



Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Akers and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)





Transcriber's note:
    Minor spelling and punctuation inconsistencies have been
    harmonized. Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.
    Obvious typos have been corrected.




COMPANION VOLUME BY THE SAME AUTHOR

CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE

_Illustrated by 72 Full-page Plates._


CONTENTS

    CHAPTER
       I. THE RENAISSANCE ON THE CONTINENT
      II. THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE
     III. STUART OR JACOBEAN (Early Seventeenth Century)
      IV. STUART OR JACOBEAN (Late Seventeenth Century)
       V. QUEEN ANNE AND EARLY GEORGIAN STYLES
      VI. FRENCH FURNITURE: THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XIV.
     VII. FRENCH FURNITURE: THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV.
    VIII. FRENCH FURNITURE: THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI.
      IX. FRENCH FURNITURE: THE FIRST EMPIRE STYLE
       X. CHIPPENDALE AND HIS STYLE
      XI. ADAM, HEPPLEWHITE, AND SHERATON STYLES
     XII. HINTS TO COLLECTORS




    CHATS ON
    COTTAGE AND
    FARMHOUSE FURNITURE




BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS

_With  Frontispieces and many Illustrations._

_Large Crown 8vo, cloth._


   CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.

    By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

   CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.

    By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

   CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.

    By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

   CHATS ON COSTUME.

    By G. WOOLLISCROFT RHEAD.

   CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.

    By E. L. LOWES.

   CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.

    By J. F. BLACKER.

   CHATS ON MINIATURES.

    By J. J. FOSTER.

   CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.

    By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

    (Companion Volume to "Chats on English China.")

   CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.

    By A. M. BROADLEY.

   CHATS ON OLD PEWTER.

    By H. J. L. J. MASSE, M.A.

   CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.

    By FRED J. MELVILLE.

   CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.

    By MACIVER PERCIVAL.

   CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.

    By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

    (Companion Volume to "Chats on Old Furniture.")


    LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
    NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.




  [Illustration: SIDEBOARD OF CARVED OAK. ENGLISH, SEVENTEENTH
  CENTURY.

  (_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)

    _Frontispiece._]




    CHATS ON COTTAGE

    AND

    FARMHOUSE FURNITURE

    BY

    ARTHUR HAYDEN

    AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE," ETC.

    WITH A CHAPTER ON

    OLD ENGLISH CHINTZES

    BY HUGH PHILLIPS

    AND SEVENTY-THREE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

    NEW YORK

    FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

    PUBLISHERS




(_All rights reserved._)




    TO
    MY OLD FRIEND
    FREDERIC ARUP
    I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME
    IN MEMORY OF A HAPPY LABOUR
    OF LOVE COMPLETED




PREFACE


The number of works dealing with old English furniture has grown
rapidly during the last ten years. Not only has the subject been
broadly treated from the historic or from the collector's point
of view, but latterly everything has been scientifically reduced
into departments of knowledge, and individual periods have received
detailed treatment at the hands of specialists.

Museums and well-known collections, noblemen's seats and country
houses have furnished photographs of the finest examples, and these,
now well-known, pieces have appeared again and again as illustrations
to volumes by various hands.

It is obviously essential in the study of the history and evolution
of furniture-making in this country that superlative specimens
be selected as ideal types for the student of design or for the
collector, but such pieces must always be beyond the means of the
average collector.

The present volume has been written for that large class of
collectors, who, while appreciating the beauty and the subtlety of
great masterpieces of English furniture, have not long enough purses
to pay the prices such examples bring after fierce competition in the
auction-room.

The field of minor work affords peculiar pleasure and demands
especial study. The character of the cottage and farmhouse furniture
is as sturdy and independent as that of the persons for whom it
was made. For three centuries unknown cabinet-makers in towns and
in villages produced work unaffected by any foreign influences.
Linen-chests, bacon-cupboards, Bible-boxes, gate tables, and other
tables, dressers, and chairs possess particular styles of treatment
in different districts. The eighteenth-century cabinet-makers
scattered up and down the three kingdoms and in America found in
Chippendale's "Director" a design-book which stimulated them to
produce furniture of compelling interest to the collector.

The examples of such work illustrated in this volume have been taken
from a wide area and are such as may come under the hand of the
diligent collector in various parts of the country.

In view of the increased love of collecting homely furniture
suitable for modern use, it is my hope that this book may find a
ready welcome, especially nowadays, when so many of the picturesque
architectural details of old homesteads are being reproduced in the
garden suburbs of great cities.

It is possible that the authorities of local museums may find in
this class of furniture a field for special research, as undoubtedly
specimens of local work should be secured for permanent exhibition
before they are dispersed far and wide and their identity with
particular districts lost for ever.

In regard to the scientific study of farmhouse and cottage furniture,
the ideal arrangement is that followed at Skansen, Stockholm, and
at Lyngby, near Copenhagen. In the former a series of buildings
have been erected in the open air, in connection with the Northern
Museum, gathered from every part of Sweden, retaining their exterior
character and fitted with the furniture of their former occupants. It
was the desire of the founder, Dr. Hazelius, to present an epitome
of the national life. Similarly at Lyngby, an adjunct of the _Dansk
Folkemuseum_ at Copenhagen, the life-work of Hr. Olsen has been given
to gathering together and re-erecting a large number of old cottages
and farmhouses from various districts in Denmark, from Iceland, the
Faroe Islands, and from Norway and Sweden. These have their obsolete
agricultural implements, and old methods of fencing and quaint styles
of storage. The furniture stands in these specimen homes exactly as
if they were occupied. It is a remarkable open-air museum, and the
idea is worthy of serious consideration in this country. Old cottages
and farmhouses are fast disappearing, and the preservation of these
beauties of village and country life should appeal to all lovers of
national monuments.[1]

  [1] Those interested in the method pursued in Sweden and Denmark
  and the grave necessity for speedy measures to preserve our
  national cottages and farmhouses from effacement will find
  illuminating articles on the subject from the pen of "Home
  Counties" in the _World's Work_, August, October, and November,
  1910, and in the American _Educational Review_, February, 1911,
  in an article by Lucy M. Salmon. "Old West Surrey," by Gertrude
  Jekyll (Longmans & Co.), 1904, contains a wealth of suggestive
  material relating to cottage furniture and articles of daily use
  of old-style country life now passing away.
In connexion with farmhouse furniture, old chintzes is a subject
never before written upon. A chapter in this volume is contributed
by Mr. Hugh Phillips, whose special studies concerning this little
known field enable him to present much valuable information which has
never before been in print, together with illustrations of chintzes
actually taken from authentic examples of old furniture.

A brief survey is made of miscellaneous articles associated with
cottage and farmhouse furniture. Some specimens of Sussex firebacks
are illustrated, together with fenders, firedogs, pot-hooks,
candle-holders, and brass and copper candlesticks.

The illustrations have been selected in order to convey a broad
outline of the subject. My especial thanks are due to Messrs.
Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin, for placing at my disposal
the practical experience of many years' collecting in various parts
of the country, and by enriching the volume with illustrations of
many fine examples of great importance and rarity never before
photographed.

To Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons I am indebted for photographs of
specimens in their galleries.

In presenting this volume it is my intention that it should be a
companion volume to my "Chats on Old Furniture," which records the
history and evolution of the finer styles of English furniture,
showing the various foreign influences on English craftsmen who made
furniture for the wealthy classes.

    ARTHUR HAYDEN.




CONTENTS


    CHAPTER I
                                                                    PAGE
    INTRODUCTORY NOTE                                                 25

    The minor collector--The originality of the village
    cabinet-maker--His freedom from foreign influences--The
    traditional character of his work--Difficult to establish dates
    to cottage and farmhouse furniture--Oak the chief wood
    employed--Beech, elm, and ash used in lieu of mahogany and
    satinwood--Village craftsmanship not debased by early-Victorian
    art--Its obliteration in the age of factory-made furniture--The
    conservation of old farmhouses with their furniture in
    Sweden and in Denmark--The need for the preservation
    and exhibition of old cottages and farmhouses in Great
    Britain.

    CHAPTER II

    SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY STYLES                                        43

    Typical Jacobean furniture--Solidity of English joiners'
    work--Oak general in its use--The oak forests of England--Sturdy
    independence of country furniture--Chests of
    drawers--The slow assimilation of foreign styles--The
    changing habits of the people.

    CHAPTER III

    THE GATE-LEG TABLE                                                83

    Its early form--Transitional and experimental stages--Its
    establishment as a permanent popular type--The gate-leg
    table in the Jacobean period--Walnut and mahogany varieties--Its
    utility and beauty contribute to its long survival--Its
    adoption in modern days.

    CHAPTER IV

    THE FARMHOUSE DRESSER                                            113

    The days of the late Stuarts--Its early table form with
    drawers--The decorated type with shelves--William and
    Mary style with double cupboards--The Queen Anne
    cabriole 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 Protestant
    Bible in every home--The variety of carving found in
    Bible-boxes--The Jacobean cradle and its forms--The
    spinning-wheel--The bacon-cupboard.

    CHAPTER VI

    EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STYLES                                        155

    The advent of the cabriole leg--The so-called Queen Anne
    style--The survival of oak in the provinces--The influence
    of walnut on cabinet-making--The early-Georgian types--Chippendale
    and his contemporaries.

    CHAPTER VII

    THE EVOLUTION OF THE CHAIR                                       189

    Early days--The typical Jacobean oak chair--The evolution
    of the stretcher--The chair-back and its development--Transition
    between Jacobean and William and Mary forms--Farmhouse
    styles contemporary with the cane-back chair--The
    Queen Anne splat--Country Chippendale, Hepplewhite,
    and Sheraton--The grandfather chair--Ladder-back types--The
    spindle-back chair--Corner chairs.

    CHAPTER VIII

    THE WINDSOR CHAIR                                                243

    Early types--The stick legs without stretcher--The tavern
    chair--Eighteenth-century pleasure gardens--The rail-back
    variety--Chippendale style Windsor chairs--The survival of
    the 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--The
    Scottish crusie--Firedogs--The warming-pan--Sussex
    firebacks--Grandfather clocks.

    CHAPTER XI

    OLD ENGLISH CHINTZES. (By Hugh Phillips)                         315

    The charm of old English chintz--Huguenot cloth-printers
    settle in England--Jacob Stampe at the sign of the Calico
    Printer--The Queen Anne period--The Chippendale period--The
    age of machinery.

    INDEX                                                            343




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


    SIDEBOARD OF CARVED OAK (ENGLISH,
      SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY)                      _Frontispiece_


  CHAPTER I--INTRODUCTORY NOTE
                                                         PAGE
    CHESTS (SIXTEENTH CENTURY)                             29

    ELIZABETHAN CHAIR                                      35

    CHEST (SEVENTEENTH CENTURY)                            35

    INTERIOR OF FARMHOUSE PARLOUR                          39

    INTERIOR OF COTTAGE                                    39


  CHAPTER II

    MONK'S BENCH                                           53

    OAK CHEST WITH DRAWERS UNDERNEATH                      53

    JOINT STOOLS                                           57

    OAK TABLE                                              57

    CHEST (RESTORATION PERIOD)                             63

    EARLY OAK TABLE (MIDDLE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY)           63

    SMALL OAK TABLE (_c._ 1680)                            65

    JACOBEAN CHEST OF DRAWERS (_c._ 1660)                  65

    CHESTS OF DRAWERS                                      69

    CHEST OF DRAWERS (CABRIOLE FEET)                       73

    WILLIAM AND MARY TABLE (_c._ 1670)                     73

    CHILDREN'S STOOLS                                      77

    RARE BEDSTEAD (_c._ 1700)                              77


  CHAPTER III

    TRIANGULAR GATE TABLE                                  87

    OAK SIDE-TABLE                                         87

    SMALL GATE TABLE (VERY EARLY TYPE)                     91

    GATE TABLE (MIDDLE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY)                91

    RARE TABLE WITH DOUBLE GATES                           93

    RARE TABLE WITH DOUBLE GATES AND ONLY ONE FLAP         93

    GATE-LEG TABLE (RESTORATION PERIOD)                    97

    GATE-LEG TABLE (YORKSHIRE TYPE)                        97

    GATE-LEG TABLE WITH SIX LEGS ("BARLEY-SUGAR"
      TURNING)                                             99

    GATE-LEG TABLE (BALL TURNING)                          99

    COLLAPSIBLE TABLE WITH RARE =X= STRETCHER             101

    PRIMITIVE GATE-LEG TABLE                              101

    WILLIAM AND MARY GATE-LEG TABLE                       105

    SQUARE-TOP GATE-LEG TABLES                            105

    MAHOGANY GATE-LEG TABLES                              109


  CHAPTER IV

    OAK DRESSER (ABOUT 1680)                              117

    OAK DRESSER (PERIOD OF JAMES II.)                     117

    OAK DRESSER (EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY)                119

    OAK DRESSER, URN-SHAPED LEGS (RESTORATION PERIOD)     119

    MIDDLE-JACOBEAN DRESSER                               123

    WILLIAM AND MARY OAK DRESSER                          127

    OAK DRESSER. SQUARE-LEG TYPE                          127

    UNIQUE DRESSER AND CLOCK COMBINED                     131

    OAK DRESSER. QUEEN ANNE CABRIOLE LEGS                 135

    LANCASHIRE OAK DRESSER                                135


  CHAPTER V

    BIBLE-BOXES. EARLY EXAMPLES                           143

    BIBLE-BOXES (MIDDLE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY AND
    ORDINARY TYPE)                                        145

    OAK CRADLES                                           149

    YARN-WINDER AND SPINNING-WHEEL                        151

    BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BOBBINS                               151


  CHAPTER VI

    LANCASHIRE OAK SETTLES                                159

    CUPBOARD WITH DRAWERS                                 163

    QUEEN ANNE BUREAU BOOKCASE                            163

    OAK TABLES (EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY)                 165

    QUEEN ANNE GLASS- OR CHINA-CUPBOARD                   171

    GEORGIAN CORNER-CUPBOARD                              171

    OAK TABLES                                            173

    OAK TABLES, WITH TYPICAL COUNTRY CABRIOLE LEGS        177

    QUEEN ANNE TEA-TABLE                                  181

    OAK REVOLVING BOOK-STAND                              181

    COUNTRY CHIPPENDALE TABLE                             181

    SQUARE MAHOGANY FLAP-TABLE                            183

    TRIPOD TABLE (_c._ 1760)                              183

    COUNTRY CHIPPENDALE AND COUNTRY ADAM TABLES           187


  CHAPTER VII

    OAK ARM-CHAIRS (ONE DATED 1650)                       191