The wood of these chairs was now black, but the gilt
nails shone as if new, and the stuff, carefully renewed from time to
time, was of an admirable shade of red.
The whole life of Flanders with its Spanish innovations was in this
room. The decanters and flasks on the dinner-table, with their
graceful antique lines and swelling curves, had an air of
respectability. The glasses were those old goblets with stems and feet
which may be seen in the pictures of the Dutch or Flemish school. The
dinner-service of faience, decorated with raised colored figures, in
the manner of Bernard Palissy, came from the English manufactory of
Wedgwood. The silver-ware was massive, with square sides and designs
in high relief,--genuine family plate, whose pieces, in every variety
of form, fashion, and chasing, showed the beginnings of prosperity and
the progress towards fortune of the Claes family. The napkins were
fringed, a fashion altogether Spanish; and as for the linen, it will
readily be supposed that the Claes's household made it a point of
honor to possess the best.
All this service of the table, silver, linen, and glass, were for the
daily use of the family. The front house, where the social
entertainments were given, had its own especial luxury, whose marvels,
being reserved for great occasions, wore an air of dignity often lost
to things which are, as it were, made common by daily use. Here, in
the home quarter, everything bore the impress of patriarchal use and
simplicity.
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