The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
As with others of the same period, mahogany was the favorite wood, but the Adam Brothers gave considerably more attention to the matching of figured veneers. Satinwood, however, ran mahogany a close second and was often used for the entire piece and not just for inlay purposes like holly, ebony, tulip and similar tropical woods. It was particularly favored as a base for decorative panel painting, the work being executed by imported Italian artists, but where painting took the form of a complete finish, pine and lime were preferred as being cheaper. Natural sycamore was employed for some pieces; when chemically stained to a delicate green color it was known as "hare wood." Gilding was practiced over a base of white or green paint and some marquetry was applied to chairs, table tops and cabinet fronts.
Adam designs today are executed chiefly for the dining and bed room, being turned out in walnut and enamel as well as mahogany. It may be greatly simplified without altogether impairing the.charm of its classic purity and decoratively is a less pretentious edition of Louis XVI. Both styles require more attention to harmony of background and auxiliary furnishings than Queen xVnne or William and Mary, belonging rather to the city than the country or suburban home.
The stain color for modern reproductions in mahogany has become standard under the name of this period; the remainder of the finish and that for walnut is the same as for Chippendale and Hepplewhite. When finished in enamel, pastel shades of green, blue and gray should be preferred as Adam colors; decoration may comprise anything of a classical nature.
Sheraton (The georgian period, 1750-1830)
TIIE last of the outstanding furniture designers flourishins under the four Georges was Thomas Sheraton. A poor provincial cabinet maker, he repaired in 1790 to London hoping there to find the fortune he could never hope to attain at home. It was not long before the realization came that without further education hope of advancement was futile, and eking out his living as a preacher and teacher of drawing, he applied himself to the study of design and mechanics.
During the last decade of the eighteenth century and early in the nineteenth, when Sheraton's genius reached its flower, the later George IV was Prince of Wales, Beau Brummel was dictator of fashion, and the French and American Revolutions had successfully terminated. After Sheraton the world of English furniture produced nothing but uninspired imitations of French Empire at its worst, followed by dreary Eastlake and finally Art Nouveau, the European counterpart of our own Mission.
