Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/1088

 10f)4 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. hard with any soft cloth for a period of several hours till they are got to a bright polish ; which, when once obtained, can be kept up with little labour, and will stand hot dishes and boiling water better than the French or any other polish. The ordinary polish used by cabinet-makers consists of bees' wax mixed with spirits of turpentine and a small proportion of rosin. When this has been all dissolved together, the wood to be polished is thinly washed over with it, and it is immediately afterwards rubbed off by clean soft cloths. For polishing carved work, a clean soft brush must be used for laying it very thinly on, and another brush, in a very slight degree harder, must be employed for ruh- bing it off, 21 10. Consol Tables. The term consol is applied from the form of the front leg or pillar by which such tables are usually supported, which is that of a carved ornament called a consol, frequently placed on the front of brackets, and on the keystones of arches. Fig. 1938 is placed at the ends of drawingrooms, or against very broad piers between doors or windows. The panels in the back are of looking-glass ; and the doors of the two pedestals have panels filled in with fluted silk, or looking-glass may be substituted. The tops of such tables are frequently formed of statuary marble, and the supports and upper shelf of the finest rosewood ; sometimes the shelf is omitted. The looking-glass is sometimes carried up to the height of five or six feet. On the bottom board, in front of the lower glass, are placed vases for holding flowers, and a number of other ornaments. Fig. 1939 is another table of the same description, but of a diflferent pattern.