alian, but which we take the
liberty of pronouncing Flemish, judging by one now in the South Kensington
Museum.

In connection with this Indo-Portuguese furniture, it would seem that
spiral turning became known and fashionable in England during the reign of
Charles II., and in some chairs of English make, which have come under the
writer's notice, the legs have been carved to imitate the effect of spiral
turning--an amount of superfluous labour which would scarcely have been
incurred, but for the fact that the country house-carpenter of this time
had an imported model, which he copied, without knowing how to produce by
the lathe the effect which had just come into fashion. There are, too, in
some illustrations in "Shaw's Ancient Furniture," some lamp-holders, in
which this spiral turning is overdone, as is generally the case when any
particular kind of ornament comes into vogue.

[Illustration: Settee And Chair. In carved ebony, part of Indo-Portuguese
suite at Penshurst Place, with Flemish folding chair. Period: Charles II.]

[Illustration: Carved Ebony Chair of Indo-portuguese Work, Given by
Charles II. to Elias Ashmole, Esq. (_In the Museum at Oxford_).]

Probably the illustrated suite of furniture at Penshurst Place, which
comprises thirteen pieces, was imported about this time; two of the
smaller chairs appear to have their original cushions, the others have
been lately re-covered by Lord de l'Isle and Dudley. The spindles of the
backs of two of the chairs are of ivory: the carving, which is in solid
ebony, is much finer on some than on others.

We gather a good deal of information about the furniture of this period
from the famous diary of Evelyn. He thus describes Hampton Court Palace,
as it appeared to him at the time of its preparation for the reception of
Catherine of Braganza, the bride of Charles II., who spent the royal
honeymoon in this historic building, which had in its time sheltered for
their brief spans of favour the six wives of Henry VIII. and the sickly
boyhood of Edward VI.:--

"It is as noble and uniform a pile as Gothic architecture can make it.
There is incomparable furniture in it, especially hangings designed by
Raphael, very rich with gold. Of the tapestries I believe the world can
show nothing nobler of the kind than the stories of Abraham and Tobit.[11]
... The Queen's bed was an embroidery of silver on crimson velvet, and
cost L8,000, being a present made by the States of Holland whe