CURRENT LITERATURE
I's is strange that while the passion for collecting old English furniture has produced in the last two decades a prodigious literature, from tie late Mr. Macquoid's monumental works down to the most superficial and " popular " guide books, old foreign fiiiiiiture which has been sought after by connoisseurs for half a century, and, spasmcidiallk, for much- longer, is supported in England by the most meagre library. The present work does not pretend to be an exhaustive account of French furniture so much as a description of the objects' used during the five periods into which the book is divided, from 1610 to 1815, and it includes besides tables and chairs, draperies of every kind, ornaments and china. By fir the most interesting and valuable feature is the series of engravings by such artists as Abraham Bosse and Moreau le Jenne of interiors typical of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries respectively.. Added to these are photographs of actual specimens in the great museums (Mine. Maillard is attachee au Mug& de' Cluny), and in private collections. In the early years under review the French were far ahead of English craftsmen, and it is interesting to observe how, owing to the size of the country, the concen- tration of the rich fireflies about the Court, and more especially the . extreme sumptuousness of the furniture made for them, country styles were 'much less affected by current fashions in France than in England. Mme. Maillard's book, printed in France, is profusely illustrated and contains besides photographs and reproductions • from prints a large number of pen and ink drawings, many of which are poor. The paper is indifferent, the binding somewhat flimsy : there is a bibliography to each chapter but no index, and the book has rather an air of having been hastily flung together:
Previous page
