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Show I S3 dsT -' By ANTOINETTE REHMANN PEERETT fr ! I MASTERP1ECES0F 1 1 t FURNITURE MAKERS H Beautiful Specimeus That I Have Seen and Envied H Creations of Adam, Hepplewhite and Chippendale H and Their Pecularities of Style and Design WE "WERE Mttlng on the sofa In the liall counting upon our com- ulncd fingers the various mem- M h' bcr.s of the family for tho H Thanksgiving dinner party The fnm- H lly is large Tho combined Angers Hl needed duplicating' to accommodate) It. H But Gepo has three dining- tables. Tho M possession of three modern dining ta- H ' bls would bo painfully space-absorb- 1 ing, but It Is different with the old ta- M bios. They arc not at all obstreperous. H They are mado quite narrow in tho M frame and modestly withdraw with H I flaps down to homo small space at the m side of the room when mealtime is H I over. In Gono's home, the thousand- 1 legged dining table ha a long1, narrow placo In the hall near the front door. Tho thouand-lcgged tablo, or, as wo often call it. the elght-leggod or gutc- ji legged table, was known In tho old in- i. ventories simply as the oval table, the l round table or the walnut table. It l nmrkfi the dining transition from oak 1 to walnut, from tho long table to the HH curyod edges, and Incidentally It marks H , the evolution from forms or benches Hfi to dining- chairs. H The caily lilfitorj of the table llluml- i n i I H ' A. Hepplewhite. H pates our modern tablo language. The H Anglo-Saxon name for table was board, H literally derived, from the movable H board -which was mounted on trestles H . ut meal times. The picturesque Ger- H man expression, tlsch aufheben, for H . clearing the table is the perpetuation 1 V In language of a long--ago custom. H After the meal was over In thoso early H j times, the tablo was cleared away by H I first removing tho board and then Its H I supports. H Tho name "table" came into England H -with tho Norman invasion. By and by H tho habit of leaving the board on its Hj trestles encouraged calling it tablo in W Us entirety. The table with trestles H ' continued to bo the regulation table H , for several centuries after the Norman conauest and Is still to be found in the peasant cottages of tho Tyrol. It Is tho oak table that has outlasted tlmo and that hits grown more beautiful In lone and softened carving with tho centuries cen-turies At present it Is being revived In America in many a fine wainscoted hall and library. A knowledge of It helps to a greater understanding of tho oak furniture of our own day Tho history of tables not only vivifies vivi-fies tho past. It helps us to understand the tabids of our own homes. It helps ue to understand what Is good In table construction and what Is beautiful beauti-ful In lino and form. TVo all have our table preferences our own table "loves " A knowledge of tables makes these morn trustworthy and enjoyable and furthermore develops In us a wider appreciation, a catholicity of taste. One of tho charms of trene's tables Is the Ingenuity they show In making themselves small when out of use. Evil tho Sheraton dining table that has .i festive slzo In the dining room can stand by tho stairway, Its great leavos vertically resting beside Us long narrow frame It Is quite a Jump In chair history from tho thousand-legged thousand-legged table to the Sheralon, but only a few years between the Sheraton I and the Umpire table that usjunlly Is the center tablo of the dining room. After the French Revolution there was a reaction against everything that hud formerly been In favor The design of Empire furniture Is largely n revlalof the Kgyptlap classic brought about by Napoleon's campaigns. The dining table with the lamp Is Ameilcan Empire, Em-pire, and phows tho acanthus carvings and the claws used with a refinement An Empire Work Table, with Heavy Pillar and Claws. that Is not apparent In the heavy pillar pil-lar and cla,ws of tho Empire work tahle. If I had all Gene's furniture treas- urcs I am sure I should feel the pride of possession It Is so nat -l for most of us to Imagine that posscssion-somehow posscssion-somehow or other affect our stature But Gene only feels a grateful humll-lllty humll-lllty In being able to lvo day by day in this domestic utmosphcrc of beautiful beauti-ful tilings. "It grows upon you," says Gene; "It Is all like an envlionlng poem." My poem at Gene's is tho Chippendale Chippen-dale card tabic. I lost my heart to It the first tlmo I saw It and my affection grows. It Is mixed with reverence, something like tho admiration of a boy for a beautiful lady. Tho Chippendale Is not an intimate .table. Its mahogany mahog-any Is dark, with a mysterious richness. rich-ness. Its every line has th'o dignity of grace, tho nrlstocratlc reserve of beauty. beau-ty. It stands between the front windows win-dows of the living room with half of Its hinged top against tho wall. It la the table I uso In an Imaginative; way when I read an eighteenth-century npvcj where there Is always whist In tho evening. One corqer of Gene's living room has a grandfather's clock. Tho threo othor corners havo tlppcd-back stand tables. Tho base of a stand tnblo consists of a pillar -with threo spreading feet. Its top has a revolving pivot. AVhen It is to be used, It fastens down with a snap. These stands woro called "Dutch tea tables" early In tho eighteenth century, but later In tho century, with the passing pass-ing of the Dutch fashion, they were made with tho Chlppcndnlo claw and ball and with carving on tho pedestal and knees. One of Gene's tables Is very slmplo In detail with hoofllko feet. The handsomest Is of very dark mahogany ma-hogany with claw and ball feet, its top Is carved out of a hlck piece of wood so as to leave a rim to keep the china from Blldlng off This plain rim is called a "dlBh top." Tho stand of tho illustration hns Its placo beside the great tapestried wing v.vA;;;y -v, flic &tW',i An American Empire Dining Table, with Acanthus Carvings and Claws. chair It Is so very small that It reminds re-minds mo of one of the little slavo boys in Paolo Veronese's magnificent banquet scenes Ifilooks oo dlminutlvo and yet contributes.Eomarkedly to the effect of the vholctilt ivas used In its day as a kottlc stand to accompany the tea table. Its pillar has delightful lines and Its top has an elaborato "pie-crust" rim, as. tho ogee-scalloped edge Is called. Some of the stand tops had plain scalloped edges and somo in tho later mode had rococo scrolls, but of them all the "pie-crust" is considered consid-ered tho finest. Tho stands wero a common article of eighteenth-century furnlturo and as tea tables and as small center tables they retain all their old-tlmo usefulness. They also used to servo as candle stands. "When they served in that capacity ca-pacity for the high four-posters they were sometimes four feet in height. Tho card tablo with tho silver candlesticks can-dlesticks and the silver snuffers has the straight legs and rounded top characteristic charac-teristic of tho Hepplewhite It Is of mahogany with Inlay of white holly. Inlay or marquetry at this time superseded super-seded carving and brought Into uso a variety of delicate cabinet woods. Ilep-plowhlte Ilep-plowhlte hlmsolf mentions the fragrant, lemon-colored satlnwood of East India that was used not only for inlays, but in mnking smalb pieces, such as tho work tablo with tho sllk.pocket, In the illustration The king wood of Brazil, with Its beautiful violet tints, tho purple pur-ple wood from tropical America, the snake wood of Guiana, variegated rosewood rose-wood and many a rare tropical tree wero used In these lnluys with chasto effect. There Is a never-falling charrn about the lightness and craco of tho Hepplewhite tables Gorgo Hepplewhite was a cabinetmaker cabinet-maker and designer of London He worked during the Inst Chippendale days and was a contemporary of tho Adam brothers and of Shcruton. Ho died In 17SS Two years later his widow published a book of his designs called tho Cabinetmakers and Upholsterers' Gu'de Ills latCBt work hna all the Intrinsic In-trinsic merits of the Louis Seize The spirit of this new tlmo in which Hepplewhite Hep-plewhite worked Is, perhaps, most clearly learned from the life of Robert Adam This designer traveled in Italy with the longing to study tho dwelling houses rather than tho "greater forms of architecture. Ho made drawings in western Italy, in Rome, in Vonlcp, but found his inspiration at Spalato In Dal-matla, Dal-matla, amidst tho ruins of Diocletian's palace It was thero that he bocamo Imbued with tho classic spirit which was to have such an after effect upon English taste. Adam was an architect, but he designed de-signed pot only the exterior and Interior, In-terior, but every part of tho furnishings, furnish-ings, with culture and brilliancy It was evidently Adam who Influenced Hepplewhlto In classic lines, nnd this influence Hepplewhlto used with erudition, erudi-tion, but with a light-hearted, natural grace of manner. After the publication publica-tion of tho Hepplewhlto designs, they had a great vogue, which was cut short by the political events that brought the heavier Empire Into fashion The round tnblo with tho drop Ieaes Is called a Pembroke table, a name that simply characterizes the drop leaves which, when up, were held by turning brackets It Is a small tablo designed for breakfast use. At Gene's it holds tho reading lamp by tho Chlp-pendalo Chlp-pendalo great chair It Is of llght-col-pred mahogany with simple inlay Tho sewing tablo with the work basket and candlesticks shows a quaint design of this time "UTio can bo quito fancy free at the sight of these dear work tables with nil their Ingenious compartments? com-partments? Does it not mako us long for the quiet days of old-fashioned needlework? The satlnwood work table with the silk pockot has the slender, fluted legs which wo nssoclato with the Sheraton style. The deep, oval sewing tnblo with the short pillar and the concave legs with the wreath carving Is also in the Sheraton stylo, and In all probability prob-ability It was mado by the Connecticut confreres of Duncan Phyfe. ono of the finest cablnotmakers In Now York at the beginning of tho last century On this and the three pagc3 following follow-ing are illustrated tho tables herein dc-ecrlbeJ. dc-ecrlbeJ. They are fascinating in themselves, them-selves, and In almost every case to the Joy of possession has boen added the delight of discovery. One seldom hag too many of these small tables. There is always a corner or a niche to which the new find seems especially adapted Mo cover, a handsomely finished fin-ished table of good lines Is always a delight to tho eye. AIDS TO TOILETTE Smartness of New French Bows Novel Neck Ribbons Collars and Earrings NOTHING' Is more distinctive of now French fashions than tho great bows which form tho sole trimmings of the hat and attach themselves to all styles of headgear, from the small boat-shaped toque, that Is almost lost under the spreading loops of ribbon, to iho afternoon hats that support tho boautlful outlines of m.tr clous bow'8 on wider spreading brims No words can describe tho smartness smart-ness and skill wllh which these bows are put together, their simplicity and front on the edge of tho crown. Its loops reaching upwards and outwards In a great flare. Short ncck-rlbbons of black moire i In half-Inch width are now worn for carrying the Iorgnon. which Is considered con-sidered moro conenlent for use when it hangs only to tha bust These are - A Sewing Tabic of the Chippendale Period. smartness putting to shame more pretentious pre-tentious decorations The newest bow Is an enormous affair influenced by airship outlines, spreading out on cither sldo from a centre knot In two great exaggerated wings. In sharp contrast con-trast to which there nre two of the tiniest possible pointed onds peeping up from the knot, each finished oft by one wco tassel. Thcso bows are, as a rule, in light tones. Whlto vcl- furnished with ornamental slides of gojd. sliver (cither in the natural, gray, or the oxidized finish), gun- metal, cut steel, Jet or rhlnestone. and arc as pretty as they are utilitarian. utili-tarian. Sometimes tho rl.bbon Is separated sep-arated nt the sides, and obtains an added beauty by means of linked ornaments orna-ments which cannot be displaced, as can the movable slides. A charming stylo of collar for wear- - A Thousand-Legged or Gatc-Legged Table. Y vet is a very favorite material for them, and it will be much seen this winter against a background of some standard dark color. For Instanco, a satln-llnlshed folt in hunter's green, a broad, flat brim with a wide but moderate crown, had such a bow as 1 have Just described, posed directly In N Ing with a Dutch neck when ncces- j slty requires It consists of folds of u whlto net laid softly and held at tho f middle-back by an upright band of t lace Insertion. Frills of lace-edged net uro then added ao the outsldo J border on each side and graduated ; towards each end ' ' |