of Elizabeth’s time in the carved drum or acorn-like bulbs of the legs.  A court-cupboard would make a beautiful sideboard, and one of the long tables spoken of above would make an appropriate serving-table.  Carved chests, and screens covered with leather or needlework, may be used in rooms of this kind, and for modern comfort one may add stuffed chairs and sofas if the proper materials for coverings are chosen.  There are some very fine copies made of old needlework of different kinds and also of damasks and other stuffs.  One must have the right background for all this, oak paneled walls and tapestry and plain or figured velvet or damask hangings.  There are also some finely designed heavy linens which are correct to use.

The furniture of Cromwell’s time was much like that of the time of James I and Charles I, but was simplified wherever possible.  There were no pomps and vanities in those stern days.

When Charles II came to the throne, there was a reaction against Puritan gloom which showed in the furniture being of a more elaborate design.  Chair backs were high and narrow with carved and pierced panels of wood, or carved backs with cane panels, and the carved front rail carried out the feeling and balanced the carved top rail.  The crown and rose and shell were used, supported by cherubs and opposed S curves.  The illustration opposite page 65 will give a very good idea of the general style.  Upholstery was also used, and day-beds and high-boys made their appearance.  The chests of earlier days became chests of drawers.  Rooms were paneled in oak, and much beautiful tapestry was used.  Walnut began to take the place of oak in the later days of Charles II and those of James II, and introduced the age of walnut which lasted through the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne.

The furniture of the early days of William and Mary was much like that of the time of Charles II.  The chair backs remained high and narrow, but the carving slowly grew simpler and the caning at last went entirely across the back.  Many of the early chairs had three carved splats or balusters in the back, and a feature which added greatly to comfort was the slight curve the backs were given instead of the perfectly straight backs of Jacobean days.  Dutch influence at least conquered the old style, and the more characteristic furniture of William and Mary was made.  A rather elaborate form of the cabriole leg was used, ending in a species of hoof with a scroll-like stretcher between the front legs and curved stretchers connecting all four legs.  The cabriole leg became simpler as time passed until in the days of Queen Mary it became the one we all know so well in the Dutch chairs and the early work of Chippendale.

[Illustration:  These copies of rare old pieces of furniture are of the best.  The choice of wood, the carving, the inlay, all show the highest ideals.  The Chinese Chippendale table shows the pagoda effect, and the Hepplewhite desk has the charm of a secret drawer.]