125.62). This standard Boston form was adapted and refined elsewhere in the colonies. In Newport, Rhode Island, cabinetmakers integrated distinctive scrolls and scalloped shells into the skirts of high chests and dressing tables. Whereas Boston cabriole legs were somewhat stiff and vertical, Newport makers favored more curvilinear legs that terminated in pointed slipper feet (1994.449).
One notable exception to the subdued ornamentation of Queen Anne–style furniture is japanning, a technique developed in the West to imitate Asian lacquerwork. In Boston and New York, late Baroque forms were painted with fantastical scenes of the Far East known as "chinoiserie" (10.125.58). Although this form of decoration originated during the William and Mary period, it remained popular through the 1750s. Intercoastal trade brought fine Virginia and Pennsylvania black walnut within reach of craftsmen throughout New England and the Middle Atlantic, and it was the most popular wood in the Queen Anne period (1730–60). Walnut was often stained to resemble imported Caribbean mahogany, which became the wood of choice during the subsequent Chippendale, or Rococo, era (1755–90). The publication of Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director (1754) reflected the growing influence of the French Rococo style, which found expression in America in overlays of playful, naturalistic carving (2007.302a-c). Chippendale did not invent the richly carved style that now bears his name; rather, he codified the reigning fashion in England for creative blends of Gothic, Asian, and French Rococo designs. Chairs in the Chippendale style became more rectilinear, with square seat frames, straight stiles, and outward-flaring "ears" at the top corners. Claw-and-ball feet with sharply articulated talons replaced the smooth contours of pad and slipper feet. Back splats, formerly solid and unornamented, came to be pierced and intricately carved with foliage and interlaced patterns (57.