The back of the sofa in Illustration [225] follows the same graceful curves as the one in Illustration [224]. This sofa was found by the writer in the shed of a farmhouse, on top of a woodpile, which made it evident what its fate would be eventually, a fate which has robbed us of many a fine piece of old furniture. After climbing upon a chair, then a table, the sight of these carved feet protruding from the woodpile was almost enough to make the antique hunter lose her insecure footing; but with the duplicity learned in years of collecting, all emotion was concealed until the sofa had been secured.
Illus. 224.—Sofa, 1815-1820.
The writer knows of four sofas, all found near Worcester, measuring the same, seven feet in length, and with the same carving of oak leaves upon the legs and ends, but this is the only one of the four which has the carved oak leaves across the front of the seat, and the rows of incised carving upon the back rail. The sofa was covered with black haircloth, woven in an elaborate design, and around the edge of the covering ran the brass beading which may be seen in the illustration. This beading is three-eighths of an inch wide, and is of pressed brass, filled with lead, so that it is pliable and may be bent to go around a curve. Such beading or trimming was used in the place of brass-headed tacks or nails, and is found upon chairs and sofas of about this date, 1815-1820.
Illus. 226.—Sofa, about 1820.
Illustration [226] shows one of a pair of sofas without backs. The frame is of mahogany with legs and arms carved rather coarsely. The covering is of stiff old brocade, probably the original cover when these sofas were made, about 1820, for the Warner house in Portsmouth, where they still stand. The panelling of the old room, built in 1716, shows behind the sofa, and on the floor is the Brussels carpet upon which is a stain from wine spilt by Lafayette, when he visited the house in 1824.
