--ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS.

FIG. 3.--ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS.

FIG. 4.--TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.

FIG. 5.--RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.]

Sir Christopher Wren is reputed to have been carried away by the
influence of the Louis XIV art. It was in that King's reign, too, that
Charles Boule perfected his veneers of tortoiseshell and fine brass
work. Buhl cabinets, fancy boxes, and many smaller objects found their
way into this country, and are now household curios. When Philip of
Orleans was Regent of France Boule introduced vermilion and gold-leaf as
the groundwork upon which to throw up the beauty of tortoiseshell, and
his designs became lavishly extravagant. Of these there are some
beautiful examples extant; one, a facsimile of a bureau made in Paris in
1769, so elaborate that its cost was reputed to have been about L20,000,
is to be seen in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House. In the reign
of Louis XV great encouragement was given to the importation of lacquer
work from China, influencing the creation of similar works in France;
and it was owing to his support that the Vernis Martin enamels or
varnishes were produced. Then came those beautiful paintings of
landscapes with which so many of the rarer household curios dating from
that period were ornamented.

The French style came over the Channel. Thus it was that French
influence, as shown in its art in which its political history was
reflected, permeated into the workshops of England. Then came the
popularity of the designs of the Adam Brothers and Sheraton. During the
Revolution in France art was at a standstill, but as soon as Napoleon
had established his Empire artistic France began again, and we see its
influence in the Empire ornament of furniture and curios. Perhaps one of
the most striking instances of change in style was that in our own
country when the Prince of Orange came over and William and Mary were
crowned King and Queen. Dutch influence on the art of Great Britain was
immediately seen, and in the curios of that period there is a remarkable
difference between those produced at that time, when Englishmen were
content to allow the art of another nation to dominate their work, and
those of an earlier date. Dutch marquetry is seen in cabinets and
smaller household antiques in the manufacture of which panels were
applicable. There was a change in design about the year 1695, just after
Mary died, the characteristic seaweed following the fl