been preserved; and failing the inheritance of such household gods, it is the practice to acquire, or as the modern term goes, "to collect," old furniture of different styles and periods, until the room becomes incongruous and overcrowded, an evidence of the wealth, rather than of the taste, of the owner. As it frequently happens that such collections are made very hastily, and in the brief intervals of a busy commercial or political life, the selections are not the best or most suitable; and where so much is required in a short space of time, it becomes impossible to devote a sufficient sum of money to procure really valuable specimens; in their place, effective and low-priced reproductions of an old pattern (with all the faults inseparable from such conditions) are added to the conglomeration of articles requiring attention, and taking up space. The limited accommodation of houses built on ground which is too valuable to allow spacious halls and large apartments, makes this want of discretion and judgment the more objectionable. There can be no doubt that want of care and restraint in the selection of furniture, by the purchasing public, affects its character, both as to design and workmanship.

These are some of the faults in the modern style of furnishing, which have been pointed out by recent writers and lecturers on the subject. In "Hints on Household Taste,"[27] Mr. Eastlake has scolded us severely for running after novelties and fashions, instead of cultivating suitability and simplicity, in the selection and ordering of our furniture; and he has contrasted descriptions and drawings of well designed and constructed pieces of furniture of the Jacobean period with those of last century's productions. Col. Robert Edis, in "Decoration and Furniture of Town Houses," has published designs which are both simple and economical, with regard to space and money, while suitable to the specified purpose of the furniture or "fitment."

The ruling principle in the majority of these designs has been to avoid over-ornamentation, and pretentions to display, and to encourage good solid work, in hard, durable, and (on account of the increased labour) expensive woods, or, when economy is required, in light soft woods, painted or enamelled. Some manufacturing firms, whose high reputation renders them independent of any recommendation, have adopted this principle, and, as a result, there is now no difficulty in obtaining well designed and soundly well constructed furniture, which is simple, unpretentious, and worth the price charged for it. Unfortunately for the complete success of these sounder principles, really good and appropriate furniture meets with a fierce competition from more showy and ornate productions, made to sell rather than to last: furniture which seems to have upon it the stamp of our "three years' agreement," or "seven years' lease." Of this it may be said, speaking not only from an artistic, but from a moral and humane standpoint, it is made so cheaply, that it seems a pity it is made at all.

A revival in taste, which has been not inappropriately termed "The New Renaissance," and has produced many excellent results, has been brought about by several well-known architects and designers. Mr. Street, R.A.; Messrs. Norman Shaw, R.A.; Waterhouse, R.A.; Sir Alma Tadema, R.A.; T. G. Jackson, R.A.; W. Burges, R.A.; Walter Crane, Thomas Cutler, E. W. Godwin, W. Morris, B. J. Talbert, S. Webb, and many others, have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the design of furniture; but it is scarcely within the writer's province to attempt a description of the character of their respective work.

The "Trade" Journals, too, have contributed their influence by publishing drawings of work completed, suggestions for their readers to carry out, and also by illustrated notices of the different exhibitions which take place from time to time.

The "Cabinet Maker and Art Furnisher," edited by Mr. J. Williams Berm, M.P., L.C.C., contains "Pen and Ink Notes by the Editor," which should be useful, as they are certainly instructive; and a number of good designs are published month by month, in "Furniture and Decoration." These are contributed by J. W. Bliss, R. A. Briggs, A.R.I.B.A., H. L. Chalmers, Owen W. Davis, Lewis F. Day, Edwin Foley, Christopher Gill, Bertram Goodhue, Ernest George and Peto, A. Jonquet, Felix Lenoir, Letharby, Wilbert Rattray, Stenhouse, John Turner, Frank Ward, A. H. Wolf, and the editors themselves—Timms and Webb.

In the "American Sketches" published in this Journal, we see the kind of work which is being designed and carried out in the United States. Designs of furniture and interior fittings of the houses of American millionaires, drawn by Cauffmann; Frank Colburn, of Morristown, New Jersey; Sanford Phipps, and James Thompson, of Boston; Ross and Marvin, of New York, shew that there is no distinctive American style, but that the revival in taste, which has been alluded to in England, has found its way to America, and from the number of articles of furniture still called after Mr. Eastlake, it is evident that the teachings of that gentleman had considerable effect. The "Furniture Gazette," "The Builder," and "Building News" also publish designs of furniture and woodwork.

The disadvantages, inseparable from our present state of society, which we have noticed as prejudicial to English design and workmanship, and which check the production of really satisfactory furniture, are also to be observed in other countries; and as the English, and English-speaking people, are probably the largest purchasers of foreign manufactures, these disadvantages act and re-act on the furniture of different nations.

In France, the cabinet maker has ever excelled in the production of ornamental furniture; and by constant reference to older specimens in the Museums and Palaces of his country, he is far better acquainted with what may be called the traditions of his craft than his English brother. To him the styles of FranÇois Premier, of Henri Deux, and the "three Louis" are "classic," and in the beautiful chasing and finishing of the mounts with which the French bronziste ornaments the best meubles de luxe, it is almost impossible to surpass his best efforts, provided the requisite price be paid; but these amounts are, in many cases, so considerable as hardly to be credible to those who have but little knowledge of the subject. As a simple instance, the "copy" of the "Bureau du Louvre" (described in Chapter vi.) in the Hertford House collection, cost the late Sir Richard Wallace a sum of £4,000.

As, however, in France, and in countries which import French furniture, there are many who desire to obtain the effect of this beautiful but expensive furniture, but are unable to spend several thousand pounds in the decoration of a single room. To meet this demand, the industrious and ingenious Frenchman manufactures vast quantities of furniture which affects, without attaining, the merits of the better made and more highly finished articles.

In Holland, Belgium, and Germany, as has already been pointed out, the manufacturer of ornamental oak furniture, on the lines of the Renaissance models, still prevails, and such furniture is largely imported into this country.

The illustration of a carved frame in the rococo style of Chippendale with a Chinaman in a canopy, represents an important school of wood-carving which has been developed in Munich; and in the "KÜnst Gewerberein," or "Workman's Exhibition," in that city, the Bavarians have a very similar arrangement to that of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society of this country, of which mention has already been made, each article being labelled with the name of the designer and maker.

Italian carved furniture of modern times has already been noticed; and in the selections made from the 1851 Exhibition, some productions of different countries have been illustrated, which tend to shew that, speaking generally, the furniture most suitable for display is produced abroad, while none can excel English cabinet makers in the production of useful furniture and woodwork, when it is the result of design and handicraft, unfettered by the detrimental, but too popular, condition that the article when finished shall appear to be more costly than it really is.

In conclusion, it seems evident that, with all the faults and shortcomings of the latter part of the nineteenth century—and no doubt they were many, both of commission and of omission—still, speaking generally, there was no lack of men with ability to design, and no want of well trained patient craftsmen to produce, furniture which would equal the finest examples of the Renaissance and Jacobean periods. With the improved means of inter-communication between England and her Colonies, and with the chief industrial centres of Europe united for the purposes of commerce, the whole civilised world is, as it were, one kingdom: merchants and manufacturers can select the best and most suitable materials, can obtain photographs or drawings of the most distant examples, or copies of the most expensive designs, while the public Art Libraries of London, and Paris, contain valuable works of reference, which are easily accessible to the student or to the workman. It is very pleasant to bear testimony to the courtesy and assistance which the student or workman invariably receives from those who are in charge of our public reference libraries.

There needs, however, an important condition to be taken into account. Good work, requiring educated thought to design, and skilled labour to produce, must be paid for at a very different rate to the furniture of machined mouldings, stamped ornament, and other numerous and inexpensive substitutes for handwork, which our present civilization has enabled our manufacturers to produce, and which, for the present, seems to find favour with the multitude. It has been well said that "Decorated or sumptuous furniture is not merely furniture that is expensive to buy, but that which has been elaborated with much thought, knowledge, and skill. Such furniture cannot he cheap certainly, but the real cost is sometimes borne by the artist who produces, rather than by the man who may happen to buy it."[28] It is often forgotten that the price paid is that of the lives and health of the workers and their families.

A point has now been reached at which our task must be brought to its natural conclusion: for although many collectors and others interested in the subject, have invited the writer's attention to numerous descriptions and examples, from an examination of which much information could, without doubt, be obtained, still, the exigencies of a busy life, and the limits of a single volume of moderate dimensions, forbid the attempt to add to a story which, it is feared, may perhaps have already overtaxed the reader's patience.

As has already been suggested in the preface, this book is not intended to be a guide to "collecting," or "furnishing"; nevertheless, it is possible that, in the course of recording some of the changes which have taken place in designs and fashions, and of bringing into notice, here and there, the opinions of those who have thought and written upon the subject, some indirect assistance may have been given in both these directions. If this should be the case, and if an increased interest has been thereby excited in the surroundings of the Home, or in some of those Art collections—the work of by-gone years—which form part of our National property, the writer's aim and object will have been attained, and his humble efforts amply rewarded.