firebacks date from the fifteenth century. Coats-of-arms and many
curious designs were used upon them.

The furniture of the Tudor period was much carved, and was made chiefly
of oak. Cornices of beds and cabinets often had the egg-and-dart molding
used on them, and the S-curve is often seen opposed on the backs of
settees and chairs. It has a suggestion of a dolphin and is reminiscent
of the dolphins of the Renaissance. The beds were very large, the
"great bed of Ware" being twelve feet square. The cornice, the bed-head,
the pedestals and pillars supporting the cornice were all richly carved.
Frequently the pillars at the foot of the bed were not connected with
it, but supported the cornice which was longer than the bed. The
"Courtney bedstead," dated 1593, showing many of the characteristics of
the ornament of the time, is 103-1/2 inches high, 94 inches long, 68
inches wide. The majority of the beds were smaller and lower, however,
and the pillars usually rose out of drum-like members, huge acorn-like
bulbs that were often so large as to be ugly. They appeared also on
other articles of furniture. When in good proportion, with pillars
tapering from them, they were very effective, and gradually they grew
smaller. Some of the beds had the four apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John, carved on the posts. They were probably the origin of the nursery
rhyme:

"Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on."

[Illustration: In this living-room, Italian, Jacobean, and modern
stuffed furniture, give a satisfactory effect because each piece is good