Is it only ornamental? And why are they usually webbed feet (or at least they are in my experience)?
this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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Let me clarify this part of my thinking: That line has moved a lot since the lifetime of Thomas Chippendale.
When you think about what it would take to build an ornately carved mahogany highboy with a high gloss varnish in 1750 versus today, including logging, transporting exotic wood around the planet, the actual woodworking...hell, just compare applying a shellac french polish versus spray lacquer today.
It's just not ubiquitous. And to say that paying a woodworker to carve intricate details is a useless waste of their time strikes as insulting to the craftsman in any time period.
I mean, even under the most cynical representation, the patrons of the classical period were a bunch of wankers too. But I wouldn't besmirch the musicians, or the music, or what came of it in modern times.
K