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By the beginning of the 18th century earrings had become an essential form The girandole of adornment.
The girandole, first seen around the middle of the 17th century, remained the most popular type of earring. As we have seen, it consisted of a surmount, usually a bow motif, with three pear-shaped drops, the larger one at the centre, suspended from a hook. The hook allowed the drops to be detached, so that the surmount could be worn on its own when occasion required it.
There are several explanations for the popularity of the girandole. The first has to do with fashion in clothes and hair. During the 18th century hair was worn gathered up on the head away from the face, leaving the ears uncovered; and the low cut of dresses for formal occasions left the area around the neck and ears perfectly suited for adornment with earrings. Secondly, earrings and particularly girandoles exploited the qualities of faceted stones, especially diamonds, which had become plentiful after their discovery in Brazil in 1723; before that the supply had been limited to the mines of Golconda in India. Also significant was the improvement in techniques for cutting diamonds: around 1700 it is thought that the Venetian Vincenzo Peruzzi devised the brilliant-cut, a cut that enhanced the optical properties of diamonds, enabling the stone to reflect light and sparkle at its best. The new brilliant-cut diamonds were particularly successful when mounted on girandole earrings with the stones hanging freely on both sides of the face and catching the light. Thirdly, improved domestic candles meant that more social occasions could be held at night, and in these circumstances sparkling diamond-set jewels and especially girandoles were particularly effective. Until the mid-18th century, jewellery was set solely with diamonds. For formal evening occasions, diamond girandole earrings were all the rage, while during the day girandoles set with more sober semiprecious stones such as garnets, cornelians, pearls, aventurine glass and pastes were preferred. For the first time in the history of jewellery a differentiation was made between day-time and night-time jewels, a distinction which remains to this day.
The girandole remained the favoured type of earring throughout the 18th century and in general terms its basic elements — the bow surmount and drops, the emphasis on width rather than length and the practice of wearing matching bodice ornaments called sevignes — are features which had been common since the 17th century. There are, however, certain small differences. The early 18th-century girandole may be distinguished from its 17th-century counterpart mainly by its emphasis on the faceted stones rather than on the setting and enamel-work; in the 17th century the setting was decorated at the front and back with polychrome enamels and engravings, but towards the end of that century enamel-work and engraving were confined to the back and disappeared completely at the beginning of the 18th.
Elements remaining from the 17th century include the rather stiff design with the clearly defined bow and drops as separate units, and the pronounced horizontal de-Engraved design of the ‘Principes de Girandoles’ by L. Van der Cruycen, 1770, showing the proportions of a girandole earring.
Engraved designs for three pearl girandole earrings by L. Van der Cruycen, 177o. The central motifs are flower sprays.
velopment, stressing width rather than length. Such features are clearly visible in the designs engraved by Quien dated 1710 and published posthumously in London in 1762, especially the stiffness of the design, the drops treated as separate elements, the horizontality and the interest in the faceted stone.
Girandoles were popular throughout Europe at the beginning of the i 8th century, but there are small differences which betray their country of origin. In France they were set entirely with diamonds and were characterized by a sense of movement and sculptural quality. In Spain they were sturdier and set typically with a combination of emeralds and diamonds, a fact explained by the relatively easy supply of emeralds from mines in Colombia, which belonged to Spain. Portuguese girandoles were characterized by simple and flat lines and were usually set with topazes and chrysoberyls from Brazil, then a Portuguese colony. In the Adriatic regions and especially Southern Italy girandoles were given bold outlines and were frequently set with seed pearls as opposed to gemstones.
Girandoles of the second half of the 18th century show some slight changes. In France, particularly, they were no longer set only with diamonds but with a combination of diamonds and coloured gemstones such as rubies. Secondly, they gradually develop a more vertical outline with a more elongated central drop, noticeable in the Italian designs of circa 177o and exemplified by the proportions set out in the Principes de Giraindoles designed and engraved by Van der Cruycen in 1770. And thirdly, the basic bow surmount is frequently replaced by a more complex arrangement, for example the combination of ribbon bow and flower spray motif seen in the ruby and diamond girandoles and in Pouget’s designs for girandoles, dated 1762. One of his pages, for instance, shows six different designs for girandoles. The four set with pearls display intricate motifs in the centre other than bows: a floral motif, two hearts, paired doves and a trophy of love with two hearts and arrows. The characteristic intricacy of the central element is evident also in the emerald and diamond examples from Spain; the centre in the form of a flowerhead cluster is set with a large emerald in a border of rose diamonds framed by diamond-set foliate spray motifs. The other typical feature of late i 8th-century girandoles is the working together of the surmount and drops into much more of an ensemble, compared to the early girandoles where they are treated as separate units.
Most girandoles were quite large, and weight was an important aspect which should not be overlooked. It depended on two features, the size of the earring and the setting of the stones. Gemstones were commonly mounted in closed settings with collets closed at the back, which were lined with coloured foils to enhance the colour of the stones and improve the evenness of colour; in the case of diamonds, foils gave a subtle hue to the stones. Gold was used to set coloured stones while silver was normally used to set diamonds, as it suited their whiteness. So much metal was used in the setting that the earrings were inevitably very heavy, something which is stressed by the designer and engraver Augustin Duflos in the ‘Discours Preliminere’ to his
P 56 Recueil des Dessins, published in 1744. The need to alleviate the weight of girandole earrings led to the introduction of a special fitting, consisting of penannular wire hinged on one side to be inserted from back to front into the pierced earlobe. An additional loop soldered off-centre at the top held a ribbon secured to the hair, taking some of the weight off the ears. The Spanish emerald and diamond girandoles illustrated here are approximately 39 grams; today an average of about 22 grams per earring is reckoned to be as heavy as a woman can comfortably wear.
Tolerance of heavy earrings depends, of course, on how long they are worn, how much movement is involved and how the weight is distributed. When the weight of a long earring is concentrated in a small area, it will feel much heavier than when the
P 57 same weight is spread over a larger surface, as in the case of a disc. Duflos mentions this problem of weight. ‘Ladies’, he says, ‘are the principal objects of the Jeweller’s Art, who mainly devotes his work to them. If this work, by chance, falls under their hands, it might perhaps bring them back to noble and simple taste, better suited in differentiating them and in showing their natural graces than the glittering display that has been favoured for some time. Then they will reduce, by their own accord, the enormous size of Flowers and Girandole Earrings, which tires the ears and they will prefer beautiful diamonds, although smaller in size, to a disorderly cluster of small stones which add up to a lot of weight and are ill suited.’
The pendeloque
Another type of earring which became popular in the second half of the i 8th century,
P. 52, 53 although it was well established fifty years earlier, was the pendeloque. Its design is
characterized by a marquise-shaped surmount supporting a central ribbon bow motif
and an elongated drop of a design similar to the surmount, frequently decorated with
P. 57 a swing centre. Variations include one model which has a more elaborate central sec-
tion with a combination of bow and floral spray motifs, and pear-shaped drops. The
pendeloque seems to have come into fashion because its elongated outline counter-balanced the extreme height of hairstyles around the 1770s. This style reached its peak among the upper classes in 1778. A pad made of wool, hemp and wire was placed on the head and either natural or horse hair with pomade and powder was stretched over. They must have been extremely uncomfortable and unhygienic, since they were often kept in place for weeks at a time, becoming breeding grounds for lice and fleas; furthermore, they were highly impractical, obstructing one’s view and making it difficult to fit into a coach. Caricaturists showed servants employed to hold up the weight of the hair, or attending to their mistress’s hair from ladders, and ladies travelling in carriages with the roof opened up for the high coiffures to stick out. But comfort was not the main concern of the fashionable lady; she delighted in the way the sweeping high line of her hair was perfectly counterbalanced by the elongated drops of her pendeloque earrings.
Most of the pendeloques were set with diamonds but few have survived, since the settings were melted down and the stones reset. The great majority of extant examples are set with colourless pastes or crystals such as white topazes and rock crystal imitating diamonds. The interest in imitation diamonds is typical of the 18th century; and paste jewellery of this period can be considered the forerunner of modern luxury costume jewellery. Another favourite type of pendeloque besides those set with dia-P 49 monds or pastes is the one with a pear-shaped pearl drop usually set as a swing centre in a diamond-set frame. In design books one frequently finds variations of girandoles
P 57 and pendeloques illustrated together. In those of Quien (dated 1710) and Saint (dated 1759), there are engravings of three variations of girandoles and six slightly differing pendeloques all on the same page. Similarly, in the designs of Maria, active 1751-70, eight variations of girandoles and three pendeloques are depicted.
Pendeloques were set in much the same way as girandoles with the stones mounted in closed collets, but they were lighter, having a single drop from the bow surmount instead of three. This explains why one frequently finds a different fitting; instead of the hook with additional loop to alleviate the weight, there is a plain long S-shaped wire hook soldered to the surmount of the earrings. This is clearly depicted in some coloured designs of pendeloques (1760-70) by an anonymous Italian jeweller, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The ‘two-stone’ earring
Another popular mid to late 18th-century earring is the type known as the ‘two-stone’ earring. This consists of two large oval faceted gemstones, the larger one on top, with the plane joining the two embellished with various decorative motifs. The simplest version of this decoration comprises just two small lozenge-shaped stones filling in the gaps at the sides where the two larger stones meet; the more elaborate type, as seen in Duflos’ engraved designs of 1744, presents lateral floral and foliate spray motifs. This type of earring was suited for the display of large and important stones, especially diamonds, but hardly any examples have survived, because such large and important stones tend inevitably to be reset in more up-to-date settings. The extant examples mostly contain pastes and garnets and have survived because there was no advantage in melting them down and resetting the gemstones. Nevertheless even the low value ‘two-stone’ earrings are very attractive: a pair set with translucent blue opaline paste may be seen in the Museum of London; it is also interesting to note how sometimes the simple ‘two-stone’ motif is repeated to form a necklace usually worn en suite with the earrings.
From the 18th century onwards, girandoles and pendoloques continued in favour, though modified as one could expect to meet changing tastes. One finds a variation of the girandole in the I 83os and again in the late 1920s, while the pendeloque enjoyed particular favour in the 18 2os and 18 8os.
A lasting tradition
In certain peripheral areas, however, fashion evolves more slowly than in courtly and
international circles, and the form of the girandole and the pendeloque has remained
p. 63 virtually unchanged from the 18th century to modern times. This can clearly be seen
in provincial jewellery of the Iberian peninsula where one finds a recurring girandole
design: a central stylized bow motif with three pear-shaped drops, pierced in gold
Engraved designs by J. D. Saint, for three girandoles and two pendeloque earrings, 1759.
Two types of earring dominate the i 8th century: the pendeloque and the ,irandole. pendeloque earrings had been ;n favour since the early part of the century, but their greatest popularity came in the 177os. Their basic design consisted of a circular or oval surmount supporting an elongated drop which counterbalanced the excessively high hairstyles of that time. The pair shown here represent one of the commonest of ,he many variants. A diamond and pearl cluster supports a diamond ribbon bow motif suspended with a pear-shaped diamond drop with a pearl swing centre.
decorated with small rose diamonds. Dating these earrings can be problematic. Earlier examples have engraved scrolling on the back, while later ones are stamped out from a die and are coarser in appearance. They are frequently accompanied by a bodice ornament of ribbon bow known as a ‘lava’ which derives from the traditional s6vign6. These Iberian examples are not particularly heavy, having pierced mounts and being set with fewer stones; this explains the fitting which, unlike the conventional i 8th-century girandole, consists of a gold hinged hook which is inserted into the ear from back to front without any additional supporting device.
Other pendeloques follow closely the traditional i 8th-century prototypes. Some have a ribbon bow and pear-shaped drop, others a much more elongated pendant, as long as 8 cms. A typical Portuguese earring derived from the pendeloque is the Brincos a Rainha’, ‘Queen’s earring’. It has a bow surmount and a swing centre, but the drop is usually wider and stones are replaced by faceted gold bead motifs. All our examples are made from a sheet of high carat gold (usually 20 carat) from which the design has been cut out by means of a saw and file, producing a lace-like effect. Inlays were skilfully chiselled by hand and the collets that were placed round the stones, usually rose diamonds, were made separately and embellished by the burin. Later examples in the 19th century were frequently cast in the chosen shape and then finished with the chisel and burin.
In another area of the Iberian peninsula centred around Catalonia, during the late i 8th century, the girandole was the inspiration for the design of the extremely popular ‘Catalan earring’, which remained in vogue virtually unmodified up to the end of the 19th century. Unlike the Portuguese examples, Catalan earrings are extremely long and resemble later 8th-century Spanish girandoles. They are mounted with an abundance of gemstones in closed settings and chased mounts. The stones are never diamonds but semiprecious stones such as hessonite garnets and amethysts. The central ribbon bow motif is greatly stylized, the emphasis being on length rather than width, and all the elements are integrated into the overall design. Some examples have a very large central drop flanked by two smaller ones, thus retaining the structure of the girandole, while others have only a single large drop and are closer in conception to the pendeloque. The long popularity of this type of earring in Catalonia is demonstrated by numerous surviving examples and by its frequent appearance even in i 9th-century portraits, e.g. , the Flower Woman from Valencia by Joaquim Argasot y Juan. The sitter is wearing typical Catalan earrings mounted in gold with dark green gemstones, the usual stylized ribbon bow surmount suspending three drops-, they are so long that they nearly rest on the shawl draped over the woman’s shoulders. Indeed, these Catalan earrings could measure up to 14 cms and were often so heavy that they had to be supported by an additional hook placed over the ear. Sidney Churchill, in an article on ‘Peasant Jewellery’ published in The Studio, mentions the practice of alleviating the weight of a heavy earring by means of a ribbon tied round the ear, which he saw in Nicosia as late as 19 12.

Art Nouveau Austrian Furniture: DISPLAY CABINET, DISPLAY CABINET, VIENNESE SERVING TABLE, CIRCULAR TABLE, BLACK-PAINTED CUPBOARD, LARCHWOOD TABLE AND CHAIRS, BENTWOOD CHAIR, FOOTSTAND

ART NOUVEAU AUSTRIA
VIENNA WAS PARTICULARLY receptive
to the desire for innovation that swept across Europe in the last 25 years of the 19th century. This recognition of the need for change signalled the approaching demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed at the end of World War 1. Austria founded her own distinctive version of Art Nouveau, and established a new set of stylistic ideals.
The Vienna art establishment was challenged by a group of artists, architects, and designers, who, in 1897, founded the “Secession” under
the chairmanship of Gustav Klimt. This movement protested against the conservative teachings of its masters and campaigned for modernity,
heralding the beginning of one of Austria’s most creative periods.
BOLD DESIGNS
Sculptors and artists were active in the Secession, as were the architects and interior designers Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, and Josef Maria Olbrich, and furniture designers Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser. This enterprising group created bold furniture designs
for the new century. The Secessionists rejected the flamboyant naturalism of French Art Nouveau, preferring the linear furniture designs created by
the Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (see pp..364-65), who was widely admired in Vienna. Austrian designers were more influenced by the British Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century than by French or Belgian Art Nouveau.
NATURAL INSPIRATION
The Secessionists were inspired by the geometry of nature. The curving,
sinuous plant forms popular with the French and Belgian Schools were rejected in favour of rectangles and squares. The Secessionists based their designs on a spare, geometric style, using simple shapes and linear patterns and new materials such as plywood, aluminium, and bent beechwood. Their furniture was designed for uncluttered interiors.
KEY FIGURES
The most distinguished Secessionists were Josef Hoffmann and Koloman
Moser, co-founders of the Wiener Werkstatte in 1903. Hoffmann created a purer, more linear version of the Art Nouveau style producing furniture in a simple, geometric form that was elegant and restrained, thereby forging a link between Art Nouveau and Modernism. Hoffmann was a designer for the firm established by the German,
Michael Thonet (see below).
More colourful than most Viennese furniture of the time, Kolomon Moser’s tables, cabinets, and chairs were linear but lavishly embellished. In fact,
decoration often took precedence over form, with luxurious woods, such as rosewood, used for veneers and decorative inlays.
ADOLF LOOS
The architect Adolf Loos was a key member of the Secessionist movement. Better known for his philosophical writings than his buildings, Loos wrote an essay, “Ornament and Crime”, in which he opposed the highly decorative style of Art Nouveau. Instead, he advocated that reason, not passion, should determine the way that people designed.
The Secessionist’s linear, geometric interpretation of Art Nouveau paved the way for the geometric shapes and spare style later favoured by the
Bauhaus and the Modern movement of the 1930s.
The embossed panels with
harpist and knight moths
were inspired by Klimt.
The case is oak, furnished and polished. with maple inlays.
The panels of the glazed door forma geometric pattern with the low shelf.
DISPLAY CABINET
This mahogany display cabinet is part of a dining-room set designed by Otto Wytrlik of Vienna. Note the straight lines of the design and the simple veneered walnut finish and brass fittings. c.1901.
DISPLAY CABINET
This oak cabinet was made in Vienna. It is almost square in shape and rests on a framed plinth. The glazed central door is flanked by flat-panel doors with geometric-pattern oak figuring and maple inlays. The open shelf in
the centre is flanked by brass panels embossed with a scene depicting a harpist and a knight. The design of these panels was influenced by Gustav Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze. The embossed panels were probably created for this piece by Klimt’s brother, Georg. c.1905-10.
VIENNESE SERVING TABLE
This serving table is made of stained oak with brass handles. It has a removable top with glass inlay, and hinged sides with facetted glass panels to allow access to the shelves. c.1905.
CIRCULAR TABLE
This small, circular topped, beech bentwood table is of a very simple design with no additional decoration. It has two circular undertiers, and the piece stands on slightly splayed supports.
BLACK-PAINTED CUPBOARD
Designed by Adolf Loos, this functional cupboard is made from softwood, painted black and then varnished. It has distinctive twin two-over-three glazed doors and brass hardware. c.1908.
Wall mirror This piece is made from carved bentwood to create a simple, elegant effect. The wood has been steamed and then bent into shape, and this technique is a hallmark of Thonet’s furniture.
LARCHWOOD TABLE AND CHAIRS
This round table and chairs were designed
and made by the company of Portois & Fix in
Vienna. The chairs are made of larch wood and the backs are carved in an elaborate floral pattern. The seats are upholstered in a floral
fabric. The table is made of nut wood, with a red-brown leather skiver on the top. The profiled legs are decorated with floral carving, and there is a shelf about halfway down the legs. All of the pieces bear the manufacturer’s stamp. c.1900-05.
BENTWOOD CHAIR
Armchair “No.25″, made by Mundus of Vienna, is made of dark-brown stained beech, with an open backsplat decorated with stylized, scrolling plant stems and a canework seat. c.1910.
FOOTSTAND
This three-legged footstand was designed by Adolf Loos. It has a mahogany-stained, beach top, which is carved into a bowl shape. The piece stands on splayed mahogany legs. c.1905.
In his small furniture workshop, Michael Thonet perfected the bentwood technique – marrying forward-looking, elegant design with industrial production – that ultimately exploded on the international stage. In 1849, Thonet established the Gebruder Thonet company, setting up a host of factories across Eastern Europe. In the following decades the company achieved tremendous growth and success as it paved the way for the industrial mass production of functional, inexpensive and robust furniture that contributed to the fashion for minimal ornamentation.
Towards the end of the 19th century, Thonet’s signature bentwood furniture
with its sinuous, elegant curves inspired a number of celebrated Art Nouveau architects and designers, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Henry van de Veldc. The reputation of the Thonet Brothers attracted a collection of visionary talents who designed furniture for the firm, among them one of the pioneering founders of the Wiener Werkstatte Josef Hoffmann, along with Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Koloman Moser, and Otto Prutscher.
GEBRUDER THONET
IN AUSTRIA, THE EVOLUTION OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE OWES MUCH
TO THE TRAILBLAZING DESIGNS OF CRAFTSMAN MICHAEL THONET.
Gebruder Thonet catalogue The catalogue for L`industrie Thonet bears the subtitle “From handcraftsmanship to mass production: bentwood furniture.”
Gueridon This small table is made of beech wood and consists of a plain top above an ornate bentwood base, decorated with oval motifs.

Early cupboards and meubles en deux corps.
During the medieval period a cupboard was an open shelf or set of boards for storing cups; what is now understood to be a cupboard – a receptacle fitted with doors intended for storage – was known in England as an aumbry. Later the two terms became interchangeable.
MEUBLES EN DEUX CORPS.
The earliest cupboards-on-chests or meubles en deux corps – that is, furniture made in two sections and enclosing drawers in both the top and bottom sections –were originally employed for writing or storing papers and valuables. First recorded in Italy during the 16th century, these cupboards, such as bambocci made in Tuscany, were almost always made of walnut and are architectural in form; the fall fronts and cornices are Supported by putti, armorial cartouches, and Classical arcades, or even carved in relief with biblical or mythological scenes.
Interestingly, it was these Mannerist figurative reliefs, often either biblical or mythological, which were rapidly adopted for the meubles en deux corps made for the Court of Francis I at the chateau of Fontainebleau, outside Paris, during the mid-16th century. Usually made of walnut, or occasionally ebony, they were sometimes enriched with gilding or polychrome decoration. Conceived both for their decorative and their functional nature, with drawers to the base and either hinged fall fronts (the prototype for 17th-century escritoires or secretaires) or doors enclosing fitted interiors with further drawers to the top, they are characterized by their exuberant decoration, invariably carved in relief with Mannerist caryatids and arabesques in the style associated with the designers Jacques Androuet DuCerceau (c.1515-85), whose engraved publications included Petites Grotesques (1550) inspired by the designs of the later Italian Renaissance, and Hugues Sambin (c.1520-1601), in his L’Oeuvre de la diversite des termes dont on use en architecture (1572). These forms and decorative motifs were also inspirational to cabinetmakers in the Low Countries. The 16th-century meubles en deux corps were enthusiastically collected throughout the 19th century, and thus numerous copies, as well as others composed of elements of both old and new pieces, survive in some number.
THE LOW COUNTRIES.
During the early 17th century cupboards became increasingly important pieces of furniture in the Low Countries; some were carved with Mannerist motifs, while others were painted or decorated with inlay inspired by Italian prototypes. The main timbers used were oak and walnut, with bony inlay. An outstanding type made in the province of Holland in the northern Netherlands was the Beeldenkast, the name of which was taken from the term for the carved caryatid figures that decorated the uprights. Like the meuble en deux corps, the form was of an upper and lower stage separated by a frieze. In Zeeland in the southern Netherlands, which until 1648 was under Spanish rule, cupboards were carved with geometrical patterns probably introduced into the Netherlands by Spanish craftsmen, who were inspired by Moorish designs. Decorative inlay is particularly associated with workshops in Middelburg.
• EN DEUX CORPS these were widely copied during the 1850s through to the 1880s in both England and France while the Renaissance enjoyed a revival; it is extremely rare to find an example that has not had some alterations; 19th-century versions have less crisp carving and generally confuse the motifs usedalterations.
• many pieces that purport to be 17th century were actually made up in the 19th; these can be difficult to identify, although check that the carved elements have not been cut off in mid-flow, and that colour and patination are concurrent on all parts, and that distressing and wear are consistent with age.

Cupboards and linen-presses before 1840
In the second half of the 17th century, the fashion, and indeed the resulting demand, for domestic furniture became increasingly widespread. Traditionally, walnut cassoni and oak coffers, often commissioned to celebrate a marriage, sufficed for the storage of linen and candles. However, their hinged tops prevented ready access to those items stored at the bottom, and so they were seen as impractical and outdated.
NORTHERN LINEN-PRESSES
Although chests and coffers continued to be produced in provincial areas, the princely courts of Burgundy, Frankfurt, Tuscany, and The Netherlands commissioned upright cupboards to fulfil their storage needs. Inspired by early Renaissance precedents, being both strongly architectural in form and linear in design, these presses are characterized by two doors, heavy cornices, moulded plinths, and bun feet.
Although designs varied, 17th-century north European presses all display an important refinement from their 16th-century precursors. Unlike Renaissance cassoni and chests, which were often made in situ, these presses were executed in a workshop, and could be broken down into sections, which were easily transported and assembled. This was an important development for all carcase furniture and can be most easily seen in the way that the cornice is fixed to the sides – often with long, hand-cut screws or pins.
Usually of walnut or fruitwood, late 17th-century presses from Burgundy are evolved from the mule chest – featuring a storage drawer within the plinth. This form was also adopted in the Spanish Netherlands, Amsterdam, and The Hague. Presses from the Spanish Netherlands arc usually of ebony (or ebonized wood) and oak, enriched with parquetry decoration and perhaps inlaid with ivory, bone, or slate panels. The earlier, more elaborate examples are enriched with Mannerist decoration and architectural motifs in the manner of Hans Vredeman de Vries (1526–c.1604), including caryatid figures and arabesques. This architectural vocabulary was gradually superseded by more florid decoration, richly carved in relief with flowers and putti, the doors often divided by Solomonic or barley-twist columns.
The Schrank and Nasenschrank (cupboards) made in Germany during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, represent the purest expression of the northern Baroque style. Usually of walnut or oak, their decoration is restrained in the extreme, often depending entirely on the shaping of mass within the geometrical raised panelling on the doors, or the rich figuring of the veneer, for effect. This architectural purity of design, at first enhanced by the use of geometrical parquetry, was gradually diluted by the use of floral marquetry during the early 18th century. For all their restraint, particularly in the insides, which featured plain pine or oak shelves, these Schranke invariably display elaborate iron or, on the most sophisticated examples, steel locking mechanisms of great complexity and ingenuity; these )–ere often engraved with strapwork or foliate arabesques, and occasionally signed and dated.

Italian linen-presses were invariably of walnut and architectural in form, the full-length doors no doubt conceived to match the decoration of the room for which they were originally supplied. These presses are characteristically sophisticated on the exterior, while the interiors have a very crude basic construction, typical of all Italian furniture. They are enriched with simple moulded panelling on the doors, which in turn are framed as if by pilaster strips. Examples from Lombardy, are often distinguished by their ebonized mouldings, while Tuscan presses are often lined with marbled paper.
ROCOCO LINEN-PRESSES
As the Rococo movement gained momentum during the second quarter of the 18th century, the linear form of the linen-press (armoire) became both outdated and restrictive. In such principal centres of cabinet-making as The Hague, Dresden, and Mainz, a new Rococo form emerged that, although clearly evolved from the earlier Baroque prototypes, represented a profound reaction to the architectural severity of the 17th century. Of increasingly bombe (swollen) form, Rococo linen-presses clearly reflect the style expounded by such French designers (ornamentistes) as juste-Aurele Meissonnier (1695-1750).
The linearity of the previous period was superseded by more organic forms, which were lighter and more curvaceous. Decoration took the form of asymmetrical cartouches, stylized vases of flowers, C-scrolls, acanthus, and rockwork. Rococo linen presses are distinguished by their waved cornices, above serpentine, moulded panelled doors, and deep shaped aprons. These presses were usually made of walnut, tulipwood, or kingwood, and were frequently further enriched with marquetry, and pronounced floral ormolu handles and escutcheons. However, the most important evolution from the 17th- century linen-press was the division of the form into two parts with a high waist; the doors of the upper section were reduced considerably in size to allow for the introduction of a series of long drawers in the base.
This fundamental development, which provided a far more effective means of storage, was subsequently adopted as the basic pattern for linen-presses in England and North America during the 18th and 19th centuries.

PROVINCIAL ARMOIRES
Running parallel to the mainstream were the provincial furniture- makers of Brittany, Normand, Bordeaux, Frankfurt-am-Main, and the Alps. Unlike cabinet-makers in Paris and London who had access to a range of fine timbers both indigenous and exotic, furniture-makers in the regions were restricted to locally available woods, and thus provincial armoires are usually constructed of fruitwoods such as cherry, chestnut, and walnut, or hardwoods such as elm and oak. However, furniture-makers in such ports as Bordeaux, also had access to cheap tropical hardwoods, particularly mahogany, that arrived as ballast on ships from the West Indies; this distinctive group is known as “Port furniture”.
What is most noticeable about provincial armoires of the 18th and early 19th century is that the basic form is essentially that of the 17th century, onto which has been grafted mid-18th century Rococo motifs, years after they were abandoned in Paris. This fusion and continuity of tradition was popular long after the Rococo taste had been discarded in favour of Neo-classicism from the 1760s. Not only were provincial furniture-makers frequently slow to absorb the fashionable decorative language of the day,but they also often slightly misunderstood or diluted these ideas and then showed great reluctance to abandon them. However, this is the mark, and indeed the charm, of provincial furniture.
The provincial tradition also embraced painted furniture, particularly in Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, and Germany. Immigrants from The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany took their traditions to North America, which flowered during the 18th and 19th centuries. Decorating onto cheap and locally available softwood carcases, which were usually pine, the artisan, painters displayed remarkable imagination, whether in the Rococo or in the later more restrained Neo-classical style. On the plainest armoires, richly figured veneers were simulated by exaggerating and enhancing the lines of the grain with paint, a technique known as “graining”. On more accomplished pieces of furniture such exotic and expensive materials as tortoiseshell, specimen marbles, and pietre dure (hardstones) were convincinglydepicted, and on the most elaborate German and north Italian examples, capricci (imaginary scenes) and townscapes, or portraits of a patron or ruler were painted on the door panels. On much 18th-century Italian painted furniture, the finest details and pastoral scenes are in fact cut-out prints and engravings, which were applied, in a way similar to a collage to the painted surface and then varnished in imitation of Oriental lacquer. This technique, known as lacca povera (”poor-man’s lacquer”), was much cheaper than lacquering or even japanning, and enjoyed a considerable revival in the 19th century, particularly in France and Britain as “Decalcomania”.
NEO-CLASSICAL ARMOIRES
With the advent of Neo-classicism during the late 1750s, the excesses of the Rococo were cast aside in favour of the Classical ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Inspired by the excavations of such ancient sites as Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748), and popularized by the publications of Jean Charles Delafosse ( 1734-89) and James “Athenian” Stuart (1713-88), to name but two, Neo-classicism embraced the return to sober, architectural linearity of form. Neoclassical presses arc, therefore, distinguished by their strongly architectural design and restrained decoration. Usually in finely figured mahogany or, exceptionally, ebonized in the Etruscan taste inspired by ancient vases, the veneer is carefully cut to run through the drawers, and this was to have a profound influence upon furniture-makers during the Empire period throughout
Europe, particularly in Germany and Denmark, and North America. Although often enriched with carved decoration, this is limited purely to Classical architectural vocabulary – dentilled cornices, columns applied to the angles, husks, swagged garlands, and fluted feet inspired by antique fluted columns. The use of ormolu mounts, although lavish on the grandest examples of the Louis XVI period (1774-93), was usually similarly restrained, and often restricted to handles only.
REGENCY LINEN-PRESSES
The uncompromising Neo-classicism of the Parisian gout Grec (Greek Revival) of the 1760s gradually gave way to a lighter, although strongly architectural, style that was swiftly adopted in England by the cabinet-maker Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1802) and George Hepplewhite (d.1786) in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788-94). Their designs were influential as far as Denmark and Italy, but most particularly on American furniture designs during the early Federal period (1795-1815). These usually enclose three or four oak presses (shelves or trays), from which the name “linen-press” is derived, in the upper section. The most refined linen-presses are lined with cedarwood both for fragrance and to keep moths at bay. Made of kingwood, rosewood, or tulipwood, or inlaid very simply with lines of ebony or boxwood, Regency linen-presses are characterized by their splayed bracket feet, oval or rectangular panelled doors, plain sides, and arched or plain, as opposed to pedimented, cresting. Often of bow-fronted form and with dished aprons, they rely purely on their lines and the finely figured timber for decorative effect. Often linen-presses were adapted at a later date; their shelves were removed and the drawers cut through to allow for a greater hanging space. The simple form of the basic Regency linen-press remained very popular in Britain throughout the the 19th century. Early linen-presses are often only distinguishable from the direct copies that were made during the later Victorian and Edwardian periods by the quality of the timber that was used.

• GERMAN NASENSCHRANKE usually of walnut or oak;
very plain, with restrained decoration.
• PROVINCIAL ARMOIRES because the basic form of the
armoire did not change, the style of ornament is the best indication of date; such armoires are usually fitted with hooks or pegs for hanging clothes
• PAINTED ARMOIRES beware, as these often have
spurious dates and initials painted on the doors.
• REGENCY LINEN-PRESSES often the panelled doors have
shrunk or warped, creating gaps at the top and bottom; the quality and use of the timber is of note in such examples; cedarwood is used for the most refined examples.
• ALTERATIONS linen-presses are often been converted to make room for a hanging space by removing the shelves or by cutting through the top drawer and introducing a hanging bar.