The wainscots were adorned with the rich and delicate carvings of Gibbons.

The staircases were in a blaze with the glaring frescoes of Verrio.

In every corner of the mansion appeared a profusion of gewgaws, not yet familiar to English eyes.

Mary had acquired at the Hague a taste for the porcelain of China, and amused herself by forming at Hampton a vast collection of hideous images, and of vases on which houses, trees, bridges, and mandarins were depicted in outrageous defiance of all the laws of perspective.

The fashion, a frivolous and inelegant fashion it must be owned, which was thus set by the amiable Queen, spread fast and wide.