The Flemish farmhouse is generally a substantial building, with
two large living-rooms, in which valuable old pieces of furniture
are still occasionally to be found, though the curiosity dealers
have, during the last quarter of a century, carried most of them
away, polished them up, and sold them at a high profit. Carved
chests, bearing the arms of ancient families, have been discovered
lying full of rubbish in barns or stables, and handsome cabinets,
with fine mouldings and brass fittings, have frequently been picked
up for a few francs. The heavy beams of the ceilings, black with
age, the long Flemish stoves, and the quaint window-seats deeply
sunk in the thick walls, still remain, and make the interiors of many
of these houses very picturesque; but the 'finds' of old furniture,
curious brass or pewter dishes, and even stray bits of valuable
tapestry, which used to rouse the cupidity of strangers, are now
very rare. Almost all the brass work which is so eagerly bought by
credulous tourists at Bruges in summer is bran-new stuff cleverly
manufactured for sale--and sold it is at five or six times its
real market value! There are no bargains to be picked up on the
Dyver or in the shops of Bruges.
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