Page:Southern Antiques - Burroughs - 1931.djvu/41

Rh   that this piece is one of the first made in Virginia, and as far as can be determined, the first in the United States.

Early beds in any quantity have not been found in the South. Due to their cumbersomeness, many of them have been done away with, it is thought. What the settlers made and used was simple, with the bed furniture, perhaps, of more moment than the bed. Some heavily carved oak beds may have been brought over from England in the early days, but none have survived.

The earliest tables in England had bulbous, turned legs like the turnings of the court cupboard; the large tables, with stretcher base, were in use until about 1710. The gate-leg table was generally used for a dining table and took the place of the refectory table, as it was called. A chair of the wainscot type is shown in this book, discovered in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The first quarter of the seventeenth century is the period to which this type is accredited in England. This chair, it then appears, might have been made before 1620. The Bible box, used in early days for writing, which preceded the slant-top desk of the end of this period, was the forerunner of the secretary of today.

It is to be regretted that few people in the South tried to collect these examples of furniture of this early period. Local pieces that have been found are simplified copies of English models from native woods, and the few examples that have been found, have gone to enrich private collections of the North, as pioneer dealers from other parts of America were buying the Southern-made pieces long before interest was aroused here. Little attempt will be made here to show the influence of design on the Southern cabinetmaker prior to 1700.

With this study before us, it is not amiss to have looked into the manner of living of these pioneers, and to further acquaint ourselves with some of the types of things they used. Maryland and Virginia rooms were large, with the walls often lined, or glazed, or even figured with flowers. The colonists made much of color at the windows, on their walls and floors, and on their beds, using there such stuffs, delightfully colored, of their own devising, with finer textiles which found their way from elsewhere.

The oft quoted inventory of April 15, 1641, showed goods, as set forth by her husband, to be reserved for Dame Thoroughgood at the time of his passing. Outstanding was a bed, table, six chairs, stools, cushions, and a cupboard, all of which to make life livable for this brave lady on the waters of Lynnhaven. "Imprimis:" we read, "one bed with blankets, rug and the furniture thereto, belonging: two pairs of sheets and pillow cases; one table with carpet; table cloth and napkins, knives and forks: one cupboard and cupboard cloth two . . . one linen, one woollen, six chairs, six stools, six cushions, six pictures hanging in the chamber, one pewter basin and ewer, one warming pan, one pair andirons in the chimney, one pair tongs, one fire shovel, one chair of wicker for a child. Plate for the cupboard, one salt cellar, one bowl, one tankard, one wine cup, one dozen spoons."

William Fitzhugh, "less out for the fashions," as he said, of himself, than other