The new style, which we have seen foreshadowed in the preceding illustrations, was. from the structural point of view, a distinct advance in the evolution toward lightness. It seems strange that, a few years after the very elaborate carved cane chairs were in vogue, the wheels of fashion should have turned to such simplicity.

The chief characteristics of the style were the use of the cyma curve in the place of straight lines wherever possible and the introduction for the first time of the splat, which has become the distinguishing feature of the English and colonial chairs of the Georgian period. The style originated in Holland, but was developed in England and the colonies more than at the place of its birth. It will be hard to overestimate the importance of this new style. It came into fashion about 1700, and it influenced the chairs for the entire century. The backs were composed of two cyma curves so placed that the stiles form a continuous curve with the top. The back is raked in a cyma curve. (See side view of chair, Figure 494.) The front legs are composed of this curve, as is often the seat; the splat is of wood so cut as to leave a uniform space between its edge and the stiles. (See Figure 496.)

Figure 491. Chair showing Dutch influence, 1710-20.

Figure 492. Chair showing Dutch influence, 1710-20.

The splat, at first plain, became more and more ornate, until in Chippendale's time it became the principal part ornamented.

An example of an early form is shown in Figure 494. This type is found quite commonly in New England and is usually made of maple or walnut. The legs are underbraced with turned stertchers, a survival of an earlier period, and the legs terminate in club or Dutch feet One of the characteristics of these chain is the chamfered edges of the rear legs between the stretchers. These chairs belong to the Misses Andrews, Figure 495 shows the next form of this style of chair. The general appearance is the same as that shown in the preceding figure except that the under-bracing has been done away with. The seats are in the same curves with the rounded front and the bandy legs terminate in Dutch feet. These chairs belonged to Dr. Ezekiel Porter and date about 1730.

Figure 493. Chair showing Dutch influence, 1710-20.

Figure 494. Chairs in Dutch style, 1710-30.

Figure 495. Chairs in Dutch style, about 1725.

Chair in Dutch style, about 1725.

Figure 497. Chair in Dutch style, about 1725.

Figure 496 shows an arm-chair in this style in which the cyma curves are quite exaggerated, and the piece well illustrates the fact that the splat obtained its shape by making a uniform space between the solid centre and the stiles. The underbrac-ing is curved and not turned except between the rear legs. The seat is composed of straight lines instead of curves which indicate a little later date. The bandy legs terminate in pointed Dutch feet. It is a form found more commonly in the South.

Figure 497 shows a chair in the Dutch Btyle, The lines of the back, instead of being in a cyma curve, have a rounded section at the top and then continue down straight. The seat is curved in the usual manner of the earlier chairs, and the legs are cabriole terminating in Dutch feet. On either side of the knees are carved scrolls. The underbracing consists of two curved pieces of wood extending from the front to the rear legs, with another circular piece adjoining them at the centre, as in the preceding figure, which is a rather unusual feature on American chairs. The wood is walnut. This chair is one of a set and is the property of Mr. Thomas G. Hazard, Jr., of Narragansett Pier.

A well- proportioned arm-chair of the period is shown in Figure 498. The splat is solid but it is not cut in the conventional fiddle shape. The seat is curved and it the centre of the front rail is carved a shell. A shell with pendent flowers is carved on each knee and the legs terminate in bird's claw and ball feet. The arms, as is usual in chairs of this period, are very graceful. The chair is the property of the Tiffany Studios.

Figure 498 Chair in Dutch style, about 1725.

The surface of the stiles of these chairs is often rounded instead of flat.

The claw and ball foot has been known for many years in metal work and was found on pieces in the early seventeenth century. It also is occasionally found on the cane pieces, but in such pieces it is generally an animal's instead of a bird's claw on the ball. It does not seem to have been at all common in furniture until after 1710. It began to appear in the inventories about 1737. At that date at Boston "6 crow foot chairs" are mentioned, and in 1750 "7 chairs with eagle feet and shells on the knees"; and at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1745, claw-foot furniture of various kinds is mentioned; ten years at least can be safely deducted from that date to determine when the style appeared.

Figure 499. Chairs in Dutch style, about 1725.

The style originated with the Dutch and it is generally believed to have been an adaptation of the Chinese design of the dragon's claw grasping a pearl. The claw and ball feet were of two kinds, those representing an animal's claw on a ball and those representing a bird's claw. The former is more common in England than in America.

Figure 499 shows three chairs with different splats, all of them in the shapes known about 1730.

The one on the left is of walnut veneer and has a pierced splat. The one at the centre is of mahogany and has a carved shell in the crest and bird's claw and ball feet. The one on the right is of Virginia walnut and the feet are of the pointed Dutch type.

()ne of the best designs of the period is shown in Figure 500. The back is high and graceful and at the top is a carved shell with scrolls at either side. The splat is well proportioned and slightly pierced. On the knees are carved shells and the feet are of the angular Dutch type with grooving, which is probably a survival of the Spanish foot and is the type most found in New Jersey and the South. This chair is the property of the writer.

Chairs such as these are often called Hogarth chairs, due to the fact that in his "Analysis of Beauty" Hogarth maintains that the line of beauty is the cyma curve, and one of his illustrations is a chair of this type composed of cyma curves.

Chair in Dutch style, about 1725.

Figure 501. Chair in Dutch style, 1725-50.

A very elaborate arm-chair of the period is shown in Figure 501 and is the property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the cresting are five medallions. Within each are carved flowers. Below this is a large pendant of foliation and (lowers. The splat is pierced, and on the edges are carved acanthus leaves and rosettes, and the same design is on the stiles under the arms. On the support of the arm are also carved acanthus leaves. The knees are carved with the same leaf and the legs terminate in animal's claw feet.

Figure 502 shows a seat of the Georgian period, the property of Mr. John J. Gilbert, of Baltimore. Many suites of chairs were made during this period in which were several seats of this sort. They were finished alike on all sides, and the legs were in the fashion of the chairs. The legs on this piece are cabriole, terminating in bird's claw and ball feet, with a ring carved a little above the foot. On the knees are carved acanthus leaves and a scroll extending outward up onto the frame.

Figure 503 shows a style of chair known as a library chair belonging to the Dutch period. The back is built on a curve and is solid. The top is in circular form; the sides above the arms are in a concave form, and below, the arms are cut in cyma curves. The seat of the chair is round. The front legs are cabriole, terminating in Dutch feet with a high-pointed shoe. On the knees are carved shells with pendent flowers. The rear legs are straight with turned bracing and are considerably closer together than are the front legs. The result is that the stretchers between the front and the rear legs are turned in a curve until they reach the width of the rear legs, and are then straight, and are further strengthened by a turned spindle connecting the two outer stretchers at about the centre. This chair is the property of the Tiffany Studios.

Figure 504 shows an upholstered chair of the period, in the possession of the writer. The back is straight, and the only wood showing is found on the legs, the front ones being cabriole, with bird's claw and ball feet, having a slight scroll carving on the inside under each knee.

We will now consider the simpler type of this form of chair.

Figure 505 shows a style of Dutch chair in the form most commonly found about New York. The top and splat are in the characteristic style, but the stiles and legs are turned and terminate in Dutch feet. The swelling of the turning on the legs was probably intended to give a slight bandy effect. Another feature of these pieces is that the splat is set on a lower rail instead of into the seat rail. This method of construction was quite common in this type of chairs abroad, especially on the Continent, but is usually found in America only on these simpler pieces. These chairs are the property of the writer.

Figure 502. Seat in Dutch style, about 1725.

Library Chair, Dutch style, about 1725.

Upholstered Chair, Dutch style, 1725-50.

Figure 505. Chairs in Dutch style, 1725-50.

Figure 506 shows two of these simpler chairs which are more commonly found in New England. They are made of maple with rush seats, and turned throughout, except for the top rail and the splat.

Figure 506. Chairs in Dutch style, common throughout the eighteenth century.