There are many fine reproductions of Chippendale’s furniture made which carry out the spirit of his work.  In the medium and inexpensive grades, however, there is danger of bad carving, a clumsy thickening of proportions, a jumble of his different periods, and too red a stain and too high a varnish glitter.  Good examples can be found in these grades, but one must spend time looking for them, and perhaps it may be necessary to have them rubbed down with powdered pumice and linseed oil.  If one uses Chippendale furniture, or that of any of the other Georgian makers, the walls should not be covered with a modern design of wall paper.  Plain walls or molding may be used, or one of the fine old designs of figured paper, and this must be used with great discretion and is better if there is a wainscot.  Chippendale was very fond of using morocco, but damask and velvet and chintz may also be used.  The chintzes were charming in design, and many good copies are made.

[Illustration:  This is in reality a moderate-sized room, yet the open arrangement and the clear center give the impression of great space.  The curve of the fireplace and the oak panelling are simple Tudor.  The furniture is a mixture of many kinds.]

[Illustration:  The wallpaper border, the bedspread, the table cover, and the curtains are all wrong in this room.  The Empire bed is good but should not have castors.]

The Adam Brothers, of whom Robert was the more important, showed strong classical influence in their work, and much of it resembles that of Louis XVI, which was influenced from the same source.  Chairs had square or round or oval backs, and they also used a lyre-shaped splat which was copied later by Sheraton.  Often the top rail was decorated by small and charming painted panels.  These little panels were also used in the center of cobweb caning in chair backs and settees.  Legs of chairs and tables were tapering and round or square and often reeded or fluted.  Adam used much mahogany and kept its beautiful golden brown tone (not the dead brown called “Adam” too often in the shops), and also satin-wood and painted wood.  The best artists of the day did the painting.  Wedgwood medallions were introduced into the more important pieces of furniture.  Painted placques, lovely festoons, and charming groups of figures, vases of flowers, and Wedgwood designs, and designs radiating from a center, as on semicircular console table tops, are all characteristic of his work.  He also used much inlay.  As Adam usually planned all the furniture and the interior of the house, even to the door-knobs, he kept the feeling of unity in both background and furnishings.

[Illustration:  The Hancock desk was a design greatly favored in America in the eighteenth century.  This fine example dates from about 1750.]

[Illustration:  The general proportions, the broken pediment and torch or flame ornaments and drops, large brasses, and cabriole legs all show that this splendid example of a highboy belongs to the same time as the desk, about 1750.]