No. 1 on Plate XXXVII. is a breakfast table. Its height is 28 inches and its leaves 45 inches. Its carved straining-rails are interesting. No. 2 on the same plate is a china table, the straining-rail of which drips profusely with icicles or falling water.
From a careful study of the _Gentleman’s and Cabinet-Maker’s Director_ we find that Chippendale’s favourite ornaments are the shell, the fret, the endive and acanthus leaves, the dolphin, the wyvern, the ram’s head holding swags, the squirrel, the crow, the fox, the long-tailed and long-billed bird, the dog, the lion, the masque, the quatrefoil, ribbons, flowers of various kinds, the spiky thorn, bells, the Chinese mandarin, the Chinese pagoda, the Chinese umbrella, the Chinese canopy with bells at the corners, the monkey’s head, the cockatrice, the pine cone, Cupids, satyrs, Bacchantes, boys blowing horns, the rising sun, the two cɔ, the eagle, the horn, violin, pipes, and the lion’s head. We also note an occasional use of the fluttering ribbon, attributes of music, poetry, hunting, emblems of war, the sea, the bull’s head, the serpent among flowers, the caduceus, and Venus rising from the sea in her shell.
In his _Analysis of Beauty_, Hogarth says: “There is scarce a room in any house whatever where one does not see the waving line employed in some way or other. How inelegant would the shape of our movables be without it! How very plain and unornamental the mouldings of cornices and chimney-pieces without the variety introduced by the _ogee_ member, which is entirely composed of waving lines!”
The above was printed in 1753, just at the height of the Louis XV. period and the year before Chippendale published his designs. In a few years all that Hogarth so justly admired was destined to pass away, for, as we shall see in the following chapter, the reaction against the graceful and fantastic curve had already begun.
The Louis XVI. style is easily recognizable. In every kind of furniture whether viewed from the full face or profile, the straight line strikes the eye. It is everywhere, in all the uprights, in the leg and backs of tables and chairs, and parallel lines are close together. Another striking object is a peculiarly slender oval that appears in medallions and vases and all kinds of ornaments. Oval medallions are to be met with on panels and wood marquetry in light tints. These medallions, in which the favourite device is a basket of flowers, are surrounded by a frame, or border, of a straight row of eggs, itself bordered within by a row of pearls. At the top of the medallion is a knot or bow of ribbon, from which falls on either side a little bunch of flowers.