Reverting, for a moment, to the frets, it is important to point out that they are almost always purely geometrical, and therefore repetitive, in design, consisting principally of a succession of rectangular repeating figures, so interwoven one with another as to present an appearance of great intricacy. Curves of any kind were not often introduced into them, though they do occur in some cases. In these we find ovals, circles, and segments of such figures, as in Fig. 1, Plate VIII. The student and collector will do well to bear this characteristic in mind, as its remembrance is a great aid to identification.

"Chippendale." VI. Plate 37

Reference In Text

In writing about the furniture of any part of the eighteenth century, we must be careful not to omit reference to the four-post bedsteads of the particular period to be dealt with. These constituted a most important factor in the homes of the wealthier classes in the old days, long before the productions of the forge and foundry had seriously invaded the sleeping apartment and provided it with "black," "black-and-brass," and "all brass" (vide the furnishing catalogue) creations, with their patent woven-wire and spring mattresses, which supplanted the sturdy oak and rich mahogany productions with their elaborate draping.

It is not in any way necessary for us to discuss the respective advantages of the wood, as opposed to the metal, bedstead, however greatly we may regret the disappearance of the former from our midst; and I will rest content with simply placing on record the various types that were to the fore at different periods, leaving the question of their healthiness for hygienists to fight out between themselves. In justice, however, to the modern manufacturer, I must draw attention to the fact that it is now easy to obtain wooden bedsteads which are in every way absolutely free from the insanitary disadvantages which, owing to their method of construction, were inseparable from the older types. The frames of these modern successors are made of iron, and the mattresses of woven wire of the cleanliest and most approved description.

The collector who may be desirous of adding genuine old eighteenth-century "four posters" to his store of treasures may at the outset be warned that no small difficulty will be experienced in doing so, for they are but rarely to be found in their entirety. For this difficulty two reasons may be advanced. In the first place, the number originally made was comparatively small; in the second, as bedsteads of this class have fallen almost entirely into disuse, those which survived until eighteenth-century styles came again into favour after the "dark age" of the early-Victorian period, have been "cut down," and the various parts have undergone transformation into other articles. The pillars have, more often than not, been converted into graceful pedestals for the reception and support of candelabra, lamps, busts, small statuary, and other ornamental knick-knacks. It may perhaps strike us as a pity that this should have been done, and some may regard it as an act of vandalism; but we cannot fail to recognise that they admirably serve the new purpose to which they have been put. It must be remembered, too, that even were the complete "four poster" obtainable, the most ardent of private collectors would find it somewhat of "a white elephant" if it had to be accommodated within the limits of the average "villa residence" of to-day. It was evidently Chippendale's aim in designing his bedsteads to endow them with as great an appearance of imposing grandeur as possible, and he relied for effect almost as much on the draping with which they were dressed up as on the woodwork. Indeed, he considerably "overdid" most of his creations in that direction, marring them most seriously by piling-on canopies, pelmets, valances, and curtains, until the structures as a whole appeared to be so top-heavy that we should imagine the occupants must have experienced a feeling of great oppression, if not of impending collapse.

The mahogany pillars themselves were generally light and graceful in form and proportion, and were comparatively simple so far as enrichment was concerned; but the massive superstructures went to the other extreme, being overwhelming in appearance, and constituting perfectly ideal asylums for moth, dust, and other organisms.

The bedstead portrayed upon Plate I. partakes somewhat of the character indicated; a similar, though rather less elaborate, type is figured on Plate III. In the latter case the pillars are almost plain and without relief of any kind. The canopies and wooden heads, in both examples, I need hardly point out at this stage of our study, remind us more than a little of the "Louis-Quatorze" and "Louis-Quinze" at their worst. They call for but passing notice, as enough has already been written upon that aspect of the style.

"Chippendale." VII. Plate 38

Reference In Text

See also page 160

In the third example, which will be found on Plate X., we have a "Chippendale-Chinese" bedstead which is decidedly interesting, as models of its class are extremely rare. In this a combination of the Chinese pagoda top, lattice work, and applied frets appears: but they were not enough. The temptation to introduce the French element was too strong to be resisted, so the ever-ready coquillage crops up again in all manner of unexpected situations, forming a most curious milange, though not an uncommon one in the style under consideration.

There is yet another most prominent and unmistakable feature of true "Chippendale" which we must not fail specially to note, as it occurs frequently in both chairs and tables. I refer to the square leg, pierced, and also the leg composed of three, or four, slender turned columns, or pillars, set slightly apart, and bound together by fine mouldings, at intervals more or less frequent according to the proportions of the leg. Examples of this class are presented on Plates V., VI., IX., and X.

So far we have analysed, as fully as space has permitted, and, indeed, as is essential to our purpose, those phases of "Chippendale" - and they are the most important of all - in which the originator borrowed from the French, Chinese, and Gothic; adapting freely, according to his own fancies, the ideas of others. Having arrived so far, we are rapidly nearing the end of this section of our subject; but another aspect still remains to be examined, and, although it may not prove to be by any means as interesting, from some points of view, as the rest, it must on no account be omitted.