Posts Tagged ‘BENCH’

If we think of a chair as something to sit on, and a dining-chair as something to sit on at meal-times, there seems to be no reason why one dining-chair should be different from another. We would expect a difference between a dining-chair and an arm-chair, because they are made for people to sit on in different positions, and we would expect a difference between two dining-chairs made to go with dining-tables of different heights. But for the last three hundred years all dining-tables have been of almost exactly the same height, and all dining-chairs have been of very nearly the same size; at least, their essential dimensions—the height, width, and depth of seat—have been very nearly the same. Yet if we were to collect a series of dining-chairs made at intervals of ten years during the last three hundred years, we should find that each chair differed slightly from the preceding chair, and that chairs separated by intervals of fifty years or so might have almost nothing in common but their size. And if we then collected a complete roomful of furniture made at the same time as each of the chairs, we should see that certain peculiarities of the chair were repeated in the other pieces of furniture–the kind of wood it was made of, the general shape of the legs, the details of its decoration, for instance. The chair, in fact, would have more in common with a cupboard made at the same time than with another chair made fifty years previously.
A room furnished in 1750 would have a different appearance from a room furnished in 1780. The furniture would be made of a different wood, decorated in a different way, and the shapes of the chair-backs and legs, and of the feet of cupboards, and all the details of locks and drawer-handles, would be different. The two rooms would contain much the same quantity of furniture and much the same kind of furniture—not many new pieces of furniture were invented between 1750 and 1780; but the furniture would be in two different styles,
In the history of furniture there have been very many different styles. There were various styles of furniture in China, in Egypt, in Greece, and Rome, before furniture was ever made in England or France or Germany. But we can learn a good deal about the way in which styles develop, and the way in which one style changes into another, and the reasons for these changes, if we examine the history of furniture in just two countries, France and England. It is interesting to study the history of styles in all countries. But our purpose here is to try to find out why one style differs from another, and how a change of furniture style corresponds with a change in ways of living and of thinking. A study of comparatively recent periods of furniture in the European part of the world will be the most useful. For it will help us to understand what has caused the present confusion in furniture-making about problems of style.
Our survey of styles will be very limited, covering in detail the furniture of only two of the countries of the world. But the furniture of these two countries shows a fairly complete development from the simplest carpenter-made pieces to the most elaborate work of the cabinet-makers. From the eleventh to the nineteenth century all the possible methods of making furniture by hand were used by the French and English furniture-makers. At the beginning of the medieval period the carpenters started making furniture with little experience in woodworking behind them, and with few models surviving from the past. As we have seen, furniture-makers rediscovered one by one all the methods of woodworking known to former civilizations, but lost in the meantime. Thus the history of French and English furniture gives a complete picture of furniture developments all over the world—from the technical point of view, at any rate.
Moreover, not all the peoples of the world use furniture as much as it is used in western Europe. Oriental peoples lead a less active indoor life than we do. They have more soft furnishings than furniture: carpets and rugs, cushions and divans. The few pieces of furniture they have are often beautiful and technically perfect. But there is little in their technique that has not been used in France and in England—except, perhaps, the Chinese method for making lacquered furniture and panels; and the appearance of their furniture has had a considerable influence on European taste. The Spanish, too, have been subject to Oriental influence, through the Moorish occupation of Spain. By nature they are not given to using much furniture; but their traditional pieces have a distinct character of their own. It has already been said that the principal piece of furniture in the chief room of a Spanish peasant house is a stone bench. In richer Spanish houses the furniture is elegantly severe; the pieces are large, and there are few of them. Indoor life in Spain is more formal than in most European countries; all the freedom and gaiety are out of doors.
Italian Renaissance furniture served as a model for French Renaissance furniture; but since the Renaissance there has been little change in Italian furniture besides fantastic decorative developments. The German and Russian Court furniture consisted of heavy copies of French Court furniture. Much of the German Alpine and Russian provincial furniture is interesting; but the extremely cold winters in the places where such furniture was in use caused stoves to be more highly valued and elaborately decorated. American furniture-makers have developed styles of their own from English and other European styles, and sometimes their work surpasses their English models. The American Windsor chair, for instance, is considered by some connoisseurs to be better proportioned than the English Windsor chair; and the American Empire style was continued longer, and with better results, than the Empire style of any European country. But to study in detail the furniture of many countries would not help us to form a clear notion of modern problems of style.
Styles differ from one another in three ways : in construction methods, in material used, and in decorative treatment. Construction methods were developed slowly, and, as we have seen, there were only three principal systems of construction—those of the carpenters, of the joiners and of the cabinet-makers. There was a major style change in every country when carpenters’ methods were abandoned for joiners’, and when joiners’ methods were abandoned for cabinet-makers’. We have also seen how the material used is bound up with the method of construction —how the carpenters and joiners used home-grown medium woods, and how the cabinet-makers used tropical hard-woods. In these two respects of methods and materials the general development of styles has been the same in all European countries. The long series of detailed changes in style is a history of decorative treatment alone : so much is decorative treatment a key to style that an expert can tell from a mere fragment of a piece of furniture—a carved leaf or a small area of marquetry—the exact style and period of the piece.
The history of decorative treatment in France, and in most countries of continental Europe, may be divided into six main parts, each having its own system of decorative conventions. They are called the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical Revival, and nineteenth-century styles. These six styles are sub-divided into many styles of comparatively short duration.
Overleaf is a table of the French furnishing styles from about A.D. 1100 till the beginning of the present century. The table gives a general plan of the different styles and their periods, but it is not, and could not be, exact: since one style merges slowly into another, and the reigns of kings do not correspond with changes in furniture taste.
ROMANESQUE (1100-1300)
Romanesque furniture was made by carpenters, according to carpenters’ methods of construction—heavy planks, joints without glue, and iron bands. Very little of this furniture survives, but some chests, turned chairs, a few beds and trestle tables are to be found in museums. Most of the surviving furniture is religious rather than domestic—benches from churches and monasteries and monastery tables. Some furniture from castles also survives, mostly chests and tables. The only people to have furniture in France between 1100 and 1300 were the religious communities and the lords of castles. The castles fared even worse than the churches in the wars of medieval and Renaissance Eur- ope; this is why there are so few pieces of domestic furniture left.
During these times people did not travel very much, and ships did not carry large cargoes : the carpenters used the wood they found growing near them. France was then largely covered with forests of oak, beech, elm, chestnut, fruit trees, and softwood conifers. In the north of France oak was most frequently used for furniture; in the south, oak, walnut, and some fruit-woods such as cherrywood were used.
The principal piece of Romanesque domestic furniture was the chest. It served to store things in the castles, and as a wardrobe-trunk for travelling. The word trunk comes from the first chests hollowed out of tree-trunks. Chests could also be used as seats, beds, and tables. The tables consisted of boards laid on trestles, sometimes supported and made more permanent by iron stays; they could be taken down and stored away, or packed up and moved in times of trouble. Benches were comparatively rare, except in the more stable religious communities, where there was less risk of having to pack up and go.
Romanesque furniture was decorated with carving and painting, and decorative iron-work. The carved motifs consisted of geometrical patterns, Biblical and legendary pictures, and traceries of round arches derived from Romanesque architecture. From the evidence of illustrated manuscripts and signs on the few pieces of Romanesque furniture that we have, it seems that most of the furniture was brightly painted—both in solid colours, and, on the parts that were not carved, in pictures.
GOTHIC (1300-1500)
From about 1300 to 1400 the furniture was still made by carpenters, who were, however, by this time beginning to discover the methods of joinery. In some early Gothic chests joined frames were used, but the frames were boarded over with thick planks—thin panels were not yet used. Most of the furniture, in fact, was like the Romanesque furniture in construction, although Gothic detail (traceries of pointed arches, for instance) was introduced into the carving.
By about 1400 the methods of joinery had been perfected. The new furniture was made by the joiners. Their work differed greatly from that of the carpenters, for they dispensed with iron bands and used framed panels. They continued to make furniture of the same native woods that the carpenters worked in. The carpenters still made some furniture, especially in the country districts.
Gothic furniture that has survived includes bench-ends from churches, stalls in cathedrals, chests and tables, chairs with box-seats (like chests) and straight panelled backs, a few cupboards on legs, and turned chairs. The box-chairs sometimes had carved canopies over them. The religious furniture was, of course, public furniture, and it was made to look like the religious buildings—the same kind of detail that we see on a Gothic cathedral was imitated to a smaller scale on Gothic furniture. Since the Church was the most important institution at the time, the domestic furniture was made in the same style as the religious furniture : private furniture imitated public furniture because the Church dominated private life.

SHERATON PERIOD
THE last of the eighteenth century designers, Thomas Sheraton, came to London from his native town of
Stockton-on-Tees about 1790 rare antique marble . Although he had undoubtedly been a practical cabinet maker, there is no evidence that he ever made any furniture in London myott son & co from the 1920s . Certainly he never had a prosperous business such as Chippendale and Hepplewhite had had antique gilt wood mirror frame . His fame in the furniture world rests upon his book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book, published in 1791-1794, and appearing in further editions in later years antique mahogany tea table with glass tray .
It was essentially different from Chippendale’s book, the purpose of which was mainly that of a catalogue to appeal to wealthy patrons 1700’s trestle table . Sheraton’s drawing book was primarily a trade book intended to help the practical man, not only in providing designs but also in supplying a treatise in geometry, perspective, and drawing eighteenth century tripod table . In the long run it brought him posthumous fame, but as a commercial proposition it was a failure 17th/18th century style, open-rack oak dresser . Probably few practical men were interested in learning to draw in perspective or to know of the problems in geometry (except in the limited way it affected the setting out of their work), and in looking back the whole thing certainly seems an ambitious undertaking wellinton chest of drawers .
So far as the designs were concerned, Sheraton certainly showed originality in many of the mechanical movements he introduced, and in the design of his chairs, but it must be confessed that the general run of furniture was little more than a representation of the general style prevailing at the time antique oak drawleaf trestle table . It was noted in Chapter VIII that Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture (excepting chairs) had a great deal in common ; so much so that it is often impossible to say to which it belongs for sale louis 16th walnut sideboard cabinet . It will be realised then that in speaking of Sheraton furniture it represents for the most part the work of a school of craftsmen working in a certain style sheraton 18th century dresser .
antiquegames writing table . BEECHWOOD
ARMCHAIR antique tripod tilt table .
About 180 mahogany bow fronted chest of drawers scottish .
The chair is painted In
black and gilt, and the
rails of the back have
small decorative panels
painted with floral and
musical Instrument sub-
jects masons patent ironstone chinese peony .
FIG english antique reproduction dining table round with add on leaves . 142a carved seating . MAHOGANY
ARMCHAIR where can i buy a rennie mackintosh table with brass lion paws .
Late 18th century thonet bentwood rocker .
The backs of Sheraton chairs were usually lower than those of other contemporary work cutlery boxes . The sweep of the arms into the back is a characteristic Sheraton touch central part of the library has a display cabinet .
Details found in Sheraton Chairs
In his chairs, however, he undoubtedly did strike an original note georgian kneehole cabinet . They are lighter than the majority of other late eighteenth century examples, the backs are lower, and instead of the top rail forming a more or less continuous sweep with the uprights (see Fig french console table 1830 . 131) it was frankly a separate item tenoned between the uprights dining tables art deco . The legs were either turned or square tapered (see Fig antique 2-tier pedestal table . 151), and the arms, instead of bowing out sideways, were usually shaped in
FIG antique maple desks . 143 arts and crafts +jupe table . MAHOGANY CHAIR art deco kneeling dancer lamp .
Late 18th century georgian peat bucket .
Sheraton used both square tapered and turned legs horses as allegorical figures in art . The cabriole
type was never used old english pattern forks with four tines .
side elevation only, generally springing from the back in a continuous sweep fine porcelain arc .
A good example is given in Fig smith furniture gateleg drop leaf table . 142 empire hall bench . Note the obvious way in which the back rails fit between the uprights (compare with Fig fake brass antiques . 131), and the sweep of the arms into the uprights spanish lacquered cabinet inlaid . The whole thing is different from anything else being made at the period art deco console and germany . The curve of the arms into the turned uprights, the curved turned legs, and the graceful design of the pierced back are typically Sheraton 19th century american rosewood rococo console table . It is painted all over (something else that no other designers SIDEBOARD DECORATED WITH SATINWOOD INLAY BANDINGS catherine the great of russia plates . Late i8th century charles neo classism boulle .
The bow front sideboard became extremely popular at this time antique trestle refectory table . Sometimes the space between the centre
legs was title in with a cupboard having a tambour front made to slide sideways pottery german weimar art deco .
Tapered Legs in Sheraton Chairs
attempted), and some extremely fine art work is put into the small panels of the back florence lamps giuseppe antique .
Another Sheraton chair, this time with tapered legs, is given in Fig who sells maggiolini furniture . 142a decoration metal bureau table desing . In this case the arms meet the turned uprights more or less at right angles, but they sweep into the back as in the previous example extending glass table with wrought iron legs . The back is practically square, and the uprights which continue down to form
II how drop leaf table evolved .C; antique serving cabinet . 1 a & s smee finsbury .15 round “dining table” “six legs” . WHEEL BACK CHAIR irish cabinet makers antique wine coolers .
About i800 antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware .
The finest chairs of this kind came from Norfolk and Suffolk value of primitive antique work bench . They became popular towards the end of the 18th century, and into the 19th century lowenfink . Earlier models had curved arm supports at the front instead of turnings antique drum shaped table .
the legs are shaped only in side elevation wood furniture legs clawfoot . They are straight when looked at from from the front art glass vases antique . This is another feature invariably found in Sheraton chairs, and never in contemporary work of other designers scriptoire . All these features also appear in the chair in Fig oak table 5 legs built in leaves rectangular antique . 143•
Sheraton died in i8o6, and it is unfortunate that towards the end his designs suffered severely decorative spindle legs from antique card table . Probably no man, no matter how individual, is quite free from extraneous circumstances bread/cake baskets 17th century . Prevailing fashions exert their sway, and designers
146 varguenos . TWO WRITING DESKS IN MAHOGANY WITH SATINWOOD BANDINGS antique pedestal mahogany table .
Late i8th century bauhaus style furniture +scale .
The Importation of Ykirious foreir4n fancy woods, satinwood, am boyna, rosewood, ebony, and so on led to the free use of
these for use in inlay bandint!s art nouveau antique drinking cabinet . Satinwood, too, was freely used in the solid, entire pieces being made up in it antique 17th century dresser .
Deterioration of Late Sheraton Work
are often faced with the choice of either following them or retiring from the scene antique mahogany card table, imperial . Many things were happening in Europe at the close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century which were to affect design gilt metal mounted pier table . The French revolution, culminating in the establishment of the First Empire, produced a style in France which rapidly found its counterpart this side of the Channel, and the naval victories of this country had an extraordinary effect on furniture 1800 hundred french mantel and candle clock .
FIG antique art deco furniture black lacquer . 147 maurice adams art deco . MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE WITH BANDED DRAWERS anglo indian cabinets .
Late i8th century vintage buttterfly dropleaf tables .
A prominent feature of the Sheraton school was the very limited use of
carving antique 17th century dresser . Probably it was a reaction from its free use in the Chippendale
period dutch cabinet marquetry 18 .
Just as topical events of thirty or forty years ago were commemorated in fretwork designs, so the furniture of the early nineteenth century showed its reaction to the events then happening gillows bow front mahogany chest drawers .
Sheraton fell into the general line and published his E’?IcYc10P,Tdia of 1804-1807, in which was one of the most extraordinary collections of furniture designs ever put together regency occasional table . Naval emblems of all kinds—anchors, lifebelts, pulley blocks, ropes, and so on—abound, and it is a mercy that more of them were not made up,
To revert to his earlier and happier period, Sheraton’s chief form of decoration was inlay 19th century parian busts . Cross-bandings of fine
MAHOGANY WARDROBE WITH BUILT-UP VENEERED
DOORS
Late i8ti century antique chinese circular revolving bookcase .
The fine mahogany imported at this time led to the revival of the built-up
patterns in veneer as the grain had splendid decorative value 17 century elm gateleg table .
foreign woods, such as satinwood, rosewood, tulip wood, ebony, amboyna, and so on, were inlaid around the edges of drawer fronts and panels, and various built-up patterns in veneer were made use of with great effect period style display cabinets . The bow front sideboard in Fig antique ceramic tambour german mantle clocks . 144 shows the use of this cross-banding italy spoons that might be antiques . Painting also he used considerably, naturalesque floral subjects and panels in the style of Angelica Kauffman being the chief forms it took nicholas sprimont solid silver . Carving he used
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FIG value of an antique pembroke table . 152 antique mahogany french bedside commode . MOULDINGS OF THE SHERATON PERIOD dutch 18th century walnut chest on chest .
Mouldings were invariably small and delicate islamic influence furniture . Occasionally carving and inlay
were introduced, though they were usually plain dining tables with wood inlay work .
sparingly and never in the full scrolling form favoured by Chippendale french console table 1830 .
A small Sheraton side table is given in Fig arts and crafts furniture, antique collectors . 147 flemish refectory table . Here again the drawers have an inlaid cross-banding around the edges antique german breakfast table . The turned legs are reeded down their length dresser accessories . Two other Sheraton pieces are given in Fig russian chippendale trays . 146 silver candleabras made in england . Note the inlay again decorative writing styles . Desks of this kind were often fitted with elaborate secret contrivances in which stationery boxes, drawers, and cupboards rose up at the touch of a spring how common is walnut drop leaf table .
The Sheraton Wardrobe
Fig antique chinese chamber pot . 148 shows a fine inlaid wardrobe in which built-up patterns in veneer are used effectively myott son&co hanley 1880 . The dentils in the cornice and the flutes in the frieze are carried out entirely in inlay american crafts armchair upholstered . The curved bracket feet are a typical feature of the late 18th century 17th century oak side table .
CHAIR WITH SABRE LEGS AND
CANED SEAT rococo style flower arranging .
About i8io pembroke style end tables .
This is an extremely fine example of the chairmaker’s craft 18th century marquetry . Despite the somewhat complicated curvature of the back the construction follows conventional methods, the tops of the back legs being tenoned into the cresting rail and the moulded shaping worked across the joints mark vezzi porcelain . The curved rails fit together with a form of halved joint cylindrical crock eared handles cobalt blue .

Walnut Period
MARQUETRY
We have had occasion to refer to this form of decoration, and we may here conveniently explain what this was. We saw in Elizabethan and Jacobean work that inlay was used considerably as decoration. This consisted of recessing out a solid background to a depth of-in, or more and insert-
ing pieces of wood of a different kind from that of the background. The whole point about it was that it was cut in the solid and that the recesses had to be chopped out with chisel and gouge. With solid work there was no other alternative.
We saw also that a new method of treatment was introduced in the form of veneering, and the coming of this enabled an entirely new method of ” inlaying ” to be used. In this the inlaying was done in the veneer before being laid, and, although this at first may not seem to carry with it any special advantage, it did in reality make a tremendous difference, involving an. entirely new technique. The reason for this was that the veneer, being thin, could be cut out with a saw instead of having to be laboriously chopped away with the chisel. A comparison is that of fretwork. The reader knows what fine sweeping curves can be cut with the fretsaw, But imagine how limited the result would be if all the spaces had to be chopped away with the gouge !
This use of the saw, then, in itself made a tremendous difference in the designs that could be cut, but there was more in it than this. By fixing together two sheets of veneer of different kinds of wood and cutting through them at the same time both would have exactly the same design. Thus it was only necessary to separate the sheets and interchange the parts and a perfect fit was obtained.
It was obviously necessary to use an extremely fine saw blade—it was very like a fretsaw blade—and it had to be held so that it would cut a trifle out of right angles with the veneer, so that the one sheet would be a trifle larger than the other, thus ensuring a tight fit. To ensure this a special sawing bench, known as a ” donkey,” was made. The worker sat astride and rested the feet on a treadle connected with a vice above which gripped the veneer. The saw frame was horizontal and was worked with the right hand, whilst the veneer was moved about with the left. When the whole design had been cut it was assembled on a bench, the parts being interchanged as required. Any shading required was done by dipping the parts into hot sand. The whole was then glued to a sheet of paper and handed to the cabinet maker for gluing down,
It was first used about 1675, and the early efforts were in comparison crude, consisting for the most part of flowers, leaf and scroll work arranged in a conventional design. A few years of experience, however, made the workers extremely skilful, and they began to produce some extremely elaborate patterns, known usually as seaweed marquetry, in which the detail was very fine. Curiously enough, however, marquetry did not retain its popularity for very long, for in Queen Anne’s reign plain walnut was mostly used in which the beauty of the grain, combined with cross-banding, provided the decorative appearance.
TABLES
It is a remarkable thing that there do not appear to have been made any large dining tables in the walnut style during the reigns of either William and Mary or Queen Anne. Possibly it was that the cabinet makers found a serious difficulty in veneering such large tops owing to the liability of the groundwork to shrink and split. They never used walnut in the solid except for such parts as legs and turnings. However this may be, one can only draw the conclusion that the old Jacobean table in oak continued to be used, and a strangely inconsistent arrangement it must have seemed.
Small side tables, card tables, and so on, were made largely, and two examples are given in Fig. 93. That to the left belongs to the William and Mary period (note the inverted cup turned legs and flat stretchers), and the other is a later type made in the early years of the eighteenth century. Card tables were similar in appearance, the top being made double so that it would open out to form an approximately square shape. The two back legs were pivoted so that they could pull out and support the overhanging top. Cards had become an extremely popular form of amusement at the period.
LACQUERED FURNITURE
Mention has already been made of the increased trade with the East resulting in the importation of Oriental pottery. Other items imported were lacquered cabinets of Queen Anne Bedsteads
entirely Chinese workmanship. These were plain rectangular cupboards with the interior fitted up with small drawers and cupboards. To be of practical use in a Western room they needed mounting upon a stand, and it therefore became the custom to import the cabinets and to make special stands for them which were either gilt or silvered. Fig. 95 is such a cabinet and stand, and shows the elaborate carving with which the stands were invariably decorated. Later it became customary for the lacquered cabinets themselves to be imitated in this country—in fact lacquering became a popular craze for people of leisure to take up. A Treatise on japanning and varnishing was published by Stalker and Parker which purported to explain the whole art of lacquering, but no lacquering was ever produced here which could in the slightest degree compare with the true native oriental work.
The craze for lacquered work quickly spread to other forms of furniture, and clock cases, bedsteads, and cabinets of all kinds were made in beech and lacquered in various colours. Red and black were the chief shades. Sometimes existing cabinets which had been finely veneered with walnut were lacquered over to satisfy the fashionable craze.
THE BEDROOM
The wooden bedstead of Jacobean times was replaced by the material-covered type in the William and Mary period, though as early as James I’s time the fashion of covering over the woodwork entirely with tapestry, plush, and other materials had become popular—at any rate amongst the people of leisure. One of the rooms at Knole House, Seven-oaks, was refurnished specially in honour of a visit by James I, and the bedstead is of the covered type.
Fig. 96 shows a covered bedstead dating from about 1700. Note that the cornice is made up of a number of short pieces of moulding mitred together, some straight and others curved. The material is strained over these. The actual wood used was generally beech and oak, except the exposed feet which were of walnut.
Other pieces used in the bedroom would be the chest of drawers, usually a tallboy, with which we have already dealt, or a wardrobe or press, which in appearance was somewhat similar to the secretaire in Fig. 83, except that the upper carcase was fitted with two doors instead of the fall front.

English Antique Jacobean Furniture. Jacobean Chairs.

JACOBEAN PERIOD
THIS chapter carries us from the beginning of the house of Stuart in 1603 until the end of the Common-
wealth in 1660. So far- as domestic furniture was concerned, except for certain smaller details and a few innovations, it differed little from that of Elizabeth’s reign. The same wood (oak) was used, the Renaissance was still the source from which ideas were taken, and the quality of the work was similar. It is dealt with in a separate chapter, however, because it was the last phase in a certain definite technique. Vast changes were at hand, the greatest that have ever overtaken furniture throughout its history, and it is
therefore natural that one should pause and give special
emphasis to a style which had run its course and was to become as dead as the proverbial doornail.
However, these changes are dealt with particularly in Chapter IV, and our present purpose is to see what sort of furniture men were making when James the Sixth of Scotland became the First of England, and during the troublous years that followed, culminating in the declaration of the Commonwealth. It may be objected that Charles II was also a Stuart Monarch, and that his period should be included in this chapter. The changes just mentioned, however, began during his reign, so that although all Charles II furniture is, strictly speaking, Jacobean, much of it is usually referred to as ” Early Walnut,” because of the marked differences in style. The terminology is one of style rather than one of period.
The accession of James did not make a great deal of difference in the lives of the majority of the populace. The stirring spirit of the Renaissance was still a great influence, if in rather diminished form, and the endeavour of men to make their homes more comfortable continued. The journeys of discovery and conquest during Elizabeth’s reign had opened up a new source of wealth, trading had increasedtremendously (itself a source of wealth, and, equally important, to a new class), and these coinciding with the coming of Renaissance gave encouragement to the domestic arts.
The outbreak of war in Charles I reign must have acted as a strong brake on the progress of things, yet it was not so marked as one might have imagined.
A campaign in the north might turn men’s thoughts locally from making, or having made, things for their houses, but in even an adjoining county people might know little of what was happening owing to lack of easy transit. Then, again, during the winter months little was possible in the way of military activities, so that altogether there was more time for craftsmanship than might at first be imagined.
Cromwell’s short protectorship of eleven years or so helped to restore the trade which had been largely lost. His naval victories opened the seas again to our ships, and this is always one of the finest tonics the domestic arts can have.
JACOBEAN CHAIRS
The late sixteenth century chair, as exemplified in Fig. 18, was remarkable more for its massiveness and strength than
comfort, and its direct successor in Jacobean times was little different. It had a similar formation, with panelled back sloping at an angle, semi-scrolled arms, and turned legs. The back was usually carved with various conventional designs of leaf and flower work, arcadings, or
geometrical pattern. Fig. 37 is a typical example. -Note that the scrolled cresting still lies above the uprights and that the ear pieces are retained. Chairs of this kind con-tinued to be made throughout the Jacobean period and in country districts until the close of the seventeenth century.
There were, however, changes at hand. It is obvious that for a chair of the type in Fig. 37 to have any comfort at all it would have to be provided with a cushion—certainly one for the seat and if possible one for the back. One can imagine a man seated by the fireside closely considering the point,

and calling in his carpenter to devise some means of padding the chair. Or possibly a man who had travelled abroad had seen the comfort which foreign countries had attained (they were always before us in this sort of thing), felt something of disgust at the comparatively barbaric state of things which still maintained here, and so set his craftsmen to work out a new idea.
Beginning of Upholstery.—However this may be, it was during the reign of James I that the first upholstered chair made its appearance. Possibly the reader may be surprised that the idea had not occurred to men earlier. Upholstery on a chair seems such an obvious thing. It must be remembered that people’s outlook on life dAers. at various periods. What may seem right to one generation may appear to be merely foolish to another. In early days the chair was a seat of honour ; there would probab’.-,- be only one in even a large hall, and a man using it would not

look specially to find comfort in it. In fact, anything :;n the way of comfort was regarded with a certain feeling of contempt and was felt to be effeminate. Shakespeare, in his Richard III, makes Buckingham say, ” This prince is not an Edward ! He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed.” This day-bed was the counterpart of the modern settee. Presumably, when people were really ill, they stayed in bed. If they got up at all they were expected to go about the ordinary business of the day.

There was something effeminate in the character and habits of James I, and this rapidly showed itself in the Royal court : its manners, dress, conditions, and so on. As a consequence there was a general tendency for men to have a less Spartan-like outlook, and an immediate consequence so far as furniture was concerned was the introduction of the upholstered chair.
One of the finest collections of chairs of this type, dating

from the early seventeenth century, is that at Knole House, near Sevenoaks. Many rooms in this old mansion were refurnished in preparation for a visit by James I, and vast numbers of chairs were made for the purpose. They form an interesting example of how men, once they like an idea, will fly to extremes, for practically every portion of the woodwork is covered with material—even the legs, which obviously would not in any way add to the comfort of the chair.
A popular innovation—or rather revival, for the type had been in use earlier—was the X chair, an example of which is given in Fig. 39. The reason for the name is obvious from the general formation. Note how every part of the framing is covered with material. It is, in fact, very like the collection of chairs at Knole. The provision of the footstool is typical.
It will be realised that upholstered chairs of this kind might be well enough in a great mansion or palace, but would not stand up to the everyday use of busy households in a humbler state of life. These needed something sturdier, and Fig. 38 is an example of the sort of upholstered chair that would have been found in the average well-to-do house. Not that all the chairs were of this kind ; there might not be more than one or two in a whole house, the majority being of the plain wood type, but that such upholstered chairs that did exist were mostly of this kind.
Farthingale Chairs.—We have at this period an interesting example of how costume came to influence the design of furniture. The fashion of the time dictated that ladies should wear the huge farthingale dress, and one can imagine how awkward it must have been for a lady to sit down in an armchair of the kind in, say, Fig. 37. So came into being the farthingale chair, of which an example is given in Fig. 41. The absence of arms allows the dress to spread out at each side without hindrance. The X chair in Fig. 39 would serve the purpose equally well, since there is a deep, loose cushion above the upholstered seat and the arms are low.
Two chairs probably made during the Cromwellian period are shown in Fig. 40. They are of a sound, thoroughly reliable form that would stand up to the hardest wear. That to the left has a covering of leather (so thin that it can scarcely be called upholstery), held on with large roundhead nails, and the front legs have the bobbin turning very popular at the time. The other has a wooden seat, and a point worthy of note is the open back with slats. This marks one more step in the progress of the chair from its heavy, massive formation to the light proportions it was eventually to assume. Note that in both chairs the back legs are still upright and that the stretcher rails are retained, although in that to the right the front one is raised from its former lower position level with the side rails.
The Settle.—Whilst on the subject of chairs, it may be noted that the settle was still made in country districts.

The farmhouse in particular usually had its settle, the sturdy construction and plain form making it more suitable for the rougher conditions inevitable in the country. Another similar piece was that which for some unknown reason has been given the curious title of ” monk’s bench,” though what its possible connection with monks can be is difficult to understand. We refer of course to the settle with the movable back, which was made to tilt and slide forward, so forming a table. The example in Fig. 42 shows this feature, and it will also be seen that the lower portion is in the form of a chest, the lid of which forms the seat. Lunette carving, such as that on the rails, was a favourite form of decoration.

PANELLED BACK CHAIR AND FRAMED STOOL.
First half 17th century.
The construction of the chair is practically identical with that shown on
p. 25, and the general treatment is similar. Note the scrolled cresting
and ear pieces. The stool has the baluster shaped legs popular through-
out Jacobean times.

FIG. 45. SIMPLE FORM OF GATE-LEG TABLE.
First half 17th century.
The workmanship is extremely crude, and is probably that of a country
carpenter. The urn-shaped ends are probably copied from the baluster
turnings of the period.
FIG. 46. DOUBLE GATE-LEG TABLE.
Mid. 171h century.
An altogether better specimen of a table. The use of two gates to each
side is rather unusual.

EXAMPLE
OF THE X PATTERN
CHAIR.
Early 17th century.
This is a type of chair that be ame popular during James I reign. At Knole Park, Kent, large numbers of these chairs still exist. They were made specially in honour of a visit paid by James I.

ARMCHAIR COVERED WITH TURKEY WORK.
First half 17th century.
In this we see the early beginning of the upholstered chair, though in itself it can hardly claim to be upholstered. It Is little more than a covering ,stretched over the framework.

CROMWELLIAN AND YORKSHIRE TYPE CHAIRS.
Mid. 171h century.
The example to the left is typical of the plainer sort of chair made during
the Commonwealth. It has a stout leather covering stretched over the
framework. The other chair is characteristic of the kind made in York-
shire or Derbyshire.

FARTHINGALE CHAIR OF JAMES I TIME.
‘this illustration is intended to show the way in which costume affected
the design of the chair. ‘the huge farthingale dress made impossible
the use of the armchair of the type shown in Fig. 37.

COMBINED TABLE, SETTLE, AND CHEST.
Mid. IVh century.
The rarity of domestic furniture is shown by this piece which series
three distinct purposes. These are popularly known as ” monks’
benches,” though there is not the slightest connection between them and
monks.

. THE SETTLE IN JACOBEAN TIMES.
First half 17th century.
The settle in Fig. 15, p. 23, should be compared with this. Note how the
lower portion is completely open and has turned legs.

MID 19TH CENTURY GARDEN FURNITURE
BOTANY WAS A HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE in the 19th
century, appealing to the rational, genteel, pious, and relentlessly self-improving Victorian mindset. Its popularity inspired an unprecedented interest in gardening that permeated the social strata. Jane Loudon’s 1840 publication Instructions in Gardening for Ladies advocated the pastime as one eminently suited to the disposition of the fairer sex, and was a runaway success. The terrarium, invented in 1827 by Dr Nathaniel Ward, allowed people to grow exotic plants in a cold climate — even on a window sill —and protected delicate specimens from harsh urban environments. The abolition of glass tax in 1845 made conservatories more affordable, and they became fashionable settings in which to entertain one’s guests.
Gardens of the period were generally bright and bold, with vast beds planted with swathes of colourful plants very much in vogue. Garden ornaments took many forms, but were rarely subtle. The era that witnessed the introduction of the garden gnome to Britain also saw householders hang brightly coloured
glass globes, called gazing balls, as decorative additions to their gardens. Urns, statues, birdbaths, obelisks, and even life-sized reproductions of animals, all in metal or stone, populated the gardens of the wealthy. The same ostentatiousness was at work in garden furniture design of the period. Where garden chairs and tables had been relatively restrained early in the century, they became increasingly elaborate as the 19th century progressed. Simple, wrought-iron forms gave way to industrial cast iron that mimicked the triumverate of styles — Greek, Gothic, and Rococo —that dominated interiors.
IRON CHAIRS FROM IRONBRIDGE Cast iron was far cheaper than wrought iron or bronze and was ideally suited to use in the garden, owing to its strength and resistance to rust. A number of iron foundries across Europe had been engaged in the production of garden furniture for some time when the Darby family owners of a large iron works at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, turned their attention to the manufacture of iron products. Taking their lead from companies such as Val d’Osne in France, they built the Coalbrookdale
TRAINED TREE
Heinrich Weber ’s engraving shows
a more unusual approach to garden
furniture. Instead of buying a canvas
sunshade for your garden table and
chairs, it suggests creating a natural,
yet rather formal, sunshade by
training the branches of a tree over
an umbrella-shaped trellis. The table
and chair are cast-iron. c 1850.
Company into the pre-eminent manufacturer of
garden furniture of the mid 19th century. Its
most popular designs are still in production
today The process was an industrial one:
iron was cast from moulds in a variety of different shapes, and then pieced together to produce furniture of various styles. At
the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, the company won a Council Medal, and Queen Victoria paid £300 for a statue of Andromeda made by them. The centrepiece of Coalbrookdale’s 1851 exhibit was its new range of Nasturtium chairs and benches, which epitomized garden furniture design of the period. The ironwork was elaborately pierced with floral designs and scrolling to give a Rococo look, yet the actual
construction of the furniture was simple and suited to mass production.
RUSTIC FURNITURE
A vernacular tradition of handcrafted garden
furniture persisted in tandem with the industrial cast-iron aesthetic. Local craftsmen fashioned and sold basic wooden benches and chairs, as well as more elaborate novelty forms. Unfortunately, few examples now survive due to wood’s tendency to rot, especially when exposed to the elements. In the United States, a celebrated form of rustic timber furniture started to gain popularity in the later part of the 19th century. Named after the mountain range – now a national park – in upstate New York from which it originates, Adirondack furniture used native timbers, such as oak, cherry, butternut, birch, and walnut, and often included the bark. It echoed the local Great Camp
style of architecture in that it assimilated the
natural contours of the branches and roots
from which it was fashioned.
CAST-IRON GARDEN CHAIRS AND TABLE
Each of these chairs has a pierced scroll back and circular pierced seat on four scrolling legs. The table has a solid top and stands on three scrolling legs. There is a lady’s mash at the top of each
table leg. 1880
CAST-IRON GARDEN SEAT The back of this green-painted, cast-iron garden seat for two features a lily-of-the-valley design. The seat is a scrolling cast, and there is leaf decoration on the legs. It may have been made by the American A.J. Mott foundry. Late 19th century.
SWAN GARDEN BENCH This garden bench with its simple board seat and back is transformed by the cast-iron ends formed in the shape of swans. There tire traces of old white and orange paint and repainting in places.
KEW GARDENS
The first gardens at Kew Park were laid out by the Capel family during the late 17th century In 1772, George III inherited the Gardens from his mother and, by the end of the 18th century,
many of the monuments and buildings familiar to generations of visitors were in place. The development of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew coincided with a revival of interest in Classicism, itself a consequence of the vogue among the landed classes to go on the Grand Tour. Expeditions by botanists throughout Britain’s expanding Empire unearthed myriad newly discovered plants, which were brought back and exhibited at the Gardens under the “kind superintendence” of Sir Joseph Banks, whom George III had established there in 1773. Banks, who became President of the Royal Society in 1778, established the Gardens as the
British centre for economic botany His death in 1820 coincided with George Ill’s, and Kew
Gardens lost its direction for 20 years.
Between 1841 and 1885,
father and son William and Joseph Hooker held consecutive directorships of the Gardens and contrived a renaissance in its fortunes. Among the developments they oversaw were the construction of the iconic Palm House and the Temperate House – the largest surviving mid 19th-century
glass structure in the world. William Nesfield, a watercolourist turned landscaper, designed a new arboretum for the Gardens as well as the cedar-lined Broad Walk and the parterres around the Palm House. The Victorian obsession with botany bequeathed the world an educational and recreational landmark – Kew Gardens became a World Heritage Site in 2003.
The Palm House This was built between 1844 and 1848 by Richard Turner, with Decimus Burton as architectural consultant. Light but strong wrought-iron “ship’s beams” were used to create a vast 15.2m (50ft) open, pillarless span.

MID 19TH CENTURY SOFAS
THE MAJORITY OF 19th-century sofas were designed either for comfort or for formal seating. The fluidity of the revival styles during this period allowed for a certain poetic licence in the designs.
COIL-SPRING UPHOLSTERY
The French fashion for upholstering their luxurious canapes with sumptuous, overstuffed seats and padded backs soon spread across Europe. The increased thickness of the upholstery was the result of the introduction of coiled springs. These were, in themselves, quite deep, but they also required a thick layer of padding to prevent them from piercing the seat cover. Deeply set buttons were used to hold both the springs and the padding in place, and became a feature in themselves.
The fabrics used to cover these upholsteries were often extremely expensive, making it necessary to
shield furniture from direct sunlight, hence the Victorian reputation for gloomy interiors. Both petit and gros point were popular.
The confidante, or tote-d-tote, evolved from the standard French canape as a slightly less formal design, allowing couples or parties to sit together and converse while facing each other. These were fairly variable forms, as were many of the Rococo-revival, show-frame sofas, chaises longue, and daybeds made at this time. They contrasted with Neoclassical- and Empire-revival styles, which made greater use of flat planes and regular angles.
Towards the end of the period, influences from the Middle East and the Orient began to infiltrate sofa design in the West. Turkish-style daybeds, Chinese bamboo frames, and the no-nonsense Arts and Crafts aesthetic started to reverse the trend for decadent, comfortable seating.
The lion’s heads are supported on turned columns.
The arched top rail above the panels is inlaid with floral marquetry.
The seat back has scroll-topped supports.
The capriole legs terminate in claw-and-bail feet.
Each seat is CauCaVcfronted with a marquetry inlaid apron
The base of the chair back is galleried, with turned spindles.
DUTCH HALL BENCH
The triple concave-shaped back of this mahogany and marquetry-decorated bench has a moulded crest and a carved lion’s head at each seat division. The sweeping arms terminate in carved heads. The shaped seat
has a similarly shaped apron and is raised on four carved capriole legs to the front and two slightly sweeping, square-section legs to the back. The entire bench is profusely
decorated with marquetry inlay, depicting flowers, leaves, urns, birds, and insects.
This early Victorian, Rococo-revival, show-frame sofa is made of rosewood and has a generously upholstered seat, arms, and back. The serpentine seat is supported on scroll-carved cabriole legs, terminating in ceramic casters. c.1850.
BRITISH WINDOW SEAT
This mahogany, Regency-revival-style window seat has an upholstered back, outswept sides, and seat. The frame of the window seat is carved with acanthus and is supported on scroll legs with paw feet. c.1900.
BRITISH SHOW-FRAME SOFA
FRENCH DAY BED
This carved walnut and upholstered day bed is designed in the Louis XVI style. The reeled and scroll arms carved with leaves and the loose cushion seat are covered in a beige fabric and raised on turned and stop-fluted legs, joined by
a rope-carved apron. This piece would have been made for an alcove and placed parallel to a wall. It may originally have had a canopy of matching fabric suspended above it.
This carved oak and walnut bench has a galleried back with carved panels, depicting dragons, figures, and cherubs. It has square arms above a solid seat and is supported on spiral-turned legs.
This Louis XVI-style walnut canape has a carved crest rail above a padded back. The cushioned seat is supported on fluted, tapered legs, which end in peg feet. c. 1900.
This is one of a pair of Napoleon III-style ebonized sofas. The back is in three sections and has a central shaped, rectangular, upholstered panel flanked by two similarly upholstered oval panels in carved gilt frames.
The padded seat is supported on six turned and fluted legs, terminating in pad feet. The sofa is attributed to Charles-Guillaume Diehl. The tapestry upholstery was probably made by the prestigious Aubusson company. BK 6
AMERICAN SETTEE
This carved walnut settee has an undulating back and a crest rail carved with flowers and grapes. The padded, upholstered arms scroll outwards and show William IV influence. The padded, upholstered seat has a similarly carved
serpentine apron and has additional side cushions. The whole settee is supported on slightly cabriole legs. Chairs and sofas featuring elements of ornate, naturalistic carving in the Rococo-revival style were very popular in the United States, particularly between 1830 and 1865.
This walnut, tub-shaped settee has an upholstered back, armrests, and seat. Originally, it was almost certainly part of a salon suite. The settee has a pierced back and is supported on turned legs, terminating in brass
casters. Neoclassical in style, it was probably inspired by Sheraton’s furniture designs, combining the simple geometric forms of the pierced back with the gentle, curving contours of the seat and upholstered back shape. c. 1900.
This mahogany, Empire-revival settee has a scrolled crest rail, upholstered seat and back, and padded arms. The frame of the settee has Neoclassical gilt-brass applied mouldings throughout and is supported on turned legs. Late 19th
century.