The legs of chairs, tables, cabinets, etc., are features which give valuable help in determining the period in which a piece of furniture was made. As regards English furniture, this means of identifying the date cannot be relied upon before the end of the seventeenth century, because much of the best furniture came from abroad, and English makers were slow to adopt new styles. In Tudor times both the square leg with a stump foot and the heavy bulbous leg, elaborately carved, prevailed. In the early Jacobean period these features continued in vogue, but the bulb became lighter and the square was turned into a series of knobs. Baluster legs then became very usual, and in the early Restoration period the beautiful spiral legs of Portuguese or East Indian origin were very popular. At the end of the Jacobean period the Flemish scroll leg was introduced. During the reign of William and Mary, foreign models were much copied, including square, round, and polygonal legs, with or without taper, sometimes with turned and carved features, such as vases with gadrooned covers, inverted cups, etc. The Flemish scroll led naturally to the adoption of the cabriole leg, which was a leading feature in furniture of the reign of Queen Anne, and until the early years of Chippendale. Some indication of the period of a cabriole leg is given by the carving on the knee, a shell during the Queen Anne period, and according to Mr. Herbert Cescinsky, a lion's mask from about 1720 to 1735, a satyr's mask from 1730 to 1740, and a cabochon and leaf from 1735. Chippendale adopted the cabriole leg in his early work, but it went out of fashion about the middle of the eighteenth century, and he then made his legs straight with a stump foot. During the vogue for Chinese forms he introduced fretted legs. Adam designed legs round or square, tapered, often carved or fluted, with feet of various forms. In his more important pieces of furniture the legs were sometimes decorated with chased brass work, or with ram's heads and animal feet, or flutes filled with ornaments such as husks. Hepplewhite made his legs square or round, often fluted, generally with a taper with or without a therm or spade foot. It is characteristic of his furniture that he made the legs so slender that they appeared insufficiently strong for the work thrown upon them. Sheraton's work was on similar lines, with a marked predilection for round over square legs, and for the spade foot. His legs often ended with castors. In the Empire style, following classical lines, the front legs were sometimes curved forwards.