Thomas Shearer in point of time, the first published document to show it. Shearer, like many of his contemporaries, was much given to devising "harlequin" furniture. He was a designer of high merit and real originality, and occupies a distinguished place among the little band of men, often, like himself, ill-educated and obscure of origin, who raised the English cabinet-making of the second half of the 18th century to an illustrious place in artistic history. Thomas Shearer Thomas Shearer was an 18th-century English furniture designer and cabinet-maker. Shearer was a craftsman and the author of most of the plates in "The Cabinet
China cabinet as Queen Mary was known for collecting Chinese pottery. Early cabinets were simply designed, often made of walnut. Dutch cabinets began being imported in the late 1600s and early 1700s, and thus English-made cabinets began being influenced by Dutch design. By the middle of the 18th century, china cabinets were typically more elaborate; later cabinets had especially elaborate doors and were lighter weight. China cabinet A china cabinet is a piece of dining room furniture, usually with glass fronts and sides, used to hold and display porcelain dinnerware (china). Typical china held in such cabinets often includes cups, plates, bowls,