| As the wealth of the Colonies increased, there was a | | | | of that of the old country. The diaries of visitors from |
| gradual introduction of articles of additional comfort, if | | | | foreign lands gave witness to the manner in which |
| not those of some luxury, and the architecture reflects | | | | they were entertained by the leading families of these |
| these conditions in the construction of more | | | | sections. |
| pretentious houses with larger rooms. We also notice | | | | During the first quarter of the eighteenth century, we |
| crude attempts at introducing architectural moldings | | | | find the introduction of new types of furniture and door |
| and ornamentation, with the occasional use of some | | | | toppers as well as a change in the design of the earlier |
| color enrichment. | | | | details. Copies were made of the English William and |
| As the products of the printing press brought drawings | | | | Mary, Queen Anne and pre-Chippendale forms. The |
| and descriptions of the works of the well known | | | | rush seat chairs, having either a splat or banister-back, |
| English architects, such as Sir Christopher Wren, | | | | became exceedingly popular and were made in great |
| Chambers and others to America, an important and | | | | quantities. |
| rather sudden advancement was made in the | | | | The banister-back had a split baluster used as a rail, |
| refinement of architectural detail, both on the interior as | | | | usually with a flat side toward the front. Rocking chairs |
| well as the exterior of houses, and the influence of | | | | and upholstered wing arm chairs were first introduced |
| Classical art becomes strongly felt. The fireplace now | | | | about 1725. The Windsor chair of England was first |
| becomes smaller, but great interest is centered about | | | | made in this country about 1735 and received a much |
| its decoration and the use of academic forms such as | | | | greater development here than it did in England. A |
| pilasters, columns, glass corner protectors, and | | | | great number of forms of the Windsor chair were |
| entablatures, become common, and often unusual and | | | | produced, the principal ones being the loop, hoop, fan, |
| interesting forms were introduced by the local | | | | comb and low-back. Windsor rockers were not |
| carpenters who often constructed these features | | | | introduced until the Revolutionary period. |
| from memory. | | | | The principal difference between the chairs of this |
| The plank walls were superseded at first by an | | | | type and those of similar type made in England was in |
| informal arrangement of paneling, which in turn gave | | | | the kinds of wood used and the additional splay given |
| place to the symmetrical compositions of wall | | | | to the legs. The majority of American Windsors were |
| treatment that were typical of Georgian England. The | | | | painted and none of the early ones were made in |
| practice of covering the interior partitions with the | | | | mahogany. The colors used were often vivid greens |
| woodwork, allowing the inside of the exterior walls of | | | | and reds or blacks, often made to match ornamental |
| the house to be covered in plaster, persisted for many | | | | pediment. |
| years, and the introduction of wallpaper was a | | | | There were four types of bed design and they are |
| convenient method of enriching the plaster surfaces. | | | | characterized today by the terms four-poster, |
| The wood paneling was treated in light colored paints. | | | | low-poster, tent and sleigh, the last named being |
| This unbalanced treatment of the different sides of the | | | | introduced during the first quarter of the nineteenth |
| same room lasted until the beginning of the nineteenth | | | | century. The use of high-boys, low-boys and |
| century. The wide plank floors of the early type of | | | | chests-on-chests closely followed their introduction in |
| room eventually gave place to oak flooring in strip and | | | | England. |
| parquet patterns. Elements besides English were found | | | | Philadelphia seemed to have been the main center of |
| in other portions of the country. | | | | manufacture of this type of furniture, although a local |
| Flemish and Dutch features were often prominent in | | | | form, known as the "block front," was developed in |
| buildings in Southern New York, Long Island and New | | | | New England by John Goddard of Newport, Rhode |
| Jersey, and we find French elements of interior | | | | Island. The influence of Chippendale eventually became |
| decoration copied in many localities of the South. Due | | | | supreme and mahogany, which some authorities claim |
| to the greater wealth of the South, attempts at formal | | | | pre-dated its use in England, was employed by the |
| architecture are found much earlier than in the North. | | | | cabinet makers for all types of furniture. The first use |
| Along the river banks of Virginia and the Carolinas, the | | | | of veneered and inlayed finishes occurred at the |
| social life developed to a point that was nearly equal | | | | beginning of the eighteenth century. |