Furniture - Singleton

The Egyptian style had a great deal of influence on Greek and Etruscan Art. Though the household furniture of the Egyptians was somewhat limited, the cabinet-makers produced beautiful inlaid work at a very early period. Egypt was poor in timber, and therefore cedar and other woods were imported and ebony and ivory were procured from Ethiopia and Mesopotamia. Human and animal forms, as well as floral devices, were used for the decoration of furniture, which was adorned with brilliant color designs. The wood was sometimes gilded and sometimes inlaid with precious metals, stones and colored glass.

"For furniture, various woods were employed, ebony, acacia or sont, cedar, sycamore, and others of species not determined. Ivory, both of hippopotamus and elephant, was used for inlaying, as also were glass pastes; and specimens of marquetry are not uncommon. In the paintings in the tombs, gorgeous pictures and gilded furniture are depicted. For cushions and mattresses, linen cloth and colored stuffs, filled with feathers of the waterfowl, appear to have been used, while seats have plaited bottoms of linen cord or tanned and dyed leather thrown over them, and sometimes the skins of panthers served this purpose. For carpets they used mats of palm fibre, on which they often sat. On the whole, an Egyptian house was lightly furnished, and not encumbered with so many articles as are in use at the present day."

The Greek Style was of Asiatic origin, but soon freed itself from the early, stiff hieratic forms. The richness of Oriental color remained in the textiles and furniture; and Greek form and ornament formed the principal inspiration for many later styles. Wood was used for household furniture; and the surfaces of the luxurious objects were variously ornamented with designs of animal groups, mythological scenes and floral devices, carved, painted and gilded. The wooden furniture of the Greeks has all perished and only the bronze tables, tripods, chairs and beds remain.

The characteristic motives of Greek ornament are the fret, zigzag, wave-scroll, echinus (called also the horse-chestnut, or egg-and-tongue), guilloche, patera (or rosette) and anthemion (or honeysuckle). The Greeks also used the sphynx, griffin, triton and chimaera in decoration ; but these mythological animals occur far more frequently in Roman work.

Greek influence began to be felt in Rome in the Third Century B. C Etruscan Art had dominated there up to that time.


The Roman Style

Roman furniture was exceedingly costly and decorative. Marble, gold, silver and bronze were used as well as woods. Furniture was enriched by damascened work and inlaid with ivory, metal and sometimes even precious stones. Like the Assyrians, Egyptians and Greeks, the Romans carved the arms and legs of chairs, tables and couches to represent the legs and feet of animals. Maple, beech, holly, olive, cedar, pine, ash and elm were the chosen woods, and cheaper woods were veneered with costly woods for the sake of the decorative effect. One of the luxuries of the day was a wood called thyine, a kind of aloe that grew in Africa, and which was valued for its beauty, hardness, sweet odor, and, not least, for the good luck it was supposed to bring. Thyine was used by the priests for incense, and the Arabs held it in such high estimation that they made the ceiling and floor of the famous Mosque of Cordova of this precious wood. Pliny speaks of the mania for this kind of wood, and says when husbands scolded their wives for their extravagance in pearls, the latter charged them with their extravagance for tables of thyine wood. Cicero had one of these tables that cost a million sesterces (about $45,000).

The style known as Byzantine is a development of the early classic Greek mixed with Roman and Oriental influences. It developed in Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire. Rich furniture adorned the homes of the great. It is worth noting that the old custom of reclining at meals ceased and people sat on benches. Ivory entered largely in the decoration of furniture, and beautiful tapestries and cushions were plentiful. The most remarkable relic of the Byzantine period is the famous chair of St. Peter, which authorities agree is genuine. It is now preserved in St. Peter's Church in Rome, but is entirely covered with a bronze casing, made by Bernini in 1667 from bronze taken from the Pantheon. According to tradition this relic belonged to Senator Pudens, an early convert to Christianity, who gave to the Church his house in Rome over which now stands the Church of St. Pudenziana. The chair was given by Pudens to St. Peter, and it became the throne of the See. It is square, with solid front and arms. The square front is thirty-nine inches wide and thirty inches high, and is embellished with eighteen groups taken from the Gospels, beautifully carved in ivory and inlaid with pure gold. The chair itself is made of wood, overlaid with carved ivory and gold, and bound together with iron.


The Romanesque Style

The Romanesque {style Roman), which prevailed in Europe during the Dark Ages, stands between the Byzantine and die Gothic Style. Beginning in the Fifth Century, it dominated architecture and the Decorative Arts till the Twelfth Century. During this period and until the Renaissance, furniture was architectural in form and decoration. The panels were carved or painted with arcades of round arches, and the spaces were filled with saintly figures and monsters. Geometrical figures were also largely used in the ornamentation. The characteristic details of the marquetry of this style are the star, saw-tooth, checker, billet, overlapping lozenges, battlement mouldings and diamond points.


The Gothic Style

The furniture of the Middle Ages was constructed of solid oak, consisting of massive planks and wide panels left bare to be decorated with painting, stamped leather, or lightly cut ornaments. Gradually the carving developed and became more important in company with the changes of sculptured ornament in Gothic architecture. Under the luxurious Dukes of Burgundy, Flemish taste prevailed both in England and France during the Fifteenth Century. This taste was characterized by naturalism of form and face, expressive attitude and a tendency to satire and caricature.

"The complete development of Gothic architecture, and the pieces of furniture inspired by the same taste are divided into flamboyant Gothic arcades, and crowned by fine needle shaped crockets and floriated croziers; their niches contain elegantly quaint figures and the panels with their bas-reliefs rival in perfection the retables (altar-pieces) and triptychs of intricate workmanship."

A glance at the carved furniture of this period shows that the motives of decoration consisted of human and animal figures, foliage and plate-tracery and bar-tracery. In the Fifteenth Century the tracery was largely supplanted by the "linen-fold," which became exceedingly popular in Germany, France, Flanders and England. The panels of German work on Plate III. and Plate VII. show two elaborate examples of this motive which was banished by the Renaissance. A third example on Plate VIII. shows this design on a French credence or buffet of the same period.

During the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries the forms of furniture were few. Perhaps the most important was the chest, huche, or bahut, in which money, clothes, linen, tapes-tries and valuables were preserved and transported from place to place. Next came the bedstead; then the chair, for the master of the house; then the high-backed benches and stools {escabeaux) then the credence (buffet) and, finally, the dressoir, with its shelves on which cloths were laid and plate displayed.

Furniture changed very little during the next two centuries. More luxurious fabrics were brought home by the Crusaders; and the cushions, carpets and hangings became richer and more plentiful. Carving progressed and the style of marquetry known as alia certosa was introduced from Italy.