by legs that were drawn out. Tables were almost invariably covered with
a table cloth.

Some of the chairs of the time of James I were much like those of Louis
XIII, having the short back covered with leather, damask, or tapestry,
put on with brass or silver nails and fringe around the edge of the
seat. The chief characteristic of the chairs of this time was solidity,
with the ornament chiefly on the upper parts, which were molded oftener
than carved, with the backs usually high. A plain leather chair called
the "Cromwell chair," was imported from Holland. The solid oak back gave
way at last to the half solid back, then came the open back with rails,
and then the Charles II chair, with its carved or turned uprights, its
high back of cane, and an ornamental stretcher like the top of the chair
back, between the front legs. This is a very attractive feature, as it
serves to give balance of decoration and also partly hides the plain
stretcher from sight. A typical detail of Charles II furniture is the
crown supported by cherubs or opposed S-curves. James II used a crown
and palm leaves.

Grinling Gibbons did his wonderful work in carving at this time, using
chiefly pear and lime wood. The greater part of his work was wall
decoration, but he made tables, mirrors and other furniture as well. The
carving was often in lighter wood than the background, and was in such
high relief that portions of it had often to be "pinned" together, for
it seemed almost in the round. Evelyn discovered Gibbons in a little
shop working away at such a wonderful piece of carving that he could
not rest until he had taken him to Sir Christopher Wrenn. From this
introduction came the great amount of work they did together. The
influence of his work was still seen in the early eighteenth century.