,,south ,,kensington ,,museum ,,art ,,handbooks4 ,,edited ,,by ,,william ,,maskell4 ,no4 #c4--;,,furniture ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern4 ,these ,handbooks are reprints of the dissertations prefixed to the large catalogues of the chief divisions of works of art in the ,museum at ,south ,kensington2 arranged and so far abridged as to bring each into a portable shape4 ,the ,lords of the ,committee of ,council on ,education having determined on the publication of them1 the editor trusts that they will meet the purpose intended2 namely1 to be useful1 not alone for the collections at ,south ,kensington but for other collections1 by enabling the public at a trifling cost to understand something of the history and character of the subjects treated of4 ,the authorities referred to in each book are given in the large catalogues2 where will also be found detailed descriptions of the very numerous examples in the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,w4 ,m4 ,august1 #ahge4 ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,,furniture ,,and ,,woodwork ,,by ,,john ,,hungerford ,,pollen ,,with ,,numerous ,,woodcuts ,illustration ,published for the ,committee of ,council on ,education ,,by ,,chapman ,,and ,,hall1 #aic1 ,,piccadilly ,,london4 ,,dalziel ,,brothers1 ,,printers1 ,,camden ,,press1 ,n4,w4 ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,,page ,i ,furniture ,ancient and ,modern #a ,,ii ,antique3 ,egypt1 ,nineveh and ,greece #d ,,iii ,the ,romans #ag ,,iv ,byzantine ,art #bi ,v ,the ,middle ,ages #da ,,vi ,the ,fifteenth ,century #ei ,,vii ,the ,renaissance in ,italy #ff ,,viii ,renaissance in ,england1 ,flanders1 ,france1 ,germany1 ans ,spain #gh ,,ix ,tudor and ,stuart ,styles #he ,x ,furniture of the ,eighteenth ,century #ajc ,,xi ,changes of ,taste and ,style #aaf ,appendix3 ,names of the ,designers of ,woodwork and ,makers of ,furniture #acc ,index #adj ,,list ,,of ,,woodcuts4 ,,page ,egyptian chair #d ,assyrian chairs #g ,greek chair #aj ,greek chairs #aa ,greek couches #ac ,greek mirror #ad ,greek chariot #ae ,pompeian interior #ai ,roman tripod #bb ,roman candelabra #bc ,roman candelabra #bd ,roman table #bf ,roman couch #bg ,roman ceremonial chair #bh ,roman sella #bh ,roman kitchen utensils #cj ,st4 ,peter's chair #ce ,the chair of king ,dagobert #dc ,anglo-norman bedstead #df ,the ,coronation chair #di ,interior of ,english medival bedroom #ea ,anglo-saxon dinner-table #eb ,dinner-table of middle-class1 fifteenth century #ec ,table of fifteenth century #ec ,travelling carriage of fifteenth century2 ,tullia driving over the body of her father #ee ,oriental panels #eg ,a royal dinner-table of the fourteenth century #eh ,french panel2 fifteenth century #fj ,venetian cornice #fh ,portion of carved ,italian chest #fi ,venetian chair #ga ,italian bellows #gb ,another example #gc ,knife-case2 #aefd #gf ,carved panels #hj ,french table2 sixteenth century #ha ,french panel2 #aegg #hb ,english panel2 about #aeij #hf ,french cabinet2 sixteenth century #hh ,italian oak pedestal #ij ,venetian mirror-frame #ia ,german arm-chair2 seventeenth century #ic ,english bracket2 about #affj #ig ,english doorway2 about #afij #ih ,venetian looking-glass #ajj ,holy-water stoup #aja ,english dinner-table2 #afcc #ajb ,italian distaff #ajf ,roman triclinium #aag ,bedstead2 fifteenth century #aah ,the great bed of ,ware #aai ,bedstead at ,hampton ,court #abj ,medival room #abj ,cradle2 fifteenth century #aba ,folding chair2 fifteenth century #abb ,italian chair2 sixteenth century #abc ,antique ,roman tables #abe ,folding table2 ,english1 #afbj787 #abf ,medival chest #abg ,roman carriages #acj ,english carriage2 fourteenth century #aca ,state carriages #acb ,,furniture1 ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,the study of a collection of old furniture has an interest beyond the mere appreciation of the beauty it displays4 ,the carving or the ornaments that decorate the various pieces and the skill and ingenuity with which they are put together are well worthy of our attention4 ,a careful examination of them carries us back to the days in which they were made and to the taste and manners1 the habits and the requirements1 of bygone ages4 ,the ,kensington museum1 for example1 contains chests1 caskets1 cabinets1 chairs1 carriages1 and utensils of all sorts and of various countries4 ,some of these have held the bridal dresses1 fans1 and trinkets of ,french and ,italian beauties1 whose sons and daughters for many generations have long gone to the dust2 there are inlaid folding chairs used at the court of ,guido ,ubaldo1 in the palace of ,urbino1 and of other ,italian princes of the fifteenth century2 buffets and sideboards that figured at medival feasts2 boxes in which were kept the jesses and bells of hawks2 love-tokens of many kinds1 christening-spoons1 draught and chess men1 card boxes1 belonging to the fifteenth1 sixteenth1 and seventeenth centuries2 carriages of the ,london of ,cromwell and ,hogarth1 and of the ,dublin of ,burke2 panelling of the date of ,raleigh2 a complete room made for a lady of honour to ,marie ,antoinette4 ,besides these memorials of periods comparatively well known to us1 we shall find reproductions of the furniture of ages the habits of which we know imperfectly1 such as the chair of ,dagobert1 and various relics illustrating the old classic manners and civilisation1 as they have come down to us from ,roman and ,greek artists1 and brought to light by the discoveries at ,herculaneum and ,pompeii4 ,the field through which a collection of old furniture stretches is too wide to be filled with anything like completeness2 but the ,south ,kensington collection is already rich in some very rare examples1 such as carved chests and cabinets1 decorated with the most finished wood carving of ,flanders1 ,france1 and ,italy1 as well as of our own country4 ,as wood is the material of which furniture for domestic use has generally been made1 there are1 of course1 limits to its endurance1 and not much furniture is to be found anywhere older than the renaissance4 ,objects for domestic use1 such as beds1 chairs1 chests1 tables1 c41 are rare1 and have not often been collected together4 ,the museum of the htel de ,cluny1 in ,paris1 is the best representative collection of woodwork anterior to the quattro or cinque cento period--i4e4 the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries4 ,some carved and gilt carriages belonging to the last century are also there2 and a set of carriages1 carved and gilt1 made for state ceremonials1 used during the latter part of the last century and down to the days of the empire of ,napoleon ,,iii4 are1 or were till the war of #ahgj1 kept at the ,trianon at ,versailles4 ,many cabinets and tables in ,boule work1 ,vernis-,martin work1 and in marquetry by ,riesener1 ,gouthire1 ,david1 and others1 in the possession of ,sir ,richard ,wallace1 were lately exhibited in the museum at ,bethnal ,green1 and examples by the same artists from ,st4 ,cloud and ,meudon are in the ,louvre in ,paris4 ,a fine collection of carriages1 belonging to the royal family of ,portugal1 is kept in ,lisbon4 ,these are decorated in the ,vernis-,martin method4 ,several old royal state carriages1 carved and gilt1 the property of the emperor of ,austria1 are at ,vienna4 ,in order to take a general review of the kinds1 forms1 and changes of personal and secular woodwork and furniture1 as manners and fashions have influenced the wants of different nations and times1 it will be well to divide the subject in chronological order into antique2 ,egyptian1 ,ninevite1 ,greek1 ,roman3--modern2 early and late medival3--renaissance2 seventeenth and eighteenth century work3 to be followed by an inquiry into the changes that some of the pieces of furniture in most frequent use have undergone4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,antique3 ,,egypt1 ,,nineveh1 ,,and ,,greece4 ,considering the perishable nature of the material1 we cannot expect to meet with many existing specimens of the woodwork or furniture of ancient ,egypt4 ,there are to be found1 however1 abundant illustrations of these objects in the paintings and sculptures of monuments4 ,the most complete are on the walls of the tombs1 where we see detailed pictures of domestic life1 and the interiors of houses are shown1 with entertainments of parties of ladies and gentlemen talking1 listening to music1 eating and drinking4 ,the guests are seated on chairs of wood1 framed up with sloping backs1 of which specimens are in the ,british museum2 others are on stools or chairs of greater splendour1 stuffed and covered on the seat and back with costly textiles1 having the wooden framework carved and gilt1 generally in the form of the fore and hind legs of tigers1 panthers1 and other animals of the chace1 sometimes supported1 as in the accompanying woodcut1 on figures representing captives4 ,illustration ,the ,british museum contains six ,egyptian chairs4 ,one of these is made of ebony1 turned in the lathe and inlaid with collars and dies of ivory4 ,it is low1 the legs joined by light rails of cane1 the back straight1 with two cross-bars and light rails between4 ,the seat is slightly hollowed1 and is of plaited cane as in modern chairs4 ,another is square1 also with straight back1 but with pieces of wood sloped into the seat to make it comfortable for a sitter4 ,small workmen's stools of blocks of wood hollowed out and with three or four legs fastened into them may also be referred to1 and a table on four legs tied by four bars near the lower ends4 ,the ,egyptians used couches straight1 like ottomans2 with head boards curving over as in our modern sofas1 sometimes with the head and tail of an animal carved on the ends1 and the legs and feet carved to correspond4 ,these were stuffed and covered with rich material4 ,the ,egyptians did not recline at meals4 ,their double seats1 ,greek3 diphroi1 or bisellia1 were such as were used by the ,greeks and ,romans4 ,they had shelves and recesses1 chests and coffers1 made of pine or cedar wood1 and of a material still used in ,egypt1 the cafass--palm sticks formed into planks by thin pegs or rods of harder wood passing through a series of these sticks laid together4 ,of their bedroom furniture1 says ,sir ,gardner ,wilkinson1 we know but little4 ,they used 7he tells us7 their day couches probably1 or lay on mats1 and on low wooden pallets made of palm sticks4 ,these last had curved blocks1 which served for a pillow1 forming a hollow to receive the head4 ,examples in alabaster and wood are in the ,louvre and in the ,british museum4 ,their materials for dress were of the most delicate and costly description4 ,the robes of the ladies were often transparent1 and the gold and silver tissues1 muslins1 and gossamer fabrics made in ,india and ,asia were probably also used in ,egypt4 ,all these1 as well as their jewels and valuables1 imply corresponding chests and smaller coffers4 ,small toilet boxes elegantly carved into the form or with representations of leaves and animals1 are preserved in the ,louvre and in the ,british museum and other collections4 ,they were generally of sycamore wood1 sometimes of tamarisk or sont 7acacia71 and occasionally the more costly ivory or inlaid work was substituted for wood4 ,larger boxes may also be seen in the ,louvre1 some large enough to contain dresses4 ,they are square1 with flat1 curved1 or gable tops1 painted on the surface1 and generally lifted from the ground by four short legs or prolongations of the rails that form the framework4 ,these boxes are dovetailed1 and secured by glue and nails4 ,their chariots and the harness of their horses were rich in proportion1 the former painted1 inlaid with ivory and gold1 or with surface gilding1 containing cases for their bows and arms1 and made of wood filled in with the lightest materials1 perhaps canvas stiffened with preparations of lac in the ,japanese manner1 and put together with a skill that made the carriage-makers of ,egypt famous in their day4 ,it will be sufficient to add that the great ,jewish kings had their chariots supplied from ,egypt4 ,solomon paid about #ge of our money for a chariot1 and of these he kept 7for war purposes alone7 a force of fourteen hundred1 with forty thousand horses4 ,mummy cases of cedar1 a material readily procured and valued for its preservative qualities1 are to be seen in many collections1 and examples can be examined in the ,british museum4 ,they are richly decorated with hieroglyphic paintings executed in tempera1 and varnished with gum mastic4 ,the furniture of ,nineveh is not so elaborately or completely represented as that of ,egypt1 where the preservation of sculpture and painting was helped out by a climate of extraordinary dryness4 ,but the discoveries of ,mr4 ,layard have thrown on the details of ,ninevite domestic life light enough to give us the means of forming a judgment on their furniture4 ,ornaments1 says ,mr4 ,layard1 in the form of the heads of animals1 chiefly the lion1 bull1 and ram1 were very generally introduced1 even in parts of the chariot1 the harness of the horses1 and domestic furniture4 ,in this respect the ,assyrians resembled the ,egyptians4 ,their tables1 thrones1 and couches were made both of metal and wood1 and probably inlaid with ivory4 ,we learn from ,herodotus that those in the temple of ,belus in ,babylon were of solid gold4 ,illustration ,illustration ,according to ,mr4 ,layard1 the chair represented in the earliest monuments is without a back1 and the legs tastefully carved4 ,this form occurs in the palace of ,nimrd1 and is sculptured on one of the bas-reliefs now in the ,british museum4 ,often the legs ended in the feet of a lion or the hoofs of a bull1 and were made of gold1 silver1 or bronze4 ,on the monuments of ,khorsabad and by the rock tablets of ,malthaiyah we find representations of chairs supported by animals and by human figures1 sometimes prisoners1 like the ,caryatides of the ,greeks4 ,in this they resemble the arm-chairs of ,egypt1 but appear to have been more massive4 ,this mode of ornamenting the throne of the king was adopted by the ,persians1 and is seen in the sculpture of ,persepolis4 ,the woodcut represents such a chair1 from a bas-relief at ,khorsabad4 ,the lion head and lion foot were used by other oriental nations4 ,the throne of king ,solomon was supported by lions for arms1 probably in the same position as the horses in the ,khorsabad chair2 and lions of gold or chryselephantine work stood six on each side on the six steps before the throne4 ,the forms of furniture of a later date in the sculptures of ,nineveh at ,khorsabad are of an inferior style4 ,the chairs have generally more than one cross-bar1 and are somewhat heavy and ill-proportioned1 the feet resting upon large inverted cones1 resembling pine-apples4 ,all these seats1 like the ,greek3 diphroi and sell of important personages in ,greece and ,rome1 were high enough to require a footstool4 ,on the earlier monuments of ,assyria footstools are very beautifully carved or modelled4 ,the feet were ornamented1 like those of the chair1 with the feet of lions or the hoofs of bulls4 ,the tables seem in general to have been of similar form and decoration to the thrones or seats1 the ends of the frame projecting and carved as in the woodcut above1 only on a larger scale4 ,the couches were of similar form1 but made of gold and silver1 stuffed and covered on the surface with the richest materials4 ,the tables and the chairs were often made in the shape also found in ,greece and ,rome1 with folding supports that open on a central rivet like our camp-stools1 and like the curule chairs which were common not only in ,rome but throughout ,italy during the renaissance4 ,a large piece of wood of pine or cedar is in the ,british museum4 ,it is of a full red colour1 the effect of time4 ,cedar was probably most in use2 but both in ,egypt and ,nineveh1 as also in ,juda under ,solomon and his successors1 woods were imported from ,europe and ,india2 ebony certainly1 perhaps rosewood1 teak1 and ,indian walnut4 ,ebony and ivory were continually used for inlaying furniture4 ,of their bedroom furniture we can say little1 nor do we know of what kind were the cabinets or chests made to preserve their dresses and valuables4 ,it is probable1 however1 that these were occasionally as rich and elaborate as any of their show or state furniture4 ,of ,hebrew furniture we can give few details4 ,it is probable that the ,jews differed but little from the ,assyrians in this respect4 ,the throne of ,solomon has been already noticed4 ,in the story of ,judith the canopy and curtains of the bed of ,holofernes may have been taken by the chronicler from familiar examples at home1 or may have been strictly drawn from traditional details4 ,in the figurative language of the ,canticles1 the bed of ,solomon is of cedar of ,lebanon1 the pillars of silver1 the bottom of gold4 ,ordinary bedroom furniture is spoken of in the ,chronicles1 when the ,shunamite woman1 a person of great wealth1 built for the prophet ,elias a little chamber on the wall1 and set therein a bed1 a table1 a stool1 and a candlestick4 ,ivory wardrobes are mentioned in the #deth psalm1 but of what size or form we cannot determine4 ,in the book of ,esther allusions are made to ,persian furniture decorations1 white1 green1 and blue hangings fastened with fine linen to silver rings and pillars of marble4 ,the beds were of gold and silver1 c4 ,the bed of ,og1 king of ,bashan1 was nine cubits long by four1 and was of iron3 it was preserved as a trophy4 ,as the chariots of ,solomon were made in ,egypt1 and the artists employed on the ,temple came from ,tyre1 it is not unreasonable to suppose that furniture was either made by foreign workmen1 or that the ,hebrews borrowed freely the forms and decorations of surrounding ,asiatic nations4 ,though specially and purposely jealous of any innovation or interference with religious rites and observances1 we have no cause to think that they objected to the use of furniture or utensils such as they found first during the long sojourn in ,egypt1 and afterwards in other countries4 ,they are said in earlier times to have spoiled the ,egyptians with reference to the ornaments and jewels carried away at the migration4 ,we know that ,moses was learned in all the wisdom of the ,egyptians2 and two particular artists1 and two only1 are named in the book of ,exodus as qualified to execute the sacred vessels and utensils4 ,whatever their technical qualifications were1 these had been acquired in ,egypt4 ,in any attempt to picture to ourselves the kind of furniture and objects of daily use apart from chariots1 arms1 c41 that surrounded the ,greeks in early ages1 it will be necessary to bear in mind the close connection which that people must have had with the ,asiatic races1 and the splendour and refinement that surrounded the wealthy civilisation of the oriental monarchies4 ,they were so continually the allies or the rivals of the various states in ,asia ,minor1 and pushed out into that fertile region so many vigorous colonies1 that it cannot be doubted that the splendid stuffs1 beds1 couches1 thrones1 chariots1 c41 used by ,greeks on the ,asiatic continent or in ,europe1 had much of eastern character in form and method of execution2 perhaps1 at first1 in decoration also4 ,this woodcut represents a chair of ,assyrian character on a bas-relief from ,xanthus1 in the ,british museum4 ,illustration ,much that is oriental figures in poetic accounts of the arms1 furniture1 and equipments of the ,greek heroic ages4 ,the chiefs take the field in chariots4 ,these could have been used but in small numbers on ground so uneven as the rocky territories of the ,morea4 ,the beds described by ,homer1 the coverlids of dyed wool1 tapestries1 or carpets1 and other instances of coloured and showy furniture1 were genuine descriptions of objects known and seen1 though not common4 ,generally the furniture of the heroic age was simple4 ,two beds of bronze of ,tartessus1 one ,dorian and one ,ionian1 the smallest weighing fifty talents1 of uncertain date1 were kept in the treasury at ,altis1 and seen there by ,pausanias towards the end of the second century4 ,the chariots differed little except in the ornamental carving1 modelling1 or chasing1 from those of ,egypt4 ,the oldest remaining models of ,greek furniture to which we can point are the chairs in which the antique figures in the ,syrian room at the ,british museum are seated4 ,these are dated six1 or nearly six1 centuries before ,christ4 ,they represent chairs with backs1 quite perpendicular in front and behind4 ,the frame-pieces of the seats are morticed into the legs1 and the mortices and tenons are accurately marked in the marble1 the horizontal passing right through the upright bars4 ,these early pieces of furniture were probably executed in wood1 not metal1 which was at first but rarely used4 ,the woodcuts show the different forms taken from antique bas-reliefs4 ,illustration ,the chest or coffer in which ,cypselus of ,corinth had been concealed was seen by ,pausanias in the temple of ,olympia4 ,it was made about the middle of the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,the chest was of cedar1 carved and decorated with figures and bas-reliefs1 some in ivory1 some in gold or ivory partly gilt1 which were inlaid on the four sides and on the top4 ,the subjects of the sculpture were old ,greek myths and local legends1 and traditions connected with the country4 ,this coffer is supposed to have been executed by ,eumelos of ,corinth4 ,the great period of ,greek art began in the fifth century ,b4,c42 but those were not days favourable to the development of personal luxury among the citizens4 ,an extreme simplicity in private manners balanced the continual publicity and political excitement of ,greek life4 ,the rich classes1 moreover1 had little inducement to make any display of their possessions4 ,the state enjoyed an indefinite right to the property of its members2 the lawgiver in ,plato declared ye are not your own1 still less is your property your own4 ,in ,sparta the exclusive training for war admitted of no manner of earning money by business4 ,in ,athens the poorer class had so exclusively the upper hand of the rich that the latter had to provide the public with entertainments of sacrificial solemnities1 largesses of corn1 and banquets4 ,the demos1 says the author of the ,gentile and the ,jew1 understood the squeezing of the rich like sponges4 ,greece was the paradise of the poor4 ,it is therefore to be expected that the sculpture of the day1 though employed sometimes upon the decoration of thrones or state seats1 chariots1 chests1 looking-glasses1 tripods1 as the painting was on walls1 vases1 and movable pictures on panels1 should have been employed mostly in temples and1 with occasional exceptions1 on objects of some public use4 ,the chest described above was kept as a relic1 and the elaborately carved thrones in the temples were those of the statues of gods and heroes4 ,ivory and gold laid over a substructure of olive wood were the materials quite as frequently used by great sculptors as marble or bronze for statues which did not form parts of the actual decorations of their architecture4 ,in later times these materials were used in sumptuous furniture4 ,the ,greeks used couches for sleeping and resting upon1 but not for reclining on at meals1 till the ,macedonian period4 ,we give two or three examples1 from marbles3 one of which resembles the modern sofa4 ,women sat always1 as in ,rome1 sometimes on the couch at the head or foot1 on which the master of the house or a guest reclined1 generally on chairs4 ,besides chairs like the one represented here1 the ,greeks made arm-chairs2 and folding chairs of metal4 ,in the ,parthenon frieze ,jupiter is seated in a square seat on thick turned legs1 with a round bar for a back1 resting on short turned posts fitted into the seat4 ,the arms are less high than the back2 they are formed by slight bars framed into the uprights at the back1 and resting on winged sphinxes4 ,illustration ,illustration ,illustration ,illustration ,mirrors of mixed metal alloys1 silver1 tin1 and copper1 have come down to our times in great numbers4 ,they were made occasionally in pure silver1 and in gold probably among the ,greeks as they were in later times among the ,romans4 ,the cases are of bronze1 and engraved with figure designs of the highest character4 ,there is1 however1 no proof that these were used as furniture in houses1 as in ,rome4 ,they are hand mirrors1 and the description of them1 as works of art1 belongs rather to that of antique bronzes4 ,the woodcut shows the usual type1 with the richly ornamented handle4 ,illustration ,designs of the ,greek couch1 whether for sleeping or for reclining at meals1 are abundant on tomb paintings1 and sculptures1 and on the paintings of vases4 ,in the ,british museum we may see a large vase in the second vase room1 on which a couch for two persons is arranged with a long mattress covered with rich material1 lying within what appears to be a border of short turned rails with a cushion on each end1 also covered with rich striped material4 ,a long low stool decorated with ivory lies below the couch as a kind of step4 ,the legs1 as in many vase representations1 are thick turned supports with lighter parts below1 and a turned knob at the foot4 ,on another vase ,dionysus reclines on a thick round cushion at the head of the couch1 while ,ariadne sits on it4 ,figures feasting or stretched in death on similar couches can be seen in two beautiful and perfect funeral chests in the gina room4 ,all these pieces of furniture seem made of or decorated with ivory1 and furnished with coloured cushions or coverings of an oriental character4 ,tripods were made of bronze in great number for sacred use1 and probably also as the supports of brasiers1 tables1 c41 in private houses4 ,the tables were of wood1 marble1 and metal2 the supports being either lion or leopard legs and heads1 or sphinxes with lifted wings1 a favourite form in ,greek ornamentation4 ,with regard to ,greek houses generally1 their arrangements differed very little from the earlier houses of the ,romans4 ,the bas-relief in the ,british museum--,bacchus received as a guest by ,icarus--represents a couch with turned legs1 the feet of which are decorated with leaf work2 a plain square stool1 perhaps the top of a box1 on which masks are laid1 and a tripod table with lion legs4 ,the houses in the background are tiled4 ,the windows are divided into two lights by an upright mullion or column1 and a bas-relief of a charioteer driving two horses ornaments a portion of the wall1 and may be intended for a picture hung up or fixed against the wall4 ,the whole shows us an ,athenian house1 decked for a festive occasion1 and garlands and hangings are festooned round its outer walls4 ,the ,greek chariot was of wood1 probably similar to that of the ,egyptians4 ,it had sometimes wheels with four strong spokes only1 as in the woodcut4 ,the chariot wheel of the car of ,mausolus1 in the ,british museum1 has six4 ,the ,ninevite wheels have sometimes as many as twelve1 as may be seen in the sculptured bas-reliefs of the narrow ,assyrian gallery of the ,british museum4 ,illustration ,the woods used by the ,greeks for sculpture were ebony1 cypress1 cedar1 oak1 smilax1 yew1 willow1 lotus1 and citron4 ,these materials were rarely left without enrichments of ivory1 gold1 and colour4 ,the faces of statues were painted vermilion1 the dresses1 crowns1 or other ornaments were gilt or made in wrought gold4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,romans4 ,the splendour that surrounded the personal usages of the earlier races of antiquity1 the ,egyptians1 ,ninevites1 ,persians1 ,greeks1 and ,tuscans1 was inherited by the ,romans4 ,not only did they outlive those powers1 but they absorbed their territory as far as they could reach it2 they affected to take in their religions and deities to add to their own system2 they drained the subject populations for slaves1 and eagerly adopted from them every art that could administer to the magnificence and luxury of their own private life4 ,they have left both written records in their literature and actual examples of their furniture1 made in metal or of marble4 ,the discovery of ,herculaneum and of ,pompeii has given us not only single pieces of furniture1 but very considerable remains of houses1 shops1 streets1 fora or open public places of assembly1 theatres1 and baths4 ,it is in such evidences of ,roman social life that we shall find the materials for our present inquiry4 ,the ,romans spent their earlier ages in unceasing struggles for independence and dominion3 and so long as the elder powers of ,italy survived to dispute the growth of ,roman greatness1 there could not be much expansion of private wealth or splendour in the houses of ,roman citizens4 ,though surrounded by splendid social life among the ,etruscans1 the ,roman people long remained exceptionally simple in personal habits4 ,it was after the ,punic wars that oriental luxuries found their way into ,italy along with the ,carthaginian armies4 ,tapestry is said to have been first brought to ,rome by ,attalus1 the king of ,pergamus1 who died ,b4,c4 #acc possessed of immense wealth1 and bequeathed tapestries1 generally used in the east from the early ages1 to the ,roman citizens4 ,when ,augustus became emperor the conquest of the world was complete4 ,thenceforward military habits and simplicity of individual life were no longer necessary to a state that could find no political rivals4 ,the great capital of the world absorbed like a vast vegetable growth the thought1 the skill1 and the luxuries of the whole world4 ,nothing was too valuable to be procured by the great ,roman nobles or money-makers1 and nothing too strange not to find a place and be welcome in one or other of their vast households4 ,while this was so at ,rome in chief1 it must be remembered that other capitals were flourishing in various countries1 as wealthy1 as luxurious in their own way and degree1 only less in extent and means1 and lacking that peculiar seal of supremacy that gives to the real capital a character that is never attained in subordinate centres of civilisation4 ,antioch was such a centre in the east2 ,alexandria in the south4 ,both these great cities contained wealthy1 refined1 and luxurious societies4 ,both were known as universities and seats of learning4 ,antioch was the most debauched and luxurious2 ,alexandria the most learned and refined4 ,they did not exactly answer to the distinct capitals of modern kingdoms and states1 such as we now see flourishing in ,europe1 to ,london1 ,paris1 ,vienna1 ,berlin1 or ,st4 ,petersburg1 because no one supreme state or city predominates over them2 and further still1 no one draws the pick and choice of the intellect and refinement of the whole of ,europe to absorb them into itself as ,rome did in the old world4 ,but1 in those days1 ,antioch and ,alexandria1 one at the head of the wealth and splendour of ,asia1 the other representing ,greek learning grafted on the ancient scientific and artistic traditions of ,egypt1 must have contributed much to the general fusion of ideas and notions on art and personal manners and customs in the capital of the ,roman empire4 ,the ,roman house was of traditional plan1 and consisted generally of two or more square enclosures surrounded by arcades1 open to the air in the centre1 but which openings could be closed in summer or winter by awnings when the courts were not large enough to include a garden1 as the inner enclosure usually did4 ,the house had in front a vestibulum1 an open space covered by a verandah-shaped roof1 sometimes enclosed by lattices1 sometimes open4 ,an ostium or lobby inside the entrance-door1 deep enough to contain a small porter's lodge on one side1 led to an inner door which opened on the atrium4 ,this court had an opening to the air1 and a tank for rain water was sunk in the middle4 ,fountains with jets or falls of water were not uncommon1 the ancients being well acquainted with the principle that water if brought from an elevation in pipes will force its way up to its natural level4 ,inside the atrium was the nuptiale1 the nuptial bed1 and here were kept in earliest times the penates1 household or family divinities1 and the family hearth1 though these sacred emblems were banished in the imperial times to distant parts of the house1 and statues between the columns that supported the central roof supplied their place4 ,the atrium was the general reception-room1 like the hall in medival houses1 but not the dining-room4 ,to this succeeded an inner open court1 with porticoes or corridors running round1 supported on columns1 and with a fountain or basin1 shrubs and flowers in the centre1 like the courts of the ,alhambra4 ,this court provided four halls in the four corridors1 which could be screened off by tapestries and curtains4 ,the centre was shaded in summer by canvas or carpet awnings4 ,in winter a wooden roof could be pushed over the open space4 ,between the two halls or courts was a chamber called the triclinium1 or dining-room4 ,these rooms were roofed with timber richly painted and gilt4 ,the roofs either hung on beams projecting from the walls1 or were supported by pillars1 or were carried up to a high opening1 sloping back to the walls so as to admit more light to the rooms1 alcoves1 or screened portions furthest removed from the opening4 ,occasionally they were covered in wholly with a testudo-shaped roof1 and in such cases lighted1 perhaps1 by dormers1 though it is not quite clear how light was provided for in such constructions4 ,roman rooms were not floored with boards but paved with marble in large pieces1 or in mosaic work made of small dies or squares4 ,coarse specimens of such work manufactured in our own times are laid down in the museum at ,kensington1 and fragments of the old work may be seen there on the walls4 ,occasionally these mosaics represent the house watch-dog chained1 or the fable of ,ganymede1 or hunting scenes1 sometimes finished with the utmost nicety4 ,the triclinium took its name from the three couches or sofas1 on each of which three persons reclined during meals4 ,later1 and in sumptuous palaces1 several dining-rooms were built out beyond the inner courts4 ,the engraving1 a reconstruction1 will give a fair idea of the general character of a richly furnished ,roman house4 ,first1 is the atrium1 into which smaller chambers open2 next1 the triclinium1 to the left of which is a cabinet2 and beyond is the peristylium1 with its lofty colonnades4 ,this last apartment was large and open2 often planted with shrubs and trees1 or containing statues1 flowers in pots and vases1 and surrounded by a corridor4 ,as these courts were of various sizes they were1 no doubt1 in ,rome on a scale out of all proportion to those found at ,pompeii2 were fewer or more in number1 and rooms were added as the proprietor could acquire ground for building1 often a difficulty in the older parts of the city4 ,something of this ground plan survives in a few of the very ancient ,roman churches1 as in that of ,s4 ,pudenziana1 formerly the house of the senator ,pudens1 with vestibules1 open courts1 c4 ,illustration ,around the inner court1 in the sumptuous ,roman houses and the country villas of the patricians1 were built other rooms1 dining-halls1 no longer called triclinium but triclinia in the plural1 as admitting more than the number of nine persons reclining on the conventional three couches1 to dine at once4 ,in the city itself room was probably wanting in private houses for such expansion1 the houses being in streets already laid out4 ,in the villas there was no such restriction4 ,these halls were built to face different quarters of the compass and to be used according to the season4 ,verna and autumnalis looked to the east1 hyberna to the west1 stiva to the north4 ,,oeci were other rooms still larger2 and glass windows were to be found in them4 ,in a painting now in the ,kensington museum1 no4 #fec1 given by the emperor ,napoleon the third1 glazed windows can be distinguished1 divided by upright mullions and transoms of wood1 such as were constructed in ,english houses in the seventeenth century4 ,the sleeping-rooms1 cubicula1 were small closets rather than rooms1 closed in general by curtains or hangings1 and disposed about the sides of the rooms between the courts1 or round the outer courts themselves4 ,besides the living and sleeping chambers1 there were store-rooms for various kinds of food4 ,wearing apparel was kept in vestiaria1 wardrobe rooms1 fitted especially to store them in4 ,it is doubtful whether the dresses were in chests3 more probably in presses1 or hanging on pegs4 ,the ornamental woodwork in some of these rooms was rich in the extreme4 ,the outer vestibule was protected by an overhanging balcony or by the projecting rafters of the roof of the first portion of the house1 according as rooms were built over that portion or not4 ,it was in some instances enclosed by carved or trellised woodwork4 ,the doors were generally in two halves and could be closed with locks1 which in the age of the empire were thoroughly understood1 with latchets secured by a pin or with a wooden bar4 ,the term obserare was used when the security of a bar was added4 ,the hinge was a pin or peg at the top and bottom which turned in a socket4 ,metal hinges strapped over the wood frame were not unknown3 and bronze hinges are in the collection of the ,british museum4 ,the decoration of the door1 which was of wood1 consisted principally of bronze mounts4 ,the doorposts were ornamented with carving1 sometimes inlaid with tortoiseshell and other rich materials4 ,the woodwork was painted4 ,bedrooms were closed with doors2 oftener by curtains4 ,the windows were generally closed with shutters1 hinged and in pairs4 ,they were some six feet six inches above the level of the street1 not beyond reach of the knocks and signals of friends outside4 ,wooden benches were usually provided in the vestibule4 ,besides the inlaid door frames1 the ceilings of all the ,roman rooms were very richly decorated4 ,in more simple constructions the wood joists of the floor above1 or the structure of the roof when no room surmounted it1 were shown and painted2 but in richer houses the timbers were covered with boards1 and formed into coffers and panels1 painted1 gilt1 and inlaid with ivory4 ,this splendid system of decoration dates from the destruction of ,carthage4 ,curved bearers from the upper part of the walls were added to form one kind of ceiling 7camara71 for which ,vitruvius gives directions2 and glass mosaics1 like those used in the pavements1 were inlaid on a plaster bed in the coffers4 ,the cornices were of carved wood1 or of plaster carved or modelled2 the wood was always covered with a preparation of gesso1 and gilt and painted like the walls4 ,an examination of the remains of ,roman glass found at ,pompeii and elsewhere1 and of which excellent examples may be studied in the ,kensington museum1 seems to point to the use not only of mosaics made of dies1 but of mouldings1 borders1 and panels moulded in coloured glass of magnificent hues1 and with the finest stamped ornaments4 ,these were occasionally gilt1 or were made in relief1 or with a coat of opaque white glass over the translucent material1 which could be cut and modelled in the manner of cameos1 and helped further to decorate the ceiling1 always one of the most splendid features of the room4 ,the walls1 when not painted1 were sometimes hung with mirrors of glass blackened1 or of silver1 or of slabs of obsidian4 ,they were of various sizes1 sometimes large enough to reflect persons at full length4 ,in the case of portable pictures1 frames were added round them4 ,borders were certainly painted round frescoes4 ,it is not to be supposed that paintings which could be exposed for sale1 moved about1 and hung up1 could be finished round otherwise than by ornamental mouldings1 or framework sufficient to protect and properly set them off4 ,illustration ,among the ornamental pieces of furniture were tripods1 three-legged frames1 forming the supports of tables1 of altars1 of braziers1 sometimes of pieces of sculpture4 ,these were generally of bronze1 and original pieces obtained in various parts of ,italy can be seen in the bronze room of the ,british museum4 ,some of these much exceed the height of high modern tables4 ,they are light1 and ornamented on the upper ends with animal or other heads2 some with the beginning of a hind leg about halfway down4 ,they were1 however1 frequently movable1 and1 like the piece in the cut on the preceding page from an example in the ,british museum1 were made to contract by folding2 the stays which connect the legs internally slipping up and down them by means of loops4 ,such pieces might serve as table legs1 or would hold altar pans or common fire pans or support pots of flowers4 ,illustration ,besides tripods the reception rooms were ornamented with candelabra on tall stands of most graceful form and proportions4 ,it will suffice to point to more than a dozen of examples in the ,british museum2 and the woodcuts are from examples in other collections4 ,the stems are a fluted staff or a light tree stem1 commonly supported on three animal legs spread at the base1 and branching out on the tops into one1 two1 or more boughs or hooks1 with elegant modelled decorations or ending in flat stands4 ,one has a slight rim round the dish or stand1 on which a candelabrum or wax candlestick could be placed4 ,in other cases the lamps were hung by their suspensory chains to the branches described4 ,other candelabra stands were of marble1 six1 eight1 ten1 or more feet in height1 hybrid compositions of column caps1 acanthus leaves and stems1 on altar bases1 c41 in great variety of design1 of which engravings may be studied in the work of ,piranesi4 ,casts1 nos4 #ic1 #id 7antiques71 are in the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,we do not know in what kind of repositories or pieces of furniture the ancient ,romans kept their specimens of painting or their vases1 some of which formed their most valued treasures4 ,it is generally supposed that they were set on shelves fastened to the wall4 ,on such shelves small images1 boxes of alabaster or glass1 and ornamental vases of all kinds were kept4 ,craters1 sculptured vases on a large scale and made of bronze or marble1 were also mounted on pedestals and ranged as ornaments with the statues4 ,bronzes and statues1 pieces of sculpture that had fixed places1 stood either along the walls of the reception rooms or under the eaves of the compluvium1 whence light was obtained to set them off to advantage1 and where turf1 flowers1 and fountains were in front of them4 ,a vase or crater1 nearly eight feet high1 is in the hall of the ,british museum1 brought from the villa of ,hadrian at ,palestrina2 and in the entrance-hall of ,nero's house there was a colossus #abj feet high1 and long arcades and a tank or basin of water4 ,but objects on this scale scarcely belong to the descriptions of what might be found ordinarily in houses of the great patricians4 ,sometimes a couch and a table of marble were placed close to the fountains in these delightful portions of the house4 ,tables were of many varieties in ,rome1 and enormous expenses were incurred in the purchase of choice pieces of such furniture4 ,they were made of marble1 gold1 silver1 bronze2 were engraved1 damascened1 plated1 and otherwise enriched with the precious metals2 were of ivory1 and of wood1 and wood decorated with ivory2 and in many other methods4 ,engraved 7p4 #bf7 is a very beautiful table found at ,pompeii1 and now at ,naples4 ,tripods1 terminal and other figures1 made of bronze or marble2 winged sphinxes1 or leopards' and lions' legs1 columns and other architectonic forms1 were the supports on which these tables were fastened4 ,some had one central support only1 in a few instances finished with animal heads of ivory4 ,abaci were small tables with raised rims to hold valuables4 ,many tables were of cedar and on ivory feet4 ,horace speaks of maple1 so also does ,pliny1 as a favourite wood for tables3 birds'-eye maple especially was much prized4 ,the planks and disks that could be cut from the roots and the boles of trees that had been either pollarded or otherwise dwarfed in growth in order to obtain wavy grain1 knotted convolutions1 c41 were in request4 ,veneers of well-mottled wood or of precious wood1 small in scantling1 were glued on pine1 cedar1 c41 as a base4 ,these pollard heads1 root pieces1 c41 were bought at high prices1 specially those of the citrus or cedrus ,atlantica4 ,illustration ,the point held to be desirable 7says ,pliny7 in the grain of tables was to have veins arranged in waving lines or else forming spirals like so many little whirlpools4 ,in the former arrangement the lines run in an oblong direction1 for which reason they are called tigrin1 tiger tables4 ,in the latter case they are called pantherin1 or panther tables4 ,there are some with wavy1 undulating marks1 and which are more particularly esteemed if these resemble the eyes of a peacock4 ,next in esteem to these was the veined wood covered or dotted1 as it were1 with dense masses of grain1 for which reason such tables received the name of apiat1 parsley wood4 ,but the colour of the wood is the quality that was held in the highest esteem of all2 that of wine mixed with honey was the most prized1 the veins being peculiarly refulgent4 ,the defect in that kind of table was lignum 7dull log colour71 a name given to the wood when common-looking1 indistinct1 with stains or flaws4 ,the barbarous tribes1 according to ,pliny1 buried the citrus wood in the ground while green1 giving it first a coating of wax4 ,when it came into the workman's hands it was put for a certain number of days beneath a heap of corn4 ,by this process the wood lost weight4 ,sea-water was supposed to harden it1 and to act as a preservative4 ,this wood was carefully polished by hand-rubbing4 ,as much as #i1jjj 7a million of sesterces7 was paid for one table by ,cicero4 ,of two that had belonged to king ,juba1 sold by auction1 one fetched over #aj1jjj4 ,these were made of citrus 7,thuya articulata or cedrus ,atlantica74 ,we hear of two made for king ,ptolemus of ,mauritania1 the property of ,nomius1 a freed man of ,tiberius1 formed out of two slices or sections of the cedrus ,atlantica four feet and a half in diameter1 the largest known to ,pliny2 and of the destruction of a table1 the property of the family of the ,cethegi1 valued at #a1djj1jjj sesterces4 ,illustration ,the ,roman patricians and their ladies sat on chairs and reclined on couches when not at meals4 ,in the atrium under the broad roofed corridors1 and in the halls not used for eating1 were couches1 such as the couch of which we give a woodcut1 of bronze or of precious woods2 the bronze damascened with ornaments of the precious metals1 or of metal amalgam2 the wood veneered or inlaid with marquetry or tarsia work of ivory1 ebony1 box1 palm1 birds'-eye maple1 beech1 and other woods4 ,the chairs were of different kinds and were used for various occasions4 ,the atrium contained double seats1 single seats1 and benches to hold more than one sitter2 chairs that either folded or were made in the form of folding chairs1 such as could be carried about and placed in the chariot1 curules4 ,the woodcut shows the general fashion of a state or ceremonial chair2 from the marble example in the ,louvre4 ,illustration ,this woodcut is of the sella1 a seat or couch1 made of wood1 with turned legs2 it is intended1 probably1 for one person only1 and has no need of a footstool4 ,it has been covered with a cushion4 ,illustration ,scamnum was a bench or long seat of wood1 used in poorer houses instead of the luxurious triclinium of the men or arm-chairs of the women1 for sitting at meals or other occasions4 ,seats were placed along the walls in the exedr or saloons2 marble benches in most cases1 sometimes wooden seats2 particularly also in the alcoves that were constructed in the porticoes of baths and public buildings1 where lectures of philosophers were listened to4 ,the ,romans had hearths in certain rooms4 ,numerous passages in ancient writers1 to which it is needless to refer1 concur in showing that the hearth was a spot sacred to the lares of the family1 the altar of family life4 ,it was occasionally made of bricks or stone1 and immovable1 on which logs could be heaped4 ,it seems doubtful whether chimneys were used in the ,roman houses2 probably occasionally4 ,writers on ,roman antiquities speak of such rare constructions used1 perhaps1 as ventilators to the kitchen4 ,the usual method of warming was by means of a brazier1 of which an example found at ,cre1 in ,etruria1 is preserved in the ,british museum4 ,it is a round dish on three animal legs1 with swing handles for removing it4 ,another1 square in form1 is reproduced in a casting in the ,south ,kensington museum collection1 no4 #gj1 standing on animal legs and damascened round the sides with gold ornaments4 ,the ,romans had also kitchen braziers with contrivances for heating pans1 water1 wine1 c41 by charcoal4 ,no4 #ga at ,south ,kensington is a casting of such a piece1 having a round metal receptacle1 like a small cask1 on its end1 and a raised horse-shoe frame1 on which a pan could be placed1 with fire space in the middle4 ,these braziers were filled with charcoal heated thoroughly by the help of the bellows1 to get rid of the noxious gases4 ,it has been said that the dresses of the ,romans were preserved1 as in medival castles1 in a separate room or wardrobe1 and this room must have been fitted with apparatus for hanging shelves and lockers4 ,they had besides for keeping valuables1 and usually placed in the sleeping-room of the master or mistress of the house1 cupboards and chests of beech ornamented with metal1 some large enough to contain a man4 ,in these receptacles they conveyed their property to and from country houses1 and on visits4 ,enormous numbers of slaves moved to and fro with the family1 and the chests were carried on men's shoulders1 or in waggons of various shape and make4 ,the most important action of the luxurious ,roman day was the dinner4 ,couches were arranged for the guests1 and the room was further provided with stools or low benches1 side tables1 and the movable table used for each course4 ,these tables were put down and removed from the supports on which they stood4 ,the side tables were of marble or of wood1 covered with silver plates1 inlaid1 veneered1 and ornamented in various ways2 some were used for serving the dishes1 others for the display of plate4 ,sculptured objects of plate1 partly ornamental1 were put on the table and removed with the courses4 ,petronius describes an ass of ,corinthian bronze with silver paniers as the centre piece of one course2 sauces dropped from the paniers on luscious morsels placed beneath4 ,a hen of wood with eggs within and a figure of ,vertumnus are also named by the same author as centre pieces4 ,these were replaced on the sideboard or removed with the course in trays4 ,illustration ,closely connected with the dining-room was1 it need scarcely be said1 the kitchen2 and we give woodcuts of kitchen utensils1 from the originals preserved at ,naples4 ,mention should be made of tapestries and carpets before leaving the subject of ,roman house furniture4 ,carpets1 tapete1 blankets1 or other woollen coverlids for sofas or beds1 were made at ,corinth1 ,miletus1 and a number of seats of fine wool manufacture4 ,it is too large a question to go into in detail1 and woven fabrics belong to a different class of objects fully described in another hand-book1 upon textiles4 ,these tapestries played a great part in the actual divisions of the ,roman rooms4 ,bedrooms1 it has been said1 were often closed with curtains only1 and the corridors and smaller rooms were closed at the ends and made comfortable by the same means4 ,at the dinner detailed by ,petronius the hangings on the triclinia are changed between pauses in the meal4 ,the feelings consonant with the day or occasion were symbolized or carried out in these external decorations4 ,mention is made by ,seneca of ceilings made so as to be moved1 and portions turned by machinery2 perhaps the changed panels showed different colours and decorations according to the day1 and to the hangings which were used4 ,the same author alludes to wood ceilings that could be raised higher or lower by machinery1 pegmata per se surgentia et tabulata tacite in sublime crescentia1 making no noise in the operation4 ,these contrivances were reserved for dining-rooms1 where the diversions were of the freest description and the guests prepared for any exciting or sensational interludes4 ,the ,romans required some of their furniture for out-door use4 ,besides the curule chairs and lofty seats which were carried into theatres or baths1 and other places of public resort1 they used litters4 ,the sofas or couches were sometimes carried on the necks of six or more slaves1 and served as litters4 ,but special contrivances like the ,indian palanquins were made with or hung under poles1 with curtains or shutters4 ,stations of such conveyances for public use were established in ,rome4 ,the subjects of the carving and ornamentation of ,roman furniture were the classic legends mainly derived from the ,greek mythology4 ,roman house walls were1 however1 in later years profusely decorated with conventional representations of architecture1 and panels richly coloured on which were painted figures of dancers1 cupids1 gods and heroes2 sometimes commonplace landscapes and domestic scenes4 ,their solid furniture was decorated with masks1 heads of heroes1 legs and feet of animals1 and foliage1 generally the leaves of the acanthus1 of an architectonic kind4 ,the great achievement of the ,romans in woodwork of a constructive kind was the machinery contrived for public shows1 such as the cages shot up out of the sand of the arena of amphitheatres1 of which the sides fell down1 leaving at liberty the beasts wanted for fights or for the execution of criminals4 ,of such constructions probably nothing in the middle ages1 when timber abounded and the use of it was thoroughly understood1 exceeds the following2 a description by ,pliny of a device of ,c4 ,curio1 in ,africa1 when celebrating the funeral games in honour of his father3-- ,he caused to be erected close together two theatres of very large dimensions and built of wood1 each of them nicely poised1 and turning on a pivot4 ,before mid-day a spectacle of games was exhibited in each1 the theatres being turned back to back1 in order that the noise of neither of them might interfere with what was going on in the other4 ,then1 in the latter part of the day1 all on a sudden1 the two theatres were swung round and1 the corners uniting1 brought face to face2 the outer frames too were removed 7i4e4 the backs of each hemicycle7 and thus an amphitheatre was formed1 in which combats of gladiators were presented to the view2 men whose safety was almost less compromised than that of the ,roman people in allowing itself to be thus whirled round from side to side4 ,the following woods were in use amongst the ,romans3-- ,for carpentry and joiner's work1 cedar was the wood most in demand4 ,pine of different kinds was used for doors1 panels1 carriage building1 and all work requiring to be joined up with glue1 of which that wood is particularly retentive4 ,elm was employed for the framework of doors1 lintels and sills1 in which sockets were formed for the pins or hinges on which the doors turned4 ,the hinge jambs were occasionally made of olive4 ,ash was employed for many purposes2 that grown in ,gaul was used in the construction of carriages on account of its extreme suppleness and pliancy4 ,axles and portions which were much morticed together were made of ,ilex 7,holm oak74 ,beech also was in frequent use4 ,acer 7,maple7 was much prized1 as has been already stated1 for tables1 on account of the beauty of the wood and of the finish which it admits4 ,osiers were in use for chairs as in our own times4 ,veneering was universal in wood furniture of a costly kind4 ,the slices of wood were laid down with glue as in modern work1 and they used tarsia or picture work of all kinds4 ,figwood1 willow1 plane1 elm1 ash1 mulberry1 cherry1 cork wood1 were amongst the materials for the bed or substance on which to lay such work4 ,wild and cultivated olive1 box1 ebony 7,corsican especially71 ilex1 beech1 were adapted for veneering boxes1 desks1 and small work4 ,besides these1 the ,romans used the ,syrian terebinth1 maple1 palm 7cut across71 holly1 root of elder1 poplar2 horn1 ivory plain and stained2 tortoiseshell2 and wood grained in imitation of various woods for veneering couches and other large pieces of furniture1 as well as door frames1 c41 so that this imitation of grains is not entirely a modern invention4 ,woods were soaked in water or buried under heaps of grain to season them2 or steeped in oil of cedar to keep off the worms4 ,the cedars of ,crete1 ,africa1 and ,syria were the best of that class of timber4 ,the best fir timber was obtained from the ,jura range1 from ,corsica1 ,bithynia1 ,pontus1 and ,macedonia4 ,the ,romans had admirable glue1 and used planes1 chisels1 c4 ,their saws1 set in frames1 had the teeth turned in opposite directions to open the seam in working4 ,there are some curious historical records of the endurance of particular wood structures4 ,the cedar roof of the temple of ,diana of ,ephesus was intact at the end of four centuries in ,pliny's time4 ,her statue was black1 supposed to be of ebony1 but according to other authorities of vine1 and had outlasted various rebuildings of the temple4 ,the roof beams of the temple of ,apollo at ,utica were of cedar and had been laid #cdh years before the foundation of ,rome2 nearly #a1bjj years old in the time of ,pliny1 and still sound4 ,the emperor ,philip celebrated the secular games 7recurring every #ajj years71 with great pomp1 for the fifth time in the year #bdh4 ,we may consider this event1 for our present purpose1 as a convenient finish of the classic period of antique art1 and of the reflections of it in the woodwork and furniture and the surroundings of private life4 ,ten centuries had elapsed since ,romulus had fortified the hills on the banks of the ,tiber4 ,during the first four ages 7says ,gibbon7 the ,romans1 in the laborious school of poverty1 had acquired the virtues of war and government2 by the vigorous exertion of these virtues1 and by the assistance of fortune1 they had obtained in the course of the three succeeding centuries an absolute empire over many countries of ,europe1 ,asia1 and ,africa4 ,the last three centuries had been consumed in apparent prosperity and internal decline4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,byzantine ,,art4 ,we may take as the next period for illustration the centuries that witnessed the break up of the old ,roman constitution and the gradual formation of a new order of society down to the end of the first ten centuries of our era4 ,seven hundred and fifty years out of those ten hundred belong in great part to medival history4 ,the misfortunes of ,italy1 and the incessant state of war1 invasion1 and struggle in that peninsula were too destructive of personal wealth and the means of showing it in costly furniture to leave us any materials from thence for our present subject4 ,the history of furniture and woodwork1 as applied to civil and social uses1 now belongs to such civilisation as took its origin and its form from ,constantinople4 ,art of these centuries is called ,byzantine4 ,illustration ,the woodcut is from the chair of ,st4 ,peter in ,rome1 the oldest and most interesting relic of antique furniture in existence2 that is1 of furniture made of wood and kept in use from the days of ancient ,rome4 ,but it has had repairs and additions1 and a description of it shall be referred to in another section4 ,byzantine art is a debased form of the classic1 but with a large mixture of ,greek2 not of the old classic ,greek type which had long been exhausted1 but of that ,asiatic ,greek which derived so much of its splendour from the rich but unimaginative decorations of ,persia4 ,the objects actually executed at ,constantinople or by ,byzantine artists now remaining can scarcely be included in a treatise on furniture4 ,they are mostly caskets and other small pieces executed in metal or in ivory4 ,accounts of many interesting pieces of ,byzantine sculpture will be found in the ,description of the ivories in the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,amongst them the diptychs of the consuls are not only the most important1 but the most interesting to a treatise on furniture1 as we see in them consular seats and thrones of many varieties4 ,we may select amongst other examples the following1 which can be studied in the museum or referred to in that work4 ,for instance1 no4 #cfh 7fully described in ,mr4 ,maskell's ,ivories7 is one leaf of a consular diptych of ,anastasius ,paulus ,probus ,sabinianus ,pompeius4 ,the consul is represented seated on a chair of very ornate character4 ,it is like the old folding curule chairs of ,rome1 but with elements both of ,greek and ,egyptian ornamentation1 such as belong to the massive marble seats1 supported by lions or leopards1 with the heads sculptured above the upper joint of the hind legs4 ,in the mouths of these lions' heads are rings for the purpose of carrying the chair1 and the top frame is ornamented with little panels and medallions containing winged masks and portrait heads of the consul and his family or of members of the imperial family4 ,on each side of the seat are small winged figures of ,victory standing on globes and holding circular tablets over their heads4 ,these probably represent the front of the arms1 and are supposed to have a bar stretching from the heads or the circular tablets to the back of the seat4 ,this feature too is a continuation of types that are to be found on ,greek vases and in the chairs of both ,nineveh and ,egypt4 ,a low footstool with an embroidered cushion on it is under the feet of the consul1 and another cushion1 also embroidered1 covers the seat4 ,this represents a chair of the sixth century4 ,a seat still more like the curule chair1 but with a high back1 is represented in another ivory1 no4 #bgj1 in the ,south ,kensington collection4 ,this piece is a plaque or tablet with a bas-relief of two apostles seated4 ,the chairs are formed of two curved and recurved pieces each side1 which are jointed together at the point of intersection4 ,one pair of these pieces is prolonged and connected by straight cross-bars1 and forms a back4 ,two dolphins1 with the heads touching the low front pieces and the tails sloping up and connected with the back1 form the arms4 ,this belongs to the ninth century4 ,the lyre back1 a form not unknown in old ,greek and thence adopted among ,roman fashions1 is also to be seen in chairs on ivories and in manuscripts4 ,round cushions were hung on the back1 others covered the seat4 ,these are seen also figured in the mosaics of ,venice1 and later of ,monreale in ,sicily which retained much of the ,byzantine spirit4 ,the art of ,sicily continued longer subject to ,constantinople than that of most of its ,italian provinces1 and ,venice preserved her old traditions far into the period of the ,european revival of art4 ,the beds1 as represented in manuscript illuminations1 belong chiefly to religious compositions such as the ,nativity1 or visions appearing to saints in their sleep4 ,they are couches in the old ,roman form1 or are supported on turned legs1 from the frames of which valances hang down to the ground4 ,sometimes a curtain acts as a screen at the head or on one side1 but testers are wanting4 ,chariots and carriages of all sorts remained more or less ,roman in type4 ,there were a greater number of waggons or carriages for the conveyance of women and families than had been in use in ancient times4 ,christianity had materially altered the social position of women1 and they appeared in public or moved about with their families without the restraints which in the old ,roman society forbad their appearance in chariots and open carriages1 and made the covered couch or closed litter the usual conveyance for ladies of rank in ,rome4 ,several forms of chariots or carriages of this larger kind can be seen in the sculptures of the column of ,theodosius in ,constantinople4 ,the art and the domestic manners and customs that had been in fashion in ,rome maintained themselves with some modifications in ,constantinople4 ,the life there was more showy and pompous1 but it was free from the cruelties and the corruption of the elder society4 ,it was founded on the profession of ,christianity1 and the numbers and magnificence of the religious hierarchy formed an important feature in the splendid social aspect of the ,greek capital4 ,the games of the circus1 without the cruelties of gladiatorial combats1 were maintained4 ,chariots were in constant use1 much wealth was spent on their construction1 and chariot races were kept up4 ,furniture1 such as chairs1 couches1 chests1 caskets1 mirrors and articles of the toilet1 was exceedingly rich4 ,gold and silver were probably more abundant in the great houses of ,constantinople than they had been in ,rome4 ,as the barbarous races of the east and north encroached on the flourishing provinces of the ,roman empire1 constant immigration took place to ,constantinople and the provinces still under its sway4 ,families brought with them such property as could be easily moved1 gold of course and jewels2 and1 naturally1 these precious materials were afterwards used for the decoration of their furniture and dress4 ,the ancient custom of reclining at meals had ceased4 ,the guests sat on benches or chairs4 ,at the same time the triclinia aurea1 or golden dining room1 was still the title of the great hall of audience in the palace at ,constantinople4 ,the term only served to illustrate the jealous retention of the old forms and names by the emperors and patricians4 ,the last branch of the ancient empire did little for the arts of painting and sculpture1 though it long preserved the old traditions of art1 gradually becoming more and more debased with every succeeding generation1 whilst outward splendour was increased because of the greater quantity of the precious metals that had accumulated or been inherited during so many centuries4 ,the decay of art and skill in the old world was1 however1 counterbalanced by the rise of new societies1 which were gradually being formed in various parts of the empire4 ,these consisted partly of the races of ,huns1 ,goths1 ,saxons1 and others1 who had invaded ,italy and settled themselves in it1 partly of the old municipal corporations1 who defended their property and maintained their privileges in the great walled towns of ,italy4 ,the cities profited to a great extent by this infusion of new blood2 and became the parents of the future provinces of ,italy1 so rich in genius and industry1 so wealthy and powerful in peace and war4 ,the most important of them was ,venice1 and it is in ,venice that1 in the later middle ages1 we find the birthplace of most of the art with which the furniture and utensils of home and warlike use were so profusely decorated4 ,we point to ,constantinople as the last stronghold of the old arts of the ,roman period1 but it is because it was from the ,greeks that the new states borrowed their first notions of art4 ,nearly all the early art we meet with throughout the west in manuscripts and ivories bears a ,byzantine character4 ,a remarkable piece of monumental furniture has survived from these early centuries of the ,christian era1 half ,byzantine and half western in character1 the chair of ,st4 ,maximian of ,ravenna1 preserved in the treasury at ,ravenna1 and engraved and described in the ,arts ,somptuaires of ,m4 ,du ,sommerard4 ,ravenna was the portion of the empire that most intimately connected the east with the west4 ,the domed churches of ,san ,vitale1 ,san ,giovanni in ,fonte1 the tomb of ,galla ,placidia1 the round church of ,santa ,maria1 built by ,theodoric1 together with the great basilica of ,saint ,apollinare in ,chiasse1 and others of the ,latin form1 unite the characteristics of the eastern and western architecture4 ,what is true of architecture can also be pronounced as to painting1 sculpture1 textile fabrics1 and all decoration applied to objects1 sacred or domestic1 that were in daily use4 ,but events occurred in the declining state of the empire that went far to transfer what remained of art to northern ,europe4 ,the sect of the iconoclasts1 or image-breakers1 rose into power and authority under the emperor ,leo the ,isaurian1 who published an edict in #gbf condemnatory of the veneration and use of religious images and paintings4 ,during a century this principle was at work1 and it caused the destruction not only of innumerable antique statues1 such as those defaced in the ,parthenon of ,athens1 but the loss of vast quantities of ivory and wood sculpture and precious objects of all kinds4 ,many artists took refuge in western ,europe1 and were welcomed in the ,rhenish provinces of the empire by ,charlemagne4 ,how much ancient and domestic art in the form of bronze or other metal furniture1 such as chairs1 thrones1 tripods1 c41 whole or in fragments1 survived the taking of ,constantinople by ,mahomet ,,ii4 we cannot conjecture4 ,perhaps the royal palaces1 or still more possibly the mosques which have been the banks and depositories of family treasures under ,mahometan rule1 may contain valuable bronzes1 ivories1 and carved wood1 relics of the luxurious life of the latter days of the ,greek empire1 and such evidences may some day come to light4 ,no doubt1 however1 much antique art and much that belonged to the first eight centuries of our era survived the ordinary shocks of time and war1 only to be destroyed by the quiet semi-judicial action of a furious sect protected by imperial decrees1 after the manner in which medival art suffered under the searching powers of fanatical government commissioners in our own country1 in the sixteenth century4 ,it is to the impulse which the ,lombard and ,frankish monarchs gave to art in western and northern ,europe by the protection of ,greek refugee sculptors and artists that we should trace the beginnings of the northern school called ,rhenish-,byzantine4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,middle ,,ages4 ,we cannot easily determine on a date at which we can assign a beginning to medival art4 ,it differs from the art that succeeded it in the sixteenth century in many respects1 and from the late classic art that preceded it still more widely4 ,that peculiar character which we call romantic enters into the art of medival times1 as it does into the literature and manners of the same ages4 ,it took a living form in the half religious institution of chivalry4 ,the northern nations grew up under the leadership of monks quite as much as under that of kings4 ,they lived in territories only partially cleared from forests1 pushed their way forward to power pioneered by the great religious orders1 and their world was one surrounded by opportunities of endless adventures4 ,but this romantic standard1 though it took its rise from the times in which the ,christians carried their lives in their hands1 under the persecuting emperors1 did not pervade ,europe for many centuries4 ,classic art1 in its decay1 still furnished both forms and symbols1 such1 e4g41 as that of ,orpheus1 to the new societies1 and the names of ,jupiter1 ,mercury1 and ,saturn1 have survived as the titles of days of the week4 ,the two art traditions overlapped each other for a while4 ,medivalism grew very gradually4 ,we have just said that ,charlemagne welcomed ,byzantine artists to the ,rhine4 ,it must be remembered1 however1 that the ,roman empire had been firmly planted beyond the ,alps1 and that ,gaul produced good ,roman art in the second and third centuries4 ,architecture1 sculpture1 bronze casting1 and the numberless appliances of daily life were completely ,roman in many parts of ,france and ,britain4 ,the theatres and amphitheatres of ,arles and ,orange and the collections in various museums are enough to show how extended this character was4 ,it was not till the old traditions had been much developed or modified by oriental influences that a thorough medival character of art was established in ,italy1 ,france1 ,germany1 and ,england4 ,to the last it remained semi-classic in ,rome itself4 ,we can give reference to few specimens of household furniture or to woodwork of any kind before the eleventh century1 with a great exception to be noticed presently4 ,ivories1 in any form1 belonging to these ages are rare4 ,the best objects are ,byzantine4 ,anglo-saxon ivories1 though not unknown1 are all but unique examples4 ,ivory was probably rarely employed for any objects of secular use1 unless on mirror cases1 combs1 or the thrones of kings2 on horns1 caskets1 sword hilts1 and the like4 ,metallurgy in the precious metals and in bronze1 including the gilding of bronze1 was probably the one art that survived the departure1 if it had not even preceded the invasion1 of the ,romans in ,britain4 ,it is scarcely probable that tin and copper ores would have been sought for from ,britain if manufactured ornaments of metal had not found their way in the first instance from this country to the south4 ,be that1 however1 as it may1 the art of metallurgy survived the downfall of such architectural and sculpturesque skill as had been attained in ,england under ,roman traditions2 and that metal thrones1 chairs1 and other utensils were made here as in ,gaul can hardly be doubted4 ,there is an interesting collection1 lately bequeathed by ,mr4 ,gibbs1 of ,saxon ornaments in gold1 bronze1 and bronze ornamented with gilding and enamel1 in the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,these objects were dug up chiefly at ,faversham1 a village in ,kent4 ,most of these antiquities are fibul1 brooches1 and buckles1 or portions of horse trappings1 bosses1 c41 and not recognisable as parts of bronze furniture1 such as the chair of ,dagobert4 ,but it is difficult to examine these personal ornaments and not believe that during the ,saxon occupation bronze thrones1 tripods1 mirrors1 and other objects of household use were also made4 ,the earliest example of medival furniture in the ,kensington museum is a cast of the chair known as that of ,dagobert1 in the ,louvre4 ,a full description and history of this chair is to be found in the large catalogue1 no4 #fh3 and we here give a woodcut of it4 ,this work 7it is said7 was executed by a monk4 ,illustration ,when we consider the rapacity of the barbarian inroads into ,italy and ,rome1 and the amount of spoil carried bodily away from ,constantinople1 ,rome1 and the great municipal centres of ,italy1 it is remarkable that so little precious furniture should have survived in other parts of ,europe4 ,the ,goths under ,adolphus in the fifth century carried an immense plunder into ,gaul and ,spain4 ,when the treasuries1 after the conquest of ,spain1 says ,gibbon1 were plundered by the ,arabs1 they admired1 and they have celebrated1 a table of considerable size1 of one single piece of solid emerald that is1 glass1 encircled with three rows of fine pearls1 supported by three hundred and sixty-five feet of gems and massy gold1 estimated at the price of five hundred thousand pieces of gold1--probably the most expensive table on record4 ,it is the value of the materials that has prevented the preservation of many such objects1 while the chair of ,dagobert is of gilt bronze only4 ,early medival art1 included under the general name of ,gothic1 continued down to the twelfth century full of ,romanesque forms and details4 ,figures were clothed in classic draperies1 but stiff and severe with upright lines and childish attempts to indicate the limbs or joints beneath4 ,nevertheless1 the work of these centuries1 rude and archaic as it is1 is full of dignity and force4 ,the subjects were often sacred1 sometimes of war or incidents of the chase4 ,these last were commonly mixed with animals1 lions and dogs1 or eagles and hawks1 or leaves of the acanthus and other foliage4 ,throughout these ages the foliated sculpture1 the paintings of books and carving of ivory1 and no doubt of wood also1 was1 moreover1 composed in endless convolutions1 such as may be seen on sculptured stones in ,ireland and on the ,norwegian doors of the twelfth century4 ,whether the different convolutions are formed by figures or dragons1 or by stalks of foliage twined and knotted together in bold curved lines1 symmetrically arranged1 each portion is generally carefully designed and traceable through many windings as having a distinct intention and purpose4 ,ornamental work was thus apparently conventional1 but made up of individual parts separately carried out1 and in some degree1 though not altogether1 realistic3 a character gradually lost after the early thirteenth century till the new revival in the sixteenth4 ,the tenth century was not favourable to the development of the requirements or comfort of personal life4 ,towards the year one thousand a superstition prevailed over many parts of ,europe that the world would come to an end when the century was completed2 and many fields were left uncultivated in the year #iii4 ,the eleventh century made a great advance in architecture and other arts1 but down to the ,norman invasion our own country was far behind the continental nations in the fine arts2 metallurgy only excepted4 ,the ,anglo-saxons perhaps advanced but very slowly1 as the century wore on to the period of the ,norman conquest2 and manners remained exceedingly simple4 ,early illuminations1 though conventional1 give us some details of ,anglo-saxon houses4 ,they were of one story1 and contained generally only one room4 ,the addition of a second was rare before the ,norman conquest4 ,the furniture of the room consisted of a heavy table1 sometimes fixed2 on which the inhabitants of the house and the guests slept4 ,a bedstead was occasionally reserved for the mistress of the house4 ,bedsteads when used by the women or the lord of the house were enclosed in a shed under the wall of enclosure and had a separate roof1 as may be seen in many manuscripts4 ,in the ,bayeux tapestry a bed roof is tiled1 and the framework shut in with curtains4 ,in many instances such a design represents only a tester with posts4 ,otherwise beds of straw stuffed into a bag or case were spread on the table1 and soldiers laid their arms by their heads ready for use in case of alarm4 ,benches1 some with lion or other heads at the corners1 like elongated chairs or settles 7with backs1 for the lord and lady of the house71 were the usual seats4 ,thrones1 something like that of ,dagobert1 were the property of kings4 ,king ,edward the ,confessor is seated on such a chair 7metal1 and in the ,roman shape7 in the ,bayeux tapestry1 and folding chairs of various forms1 more or less following classical types1 were used by great personages4 ,benches were also used as beds2 so were the lids or tops of chests1 the sack or bag being sometimes kept in it and filled with straw when required4 ,the tables were covered with cloths at dinner4 ,stained cloths and tapestries1 commonly worked with pictorial designs1 were used to hang the walls of the house or hall4 ,they were called wah-hrgel1 wall coverings4 ,personal clothing was kept in chests of rude construction4 ,silver candlesticks were used in churches4 ,candles were stuck anywhere in houses1 on beams or ledges4 ,with regard to carriages during the ,saxon and ,anglo-norman period1 carts on two wheels were common for agricultural use1 and served to transport the royal property4 ,four-wheeled cars drawn by hand labour are used for carrying warlike stores in the ,bayeux tapestry4 ,in the battle of the ,standard the standard of the ,english host was carried on a wheeled car or platform1 and remained as the head-quarters or rallying point during action4 ,the ,norman invasion of ,england caused a new advance in the luxury and refinement1 such as it was1 of daily life4 ,the houses began to grow--upper rooms or rooms at the side of the great hall were added1 called solars 7solaria71 the sunny or light rooms4 ,these seem to have been appropriated to the ladies4 ,in due time they added a parloir or talking room1 a name derived from the rooms in which conversation was allowed in monasteries where silence was the general rule4 ,in the upper rooms fireplaces were made occasionally1 but not always chimneys4 ,in the halls1 when the upper room did not cover the whole under room or when an upper room was not constructed1 fire was made in the centre of the floor4 ,stairs were of wood4 ,glass was all but unknown in the windows of houses1 and wooden shutters kept out the weather4 ,the houses of landowners in ,england were called manoir or manor4 ,the furniture was simple and consisted of few objects4 ,the table was on trestles2 the seats were benches4 ,armaria1 armoires1 cupboards or presses1 either stood in recesses in the wall or were complete wooden enclosures4 ,these had doors opening horizontally4 ,the frames were not panelled4 ,the doors were ledge doors of boards1 nailed to stout cross bars behind1 and decorated with iron hinges and clamps beaten out into scrolls and other ornaments4 ,illustration ,bedrooms were furnished with ornamental bed testers1 and benches at the bed foot4 ,beds were furnished with quilts and pillows1 and with spotted or striped linen sheets2 over all was laid a covering of green say1 badgers' furs1 the skins of beavers or of martin cats1 and a cushion4 ,a perch for falcons to sit on was fixed in the wall4 ,a chair at the bed head1 and a perch or projecting pole on which clothes could be hung1 completed the furniture of the ,anglo-norman bedroom4 ,in the foregoing woodcut from ,willemin there is no tester1 but carving on the posts1 and the coverings are of the richest description4 ,woodwork was decorated with painted ornament or with fanciful work on the hinges2 and nails and clamps were applied to hold it together1 rather than with sculpture1 down to the fourteenth century2 and in ,england1 ,france1 and ,germany1 oak was the wood employed for furniture4 ,both in ,england and in the countries which had retained old artistic traditions on the continent1 such as ,italy1 ,france1 and ,spain 7which profited by the skill of the ,moors in painted decoration71 colour was used not less on walls and wood than on metal and pottery4 ,tapestry was an important portion of the furniture of all houses of the richer classes4 ,during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries medival art in ,europe reached its greatest perfection4 ,the classic traditions were at last forgotten everywhere except in ,rome itself1 where a chain lingered almost continuous between the old ideas and those which succeeded in the sixteenth century4 ,elsewhere the feeling in sculpture1 whether of wood or other materials1 was in unison with the pointed architecture and reigned unchallenged4 ,all sorts of enrichments were used in the decoration of furniture4 ,a chest of the time of ,john is preserved in the castle of ,rockingham4 ,it is of oak richly decorated with hammered iron plates1 hinges1 c4 ,the jewel chest of ,richard of ,cornwall was long preserved in the state treasury of ,aix-la-,chapelle1 and is now at ,vienna4 ,it belongs to the first half of the century1 and was left at ,aix when ,richard was crowned king of the ,romans4 ,the body is of oak decorated with wrought-iron hinges1 lock1 and clamps1 and with bosses of metal on which are enamelled heraldic shields4 ,the construction of woodwork gradually became more careful and scientific4 ,panelled framework came into use1 though seldom for doors of rooms4 ,with this method of construction the chests were put together that formed the chief article of furniture during two centuries in the medival sleeping1 sitting1 or private room4 ,in the middle of the thirteenth century ,eleanor of ,provence was escorted on her journey to ,england by an army of ladies1 knights1 nobles and troubadours1 from ,provence to the shores of the channel4 ,kings were continually making progress in this manner through their dominions1 like the ,indian governors of our own days1 and carried their furniture and property in chests1 called standards1 on the backs of mules or sumpter horses4 ,portable furniture and hangings were the principal objects of household use on such occasions4 ,a precept in the twentieth year of the reign of ,henry the third directed that the king's great chamber at ,westminster be painted a green colour like a curtain1 that in the great gable frontispiece of the said chamber a ,french inscription should be painted1 and that the king's little wardrobe should be painted of a green colour to imitate a curtain4 ,the queen's chamber was decorated with historical paintings4 ,remains of similar wall decoration are in tolerable preservation still in one of the vaulted rooms of ,dover castle4 ,till the fourteenth century candles were generally placed on a beam in the hall1 whether in the castle of a king or baron4 ,frames of wood with prickets were also suspended for the lighting of rooms1 or were fixed to the sides of the fire-place when that was made in the wall and had a chimney constructed for it4 ,more generally1 as regards halls1 the hearth was in the middle of the room and a lantern just above it in the roof acted as a chimney4 ,iron chandeliers1 or branches1 were ordered to be fixed to the piers of the king's halls at ,oxford1 ,winchester1 and other places4 ,though the royal table might be lighted with valuable candlesticks of metal1 they were not in general use till a century later4 ,besides the numerous rows of tallow candles pieces of pine wood were lighted and stuck into iron hasps in the wall1 or round the woodwork at the back of the dais to give more abundant light4 ,the wardrobe was a special room fitted with hanging closets1 and in these clothes1 hangings1 linen1 as well as spices and stores1 were preserved4 ,this arrangement was common in all large castles during the thirteenth1 fourteenth1 and fifteenth centuries4 ,great preparations were made in the bedrooms of queens of ,england to which they retired before the birth of children4 ,henry the third directed that his queen's bedroom should be freshly wainscoted and lined1 and that a list or border should be made1 well painted with images of our ,lord and angels1 with incense pots scattered over it2 that the four evangelists should be painted in the chamber1 and a crystal vase be made to keep his collection of relics4 ,room panelling was introduced into ,england during the same reign4 ,henry ordered a chamber at ,windsor castle to be panelled with ,norway pines specially imported2 the men worked day and night4 ,the boards were radiated and coloured1 and two clear days only were allowed for the fixing and completion4 ,illustration ,edward the first married a ,spanish queen1 and household furniture was further developed under his reign in many particulars4 ,pottery for the table was imported from ,spain1 and oriental carpets were introduced2 a luxury naturally borrowed from the extensive use of them by the ,moors in that country4 ,italian artists had already been invited to ,england4 ,master ,william1 the ,florentine1 was master of the works at ,guildford castle4 ,john of ,st4 ,omer was another foreign artist employed by ,henry the third4 ,to the former of these we probably owe the introduction into this country of the method of gilding and tooled gold work1 with which wood was decorated4 ,specimens of the work are still discernible on the famous coronation chair 7of which we give a woodcut1 p4 #di7 in ,westminster abbey2 made about the year #acjj4 ,the decoration and comfort of furnished houses during ,henry's reign was further promoted by the general use of tapestry4 ,queen ,eleanor is traditionally and incorrectly said to have first brought this kind of furniture into houses2 it was certainly adopted for churches at earlier periods1 and hangings of various materials1 stained or embroidered1 were employed as far back as the ,anglo-saxon times4 ,tapestries and cypress chests to carry them probably became more general in ,eleanor's reign4 ,amongst the particulars collected in the history of the city companies and by the record commission are lists of the royal plate1 showing that objects of personal use besides table plate were made in silver and gold4 ,we find mention of pitchers of gold and silver1 plates and dishes of silver1 gold salts1 alms bowls1 silver hannapers or baskets1 a pair of knives with enamelled silver sheaths1 a fork of crystal1 and a silver fork with handle of ebony and ivory1 combs and looking-glasses of silver4 ,edward had six silver forks and one of gold4 ,ozier mats were laid over the benches on which he and his queen sat at meals4 ,these were also put under the feet1 especially in churches where the pavement was of stone or tiles4 ,in the furniture of bedrooms linen chests and settles1 cupboards and the beds themselves were of panelled wood4 ,the next woodcut shows the interior of a well-furnished bedroom1 from a manuscript life of ,st4 ,edmund written about the year #adjj4 ,illustration ,chests served as tables1 and are often represented with chess-boards on them in old illuminations1 and husband and wife sitting on the chest and using it for the game1 which had become familiar to most ,european nations4 ,chests of later date than the time of ,edward1 of ,italian make1 still show the same use of the lids of coffers4 ,as the tops of the coffers served for tables1 and for seats they began in the thirteenth century to be furnished with a panelled back and arm-pieces at either end4 ,this development of the chest was equally common in ,france4 ,it does not seem to have been placed on legs or to have grown into a cabinet till a later period4 ,the raised dorsal or back of the seats in large rooms was a protection from the cold1 and in the rude form of a settle is still the comfort of old farm and inn kitchens in this country2 it became the general type of seats of state in the great halls1 and was there further enlarged by a canopy projecting forwards to protect the heads of the sitters1 panelled also in oak4 ,in the fifteenth century in many instances this hood or canopy was attached to the panelling of the upper end of the hall1 and covered the whole of that side of the dais4 ,the backing and canopy were sometimes replaced by temporary arrangements of hangings1 as in modern royal throne rooms1 the cloth being called cloth of estate and generally embroidered with heraldic devices4 ,panelled closets called dressoirs or cupboards1 to lock up food1 were general in properly furnished rooms2 a cloth was laid on the top at meals1 with lights1 and narrow shelves rose in steps at the back for the display of plate1 the steps varying in number according to the rank of the persons served4 ,tables used at meals were generally frames of boards1 either in one piece or folding in the middle4 ,these were laid on trestles1 as in the woodcut from an early manuscript in the ,bodleian library1 and could be removed as soon as the dinner was over1 so that the company might dance and divert themselves4 ,somewhat later1 about the year #adej1 the tables although still on trestles were made more solidly1 even for the use of people of the middle class4 ,illustration ,all houses1 however1 even of kings could not be completely or even comfortably furnished in such a manner1 far less those of feudal lords1 not princes or sovereigns4 ,the kings moved incessantly to their various strongholds and manors in time of peace to collect dues and revenues1 much of which was paid in kind and could only be profitably turned to account by carrying the ,court to different estates and living on their produce as long as it lasted4 ,orders were continually sent to sheriffs to provide food1 linen and other requisites1 while hangings and furniture were carried by the train in its progress4 ,much of the household belongings of persons of wealth was1 therefore1 of a movable kind4 ,we engrave 7p4 #ec7 a very curious table standing on a pedestal shaped like a chalice1 from a manuscript of the beginning of the fifteenth century4 ,the ladies are playing at cards4 ,illustration ,illustration ,a most oppressive privilege was exercised in ,france1 which went beyond the legal right of the lord or owner to the rents of his estates whether paid in money1 agricultural produce1 or manufactures carried on in his towns or villages4 ,this was the droit de prisage1 a privilege of seizing furniture of all kinds by the hands of stewards and others for the use of the king4 ,chairs1 tables1 and beds particularly were included in these requisitions4 ,the droit de prisage was modified at various times in consequence of the remonstrance of the commons at so oppressive an exaction2 but as late as the year #acfe ,charles the fifth seized beds4 ,in #acac ,philippe le ,bel entertained the ,english king and his queen at ,pontoise with no other furniture than such as had been seized in this manner4 ,a fire broke out in the night during their stay1 the furniture was consumed1 and the royal personages escaped in their shirts4 ,it was not till #adjg that this privilege was finally abandoned4 ,though the usual conveyance during the thirteenth century was a horse litter for women of rank1 and men rode on horseback1 yet covered and open carriages or waggons were not unknown in that and in the following century4 ,a charette containing a number of maids of honour in attendance on ,anne of ,bohemia at her public reception in ,london in #acib1 was upset on ,london bridge from the rush of the crowd to get a sight of the queen1 and her ladies were not without difficulty replaced4 ,these charettes1 cars1 or waggons were covered carts on four wheels1 like country waggons of our days1 panelled at the sides1 and the tilt covered with leather1 sometimes with lead1 and painted4 ,illustration ,we must not pass without a very brief notice the large constructions of roofs of wood begun as early as the twelfth1 and continued and improved through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries1 the period during which the finest efforts of medival ,gothic art were embodied all over the north and over parts of the south of ,europe4 ,the older part of ,westminster hall dates from the reign of ,rufus1 and the walls of the present building belong to that period1 though faced at a later time4 ,how the roof of the enormous space1 sixty-five feet diameter1 was at first constructed there is no evidence to show4 ,it had1 perhaps1 a row of arches down the middle1 like the great hall of the palace of ,blois1 said to be of the thirteenth century1 or huge kingposts supporting the ties between rafters1 which in that case may have been as long as those of the later roof4 ,the present roof1 work of the fourteenth century1 marks the beginning of a change in the style of architecture that accompanied and caused great changes in furniture and household woodwork4 ,the ties are supported by curved braces that descend like arches on the stone corbels made in the wall to receive them4 ,these braces take two flights1 being tied back where they meet by hammer beams into a lower part of the rafter4 ,the lower brace upholds another upright or collar post which supports the junction of these beams with the rafter1 at its weakest part4 ,a rich subdivision of upright mullions with cusped arch heads fills up the spandrels between these braces and the beams they support1 and adds stiffness as well as decoration to the whole4 ,such constructions were not only more scientific than those of older date1 but they are more pompous and complicated1 and have a greater apparent affinity with the architecture of the day4 ,this architectural character1 from the date of the change to the third period of pointed architecture1 began to show itself in furniture and wood structure of every kind4 ,until then a certain originality and inventiveness were preserved in the decoration both of architective woodwork and furniture1 notwithstanding the strictest observance of the rules and unities of architectural law in buildings1 ecclesiastical and civil4 ,small sculpture1 such as that on ivories and utensils made of metal1 or that which decorated woodwork as well as stone1 and the general forms of furniture1 were designed without immediate imitation of architectonic detail4 ,figure sculpture of great dignity remains in ivories of the twelfth1 thirteenth1 and fourteenth centuries1 illustrative of the general character given to things of daily use which were not1 probably1 nearly so numerous as in a later age1 and were each carefully elaborated for the person for whom they were made4 ,we need go no further than some of the objects in the ,kensington museum1 such as the statuettes and caskets of ivory1 ,english and ,french work of that time4 ,we can point to few large pieces of furniture1 except the coronation chair1 illustrating the fashions of this early period4 ,examples of wooden movable furniture are extremely rare in this country4 ,there are large semicircular cope chests in the cathedrals of ,wells1 ,york1 and other cities4 ,these are merely chests or boxes in which the copes are spread out full size1 one over the other1 and the only decoration consists in the floriated ironwork attached to the hinges4 ,illustration ,illustration ,we must not omit to remark that some examples of very beautiful oriental panelling of this period are to be seen in various collections4 ,the woodcuts represent the fittings of a series of such panels from a mosque at ,cairo1 now at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #a1jea2 and a single piece to show the detail4 ,the delicacy of the carving and the apparent intricacy of the geometrical arrangement are very remarkable4 ,illustration3 ,a royal dinner table1 from a manuscript of the fourteenth century4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,fifteenth ,,century4 ,in discussing the great wood structures such as screens1 house fronts1 roofs1 and other large pieces of mechanism1 which developed in boldness and variety in the fifteenth century1 we must not forget that the abundance of oak timber in the north of ,europe both suggested much of this timber art and admitted of bold features of construction from the size of the logs and the tenacity of the material4 ,a large portion of ,england and perhaps an equal proportion of ,ireland were covered with dense forests of oak4 ,the eastern frontier of ,france1 great portions of ,burgundy1 and many other districts in ,france1 ,germany1 ,flanders1 and other northern countries1 were still forests1 and timber was to be had at low prices and in any quantity4 ,spanish chestnut had been introduced probably by the ,romans into ,england4 ,though churches1 castles1 and manors were built of stone or brick1 or both1 yet whole cities seem to have been mainly constructed out of timber4 ,the ,london of the fifteenth century1 like a hundred other cities1 though abounding in noble churches and in great fortified palaces1 yet presented the aspect of a timber city4 ,the houses were framed together1 as a few still are in some ,english towns and villages1 of vast posts sixteen to twenty-four inches square in section1 arching outwards and meeting the projecting floor timbers1 and so with upper stories1 till the streets were darkened by the projections4 ,the surfaces of these posts were covered with delicate tracery1 niches and images4 ,in the streets at ,chester an open gallery or passage is left on the first floor within the timbers of the house fronts4 ,in the court of ,st4 ,mary's guild in ,coventry1 whole chambers and galleries are supported on vast arches of timber like bridges4 ,oriels jutted out under these overhanging stories1 and the spaces between the framing posts were filled in1 sometimes with bricks1 sometimes with laths and mortar1 or parts 7as the century wore on7 more frequently with glass4 ,in ,london and ,rouen1 in ,blois and in ,coventry1 these angle posts were filled with niches and statuettes or fifteenth century window tracery sunk into the surfaces4 ,the dark wooden houses were externally a mass of imagery4 ,in the great roofs of these centuries1 such as the one spoken of at ,westminster1 the hammer beams were generally carved into figures of angels gracefully sustaining the timber behind them with outstretched wings2 and these figures were painted and gilt4 ,a magnificent example remains intact in the church of ,knapton in ,norfolk4 ,illustration ,the number of excellent workmen and the size and architectural character of so much of the woodwork of the day contributed to give all panelled work1 no matter of what description1 an architectural type2 and furniture shared in this change4 ,coffers and chests1 as well as standards or stall-ends in churches1 and bench-ends in large rooms and halls1 were designed after the pattern of window tracery4 ,the panel in the above woodcut from a ,french chest of this date1 is a very delicate and beautiful example4 ,little buttresses and pinnacles were often placed on the angles or the divisions between the panels4 ,at ,south ,kensington1 the buffet1 no4 #h1dci and the chest1 no4 #b1ghi1 with other pieces are of this kind2 also a grand cabinet of ,german make in the same collection4 ,this last1 no4 #dig1 is of the rudest construction1 but a few roughly cut lines of moulding and some effective ironwork give it richness and dignity that are wanting in many pieces more scientifically made and more decoratively treated4 ,the quantity of tapestry employed in these centuries in fitting up houses and the tents used either during a campaign or in progresses from one estate to another was prodigious1 and kept increasing4 ,lancaster entertained the king of ,portugal in his tent between ,moual and ,malgao1 fitted up with hangings of arras as if he had been at ,hertford1 ,leicester1 or any of his manors4 ,as early as #acac1 when ,isabel of ,bavaria made her entry into ,paris1 the whole street of ,st4 ,denis1 ,froissart tells us1 was covered with a canopy of rich camlet and silk cloths1 as if they had the cloths for nothing1 or were at ,alexandria or ,damascus4 ,i 7the writer of this account7 was present1 and was astonished whence such quantities of rich stuffs and ornaments could have come1 for all the houses on each side of the street of ,st4 ,denis1 as far as the ,chtelet1 or indeed to the great bridge1 were hung with tapestries representing various scenes and histories1 to the delight of all beholders4 ,the expense incurred in timber work on these occasions may be estimated from the long lists of pageants1 and the scale on which each was prepared on this and like occasions4 ,of the early ,italian furniture of the medival period there is at ,south ,kensington one fine specimen1 a coffer of cypress1 covered with flat surface imagery filled in with coloured wax composition4 ,it dates from the fourteenth century4 ,the better known ,italian furniture of the quattrocento or fourteen hundred period1 i4e4 the fifteenth century1 is gilt and painted4 ,the richness of this old work is owing to the careful preparation of the ground or bed on which the gold is laid and the way in which the preparation was modelled with the tool4 ,the old gold is1 besides1 both thicker and purer1 more malleable1 and less liable to suffer from the action of the atmosphere than the gold we now use for this purpose4 ,the paintings executed on such pieces of furniture as offered suitable surfaces to the artist1 boxes and coffers 7and1 for church uses1 reliquaries71 are equal to the finest works of that kind and of the same period4 ,many artists worked in this way4 ,dello ,delli was the best known in regard to such productions4 ,his work became so entirely the fashion that1 according to ,vasari1 no house was complete without a specimen of it4 ,andrea di ,cosimo was another4 ,it need not be said that such men and their contemporaries had a number of pupils similarly employed4 ,every piece of painted furniture attributed to ,dello ,delli cannot be warranted4 ,there are1 however1 specimens which we believe to be from his hand in the ,kensington collection1 and numbers of fronts and panels and fragments of great merit which illustrate his style4 ,besides this kind of decoration1 the ,venetians had derived from ,persia and ,india another beautiful system of surface ornament2 marquetry1 a fine inlay of ivory1 metal1 and woods1 stained to vary the colour4 ,the work is in geometric patterns only4 ,it is found on the ivory boxes and other objects sculptured in that material1 and attributed to ,italian as well as to ,byzantine sources4 ,in the fifteenth century ,florence also came prominently to the front in the manufacture of these and other rich materials2 as well as of ivory inlaid into solid cypress wood and walnut1 known as ,certosina work4 ,the style is ,indian in character1 and consists in geometric arrangements of stars made of diamond-shaped pieces3 varied with conventional flowers in pots1 c4 ,the name ,certosina is derived from the great ,certosa1 charterhouse1 or ,carthusian monastery between ,milan and ,pavia3 where this kind of decoration is employed in the choir fittings of the splendid church of that monastery4 ,we are inclined to the belief 7as already said7 that the manufacture of geometrical work of this kind was originally imported from ,persia by the ,venetians4 ,there are in the ,kensington museum some very interesting old chairs made for the castle of ,urbino1 and part of the furniture of ,guidobaldo ,,ii41 whose court1 like that of ,rn1 king of ,provence1 was the resort of troubadours1 poets1 and philosophers4 ,these chairs are covered with geometric marquetry of white and stained ivory1 c41 the very counterpart of the ,bombay work now brought to this country4 ,that manufacture1 in the opinion of ,dr4 ,birdwood1 was also of ,persian origin and thence found its way to ,bombay4 ,the ,persians continued long into the last century the inlaying of ivory in walnut wood1 and their geometric marquetry is still made4 ,the forms of chairs in use in ,italy early in the fifteenth century were revivals of the old ,roman folding chair4 ,the pairs of crosspieces are sometimes on the sides1 sometimes set back and front1 and in that case arm and back pieces are added4 ,generally we may say that the fine ,italian furniture of that day owed its beauty to inlaying1 surface gilding1 tooling and painting4 ,gilt chests and marriage trays1 inlaid tables1 and chairs are also to be seen at ,south ,kensington4 ,as in ,italy1 so in ,england1 ,france1 ,germany1 and later in ,spain1 the splendour hitherto devoted to the glory of ecclesiastical furniture1 utensils1 or architectural decoration was gradually adopted in the royal and other castles and houses4 ,state rooms1 halls of justice1 sets of rooms for the use of the king or his barons were furnished and maintained4 ,the large religious establishments also demanded the skill of artists and workmen1 and to a greater extent north than south of the ,alps4 ,many monastic houses in the north of ,europe were seats of feudal jurisdiction4 ,these communities executed great works in wood1 stall-work1 presses1 coffers1 c41 as large and continuous societies alone are able to carry through tasks that want much time for completion4 ,all this helped to encourage the manufacture of woodwork of the finest kind4 ,hence the medival semi-ecclesiastical character maintained sway in every art connected with architecture and furniture longer in northern countries than in ,italy1 where both old traditions and monumental remains recalled rather the glories of antique art1 and where the revival of classic learning had begun4 ,as regards ,english art it is certain that1 partly from the influence of foreign queens1 partly from foreign wars1 and partly from the incessant intercourse with the rest of ,europe kept up by religious houses1 many of the accomplishments of other countries were known and practised here by foreign or native artists4 ,it is true that the wars of the ,roses1 more bloody and ruinous than any experienced in this country1 delayed that growth of domestic luxury which might have been expected from the then wealth of ,england4 ,but when ,henry the seventh established a settled government1 and from his time downwards1 the decorations and the accumulation of furniture in houses1 libraries1 and collections of works of art rapidly increased4 ,many of the books in the ,king's library1 and many pictures and movables still in possession of the crown1 may be traced to that day4 ,it is difficult1 indeed1 to imagine the ,england which ,leland saw in his travels4 ,it must have been full of splendid objects1 and during the reign of ,henry the feudal mansions1 as well as the numerous royal palaces of ,windsor1 ,richmond1 ,havering1 and others1 were filled with magnificent furniture4 ,mabuse and ,torrigiano were employed by the king1 and this example found many imitations2 artists1 both foreign and ,english1 made secular furniture1 as rich and beautiful as that of the churches and religious houses which covered the country4 ,taste in furniture1 as in architecture1 both in continental ,europe and in these islands had nevertheless passed the fine period of medival design4 ,the ,gothic or pointed forms and details had become uninventive and commonplace4 ,the whole system awaited a change4 ,the figure sculpture1 however1 of the latter years of this century1 though life-sized statues had lost much of the dignity and simplicity of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries1 was approaching the realization of natural form1 which it attained in such excellence in the succeeding century4 ,the ingenuity and raciness of the smaller figure carving both in stall-work of churches and on the tops and fronts of boxes and caskets1 in panel-work of cabinets or doors1 c41 during the last half of the fifteenth century are scarcely surpassed by the more academic and classical figure design of the sixteenth4 ,carvers on all kinds of wood furniture and decoration of houses delighted in doubling their figures up into quaint and ingenious attitudes1 and if the architecture was latterly tame1 though showy and costly1 imagery continued to be full of individuality and inventiveness4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,renaissance ,,in ,,italy4 ,there are few matters regarding art more worthy of consideration than the narrowness of the limits that bound human invention3 or1 to speak more exactly1 we should say the simplicity of the laws and principles in obedience to which the imaginations of men are exercised4 ,the return of the painters1 sculptors1 and architects to the old types of classical art after the reign of the ,gothic seems at first sight as if in the arts there could be nothing new under the sun3 as if the imagination1 so fertile in creation during many centuries since the establishment of ,christianity1 had been utterly worked out and come to an end1 and that there was nothing left but to repeat and copy what had been done ages before4 ,there is1 however1 in reality more connection between classic and medival art than appears on the surface1 and although all the great masters of the revival studied eagerly such remains of antique art as were discovered in ,italy during the early years of the renaissance1 they only came into direct contact with or absolute imitation of those models occasionally2 and the works of that age have a grace that is peculiarly their own1 and an inventiveness in painting and sculpture1 if not in architecture1 that seems1 when we look at such cities as ,venice and ,florence1 inexhaustible4 ,the renaissance began in ,italy many years before the year #aejj4 ,most changes1 indeed1 of manners or arts which are designated by any century are perhaps more correctly dated twenty years before or after its beginning1 and in the notices which we are here putting together we are compelled to make divisions of time occasionally overlap each other4 ,the revival of learning in ,italy was accompanied by other circumstances which had a powerful influence on the arts1 and particularly on the sumptuary arts of the century4 ,it has been already remarked that while the nations of ,europe were more or less convulsed with war it was not easy or possible for the inhabitants1 even the wealthy1 to do much in furnishing dwelling-houses with any kind of comfort4 ,rich furniture consisted in a few costly objects and in hangings such as could be carried about on sumpter horses or in waggons1 and1 with the addition of rough benches1 tables1 and bedsteads1 could make bare walls look gay and comfortable1 and offer sufficient accommodation in the empty halls of granges and manors seldom lived in1 for the occasions of a visit or a temporary occupation4 ,churches indeed were in those ages respected by both sides in the furious contests that raged throughout ,europe4 ,the violation of holy places was a crime held in abhorrence by all combatants1 and the treasuries and sacristies1 therefore1 of churches were full of examples of every kind of accomplishment possessed by the artists of the day4 ,they contained objects collected there during many generations1 as was the case of shrines like that of the ,virgin del ,pillar in ,spain1 of which the offerings so long preserved have been very lately sold and dispersed1 and represented the art of many successive ages4 ,but in private houses it was scarcely possible to have any corresponding richness1 though in the instance of kings and potentates there was often much splendour4 ,as in ,england the fifteenth century saw the close of a series of great wars and the establishment of one powerful government1 so during its conclusion and the beginning of the next century a similar disorder gradually gave place to tranquillity in ,italy4 ,the practices of painting gilt furniture of all kinds1 and of modelling terra-cotta work on the wood1 were not altogether new accomplishments or confined to the artists of one city4 ,when1 therefore1 the ,french having been driven out of ,italy1 the popes were in security in ,rome and the accomplished ,medici family reigned in ,florence1 those states as well as ,urbino1 ,ferrara1 and other independent cities were free from the perpetual attitude of defence against foreign invasion2 they could indulge their enthusiasm for classic art1 and the impulse given to the study of it found a ready response1 as great noblemen while building palaces and digging gardens came upon statues1 frescoes1 vases1 bronzes1 and many glorious remnants of antiquity4 ,in the various ,italian states were artists well skilled and carefully trained1 and there was no difficulty in finding distinguished names with whole schools of enthusiastic admirers behind them who1 with these precious objects in their view1 formed their style on the old classic models4 ,we are to consider such acquirements here only so far as they came to be applied to secular woodwork 7of which this cornice from ,venice is an example7 and the objects of daily use2 to coffers1 chests1 caskets1 mirrors1 or cabinets1 sideboards of various kinds1 seats1 tables1 carriages and furniture of every description4 ,illustration ,the best artists of the day did not hesitate to give their minds to the making of woodwork and furniture in various materials and employed every kind of accomplishment in beautifying them4 ,of this fine renaissance period there are so many examples in the ,south ,kensington collection1 and some of them of such excellence1 that the student need scarcely have occasion to travel beyond the limits of that museum to illustrate the quattrocento and cinquecento furniture and woodwork4 ,many materials were employed by the renaissance artists4 ,wood first and principally in making furniture1 but decorated with gilding and paintings2 inlaid with agate1 carnelian1 lapis lazuli and marbles of various tints2 with ivory1 tortoiseshell1 mother-of-pearl2 and with other woods4 ,they also made many smaller objects1 such as mirror cases in iron1 damascened or inlaid with gold and silver4 ,for many years1 however1 mirrors continued to be of polished metal1 the enrichment being devoted to the outer case4 ,glass mirrors were not common till a somewhat later period4 ,as the general material of furniture in the sixteenth century continued to be wood1 its chief decoration was sculpture4 ,the number of remarkable pieces of carved wood furniture belonging to this period in the museum is considerable4 ,the most striking are the chests1 cassoni1 large coffers for containing clothes or ornamental hangings and stuffs that were kept in them when not in use4 ,rooms1 however large1 of which the walls1 floors1 and ceilings are decorated1 do not require many substantial objects in addition2 and these chests1 with a table and chairs placed against the wall1 nearly complete the requirements of great ,italian halls and corridors4 ,illustration ,the general form of the carved chests is that of a sarcophagus4 ,they are supported on claw feet1 and have masks1 brackets1 or caryatid figures worked into the construction as in the accompanying woodcut1 leaving panels1 borders1 or other spaces for historic sculpture4 ,the subjects are sometimes from ,scripture1 often from the poems of ,ovid4 ,they are carved in walnut wood1 which is free in grain and very tenacious3 and the work1 like most of the old furniture carving1 is helped out with gilding4 ,sometimes the ground1 at others the relieved carvings are touched or completely covered with gilding4 ,most of these fine chests are in pairs1 and probably formed parts of still larger sets1 fours or sixes1 according as they were intended for the wall spaces of larger or smaller rooms or portions of wall between two doors4 ,carved chests commonly in use1 and given to brides as part of their dowry or as presents to married couples1 or simply provided as the most convenient objects both for receptacles and occasionally for seats1 were often made at less cost in cypress wood4 ,they are generally decorated with surface designs etched with a pen on the absorbent grain of that wood1 the ground being slightly cut out and worked over with punches shaped like nail heads1 stars1 c4 ,cypress chests were especially used for keeping dresses or tapestries2 the aromatic properties of that timber being considered as a specific against moth4 ,this kind of chest1 when intended to hold a bridal trousseau1 was occasionally made with small drawers and receptacles inside for fans1 lace1 combs1 or other feminine ornaments4 ,allusions to cypress chests in ,england are numerous in the wardrobe and privy purse accounts of ,edward the fourth and his successors4 ,the tables of this period are sometimes solid 7as no4 #afb1 which is covered with spirited designs of mythological subjects74 ,dinner tables were boards fastened on trestles1 according to the old usage already alluded to1 and could be removed when the meal was over2 or several could be laid together1 as in our modern dining-room tables1 to meet the demands of the noble hospitality exercised in those days4 ,the ,italian chairs of the quattrocento period have been spoken of above4 ,we have1 however1 another very rich and effective form of chairs usual in the sixteenth century1 and which were in general use in ,venice4 ,in these the seat is fastened into two planks1 one before and one behind1 as in the woodcut4 ,the planks are richly carved1 and a third plank is let in to form a back4 ,the several portions1 particularly the back1 were sometimes sufficiently thick to admit of carving in massive relief4 ,the flanks of the back piece are usually grotesque monsters1 and the arms of the owner carved on a scutcheon in the centre4 ,they seem to have been generally richly gilt4 ,they also formed the decoration of a great corridor or hall1 and were used without cushions4 ,illustration ,the frames of pictures were bold and rich4 ,those of the previous century had been mostly imitative of small ,gothic shrines1 being generally for religious subjects and for use in churches or oratories4 ,in the cinquecento period they were square panels1 carved and richly gilt4 ,there are in the ,kensington museum remarkable examples of frames made for mirrors1 either for the sitting-rooms or saloons of the lady of the house1 or for her bedroom4 ,three of these are type pieces of such productions4 ,no4 #gfie is a square frame carved in walnut1 standing on a foot1 and meant to be carried about4 ,from the daisies in relief on the foot it may perhaps be ascribed to ,marguerite of ,valois1 and have been used in the court of ,provence4 ,nothing in the collection surpasses the elegance and perfection of the ornamental work on the mouldings4 ,the mirror itself is of polished metal4 ,another is in a circular frame1 no4 #gfid1 shaped like a shield1 and meant to be hung up4 ,it was probably made for a duchess of ,ferrara4 ,there are classical details of architectonic kind on the edges of the carving1 which is highly finished4 ,the mirror itself is of metal1 and the back has figures on it in relief and is solidly gilt4 ,the third of these1 no4 #gbbf1 is larger4 ,in design it is like a monumental mural tablet1 with a carved rich finish on the four sides1 and the mirror furnished with a sliding cover in the form of a medallion1 containing a female head of singular nobleness and beauty4 ,in this case the material is walnut relieved by broad surfaces of inlaid wood4 ,we may also mention the superb ,soltykoff mirror1 no4 #gfdh4 ,this is an example of metal work throughout1 the case1 stand1 and sliding cover being of iron damascened with gold and silver in every variety of that costly process4 ,illustration ,some of the richest pieces of carved walnut furniture belonging to this period are the bellows4 ,as these are characteristic of the ,italian style of the period in furniture of various kinds1 we give woodcuts of two examples in the ,south ,kensington collection4 ,they are generally of walnut touched with gilding2 and in the form still familiar to ourselves1 which is as old as the classic times4 ,illustration ,besides furniture carved in this way out of solid wood1 there were other materials used and other methods of decorating household furniture4 ,the tarsia or inlaid work has been alluded to4 ,the first methods were by geometrical arrangements of small dies2 but magnificent figure designs had been executed in inlaid wood in the early period of the renaissance1 and before it4 ,work of this kind was made in two or three woods1 and much of it is in pine or cypress4 ,the large grain is used to express lines of drapery and other movements by putting whole folds or portions of a dress or figure with the grain in one direction or another1 as may be required4 ,the picture is thus composed of pieces inclined together2 a few bold lines incised and blackened give such outlines of the form as are not attainable by the other method1 and slight burning with an iron is sometimes added to produce tone or shadow4 ',tarsie' or ',tarsiatura1' says ,mrs4 ,merrifield1 was a kind of mosaic in woods4 ,this consisted in representing houses and perspective views of buildings1 by inlaying pieces of wood of various colours and shades into panels of walnut wood4 ,vasari speaks rather slightingly of this art1 and says that it was practised chiefly by those persons who possessed more patience than skill in design2 that although he had seen some good representations in figures1 fruits1 and animals1 yet the work soon becomes dark1 and was always in danger of perishing from the worms and by fire4 ,tarsia work was frequently employed in decorating the choirs of churches as well as the backs of seats and the wainscoting4 ,it was also used in the panels of doors4 ,another method of ornamentation dependent on material that came into use in this century was the ,pietra ,dura or mosaic panelling of hard pebbles4 ,the work is laborious and costly4 ,not only are the materials 7agate1 carnelian1 amethyst and marbles of all colours7 expensive1 but each part must be ground laboriously to an exact shape and the whole mosaic fitted together1 a kind of refinement of the old marble work called ,alexandrinum4 ,besides being formed into marble panels for table tops and cabinet fronts1 pietra dura was let into wood1 and helped out with gay colours the more sombre walnut or ebony base of the furniture4 ,vasari1 speaking of particular pieces of furniture of his day1 mentions a splendid library table made at the expense and by the order of ,francesco de' ,medici in ,florence4 ,this table was constructed of ebony1 that is1 veneered with ebony1 divided into compartments by columns of heliotrope1 oriental jasper1 and lapis lazuli1 which have the bases and capitals of chased silver4 ,the work is furthermore enriched with jewels1 beautiful ornaments of silver1 and exquisite little figures1 interspersed with miniatures and terminal figures of silver and gold1 in full relief1 united in pairs4 ,there are1 besides1 other compartments formed of jasper1 agates1 heliotropes1 sardonyxes1 carnelians1 and other precious stones4 ,this piece was the work of ,bernardo ,buontalenti4 ,another piece of such work is described as a table wholly formed of oriental alabaster1 intermingled with great pieces of carnelian1 jasper1 heliotrope1 lapis1 and agate1 with other stones and jewels1 worth twenty thousand crowns4 ,another artist1 ,bernardino di ,porfirio of ,leccio1 executed an octangular table of ebony and ivory inlaid with jaspers4 ,this precious manufacture has been patronised in the grand ducal factories down to recent times1 and is continued in the royal establishments of the king of ,italy4 ,a feature which was strongly developed in the sixteenth century furniture is the architectural character of the outlines4 ,it has already been observed that in the fifteenth century1 chests1 screens1 stall fronts1 doors and panelling followed or fell into the prevailing arrangements of architectural design in stonework1 such as window tracery1 or wall tracery4 ,but in the cinquecento furniture an architectural character1 not proper to woodwork for any constructive reasons1 was imparted to cabinets1 chests1 c4 ,they were artificially provided with parts that imitated the lines1 brackets1 and all the details of classic entablatures which have constructive reasons in architecture1 but which1 reduced to the proportions of furniture1 have not the same propriety4 ,these subdivisions brought into use the art of joinery4 ,the parts obviously necessary for the purpose of framing up wood1 whether a box or chest1 a door1 a piece of panelling1 or a chair1 offer certain opportunities for mouldings or carvings2 some are the thicker portions forming the frames1 some the thin flat boards that fill up the spaces4 ,to add a variety of mouldings1 such as subdivide the roofs of temples or their peristyles1 is1 of course1 to depart from the carpenter's province and work1 and rather to take furniture out of its obvious forms for the express purpose of impressing on it the renaissance type4 ,illustration3 ,knife case4 ,dated #aefd4 ,the artists of that time did this with the object of designing in character1 and special models1 such as the old triumphal arches1 and sarcophagi1 at ,rome1 were in view in these designs4 ,on both arches and tombs sculptured bas-reliefs abounded4 ,figures reclined over the arches1 and were arranged in square compositions in the panels1 for which the upper stories of the arches made provision4 ,the renaissance cabinets fell into modifications of this ideal4 ,a century later they grew into house fronts1 and showed doors1 arches1 and balustrades inside1 with imitative paved floors1 looking-glasses set at angles of #de1 so as to make reflections of these various parts2 and in this humorous fashion the inside of a walnut or ebony cabinet was turned into the model of an ,italian villa4 ,again1 in place of the running foliated borders and mouldings having a continuous design1 or of compositions of foliage1 animals1 c41 forming in each arch moulding or cornice line a homogeneous line or circle1 the renaissance arabesques introduced an entirely new method of decoration4 ,in arabesque ornament all sorts of natural objects are grafted on a central stalk1 or1 as in the best work1 on something like the stem of a candelabrum4 ,the resources of this method are limited only by the fancy and skill of the artist1 who grafts here a mask1 there a leaf on his stem1 and so on4 ,the temptation is the license and discordance that come in when no unity is needed in a piece of ornament1 and no continuous effort of mind required to think out and execute one definite idea in designing it4 ,the central stem leads to an exact balance or reversal of one half of each element in the ornament1 so that one half only of a panel or border has to be designed4 ,in the hands of great artists this kind of ornamentation has been used with consummate grace4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,renaissance ,,in ,,england1 ,,flanders1 ,,france1 ,,germany1 ,,and ,,spain4 ,in the foregoing sketch of the furniture1 designs1 and manufactures of central ,italy1 we have described the history of contemporaneous furniture throughout ,europe4 ,pope ,leo the tenth gave every encouragement to the reviving arts in ,rome1 and left that capital the great nursery of art down to our day4 ,to ,italy the great princes of ,europe sent the most promising artists of their dominions1 or encouraged such resort4 ,most of these men were architects and sculptors4 ,classical learning and splendid living were both encouraged by ,henry the eighth4 ,he is1 probably1 to be credited with the impulse given to the court and the country in the direction of the arts and accomplishments of ,italy4 ,if ,jean de ,mabuse had been patronised by ,henry the seventh1 his successor offered tempting terms to ,primaticcio to exchange the service of his brother king1 ,francis1 for his own4 ,other artists1 contemporaries of ,raphael and his scholars1 found their way to ,england2 to these we must add the great master of the ,german or ,swiss school1 ,holbein4 ,that the artists both of ,holbein's and of the ,italian schools designed furniture in this country we have proofs in the drawing for a panelled chimney-piece now in the ,british museum1 and the woodwork of ,king's college chapel in ,cambridge4 ,another piece of furniture of this date1 showing the mixed character of ,italian and ,holbeinesque design1 is the very fine ,tudor cabinet at ,south ,kensington4 ,though the court of ,henry and the palaces of his wives were furnished with splendour1 and works of art1 especially those of the gold and silversmith1 and jewellery1 found their way from foreign parts to such great houses1 the general manners of the country changed less in these respects than was the case in ,france and the more wealthy states and courts of ,germany4 ,in the portrait pictures of ,henry and his family we see furniture of a renaissance character1 but in the great monuments of the woodwork of the day the old style prevailed throughout the reign4 ,the roofs1 magnificent specimens of wood construction1 were still subdivided1 and supported by king posts1 queen posts1 hammer beams1 arches connecting these portions and tracery panels in the spandrels1 as in the two previous centuries4 ,all parts were carved and coloured4 ,the architecture of country houses began to change from the old form of a castle or a fortress to that of the beautiful and characteristic style to which we give the name of ,tudor4 ,moats were retained1 but still the principal features of the building were the depressed arches and perpendicular window mullions that had been long familiar in ,england1 and were suggested by the wooden houses so general in the thirteenth1 fourteenth1 and fifteenth centuries4 ,the woodwork also and the panelling of halls and chambers retained the upright lines and mouldings forming the various linen patterns4 ,leafwork and heads1 busts of the reigning princes1 or of heroes such as the ,csars1 filled up the more ornamental sections1 giving a certain classical element which was not fully developed till later3 and most of the renaissance ornamentation of this reign has a ,flemish rather than an ,italian character4 ,the woodcuts on the next page show a series of panels of different countries1 many of which are to be found introduced with slight variations in ,english work of about the same period4 ,flanders was in advance of this country in renaissance art4 ,this remark extends to ornament of all kinds1 whether of church woodwork1 glass-painting1 or domestic furniture4 ,still the ,flemish work of this renaissance1 or 7speaking of ,england7 this early ,tudor period retains a mixture of details of the pointed style that makes us sometimes doubtful how to characterise the style of individual pieces4 ,we may point to sideboards and chests in illustration4 ,belgium abounds in examples of this transition period4 ,illustration3 ,english1 #aeth century4 ,illustration3 ,flemish1 #afth century4 ,illustration3 ,french1 #afth century4 ,illustration3 ,german1 #aeth century4 ,illustration3 ,italian1 #afth century4 ,in ,france1 the most advanced and most luxurious and cultivated of the transalpine courts1 the renaissance art had advanced far beyond that of ,england4 ,not only had ,francis the first and the ,medici princesses invited famous artists out of ,italy1 but they aimed at imitating ,florentine luxuries and refinements as completely as they could4 ,admirable schools of ornamental art1 such as that of the ,limoges enamellers and carvers in ivory1 were and had been long established in ,france4 ,classic sculpture was produced of great merit in all materials4 ,primaticcio and ,cellini founded new schools of architects1 painters1 and sculptors in ,france4 ,they employed pupils1 and the most promising found their way to ,rome and ,florence1 associated themselves with the great masters then practising1 and brought back all the instruction they could obtain4 ,illustration ,jean ,goujon stands at the head of these ,french masters4 ,besides being a sculptor and architect1 there is little doubt of his having designed and even sculptured wood furniture4 ,probably the carved woodwork of the king's bedroom and adjoining rooms in the old ,louvre are by his hand4 ,bachelier1 of ,toulouse1 did the same1 and pieces are attributed to him now in the ,kensington ,museum4 ,philibert de ,l',orme was another artist in a similar field4 ,both ,goujon and ,bachelier showed the influence of the great ,italian masters in their work4 ,the table engraved 7p4 #ha7 is a very elegant example of ,french sixteenth century furniture4 ,illustration ,,semper ,,festina ,,lente #aegg ,a4 ,,reid4 ,,del4 ,the woodwork in the renaissance houses--the panelling and fittings of the rooms--was designed by the architect1 and was full of quaint1 sometimes extravagant imagery4 ,for example1 the architectural and decorative plates of ,jacques ,androuet du ,cerceau will give some idea of the dependence of all these details on the architects of the day4 ,this author published designs for marquetry or wood mosaics1 as well as for all sorts of woodwork4 ,a glance at the heavy cabinets of the later sixteenth century1 of ,french origin1 will show how completely great pieces of furniture fell into the same character of forms4 ,shelves are supported on grotesque figures1 while in the mouldings1 instead of simple running lines worked with the plane1 as in fifteenth century woodwork1 we see the egg and tongue1 acanthus leaves1 dentils and other members of classical architecture1 constantly recurring4 ,the ornaments of ,french woodworkers show a fondness for conventional bands or straps interspersed with figures and other ornaments4 ,the panel1 of which we give a woodcut1 is ,french1 and dated #aegg4 ,it contains armorial bearings and a monogram1 said to be of the ,aldine family4 ,in #aegg1 however1 ,aldus ,manutius the elder was dead1 and his son did not live in ,france4 ,germany and ,spain took up the renaissance art in a still more ,italian spirit than ,england or ,france4 ,parts of ,italy as well as ,spain were under the same ruler2 they both1 as far as regards art1 felt the influence of powerful imperial patronage4 ,we are only concerned with their art here as it refers to woodwork4 ,german wood carvers were more quaint1 minute1 and redundant as to decoration4 ,something of the vigour1 manliness1 and inexhaustible sense of humour of the ,germans characterises their woodwork1 as it does other art1 of which ornament forms the main feature4 ,the well-known ,triumph of ,maximilian1 though a woodcut only1 may be taken as a type of ,german treatment4 ,the great cities of the empire are full of carved woodwork1 house fronts1 and gables4 ,timber was abundant4 ,the imagery of the period1 in wood as in stone1 is intentionally quaint1 contorted1 humorous4 ,it would be essentially ugly but for the inexhaustible fecundity of thought1 allegory1 and satire that pervades it4 ,it should be added also that designers and architects had an immense sense of dignity1 which we recognise immediately when we see their architectural compositions as a whole4 ,depths and hollows1 points of light1 prominences and relative retirement of parts in their arrangements of carved ornament1 were matters thoroughly understood2 and they succeed in imparting that general agreeableness which we call effect to the mind of the observers4 ,as regards ,spanish art we cannot do better than adopt the statements of ,seor ,j4 ,f4 ,riao1 who says that the brilliant epoch of sculpture in wood belongs to the sixteenth century1 and was due to the great impulse it received from the works of ,berruguete and ,felipe de ,borgoa4 ,he was the chief promoter of the ,italian style1 and the choir of the cathedral of ,toledo1 where he worked so much1 is the finest specimen of the kind in ,spain4 ,toledo1 ,seville1 and ,valladolid were at that time great productive and artistic centres4 ,as a specimen of wood carving of the ,italian renaissance period1 applied to an object of furniture1 the magnificent wardrobe by ,gregorio ,pardo 7#aedi7 outside the chapter house at ,toledo may be mentioned as one of the most beautiful things of its kind4 ,these various styles of ornamentation were applied to the cabinets ',bufetes' of such varied form and materials which were so much the fashion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries4 ,the most characteristic of ,spain are such as are called ',vargueos4' ,these cabinets are decorated outside with fine ironwork1 and inside with columns of bone painted and gilt4 ,the other cabinets or escritoires belonging to that period1 which are so frequently met with in ,spain1 were to a large extent imported from ,germany and ,italy1 while others were made in ,spain in imitation of these 7the italics are ours71 and as the copies were very similar it is difficult to classify them4 ,it may be asserted1 however1 that cabinets of inlaid wood were made in great perfection in ,spain at the end of the sixteenth century1 for in a memorial written by a maker of tapestry1 ,pedro ,gretierez1 who worked for queen ,isabella1 he says1 ',the escritoires and cabinets brought from ,germany are worth #ejj1 #fjj1 and #gjj reales each1 and those of the same kind made in ,spain by ,spaniards are to be had for #bej and #cjj reales4' ,besides these inlaid cabinets others must have been made in the sixteenth century inlaid with silver4 ,an edict was issued in #aeid prohibiting1 with the utmost rigour1 the making and selling of this kind of merchandise1 in order not to increase the scarcity of silver4 ,the edict says that 'no cabinets1 desks1 coffers1 brasiers1 shoes1 tables1 or other articles decorated with stamped1 raised1 carved1 or plain silver1 should be manufactured4' ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,tudor ,,and ,,stuart ,,styles4 ,the list of reigns supplies more convenient dates than the beginning or the end of a century for marking changes of national tastes in such matters as furniture4 ,the names of kings or queens are justly given to denote styles1 whether of architecture1 dress1 or personal ornaments1 and utensils of the household4 ,society in most countries adopts those habits that are first taken up by the sovereign4 ,in ,england1 the reign of ,elizabeth was pre-eminently a period during which the tastes1 even the fancies1 of the queen were followed enthusiastically by her people4 ,elizabethan is the name of the style of architecture gradually developed during her reign4 ,italian taste1 though not perhaps so pure as it had been a few years earlier1 had become far more general2 classical details1 however1 were mixed even more in ,england than in other countries 7,flanders excepted7 with relics of older styles1 the love of which was still strong in this country4 ,the fireplaces and the panelling of our old houses1 ,crewe hall1 ,speke in ,lancashire1 ,haddon hall in ,derbyshire1 ,kenilworth castle1 ,raglan castle1 and many other old buildings1 are thoroughly characteristic of this mixed classical revival4 ,the fashion is quaint and grotesque1 the figure sculpture being good enough to look well in the form of caryatid monsters1 half men1 half terminal posts or acanthus foliations1 but not sufficiently correct or graceful to stand altogether alone4 ,specimens1 however1 of very good work can be pointed out1 and we give here some of the details of a panelled room brought lately from ,exeter1 and now in the ,south ,kensington collection4 ,we may say that the character of the woodwork throughout this period consists in actual architectural faades or portions of faades1 showy arrangements wherever they are possible of the five orders of architecture1 or of pedimental fronts4 ,doorways and chimney fronts are the principal opportunities in interiors for the exercise of this composing skill4 ,panelling remained in use in the great halls and most of the chambers of the house1 but the linen pattern1 so graceful and effective1 went out of fashion4 ,the angles of the rooms1 the cornices1 and spaces above the doors were fitted with groups of architectural cornice mouldings1 consisting of dentil1 egg and tongue1 and running moulds1 and sometimes room walls were divided into panels by regular columns4 ,illustration ,heraldry1 with rich carved mantlings and quaint forms of scutcheons 7the edges notched and rolled about as if made of the notched edges of a scroll of parchment71 was a frequent ornament4 ,grotesque terminal figures1 human-headed1 supported the front of the dresser--the chief furniture of the dining-room and of the cabinet4 ,table supports and newels of stair rails grew into heavy acorn-shaped balusters4 ,in the case of stair balusters1 these were often ornamented with well-cut sculpture of fanciful and heraldic figures4 ,inlaid work also began to be used in room-panelling as well as furniture2 bed heads and testers1 chest fronts1 cabinets1 c41 were inlaid1 but scarcely with delicacy1 during the early ,elizabethan period4 ,the art was developed during the reign of ,james1 when1 in point of fact1 the larger number of the ,tudor houses were erected4 ,when the ,tudor period was succeeded by that of the ,stuarts the same general characteristics remained1 but all the forms of carving grew heavier and the execution coarser4 ,the table legs1 baluster newels1 and cabinet supports1 had enormous acorn-shaped masses in the middle4 ,the objects themselves1 such as the great hall tables1 instead of being moveable on trestles1 became of unwieldy size and weight4 ,the general character of ,flemish work was much of the same kind and form4 ,it is not easy to distinguish the nationality of pieces of ,flemish and ,english oak furniture of this period4 ,the ,flemings1 however1 retained a higher school of figure carvers1 and their church-stall work and some of their best things are of a higher stamp and better designed2 and where figure sculpture was employed this superiority is always apparent4 ,a good example of ,flemish panelling can be studied in the doorway at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #dcbi4 ,their furniture is represented by an excellent specimen1 amongst others1 of this mixed period in the cabinet1 no4 #aef4 ,though large and heavy1 and divided into massive parts1 the treatment of ornament is well understood on such pieces4 ,the scroll-work is bold but light1 and the general surface of important mouldings or dividing members is not cut up by the ornamentation4 ,the panels are very generally carved with graceful figure subjects1 commonly biblical4 ,as the years advanced into the seventeenth century ,flemish work became bigger and less refined4 ,diamond-shaped panels were superimposed on the square1 turned work was split and laid on1 drop ornaments were added below tables and from the centres of the arches of arched panels2 all these unnecessary ornaments were mere additions and encumbrances to the general structure4 ,illustration ,our own later ,jacobean or ,stuart style borrowed this from the ,flemish4 ,the ,flemings and the ,dutch had long imported woodwork into ,england1 and it is to that commerce that we may trace the greater likeness between the late ,flemish renaissance carving and corresponding ,english woodwork1 than between the ,english and the ,french4 ,dutch designs in furniture1 though allied to the ,flemish1 were swelled out into enormous proportions4 ,the huge wardrobe cabinets made by the ,dutch of walnut wood with ebony inlaid work and waved ebony mouldings are still to be met with4 ,the panels of the fronts are broken up into numerous angles and points4 ,in ,france the fine architectural wood construction of the style of ,philibert de l',orme and so many great masters maintained itself1 and a number of fine cabinets and sideboards in various collections attest the excellence of the work4 ,the cabinet on the opposite page 7no4 #begc in the ,kensington museum7 is of late ,french sixteenth century work1 and combines the characteristics of the heavy furniture made in the north of ,europe with a propriety of treatment in the ornamentation of mouldings and cornices peculiar to ,french architects1 who continued to design such structures for the houses they built and fitted up4 ,the descendants of ,catherine de' ,medicis and their generation were trained by ,italian artists and altogether in ,italian tastes1 and no great change occurred in ,france in woodwork or furniture till the sixteenth century had closed4 ,in ,german and in ,italian furniture the principal changes were in the direction of veneered and marquetry work4 ,the same vigorous quaintness continued to distinguish ,german decorative detail as has been already noticed4 ,the ,italians carved wood during the later sixteenth and the whole of the seventeenth centuries with extraordinary grace and vigour4 ,the next woodcut1 a pedestal in oak1 shows their power in hard material3 and smaller objects1 such as the frames of pictures1 were cut out in great sweeping leaves1 perhaps of the acanthus1 showing an ease and certainty in the artist that look as if he were employed upon some substance more yielding than the softest wood4 ,chairs were cut in the same rich style1 and this luxurious carving was not unfrequently applied to the decoration of state carriages4 ,venice maintained a pre-eminence in this perhaps in a greater degree than ,florence1 though in the valley of the ,arno the willow1 lime1 sycamore1 and other soft white woods were to be had in abundance1 and invited great freedom in carving4 ,illustration ,illustration ,we may now treat of an important epoch in the history of modern furniture4 ,venice was the seat of the manufacture of glass4 ,in the sixteenth century workmen had received state protection for the manufacture of mirrors1 which till that time had been mere hand mirrors and made of mixed metals highly polished4 ,gilt wood frames were extensively manufactured for these ,venetian looking-glasses1 which found their way all over ,europe4 ,besides gilt frames1 gilt chairs1 carved consoles1 and other highly ornate furniture were introduced as the century went on1 and most of this took its origin from ,venice4 ,the woodcut represents a small frame1 no4 #afje1 at ,south ,kensington4 ,another remarkable class of gilt woodwork1 for which ,florence and other cities had found trained carvers1 was the framework of carriages4 ,in ,england1 ,france1 ,germany1 and ,italy carriages during the seventeenth century were stately1 and certainly wonderful pieces of furniture4 ,examples of these showy carriages exist still4 ,there is a collection belonging to the royal family of ,portugal1 now preserved at ,lisbon1 one or two in the museum of the htel de ,cluny at ,paris1 dating from the time of ,martin and painted by him1 and there are a few carriages of old date at ,vienna and probably in some private houses4 ,the state-coach of the ,speaker is an ,english example of the seventeenth century4 ,germany differed less from ,italy even than ,france in wood carving1 interior room fittings1 and the frequent pedimental compositions containing grotesques1 or heraldic achievements on a scale of sumptuous display4 ,the ,german princes were many of them skilful and intelligent patrons of art1 and made collections in their residences4 ,a well-known piece belonging to the early seventeenth century is preserved in the royal museum at ,berlin4 ,this is known as the ,pomeranian art cabinet4 ,it is #d ft4 #aj in4 high1 #c ft4 #d in4 wide by #b ft4 #aj in4 deep1 made of ebony with drawers of sandal wood lined with red morocco leather1 and is mounted with silver and pietra dura work1 and fitted inside with utensils of various kinds4 ,the chair1 of which we give a woodcut1 is ,german of about the same date4 ,illustration ,in the west of ,europe1 during the seventeenth century1 marquetry was extensively used1 and became the leading feature of furniture decoration4 ,inlaying had long been in use2 but the new marquetry was a picturesque composition1 a more complete attempt at pictorial representation4 ,it comes before us in old furniture under various forms1 and many examples of it may be studied in different collections4 ,in this country we may consider it mainly as an imported art of the reign of ,william and ,mary1 when ,dutch marquetry furniture became the fashion in the form of bandy-legged chairs1 upright clock fronts1 secrtaires or bureaux1 or writing cabinets which were closed in the upper and middle parts with doors1 and other pieces that offered surfaces available for such decoration4 ,the older designs on work of this kind represent tulips and other flowers1 foliage1 birds1 c41 all in gay colours1 generally the self colours of the woods used4 ,sometimes the eyes and other salient points are in ivory or mother-of-pearl4 ,in ,france1 in the earlier marquetry designs1 picturesque landscapes1 broken architecture1 and figures are represented4 ,colours are occasionally stained on the wood4 ,ivory and ebony were favourite materials2 as also in ,germany and in ,italy4 ,it is to be noted that as the vigour of the great sixteenth century movement died out1 the mania for making furniture in the form of architectural models died out also2 nor do we find it becoming a fashion again till quite modern times1 under the ,gothic and other revivals at the end of the last and the beginning of the present century4 ,the architectural idea was in itself full of grandeur1 and it was productive of very beautiful examples in the sarcophagus-shaped chests or cassoni1 and in cabinet work1 though the faades of temples and the vaults and columns of triumphal arches in ,rome do not bear to be too completely reduced to such small proportions4 ,with the introduction of marquetry into more general use we recognise not only a new or renewed method of decoration1 but a changed ideal of construction4 ,boxes1 chests1 tables1 cabinets1 c41 were conceived as such4 ,they were made more convenient for use1 and were no longer subdivided by architectural mouldings and columns1 all so much extra work added to the sides and fronts4 ,about the middle of the seventeenth century a kind of work altogether new in the manufactory of modern furniture made its appearance under the reign of ,louis the fourteenth of ,france4 ,that king rose to a position in ,europe that no monarch of modern times had occupied before1 and the great ministers of his reign had the wisdom to take special measures for the establishment of the various arts and manufactures in which either the ,italians or ,flemings excelled the ,french as well as other nations4 ,colbert1 his minister of finance1 amongst his commercial reforms of learned societies and schools of art1 founded in #affd an ,academie royale de peinture d'architecture et de sculpture4 ,it was into this that the designers of architecture1 woodwork1 ornament or furniture1 were admitted4 ,he established also the famous factory of the ,gobelins for making pictorial tapestry4 ,the place took its name from the brothers ,gobelin1 ,flemings1 who had a dyeing-house in the ,rue ,mouffetard4 ,lebrun1 the painter1 was the first head of it4 ,another important name is that of ,jean ,lepautre4 ,he has left numerous designs of ornament behind him for panelling1 mirror frames1 carriages1 c4 ,lepautre was a pupil of ,adam ,philippon4 ,this artist1 whose chief calling was that of a joiner and cabinet maker1 has also left designs4 ,to ,colbert is due the credit of pushing forward the renewal or completion of the royal palaces2 especially the chteau of ,versailles4 ,for the furniture of this palace we find the new material employed1 namely1 boule marquetry1 which owes its name to the maker4 ,the orthography of proper names was still often unsettled at that time1 and we find the name variously spelt4 ,the correct way seems to have been ,boulle2 but we shall retain the more usual mode1 both for the artist and for his work4 ,andr ,charles ,boule was born in #afdb1 and made the peculiar kind of veneered work composed of tortoiseshell and thin brass1 to which are sometimes added ivory and enamelled metal2 brass and shell1 however1 are the general materials4 ,boule was made head of the royal furniture department and was lodged in the ,louvre4 ,a very interesting early specimen of this work is now at ,windsor castle1 and other early pieces belong to ,sir ,richard ,wallace4 ,the date attributed to the first makes it doubtful whether ,boule may not have seen the same sort of work practised in other workshops4 ,this kind of marquetry has1 however1 been assigned by general consent to ,boule4 ,in the earlier work of ,boule the inlay was produced at great cost1 owing to the waste of valuable material in cutting2 and the shell is left of its natural colour2 in later work the manufacture was more economical4 ,two or three thicknesses of the different material were glued or stuck together and sawn through at one operation4 ,an equal number of figures and of matrices or hollow pieces exactly corresponding were thus produced1 and by counter-charging two or more designs were obtained by the same sawing4 ,these are technically known as boule and counter1 the brass forming the groundwork and the pattern alternately4 ,in the later or new boule1 the shell is laid on a gilt ground or on vermilion4 ,the brass is elaborately chased with a graver4 ,besides these plates of brass for marquetry ornaments1 ,boule1 who was a sculptor of no mean pretensions1 founded and chased up feet1 edgings1 bracket supports1 c41 to his work in relief1 or in the round1 also in brass4 ,the original use of these parts was to protect the edges and angles1 and bind the thin inlaid work together where it was interrupted by angles in the structure4 ,afterwards brass mounts1 more or less relieved1 were added to enrich the flat designs of the surfaces4 ,classical altars1 engraved or chased as mere surface decoration1 would receive the addition of claw feet actually relieved4 ,figures standing on such altars1 pedestals1 c41 were made in relief more or less bold4 ,in this way ,boule's later work is not only a brilliant and rich piece of surface decoration1 but its metallic parts are repouss or embossed with thicknesses of metal ornament4 ,in boule work all parts of the marquetry are held down by glue to the bed1 usually of oak4 ,the metal is occasionally fastened down by small brass pins or nails1 which are hammered flat and chased over so as to be imperceptible4 ,illustration ,in ,england1 during the reign of ,charles the second and of ,james1 ,french furniture was imported2 the old ,tudor oak lingered in country houses4 ,boule hardly found its way till the following century to ,england4 ,splendid silver furniture consisting of plates embossed and repouss1 heightened with the graver and of admirable design1 was occasionally made for the ,court and for great families4 ,wood carving1 in the manner of the school of ,sir ,christopher ,wren1 as in the bracket here shown1 was long continued in connexion with architecture and furniture4 ,another style was carried to the highest pitch of technical execution and finish1 as well as of truth of natural forms in the carving of ,grinling ,gibbons4 ,this artist was ,english1 but partially of ,dutch descent4 ,he carved foliage1 birds1 flowers1 busts and figures1 pieces of drapery1 c41 with astonishing dexterity4 ,we find his work principally on mirror frames1 wall panels1 chimney pieces1 c4 ,specimens may be seen over the communion table of ,st4 ,james's church1 ,westminster1 and in the choir of ,st4 ,paul's cathedral4 ,the finest examples known are probably the carved work at ,petworth house in ,sussex1 and at ,chatsworth4 ,his material is generally lime and other white woods4 ,the flowers and foliage of his groups or garlands sweep round in bold and harmonious curves1 making an agreeable whole1 though for architectural decorative carving no work was ever so free from conventional arrangements4 ,his animals or his flowers appear to be so many separate creations from nature1 laid or tied together separately1 though in reality formed out of a block1 and remaining still portions of a group cut in the solid wood4 ,illustration3 ,a4 ,,reid ,,pearson1 ,s4,c4 ,gibbons died in #agba4 ,walpole mentions ,watson as having been his pupil and assistant at ,chatsworth4 ,drevot of ,brussels and ,laurens of ,mechlin were other pupils3 the former did not survive him4 ,his school had many followers1 for we find the acanthus carvings on mouldings1 round doorways and chimney pieces1 down to the middle of the eighteenth century1 executed in ,england with a masterly hand4 ,specimens of such work have been recently acquired in the ,kensington museum1 the fruits of the demolition of old ,london1 continually in progress4 ,the border of this page represents one of these admirable pieces2 a door and frame from a house in ,lincoln's-inn4 ,nothing can surpass the perfect mastery of execution4 ,all the work is cut clean and sharp out of wood which admits of no tentative cuts1 and requires no rubbing down with sand paper1 and in which errors are not to be repaired4 ,lengths of these mouldings were worked off by hand1 evidently without hesitation and without mishap4 ,country houses abound with this fine though unpretending work1 and give ample evidence of the existence of a school of fine workmen1 carvers at the command of the architects of the day4 ,we may here revert to an important addition to room furniture1 which became ,european during this century4 ,mirrors had been made from the earliest times in polished metal1 but were first made of glass at ,venice4 ,in #aejg ,andrea and ,dominico1 two glass workers of ,murano1 declared before the ,council of ten that they had found a method of making good and perfect mirrors of crystal glass4 ,a monopoly of the right of manufacture was granted to the two inventors for twenty years4 ,in #aefd1 the mirror makers became a distinct guild of glass workers4 ,the plates were not large3 from four to five feet are the largest dimensions met with till late in the eighteenth century4 ,they were commonly bevilled on the edges4 ,the frames in soft wood 7as in the woodcut1 p4 #ajj7 are specimens of free carving during the seventeenth century4 ,both in ,venice and in ,florence soft woods1 such as willow or lime1 were used4 ,the mirror-plates were1 at first1 square or oblong4 ,towards the end of the century we find them shaped at the top4 ,in the eighteenth century they were generally shaped at the top and bottom4 ,figures were sunk in the style of intaglio or gem cutting on the back of the glass and left with a dead surface1 the silver surface of the mercury showing through as the mirror is seen from the front4 ,the looking-glasses made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by colonies of ,venetian workmen in ,england and ,france had the plates finished by an edge gently bevilled of an inch in width1 following the form of the frame1 whether square or shaped in curves4 ,this gives preciousness and prismatic light to the whole glass4 ,it is of great difficulty in execution1 the plate being held by the workman over his head and the edge cut by grinding4 ,the feats of skill of this kind in the form of interrupted curves and short lines and angles are rarely accomplished by modern workmen1 and the angle of the bevil itself is generally too acute1 whereby the prismatic light produced by this portion of the mirror is in violent and too showy contrast to the remainder4 ,illustration ,in ,england1 looking-glasses came into general use soon after the ,restoration4 ,sir ,samuel ,morland built a fine room at ,vauxhall in #affg1 the inside all of looking-glass1 and fountains1 very pleasant to behold4 ,it stands in the middle of the garden covered with ,cornish slate1 on the point whereof he placed a ,punchinello4 ,at about the same period the house of ,nell ,gwynne1 the first good one as we enter ,st4 ,james' ,square from ,pall ,mall1 had the back room on the ground floor entirely lined with looking-glass within memory1 writes ,pennant1 as was said to have been the ceiling4 ,la rue ,st4 ,andr-des-arts1 says ,savarin1 speaking of ,paris in the seventeenth century1 eut le premier caf orne de glaces et de tables de marbre peu prs comme on les voit de nos jours4 ,illustration ,during the seventeenth century1 tapestry1 the material in use for hanging and decorating the walls of splendid rooms in ,france1 was made also in this country4 ,factories were set up at ,mortlake1 where several copies were made of the ,raphael tapestries1 the cartoons of which were in this country2 and in ,soho fields4 ,sometimes tapestry was hung on bare walls2 occasionally it was strained over the older panelled work of the days of the ,tudor and ,stuart sovereigns1 the fruitful period of country house architecture in ,england4 ,illustration3 ,an ,english table and chairs of the year #afcc1 from a woodcut of that date4 ,with a woodcut 7on preceding page7 of a bedroom holy-water vessel we finish the account of this period4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,furniture ,,of ,,the ,,eighteenth ,,century4 ,as the eighteenth century draws on1 we arrive at furniture of which examples are more readily to be met with1 and we are reminded of houses and rooms more or less unaltered which have come under general observation4 ,the fashions were led in ,france4 ,boule work grew into bigger and more imposing structures as the manufacture passed into the hands of a greater number of workmen4 ,commodes or large presses were made with edgings and mounts1 in the form of egg and tongue and other classic or renaissance mouldings4 ,the tops were formed into one or three pedestals1 to hold clocks and candelabra4 ,other changes were introduced to carry out the taste for gilding which then prevailed1 and the broken shell-shaped woodwork1 popularly known as ,louis quinze work1 began to be adopted for the frames of large glasses and the mouldings of room panels4 ,the panels grew tall1 were arched or shaped at the top1 and occupied the wall space from the dado to the moulded and painted ceilings1 in narrow panels4 ,the fantastic forms of curve1 emblems of the affected manners of the day1 called ,rococo from the words rocaille coquille1 rock and shell curves1 were well calculated to show off the lustre of gilding4 ,the gold was admirably laid on1 thick and very pure1 and both in bronze gilding and in the woodwork1 maintains its lustre to the present time4 ,the severe classical grandeur of the old roll mouldings of fireplace jambs1 wall and door panels1 of the former reign gave way everywhere to this lighter work4 ,much early eighteenth century furniture was bomb1 or rolled about in curious curves or undulations of surface1 partly to display the skill of the cabinet-makers1 and partly to show off the marquetry1 which formed its only decoration4 ,another step was the introduction of mechanical applications and contrivances4 ,the tops of tables lift off1 and the action causes other portions to rise1 to open1 and so on4 ,it is to be remembered that bedrooms were often used as boudoirs or studies1 and that furniture which could shut private papers up without requiring that they should be put away into drawers was convenient in such rooms4 ,as the century advanced1 it became customary to form a sort of alcove at the end of bedrooms in ,france4 ,the centre portion contained the bed1 hidden by curtains1 the spaces between it and the two walls were shut in with doors1 and formed dressing closets1 which could be used while the rest of the room was shut off4 ,the bedroom then became a reception room and was thrown open with other receiving rooms of the house4 ,bureaux or mechanically shutting tables1 writing desks1 and the like1 under this arrangement were a necessity for small rooms4 ,a school of painters arose in the reign of ,louis the fifteenth who devoted themselves to the decoration of room woodwork and ceilings2 ,charles ,delafosse1 ,antoine ,coypel1 ,jean ,restout1 and many pupils4 ,we must associate the names of these artists with those of the ,le ,pautre family4 ,jean died before the end of the seventeenth century1 but ,pierre took part in the later works of the ,louvre and of ,versailles under ,jules ,hardouin ,mansard1 surintendant des bastiments4 ,juste ,aurle ,meissonnier did still more to make this showy work popular4 ,he designed all sorts of room furniture and woodwork4 ,it is amongst the published works of these artists that we must seek the eighteenth century designs of ,french fashion4 ,painted panels were inserted into the wood ceilings1 over the tops of looking-glasses1 and dessus-portes or the short panels between the tops of doors and the line of cornice4 ,these are generally in chiaro scuro1 or light and shade only1 and represent families of cupids4 ,nymphs and fauns1 shepherdesses1 and the supposed inhabitants of a fanciful ,arcadia1 formed the general subjects of room decorations4 ,a process belonging to the same reign should be noticed1 called after the inventor1 ,vernis-,martin1 a carriage painter1 born about the year #agjf4 ,by carriage painter we must understand a painter of heraldic ornaments1 flower borders1 c4 ,his varnish is a fine transparent lac polish1 probably derived from ,japan through missionaries1 who had resided there before the occurrence of the great massacres which closed ,japan to all but the ,dutch traders4 ,the work which we commonly associate with his name is generally found on furniture such as tables or book cases1 as well as on needle cases1 snuff boxes1 fans1 and tuis1 on a gold ground4 ,the gold is waved or striated by some of those ingenious processes still in use amongst the ,japanese1 by which the paste or preparation on which their gold is laid is worked over while still soft4 ,one or two carriages beautifully painted in vernis-martin are kept in the hotel de ,cluny at ,paris4 ,although it is popularly held that ,martin declared his secret should die with him1 and that he kept his word1 yet it is certain that he left imitators and pupils who painted and enamelled in his manner furniture of various kinds4 ,in ,sir ,r4 ,wallace's collection there are two pieces1 coloured green and varnished1 one a table and the other a cabinet or bookcase1 of vernis-martin work4 ,there is on these no ornament excepting the varnish and the gold mounts that are added at the edges4 ,the most beautiful objects that bear his name are the small wares1 such as fans1 needle books1 or snuff boxes4 ,later in the century we meet with other ,french names1 ,riesener1 ,david1 and ,gouthire1 who gained great reputation1 the two first as makers of marquetry1 and the latter as a founder and chaser of metal furniture mounts1 such as edgings and lock scutcheons4 ,the history of ,french furniture is in general the history of that of other nations4 ,the art of wood carving was still maintained in ,italy and applied1 as in the instance of this distaff1 to utensils of all kinds4 ,in ,england we had1 about the middle of the century1 a school of carvers1 gilders1 and ornamenters following the extravagant style of the ,french4 ,the most prominent name is that of ,thomas ,chippendale1 who worked from the middle till towards the end of the century4 ,he was descended from a family of carvers1 and inherited the skill which had been general in his craft since the days of ,gibbons4 ,we find much rococo carving on bed testers1 round fireplaces1 over doors1 c41 in our ,english houses built during the reign of ,anne and the two first ,georges4 ,other pieces of furniture1 such as carved tables1 wardrobe cabinets1 chair backs or dinner trays1 go by ,chippendale's name4 ,they are in mahogany1 and follow the architectural moulding lines often seen in the works of ,sir ,william ,chambers and the brothers ,adam4 ,illustration ,among the room decorations of the century we may notice the shelves for holding ,chinese porcelain and imitations of ,chinese designs in delft pottery1 a taste imported by ,william the third and the members of his court who had lived in ,holland4 ,the chimney pieces at ,hampton court and elsewhere are provided with woodwork to hold these ornaments4 ,hogarth paints them in his interiors1 and the rage for purchasing such objects at sales became a popular subject of ridicule4 ,to the early eighteenth century belongs a class of furniture of which the decorations consisted of panels of old ,chinese and ,japanese lac work2 fitted1 as the marquetry of the day was1 with rich gilt metal mounts4 ,in ,england it was the fashion to imitate the ,japan work1 and such old furniture is occasionally met with3 black1 with raised figure decorations of ,chinese character done in gold dust4 ,a great change is observable in the ,french furniture1 panel carving and such decorations from the period of ,louis the sixteenth4 ,several causes at the time combined to give art of this kind a new as well as a healthier direction4 ,amongst these we may mention the discoveries made at ,herculaneum and ,pompeii4 ,it is needless to say that the peculiar cause of the destruction of both those towns had preserved in them perfect memorials1 in many forms1 of the social life of antiquity4 ,decorations1 utensils and furniture of all kinds that were made of metal1 and had resisted the action of damp and time1 were recovered in fair condition4 ,one result1 both in ,france and ,england1 was a return to a better feeling for classical style4 ,room decorations and furniture soon reached the highest point of elegance which ,french renaissance art of a sumptuous kind has touched since the sixteenth century4 ,the panelling of rooms1 usually in oak and painted white1 was designed in severe lines with straight mouldings and pilasters4 ,the pilasters were decorated with well-designed carved work1 small1 close1 and splendidly gilt4 ,the quills that fill the fluted columns still seen round so many interiors were cut into beads or other subdivisions with much care4 ,fine arabesque work in the style of the loggie of ,raphael was partly carved in relief1 partly drawn and painted1 or gilt1 with gold of a yellow or of a green hue2 the green being largely alloyed with silver4 ,an example of the best work of this kind may be referred to in the beautiful room brought from ,paris and now preserved1 reconstructed1 at ,south ,kensington4 ,the houses built for members of the brilliant court of queen ,marie ,antoinette were filled with admirable work in this manner1 or in the severer but still delicate carved panelling in wood plainly painted4 ,the royal factories of the ,gobelins and of ,svres turned out also their most beautiful productions to decorate rooms1 furniture1 and table service4 ,in the former of these1 tapestries were made for wall hangings1 for chair backs1 seats1 and sofas4 ,rich silks from the looms of ,lyons1 and from those of ,lucca1 ,genoa1 and ,venice were also employed for this kind of furniture both in ,france and ,flanders1 ,germany1 ,italy1 and ,spain1 as well as in our own country4 ,in all these matters ,france led the fashions4 ,during this brilliant period1 from #aggd to #agij1 we meet with the names of several artists employed for painting the panelling of rooms1 the lunettes over chimney fronts1 and the panels of ceilings4 ,fragonard1 ,natoire1 ,boucher 7the director of the ,academy7 are among the foremost of these4 ,their history perhaps belongs rather to that of painters than of our present subject2 but they are too much mixed up with eighteenth century furniture not to find mention even in a sketch like the present4 ,other artists such as ,delafosse1 ,lalonde1 ,cauvet and ,salembier designed arabesques1 decorative woodwork1 and furniture4 ,the designs of many of them are still extant3 and ,cauvet dedicated a book of them to ,monsieur1 the king's brother4 ,four tables with silver-gilt mounts of his design were made for the queen's house of the ,trianon1 and afterwards removed to the favourite residence of the emperor ,napoleon at ,st4 ,cloud4 ,robert and ,barthlemy were sculptors and bronze workers who made mounts for furniture1 and engravers4 ,meissonnier1 ,oppenord1 ,queverdo worked in the same way4 ,hubert ,robert1 a painter1 helped ,micque in all the decorations of the ,trianon4 ,two or three cabinet-makers have transmitted a great name1 though little seems to be known of their history4 ,of these ,riesener and ,david ,roentgen were bnistes1 or workers in fine cabinet making4 ,the designation is taken from the ebony and other exotic woods1 which had come into more general use in ,europe from the end of the seventeenth century subsequently to #afie1 when the ,dutch settled in ,ceylon4 ,the ,french obtained ebony from ,madagascar1 but in very small quantities4 ,after the settlements at ,ceylon we find it introduced into ,europe on a larger scale4 ,there are green and yellow varieties but the black wood is the most valuable1 and ,ceylon is the country in which the greatest quantities are produced4 ,we still find in ,english houses much old carved ebony furniture1 mainly chairs and cabinets1 dating generally from the early years of the ,dutch occupation4 ,riesener used tulip 7,liriodendron tulipifera71 rosewood1 holly 7ilex aquifolium71 maple 7acer campestre71 laburnum 7cytisus ,alpinus71 purple wood 7copaifera pubiflora71 c4 ,wreaths and bunches of flowers1 exquisitely worked and boldly designed1 form centres of his marquetry panels which are often plain surfaces of one wood4 ,on the sides1 in borders and compartments1 we find diaper patterns in three or four quiet colours4 ,these conventional sides or corners of diaper work help to give point to the graceful compositions that form the principal feature in his marquetry4 ,chests of drawers and cabinets are sometimes met with in snake wood and other varieties of brown wood1 of which the grain is waved or curled without marquetry4 ,the name of ,riesener is to be found stamped sometimes on the panel itself1 sometimes on the oak lining of the pieces of furniture made by him4 ,a number of exceptional examples of ,riesener's cabinets are described in the appendix to the detailed catalogue of furniture in the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,the best pieces are from the collection now belonging to ,sir ,richard ,wallace4 ,the most imposing of these is the rounded bureau or secrtaire1 made for ,stanislaus1 king of ,poland4 ,it is beautifully inlaid on the top1 ends1 and back with designs emblematic of the sciences1 c41 and with bust heads4 ,the letters ,s4 ,r4 are put upon a broad band of decoration that runs round the lower portion of the bureau4 ,a similar piece of furniture with gilt bronze candle branches by ,gouthire1 on the sides1 is now in the ,louvre4 ,both are signed4 ,david ,roentgen was born at ,niewid near ,luneville1 in which latter city he worked as a contemporary of ,riesener1 but younger by some years in age4 ,he also made marquetry in lighter woods and of rather a gayer tone than those of ,riesener4 ,both of them often worked in plain mahogany1 and in such cases trusted for the effectiveness of their pieces to the excellence of the mounts of chased and gilt metal by their contemporary1 ,gouthire4 ,in his light marquetry ,david used various white woods4 ,pear1 lime1 and light-coloured woods were occasionally tinted with various shades by burning4 ,this process1 originally effected by hot irons1 is better and more delicately managed by hot sand4 ,only browns and dark ochrous yellows are obtained by this means1 and the more delicately toned marquetry is without hues of green or blue4 ,those tints1 however1 can be obtained by steeping the wood in various chemical solutions4 ,as a maker of gilt bronze furniture mounts ,gouthire had a wide reputation4 ,he belongs to the period of ,louis the sixteenth4 ,with him ,riesener and ,david worked in concert2 all their best pieces are finished with the mounts of ,gouthire4 ,among examples in this country is the cabinet in the royal collection at ,windsor4 ,no signature has been discovered on this piece1 but the exquisite modelling of the flower borders1 the metal mouldings and mounts1 and the crown supported by figures of cupids that surmounts the whole1 leave us in no hesitation as to its authorship4 ,gouthire modelled and chased up similar work for carriages1 and mounts for marble chimney pieces1 such as that in the boudoir just above referred to4 ,the gilding on these mounts is so good and has been laid on so massively that the metal has in general suffered no substantial injury down to our own times1 and can be restored to its original lustre by soap and water4 ,indeed1 the fine old work dating from the two previous reigns by ,andr ,boule and other artists1 after the designs of ,berain1 has suffered little4 ,the boule clocks1 with arched glass panels in front and spreading supports and figure compositions on the top1 have in most cases come down to us clothed in their original water gilding1 easily to be cleaned though looking black when they have been long left to neglect4 ,contemporaneous with ,riesener in ,france was the ,italian maker of marquetry1 ,maggiolino4 ,in ,florence1 ,venice1 ,milan1 and ,genoa1 cabinets and commodes of marquetry were produced4 ,german cabinet-makers manufactured the same work through the earlier part of the century4 ,bomb or curved furniture was also made by the ,germans with great1 we may almost say with extravagant1 skill4 ,to maintain mouldings on the angles of these curved and waving surfaces is a feat in workmanship of difficult attainment1 and ,german cabinet-makers seem to have taken delight in exhibiting such skill4 ,the quaint work of the minute carvings in box and other hard woods1 admirably carried out during the times of the immediate pupils of ,drer and the school of well-trained artists who succeeded him1 was no longer to be found4 ,the desolating wars that swept over this part of ,europe during the days of ,louis the fourteenth and ,frederick the great seem to have exhausted the country1 and worn out the ancient industry of the cities4 ,guilds died away1 the men who composed them being required for the exigencies of war1 and the wealth of the inhabitants was so reduced that the leisure to enjoy and even the means to buy fine productions of art existed no longer4 ,few collectors have done greater service to the study of ,english art than ,horace ,walpole2 and few have had the opportunities he enjoyed a century ago1 when he was able to fill ,strawberry ,hill with a collection of medival1 renaissance1 and later works of art of every description4 ,a lively passage1 alluding to the contract for the roof and the glazing of ,king's college chapel1 ,cambridge1 commemorates his value for these art traditions4 ,as much1 he says1 as we imagine ourselves arrived at higher perfection in the arts1 it would not be easy for a master of a college to go into ,st4 ,margaret's parish1 ,southwark1 to bespeak such a roof as that of ,king's college1 and a dozen or two of windows so admirably drawn1 and order them to be sent home by such a day1 as if they were bespeaking a chequered pavement4 ,a certain sort of revival of ,gothic design took place in ,england about this period3 and later in the century feeble attempts at ,gothic woodwork were made here and there2 but there was little national taste in furniture apart from a close imitation of ,french fashions4 ,a still greater change was produced by ,sir ,william ,chambers1 the architect of modern ,somerset house1 who wrote a book on civil architecture and room decorations4 ,another name connected with furniture has been already mentioned1 that of ,thomas ,chippendale4 ,he published his book of designs in #agfd1 containing complete sides of rooms1 looking-glass frames1 chimney fronts1 c4 ,he and his contemporaries designed tables1 cabinets and moveable furniture of every description1 including carriages1 on which1 indeed1 furniture designers of all periods were employed4 ,chippendale and his sons or assistants produced frames and cornices for gilding so different from his well-made wardrobes1 c41 that there must have been more than one of the family engaged in superintending these dissimilar kinds of objects4 ,he is a representative maker4 ,the son has been sometimes credited with the mahogany woodwork of which delicacy and exactness are the characteristics4 ,satin wood came into fashion in ,england during the last half of the century4 ,both ,cipriani and ,angelica ,kauffmann painted medallions1 cameo ornaments and borders on table tops and fronts1 harpsichord cases1 c41 made of satin wood or coloured in the manner of the vernis-martin work4 ,the former decorated ,carlton house4 ,mathias ,lock1 with whom was associated a cabinet maker named ,copeland1 also published designs of furniture of every kind4 ,a semi-classic ,pompeian or ,roman arabesque feeling runs through the ornamentation of these pieces of furniture4 ,they are light in make1 often elegant1 and more or less follow the taste prevailing in ,france and ,italy4 ,gillow1 the founder of a respectable existing firm1 belongs to this period2 but1 as yet1 nothing has come to light regarding his early history or apprenticeship4 ,another name connected both with furniture and decorative arts of all kinds was that of ,robert ,adam2 he was of ,scotch extraction and had travelled in ,italy2 and his brother ,john built many private houses2 for example1 the ,adelphi and ,portland place4 ,furniture1 carriages1 sedan chairs1 and plate were amongst the objects for which ,robert1 perhaps both the brothers1 gave designs4 ,classical capitals1 mouldings and niches1 circles and lunettes1 with shell flutings and light garlands1 were favourite features in their faade ornaments4 ,the sideboards1 bust terms 7or pedestals71 urn-shaped knife boxes2 the chairs1 commodes1 c41 were all designed to accord with the architectural decorations4 ,polished-steel fire-grates belong to this period1 and we believe to the authorship of the brothers ,adam4 ,a cabinet maker named ,a4 ,heppelwhite published in #aghi a large set of designs for every sort of reception room and bedroom furniture4 ,we see in these the mahogany chairs with pierced strapwork backs1 library and pedestal tables1 mechanical desks and bureaux1 which continued in fashion during the early years of this century4 ,fanciful sashed glass doors closed in the bookcases2 interrupted pediments and pedestals provided space for busts round the tops of these cases4 ,fluted legs1 and occasionally lion-headed supports1 uphold the tables and chairs4 ,knife cases to set on the sideboard1 and urn stools for the breakfast table1 are among these designs4 ,tea chests and tea caddies indicate that tea was then coming into general use4 ,thomas ,sheraton1 another cabinet-maker1 published towards the end of the century an extensive ,dictionary of his trade4 ,his designs1 like those just mentioned1 embrace beds1 sofas1 c4 ,mechanical dressing and washing tables1 very ingeniously contrived1 were among his productions4 ,we meet with these still2 of ,spanish mahogany1 and admirable workmanship4 ,the structure of all these pieces was light and strong4 ,time has had little effect on wood so well seasoned and on pieces put together in so workmanlike a manner4 ,the ,french revolution put a complete stop to the old arts of domestic life in ,france4 ,as in the sixteenth century1 so in the eighteenth the new ideas rushed extravagantly in the direction of republican antiquity and ,roman taste and sentiment4 ,it was under the empire1 after the ,italian wars and the ,egyptian expedition1 that the means and taste for expenditure upon civil furniture and decorations revived1 with an assumption of classicalism4 ,the art of the time however1 inspired by the hard paintings of ,david1 is but a dry and affected attempt at a fresh renaissance4 ,in furniture mounts1 chairs1 c41 of supposed classical designs1 it is known as the art of the empire4 ,this country copied the fashion as soon as the return of peace opened the continent to ,english travellers4 ,furniture and room decorations were designed after classical ideals1 and we see chairs and tables imitating bas-reliefs and the drawings on antique vases4 ,it is probable that collectors1 such as ,sir ,william ,hamilton and the members of the ,dilettanti society1 sensibly influenced the prevailing style4 ,james ,wyatt the architect1 about the end of the last century1 rebuilt or cleared out many of our medival churches and houses1 and took to designing what he called ,gothic for room decoration and furniture4 ,sir ,jeffrey ,wyatt or ,sir ,jeffrey ,wyattville 7as he became7 made great changes at ,windsor castle1 under ,george the fourth4 ,pugin designed some flimsy ,gothic furniture for the same palace4 ,at a later period of his life1 however1 he did much1 both as a designer and a writer upon art1 to turn attention to the principles on which medival designs of all kinds were based4 ,we are now1 perhaps1 returning to renaissance art in furniture1 and it is certain that collections such as those lately exhibited by ,sir ,richard ,wallace2 the ,exposition ,retrospective in ,paris in #ahfe2 the loan exhibitions of #ahfb in ,london1 and that of ,gore house at an earlier period2 and above all the great permanent collection at ,south ,kensington1 must contribute to form the public taste4 ,in the review which we have made of what may be called the household art of so many ages1 it would be difficult to assign an absolute superiority to the artists of any one generation1 considering what countless beautiful objects have been made for the personal use and enjoyment of men4 ,the sculptured thrones of ivory and gold1 the seats and couches of bronze overlaid with gold and damascened with the precious metals1 the inlaid chariots1 tables1 chests1 and jewelled caskets of antiquity2 the imagery1 the shrines1 the stalls1 and roofs of the middle ages2 the wood sculpture1 tarsia1 pietra dura1 damascening and the endless variety of objects produced during the days of ,leonardo1 ,michel ,angelo1 and ,raphael1 down to the carving of ,gibbons1 and the splendid work of ,boule1 ,riesener and ,gouthire1 are all in various ways excellent4 ,we must not venture to call one class of productions finer than another where the differences are so great and such high perfection has been attained in each4 ,every style and fashion when at its best has resulted from the utmost application of mind and time on the part of trained artists2 and the highest art can never be cheap1 neither can any machinery or any help from mechanical assistance become substitutes for art4 ,beauty which is created by the hand of man is not the clever application of mechanical forces or of scientific inventions1 but is brought to light1 whether it be a cabinet front or the ,venus of ,milo1 often with pain1 always by the entire devotion of the labour1 the intellect1 the experience1 the imagination and the affection1 of the artist and the workman4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,changes ,,of ,,taste ,,and ,,style4 ,it is interesting to trace the changes that the more common and necessary pieces of furniture have undergone during successive historic ages4 ,the social life of ancient times1 even of the middle ages which come so much nearer to us in point of years1 differs from that of our own in its whole aspect4 ,yet though personal habits have so greatly altered the general wants of men remain much the same4 ,hence such objects as beds1 chairs1 tables1 chests1 dressers1 wardrobes or cabinets1 carriages or litters1 have been always used and maintained a certain identity4 ,with a summary of the changes of form and methods of decoration of a few of the principal objects of personal use we shall conclude4 ,bedsteads and ,couches4 ,beds served often in antiquity and in the middle ages1 and have served at all times1 almost as much for sitting or reclining by day as for sleeping on at night4 ,to what has been already said on the subject of antique beds little need be added4 ,the ,egyptian bed and the pillow or crutch1 of wood or more valuable materials1 have been described4 ,examples of the crutch are numerous in the ,british museum and in the ,louvre4 ,the ,egyptians had couches1 says ,sir ,g4 ,wilkinson1 but they do not appear to have reclined upon them more frequently than modern ,europeans1 in whose houses they are equally common4 ,the ottomans were simple square sofas without backs1 raised from the ground nearly to the same level as the chair4 ,the upper part was of leather1 or of cotton stuff1 richly coloured1 like the cushions of the fauteuils1 and the box was of wood painted with various devices and ornamented with the figures of captives1 who were supposed to be degraded by holding so humiliating a position4 ,and the same idea gave them a place on the footstools of a royal throne4 ,the bed1 ,greek3 lexos1 of the ,greeks was covered with skins1 over the skins with woollen blankets2 sometimes a linen cloth or sheet was added4 ,the finest coverlids were from ,miletus1 ,carthage1 and ,corinth4 ,these varied in the softness of their woollen texture and the delicate disposition of the colours4 ,later ,greek beds had girths of leather or string2 a mattress2 and a pillow4 ,the ,roman bed had the side by which it was entered open1 the other was protected by a shelf4 ,the mattresses were stuffed with herbs1 in later times with wool or feathers4 ,precious counterpanes embroidered with gold were occasionally used4 ,canopies or frames for curtains1 in one form or another1 have always been necessary adjuncts to beds4 ,testers were placed on cradles1 with gauze curtains to keep off flies4 ,beds on wheels were in use for the sick in classical and medival times3 as also a low and portable bed1 grabatum1 with mats for bedding4 ,this is the word used in ,st4 ,john's gospel1 translated take up thy bed and walk4 ,illustration ,besides beds1 couches1 and stools1 used in antiquity1 as in our own times1 we find amongst the ancients the habit1 unknown since1 of reclining on the left elbow at meals4 ,the ,romans called the conventional arrangement the triclinium4 ,the accompanying woodcut represents the plan of a triclinium1 the guest reclining on the left elbow and the faces of each directed from #a to #c1 #d to #f1 and so on4 ,these numbers and positions indicated a sort of superiority1 or a highest1 middle1 and lowest to every table4 ,a passage from ,horace1 often quoted1 enumerates the guests in this order4 ,fundanius1 who was at the top1 giving an account of a dinner to his friends1 says3 ,i sat at the top1 ,viscus ,thurinus next to me2 ,varius1 if my memory serves me1 below him2 ,vibidius along with ,servilius ,balatro1 whom ,mcenas brought as humble companions4 ,nomentanus was above1 and ,porcius below the host himself4 ,the beds of the early middle ages in ,england had testers with curtains1 often of valuable material4 ,these slid on rings on an iron rod4 ,sometimes the rod1 with a frame to sustain it1 was on one or on three sides of the bed1 and the tester wanting4 ,sometimes the beds were slung on uprights1 as cots are at sea4 ,no great expense was incurred in the framework till the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries4 ,the splendour of state beds1 or those of great people1 consisted in the curtains1 which were occasionally taken down1 and hung up in churches on festivals4 ,in the illuminations of manuscripts and in pictures representing scenes in which there is a bed1 we find the tester strained by cords to the sides of the room or to the ceiling1 as in the accompanying woodcut4 ,the curtains ran round this frame1 as in our modern four-posters2 but we see them hoisted out of the way during the daytime1 not round a post1 only raised beyond reach4 ,illustration ,the finest examples of bedsteads that can be called medival are ,french1 and only met with in fragments1 or more or less complete4 ,this is unfortunately the case also as regards early ,english bedsteads4 ,we may refer the reader to the ,mobilier ,franais of ,viollet le ,duc1 for an idea of the sumptuous carved oak bedstead of the great palaces and hotels of ,france4 ,it was a frame panelled down to the ground1 often containing chests1 drawers1 presses1 or other safe places under the sleeper4 ,the back resembled more or less the reredos of an altar1 or the great panelled presses that filled the sides of sacristies4 ,four posts supported the canopy4 ,a bedstead of the fifteenth century was long preserved at ,leicester1 and said to have been slept on by ,richard the third4 ,the under part of it formed his military chest1 and the discovery of the treasure a century afterwards occasioned a barbarous murder4 ,none of the coin found was of a later mint than his reign4 ,it is also said by ,pennant that a stump bedstead still in ,berkeley castle is the same on which the murder of ,edward the second was committed4 ,fine examples of ,tudor bedsteads are preserved there4 ,in the town of ,ware in ,hertfordshire is1 and has long been1 an inn under the sign of the ,saracen's head1 ,in this1 says ,clutterbuck1 there is a bed of enormous proportions1 twelve feet square4 ,the head is panelled in the ,elizabethan style of arched panels1 and a date is painted on it--#adfj4 ,this1 however1 is not authentic4 ,it is of carved oak4 ,the top is covered by a panelled tester1 supported on baluster columns at the feet4 ,the bases of these rest on a cluster of four arches or supports to each column4 ,nothing is known of the original history of the bedstead4 ,shakespeare alludes to it in ,twelfth ,night4 ,illustration ,to the ,tudor and ,jacobean period of heavy oak furniture succeeded the custom of supplying the place of oak-panelled testers and headboards with rich hangings either of tapestry1 cut ,genoa1 or ,venice velvets and other costly materials1 with ostrich feathers or other ornaments on the angles4 ,the royal beds at ,hampton court admirably illustrate this stately fashion1 as in the accompanying woodcut4 ,more modern changes it is unnecessary to trace4 ,illustration ,illustration ,couches for reclining or sitting upon were1 in the middle ages1 rather benches with cushions on them4 ,the king conversing with a lady in her chamber is from a manuscript of about #acij 7the ,romance of ,meliadus7 in the ,british museum4 ,in the seventeenth century we find the same ornaments that were used in chair backs extended to large frames so as to form them into couches1 and the same plaited cane panels4 ,in the last century1 sofas were sometimes made in the form of several chair backs1 with arms at each end1 the backs being pierced work or framing made of bars in fancy shapes4 ,this work was in mahogany or satin wood1 or was painted after the fashion of vernis-martin work4 ,in all cases such pieces were made to accord with suites of chairs1 tables1 c4 ,cradles have been made in many shapes4 ,the most approved in antiquity was that of a boat1 ,greek3 skaphos1 or a shield2 in either case they could be rocked4 ,in the fourteenth century the men of ,ghent destroyed the house of the earl of ,flanders1 according to ,froissart1 and all his furniture including the cradle in which he was nursed1 which was of silver4 ,the cradle of ,henry the fifth is still preserved4 ,it is in the form of a chest1 much like the cradle in the ,kensington museum1 no4 #agfi2 and swings on posts1 one at each end1 standing on cross-bars to keep them steady3 but there is no higher portion1 as in the example in the museum1 to support a tester4 ,a hundred years later the shape seems to have become heavier4 ,illustration ,chairs4 ,in the ancient ,egyptian paintings at ,thebes1 and elsewhere1 chairs are minutely represented like the throne or arm chair of the ,greeks1 each containing one person4 ,occasionally they used stools and low seats raised a little above the ground4 ,some sat cross-legged on the ground1 though this is more rare1 or kneeling on one knee4 ,the men and women generally were apart1 but in the same room1 while conversing they sat1 and did not recline4 ,wilkinson gives a full description of the old ,egyptian chairs and stools4 ,the classical curule chairs were made of ivory2 sometimes of solid and entire elephants' teeth1 which seems to have been the typical idea of the ivory chair2 sometimes the ivory was veneered on a wooden base4 ,the foot or point of the tusk was carved into a head or beak4 ,it is from this curved chair of state that the later chairs were derived1 of which the form remained popular in ,italy through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries4 ,the medival name was faldistorium1 rendered faldstool1 a stool or seat to support the arms when kneeling1 or to act as a chair when sitting4 ,illustration ,the earliest type of the architectural thrones or chairs of the middle ages is the ancient chair of ,st4 ,peter1 at ,rome1 of which a woodcut has been given in p4 #ce4 ,a full description and plates of it will be found in the ,vetusta monumenta of the ,society of antiquaries for #ahgj4 ,another famous chair1 that of ,st4 ,mark1 is preserved at ,venice1 in the treasury of ,st4 ,mark's4 ,anciently this chair1 like that of ,st4 ,peter in ,rome1 was covered with plates of ivory1 carved panels probably fitted into frame pieces of wood as a covering to the stone4 ,as it is now seen1 however1 the work is of oriental marble4 ,it is a rudely shaped arm chair1 with high back sloping upwards in the form of a pediment1 truncated and surmounted by a stone1 cut into an imperfect circle or oval1 and having an arm or volute like the reversed angle-volute of a column projecting from the lower part of each side4 ,the chair of ,st4 ,maximian at ,ravenna dates from the sixth century2 this is described in ,mr4 ,maskell's ,ivories4 ,a magnificent fourteenth century architectural chair of silver is preserved at ,barcelona4 ,the supports represent window tracery4 ,one large arch supplies the front support1 being cusped1 and these cusps are again subdivided4 ,the two sides form each a pair of windows of two lights or divisions1 with a circle above1 the whole cusped and having trefoil leaves on the cusps4 ,the back is open tracery work1 representing three narrow windows1 with two lights or openings each4 ,they finish in three lofty gables1 crocketed outside and divided into tracery within4 ,illustration ,chairs in ,england during the medival period were sometimes made of turned wood4 ,sometimes they were cleverly arranged to fold up1 as in our own days3 the engraving 7p4 #abb7 is from a beautiful manuscript of the fifteenth century4 ,the chair known as that of ,glastonbury is a square board on two pairs of cross-trestles1 with a square board for a back1 held to the seat by sloping arm pieces1 shaped out to receive the arms of a sitter4 ,on the edges of the seat and back tenons protrude1 long enough to pass through mortices in the leg and arm pieces1 which are pegged to keep them firm4 ,like the sixteenth century curule chairs these can easily be taken to pieces for travelling4 ,during the reigns of ,elizabeth and ,james1 high-backed chairs1 richly cut and pierced1 with wooden1 afterwards with cane1 seats were used and remained in use simplified and lightened during more than a century4 ,the woodcut 7p4 #abc7 represents the fashion of chair common in ,italy about the year #afbj3 and from thence introduced into ,england4 ,the use of marquetry was not confined to tables and cabinets4 ,rich chairs were made in this material 7rarely in boule7 during the eighteenth century in ,france1 ,italy1 and ,holland1 from whence they came to this country4 ,light and very elegant yellow satin-wood marquetry chairs were also then in fashion4 ,the use of mahogany for chairs1 often delicately carved and admirably constructed1 was general during the last century in ,england4 ,the ,french carved chairs of the time of ,louis the sixteenth covered with silk all but the legs and framework1 and painted white or gilt1 were made to accord with the sofas and carved woodwork of the rooms4 ,this example was followed in ,england1 with certain national differences4 ,tables4 ,the ancient ,egyptian tables were round1 square1 or oblong2 the former were generally used during their repasts1 and consisted of a circular flat summit1 supported1 like the monopodium of the ,romans1 on a single shaft or leg in the centre or by the figure of a man intended to represent a captive4 ,large tables had usually three or four legs1 but some were made with solid sides2 and though generally of wood many were of metal or stone2 and they varied in size according to the different purposes for which they were intended4 ,often they were three-legged1 the legs in a concave shape4 ,an antique marble table of ,grco-,roman work is preserved at ,naples1 supported by a centaur in full relief at one end1 and a sea monster1 ,scylla it is supposed1 involving a shipwrecked mariner in the folds of her tail1 with indications of waves1 c41 round her body4 ,other ,roman tables of larger dimensions had three1 four1 or five supports of sphinxes1 lions1 and the like4 ,we give representations of three kinds of tables from paintings on vases2 and another1 on three marble legs1 found at ,pompeii4 ,illustration ,illustration ,in the middle ages1 as has been before said1 tables were generally folding boards laid on trestles and moveable4 ,the general disposition of the dining table was taken from those of abbeys and convents1 and may be seen continued in some of our own colleges to this day4 ,the principal table was on a raised platform or floor at the upper end of the hall1 and thence called the ,high table4 ,the guests sat on one side only1 as in the traditional representations of the ,last ,supper1 and the place of honour was the centre1 the opposite side being left for the service4 ,the principal person sat under a canopy or cloth of estate1 either made for the occasion1 or under a panelled canopy curving outward and permanent4 ,occasionally medival tables in ,england were of stone or marble4 ,of the former material a table is preserved belonging to the strangers' hall at ,winchester2 and a wooden one in the chapter-house at ,salisbury4 ,the tops of some old ,english tables are made with two thicknesses1 the lower pulling out on either side to rest on supports drawn from the bed4 ,a table of this description is kept at ,hill hall1 ,essex2 and the woodcut represents a folding table of the time of ,elizabeth1 long preserved at ,flaxton ,hall1 in ,suffolk4 ,during the last century mahogany tables with delicate pierced galleries round the edge1 and similar work to ornament the bed or frame1 were made by ,chippendale and his contemporaries4 ,many of them are light and graceful pieces of construction4 ,others were massively made with goat-footed legs that bulge well beyond the lines of the table top1 which in these cases is often a slab of marble4 ,the workmanship is admirable4 ,mahogany had then supplanted the use of oak for large tables4 ,illustration ,chests1 ,cabinets1 and ,sideboards4 ,the wardrobe1 both in the ,roman house and the medival castle1 was a small room suitably fitted up and provided with receptacles4 ,chests1 coffers1 and caskets were also in use1 and implied moveability4 ,in later days the renaissance chests were either mounted on stands or gave place to mixed structures2 and cabinets of various forms that could be kept permanently in the hall or chamber became the fashion4 ,they were large1 important objects1 were never moved or carried abroad1 descended from father to son1 and were the monumental objects1 as the panelled superstructure of the fireplace was1 of halls and reception rooms4 ,these pieces have various forms4 ,in dining halls or rooms occasionally so used1 they were cupboards1 dressers1 or places with a small receptacle to hold food1 and a flat top with perhaps a step or shelf above it to carry plate1 candlesticks1 c4 ,when placed in receiving rooms or to hold dresses they were cabinets or wardrobes2 for the conveniences of writing they are bureaux1 scrtaires1 or escritoires4 ,illustration ,we have early notices of the use of cypress chests1 perhaps cabinets as some of them are fitted with drawers1 in this country4 ,john of ,gaunt in his will1 #acig1 specifies a little box of cypress wood2 probably something like the chest engraved from a manuscript of that date3 out of which the servant is taking a robe evidently richly embroidered with armorial bearings4 ,in the memoirs of the antiquities of ,great ,britain1 relating to the reformation1 we find an account of church plate1 money1 gold and silver images1 c41 delivered to ,henry the eighth3 ,paid ,william ,grene1 the king's coffer-maker1 for making of a coffer covered with fustyan of ,naples1 and being full of drawers and boxes lined with red and grene sarcynet to put in stones of divers sorts1 vi4 li4 xviij4 s4 ij4 d41 by which we may gather something of its costly construction1 and to ,cornelys the locke smythe for making all the iron worke1 that is to say1 the locke1 gymours1 handels1 ryngs to every drawer box1 the price xxxvi4 s4 iv4 d4 ,the marquetry invented or brought to perfection by ,boule was displayed in greater magnificence on cabinets of various shapes than on any other pieces of furniture4 ,the same may be said of the marquetry cabinets in wood executed during the eighteenth century in ,france by ,riesener and ,david1 with the help of the metal mounts of ,gouthire and his contemporaries4 ,in these fine pieces the interior is generally simple and the conceits of the previous century are omitted4 ,japan cabinets obtained through the ,dutch were frequently imported into ,england4 ,the hinges and mounts were of silver or gilt metal1 richly chased4 ,the bureau1 escritoire1 or office desk1 called in ,germany ,kaunitz after a princely inventor1 was a knee-hole table4 ,these tall bureaux were of general1 almost universal1 use in ,england during the last century4 ,sideboards4 ,there are several old sideboards in the ,kensington museum1 described under the names of dressoir or dressoir de salle manger in the large catalogue4 ,they are small cupboards and would be called cabinets but for the drawers half-way down1 and the rows of the shelves on the top2 and are of the sixteenth century date4 ,according to ,willemin1 the old etiquette of ,france1 certainly that of ,burgundy1 prescribed five steps or shelves to these dressers for use during meals for queens2 four for duchesses or princesses2 three for their children and for countesses and grandes dames2 two for other noble ladies4 ,in the middle ages cupboards or dressers were mere covered boards or shelves against a wall on which plate was set out1 and were made of three or four or more stages according to the splendour of the occasion4 ,the cupboard dresser of more modest pretensions was considered as a piece of dining-room furniture4 ,it was ordinarily covered with a piece of embroidery4 ,robert ,frevyll bequeaths1 #aeba1 to his son ,john a stone cobard in the hall4 ,a manuscript inventory of ,henry the eighth names1 ,item1 one large cuppbord carpet of grene cloth of gold with workes lyned with bockeram1 conteyning in length three yards1 iii4 q'ters1 and three bredthes4 ,in the herald's account of the feast at ,westminster1 on the occasion of the marriage of prince ,arthur1 we find ,there was also a stage of dyvers greas and hannes 7degrees and enhancings of height7 for the cuppbord that the plate shulde stande inn1 the which plate for the moost part was clene 7pure7 goold1 and the residue all gilte and non silver1 and was in length from the closet doore to the chimney4 ,and when in the next reign ,henry entertained ,francis at ,calais1 a cupboard of seven stages was provided and furnished with gold and silver gilt plate4 ,before concluding these remarks on dining-room furniture something may be said on painted roundels or wooden platters4 ,though they have long ceased to be used for their original purpose1 several sets still complete remain in country houses and collections of different kinds2 and three sets are in the ,kensington museum4 ,they are usually twelve in number3 and all seem to be of the date of the late ,tudor princes4 ,they were kept in boxes turned out of a block1 and decorated with painting and gilding4 ,their size does not differ materially1 all the sets varying from #e-c_/h to #e-e_/h inches4 ,there are1 however1 smaller sets to be seen which range from #b-c_/d to #e inches in diameter4 ,the top surface is in all instances plain and the under surface painted with a border of flowers1 generally alternating with knots more or less artistically drawn in vermilion3 posyes or a couple of verses are generally added4 ,these platters were used in the sixteenth century as dessert plates1 the plain side being at the top4 ,leland speaks of the confettes at the end of a dinner1 sugar plate fertes1 with other subtilties with ippocrass 7a sweet wine74 ,earthenware plates though not unknown were still very uncommon in ,england before the reign of ,elizabeth4 ,the dinner was served on plate in royal or very great houses1 on pewter and wooden trenchers in more humble and unpretending households4 ,specimens of the latter may still be seen in our old collegiate establishments4 ,probably the earliest instance of the use of earthenware may be found in the time of ,edward the first1 when some dishes and plates of that material were bought from a ,spanish ship4 ,pitchers1 jugs and the like had been for centuries commonly made4 ,porselyn is mentioned in #aehg3 where we read of five dishes of earth painted1 such as are brought from ,venice being presented to the queen on one of her progresses4 ,carriages4 ,illustration ,the shape and decoration of carriages have changed continually1 but these changes have not always been in the direction of convenience and handiness for rapid motion4 ,our space will not allow us to enter here upon a history of the chariots of ancient nations2 ,egyptians1 ,greeks1 or ,romans4 ,a detailed account of them will be found in the introduction to the large catalogue of furniture at ,south ,kensington4 ,the woodcut represents the ,roman biga1 the original of which 7in marble7 is in the ,vatican2 and the pilentum1 or covered carriage1 from the column of ,theodosius4 ,illustration ,we know but little of the period succeeding the destruction of ,rome and the extinction of classic customs4 ,in the middle ages we find carts1 like those now in use for agricultural purposes in ,france2 a long frame with spreading rails balanced on one pair of wheels of large dimensions1 drawn by a string of horses4 ,the woodcut of a family carriage is from the well-known ,luttrell psalter1 an illuminated manuscript of the early fourteenth century4 ,such vehicles seem to have been clumsy enough and had no springs3 nevertheless they were much ornamented with various decorations4 ,they had roofs as a protection from the weather1 with silk or leather curtains2 and the interior was fitted with cushions4 ,in the ,squire of low degree the father of the princess of ,hungary promises1 ,to-morrow ye shall on hunting fare1 ,and ride my daughter in a chare1 ,it shall be covered with velvet red1 ,and cloths of fine gold all about your head1 ,with damask white and azure blue1 ,well diapered with lilies new ,your pomelles 7knobs7 shall be ended with gold1 ,your chains enamelled many a fold4 ,the oldest kind of wheel-carriages known in ,england were called whirlecotes1 and one of these belonged to the mother of ,richard the second4 ,whirlecotes were used also at the marriage of ,katherine of ,arragon4 ,coaches were probably first introduced from ,hungary4 ,they seem to have been square1 not differing greatly in outline from the state coaches of which numerous engraved plates can be seen2 and were considered as too effeminate a conveyance for men in the days of ,elizabeth4 ,the coach of ,henry the fourth of ,france may be studied in the plate by ,van ,luyken that represents his murder by ,ravaillac1 #afaj4 ,it is four-wheeled1 square1 with a flat awning on four corner pillars or supports1 and curtains4 ,the centre descends into a kind of boot with leather sides4 ,the accompanying woodcut represents the carriage of the ,english ambassador at ,rome in #afhh3 and we add also an engraving of a state carriage of about fifty years later1 still in the possession of ,lord ,darnley4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,appendix4 ,,names ,,of ,,designers ,,of ,,woodwork ,,and ,,makers ,,of ,,furniture4 ,only very meagre notices are to be found of the artists to whom we owe the designs of modern furniture4 ,for a hundred and fifty years after the renaissance1 furniture partook so generally1 and the woodwork of rooms so entirely1 of the character and followed so continually the details of architecture that the history of furniture-designers is that of the architects of the day4 ,these found in the members of guilds of carvers1 carpenters1 or image sculptors admirable hands to carry out the ornamental details of their woodwork1 such as chimney-pieces1 c41 and who made sideboards1 cabinets1 chairs1 and tables to suit the woodwork4 ,we have space here only for the names2 in the large catalogue a brief notice of almost every one of them is also given4 ---------------------------------------- ----------------------- ,country in which ,names of ,artists4 they worked4 ,date4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,a ,adam1 ,j4 7and ,r47 ,england #agbh-agib4 ,agnolo1 ,b4 da ,italy #adfj-aefc4 ,agnolo1 ,d4 da #afth century4 ,agnola1 ,j4 da ,ambrogio1 ,g4 #agth ,ards1 ,w4 ,flanders #aeth ,asinelis1 ,a4 ,italy #afth ,b ,bachelier1 -- ,france #afth century4 ,baerze1 ,j4 de ,flanders #adth ,baker1 -- ,england #ahth ,barili1 ,a4 ,italy #afth ,barili1 ,g4 ,barili1 ,s4 ,baumgartner1 ,u4 ,germany #agth century4 ,beaugreant1 ,g4 de ,flanders #afth ,beck1 ,s4 ,germany ,belli1 ,a4 ,a4 ,italy ,belli1 ,g4 ,berain1 ,j4 ,france #afcf-agaa4 ,bergamo1 ,d4 da ,italy #adij-aeej4 ,bergamo1 ,s4 da #afth century4 ,bernardo1 -- ,berruguete1 -- ,spain #adhj-aefa4 ,bertolina1 ,b4 ,j4 ,italy #afth century4 ,beydert1 ,j4 ,flanders #aeth ,blondeel1 ,l4 #adie-aefj4 ,bolgi1 ,g ,italy #ahth century4 ,bonzanigo1 ,g4 ,m4 ,borello1 ,f4 #afth ,borgona1 ,f4 de ,spain ,botto1 ,b4 ,italy ,botto1 ,g4 ,b4 ,botto1 ,p4 ,botto1 ,s4 ,a4 ,boulle1 ,a4 ,c4 ,france #afdb-agcb4 ,boulle1 ,p4 #agth century4 ,brescia1 ,r4 da ,italy #afth ,bross1 -- de ,france #agth ,bruggemann1 ,h4 ,germany #aeth ,bruhl1 ,a4 ,flanders #afth and #agth centuries4 ,brunelleschi1 ,f4 ,italy #acgg-addf4 ,brustolone1 ,a4 #afgj-agcb4 ,buontalenti1 ,b4 ,t4 #afth century4 ,c ,caffieri1 ,ph4 ,france #agth and #ahth centuries4 ,cano1 ,a4 ,spain #agth century4 ,canova1 ,j4 de ,italy #afth ,canozii1 ,c4 ,canozii1 ,g4 ,m4 ,canozii1 ,l4 ,capitsoldi1 -- ,england #ahth ,capo di ,ferro1 ,brothers ,italy #afth ,carlone1 ,j4 #ahth ,carnicero1 ,a4 ,spain #afic-agef4 ,castelli1 ,q4 ,italy #afth century ,cauner1 -- ,france #ahth ,cauvet1 ,g4 ,p4 ,france #agca-aghh ,ceracci1 ,g4 ,england #ahth century4 ,cervelliera1 ,b4 del ,italy ,chambers1 ,sir ,w4 ,england #agbf-agif4 ,chippendale1 ,t4 #ahth century4 ,cipriani1 ,g4 ,b4 ,coit1 -- ,collet1 ,a4 ,copeland1 -- ,cotte1 ,j4 de ,france ,cotte1 ,r4 de #afef-agce4 ,cotton1 ,c4 ,england #ahth century4 ,cressent1 -- ,france ,d ,davy1 ,r4 ,england #agej-agid4 ,dello ,delli ,italy #adth and #aeth centuries ,dolen1 -- van ,flanders #ahth century4 ,donatello1 -- ,italy #achj-adff4 ,dorsient1 ,a ,c42 ,c4 ,oc4 ,flanders #afth century ,ducerceau1 ,a4 ,france #aeae-aehe4 ,dugar1 ,e4 ,italy #afth century4 ,du ,quesnoy1 ,f4 ,h4 and ,j4 ,flanders #agth ,f ,faydherbe1 ,l4 ,flanders #afbg-afid4 ,filippo1 ,d4 di ,italy #afth century4 ,flrein1 ,j4 ,flanders #aeth ,fltner1 ,p4 ,germany #afth ,g ,gabler1 ,m4 ,germany #agth century4 ,galletti1 ,g4 ,italy #ahth ,garnier1 ,p4 ,france ,genser1 ,m4 ,germany #agth ,gervasius ,england ,gettich1 ,p4 ,germany #agth ,geuser1 ,m4 ,gheel1 ,f4 van ,flanders #ahth ,gibbons1 ,g4 ,england #agth ,giovanni1 ,fra ,italy #afth ,glosencamp1 ,h4 ,flanders ,goujon1 ,j4 ,france ,h ,habermann1 -- ,france #ahth century4 ,haeghen1-- van der ,flanders ,hekinger1 ,j4 ,germany #agth ,heinhofer1 ,ph4 #afth and #agth centuries4 ,helmont1 -- van ,flanders #ahth century4 ,heppelwhite1 ,a ,england ,hernandez1 ,g4 ,spain #aehf-afdf4 ,hool1 ,j4 ,b4 van ,flanders #ahth century4 ,huet1 -- ,france ,hyman1 ,f4 ,england ,j ,john of ,st4 ,omer ,england #acth century4 ,johnson1 ,t4 #ahth ,juni1 ,j4 ,d4 ,spain #afth and #agth centuries4 ,k ,kauffmann1 ,a4 ,england #ahth century4 ,kiskner1 ,u4 ,germany #agth ,kuenlin1 ,j4 ,l ,ladetto1 ,f4 ,italy #ahth century4 ,lalonde1 -- ,france ,lawreans1 -- ,england #agth ,lecreux1 ,n4 ,a4 ,j4 ,flanders #ageg-ahcf4 ,le ,moyne1 ,j4 ,france #afde-agah4 ,leopardi1 ,a4 ,italy #adej-aebe4 ,le ,pautre1 ,j4 ,france #afag-afhb4 ,le ,roux1 ,j4 ,b4 #ahth century4 ,linnell1 ,j4 ,england ,lock1 ,m4 ,loir1 ,a4 ,france #afcj-agac4 ,l',orme1 ,ph4 de4 #afth century4 ,lunigia1 ,a4 da ,italy ,m ,mac1 ,j4 ,france #ahth century4 ,maifeis1 ,p4 di ,italy #aeth ,maggiolino1 -- #ahth ,magister1 ,o4 #afth ,majano1 ,b4 da #aeth ,majano1 ,g4 da ,italy #adcb-adij4 ,margaritone1 -- #abcf-acac4 ,marot1 ,d4 ,france #afej-agjj8 ,marot1 ,g4 #agth century4 ,marot1 ,j4 #afbe-afgi4 ,martin1 ,r4 #agjf-agfe4 ,martincourt1 -- #ahth century4 ,meissonnier1 ,j4 ,a4 #afic-agej4 ,mendeler1 ,g4 ,germany #agth century4 ,meulen1 ,r4 van der ,flanders #afde-agag4 ,minore1 ,g4 ,italy #aeth century4 ,modena1 ,p4 da ,moenart1 ,m4 ,flanders #agth ,montepulciano1 ,g4 da ,italy #afth ,moser1 ,l4 ,germany #aeth ,mller1 ,d4 #agth ,mller1 ,j4 ,n ,newrone1 ,g4 ,c4 ,italy #afth century4 ,nilson1 -- ,france #ahth ,nys1 ,l4 de ,flanders ,nys1 ,p4 de ,o ,oost1 ,p4 van ,flanders #adth century4 ,oppenord1 -- ,france #ahth ,p ,pacher1 ,m4 ,germany #aeth century4 ,padova1 ,z4 da ,italy #afth ,panturmo1 ,j4 di #adib-aeef4 ,pardo1 ,g4 ,spain #afth century4 ,pareta1 ,g4 di ,italy ,passe1 ,c4 de ,france #agth ,passe1 ,c4 de1 the younger ,pergolese1 -- ,england #ahth ,perreal1 ,j4 ,france #aeth ,philippon1 ,a4 #afth ,picau1 -- #ahth ,picq1 ,j4 ,flanders #agth ,pigalle1 -- ,england #ahth ,piffetti1 ,a4 ,p4 ,italy #agjj-aggg4 ,plumier1 ,p4 ,d4 ,flanders #afhh-agba4 ,porfirio1 ,b4 di ,italy #afth century ,q ,quellin1 ,a4 ,flanders #afji-affh4 ,quellin1 ,a41 the younger #afbe-agjj4 ,quellin1 ,e4 #agth century4 ,r ,raephorst1 ,b4 van ,flanders #aeth century1 ,ramello1 ,f4 ,italy #afth ,ranson1 -- ,france #ahth ,rasch1 ,a4 ,flanders #aeth ,riesener1 -- ,france #ahth ,roentgen1 ,d4 ,rohan1 ,j4 de #afth ,rohan1 ,j4 de ,rosch1 ,j4 ,germany #aeth ,rossi1 ,p4 de ,italy #aeth and #afth centuries4 ,rovezzano1 ,b4 da ,england #afth century4 ,s ,salembier1 -- ,france #ahth and #aith centuries4 ,sangher1 ,j4 de ,flanders #agth century4 ,schelden1 ,p4 van der #afth ,schwanhard1 ,h4 ,germany #agth ,serlius1 ,s4 ,france #afth ,servellino1 ,g4 del ,italy #aeth ,sheraton1 ,th4 ,england #ahth ,smet1 ,r4 de ,flanders #afth ,stoss1 ,v4 ,germany #adch-aecc4 ,syrlin1 ,j4 #aeth century4 ,syrlin1 ,j41 the younger #aeth and #afth centuries4 ,t ,taillebert1 ,u4 ,flanders #afth century4 ,tasso1 ,d4 ,italy #aeth and #afth centuries4 ,tasso1 ,g4 ,tasso1 ,g4 ,b4 ,tasso1 ,m4 ,d4 #aeth century4 ,tatham1 ,c4 ,h4 ,england #ahth ,taurini1 ,r4 ,italy #afth ,thomire1 ,p4 ,ph4 ,france #agea-ahdc4 ,tolfo1 ,g4 ,italy #afth century4 ,toro1 -- ,france #ahth century4 ,torrigiano1 -- ,england #adgb-aebb4 ,toto1 -- #acca-acea4 ,trevigi1 ,g4 da #acjd-acdd4 ,u ,uccello1 ,p4 ,italy #acif-adgi4 ,ugliengo1 ,c4 #ahth century4 ,v ,venasca1 ,g4 ,p4 ,italy #ahth century4 ,verbruggen1 ,p4 ,flanders #agth ,verbruggen1 ,p41 the younger #affj-agbd4 ,verhaegen1 ,th4 #ahth century4 ,voyers1 -- ,england ,vriesse1 ,v4 de ,france #agth ,w ,walker1 ,h4 ,england #afth century4 ,weinkopf1 ,w4 ,germany ,willemsens1 ,l4 ,flanders #afce-agjb4 ,william the ,florentine ,england #acth century4 ,wilton1 ,j4 #ahth ,z ,zabello1 ,f4 ,italy #afth century4 ,zorn1 ,g4 ,germany #agth ,,index4 ,adam1 ,robert and ,john1 #aab ,alexandria1 ancient centre of civilisation1 #ag ,anglo-saxon houses1 #dd ,antioch1 ancient centre of civilisation1 #ag ,architectural style in furniture1 #id ,art1 classic1 ends in third century1 #cd ,byzantine1 #ce medival1 its growth1 #da its perfection1 #dg ,romanesque1 long continuance1 #db renaissance1 #ff classic1 revived in eighteenth century1 #ajg early nineteenth century1 #aad ,atrium1 #ah ,attalus introduces tapestry1 #ag ,bedrooms1 ,english1 fourteenth century1 #ej ,french1 eighteenth century1 #ajd ,beds1 ,byzantine period1 #cg ,norman1 #df ,egyptian1 ,greek1 c41 #aaf ,medival1 #aah1 #aai at ,hampton court1 #abj ,bellows1 renaissance1 #gb ,bomb furniture1 #ajd1 #aaa ,boucher1 #ajh ,boule1 #ie ,bureaux in marquetry1 #ic1 #ajd or knee-hole1 #abh ,byzantine period1 #ce wealth1 #ch artists welcomed by ,charlemagne1 #da ,cabinet1 ,french1 sixteenth century1 #hi ,japan1 #abh ,cafass1 ,egyptian wood1 #d ,candelabra1 #bc1 #bd ,candles1 ,anglo-saxon1 c41 #de1 #dh ,carriage1 ,anglo-saxon1 #de fourteenth century1 #ed1 #aca seventeenth century1 #ib the ,speaker's1 #acb ,lord ,darnley's1 #acb ,caskets1 ,byzantine1 #cg ,ceilings in ,roman houses1 #ba1 #ca ,chair1 ,egyptian1 #d1 #aba ,nineveh1 #g ,greek1 #aj1 #aa1 #ad ,roman1 #bh1 #abb of ,st4 ,peter1 #ce ,byzantine1 #cg at ,ravenna1 #ci1 #abb in ,bayeux tapestry1 #de coronation1 #di of ,guidobaldo1 #fc ,italian1 fifteenth century1 #fc folding medival1 #abb of silver1 at ,barcelona1 #abc the ,glastonbury1 #abc ,italian1 seventeenth century1 #abd marquetry1 #abd ,chambers1 ,sir ,william1 #ajf ,chariots1 ,hebrew1 #i ,greek1 #ae ,roman1 #acj ,byzantine1 #cg ,chest1 ,greek1 #aa ,roman1 #bi of king ,john1 #dg fourteenth century1 #ea for copes1 #ef fifteenth century1 #fj ,chest1 ,italian1 #fa renaissance1 #fi1 #ga ,chimneypieces1 eighteenth century1 #ajf ,chippendale1 #ajf ,cipriani1 #aab ,cluny htel1 carriages there1 #b ,colbert1 his patronage of art1 #id ,couches1 ,egyptian1 #e ,roman1 #ac medival1 #abj ,coypel1 ,antoine1 #ajd ,cradle1 medival1 #aba ,cubicula1 #bj ,cypress chests1 #gj1 #abg ,dagobert's chair1 #dc ,david1 #aje ,delafosse1 #ajd1 #ajh ,dilettanti society1 influence1 #aae ,dining-room1 ,byzantine1 #ch ,diptych of ,anastasius1 #cf ,distaff1 #ajf ,doorway1 ,english1 seventeenth century1 #ih ,droit de prisage1 #ed bnistes1 fine cabinet makers1 #ajh ,ebony used seventeenth century1 #ajh ,egyptian furniture1 #e ,elizabethan style1 #he ,flemish furniture1 seventeenth century1 #hg ,fragonard1 #ajh ,french style prevalent in eighteenth century1 #ajc1 #aje ,furniture1 use of a collection1 #a ,byzantine1 still perhaps in mosques and treasuries1 #dj sixteenth century1 architectural1 #ge eighteenth century1 #ajc bomb1 explained1 #ajd ,german artists in ,england1 sixteenth century1 #gh work1 eighteenth century1 #aaa ,gillow1 #aac ,glass windows in ,roman houses1 #bj mosaics1 c41 #bb ,venetian1 #ii ,glue used by the ,romans1 #cc ,gouthire1 #aje1 #aaj ,greek manners1 simple1 #ab houses1 #ad ,grinling ,gibbons1 #ig best examples of his work1 #ig ,halls in ,roman villas1 #bj ,hebrew furniture1 #h ,heppelwhite1 #aac ,hogarth1 paintings of chimneypieces1 #ajf ,holbein1 his influence1 #gh ,holy-water stoup1 #ajb ,house1 ,roman1 #ah ,greek1 #ad how warmed in ,rome1 #bi ,anglo-saxon and ,norman1 #dd1 #df of timber1 fifteenth century1 #eh ,iconoclasts1 destruction by1 #dj ,italian coffer at ,south ,kensington1 #fa artists1 sixteenth century1 #fh in ,france and ,england1 #gh1 #hi carved woodwork1 sixteenth century1 #hi distaff1 #ajf ,japanese lac-work1 #ajf ,kauffmann 7,angelica71 #aab ,kaunitz1 a kind of bureau1 #abh ,kitchen utensils1 ,roman1 #cj ,knife case1 sixteenth century1 #gf ,lac-work1 ,chinese and ,japanese1 #ajf ,lalonde1 #ajh ,lares1 #bh ,lebrun1 first head of the ,gobelins1 #ie ,le ,pautre family1 #ajd ,litters1 ,roman1 #ca ,lock 7,matthias71 #aab ,locks in ,roman houses1 #ba ,louvre1 ,egyptian boxes1 #f ,maggiolino1 #aaa ,mansard1 #ajd ,marquetry1 ,venetian1 #fb seventeenth century1 #ib1 #ic ,boule1 #ie ,meissonnier1 #ajd1 #ajh ,metallurgy1 ,british1 #db ,micque1 #ajh ,mirror1 ,greek1 #ac renaissance1 #fi ,mirror frames1 sixteenth century1 #ga ,venetian1 #ia1 #ii made in ,england1 seventeenth century1 #ii1 #ajj ,mosaic1 ,roman1 pavements and on walls1 #ai or pietra dura1 #gd ,natoire1 #ajh ,nero1 colossus in his house1 #be ,nineveh furniture1 #f ,nuptiale1 #ah ,,oeci1 #bj ,oppenord1 #ajh ,ostium1 #ah ,paintings and pictures in ,roman houses1 #bb in thirteenth century1 of rooms1 #dh1 #di ,panelling for rooms1 #di oriental1 #eg of a chest1 #fj ,english1 sixteenth century1 #gi1 #hj ,french1 sixteenth century1 #hd ,english1 #hf ,pedestal1 #ij ,penates1 #ah ,peristylium1 #bj ,persian furniture1 #h marquetry1 #fc ,picture-frames1 renaissance1 #ga ,pomeranian cabinet at ,berlin1 #ib ,pompeii1 value of discoveries1 #af ,porcelain given to ,queen ,elizabeth1 #acj ,pottery1 time of ,edward ,i41 #di ,pudens1 ancient house of1 #bj ,pugin1 #aad ,queverdo1 #ajh ,religious houses1 their woodwork1 #fc safe generally from spoliation1 #fg ,renaissance in ,italy1 #ff materials employed1 #fi in ,england1 ,france1 c41 #gh ,restout1 ,jean1 #ajd ,riesener1 #aje1 #ajh1 #aji ,robert1 #ajh ,rococo furniture1 #ajc ,roentgen1 #ajh1 #aji ,roman habits1 at first simple1 #af house1 #ah couches in dining-rooms1 #ai1 #bg locks and hinges1 #ba tables1 #be chairs1 #bh kitchen utensils1 #cj ,roof of ,westminster ,hall1 #ee ,room decorations1 ,french1 eighteenth century1 #ajg ,room of ,marie ,antoinette's time at ,south ,kensington1 #ajg ,roundels1 #abi ,salembier1 #ajh ,scamnum1 #bh ,sculpture1 architectural1 c41 fourteenth century1 #ef renaissance1 #fi ,settle or seat1 fourteenth century1 #ea ,sheraton1 ,thomas1 #aac ,sideboards1 #abh ,silks for furniture1 eighteenth century1 #ajg ,stuart style of woodwork and furniture1 #he1 #if ,table1 ,egyptian1 #abd ,nineveh1 #h ,roman1 #be1 #abe veneered1 #bg great value1 #bg ,norman1 #df furniture of1 fourteenth century1 #ej fourteenth and fifteenth century1 #ec1 #eh1 #abe sixteenth century1 #ga of ,francesco de' ,medici1 #ge ,french1 sixteenth century1 #hj1 #ha ,english1 seventeenth century1 #ajb long kept at ,flaxton ,hall1 #abf ,tapestry first brought to ,rome1 #ag in ,roman houses1 #cj in ,england1 fourteenth century1 c41 #ej1 #fa ,gobelin1 #ie ,tarsia1 #fb1 #gc1 #gd ,temple of ,diana1 #cc ,theatre of ,c4 ,curio1 #cb ,tigrin tables1 #bf ,triclinium1 #ah1 #aag ,tripods1 #bb ,tudor cabinet at ,south ,kensington1 #gh style1 #he ,vase from ,hadrian's villa1 #be ,venetian mirror-frame1 #ia ,vernis-,martin1 #aje ,vestiaria1 #bj ,walpole 7,horace71 opinion on medival art1 #aaa ,wardrobe1 old ,english1 #di ,roman1 #abf ,wars of the ,roses1 evil consequences1 #fd ,wood used in ,nineveh1 #h ,greece1 #ae ,rome1 for tables1 c41 #bf1 #cb by ,riesener1 #aji ,woodwork1 ,english1 in thirteenth century1 #dh sixteenth century1 #gi ,germany1 in sixteenth century1 #hc ,spanish1 in sixteenth century1 #hd ,tudor and ,stuart1 #hf ,wren1 ,sir ,christopher1 #ig ,wyattville1 #aad ,,the ,,end4 ,,dalziel ,,brothers1 ,,camden ,,press1 ,n4,w4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,note represents italic print4 represents a superscript4 ,the ,table of ,contents was erected by the transcriber1 and placed in the ,public ,domain4 ,sundry missing or damaged punctuation has been repaired4 ,this book1 published in ,england1 dates from #ahge4 ,some older1 but still correct1 spellings may be present4 ,there is also some #afth century spelling4 ,both hyphenated and un-hyphenated versions of some words appear in the text4 ',borgoa' and ',borgona' both appear in the text1 as do 'htel' and 'hotel'4 ,english spelling 'rules' have only existed since the second half of the nineteenth century4 ,illustrations which interrupted paragraphs have generally been moved to more convenient positions between paragraphs4 ,an exception is the illustration of ,st4 ,edmund's 'well-furnished bedroom' on ,page #ea1 referred to in the first part of the long paragraph beginning on ,page #ej4 ,it made sense to insert the illustration after 'the year #adjj'1 as the following text began a new topic4 ,page #ba3 'valves' corected to 'halves'4 'v' would seem to be a misprint for 'h'4 ,the doors were generally in two halves and could be closed with locks1444 ,page #dh3 'candesticks' corrected to 'candlesticks'4 ,though the royal table might be lighted with valuable candlesticks of metal1444 ,page #hb3 ,illustration3 ,,semper ,,festina ,,lente ,hurry ,slowly6 ,page #aba3 'musuem' corrected to 'museum'4 444 as in the example in the museum1444