To sum up, then, briefly, Chippendale's peculiarities may be expressed as follows:

He used the ball-and-claw foot with the cabriole leg: this was succeeded by the straight leg.

The tops of his chairs are almost invariably prolonged into little ear-like ornaments.

He never used inlay on his furniture.

He used carving as ornament, generally worked in solid mahogany for his larger pieces, and in a close-set pine which was gilded for his smaller and ornamental pieces.

Many of the gold-frame looking-glasses have the glass pane divided by delicate ornament or pilasters. This was to save expense, as in this way several small panes of glass could be used instead of one large and more costly one. The glass made in England was in very thin plates, and the bevel was ground by hand, so that it followed every twist and turn in the convolutions of the frame which rested on it.

Strength, beauty, and adaptability to the use for which the piece was made, were the watchwords for Chippendale's most characteristic furniture. It is true that during the early years of his work there was a large demand for everything French, to which he catered, yet he in time reversed this and caused the attention of the world to be drawn to England as the centre from which could be obtained the best designs in furniture. While Chippendale sought for his effects largely in his use of carving and gilding, although we find little of this latter work in the pieces seen in America, he also took the greatest pains to select birl-liant and elegant brocades, wrought stuffs, and handworked material for the upholstered parts of his furniture. Nor did he neglect brass nails as a means of brightening up a piece, though both Hepplewhite and Sheraton used them more than he did. None of the furniture which we so fondly ascribed to his name is from the designs figured in his book, his use of brilliant metal mounts is practically unknown among us.

He himself admired the beautiful Louis XIV. ribbon ornament which he lavished on so many chair backs, and he says "If I may speak without vanity, they are the best I have ever seen, or perhaps have ever been made."

Like his fellow-craftsmen, Chippendale made cases for tall clocks, and some of them are odd and not in the least graceful or beautiful. One will have for ornament on the extreme top a crowing cock, life size, and rampant, the base on which he stands being a mass of ugly carving. Another has what might be called a sunburst, with a star in its midst; others have allegorical figures. His designs for mantel clocks were much prettier and in better taste everyway. He used walnut as well as mahogany for the cases, and sometimes Chinese panels, or panels painted with nymphs and goddesses, called in "French taste," were inserted. These decorations served, besides, to ornament the fire-screens which were popular pieces of furniture. He made designs for chimney-pieces or "over-mantels." These were filled in with glass. Chippendale says:

"Chimney-pieces require great care in the execution. The embossments must be very bold, the foliage neatly laid down, and the whole properly relieved. The top may be gilt, as likewise some other ornamental parts."

Knowing the sturdy, plain characteristics of Chippendale's furniture as we see it, this constant reference to gilt and the mass of over-decoration seems quite out of place. His beds were called Canopy beds, Chinese beds, Dome beds, Gothic beds with flat testers, Field beds, Tent beds, Sofa beds with canopies, and the usual high four-posters.

Many beautiful clothes-presses were made by Chippendale, either chest like affairs on four legs, or having drawers below and wardrobe above, some of these latter bearing a strong resemblance to the French pieces from which they were copied.

Scant mention is made of Chippendale, in contemporary literature, but he has the distinction accorded to but few of having a large class of furniture design called by his name, instead of being designated by the period in which it was made. Mr. Clouston, in his book on "Chippendale Furniture," says that there were two Chippendales, father and son, and alludes to the author of the "Director" as "the elder Mr. Chippendale. The son, like many sons of great men, seems to have lost his identity in the reputation which has been gradually gathering about his father's name. He seems to have produced nothing of moment, and the family has sunk again into the obscurity from which one man had the genius to raise it.