lozenge-shaped, oval and octagonal panels, and many other designs. He
was one of the first to use the French idea of decorating furniture with
painting and porcelain plaques, and the furniture itself was simple and
beautiful in line. The stucco ceilings designed by the brothers were
picked out with delicate colors and have much beauty of line.

A great deal of the most beautiful Adam decoration was the painting on
walls and ceilings and furniture by Angelica Kaufmann, Zucchi,
Pergolesi, Cipriani, and Columbani. The standard of work was so high
that only the best was satisfactory.

Adam usually designed his furniture for the room in which it was to
stand, and he often planned the house and all its contents, even to the
table silver, to say nothing of the door-locks. The chairs were of
mahogany, or painted, or gilded, wood. Some had oval upholstered backs,
with the covering specially designed for the room, and some had lyre
backs, later used so much by Sheraton, and others had small painted
panels placed in the top rail, with beautiful carving. Mirrors were
among the most charming articles designed by Adam, and had composition
wreaths and cupids and medallions for ornament. They were usually made
in pairs in both large and small sizes. A pair of antique mirrors
should be kept together, as they are very much more valuable than when
separated.

Adam was one of the first to assemble the pieces that later grew into
the sideboard--a table, two pedestals, and a cellaret. There is a
sideboard designed by him for Gillows, in which the parts are connected,
and it is at least one of the ancestors of the beautiful Shearer and
Hepplewhite ones and our modern useful, though not always beautiful,
article. When, late in his career, Adam attempted to copy the French, he