altho' the sheet were big enough for the Bed of Ware in England, set em
down, go about it."

Another illustration shows the chair which is said to have belonged to
William Shakespeare; it may or may not be the actual one used by the poet,
but it is most probably a genuine specimen of about his time, though
perhaps not made in England. There is a manuscript on its back which
states that it was known in 1769 as the Shakespeare Chair, when Garrick
borrowed it from its owner, Mr. James Bacon, of Barnet, and since that
time its history is well known. The carved ornament is in low relief, and
represents a rough idea of the dome of S. Marc and the Campanile Tower.

We have now briefly and roughly traced the advance of what may be termed
the flood-tide of Art from its birthplace in Italy to France, the
Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and England, and by explanation and
description, assisted by illustrations, have endeavoured to shew how the
Gothic of the latter part of the Middle Ages gave way before the revival
of classic forms and arabesque ornament, with the many details and
peculiarities characteristic of each different nationality which had
adopted the general change. During this period the bahut or chest has
become a cabinet with all its varieties; the simple _prie dieu_ chair, as
a devotional piece of furniture, has been elaborated into almost an
oratory, and, as a domestic seat, into a dignified throne; tables have,
towards the end of the period, become more ornate, and made as solid
pieces of furniture, instead of the planks and tressels which we found
when the Renaissance commenced. Chimney pieces, which in the fourteenth
century were merely stone smoke shafts supported by corbels, have been
replaced by handsome carved oak erections, ornamenting the hall or room
from floor to ceiling, and the English livery cupboard, with its foreign
contemporary the buffet, is the forerunner of the sideboard of the future.

[Illustration: Shakespeare's Chair.]

[Illustration: The Great Bed of Ware. Formerly at the Saracen's Head,
Ware, but now at Rye House, Broxbourne, Herts. Period: XVI. Century.]

Carved oak panelling has replaced the old arras and ruder wood lining of
an earlier time, and with the departure of the old feudal customs and the
indulgence in greater luxuries of the more wealthy nobles and merchants in
Italy, Flanders, France, Germany, Spain, and England, we have the
elegancies and grace with which Art, and increa