ticable under any other
conditions. In comparing the decorative work on Chinese and Japanese
furniture, it may be said that more eccentricity is effected by the latter
than by the former in their designs and general decorative work. The
Japanese joiner is unsurpassed, and much of the lattice work, admirable in
design and workmanship, is so quaint and intricate that only by close
examination can it be distinguished from finely cut fret work.

Indian Furniture.

European influence upon Indian art and manufactures has been of long
duration; it was first exercised by the Portuguese and Dutch in the early
days of the United East India Company, afterwards by the French, who
established a trading company there in 1664, and since then by the
English, the first charter of the old East India Company dating as far
back as 1600. Thus European taste dominated almost everything of an
ornamental character until it became difficult to find a decorative
article the design of which did not in some way or other shew the
predominance of European influence over native conception. Therefore it
becomes important to ascertain what kind of furniture, limited as it was,
existed in India during the period of the Mogul Empire, which lasted from
1505 to 1739, when the invasion of the Persians under Kouli Khan destroyed
the power of the Moguls; the country formerly subject to them was then
divided amongst sundry petty princes.

The thrones and State chairs used by the Moguls were rich with elaborate
gilding; the legs or supports were sometimes of turned wood, with some of
the members carved; the chair was formed like an hour glass, or rather
like two bowls reversed, with the upper part extended to form a higher
back to the seat. In M. Racinet's sumptuous work, "Le Costume Historique,"
published in Paris in 20 volumes (1876), there are reproduced some old
miniatures from the collection of M. Ambroise Didot. These represent--with
all the advantages of the most highly finished printing in gold, silver,
and colours--portraits of these native sovereigns seated on their State
chairs, with the umbrella, as a sign of royalty. The panels and ornaments
of the thrones are picked out with patterns of flowers, sometimes detached
blossoms, sometimes the whole plant; the colors are generally bright red
and green, while the ground of a panel or the back of a chair is in
silver, with arabesque tracery, the rest of the chair being entirely gilt.
The couches a