Page:Southern Antiques - Burroughs - 1931.djvu/51

Rh  extended only from about 1788-1795, but Southern workmen were influenced by the Hepplewhite style as late as 1815, and the bulk of Southern-made furniture is of Hepplewhite style, with the trend of design continuously toward the lighter and more decorative pieces. Much of the influence of Adam is seen in that of Hepplewhite; his designs, as published, often a transition from Adam to the more practical, the Hepplewhite design making a transition from the more refined and delicate classic to something more practical, and easily followed. Hepplewhite, disregarding the Chippendale tradition of design, used the subtle curve, and decorated his furniture, which was oftenest of light wood, with inlay and painting rather than with so much carving, which, it is true, he used often when working in mahogany.

Hundreds of cabinetmakers worked at London, and in 1790 there appeared among them a strange figure, to remain for sixteen years. This was Thomas Sheraton, a man without means, living on a poor street, wearing a worn and threadbare coat, and combining with his piety, as a minister of the Gospel, a genius for conception of beautiful furniture that perhaps has never been excelled. He registered as an author, bookseller, scholar, and preacher. His ideas of design were built largely around those of the Adam brothers, and he was ready to carry forward the classical idea, so much like Adam and at times so like Hepplewhite, that it is difficult to distinguish him from them. But in his designing he improved what he took so freely and made lighter and more decorative pieces, always with an artistic feeling of line and proportion. In 1791 he published The Cabinet MakersMaker [sic] and Upholsterer's Drawing Book.

In 1804 he published the Cabinet Makers' and General Artists' Encyclopedia, containing thirty parts, further projecting his ideas of grace in design, and delicacy and refinement in decoration, so that in America, where books were published in imitation of those the master designers had brought out, his name became a household word. Strong influence of the Roman, Tuscan, and Greek was shown in the book. His appeal was to the practical as well as the fastidious, and the charming quality of what he had to offer, was highly satisfactory in its delicacy, strength, and beauty.

Southern craftsmen seized upon his designs, and his motifs, combined with those of Hepplewhite, are reflected widely in their work in their native woods. His influence here meant lighter forms of furniture, and his use of inlaid motifs for decoration became highly popular in this country; light-colored woods, and the use of apple, tulip, satinwood, mahogany and rosewood veneer is remarked. Sheraton pieces, found in the South, depend largely on inlay for ornamentation.

Duncan Phyfe, outstanding American cabinetmaker of New York, employed perhaps one hundred men, and his influence undoubtedly spread throughout the South. Phyfe showed a distinct classic influence, and followed Hepplewhite and Sheraton, with French leanings at times, 1795-1820, until the Empire period reached America. His works came South and were copied by Southerners, and perhaps even by men who had been employed in his own shops. Among others influencing workmen who