Some of these pieces were most elaborate and had intricate machinery to work them. A graceful, classical urn of wood, touched on the right spot, would open and disclose a basin and ewer, while a writing-table could be unfolded into a lady's dressing-table with folding glasses, and boxes for the necessary powder, pomatum, brushes and pins.
[Illustration: Figure 30. HEPPLEWHITE CHAIRS.]
To Thomas Shearer we are indebted for that useful article, the sideboard, which has assumed such a variety of forms, and among his designs were dressing, card, and tea-tables, of many styles, and various desks, but he designed no chairs. Many of his pieces bear a close resemblance to those of Sheraton. Between the severity of the latest period of Chippendale and the dainty designs of Sheraton, Shearer and Hepplewhite find their place, though neither of them ever approached in beauty of design, or in popularity, Chippendale who preceded them or Sheraton who succeeded them.
A. Hepplewhite's book, "The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, or Repository of Designs for Every Article of Household Furniture in the Newest and Most Approved Taste," was published in 1789 and contained three hundred designs for pieces of furniture which have been so often copied that they have grown familiar to us. His chairs are extremely pretty, but, unlike those of Chippendale, who sought solidity and careful construction, Hepplewhite's chairs were so faulty and fragile in construction that they broke easily. Up to this time the splat had joined the back of the chair and served to make it much stronger, but Hepplewhite never brought it down to the seat, usually having it curved and joining the side rails three or four inches above the seat.
There are more pieces of Hepplewhite furniture in America than one is aware of. His chairs are by no means uncommon, and are very easily recognized by their peculiar backs. His tables, with the delicate inlay and slender tapering legs, as also his sideboards, are frequently called by the name of his great successor, Sheraton, and even in England the two makers are frequently confused. He had a specialty of his own,--that of japanned or lacquered furniture, and the patterns he most frequently employed were fruit and flowers on a black ground. Paintings such as these were taught to young ladies as an accomplishment at school, and no doubt many of them tried their "prentice" hands on some nice old mahogany piece as soon as they got home.