John, if you look at Chippendale's orders, you'll see he has dimensions (in minutes and seconds unfortunately) of moldings. With a calculator, you should be able to get height to width ratios for crown moldings and others if you like. I usually choose moldings based on what plane I have that looks kinda like it. But using the orders is probably a better way.
Maybe if our children become woodworkers, they will get into this level of detail. I'm just not there yet.
If George is working on an article on this subject, I hope he includes a few simple examples of major mass, legs and feet, but also details like moldings or carvings.
Also, George, if you need pictures, I'm going to be out at Mount Pleasant in a few weeks. I'm pretty sure the front door was designed using one order and the back using another. Architectural drawings from the 30's are available online (part of the library of Congress H.A.S.). I haven't found great photos of the house online, so if you'd like me to snap a couple shots for you I will.
Adam
The picture attached is of the dining room in Mount Pleasant. Here you can see an arch topped false door which matches an arch topped niche on the rhs of the fire place. The raised panels were clearly hastily dressed on this side, and pit saw marks, possibly machine cut, are evident. The carved border around the fireplace is being reproduced to match the original, which was carved by famed Philadelphia carver Martin Jugiez. Jugiez worked for many notable Philadelphia cabinetmakers. I believe Thomas Affleck employed him for the Cadwalader contract. I think sometimes when you go and marvel at Affleck's beautifully carved furniture, as I recently did, its easy to forget that the parts you like the best were farmed out. Its a lot to ask one man to build carcases like Affleck and carve like Jugiez. I know some of you can indeed do that, which I find really impressive.
Mt Pleasant is a fantastic place to study 18th c classically inspired woodwork. I can only think of a few buildings more stately and more highly tweaked than this one. Its builder apprenticed under the guy who designed and built Independence Hall, another striking beauty in my opinion.
As I said I'll be there in a few weeks (check adamcherubini.com for links) working for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That's going to be a pretty great event if you live in the area. Chris Storb, who made the carvings in the attachment and who's carved many notable parts of the furniture in the Museum's collections, will be demonstrating.