Chats on Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture

by Arthur Hayden

FLAP-TOP TABLE.

Rare Hertfordshire Example. Diameter of top, 2 ft. 6 ins.

(By the courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons.)

LANCASHIRE SPINDLE-BACK CHAIRS.

A carved oak chest of Welsh origin, dated 1636, with Welsh inscription on lid, is illustrated (p. [269]). The table on which it stands is of a later date. The carving in this piece is delicate and the middle panel is typical of the representation of birds and foliage. The Welsh cupboard on the same page typifies the coarse woodcarving associated with Welsh farmhouse art. In style this really belongs to a date not later than 1650. But it is dated 1710 and bears the initials "I.S." This is an interesting example, showing how middle-Jacobean styles lingered in country districts remote from outside influence until the early eighteenth century.