The decoration of furniture by painting and enamelling, came into fashion in England during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Suites of chairs and sofas to match, made of beech or birch wood, were after careful preparation coated with successive layers of paint, white, cream colour, green and also black, and on these different ground colours, panels of scrolls, figure subjects, landscapes and flowers were painted. The lines which defined the panels, and also such prominent parts of the chair as the terminals of the arms and feet, were gilt. The figure subjects in vogue were such as we find in the old Bartolozzi prints or pictures by Angelica Kauffmann; it was a time when the latter artist, Cipriani, Francesco Piranesi, and other contemporary painters were doing excellent work of a decorative character to the order of Robert Adam, who was in the zenith of his fame as an architect.

ENGLISH SAT1NWOOD COMMODE WITH PAINTED DECORATION END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

We have already seen that the brothers Adam were responsible for the interior decoration of many of the houses they designed, as well as the elevations and plans, and this form of enrichment by panel-painting was in great favour. In many old London houses the original work by Kauffmann and her contemporaries still remains, as they were fitted into the stucco panels of the ceilings, and the same kind of decoration was executed for commodes, cabinets, and other articles of furniture. One can call to mind several instances where such original ceilings may still be found, amongst others the house of the Savage Club in Adelphi Terrace, No. 1, Portman Square, and No. 25, Portland Place, designed and built by Robert Adam for his own occupation.

The best decoration by painting was used for such pieces of furniture as were not likely to get much hard wear, and the tops of the half-circular pier tables were favourite subjects for excellent work. In some of these the painting was executed on slabs of copper let into the table tops, while the friezes and legs were gilt, making a very satisfactory combination of colour. The frieze of the table was generally carved in low relief with a design characteristic of the style, either the conventionalized honeysuckle or some other pseudo-classic ornament. The legs tapering, sometimes round and sometimes square, ornamented by flutes with or without husks. Instead of legs a favourite form of support was a pair of griffins, seated, their bodies terminating in scrolls. These mystic animals figured very frequently in Adam's designs, in the upper part of mirror frames, and as standards of tables and cabinets. The commodes of the period, with circular fronts sometimes had the ends concaved while the centre was convex, thus making a graceful serpentine; bookcases had what is termed break-fronts, that is, the long straight line broken by the centre compartment either projecting or receding a couple of inches. Work tables, screens, and other similar articles were made of satinwood or satinwood and mahogany combined, and, with these grounds to show off the painted panels, a very decorative effect was produced.

Another mode of enrichment of this class of furniture was the insertion of plaques of Wedgwood's jasper ware. John Flaxman had been sent to Rome by the great potter, Josiah Wedgwood, to make wax models and drawings of the famous Vatican gems; these were produced by Wedgwood in different colours of jasper ware, and the classical subjects of these plaques, such as the death of Achilles, nymphs sacrificing to Bacchus, and similar mythological illustrations, just suited the furniture of the Adam design and type.

The general lines of design were similar to those of Heppelwhite and Sheraton, and were probably in many cases the work of the same cabinet makers, but the decoration was by painting in lieu of marqueterie.

THREE PIECES OF FURNITURE ATTRIBUTED TO CHIPPENDALE.

The finishing and polishing of painted furniture required skilful manipulation. The surface of the satinwood or mahogany was first carefully prepared by being scraped, and well rubbed down with sand or glass paper of varying degrees of coarseness, that is, from coarse to fine; then the painter did his work, which naturally stood out in very slight relief. When quite dry and hard, the polisher had to level up with successive coatings of fine white polish, by first treating the unpainted background, and then carefully polishing the whole, giving a glaze and finish to the surface. Sheraton has given us a recipe for making the polish in use at this time, at least some fifty or sixty years before the invention of what is termed "French" polish. Beeswax and turpentine were boiled together, red lead and other colouring matter added if required, and this was applied and well rubbed with a soft pad. Fine brickdust screened by being passed through a. stocking, was then "dabbed" on the polished surface, and this was again carefully rubbed to give a fine and uniform dull glaze.

When it was not expedient to employ a good painter for the chief panels, coloured prints were sometimes used, and treated just the same as the hand-painted subjects, by polishing.

English hand-painted furniture differs in one important detail from the Vernis Martin French furniture, already described in another chapter. The English work was done either on the wood itself, or on a copper panel let into the wood. In the case of Vernis Martin the panel or surface to be painted was first prepared by successive coatings of the patent varnish invented by the Martins, until a "body" or material was formed which resembled lacquer, the result being similar in effect to that of a highly-finished modern carriage panel.

Beautiful as much of the English painted work is, there is the great disadvantage of its liability to damage by scratches and dents, the result of ordinary wear and use, and such injuries cannot be removed, as is the case with an inlaid marque-terie pattern, but can only be repaired by partially or wholly repainting. It is therefore extremely difficult to find original pieces which do not show signs of more or less successful restoration.

Within the past ten or fifteen years, when the collection of this kind of English work has been fashionable, a number of plain pieces of old furniture suitable for this class of decoration, have been bought, and painted work in the style of the late eighteenth-century artists named above, has been added to enhance the value, and these have found a ready sale.

A great deal of entirely new work, both as to the furniture itself, and also the painting, has been made for the demand which the old work is quite unable to supply. Some of this is carefully done, and although not really old is of a good decorative character, but a great deal is of a cheap and inferior kind, both as to make and finish, and is but a parody on the fine old work which is now so difficult to procure and which realizes an enormous price.

There are some good examples of late eighteenth-century English painted furniture in the South Kensington Museum, and if the reader should be visiting Ireland he will also find a number of small but representative specimens in the Dublin Museum.