er of exhibitors was some 17,000, of whom over 3,000 received
prize and council medals; and the official catalogue, compiled by Mr.
Scott Russell, the secretary, contains a great many particulars which are
instructive reading, when we compare the work of many of the firms of
manufacturers, whose exhibits are therein described, with their work of
the present day.

The _Art Journal_ published a special volume, entitled "The Art Journal
Illustrated Catalogue," with woodcuts of the more important exhibits, and,
by the courtesy of the proprietors, a small selection is reproduced, which
will give the reader an idea of the design of furniture, both in England
and the chief Continental industrial centres at that time.

With regard to the exhibits of English firms, of which these illustrations
include examples, little requires to be said, in addition to the remarks
already made in the preceding chapter, of their work previous to the
Exhibition. One of the illustrations, however, may be further alluded to,
since the changes in form and character of the Pianoforte is of some
importance in the consideration of the design of furniture. Messrs.
Broadwood's Grand Pianoforte (illustrated) was a rich example of
decorative woodwork in ebony and gold, and may be compared with the
illustration on p. 172 of a harpsichord, which the Piano had replaced
about 1767, and which at and since the time of the 1851 Exhibition
supplies evidence of the increased attention devoted to decorative
furniture. In the Appendix will be found a short notice of the different
phases through which the ever-present piano has passed, from the virginal,
or spinette--of which an illustration will be found in "A Sixteenth
Century Room," in Chapter III.--down to the latest development of the
decoration of the case of the instrument by leading artists of the present
day. Mr. Rose, of Messrs. Broadwood, whose firm was established at this
present address in 1732, has been good enough to supply the author with
the particulars for this notice.

Other illustrations, taken from the exhibits of foreign cabinet makers, as
well as those of our English manufacturers, have been selected, being
fairly representative of the work of the time, rather than on account of
their own intrinsic excellence.

It will be seen from these illustrations that, so far as figure carving
and composition are concerned, our foreign rivals, the Italians, Belgians,
Austrians, and French, were far ahead