High sash windows are a conspicuous feature of this room; the sash frame was developed in Holland in the seventeenth century and this architectural feature has remained, broadly speaking peculiar to Holland, the British Isles and North America. The artist's initials, with the small 'v' for 'von' or 'van', point to a German or Dutch name, and the use of a closed stove was more common on the continent than in Britain. Peter Thornton suggests (Authentic Decor, 1984, p.204) that a gothic-style chair similar to the one in this drawing might be made of iron, a pointer to Germany or Russia (if steel). The fashionable English Jacobean revival chair was universally popular and manufactured in many European centres. The bentwood chairs were made by the Viennese Thonet factory and the striped banquette-style sofa is associated with Austrian Biedermeier taste, but by this mid-century date national features had largely disappeared from furniture and decoration