“In the drawing-room here (see Plate LVIII.), everything will appear easily understood to a workman in town, who is accustomed to see such apartments; but for a stranger, and those workmen who reside in the country, it will be proper to point out a few particulars.
“The pier tables have marble tops and gold frames or white and gold. The glasses are often made to appear to come down to the stretcher of the table; that is, a piece of glass is fixed in behind the pier table, separate from the upper glass, and by reflection makes the table appear double. The small piece of glass may be fixed either in the dado of the room, or on the frame of the table.
“The arches above the windows are merely artificial, being only wooden frames put up, strained with canvas; after which the same kind of stuff which the curtains are made of is formed to appear like a fan, and drapery tacked on to it.
“Panelling on the walls are done in paper with ornamental borders of various colours.
“The figures above the glasses are paintings in clare-obscure. The sofas are bordered off in three compartments, and covered with figured silk or satin. The ovals may be printed separately, and sewed on. These sofas may have cushions to fill their backs, together with bolsters at each end. In France, where their drawing-rooms are fitted up in the most splendid manner, they use a set of small and plainer chairs, reserving the others merely for ornament.
“The commode opposite the fire-place has four doors; its legs are intended to stand a little clear of the wings; and the top is marble to match the pier tables. In the frieze part of the commode is a tablet in the centre made of an exquisite composition in imitation of statuary marble. These are to be had of any figure, or on any subject, at Mr. Wedgewood’s, near Soho Square. They are let into the wood, and project a little forward. The commode should be painted to suit the furniture, and the legs and other parts in gold to harmonize with the sofas, tables, and chairs.”
“The dining-room is one of the principal apartments of a house, and ought always to be of a bold and an accommodating proportion. In noblemen’s dining-rooms, where the windows are all on the side opposite to the fires, there may then be a recess at each end of the room in which a sideboard may stand, with columns before it placed at the extremities, which produces a very august appearance and renders the service considerably more easy at dinner than where there is but one sideboard. The furniture of a dining-room ought to be bold, substantial and magnificent, in proportion to its dimensions.