Let us not be understood, however, as hinting that artistic qualities must be disregarded.  Though furniture should not be chosen for its beauty or associations alone, it must not be considered at all if beauty is absent.

COMFORT, AESTHETIC AND PHYSICAL

The first consideration of the home is comfort.  Let no one dispute that fact.  But there is such a thing as being aesthetically as well as physically comfortable.  Conceptions of physical comfort differ with individuals, but are usually well defined; some of us actually have no conception whatever of aesthetic comfort.  That is no reason why we should not seek it.  Probably we had a very faint idea of what good music or good painting was like until we came to an acquaintance with the masters; but we are surely not sorry to have progressed in experience and feeling.  And so it is that though we may not feel specially urged to insist upon tasteful surroundings, the higher instincts within us that persuade us to make the most of ourselves demand that we shall not be content with mere physical comfort.  Therefore we may need to look a bit beyond our definite inward aspirations, and we should not disdain to follow others so far as they adhere to certain well-authenticated canons of good taste.

OLDER MODELS IN FURNITURE

Study of the older models of furniture is bound to prove suggestive, and it is better to secure from the library or bookseller a book by some authority than to depend upon dealers’ catalogues, which are not always edifying.  English models affecting present-day outfitting date back as far as the Elizabethan period, approximately 1558-1603.  Following there came the Early Jacobean, the Early Queen Anne, and the Georgian.  The last includes the work of Chippendale, Heppelwhite, Sheraton, and the Adams, all of whom executed some beautiful designs.  The so-called colonial furniture belongs also to the Georgian period, as does the “Debased Empire,” corresponding to or following the Empire styles in France.  In the latter country the periods of vogue are known as Francis Premier, Henri Deux, Henri Quatre, Louis Treize, Louis Quatorze, Louis Quinze, and Louis Seize.  Under the designation of the “Quaint style” W. Davis Benn groups the “Liberty,” Morris, and arts and crafts designs.  Mr. Benn’s “Styles in Furniture” will be found helpful in both text and illustration to those who would learn to distinguish between the products of the various periods.

[Illustration:  A Chippendale secretary.]

MAHOGANY AND OAK