ppears on p. 193 to give an idea of the fashion of the day; it is evident
from the large looking glass which overhangs the sideboard that the
fashion had now set in to use these mirrors. Some thirty or forty year
later this mirror became part of the sideboard, and in some large and
pretentious designs which we have seen, the sideboard itself was little
better than a support for a huge glass in a heavily carved frame.

The dining tables of this period deserve a passing notice as a step in the
development of that important member of our "Lares and Penates." What was
and is still called the "pillar and claw" table, came into fashion towards
the end of last century. It consisted of a round or square top supported
by an upright cylinder, which rested on a plinth having three, or
sometimes four, feet carved as claws. In order to extend these tables for
a larger number of guests, an arrangement was made for placing several
together. When apart, they served as pier or side tables, and some of
these--the two end ones, being semi-circular--may still be found in some
of our old inns.[17]

[Illustration: Tea Tray.]

[Illustration: Girandole.]

[Illustration: Tea Tray.]

[Illustration: Parlour Chair, with Prince Of Wales' Plumes.]

[Illustration: Pier Table.]

[Illustration: Parlour Chair.]

[Illustration: Designs of Furniture. From Hepplewhite's "Guide," Published
1787.]

[Illustration: Fac-simile of a Page in Hepplewhite's "Cabinet Maker's
Guide." Published In 1787.]

It was not until 1800 that Richard Gillow, of the well-known firm in
Oxford Street, invented and patented the convenient telescopic contrivance
which, with slight improvements, has given us the table of the present
day. The term still used by auctioneers in describing a modern extending
table as "a set of dining tables," is, probably, a survival of the older
method of providing for a dinner party. Gillow's patent is described as
"an improvement in the method of constructing dining and other tables
calculated to reduce the number of legs, pillars and claws, and to
facilitate and render easy, their enlargement and reduction."

[Illustration: Inlaid Tea Caddy and Top of Pier Tables. (_From
"Hepplewhite's Guide"_)]

As an interesting link between the present and the past it may be useful
here to introduce a slight notice of this well-known firm of furniture
manufacturers, for which the writer is indebted to Mr. Clarke, one of the
present partners of Gillow