Adam style well developed, just across the Channel, it seems probable
that it may have had its share in forming French taste. The foundation
being there, the French put their characteristic touch to it and
developed a much richer style than that of the Adam Brothers, but the
two have so much in common that Louis XVI furniture may be put into an
Adam room with perfect fitness, and vice versa. As the Adams cared only
to design furniture some one else had to carry out the designs, and
Chippendale was master carver and cabinet-maker under them at Harewood
House, Yorkshire, and probably was also in many other instances.

[Illustration: A mantel of marble and steel in the drawing-room, Rushton
Hall, Northamptonshire--the work of the brothers Adam.]

[Illustration: Another Adam mantel. It is interesting to note how
clearly these mantels are the inspiration of our own Colonial work.]

The early furniture of Adam was plain, and the walls were treated with
much decoration that was classic in feeling. He possessed the secret of
a composition of which his exquisite decorations on walls and ceilings
were made. After 1770 he simplified his walls and elaborated his
furniture designs until they met in a beautiful and graceful harmony. He
designed furniture to suit the room it was in, and with the dainty and
charming coloring, the beauty of proportion and the charm of the wall
decoration, the scheme had great beauty.

[Illustration: This group of old mirrors indicates the extent to which
refinement of design was carried during the Georgian period in
England--the time of the great cabinet-makers.]

He used the ram's head, wreaths, honeysuckle, mythological subjects,