Mary Queen of Scots. The child
is sculptured about life size, in a carved cradle of the time.

In Holland House, Kensington,[9] which is a good example of a Jacobean
mansion, there is some oak enrichment of the seventeenth century, and also
a garden bench, with its back formed of three shells and the legs shaped
and ornamented with scroll work. Horace Walpole mentions this seat, and
ascribes the design to Francesco Cleyn, who worked for Charles I. and some
of the Court.

There is another Jacobean house of considerable interest, the property of
Mr. T.G. Jackson, A.R.A. An account of it has been written by him, and was
read to some members of the Surrey Archaeological Society, who visited
Eagle House, Wimbledon, in 1890. It appears to have been the country seat
of a London merchant, who lived early in the seventeenth century. Mr.
Jackson bears witness to the excellence of the workmanship, and expresses
his opinion that the carved and decorated enrichments were executed by
native and not foreign craftsmen. He gives an illustration in his pamphlet
of the sunk "Strap Work," which, though Jacobean in its date, is also
found in the carved ornament of Elizabeth's time.

Another relic of this time is the panel of carved oak in the lych gate of
St. Giles', Bloomsbury, dated 1638. This is a realistic representation of
"The Resurrection," and when the writer examined it a few weeks ago, it
seemed in danger of perishing for lack of a little care and attention.

It is very probable that had the reign of Charles I. been less troublous,
this would have been a time of much progress in the domestic arts in
England. The Queen was of the Medici family, Italian literature was in
vogue, and Italian artists therefore would probably have been encouraged
to come over and instruct our workmen. The King himself was an excellent
mechanic, and boasted that he could earn his living at almost any trade
save the making of hangings. His father had established the tapestry works
at Mortlake; he himself had bought the Raffaele Cartoons to encourage the
work--and much was to be hoped from a monarch who had the judgment to
induce a Vandyke to settle in England. The Civil War, whatever it has
achieved for our liberty as subjects, certainly hindered by many years our
progress as an artistic people.

But to consider some of the furniture of this period in detail. Until the
sixteenth century was well advanced, the word "table" in our language
meant an inde