International studio (24.1904/1905(1905))

Ancient Chairs


grown to look like ivory. Merely to describe some
of these in detail, and to mention some not illus-
trated here, would go far beyond the length of such
an article as this. But children, and what has
belonged to them, always have a great interest.
Notice how carefully the chairs have been built for
them, and their fine architectural construction;
they are firm, like a house that is to resist all
shocks, however violent they may be. The Gothic
one of the fifteenth century is ornamented with a
heart, symbolical of love; and the back of that
of the seventeenth century is formed of hearts
entwined, and was probably a birthday present to
some child. The high chair is of the school of
Lyons; it is a very beautiful specimen of the
French renaissance, and the colour of the wood is
so toned with age that it has the appearance of
Florentine bronze. The child was probably tied

CHAIR

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to the chair, or it was only designed to be
placed at table, for it is so heavy that not even a
very strong child could have succeeded in toppling
it over.
The dolls’ chairs here illustrated are exquisitely
made, with far more thought and attention to
detail than those of the present age. These re-
miniscences of bygone centuries must have been
piously put away by the hands of careful mothers
of those days—hence they have come down to us
in a good state of preservation. These, too, come
from various lands, for Dr. Figdor possesses true
instincts, and in his desire to make his collection
as full as possible he has travelled in distant
countries and searched for himself—taking nothing
on trust. A. S. Levetus.

chair

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342