The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-22

inlay, the number of woods used i.
 surprising, and when you includ,
 veneering also 1t embraces almost ev-
 cry kind that grows.
 For inlaying satin wood was inc
 favorite during the eighteen century, It Is obtained from India, Ceylon and
 the West Indies, and it is the beauti-
 ful sheen Of it's grain that makes it
 attractive,
 Tulip wood, more reddish in tone
 than satin wood, was often used as
 bandings on mahogany; and king
 wood. also somewhat reddish, was
 used much by the French cabinet
 makers of the same period. Lancewood
 was used also as light inlay, and
 "harewood which Is sycamore dyed
 brown was often put into small ob-
 jects like tea caddies and little desks
 to set on table.
 Great carvers usually had some one
 kind of wood which they preferred for their work and which they constantly used. Grinding Gibbons in his mas
 terpieces, like the mirror frames now so eagerly sought, used limewood,
 which was sometimes left in the orig inal gilt as in the Duke of Monmouth's house In Soho Square
 Although Chippendale is credited with the use of mahogany for his carv- ed furniture, yet he chose for his most elaborate pieces q close set pine. which was never left in the original state, but always painted or gilded.
 Smooth surfaced furniture, that is decorated with inlay. not carving, va- ried much in England and on the Con- tinent, The Dutch marquetry work with It's almost universal pattern of tulips or birds and other flowers is too well known to need more than pass ing mention, and the French inlaid work of the great ebonists demands separate consideration
 In England they had tradition that during the latter part of the seven teenth century it was customary to build some piece of furniture on the coming of age. of the heir which should embrace a bit of each kind of wood grown on the estate, This &C., counts for the number of woods to be found in some pieces, burr walnuts, thorn acacia, sycamore. pollard oak, rosewood, pearwood, oak, and English walnut.
 In England rosewood was sometimes used for pianos and occasionally for inlay, but the French and Americans seem to have used 1t more artlstically than the English. Indeed 1t is more a nineteenth century wood than an and its most famous work CT in America was John Better, whose shop was In New York city and who turned out many sets of beautiful carved rosewood, furniture druing the few years he was at work, from 1S44 to 1S4S or 1S49.
 The process he used to produce his deeply curved backs with rich carving on them was to glue the strips togeth- er, bend them by pressure into the de- sired shape and then carve them. The patterns were extremely rich some times vines and leaves, but more often roses or other flowers, and the cov- ering was damask of deep tones and elaborate patterns, some of which sur- vive till this day, There is hardly a pity in the United States to-day where 1 you cannot find at least one set of this l furniture, and It is generally treasured. 1 even if the chairs are not particularly | 
 The use of apple wood for bowls has | been mentioned and occasionally they | Ire to be found still, One belonging 1 .o a rich Dutch vrouw of Schenectady l was marked with her initials and the 1 late 1764 It stands upon slender sil- Ter feet and has silver rim, and the ! wood has acquired beautiful polish | rom age and much rubbing.
 The use of what was known as voodenware in the Colonies was wide- 'pread, and in the diary of Mathew 2atten he states in March, 1755,. that le paid two pounds for the turning # eleven dishes, although he had fur lished the knots himself. After the Inots were turned the women of the household scraped the plates or bowls with bits of broken glass till they were made perfectly smooth. Then hey were rubbed with sandpaper till hey were fine as possible and of a light, yellowish brown color. Americans called them knot bowls, but lbroad they were called mazer bowls, were made from maple wood, some- imes came in sets of three, and were lsed to drink beer from