Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/1065

 GRECIAN AND MODERN VILLA FUUNITUUK. lOU which may be made either of mahogany or oak, or of deal painted and grained in imi- tation of the latter wood. In the backs are tablets or panels, for heraldic shields or crests, which are generally painted ; but which have a more architectural effect when carved out of the solid wood, or when cast in composition, glued on, and painted after- wards. Chairs of this sort cost in London, in 1833, from 35s. to 50s. each. With respect to the taste of these chairs, we object to the front legs, as being too much orna- mented for those behind. Who, on being shown the front legs, while the back legs were concealed, would ever expect to find the latter united in the same whole with the former ? Certainly no one would do so who understood the principle of unity of style in composition. The reason why cabinet-makers are in the habit of bestowing so much work on the straight legs of chairs and benches, and so little on those which are curved, is, that the straight legs are readily ornamented at a cheap rate in the turning lathe ; whereas, all the ornament that is bestowed on the curved legs must be carved by hand, at a great expense. The question is, how far the designer of a chair is justified in deviating from the principle of unity, for the sake of displaying more ornament than he would otherwise be able to show. Ask a cabinet-maker, and he will tell you at once, that his customers prefer the ornamented chair, and care nothing about the unity, or the want of unity, of style. Their great object is to get a display of rich workmanship, at as cheap a rate as possible. Our readers, we are sure, will agree with us, that this taste on the part of the purchaser is of a vulgar and grovelling kind, and ought to be cor- rected. This can only be done by enlightening the minds of the public in general on the subject of taste ; and this is one of the grand objects of our work. 2079. Benches. Fig. 1863, to a scale of three quarters of an inch to a foot, is a hall bencli for a porch, or a small hall, where there is not much room to spare. This bench, made in London, costs from £'3 : lOs. to £4 : lOs. The legs are all alike ornamented, as are the supports to the arms, so that there is a perfect unity of style 6 c