style characterises the woodwork
interior of these buildings. We give an illustration of three designs for
chimney-pieces and overmantels by James Gibbs, the centre one of which
illustrates the curved or "swan-necked" pediment, which became a favourite
ornament about this time, until supplanted by the heavier triangular
pediment which came in with "the Georges."

The contents of Hampton Court Palace afford evidence of the transition
which the design of woodwork and furniture has undergone from the time of
William III. until that of George II. There is the Dutch chair with
cabriole leg, the plain walnut card table also of Dutch design, which
probably came over with the Stadtholder; then, there are the heavy
draperies, and chairs almost completely covered by Spitalfields silk
velvet, to be seen in the bedroom furniture of Queen Anne. Later, as the
heavy Georgian style predominated, there is the stiff ungainly gilt
furniture, console tables with legs ornamented with the Greek key pattern
badly applied, and finally, as the French school of design influenced our
carvers, an improvement may be noticed in the tables and _torcheres_,
which but for being a trifle clumsy, might pass for the work of French
craftsmen of the same time. The State chairs, the bedstead, and some
stools, which are said to have belonged to Queen Caroline, are further
examples of the adoption of French fashion.

[Illustration: Three Chimneypieces. Designed by James Gibes, Architect, in
1739.]

Nearly all writers on the subject of furniture and woodwork are agreed in
considering that the earlier part of the period discussed in this chapter,
that is, the seventeenth century, is the best in the traditions of
English work. As we have seen in noticing some of the earlier Jacobean
examples already illustrated and described, it was a period marked by
increased refinement of design through the abandonment of the more
grotesque and often coarse work of Elizabethan carving, and by soundness
of construction and thorough workmanship.

Oak furniture made in England during the seventeenth century, is still a
credit to the painstaking craftsmen of those days, and even upholstered
furniture, like the couches and chairs at Knole, after more than 250
years' service, are fit for use.

In the ninth and last chapter, which will deal with furniture of the
present day, the methods of production which are now in practice will be
noticed, and some comparison will be made wh