bethan times, but from the
early Stuart days, the time of James I onward, good reproductions become
more plentiful. This does not mean, however, that one is safe in buying
anything called Jacobean or Queen Anne or Georgian. One must still be
careful and go armed with as much knowledge as possible. For instance,
do not buy any Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, or Charles II furniture
made of mahogany or with a high polish. Do not buy any with finicky or
delicate brass handles. This may seem an unnecessary warning, but I have
seen dainty oval Hepplewhite handles used on a heavy Jacobean chest.
This does not happen often, but a word to the wise--. The handles which
were used were some times of iron and sometimes of brass, often with a
little design etched on them, and the drop handles were either oblong or
round rings, or pear- or tear-shaped drops with either a round or oblong
plate. H-hinges of iron were used. Chairs of the time of James I, which
are much like those of Louis XIII in France, were square and strong with
plain or spiral turned legs, and stretchers, and had seats and half
backs covered with needlework, leather, velvet, or damask. They would
make very comfortable dining chairs and would harmonize with sturdy
gate-legged tables, or the long narrow tables which show the influence
of Elizabeth's time in the carved drum or acorn-like bulbs of the legs.
A court-cupboard would make a beautiful sideboard, and one of the long
tables spoken of above would make an appropriate serving-table. Carved
chests, and screens covered with leather or needlework, may be used in
rooms of this kind, and for modern comfort one may add stuffed chairs
and sofas if the proper materials for coverings are chosen. There are
some very fine copies made of old needlework of different kinds and also
of damasks and other stuffs. One must have the right background for all
this, oak paneled walls and tapestry and plain or figured velvet or
damask hangings. There are also some finely designed heavy linens which
are correct to use.

The furniture of Cromwell's time was much like that of the time of James
I and Charles I, but was simplified wherever possible. There were no
pomps and vanities in those stern days.

When Charles II came to the throne, there was a reaction against Puritan
gloom which showed in the furniture being of a more elaborate design.
Chair backs were high and narrow with carved and pierced panels of wood,
or carved backs with cane