| CHAPTER I | ||
| PAGE | ||
| INTRODUCTORY NOTE | [25] | |
| The minor collector—The originality of the village cabinet-maker—Hisfreedom from foreign influences—The traditionalcharacter of his work—Difficult to establish dates to cottageand farmhouse furniture—Oak the chief wood employed—Beech,elm, and ash used in lieu of mahogany and satinwood—Villagecraftsmanship not debased by early-Victorian art—Itsobliteration in the age of factory-made furniture—Theconservation of old farmhouses with their furniture inSweden and in Denmark—The need for the preservationand exhibition of old cottages and farmhouses in GreatBritain. | ||
| CHAPTER II | ||
| SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY STYLES | [43] | |
| Typical Jacobean furniture—Solidity of English joiners'work—Oak general in its use—The oak forests of England—Sturdyindependence of country furniture—Chests ofdrawers—The slow assimilation of foreign styles—Thechanging habits of the people. | ||
| CHAPTER III | ||
| THE GATE-LEG TABLE | [83] | |
| Its early form—Transitional and experimental stages—Itsestablishment as a permanent popular type—The gate-legtable in the Jacobean period—Walnut and mahogany varieties—Itsutility and beauty contribute to its long survival—Itsadoption in modern days. | ||
| CHAPTER IV | ||
| THE FARMHOUSE DRESSER | [113] | |
| The days of the late Stuarts—Its early table form withdrawers—The decorated type with shelves—William andMary style with double cupboards—The Queen Annecabriole leg—Mid-eighteenth-century types. | ||
| CHAPTER V | ||
| THE BIBLE-BOX, THE CRADLE, THE SPINNING-WHEEL, AND THE BACON-CUPBOARD | [137] | |
| The Puritan days of the seventeenth century—The ProtestantBible in every home—The variety of carving found in Bible-boxes—TheJacobean cradle and its forms—The spinning-wheel—Thebacon-cupboard. | ||
| CHAPTER VI | ||
| EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STYLES | [155] | |
| The advent of the cabriole leg—The so-called Queen Annestyle—The survival of oak in the provinces—The influenceof walnut on cabinet-making—The early-Georgian types—Chippendaleand his contemporaries. | ||
| CHAPTER VII | ||
| THE EVOLUTION OF THE CHAIR | [189] | |
| Early days—The typical Jacobean oak chair—The evolutionof the stretcher—The chair-back and its development—Transitionbetween Jacobean and William and Mary forms—Farmhousestyles contemporary with the cane-back chair—TheQueen Anne splat—Country Chippendale, Hepplewhite,and Sheraton—The grandfather chair—Ladder-back types—Thespindle-back chair—Corner chairs. | ||
| CHAPTER VIII | ||
| THE WINDSOR CHAIR | [243] | |
| Early types—The stick legs without stretcher—The tavernchair—Eighteenth-century pleasure gardens—The rail-backvariety—Chippendale style Windsor chairs—The survival ofthe Windsor chair. | ||
| CHAPTER IX | ||
| LOCAL TYPES | [265] | |
| Welsh carving—Scottish types—Lancashire dressers, wardrobes,and chairs—Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridge,and Essex tables—Isle of Man tables. | ||
| CHAPTER X | ||
| MISCELLANEOUS IRONWORK, ETC. | [285] | |
| The rushlight-holder—The dipper—The chimney crane—TheScottish crusie—Firedogs—The warming-pan—Sussexfirebacks—Grandfather clocks. | ||
| CHAPTER XI | ||
| OLD ENGLISH CHINTZES. (By Hugh Phillips) | [315] | |
| The charm of old English chintz—Huguenot cloth-printerssettle in England—Jacob Stampe at the sign of the CalicoPrinter—The Queen Anne period—The Chippendale period—Theage of machinery. | ||
| INDEX | [343] | |