The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-28
RARE BITS OF OLD FURNITURE
FEATURES OF TIE MACY COLLEC-
TON SOON TO BE SOLD.


some C~hippendaIe Pieces or Unusual Beauty
"a Card Table valued At el,BOO tho
Gem OF the Collection Blue and
white CHINA Pieces Also on View.
A collection Of antique furniture which
will interest all lovers OF art Is now to be put
on the market. W. Starbuck Macy, whose
hobby was antique furniture. has been
compelled to sail for Europe ON account Of
I'll health and tho pieces he took 90 many
years TO collect are to be sold at auction
during the week Of the Horse Show.
Such antique English and American
furniture has never been offered in New
York, and the feature of this collection In
the fact thatft was brought together by a
man who was an artist long before he ever
became a dealer.
He continued to buy as an artist. and thus
1t happens that every piece OF furniture
in the collection possesses some unique
feature. ..
An urn table by Chippendale in his most
delicate and graceful style would never
have appealed to Mr.. Macy but for the
quaint little shelf TO hold the teacup which
draws out from the side OF the table and 10
. rarely met feature. A Chippendale desk
seemed remarkable to him not only for
its graceful lines Inc fidelity to the best
specimens OF the designers work. but
on account OF the wa II shows the delight
Chippendale took in trying to use every biz
OF available space for one Of his favorite
c~ontrtvances.
u there is q shelf that mysteriously
draws out from one side Of the desk to hold
the candlesticks, On the other side is
another shelf which might not have been
suspected but for the little brass ring by
which IL can be drawn into place to hold
books. Then the pad on which the writing
Is to be done Is supplied With a clasp by
which IL a be lifted to an angle.
The gem Of the collection 10 probably a
piecrust mahogany card table valued at
$500 and made by Chippendale about
l7oO. II 10 not only beautiful in itself and.
like all the pieces in the collection, in It's
original condition, but unique in decora-
ton. In place OF the usual simple border
on the top there Is an deliberately carved
rococo border Of a Greek character.
This border OF carving is an inch and q
half broad. and, extending about the entire
top of the table, gives an effect Of unusual
richness. The mahogany is naturally Of
the deep bronze color. and its shade is not
the result Of the staining to which dealers
ordinarily submit most old furniture. This
piece came into the hands Of Mr.. Macy
directly from the family by which il was
brought to South Carolina from England
1t is a striking contrast TO the simplicity
Of the second most valuable piece in the
collection, which is an American made
highboy, dating from the end Of the eigh-
tenth century. Its most striking features
are the beautiful ball and claw feet and the
bonnet top.
Another highboy Of native manufacture
has the unusual combination of the ball and
claw feet and q straight block front. This
combination In made more interesting by
the use Of the bonnet, which. like the ball
and claw foot, rarely goes with the block
front.
Two side chairs Of Gothic ~Chippendae
are made from the dark mahogany in such
general use at the time and SO different In
shade from the modern attempts to repro
duce IL. These two chairs, which are fine
enough to be museum pieces, we're acquired
by Mr.. Macy in this country.
A rare pattern Of a C~hippendale arm
chair is In very dark wood. with the she'll
pattern and the garlands Of husks beauti-
fully carved Oh It. A Hogarth settee or
double armchair is earlier than most Of the
furniture and belongs TO the period compre-
hensively classified as Hanoverian. There
are two Hogarth chairs which, like the
~settee, are spoon backed, which means
that the carved wooden backs are CONVEX
and not concave. The birds heads char
acteristio Of this period appear in the
elaborate backs.
III collection IL especially rich in desks
and card tables. Severalof the simpler Chip
pendaBe desks are provided With many sur
prises Of the kind described above, but no
two OF them are exactly alike. The rarest
specimen Of them all has a swelled front of a
size that Is seldom seen. The ball and claw
feet are much larger than common, and the
carving on the inside Of the cabinet 10 unique
in It's elaborateness. There is not a section
Of the interior that has escaped the artists
attention. The tiny drawers, the compart-
ment for the ink and the writing pad are
ornamented with beading or more elaborate
garnitune.
Two Of these old Chippendale desks are
charmlngly simple in detail. with rolling
covers made with more care than they are
by the most expensive workers to-day.
Among the card tables is one OF Colonial
origin. quantity ornamented with four
small glass inlays showing a gold mytho-
logical figure on a black grOund-painted OF
course on the back Of the glass.
Most valuable among these tables IL a
specimen Of Chinese C~hippendale with only
the bamboo legs and borders to show the
origin OF the pieces. These legs are SPLEEN
did specimens OF C~hippendale.
What Is regarded as the finest specimen Of
a Chippendale clock ever offered here Is
also In this collection. which includes but
few timepieces 80 large. The detail In the
carving Of this specimen is highly character
istic Of the ~Chippendale style and the Chi
nese influence which showed itself 30 much
in all OF this designing work is shown by
the inlays OF gold on q background Of black
glass.
The ~ChIppendale mirrors in the collection
rae beautiful specimens OF the makers
most 100000 efforts. One shows a bird
Of paradise at the top OF the mirror
resting on q crossing OF the branches that
form the frame. while the other In the Chinese
style has q frame composed OF water falling
over rocks. The most elaborate Ornamental
ton on this mirror frame is at the bottom