r
THOMAS SHERATON
THE FURNITURE DESIGNS OF
THOMAS SHERATON
ARRANGED BY J. MUNRO BELL
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND CRITICAL ESTIMATE BY
ARTHUR HAYDEN
AUTHOR OF " CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE," ETC. ETC.
LONDON
GIBBINGS AND COMPANY, LIMITED
1 8 BURY STREET, W.C. 1910
AllC
The Riverside Press Limited, Edinburgh
r
INTRODUCTION
CHIPPENDALE, HEPPLEWHITE AND SHERATON
FURNITURE DESIGNS
HERE are many reasons why the second half of the eighteenth century has especial attractions for the connoisseur of English furniture. It was then for the first time that furniture designers and cabinet-makers began to impress their personality upon their work. There is English spirit enough in much of the early Stuart oak furniture, sturdy and national in its conception and treatment.
Italian and French influences had begun to divert the steady growth of an English art but the stream of evolution continued in spite of extraneous foreign luxuries.
In Charles II. 's day the fashion for the moment swerved to Portuguese leather-back chairs in compliment to the Queen Consort, Catherine of Braganza. Later the strong Dutch influence of the court of William of Orange had lasting effects on the decoration of the English home. Much of the furniture of that period is as Dutch in origin as the blue Delft jars at Hampton Court. Queen Anne only reigned fourteen years and the style associated with her is the beginning of homely art and interior decoration of a home-loving race. Early Georgian days saw walnut established in succession to the Tudor and Stuart oak. In the opening years of the eighteenth century the claw-and-ball foot made its appearance. It was an adaptation, through Holland, of the Oriental design of the dragon's claw holding a pearl. To go further back it must not be forgotten that before the Civil War interrupted the steady growth of art under Charles I. that the tapestry factory at Mortlake was producing coverings for cushions and chairs and day-beds, and bed-hangings in imitation of Gobelins. One other point must not be omitted; as early as 1715, the second year of Anne's reign, mahogany was in use as a luxurious wood and at Ham House there is a suite of furniture of this date in mahogany.
The time was ripe for the man, and under various influences — the heavy style of solid design, as for instance the wide splat-back chair and settee ; the importation of French taste in sweeping rococo ornament ; and v
VI
INTRODUCTION
the fashion for Chinese design introduced by Sir William Chambers- decorative art was inclined to get out of bounds. Thomas Chippendale, with the fine selective faculty with which genius alone is endowed, took from these apparently incongruous materials motifs for his designs and welded them in one harmonious whole. His Director published in 1754 marks a new era in English design. From his day individuality became the note in furniture.
Up till then, whether it be the age of oak, or the age of walnut, the terms Tudor, Stuart, Jacobean, William and Mary, Anne, or Georgian, are names applied by modern connoisseurs to various styles. After Chippen- dale furniture began to be classified according to the particular designers
or makers.
This volume is a reissue of his celebrated work : " The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker s Director, being a large Collection of the most Elegant and Useful Designs of Household Furniture in the Gothic, Chinese, and Modern taste . . . Calculated to improve and refine the present Tasfe, and suited to the Fancy and Circumstances of Persons in all Degrees of .Life" The importance of this book of designs cannot be overrated. I\t was subscribed for in Yorkshire, in Westmorland, in Devon, in Ireland. Copies of it found their way to America and a school of wood-carver^ and cabinet-makers at Newport created new traditions.
These books of design are as valuable as the drawings of the old masters. The Leonardo da Vincis, the Albert Diirers, and the Holbeins treasured from Vienna to Windsor are not more suggestive to the young designer, to the student or to the collector than are these books issued in the middle eighteenth century by the greatest masters of English furniture design.
For fifty years the school of Chippendale held sway, from 1730 to 1780. The Hepplewhite school may be reckoned as from about 1775 to 1795, and the Sheraton school from about 1790 to 1805, and behind all was the great and pronounced influence of the Brothers Adam with their absorption of classicism and severe forms coincident with the French chaste classic styles.
In the contemplation of these series of designs it should be borne in mind that Chippendale and his school are the embodiment of form, and that Sheraton and his school are the embodiment of colour, as applied to furniture. Hepplewhite has a relationship to both. He reached his results by form, and he employed marqueterie and the subtleties of Sheraton in many of his effects.
But since the advent of personalities, Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton are not the only names. All these eighteenth-century volumes of design are becoming scarce and difficult to procure in any state, and consequently rapidly increasing in price. Undoubtedly the rarest of all the books at this time is " Ince and May hew" s Household Furniture,
INTRODUCTION vii
consisting of above 3°° designs in the most elegant taste both Useful an OrnaLal, 95 beautifully engraved plates of Hall Chairs, Lantorns, Staircase Lights, Sideboards, Claw-Tables, Tea Kettle Stands, Bookcases Secretaires, Library - Steps, Writing Tables, Music Desks Canopy Bed French Bed Chairs, Dressing Tables, Book and China Shelves &c W*A descriptions in English and French, Published by Ince and Mayhem, Cabinet-Makers Broad Street, Golden Square in 1748, that is to say a few years earlier than Chippendale's Director. The value of this is now about /6o There is the book of designs by Inigo Jones, Lord Burlington and Kent, with 53 engraved plates of designs for Chimney-pieces Ceilings, Sides of Rooms, Piers, etc, executed at Chiswick, Stow, Houghton etc. published in 1743, which is worth about £3. There is ^the Genteel Household Furniture in the Present Taste by a Society of Upholsterers Cabinet-Makers &c.? published in 1765, with 100 plates, and a second edition with 350 designs on 120 copper-plates containing designs of chairs by Manwaring, Ince, Mayhew, Johnson, and others, this edition sells for /7 IQS There is "Works' in Architecture" (R. & J. Adam), published to 1773-1779, containing plates engraved by Bartolozzi, Pastorini, Vivarez, and others, with interiors and designs of Chimney-pieces Ceilings, Furniture, Metal-work, etc. Volumes i. and ii. of this bring about / 30, and they contain designs for Sion House, Lord Mansfield's House at Ken Wood, Sir Watkin Wynn's House in St James' Square, and others, mclud: the Admiralty Offices, Whitehall.
In fact, subsequent to Chippendale's day there was a plethora of books of design, and these as a literature of the subject are of superlative value to the student, the collector, and the connoisseur, each approaching English furniture from his own standpoint. The folly of those who contend that the twentieth century should produce a school of its own is refuted by these old books of design. The evolution of English furniture is well assured. The twentieth century is producing a school. The great hiatus of the Victorian days when, not only in this country but in general, decorative and applied art had sunk to a low level has been bridged over by such volumes as are here reproduced. The student of design, if he be wise will avoid the nightmare of modern furniture exhibited at the Bethnal' Green Museum, will eschew the Great Exhibition period, and will essay to educate his eye with models of the days when men designed in rich and gay profusion for the downright love of their craft, viduality was killed by the growth of machine-made mouldings, and machine-made art lacks the repose which is so pronounced a feat eighteenth-century and of earlier work.
The restless cataclysm of design which heralded the nineteenth century, when every ten years had its particular style, boded ill for steady growth of national art. We catch the note of defiant, almoi
Vlll
INTRODUCTION
strident, rivalry in Sheraton's allusion to Chippendale's work. "As for the designs themselves they are wholly antiquated and laid aside, though possessed of great merit according to the times in which they were executed." But we who are able to survey the field of furniture dis- passionately can give to Chippendale what is his, and to Sheraton what is his also, and can value correctly the Brothers Adam with their great and permanent influence, and assign places in relative importance to Hepple- white, Manwaring, Ince, Mayhew, and the others.
As to what is and what is not original, to quote Sir Roger de Coverley, " much might be said on both sides," but the difference between genius and mediocrity is the appalling lack of the sense of proportion in the latter. A genius such as Chippendale could take details from the Dutch cabinet-maker, from the rococo style of Louis XV., and from the Chinese fretworker, and combine them with perfect harmony into some- thing at once true and beautiful. But he rejected more than he selected. Perhaps it is not so much the art of selection as the art of rejection which counts. It is the true sanity of genius to reject wisely. The mediocre worker seems gifted in selecting the worst features of his prototypes and amplifying them. Johnson's designs after Chippendale are practically caricatures since they embody Chippendale's worst styles and most assailable points in design.
Hence the value to the student in design of being able readily to pass in review the long line of furniture designers covering an appreciable distance of time and the ability to reject the banalities of the early and middle nineteenth century. Books of design issued by such men as Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Sheraton and others, dated, and bearing the authentic impress of the designer with the pride of the craftsman in his conceptions, mark at once with authenticity sharp divisions between the styles. They crystallise the message which each sent forth to his generation. In comparison, each with each, they enable the subtleties of invention and divergence of treatment to be criticised. In point of time they overlap, but in regard to style there are personal idiosyncrasies which stand out. Cabinet-makers up and down the country followed with more or less personal additions the designs of these great masters. For instance, Ireland evolved a Chippen- dale school of her own, with carving in low relief and native touches of design easily recognisable. The auction-room to-day finds collectors and experts joining issue as to exactitudes of origin. ' These books of design come therefore as the key to an admittedly golden period i English furniture design.
ARTHUR HAYDEN.
in
THOMAS SHERATON
1751-1804
vf« °f master cabinet-
c^men JftttZ££ "EL^-M
architect, and Thomas Sheraton the ' ' ' "
tive of designers most remarkable degree, but cabinet - making themselves. J793-) But here the
.
- -•» -.
came to London
d°Ub' *"' Shera(™'
designs, published and unpubHsheH « '$
men with' greater aptit Tfc , bu C" H s"
of his philosophic quality wh T u T """* C°"vey a touch
racking my inventio'n , 7de± fine and"' e" "K-" "emP'°yed '"
be well content to sit on ' k P g cab'n«-wrk. I can
can bu, have common food Id "' b°"°mi,chair *J"*, P™vided I
life in peace." "d ri"ment "herewith to pass through
»«i-wood furniture of cacy of invention ses „ nr 'I' *" ^"^ W"h a rare deli-
again he touches W," amB a'k TwhoTe T (" *' aUCtio"-rooIn- Here k .e, whose des,gns have won him eternal fame
THOMAS SHERATON L who often hadnot money enough when he lived to buy cop,
has btrtiven" toposreriVby Adam Black who j^4.«^.^
from BL-^^^^^^ L house, half shop half Young Black found him ir out Methodist minister, with
dwelling house, and looked himse c a w ^ ^^ wefe
th-dbare black coat^ I«^^£ his wife, and a little porringer a cup and saucer for the ' ho*, >nd ^ n w and sh
for their daughter The wift ^ P Thg ^^^ fterwards
had to put up with a little pon in , ive^ half a guinea for his week s
publisher of the Encyclopedia : iH_kept fehop. " Miserable
i_ .-„ *-,,;nrr tQ brine arrangement in nnnr
he writes " I was half ashamed to takeS it from 1 ' \
first book of designs
containing a "vanety "'^of articles of furniture, sides of here &»£• rf ^ d hteenth century from ,748, when Ince and
vicin ty was no less than ,,L There is no doubt that many of these men did good work. What is known, for instance, of Seddon » one of the mo emifent cabinet-makers in London"? Bu, according to ^Annual Reguter J,^ he had a fire a, his premises in Aldersgate Street wh.ch d,d damage
to the extent of £20,000. f
The early Chippendale school had given place to the scho<
1 » Memoirs of Adam Black," 1885.
THOMAS SHERATON xi
queterie workers, compeers of Hepplewhite, who employed satin-wood veneer and inlays of coloured woods, and who revelled in painted panels with subjects as French in feeling as the lunettes of Natoire and Boucher. In 1773, so strongly had the current set in for colour, that Chippendale, then an old man, made a set of satin-wood furniture after the designs of Robert Adam for the Lascelles family. The beautiful contrasts of colour against the golden satin-wood ground are remarkable. The dressing-table commode of this suite has a veneered satin-wood ground inlaid with green garrya husks, and wreaths of this inlay encircle panels of seated figures of Diana and Minerva inlaid with coloured woods and ivory on a black ground. So elaborate were some of the pieces of this suite at Harewood House that the cast and chased metal work equals that of Gouthiere.
Prior to Sheraton's day pieces of lesser magnificence than those executed for noblemen's mansions were painted in the Hepplewhite style, and the use of satin-wood was becoming popular. Sheraton came to London in 1790, and died in 1804, so that his influence as a designer extended only over a period of fourteen years. He found a rapidly in- creasing love for the elegance of the French designers, and he identified himself so much with boudoir art that many of his designs might well be taken as original French conceptions. The lathe is used more freely in Sheraton chairs and tables than by his forerunners. His details have a charm and delicacy unsurpassed in English design. In comparison with Hepplewhite he had a finely developed sense of proportion. Grace and symmetry are never wanting in his designs. He held very sound views in regard to ornament which in his work was never meaningless. It is part of the construction, and never appears to be an afterthought. It is reticent and subdued, but possesses a beauty which successive generations of connoisseurs have acclaimed.
The Drawing-Book tells its own story. The "Conversation Chairs" and Sofa (p. 3) require a word of explanation. The chairs were used by gentlemen who sat astride with the back of the chair facing the sofa, the seat of honour. The top of the chair was used for leaning upon. The backs for Parlour Chairs (p. 4) exhibit a rare delicacy of finely proportioned ornament. The delicacy of detail is exemplified in the Elbows for Drawing-Room Chairs (p. 7), and the Chair Legs (p. 8) in- dicate something more detailed in carving than is usually associated with Sheraton by collectors and students familiar only with the satin-wood examples of table legs of tapering form, with no carving, but dependent on inlay for their decoration. In the Card Tables and the Kidney Table (p. 13), one sees at once the touch of Sheraton. Chippendale would not have produced such a design as the kidney table with its novel form and its bowed fronts, and slender grace and elegance. Hepplewhite was too studied and painstaking to have conceived so original a design. Similarly
xii THOMAS SHERATON
in the borders for Pier Tables, Sheraton is as bold and original in his marqueterie design as was Chippendale in his carving in mahogany.
In regard to the elaborate mechanical devices in dressing tables and library furniture, it is possible that Shearer, who was a past master in such inventions, may have followed out these designs of Sheraton, and he probably had an influence on Sheraton in their conception.
The painted panel of the Hepplewhite school found its ideal in such examples as the Ornament for a Table (p. 14) with the fine figures of Venus and Adonis.
In regard to the painting of Sheraton's furniture by Angelica Kauf- mann, there is room for considerable scepticism, as Sheraton did not come to London till 1 790, and Angelica, on her marriage with Zucchi, left England in 1781, and resided in Rome till 1795.
A series of Bookcase Doors (pp. 20 and 21) exhibits Sheraton's originality of idea, and the leaves in carving show a grace and firmness of touch unapproached by Hepplewhite in his Prince of Wales's feathers.
The "Horse Dressing Glass" (p. 32) still retained in the word " Cheval " is merely a term denoting a larger size, made familiar in such phrases as horse-play, horse-laugh, horse-chestnut.
The Sideboard and Sideboard Table (p. 34) show graceful lines and curves not before introduced into English furniture, and essentially belong- ing to the school of designers founded by Sheraton.
In the Designs for Household Furniture the chairs depart in marked manner from the grace and symmetry of Sheraton's earlier forms. They mark his decadent period when he came under the influence of the Napoleonic modes in French furniture, and they betray, what is rare in Sheraton, a slight want of balance. Some of his Library Tables (notably that illustrated, p. 94) exhibit powerful design and well-balanced proportions.
As a summary of Sheraton's style, it may be advanced that he imparted to furniture a subtlety and elegance which broke away from the old traditions of the school of carvers. Robert Adam regarded furniture as an adjunct to his architectural details. He made the lines of his furniture designs subservient to the scheme of decoration. Away from its environment Adam furniture is hard and lacks repose. Sheraton designed furniture for the love of his art. His style is rich with piquant suggestiveness. In colour it is alluring, in form it is elegant and refined, and full of artistic surprises. The dainty boudoir was his by conquest. His furniture belongs to the age of the insipidities of the Bartolozzi school of stipple engraving, and to the finnicking mannerisms of the days of colour prints. His colour schemes found favour with Mrs Siddons, Mrs Fitzherbert, and Lady Hamilton. His importations from France, the pseudo-classicism of the court of Marie Antoinette, took root here as something new. But in spite of the source
THOMAS SHERATON xiii
of his inspiration there is an originality of treatment which marks his style as distinctive, and stamps Sheraton as a master designer. There is much which may some day be discovered by research relating to firms such as Gillow and others, for whom Sheraton designed ; at present his work for contemporary cabinet-makers is lost in a crowded and prolific period. One is on sure ground when studying his published books of designs. Be- yond this Sheraton's actual work is largely conjectural. But his influence in English furniture design is permanent.
ARTHUR HAYDEN.
THE CABINET-MAKER AND UPHOLSTERER'S DRAWING-BOOK
THE
CABINET-MAKER
AND
UPHOLSTERER'S
DRAWING-BOOK.
IN FOUR PARTS.
BY
THOMAS SHERATON.
CABINET-MAKER.
Recommended by many Workmen of the First Abilities in London who have themselves inspected the Work.
THE THIRD EDITION REVISED,
And the whole Embellished with 122 Elegant Copper-Plates.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET,
FOR W. BAYNES (SUCCESSOR TO G. TERRY), 54, PATERNOSTER ROW.
SOLD ALSO BY J. ARCHER, DUBLIN, AND ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS.
l802
..
CABINET-MAKERS AND UPHOLSTERERS
IN GENERAL
GENTLEMEN, preceding &?&* rawing-book
words to
uef prefice <
Therefore, what I have fu h r l^av in rV " A 2 °' "^ *" ™de«aking. account of my plan> and %£ £* yo tl d ff* '"''I be » «!™ "* other books which have been published fo,h d.'ffere"« b««een this and makers and Upholsterers PUW'Shed for the ass.stance and use of Cabinet-
But none of these, as far as I kno« °,pu™ld' have already appeared. to the art of making perl «fve d±,f ' " ^ "7 ««"-«"• «te^ lines as ought to Jkno™ ^ by per so" of h Th '° T' °f SUCh Seom«™al of them as have a number of men u°d r1h /™ °°S> ^"^ such books given accurate patterns aTlare fo e"10n- N°r have th«"
*e various pieces ofLrk !£&££%££ T^ ""^ Such patterns are also highly necessarv T t Cabmet bra"ch.
sufficiently qualify themselel faS , SZ " tW,Wh° W°U'd of anythmg they meet with, or are required to f ' °f rCgUlar drawing.
would this performance answer so lei 1 tO, ,draw f r °*«»- Nor indeed without them. I hope, therefore , hit %""' °f S Drawing-book
Applied in the following work and ha " TK' eSrCC the abo™ defect is »«t to the real va.ue and usefulness f he Cah *%??*"* " m enha— Drawing-Book to be furnished wha ^S^T t "" Uph°lsterer>s serve, both for the purpose of the learner In?, ' • Or"amentS "S sha" who have occasion to ^dorn thefrt0 3SS1St thC "
jus, o7
Pushed befofe
XX
PREFACE
appearance of the furniture, for there is no date to it ; but the title informs us that it was composed by a Society of Cabinet-makers : London. It gives no instructions for drawing in any form, but we may venture to say that those who drew the designs wanted a good share
teaching themselves.
Chippendale's book seems to be next in order to this, but the rmer is without comparison to it, either as to size or real merit. Chippendale s book has, it is true, given us the proportions of the Five Orders, and lines for two or three cases, which is all it pretends to relative to rules for drawing : and, as for the designs themselves, they are now wholly antiquated and laid aside, though possessed of great merit, according to the times in which they were executed. But it may here be remarke< to his credit, that although he has not given rules for drawing in ' per- spective himself yet he was sensible of their importance, and use in designing, and therefore he says in his preface : " Without some know- ledge of the rules of perspective, the cabinet-maker cannot make the designs of his work intelligible, nor shew, in a little compass, the whole conduct and effect of the piece. These, therefore, referring to architecture also, ought to be carefully studied by every one who would excel in this branch, since they are the very soul and basis of his art."
After Chippendale's work there appeared, in the year sixty-five, a book of designs for chairs only, though it is called "The Cabinet-Maker's real Friend and Companion," as well as the Chairmaker's. This publica- tion professes to shew their method of striking out all kinds of bevel- work, by which, as the author says, the most ignorant person will be immediately acquainted with what many artists have served seven years to know. But this assertion both exceeds the bounds of modesty and truth, since there is nothing in his directions for bevel-work, which he parades so much about, but what an apprentice boy may be taught by seven hours' proper instructions. With respect to the geometrical view of the Five Orders which he has given, these are useful, and the only thing in his book which at this day is worthy notice ; as all his chairs are nearly as old as Chippendale's, and seem to be copied from them.
The succeeding publication to this seems to be Ince's and Mayhew's Book of Designs in Cabinet and Chair Work, with three plates, containing some examples of foliage ornaments, intended for the young designer to copy from, but which can be of no service to any learner now, as they are
1 This is strictly true of the third edition of Chippendale's book ; but the first edition of it, printed in 1754, has given two chairs, a dressing-table, and a book-case in perspective, shewing the lines for drawing them. But why these examples were not continued in the succeeding editions I know not. In the last edition of any work, we naturally expect to see it in its best state, having received its last revisal from the author, or some other hand equal to the task ; and therefore it can never be thought unfair for a reader to form his judgment of a book from the last impression. I hope, therefore, this will sufficiently apologise for the above observation.
PREFACE xxi
to, aS 3re Wh°"y laid aside in <he cabi"« Branch,
to the present taste.
The designs in cabinets and chairs are, of course, of the same cast
may "1 r SferCd ;hYamC foe- Yet' !n *»*« (° *« work U o Chtp d le's Th he" ' °f meHt " "S d^' th°USh much '"ftri"
maste^in t! desfgnf W3S " ^ "i** 3S -11 ^ — ««•"« -"- In looking over Ince's book I observed two card-tables with
T she7,g the manner °f ded^ zZnSzz
are a useful attempt ; but certain it is to me from some-
lncr^T that "° PerS°" Can ha™ '^ -^'e« - ITntanc - principles of perspective, merely from seeing two or three line, joined to a plate, without proper instructions by letter-press I, i ue
holsterlr-fGuT"'788 ™ Published- " The Cabinet-maker's and Up-
se books now mentioned, and will appear to
xxii PREFACE
be on as lasting a foundation as can well be expected in a work of this kind. For instance, the first part, which provides the workman with geometrical lines, applied to various purposes in the cabinet branch, cannot be subject to alteration any more than the principles of reason itself. The same may be said of Perspective ; the subject of the second part. This art, being founded on Geometry and Optics, may be improved in its practice but its fundamental principles can never be altered, any more than the nature of vision itself.
As to the designs in furniture contained in part third, these are indeed liable to change ; nor is it in the power of any man to provide against it, by making such drawings as will always be thought new. Yet the instruc- tions given on the manufacturing part being founded on real experience and practice, will be much the same at all times. It also adds to the usefulness of the designs, that I have in general given their geometrical dimensions, either laid down on the ground, or other scale lines adapted for that purpose, or else described in the letterpress. So that no person, however ignorant of perspective, can easily mistake the perspective for the geometrical measurements, or be at any loss to know the general sizes of such pieces as shall be introduced.
In proceeding however, with the first edition, I found that to give scales for the perspective heights and widths could not be done, in many instances, without encumbering the designs in such a way as greatly to hurt their appearance. To remove this inconvenience, and to assist those who have a little knowledge of perspective, in obtaining the true measure- ments of such designs or engravings as may have no scales to them, I have shewn, in the perspective part, that this may be easily done, by finding the vanishing points and distance, and tracing their visuals forward to the ground line. In the first edition this is done at the end of the Appendix, because its usefulness did not strike me till I came to that part of the work.
With respect to mouldings and various ornaments, the subject of the fourth part, it is granted that these are of a changeable kind. Yet it is pretty evident that materials for proper ornaments are now brought to such perfection as will not, in future, admit of much, if any, degree of improvement, though they may, by the skill and touch of the ingenious hand, be varied, ad infinitum, to suit any taste at any time.
Lastly, I would entreat leave gratefully to acknowledge the general encouragement I have been favoured with in going through the first edition : and though my vast expense has deprived me of the emolu- ment that might have been expected for so numerous a subscription, yet it is some consolation to be conscious that I have spared no expense, nor withheld anything in my power to do the work justice, and give satisfaction to the public.
PREFACE
XXlll
And I have the additional happiness to know, from several testi- monies, the full approbation that the work has obtained in the judgment of the candid and skilful. And, notwithstanding the ill nature of some, who hate to speak well of anything but their own productions, I only wish that a comparison be made with any other book hitherto published for the use of Cabinet-makers and Upholsterers, and then it will suffi- ciently speak for itself.
And now, in going through this third edition, it is still my steady intention to contribute as much as I can towards improving the work, and rendering it as complete as is in the power of,
Gentlemen,
Tour humble Servant,
THOMAS SHERATON.
CONTENTS
THE CABINET-MAKER
Basin Stands, Corn, r
Bed, Alcove,
Bed, Design for, .
Bed, Duchesse,
Bed, Elliptic, for a single ladv| Bed, English State, Bed, French State, Bed-steps, . Bed, Sofa,
Bookcase, Cylinder Desk Bookcase and Secretary, ' Bookcase, Cylinder Desk, Bookcase and Writing Drawers Bookcase Doors, Bookcase Doors, Box, Lady's Travel line Cabinet, Cabinet,
Capital Tuscan Entablature and, Cases, knife, Chairs, Conversational, Chairs, Backs for Parlour Chairs, Backs for Painted, Chairs, Drawing-room, Chairs, Drawing-room, Chairs, Drawing-room, Chairs, Parlour, Chair Legs, .
Chairs, Splads for Painted and Mahogany Elb°WS '«
Chamber Horse,
Chest, Dressing, .
Chest, Dressing, .
Clock Cases, .
Commode,
Commode, Dressing Table
Cornices for Friezes,
Cornices for Windows,
Cupboard, Pot,
Drapery, Window,
Drawing-room Ends,
Drawing-room Sides,
Drawing-room, Prince of Wales's Chinese
"wt0
Fire Screens, Horse, Fire Screens, Tripod, Five Orders, The, . Frieze, Ornament for, Girandoles, . Glass, Horse Dressing,
SHERATON
AND UPHOLSTERER'S DRAWING-BOOK
I' ACE 23
47 45 45 44 42
44
22
43 46
48 15 14
12
I7
20 21 26 II 28
13
II
56 36
3 4 5 i
9
10
9
Leaves, Various Ornamental Legs for Pier and Card Tables, Library Case,
Night Tables, Corner
Ornaments, .
Panel, Ornament for painted
Parlour, Dining, .
Pedestal, Tuscan, .
Pediments for Bookcases
Pilaster, Cornice and Frieze for
Pilasters for Commodes,
Pulpit, Design for,
Secretary, Gentleman's,
Secretary, Lady's, with carved front
Secretary, Lady's, .
Sideboard with Vase Knife Cases, \
Sprns for
6
7
2 12 28 29 14
41 If)
49 53 3° 37 38
39
40
xxv
Sofa, Drawing-room,
Sofa, Drawing-room,
Steps, Library Table and,
Stool, Gouty,
Table, Bidet Dressing, .
Table, Borders for Pier,
Tables, Borders for Pier
Tables, Card,
Tables, Centres for Pembroke
lable, Cylinder Wash-hand, .
Table, Drawing-room,
Table, Drawing-room,
Table, Dressing, .
Table, Harlequin Pembroke,
Table, Horse Dressing-glass and Writini
Table, Inlaid Ornamental, Design for
lable, Kidney,
Table, Lady's Dressing Writing,
lable, Lady's combined Dressing
lable, Lady's Dressing,
Table, Lady's Cabinet Writing,
Tables, Lady's Dressing,
Tables, Lady's Work,
Table, Library,
Table, Library, with Secretary Drawers, '.
lable, Library, and Steps combined,
lable, Pembroke, .
Table, Pier, . . ]
Table, Screen,
Table, Universal, .
Table, Writing, .
Wardrobe,
Washstand,
PAGE 20 49 25 17 22
23
54
5° 56
• 56 55 5° 52 56 25
30 35
35
34
34
i
3
36 36
22 15
16
55 24 ii
12
27 32 14
13
12
29 26
3°
33 18
36
. 33 10
3°
27
12
37 3°
XXVI
CONTENTS
DESIGNS FOR HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE
Bed, Alcove, . Bed, Camp, . Bed, Canopy, Bed, Canopy, Bed, Design for, . Bed, Design for, . Bed, Design for, . Bed, Design for, . Bed, French, . Bed, French, . Bed, Grecian, Bed, Sofa, Bed, State, . Bed, Swinging Crib, Bookcase, Bookcase, Bookcase, Bookcase, Bookcase, Bureau,
Bookcase, Cylinder,
Bookcase, Doors, .
Bookcase, Moung,
Bookcase, Secretary and,
Bookcase, Secretary and,
Bookcase, Secretary and,
Bookcase, Sister's Cylinder,
Buffet, .
Cabinet,
Cabinet,
Case, Library.
Chair, Bed, .
Chair, Bergere,
Chair, Cabriolet Arm, .
Chair, Camp,
Chair, Conversation,
Chair, Corridor, .
Chairs, Drawing-room, .
Chair, Drawing-room, .
Chair, Drawing-room, .
Chair, Drawing-room, .
Chair, Easy or Tub,
Chair, Fauteuil, .
Chair, Hunting, .
Chair, Masonic,
Chairs, Nelson's, . Chairs, Parlour, Chairs, Parlour, Chairs, Parlour, Chairs, Parlour, Chairs, Parlour, Chair, Reading, Commode, . Commode, Dressing, Couches, Grecian, . Curricules, Draperies, Window,
|
"5 ii9 116 117 108 |
Draperies, Window, Draperies, Window, Draperies, Window, Draperies, New French Window, . Draperies, Window and Pier Glass, |
122 • 125 127 124 120 |
|
109 no |
Drapery, Window, . Drapery, New Window, . |
I 2O . 123 Of |
|
in |
Fire Screen, . |
S5 |
|
112 |
Fire Screen, Tripod, |
84 fiA |
|
jj , |
Herculaneums, |
. |
|
114 |
Light, Chinese, |
. 107 |
|
I2O |
Light, Gothic, |
lO? |
|
118 |
Mouldings for Architraves, . |
128 Q |
|
119 IOO |
Mouldings for Cornices, Pillars for Tables, . • • |
128 . 128 |
|
101 |
Secretary, Gentleman's, . |
90 |
|
IO2 |
Sideboard, |
72 |
|
Sideboard, ..•••• |
73 |
|
|
93 |
Sideboard, ..-••• |
74 . £ |
|
103 |
Sideboard, |
76 |
|
106 |
Side-table, |
73 |
|
93 |
Side-table, |
75 i~ £. |
|
97 |
Side-table, . |
76 |
|
s 1 98 |
Sofa, Grecian, |
69 |
|
99 |
Sofas, . |
7° £ H |
|
Steps, Library, |
67 AQ |
|
|
85 |
Table, Camp, |
Oo |
|
*} 79 |
Table, Cylinder Writing, |
84 f |
|
80 |
Table, Dining, |
96 |
|
104 |
Table, Dressing, . |
92 |
|
67 |
Table, Gentleman's Shaving, . |
91 |
|
68 |
Table, Horse-shoe Writing, . |
91 |
|
67 |
Table, Lady's Writing and Dressing, |
81 |
|
/ 68 |
Table, Lady's Writing and Dressing, |
82 |
|
69 |
Table, Lady's Writing, . |
9° |
|
69 |
Table, Lady's Work, . |
88 |
|
64 |
Table, Lady's Work, |
89 Q/T |
|
65 |
Table, Library, |
86 |
|
66 |
Table, Library, . . • |
93 |
|
126 |
Table, Library, |
94 |
|
67 |
Table, Loo, . |
87 |
|
67 |
Table, Occasional, |
91 |
|
67 |
Table, Octagon Library, |
95 |
|
68 |
Table, Pembroke, . |
92 |
|
68 |
Table, Pier, |
77 |
|
63 |
Table, Pier, |
78 |
|
64 |
Table, Pier, .... |
83 |
|
65 |
Table, Pouch, |
89 0 |
|
66 |
Table, Quartette, |
8O |
|
67 |
Table, Sofa, . |
85 |
|
68 |
Table, Sofa |
86 |
|
78, 79 |
Table, Sofa, . |
87 |
|
83 |
Table, Sofa Writing, |
88 |
|
Waiters, Dumb, .... |
. 82, 90 |
|
|
69 |
Wash-hand Stands, Corner, . |
84 |
|
121 |
SHERATON
Drawing- Room Chairs and Sofa
SHERATON
Chaises Longues
SHERATON
Conversation Chairs and Sofa
SHERATON
Backs for Parlour Chairs
SHERATON
Backs for Painted Chairs
SHERATON
Splads for Painted and Mahogany Chairs
SHERATON
U
s
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13 C oj
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3
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\
SHERATON
Chair Legs
SHERATON
Three Parlour Chairs and a Drawing-room Chair
10
SHERATON
Drawing-room Chairs and Pier Tables
II
SHERATON
A Drawing Table, a Cabinet, and Tripod Candlestands
12
SHERATON
A Commode Dressing Table, a Chamber-horse, a Lady's Dressing Writing Table a Writing Table, and a Cylinder Desk and Bookcase
SHERATON
Card Tables, Lady's Cabinet, showing inside fittings, and a Kidney Table
SHERATON
Ornament for a Table, Secretary and Bookcase, and Clock Cases
SHERATON
Border for a Pier Table, and a Cylinder Desk and Bookcase
i6
SHERATON
— V
HI
Borders for Pier Tables
SHERATON
Bookcase and Writing Drawers, Drawing Table, Lady's Secretary with carved front,
and Library Steps and Pembroke Table
,s
SHERATON
A Library Table and a Lady's Dressing Commode
'9
SHERATON
Horse Fire Screens and a Library Table with Secretary Drawers
20
SHERATON
Various Leaves and Bookcase Doors
SHERATON
21
Bookcase Doors
22
SHERATON
&
m
'• * /.'(' •
•^sUfff^ '<.
;
New Bed-steps, a Bidet Dressing Table, and a Night-Table Basin-stand
SHERATON
Corner Basin-stands and Corner Night Tables
SHERATON
Tripod Fire Screens and a Cylinder Wash-hand Table
SHERATON
A Gentleman's Secretary and a Library Case
26
SHERATON
Dressing Table and a Lady's Travelling Box
SHERATON
The Universal Table and a Harlequin Pembroke Table
28
SHERATON
A Cabinet and a Dressing Chest
29
SHERATON
A Lady's Combined Dressing Table and a Dressing Chest
SHERATON
Lady's Cabinet and Writing Table, and Lady's Dressing Table
SHERATON
A Screen Table, a Wash Stand, a Lady's Secretary, a Pot Cupboard
SHERATON
Horse Dressing Glass and Writing Table, Horse Dressing Glass, and a Lady's Writing Table
SHERATON
Ladies' Work-Tables and a Pembroke Table
34
SHERATON
Sideboard, showing Spring for Secret Drawer, and a Sideboard Table
35
SHERATON
Sideboard with Vase Knife-cases, and Sideboard with Mahogany Vase
underneath to hold Bottles
SHERATON
A Gouty Stool, Knife-cases, and Library Steps and Table
SHERATON
37
A Wardrobe, and Cornices, Curtains, and Drapery for Drawing-Room Windows
SHERATON
The Two Ends of a Drawing-Room
SHERATON
39
V. 1
The Two Sides of a Drawing-Room
4o
SHERATON
A View of the Prince of Wales's Chinese Drawing-Room View of south end of same Room
SHERATON
<u
T3 O
6
S
o
U
SHERATON
An English State Bed
44
SHERATON
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be
c
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o3
T3 V
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G 03
13
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[XH
43
SHERATON
A Sofa Bed
45
SHERATON
46
SHERATON
i. I I •- t.\,v ^ w ^ b v * t
A Summer Bed in two Compartments
47
SHERATON
An Alcove Bed
SHERATON
Bed Pillars
SHERATON
'£fs-~ *''"••. 1.4. '•\V*W. *"«•«••*•' r
Ornament for a Painted Panel, Girandoles, and a Cornice and Frieze for a Pilaster
SHERATON
tw&l
f- >. J y
Cornices for Friezes, and Legs for Pier and Card Tables
SHERATON
51
52
SHERATON
i
"Hi
Pilasters for Commodes
53
SHERATON
Window Cornices
54
SHERATON
Specimens of Ornament for the exercise of Learners
55
SHERATON
Pediments for Bookcases, and Centres for Pembroke Tables
SHERATON
A Dining Parlour, in imitation of the Prince of Wales's, a Pulpit, Tuscan Pedestal, Tuscan Entablature and Capital
SHERATON
THE FIVE ORDERS
57
L.-
Tuscan
Doric
Ionic Composite or Corinthian
Roman
DESIGNS FOR HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE
DESIGNS
FOR .
HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE
EXHIBITING A VARIETY OF
ELEGANT AND USEFUL PATTERNS
IN THE
Cabinet, Chair, and Upholstery Branches
ON EIGHTY-FOUR PLATES
BT THE LATE
T. SHERATON
CABINET-MAKER
LONDON
PUBLISHED BY J. TAYLOR
AT THE ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY N°- 59 HIGH HOLBORN
1812
SHERATON
Parlour Chairs
SHERATON
Parlour and Drawing- Room Chairs
SHERATON
Parlour and Drawing- Room Chairs
66
SHERATON
Herculaneums, Drawing-Room and Parlour Chairs
SHERATON
67
A Tub or Easy-Chair A Cabriolet Arm-Chair A Parlour Chair
Library Steps Chair Bed
A Fauteuil Chair A Hunting Chair A Parlour Chair
68
SHERATON
Camp Chair Camp Table Bergere Chair
Masonic Chair Reading Chair
Nelson's Chairs
\
69
SHERATON
Coiridor Chair, Conversation Chair, Curricules, and Grecian Sofa
;o
SHERATON
y. .K. A A /.. .*. A.H. A A A JUV. A A A J
Sofas
SHERATON
Grecian Couches
SHERATON
T3
15 o
c/
SHERATON
73
74
SHERATON
75
SHERATON
u
3
rt
H
76
SHERATON
-
Side-Table and Sideboard
77
SHERATON
Pier Tables
\
SHERATON
A Commode and a Pier Table
79
SHERATON
A Cabinet and a Commode
8o
SHERATON
Cabinet and Quartette Table
8i
SHERATON
Lady's Writing and Dressing Table
SHERATON
Lady's Writing and Dressing Table, and Dumb Waiters
SHERATON
Dressing Commode and Pier Table
SHERATON
3
Corner Wash-hand Stand, Tripod Fire Screen, and Cylinder Writing Table
SHERATON
• -i (UiiiHiininTii raiHi!'i:iT|ii'W[ii'iimniii|ii,ri!riii»iK
Buffet, Fire Screen, and Sofa Table
86
SHERATON
Sofa Table and Library Table
SHERATON
Loo Table and Sofa Table
SHERATON
Ladies' Work Tables and Sofa Writing Table
SHERATON
89
I
r*,.
t
Ladies' Work Tables and Pouch Tables
SHERATON
Dumb Waiters, Gentleman's Secretary, and Lady's Writing Table
SHERATON
Horseshoe Writing Table
IIIJJ111J1J.II
»»»».» iL. J,-> •>_»..£.:*. .
Gentleman's Shaving Table and Occasional Table
SHERATON
Pembroke Table, Dressing Table
93
SHERATON
Bureau Bookcase, Library Tables, and Moving Bookcase
94
SHERATON
Library Table
95
SHERATON
Octagon Library Table
96
SHERATON
\
New Design for a Dining Table
97
SHERATON
unninirniium rrnnum uuvuv A\\\ \Vi\v\\
Secretary and Bookcase
98
SHERATON
Secretary and Bookcase
99
SHERATON
Secretary and Bookcase
100
SHERATON
Bookcase
IOI
SHERATON
Bookcase
IO2
SHERATON
Bookcase
103
SHERATON
Cylinder Bookcase
SHERATON
Bookcase and Library-case
SHERATON
105
OJ t/) oi o
^
o
o
PQ
13
C
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u
4->
C/
io6
SHERATON
Bookcase Doors
SHERATON
Gothic Light
Chinese Light
io8
SHERATON
A New Design for a Bed
log
SHERATON
A New Design for a Bed
110
SHERATON
Design for a Bed
in
SHERATON
Design for a Bed
112
SHERATON
French Bed
SHERATON
French Bed
SHERATON
A Grecian Bed
SHERATON
Alcove Bed
n6
SHERATON
Canopy Bed
117
SHERATON
Canopy Bed
n8
SHERATON
State Bed
SHERATON
A Swinging Crib Bed Camp Bed
I2O
SHERATON
Window and Pier Glass Draperies, and Sofa- Bed
121
SHERATON
Window Draperies
Q3
I 22
SHERATON
Window Draperies
123
SHERATON
New .Window Draperies
I24
SHERATON
New French Window Draperies
125
SHERATON
Window Draperies
126
SHERATON
Window Drapery and Drawing-Room Chair
127
SHERATON
Yv /YVY/T /VW / V / ^Y
Window Drapery
128
SHERATON
Mouldings for Architraves and Window Cornices, and Pillars for Tables
BINDING SECT. HPR39WW
Sheraton, Thomas
The furniture designs
•
•
.
1
*- *~>*"^'
jfn
"* - ..^yj*T.'» -A. *»*•*•'
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