Posts Tagged ‘gothic period’

Cupboards, Wardrobes and Small Hanging
Cupboards
Evolution of the cupboard—development from a chest form—the Gothic hutch or livery cupboard—origin of the “cup board” or buffet—the court cupboard and press—lasting popularity in Wales of the deuddarn and tridarn—armoires, cloak cupboards and the linen press—later appearance of the wardrobe—hanging dole and medicine cupboards—various fronts of the corner cupboard—painted interiors—Victorian buffets antique porcelain tea pot made in france .
The cupboard may have evolved from a chest form because a chest, when placed on its end, would serve as a narrow cupboard or locker sabino marks . Again, the chest on legs with an overhanging top and hinged doors beneath, like the counter mentioned in Chapter 3, could also have been an ancestor of the cupboard gateleg table imperial furniture .
The counter was sometimes referred to as a hutch in old documents but nowadays the latter name is usually only given to a wired cage for tame rabbits value of antique rectangular drop leaf pedestal dining . In the Gothic period the hutch was a small planked cupboard used chiefly as a food larder antique harlequin figure . The door and front were perforated with frets of an architectural character to allow air to circulate and so keep the food fresh cheap art neuvou side tables . Pieces of loosely woven horse-hair were nailed to the inside of the frets to keep flies and insects away from the contents art deco chairs mahogany . While the horse-hair has long since perished the remains of the small nails which held it in position are sometimes still to be seen antique oak drawleaf trestle table .
Many books on antique furniture show an illustration of Prince Arthur’s Cupboard, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique glass “la granja” . It dates from around 1500 and is one of the finest pieces of English Gothic furniture in existence the most expensive silver tray . It is unique and the chances of discovering a similar piece are negligible king george 1v furniture . However, it is possible that the smaller planked hutch, although very rare, may still be found by the discerning seeker after antique oak peter behrens side chair . I know of one in the possession of a Cotswold antique dealer but he says that f1,000 would not buy it satsuma pottery thousand flower . On the other hand, there are a considerable number of hutches at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire l shaped sideboard . In that part of the house open to public view I have counted nearly a score, so it is not beyond a reasonable possibility that there are hutches lying in old barns and attics elsewhere which might turn up one day and offer themselves to a knowing buyer inlaid moorish bone .
Apparently, it was a custom in the Middle Ages to keep a small supply of food in private rooms for use at any time antique epergnes . This would be stored in hutches which in time came to be referred to as livery cupboards lusterware made in czecho-slovakia . This term was in use until a few years ago and I remember an inn near my home where there was a painted notice over the entrance to the inn-yard, now given over to car parking, which bore the legend “livery and bait” french style porcelain gilded weight driven clock . This indicated that change of horses and refreshments for the journey were always readily available italian spider leg table .
Aumbry is another old name for a hutch or livery cupboard 16th century spanish trunk . There are some antiquaries, however, who maintain that the aumbry was not a standing cupboard but was essentially a recess in a wall which was enclosed by a door in a frame antique drop leaf side table furniture makers mark england . It may be that in different times the word was used to describe several types of cupboard 18th century rococo copper candlesticks .
The “cup board” proper was originally a side table or buffet which was a fitment with two or three shelves made to stand against the wall in the proximity of the dining table aimone mfg co new york . On this were kept the wooden trenchers or platters for use at meal times antique austrian furniture . In the 16th century and later it was used to display the silver or pewter table-ware, according to the opulence of the household georgian kneehole cabinet .
Early buffets vary in the amount of decoration, some being merely a set of shelves with some simple carving on the rails supporting the shelves classic furniture drawing . Others were larger and more elaborate with bulbous turnings on the front uprights and sometimes the centre and top rails concealed long shallow drawers which fitted under the shelves chippendale gateleg table . These were used for storing spoons and knives only as forks had not been adopted for table use at this time cheap art neuvou side tables .
Towards the end of the Elizabethan period it became the practice to construct buffets with the upper staging enclosed with panels and doors old antique sofa tables . This piece of furniture was known as a court cupboard from the French word court, meaning short or low origins art deco . Eventually, the lower stage of the court cupboard was enclosed as well during the early years of the 17th century and the cupboard form became really established from then onward chippendale style coffee table tilt value . In recent years the term court cupboard has been quite often misapplied to these completely enclosed cupboards late 1920s patek winged lugs . The late R american made ceramic french figurine . W christian mayer furniture . Symonds, who was probably one of the most authoritative furniture historians of the 20th century, has been able to confirm by much diligent research into old house inventories and wills that the correct name is actually a press renaisance design dining table made .
The press was invariably made in oak and a considerable
number were produced during the 17th century gate leg table 17thc . They were
built as a rule with three tiers of cupboard doors showing
on the front, two doors being on each of the top and
middle tiers and one on the bottom antique bread rack . The rails were decora-
ted with low-relief strapwork carving and ornamental
mouldings were sometimes applied to the panels and
door frames dining habit tendency . Carved initials of the owner and his wife,
together with a date to commemorate some family hap-
pening, were favourite additions to the design napoleon leather and steel campaign chair . Many of
these cupboards had large pendant turnings on either
side of the overhanging top george 3 style . These were the vestiges of the original bulbous turnings used on the front uprights of the buffet and court cupboard collectors glasgow school of art . The small doors are, for the most part, found with wrought-iron butterfly hinges but early presses had upper doors which turned on wooden dowel pins dutch plate family dining . Small turned wooden knobs were used as handles on the door frames cantagalli marks .
The early press was essentially a cupboard for storing food and table-ware and should not be confused with the linen press of the following century, details of which will be given later in the chapter antique tea set - rh macy . For the most part it was of fairly large size being 6 to 8 feet in length and would have been found in the dining or living rooms of the more prosperous Stuart and Commonwealth farmers dressing a tea table . Consequently, it can seldom be accommodated in a present-day house myott,son&co. .
However, there are smaller and rather attractive versions of the press which were made in Wales and enjoyed a degree of popularity during the 18th century, although the press in England had been superseded by the dresser mother of pearl coffe table fake antique egypt . These Welsh pieces were of two very similar types and were known as the deuddarn and tridarn, the former being constructed with two tiers or stages only while the latter had three pictures of 5 drawer antique library desks and tables . The top tier of the tridarn is seldom a fixture and can usually be lifted off, should this be necessary louis sue . These small press-type cupboards are seldom ornate but being comparatively small, often only 4 to 412 feet in length, the breaking up of the front surface with doors and panelling permits the mellowness of the old oak to be appreciated to the full new york city 18th century pembroke tables . In the deuddarn, drawers are sometimes included between the lower and upper tiers vases ceramic antique carved figures on front .
Tall cupboards for hanging clothes had been in use on the continent since the early 16th century chicken coops shelves . There they were referred to as armoires and it is thought that they were probably used for storing armour and weapons as well as clothes 17th century dutch silver . The few early armoires to be found in Britain are nearly always of French or Flemish origin, and cupboards designed for holding garments were rarely to be found in these islands until the beginning of the 18th century kneehole dressing table styles .
Hitherto, the accepted method of storing gowns and suits of clothes was to use a chest or a large chest of drawers “perspectiva cabinet” . Now a large cupboard with double doors was adopted for the purpose antiques furniture,josef hoffmann . It was mounted on a chest of drawers but a closer examination of the two top drawers will show them to be merely false fronts which do not open antique centre pieces for dining table . Behind them the space is used to afford greater hanging room for the clothes in the cupboard above art deco candle sticks . The lower drawers were made to function in the normal way oak draw refectory table . Before the invention of clothes hangers the contents of the cloak cupboard or clothes press were hung on a series of wooden pegs placed along the back and sides of the cupboard interior 18th century knife boxes .
Sometimes, the cupboard space above the drawers was fitted with wide trays for the storage of linen large rectangle dropleaf table . Although the exterior would be identical to that of a cloak cupboard, the article in this case would be called a linen press and the top drawers would be real ones as a deeper hanging space for clothes would not be necessary candelabrum .
Taller wardrobes without dummy drawers were pro-
duced by Chippendale, Hepplewhite and other cabinet-
makers type of wood used for roman furniture . These were very elegant in appearance with
finely veneered doors and sometimes with bow-fronts 18th century mahogany drop leaf table cabriole legs .
In mid-Victorian times some huge wardrobes were con-
structed in three or four separate sections kashgai carpet . These were
screwed together when assembled in position and included
bays for hanging clothes, long dressing mirrors and sections
with trays for keeping linen wear drop leaf table with spiral legs . Today, these well-made
mahogany and satinwood edifices are indeed white
elephants for they are much too large ever to go into a
modern house or flat royal staffordshire by clarice cliff nancy . Usually they are bought very
cheaply and then taken apart so that the fine wood in them can be used in the manufacture of reproduction pieces, sometimes advertised as “made from genuine old wood”  . I suppose that if one cannot acquire the authentic article then these are the next best thing five legs two leaf oak antique dining table .
Since the late 16th century, small hanging cupboards have always appeared among the more usual furnishings george speight porcelain . Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and in early Stuart times wall cupboards with, fretted fronts or with the door frames filled with rows of baluster shaped spindles were in general use barley sugar twist pillars timber . Nowadays they are referred to as dole, or food, cupboards and were once hung inside churches to contain the bread doles provided by charity bequests antique 19th century nesting tables birds-eye maple . They were probably used as food larders in the kitchens of private houses as well art deco writing sets . Although this cupboard form is rarely found as an antique in England these days it is not an uncommon discovery in Wales social origins of art deco .
In the 17th and 18th centuries when doctors and apothecaries were few and far between, every housewife kept a store of medicinal herbs and remedies for administering to her family in times of sickness care of antique tortoiseshell . These were preserved in small cupboards which hung on the wall or stood on a chest of drawers and contained a number of pigeon-holes and small drawers for separating the various herbs antique paper mache trays . I always regret having failed to acquire one of these little spice or herb cupboards which a dealer friend of mine had in the shop meissen figures dating . Other dealers had passed it by, saying that it was only an old top from a grandfather clock which had been converted into a little cupboard vintage wooden card table . Actually, it was a genuine Queen Anne medicine cupboard with a finely panelled door and a neat compartment of drawers inside maccasar modernism france . However, the question had then arisen, as it does for all collectors sooner or later, of just where it was going to fit in with all the other things, and the opportunity had to be missed the revival of the games in the 19th century .
Corner cupboards, like tripod tables, are probably more numerous than any other type of antique furniture and are still to be had very reasonably antique table footed clock . They were in general use throughout the Georgian period and served many purposes antique dutch coffee table 17th century . Nowadays a corner cupboard with the doors left open makes an attractive setting fora small collection of china or Staffordshire chimney ornaments antique sideboard with built-in pendulum clock . Oak corner cupboards are usually flat-fronted with canted corners but occasionally they are found with bow-fronts patek philippe, 1930s, rectangular, hinged back . This is the pattern which was more often adopted for the mahogany cupboard and with an inlaid frieze at the top and a couple of small drawers beneath, this would make a very desirable acquisition to any modest collection of antique furniture antique dressers yorkshire .
Some flat fronted corner cupboards have glazed, astragal doors, that is with little panes of glass set into a framework of thin bars or beads robinson and leadbeater figure . These are usually original but a door with a single sheet of glass in it has probably had the wooden panel removed and glass substituted for the display of china or silver oak draw leaf table 18. th . Do not be in a hurry to strip or paint over if the interior of your cupboard is decorated in a faded olive green colour american antique slant front desk . This is probably the original finish as the Georgians were very fond of green linings to their cupboards and cabinets and a little toilet soap and warm water will most likely restore the paintwork very nearly to its original condition decoupage on veneer .
Finally, some mention should be made of the reappearance of the buffet in mid-Victorian dining rooms late 1800’s dining table european . Much lighter in design than its Tudor counterpart, it usually consisted of three quite deep shelves supported on four slim mahogany, turned corner uprights renaissance dining tables . These buffets, like the 17th-century press, are often too large for the modern house moser, austrian furniture designer . Occasionally they are to be seen, laden with dish covers, cutlery and cruets, in the spacious dining rooms of those old-fashioned but comfortable coaching inns which have survived into the day of the motor car art deco dresser inlaid wood .
Beds, Day-beds and Cradies
Early beds—rest for the rich and not-so-rich—misnomer of the “four-poster”—characteristics of 17th-century bed construction—development of the tester—beds of the mid-Georgian era—foreign influences on late 18th-century bed design—truckle and folding beds—origin of the day-bed—Restoration and early 18th-century types—Regency elegance of the chaise-longue—the Victorian sofa—cots and cradles padded antique library wood arm chair .
Early beds were looked upon as the most important items in any household 18 century porcelain placks louis xvi . They were handed down from father to son and were always mentioned with some degree of pride of possession czechoslovakia porclian . They were often very heavy, monumental constructions and the occupants depended for their comfort on enormously thick, feather mattresses 19th century parian busts . These were laid either on a network of ropes which passed through holes in the framework or on a foundation of wooden slats scroll planter table y chair .
There must have been a general fear of draughts and fresh air at night or the bedrooms were very cold and draughty because it was the practice to enclose the beds with panelling or heavy curtains until the end of the 18th century antique tea caddies, penwork . It is hardly likely that many people nowadays would sleep in a 17th or 18th-century bed for choice, although I have an old collector friend who nightly repairs to his Georgian four-poster neo classic bookcase maple tuscany . I should add that it has been fitted with a box-spring mattress of the latest slumber-inducing design antique half leaf table .
In medieval times the wealthy slept on free standing
frame beds overhung by a tent-like canopy which was suspended from the ceiling 19th century desk cabinet . Servants and attendants slept on the floor or on straw palliasses antique oak dressing table with mirror . For information about beds in the time of Elizabeth 1, we look again at William Harrison’s Description of England narrow entryway chest of drawers . In it he wrote: “Our fathers have lain full often upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered with a sheet and a good round log under their heads for a pillow 18 century wooden novelty pipes . If the goodman of the house had purchased a mattress or flock bed, and thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, that peradventure lay seldom in a bed of down or whole feathers charles neo classism boulle . As for servants, if they had any sheet above them, it was well, for seldom had they any under their bodies to keep them from the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet and rased their hardened hides inexpensive french desks furniture .”
The “four-poster” bed of antiquity is a well-known term but few have stopped to think that the four-poster, at any rate until the early Georgian period, was in fact only a two-poster, the back or bed-head which supported the top, or tester, being a panelled framework without posts dressoir antique . In the 17th century these beds were known as tester or posted beds staffordshire porcelain rococo revival period . Medieval beds are so rare as to be almost non-existent but there are a number of beds with testers which can be dated from the late 16th century 18th century boulle cabinet . Some of these were excessively large like the Great Bed of Ware, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum antique sideboard styles and makers . It was made about 1595 and is 10 feet 9 inches wide antique gate legged side table . The great majority of beds, however, were between 5 and 6 feet in width art nouveau dresser .
Posted beds all followed a similar pattern, having a strong rectangular frame to carry the mattress and at the head a panelled screen, often elaborately decorated with carving and inlaid woods antique american tilt top pedestal table . This screen and two turned pillars at the foot of the bed supported a panelled ceiling or tester from which hung the curtains, to be drawn at night are william and mary chest of drawers rare? . The pillars at the bed-end were usually incorporated in the bed framework and acted as feet for the mattress franl;ng characteristics of english medieval gateleg table . On larger beds, however, the framing would have separate feet and the posts supporting the tester would be freestanding on rectangular pedestal bases period art nouveau galle bronze table lamp .
Some smaller beds were made with panelled screens erected at the bottom end as well as at the head so that they formed, in effect, large panelled boxes with curtained sides american spoonback armchair . They must have been very stuffy and altogether unhealthy japanned bracket clocks . Whether it was a reaction against the unhygienic properties of the enclosed bed or just a simplification for economy’s sake, a plainer type of bed appeared about the middle of the 17th century 19th century lacquered japanese cabinet with paintings . It consisted merely of a framework on short legs and a low panelled bed-head deco porcelain spanish dancers female . It is usually referred to as a farm-house bed victorian renaissance revival credenza . For those who have an ambition to equip their homes with antique furniture entirely, this type of bed, with a box-spring mattress fitted, can be quite an interesting acquisition wileman/shelley vases . They are not uncommon and I have seen them from time to time in several sale-rooms drop leaf table oak uk antique .
The tester undoubtedly developed from the tent-like covering of the medieval bed and during the 16th and 17th centuries was a very heavy structure which demanded a strong supporting bed-framework cupboard design for keeping cockery . During the time of William and Mary and Queen Anne it became fashionable in the noble households to install beds which were most luxuriously appointed antique chairs 1600 s all wood carved . In keeping with the tendency to build houses with higher ceilings to the rooms, these beds were also very high with elaborately decorated testers and the entire framework upholstered with quilted silk and velvet george jones majolica ware . Such beds were usually installed to commemorate the stay of some royal visitor antique chamber cabinet .
Beds of the mid-18th century became altogether lighter in construction and appearance and although in some cases the bed-head screen to support the tester was retained, the more ordinary run of beds had lower bed-heads and four posts to support the tester arabic style lambrequins . By this time the tester consisted only of four curtain poles placed across the tops of the posts with a light covering of material stretched Over them antique telescopic dining tables . Thomas Chippendale made a bed for the Duke of Beaufort about 1750 in the Chinese taste draw leaf tables . It has a pagoda-like top with flying dragons a6 the corners and, finished in black japan and gold, has a very attractive appearance carved oak draw-leaf refectory table . Another bed, painted in the Chinese manner, was made for David Garrick about 1770 antique oak drop leaf table american . It also has a light wooden tester with embroidered silk curtains and like the bed of the Duke of Beaufort indicates the tendency for greater delicacy in construction of furniture during the second half of the 18th century myott son & co hanley 1880 .
For some time during the 18th-century Italian and French beds were imported into the British Isles and although the numbers were small they influenced the design of the English type considerably regency mahogany settee hairy paw . The Italians seem to have been the first to do away with the tester and its hangings sheraton gateleg card table . Probably in a warm climate common sense overruled fashion and tradition maggiolini furniture . French patterns of the late 18th century were very elaborate in the decoration of bed-heads and here also the tester seems to have been abandoned entirely antique dutch desk . Only in England, and the climate was probably the chief reason for its retention, did the use of the tester linger on into the 19th century end tables tall spindle leg antique . Wooden canopies, from which side curtains were hung, were still being fitted over the bed-head about 1850 19th century english sideboard .
Lightly constructed beds, rather like the folding kind used for camping today, became fairly common during the Georgian period red delft tiles religious 17th century value . They were small enough to be kept under th;, posted beds when not required and were used by nurses or servants attending sick people or as extra accommodation for an unexpected visitor bone handled fork converted to knive . I have seen small chests of drawers with dummy fronts which swung open like a cupboard door antiquegames writing table . Inside were folding beds which could be pulled out when wanted heals pair oak tables . All these lighter types were generally known as truckle beds and were fitted with small wheels or castors so that they could easily be moved around dutch marquetry sutherland table .
I have already mentioned in a previous chapter how chests were used as seats in early times and it is evident that the larger ones also served as beds or couches porcelain wincanton . Some years ago in a sale-room I saw a panelled oak chest with raised ends antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . Although I did not realise it at the time I had come across an archebanc couchette, probably of early French design which had been made to serve both as a chest and a couch inlay antique serving trays . I have never seen another since and only hope that one day the opportunity to acquire such a rarity might present itself again 17 century dining tables .
From these bed-chests probably developed the more lightly constructed single bed or day-bed which appeared towards the end of the 16th century etruscan pottery oriental . Shakespeare has referred to them in his plays and, by the Restoration, day-beds had reached a pleasing standard of design meissen porcelain antic . They were made in walnut with six or eight legs and had an adjustable end frame which, together with the main framework of the bed, was equipped with woven splitcanework to give some resilience to the overlay cushions types of table legs 19 century . Day-beds with double ends are found occasionally but they are very rare antique perpetual calendar .
The day-bed continued in use throughout the 18th century conforming to the fashionable characteristics of the time, but it is rather difficult to separate its development into that form known as the chaise-longue from that of the settee, couch or sofa corbusier furniture vintage . Although all these types were used for lying or for sitting upon, I think it should be remembered that the day-bed was designed primarily for resting during the day-time while the settee or sofa was made to enable a number of people to sit together on the same seat mahogany kommode . Perhaps the best way to remember the difference is that the day-bed or chaise-longue was never made with a back like a couch or a settee kilian brothers carved fruit and bird inlaid table . In its later form, as used in the 19th and 20th centuries, it has become known as the divan having neither end supports nor back antique table drop leaf raise .
The chaise-longue of the late Georgian and Regency periods became the symbol of elegant repose, typified perhaps by Jacques Louis David’s portrait of Madame Wcamier fauteuil art deco brandt . The beautiful piece of furniture with its gracefully curving ends was said to have been designed by the artist himself value of gateleg tables . It was in all probability among the finest of the adaptations by the late 18th and early 19th-century designers from the sources of classical Greece and Rome sideboard turns into dining table . A shorter form of seat which is often identical in appearance to the chaise-longue is the window seat bassano maiolica . Like the former, it has no back but is too short for reclining upon and as its name implies was just a small seat made to fit into a low window bay without obscuring the view causes of the reign of terror in france .
The type of Victorian sofa which has just the one scrolled end and a short back-piece running only half its length is really in the tradition of the day-bed rather than that of the couch or settee antique bread making cabinet . Those made in walnut about 1850 with small cabriole legs are attractive pieces of furniture and become increasingly rare as time goes on sheffield shovels .
Children’s cots and cradles are really among the few antiques which are not normally put to their original use and would hardly be considered suitable for the modern baby regency waterfall bookcase . Nowadays, babies are put to bed and left to sleep or lie awake as they will but in olden times an essential of all cot and cradle design was that they should be able to be rocked 1930s antique square table . The two swinging cots illustrated have basically the same structure although they are separated by more than 300 years dressoir timber . The Gothic cot is just an oak box suspended from a well-made stand while the late Georgian version, dating from around 1820, is a much finer affair in turned and needed mahogany pollard elm furniture . It has a clockwork mechanism incorporated in the suspension of the cot which will actually cause it to rock for nearly an hour lusterware made in czechoslovakia . It might be that the steady ticking of the clockwork also acted as a further soporific josef originals+ballerinas+value .
The more homely cradle of the farmhouse and cottage had a small hood at one end century furniture chinoiserie dining table chair credenza . It was mounted on a pair of rockers so that the mother could rock the baby to sleep with her foot while her hands were busy with some sewing or the preparation of food metal plates and trays from iran .

Tables, Dressers and Sideboards
Medieval boards and trestles—survival of the term “board”—the Tudor refectory table—pull-out or draw-leaf tables—the cre• dence and origin of the gate-leg table—long period of the gate-leg—occasional joined tables-18th-century patterns with club legs—the composite “D” end table—tripod tea tables with dished and pie-crust tops—dating by shape of feet—early games tables-18thcentury card tables–Sheraton quartette or nest tables—variations of the Pembroke style—sofa tables and early 19th-century folding tables—early dressers—dressers developed from side tables—Welsh dressers—appearance of the sideboard—Victorian chiffoniers mason’s patent ironstone china .
In the communal life of medieval times the servant ate with his master and his place at the table was a kind of status symbol regency revival furniture . The master would sit at the head with his guests and family; next would come the retainers of importance such as the steward and the priest and finally the servants expensive antique plates . Accordingly the table was a very long one and as the great hall was also used for recreation and even for sleeping the table had to be constructed so that, in spite of its size, it could be easily dismantled and put to one side when not required furniture+scallop+wheat .
Tables of the Gothic period were referred to as boards and trestles and were made in a variety of styles edwardian c19th construction buildings . Sometimes the supports were as those illustrated in the Luttrell Psalter and later they took the form of pedestals french words for dinner stand . Until the middle of the 16th century the table top consisted of a massive board of oak or elm boards nailed together 1600 century scroll back chair . When laid over the trestles or pedestals the very weight preserved its stability table consoul antiques caried or gold “rococo” . Even to this day, landladies advertise “board and lodging” and we still speak of a board of directors, a board room and a board of governors flemish trestle table . It is interesting to note how this term, used to describe a council of men and women meeting around a table, is a survival in our language from a very distant past catherine the great of russia plates .
By 1550 the communal life of the hall had begun to disappear john bell, porcelain, value . Houses were being built with a greater number of rooms and master and man took their meals apart kent silversmiths bread basket . There was no longer a need for the long trestle table and so a smaller table with a permanent underframe and legs was taken into general use writing cabinet officers antique . It was probably a smaller adaptation of the joined tables used in the abbey refectories and nowadays the term, refectory table, is used to describe it, although it was a purely domestic piece of furniture types of bureaux .
The refectory table, which was in everyday use from about 1550 to 1660, was usually 8 to 12 feet in length art deco brass stool . It was stoutly constructed with four, six or eight legs with bottom rails between them, and the top permanently fixed 19th century chairs’ . The underframing was made of oak but the top was often of elmwood, because of the wide boards which could be obtained from that tree antique neoclassical .
During the reign of Elizabeth I a variant of the refectory table, known as a draw-leaf table, appeared on the scene earthenware mixing bowls antique with handles . It enabled a comparatively short table to be extended to nearly twice its length by pulling out under-leaves from both ends dinnerware silver tureen . It was a design introduced from Flanders and France and it enjoyed an equal popularity with the refectory table botanical whimsies are considered some of the finest examples of art nouveau glass . Both of these types were displaced by the gate-leg table after the Restoration but the draw-leaf table has been revived during the 20th century and many modern homes possess similar, but lighter versions of the Elizabethan prototype steel dining table germany .
During the second half of the 16th and the early years
of the 17th centuries, table legs were massively made and often took the form of heavy bulbous turnings english creamware marks . On Flemish tables these swollen shapes are often spherical, like a melon, but the English versions were considerably more elongated with rounded tops and bottoms dresden german antiques . It has been said that these bulbous legs were functional in that they were designed to prevent rats climbing on to the table tops ant cherry antique dictionary tables . I have it on good authority from a biologist friend that any self-respecting rat could easily leap on to a table without any climbing aids 19th century gothic bedside tables .
Between 1600 and 1630, a small but sturdily constructed kind of side table was developed antique chippendale “solid mahogany” dining table lions paw . It must be considered a somewhat rare example of early Stuart furniture as examples these days are seldom encountered ernst archibald furniture . The tabletop was of the folding type, that is, it consisted of two halves hinged together and normally kept closed cherry ladies writing desk by pennsylvania house . When required for use, the upper leaf would be opened outwards and this would be supported by a fifth leg, which could be swung out as in a gate-leg table serpentine pembroke table . Actually, this small table was the forerunner of the gate-leg pattern turkish style sideboards uk . It is sometimes referred to as a credence table, which was placed at the side of the altar in the churches and on which the wine vessels and plate were arranged for use in the Communion service antique “trestle table” kent .
The gate-leg table, as already mentioned in Chapter 1, became generally fashionable after the Restoration and, in one form or another it is the one type of table which has been in continuous service ever since art deco polished matte lost-wax castings o nude women in bronze by viennese artisans . Usually made with a gate on each side, some larger tables are to be found with quadruple gates “art deco dresser” and “marble top” . These were of the period when spiral twist legs were in vogue and were made of walnut or, occasionally, of oak louis xv antique french commode .
A small type of side table, with a drawer and bobbin turned or baluster legs, must have been made in large numbers towards the end of the 17th century as they are frequently to be found in sale-rooms and antique shops antique music cabinete with mirror at the top . The finer versions are sometimes veneered and have curved stretchers as illustrated in Chapter 2 federal style table with brass paws . A more common and probably country-made variety is the so-called tavern table with its top overhanging the ends to a more than usual degree trent potteries designs by george jones . The drawers of these tables are sometimes found with joiner’s slides on the sides porcelain wincanton .
After being generally adopted as a dining table during the Restoration period, the gate-leg table was given a variety of leg shapes over the next hundred years rene lalique nude woman art deco lamp . Baluster and spiral twists gave place to scrolled legs and eventually to a type of cabriole shape known as the club leg italian,furniture,maker,address . Except for use on extending card tables, the cabriole leg was not ideally suited to larger table design, but the club leg variation remained in vogue until the introduction of the Chippendale square leg and the tapered legs of the Adam and Hepplewhite eras deco style dressing table .
It was customary during the late Stuart and William and Mary periods for a host to seat his guests at several gate-leg dining tables if the company was a large one sheffield rote iron . By the mid-18th century, however, long mahogany dining tables at which all the company could be seated, began to appear in the more important households antique wood cutlery urns . For over fifty years, these long dining tables consisted of one or several gate-leg tables, with rectangular side-leaves, which were joined together and semi-circular “D” end tables were placed at each end to make up the piece ruhimann table . The wide mahogany boards, introduced during the previous decades, rendered the construction of the broad table-tops a relatively simple matter antiques antique oak sideboards dutch style .
When only a few people were at dinner, the “D” ends would be placed against the wall to serve as side tables and only the gate-leg would be in use new york antiques light art deco . These “D” end tables are quite often to be seen in antique shops, either singly or in pairs, and it is not always realised that they have originally been part of a long Georgian dining table antique mahogany handkerchief table . When placed together, a pair of these tables make a very attractive circular dining table, which would be admirably suited to a present-day flat or smaller modern house http://antcollectors.com . The long “D” end tables continued in use well into the 19th century but the tapered legs were in time replaced by centre pedestals, each supported on four long curved feet antique furniture spanish art nouveaux . These were usually reeded and had brass-capped ends with castors or brass leopard-paw ends wheat antique dresser .
Designed during the closing years of the 17th century, but not becoming generally popular until fifty years later, the small, snap-top, tripod table with a circular top is probably one of the commonest pieces of antique furniture to be found today walnut escutcheons . The hinged top of the simpler country-made examples is usually flat but a tea table with a dished or slightly hollow top is not uncommon reproduced oval shaped dinnig table with lion’s paw . The dished top was designed to prevent spilt tea or milk running over on to the carpet campaign furniture pottery furniture . A more elaborate type of the dished top was known as a pie crust early 19th century mahogany desks with lion feet . Here the edge was carved into a series of scallop shapes, but genuine pie-crust tops are rare and there are many reproductions about value of george iii english mahogany gateleg card table? . Some tripod tea tables have an open, box-like structure fitted underneath, known as a birdcage and into which the single, central pillar is made to fit dutch silver 17th century . With this device, the table top not only folds upwards but can also be rotated so that any dish upon the table may be brought within reach of the guests period antique mahonany dining table with lions paw pedestal legs .
It is possible to date a tripod table, to within twenty years, by the shape of the feet tilt-top birdcage tea table . As illustrated on p small antique pembroke table fold-over . 63, the feet of around 1750 to 1770 have a flatter curve with a wider spread, while those of 1770 to 1790 have a more pronounced hump at the knee antique imari porcelain . From 1790 to 1810 approximately, the curve of the feet was reversed and by the time of the Regency, slender, concave shaped feet had been introduced toilet habits during 1800th century . The early Victorian period saw the revival of the “S” shape, but this was usually rather thick in proportion and decorated with elaborate carving bassano maiolica .
Tables which were specially designed for playing games were rare during the 17th century but an interesting piece, known as a shuffleboard table, is sometimes to be found in the long galleries of our greater country houses 18th century antique american gateleg . The long galleries were built for leisure and relaxation so that during the winter months, while the gentlemen went hunting, the ladies could take more gentle exercise indoors dressing table with small tables . The shuffleboard table can best be compared with a shove-ha’penny board, save that large brass discs were used instead of coins and the table top was often very long rh vase austria . There is one at Astley Hall in Lancashire which has twenty stout legs and is 2712 feet long jennens and bettridge . It must have been prefabricated and then assembled in the long gallery as it is far too large ever to have been brought up the staircase in one piece botanical antique ceramics collectors .
During the reign of Queen Anne and the Georgian period, card games were extremely popular and folding top tables with cabriole legs were in general use during that time finmar alvar aalto stool . These tables were, mostly made of walnut and had small recesses near the edges of the top to hold the guineas or counters while small circular platforms were provided at each corner to hold candlesticks for the night’s play fashion in the 16th century netherlands .
Card tables and tea tables, particularly the folding, semi-circular variety with tapered legs, were made to an almost identical pattern, the only difference being that the games tables had inset baize tops while the tea tables were of polished wood how a goldsmith made a candlestick . The early 19th century saw the production of many small games tables with tops inlaid for chess and backgammon and with drawers beneath to hold the apparatus for the games end tables lions head table with brass eagle claws on legs .
To Sheraton must be given the credit of designing the nest of tables, the idea for which appeared in his Cabinet Directory in 1803 antique kidney shaped dressing table . The nest comprises four small, separate tables which all fit one under another splay leg sofa table . They were originally referred to as quartette tables and being very lightly con-structed and somewhat fragile, it is uncommon to find an original, complete set of four istoriato china . Luckily, I have such a set in my possession which I believe was made by Gillow of Lancaster old gateleg wooden drop leaf tables . It was salvaged from a second-hand furniture shop, the tables being scattered around among the jumble and the shopkeeper having no idea, apparently, that they formed a unique set kakiemon bow price .
Small Pembroke tables with side flaps supported by hinged brackets and said to have been designed originally at the request of the Duchess of Pembroke for occasional use, appeared about 1775 mahogany french dining chairs . They were common in late Georgian homes and in the early part of the 19th century a larger version was made to serve as a supper or breakfast table rectangular drop leaf table antique .
Sofa tables were designed to stand behind a sofa and to carry such things as reading and writing matter, trays of refreshments and candelabras rococo display cabinet . A few years ago, they were fairly common but are now in such great demand as bedroom dressing tables, that they have become a somewhat rare and expensive item pop up cigarette deco dispenser .
The Regency and early Victorian periods saw a vast number of tables with folding tops, made to stand on a central pedestal with three or four feet value of clawfoot cabriole legged dressing table? . In this type, the double top, when opened out, could be rotated so that it was supported by a rectangular underframing odiot tureen . These tables were used for games, writing, serving tea and a whole host of leisure activites french scrolling art nouveau style chairs .
A necessary adjunct to every dining room is a sideboard and to every kitchen or living room, a dresser trestle draw leaf table . The sideboard, as its name implies, was a small side table in those far off days when a dining table was referred to as a board gateleg drop leaf table 19th century . As the piece of furniture we know, it did not appear until the second half of the 18th century 18th century french fashion . The dresser, on the other hand, is of far more ancient lineage and in the painting of the More family by Holbein, referred to in Chapter there is shown in the background a high-backed, canopied Gothic dresser, or, as it was called in that period, a dressoir dutch rococo walnut cupboard . These dressers were really related to the cupboard or buffet and further reference will be made to them in the chapter on Cupboards vintage porcelain plate with brass pedestal .
Dressers with a high back were out of fashion during the early Stuart and Commonwealth times but there were two simpler types in general use aaron burr antique furniture . One was made in the form of a long, narrow side table with three or four deep drawers refectory tables trestle . It stood on four or six legs and had an under shelf, as wide as the dresser top, near the floor level antique epergne glass . This was, no doubt, used for the display of brass and copper ware what were wood tables with porcelain tops used for . The other type was a development of the chest and presented a more solid appearance, the entire front being filled with drawers and small cupboards demilune chiffonier . This second kind of dresser was not generally adopted until after the Restoration but both types were used then until the end of the 17th century drop leaf table with lion claw feet .
By the beginning of the Georgian period most dressers were fitted with a set of plate shelves which stood at the rear of the dresser top poole pottery est. 1873 . This version was usually referred to as a Welsh dresser and while it may have been popular in the Welsh farmhouse kitchen, it was undoubtedly made throughout Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries drop leaf table with spiral turned legs . Occasionally dressers are found made in walnut but more frequently in oak with the edges of the drawer fronts and the cupboard doors cross-banded in walnut or mahogany antique cabinets coat of arms .
Long sidetables were normally used as sideboards in early Georgian dining rooms and on these would be placed the knife and fork boxes with the cellaret for wines underneath antique french ormulu furniture . It was about 1775 that the first sideboards were designed with drawers for the silver and cutlery and deep cupboards on either side to hold the wines boulle table . Sheraton is supposed to have added the low brass rail with a small silk curtain at the back to the designs for bow-fronted sideboards, which had originated during the Hepplewhite period goldscheider staffordshire myott .
In Victorian times, some monstrous sideboards were created with the addition of the most elaborate carving chamber pot cabinet . In the great dining room at Charlecote Park, near Stratford upon Avon, there is installed such a piece of furniture with carved effigies of every variety of edible fish, animal and fowl hanging in great swags from every point and corner chestnut tables antique . This monument to the questionable good taste of the Victorians is all meticulously worked in varnished oak, a spectacle which must have made the shade of Grinling Gibbons sadly shake its head turn a silver tray into a table .
On the other hand, it was during the mid-Victorian period that a very attractive little sideboard, known as a chiffonier, made its appearance antique claw foot table . It was equally useful as a sideboard for a small dining room or as a cabinet for a drawing room fish tail knife 16th century fruit knife 15th . Made in mahogany or veneered with burr walnut, it was certainly one of the more commendable inspirations of the designers during the Victorian era american antique slant front desk .

CUPBOARDS AND SIDE TABLES
It is a rather curious reflection that so many years should have passed without men having devised any means of locking things away privately except in a chest. It tells its own story, that they should have preferred to use something which could be used conveniently for travelling. Once they came to establish their homes on a more convenient basis, however, the necessity for cabinets to hold valuable or private papers, and cupboards to store various other items became felt. Thus wall furniture became increasingly common.
The early form of side table is given in Fig. 26, a piece dating from about I Soo or soon after. It is virtually a chest, with the corner posts continued downwards to raise it well up from the floor. This was probably its origin. Not that a man, having a chest, would decide that by lengthening the posts he could evolve a sideboard, but that the method of construction was automatically adopted once the idea of a sideboard was thought about. There was probably a subconscious connection between the two ideas, so that it is likely that there was a direct evolution from one to the other. The side table exemplifies the use of the pierced panel, and another point that will appeal to practical readers is the use of the ” mason’s mitre ” in the moulding surrounding the panel. The use of this is explained more fully on p. 44•
Another kind of furniture of the early Tudor Gothic period was the cupboard pure and simple as shown in Fig. 27. It is of the simplest possible construction, consisting of so many boards pegged together and held by the angle plates and strap hinges. Often such cupboards had panels pierced with Gothic tracery designs such as those given on p. IS. In fact A is taken from an old cupboard of the kind. Their purpose was probably to hold food, as the pierced panels gave ventilation.
Of a similar type, but of infinitely better construction, is the cupboard shown in Fig. 28. In place of the planks is a framing of four posts, joined by rails with grooves around their edges to hold panels. Here the last-named are pierced and carved in the form of Gothic windows.
The Court Cupboard.—The development in Elizabethan times is shown in the Court cupboard in Fig. 29. This is worthy of a few moments’ attention because it contains many typical features of the period. It was a cupboard which became extremely popular, probably because it gave good accommodation and there was excellent scope for decorative treatment. Note first the lower doors with their three-panel arrangement. Apart from strength, this had the advantage of keeping the panel width down, and so saving the necessity of jointing up. The framing is channel-moulded ; that is a shallow groove moulded at the sides is worked along the centre of each member.
Incidentally, whilst on the subject of mouldings, it should be noted that in every case they are worked ” in the solid,” the substance of the framing being moulded. It is mentioned here in particular because it will be seen in the next chapter that the tendency in the following century was to use applied mouldings instead.
Attention has already been drawn to the bulbous turnings and their elaborate carving, Fig. 29, and we may now turn to the upper cupboard portion with its sloping sides. It was probably the desire to make space for the bulbous turnings that prompted the cutting away of the cupboard, and at the same time to provide a useful standing space at each side. It will be found that when, later, turning began to decline, the upper cupboard became rectangular in shape, being just set back a few inches from the line of the lower cupboard. Eventually the turnings disappeared almost entirely, being replaced by single drop turnings—but of this we shall see more in the following chapter. It is mentioned here because it helps to explain the reason for the shape of the upper cupboard. The carving in the frieze is a typical Elizabethan detail which continued into the seventeenth century.
BEDSTEADS
Sleeping arrangements in the early years were of the simplest and most primitive form for everyone except the chief persons in the household. The fifteenth century saw considerable improvements in this respect, though it was not until the next century that beds became at all common. There were two kinds, the panelled head and foot (very like the modern form of wood bed), and the four-poster. The last-named developed into a really amazing structure in the time of Elizabeth. That the rooms were abominably draughty is the probable reason for its popularity. The tester or panelling above the bed was hung all round with curtains, so that the sleeper was literally lying in a little room built within the main bedroom. It must have been close and unhealthy, but presumably people preferred that to draughts.
That great importance was attached to these bedsteads is shown by the frequent reference made to them in old wills, and in view of the amount of work put into them they must have been costly things to produce. That in Fig. 31 contains features found in most old beds. Note that the bed frame itself is separate at the foot from the front posts. This was usual in Elizabethan beds, though towards the end of the century the tendency was to join them up.
Figs. 32, 33, and 34 will prove of particular interest to practical cabinet makers and draughtsmen, though they are well worthy of the attention of all students because the sections of mouldings and carved details are extremely important factors when dating a period piece.

TABLES
The table is a fairly obvious piece of furniture. It is required for all kinds of purposes in the house, though its chief function is for use when dining. One of the earliest surviving specimens are the huge trestle tables at Penshurst Hall, Kent. They date from the fourteenth century, when it was still the custom for the entire household to dine together in the great hall. One would be placed across the upper end of the hall, usually on a raised dais, and another, or sometimes two, at right angles to it, going lengthwise along the hall. The more important guests used the raisedThe tendency to use a framed-up construction already mentioned in connection with the chest is seen in the next stage of the table, when an underframing of four or six legs joined by rails (such as in the present-day table) was used. There stands in the museum at South Kensington an interesting table dating from the opening years of the sixteenth century. It has square legs with the corners chamfered, and the top rails are shaped on the underside with the Gothic arch formation. The long form in Fig. ig has this shaping—in fact it is a companion to the table of which we are speaking. Its most interesting feature, however, is that it is of the ” draw ” type ; that is, it is provided with extending leaves which, contained beneath the top when not required, can be drawn out, so increasing the size of the top considerably. As a matter of passing interest, this type of table has again become popular at the present time ; indeed, few extending tables are made now which have not this method of extension.
Bulbous Turnings.—The draw table of the Elizabethan period is shown in Fig. 23, and the feature that at once strikes one are the heavy bulbous legs. These represent a fashion in turning that had the most amazing popularity in Elizabethan times and in the first half of the seventeenth century. Turning had been introduced in this country during the sixteenth century, though it does not appear to have been widely used until about the middle of the century. One imagines that the turners, having acquired the technique, decided to make the most of what they had learnt, for there is nothing really logical about such disproportionate legs. The strength of the leg is governed by its thinnest part, so that the heavy bulbous part is entirely wasted from the constructional point of view.
In the particular table shown in Fig. 23 the legs are plain, direct from the lathe, but in most cases they were elaborately carved with nullings, scrolled acanthus leafwork, and other details, as shown on the turnings in the Court cupboard in Fig. 29. Possibly this is another reason why they appealed to the Elizabethans ; they offered such scope for decorative detail.
In most cases the stretcher rails ran round the four sides of the table in the same way as the rails at the top, but occasionally the H arrangement in Fig. 23 is found. In one, and the retainers were accommodated at the others in rotation, the serfs sitting at the lower end.
These trestle tables were generally made with movable tops, so that they could be taken to pieces and stored away when the floor space was required to be cleared. They were extremely massive in build, with tops of 4 in. or so in thickness, supported by heavy trestles or pedestals. The illus-BUFFET WITH BULBOUS TURNINGS.
Late 16th century.
Thiswas the Elizabethan form of sideboard. The modern dinner wagon
is of similar formation. Often a drawer was fitted beneath the top, the
rail acting as the drawer front.
tration of the hall at Penshurst Place on p. 12 shows these tables.
When as the years passed men sought more privacy there arose a demand for smaller tables which could be used in the smaller private room in which the family took their meals. The rise, too, of the merchant class brought about the erection of vast numbers of smaller houses, and so there have survived a fair number of smaller tables dating from the sixteenth century. The term ” smaller ” is used com-paratively. Actually they usually measure 6 ft. to 9 ft. or io ft. in length.
At the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the next the Gothic tradition was still strong, and tables
FIG. 31. FOUR-POSTER WITH PANELLED HEAD AND TESTER.
Second half 16th century.
These were extremely massive structures and were held in great value.
They were often specifically mentioned in wills. Note the holes in the
bed frame to support the mattress and clothes.
were often still of the trestle kind shown in Fig. 22. It will be noted that the rails are held to the trestles with wedges, so that the whole thing could be stacked away when not required in use. It is interesting to compare the Gothic shaping of the trestles with that of the small stool in Fig. 20.other types two legs only were used, these being built into the centre of the end rails and fitted with cross pieces at the bottom, and were a revival of the pedestal leg used in Gothic times, as exemplified by the Penshurst table on p. 12, except that the bottom was joined by a stretcher and the top had a framing to contain the mechanism of the extension.

ELIZABETHAN
COURT CUPBOARD.
Late z61h century.
love of Elizabethan crafts. This exemplifies well the men for ornament of every
kind. The upper recessed portion is inlaid with various woods such as apple, holly, cherry, bog oak, and stained woods. The carving is typical of
the time, being virile, deep and bold if somewhat barbaric in execution.

SETTLES, CHAIRS, AND STOOLS
It has been already noted that the chest was often used as a seat, and at a time when furniture was scarce one can understand that it would conveniently fulfil the purpose. Just what the first chair was like is doubtful. The writer came across the curious Penitent stool, Fig. 16, in the old church at Fordwich, in Kent, and it may be that a similar structure was used for secular purposes. It is a solid block of oak with a sort of huge notch cut in it to form a seat. The church itself dates from before the Norman Conquest, though the date of the stool itself is uncertain.
The earliest form of seating accommodation was probably evolved from the early planked chest as suggested by the dotted lines in the left hand illustration in Fig. 13. The construction of the two is practically identical, and one can conceive a craftsman of some imagination cutting away the front and back and evolving a long form of the kind in Fig. ig. The only real difference is that in the latter the ends or legs are given a cant to give stability, and are shaped out in Gothic form. Also the long rails are fitted in slots in the legs instead of being nailed to notches at the outside, and the underside is cut away in imitation of the heading of a Gothic arch.
The two stools in Fig. 20 show clearly this stage of development. That to the left is entirely of the planked chest formation, whilst the other has the refinements already noted in the use of slots to contain the side rails and the shaping of the rails and legs.
Just as the framed-up chest replaced the planked type, so a framed construction came to be used for stools. The method used for the one probably gave the suggestion for the other. Fig. 21 shows a stool of this type, and it is interesting to note that the chest idea is still retained in that a box is formed beneath the seat. The carved flutes partly filled with millings are a feature that was used considerably in Elizabethan times and in the following century.
Settles.—Returning to Fig. 13 it will be seen that the development of the settle from the framed-up chest is suggested. It seems a likely theory that this is what happened. The disadvantage of using a chest as a seat must have become obvious, and as men began to make their houses more comfortable and were able to afford more luxury it probably occurred to someone that by suitable adaptation the chest could be made far more comfortable. It meant merely that the back posts would have to be continued up to enable a back framing to be added, and the front posts taken up high enough to provide support for the arms.
The result was the form of settle shown in Fig. 15, which is virtually just a chest with the back and arms above it. The chest portion is retained with the seat acting as a lid. It seems that sometimes the chest was omitted, as shown in Fig. 14, though even here the panelled front is retained.
FIG. 26. SIDE TABLE WITH GOTHIC DETAILS.
Early 16th century.
A piece such as this would probably have stood in the dining hall of a
manor house. It is virtually a chest with the corner posts made extra
long to form legs. The Gothic tracery designs carved In the panels are
pierced right through.
This would be done partly from convention, and partly because it helped to keep away draughts which must have been strongly in evidence in early houses. This illustration is from a small piece of carving cut out of a solid block, and now in South Kensington Museum, and its chief interest from our point of view lies in its showing the form of settle used in the late fifteenth century.
As furniture became more plentiful, and there was no longer the rigid need for economy, the chest portion was eliminated entirely, the under-portion being made up of an open framing of turned legs and stretchers.
Evolution of the Chair.—The development of the chair was identical with that of the settle. It was really just a short chest or box with back and arms above it. That in Fig. 17 shows the early type. It is not suggested that this was the earliest form of chair (forgetting the Fordwich example, Fig. 16), but that the evolution of the domestic chair came about in this way. There is of course the famous coronation chair in Westminster Abbey which dates back to the fourteenth century, and there are various other early Gothic chairs in churches and halls in various parts of the country, but these were made for special purposes and cannot be classed in any way as domestic pieces.
By omitting the lower box portion the chair became less cumbersome, and, as we have noted, the need for economy was not of such importance. A particularly fine example dating from the end of the Tudor Gothic period is that in Fig. 18. It now stands in the museum at South Kensington, and there are several features about it that make a close examination worth while.
Firstly, the back is given a backward rake, a detail that soon occurred to the carpenters once the idea of a chair had been thought of. At first the back had been continued straight up (see the settle in Fig. 14), but any man who has sat in a straight-backed church pew for any length of time will appreciate how really uncomfortable this can become, and a similar conviction must have come into the minds of the early carpenters—or possibly the people who had the chairs made. Consequently the back was made to slope, but the legs were still kept upright, probably because the old convention derived from the chest structure did not suggest the desirability of giving them a corresponding slope.
It is surelya rather remarkable thing that for the whole of the sixteenth century, and for the better part of the next, chairs were still made with straight, upright back legs. One would imagine that it would occur to a man leaning back in a chair that some means might be invented of preventing the chair from tilting right back. It is true that the Elizabethan chairs were heavy, and this would certainly help to counterbalance the weight, but even so there must have been the tendency for a man to topple over backwards, especially when leaning back after a meal, during which the flagon might have passed freely. In the later years of the seventeenth century the heaviness of the chair was no longer an argument, for the chairs had become incomparably lighter and the height of the back had increased !
However, there it was, and in returning to the Elizabethan chair in Fig. 18 we find in it a detail showing that the possibility of an accident had occurred to its maker, in that the lower ends of the back legs are made extra thick at the back to help to prevent the chair from tilting backwards. It was probably the germ of the idea which resulted later in the legs being splayed outwards, though, as we say, it took a long time for it to develop.
Use of Inlay.—The ornamentation of the back brings to notice a form of decoration not yet mentioned, which came into great popularity during the second half of the sixteenth century, that of inlay. This was carried out entirely in the solid. That is, the background was carved out to receive the shaped inlays. All kinds of native woods were used, apple, pear, holly, cherry, and bog oak, and the design, as in the present example, was usually a conventional treatment of naturalesque motifs. Occasionally geometrical designs were used. The solid method should be noted in particular, because later on an entirely different system was evolved.
The shaped arms, terminating with semi-scrolled fronts, are of the kind invariably used in Elizabethan chairs, and it may be noted that chairs without arms are exceptional in the period. It is just another example of how ideas will cling on. Possibly it was felt that the arms gave a certain dignity to the person using the chair, for these were still reserved for the more important people, though they were becoming more plentiful.

TUDOR GOTHIC PLANKED HUTCH.    FIG. 28. FRAMED-UP TUDOR GOTHIC HUTCH.
Early 16th century.    First half 16th century.
Just as there were two systems of construction in the chest, so the early form of cupboard or hutch was made either by single
planks nailed or pegged together as in the left-hand example, or by a much improved method in which there was a framework with
panels fitting in grooves as in the hutch to the right.

Tudor Gothic Period Stools, Chairs and Tables

EVOLUTION OF THE CHEST
We have spoken of the chest as being part of the furnishing of the early house, and we deal with it first, not only because it was a most important piece of furniture, but because so many other pieces were evolved from it. It was used for all sorts of purposes : the storing of clothes or valuables, for a travelling chest, as a seat, or (in the larger sizes) even as a bed. In fact it was its all-round usefulness
that was its great virtue, and accounts for the comparatively large numbers which have survived.
Early Hollowed-out Chests.—In its earliest form it was merely hollowed out of a solid baulk of timber, the lid usually following the line of the trunk in shape and so being rounded. Such chests belong generally to a period before the fourteenth century, after which the more economical method of jointing up timber was evolved. Fig. 2 is an example. It stands in the old church at Harbledown, Kent.
A curious example of how convention sets its stamp on things is shown in the next example, Fig. 3, which exemplifies the next stage in which separate boards were peggedtogether. Note how the lid, although not actually rounded, is raised in the centre and is so a survival of the older hollowed-out solid lid. Another feature of special interest is the way it is hinged. The end pieces into which the lid boards are housed are made extra wide at the back and fit outside the ends of the lower chest portion. Pegs passing through both enable the lid to be raised. It was a system of hingeing (usually termed pin hingeing) which survived until some time during the thirteenth century, when it was replaced by the more convenient metal strap hinges.
Planked Chests.—At the time our story begins—the late fifteenth century—most chests were little more than a series
PROBABLE EVOLUTION OF FORM AND SETTLE.
The construction of the form is practically identical with that of the
planked chest, and it is probable that the one was evolved from the other.
In the same way the early settle was really only a chest with the posts
and back continued upwards.
of four boards nailed or pegged together to form the sides, and a bottom and lid. It was a method of construction about which there was something rather obvious. It was essentially simple, a serious consideration in days when every operation had to be done entirely by hand, and up to a point it served its purpose.
At the same time it had its disadvantages. For one thing it was extremely limited in the form and degree of decoration that could be given (and the Renaissance craftsmen were extremely fond of decoration), and, what was a more serious point, it was not sound structurally. All timber is bound to shrink, and providing the entire shrinkage takes place during the seasoning no harm is done. But this is seldom practicable. A board which has been seasoned for years may still shrink more after it has been worked and built into a piece of furniture.
Now if the grain of these chests is examined (take Fig. 4 for example) it will be seen that that of the front and back runs horizontally from side to side, whereas that of the ends is vertical. As wood always shrinks across the grain, it follows that the front and back are trying to reduce their width but are prevented from doing so by the upright grain
FIG. 18. PANELLED BACK CHAIR DECORATED WITH INLAY AND
CARVING.
About 1600.
A big advancement on the previous chair. The lower part Is open, and
the arms are unpanelled. The back has a definite incline, and, although
back legs are upright, they are made extra thick at the bottom to give
the good stability.
of the ends. As a consequence they have to split, and it is this that accounts for the bad condition in which the fronts of these chests are often found. If the reader turns to P. 21 he will find the point explained yet more fully.
Framed-up Construction.—It was to overcome this fundamental fault that the panelled system of construction was evolved, in which the strength was provided by a frame-work joined at the corners with mortise and tenon joints, the centre portion being filled in with a panel which rested in grooves worked in the inner edges of the framework. The panel was entirely free in the grooves, so that in the event of shrinkage no harm whatever would be done. Fig. 12 shows the idea. It was a system which has remained as a standard practice ever since.
The effect of this new form of construction on the chest is shown in Fig. 5. It is virtually four separate frames except that the legs are part of both front and sides. The
FIG. 19. LONG FORM WITH GOTHIC SHAPINGS.
Early 16th century.
This was the usual seating accommodation for the majority of people.
In a hall there might be one chair, the seat of honour for the principal
person (hence the term “chairman “), but forms or stools were good
enough for the others.
bad effects of shrinkage are eliminated, since the panels are free to shrink.
Whilst still on this subject of panelling, it is instructive to note that the width of the individual panels was seldom more than that of a single board, this saving the necessity of jointing. It is a useful point to remember because it accounts for the comparatively narrow panels found in early oak work.
TREATMENT OF PANELS
Linenfold Panels.—A favourite method of embellishing the panels of these chests was to carve them in the linenfold pattern as in Fig. 5, and many ingenious theories have been put forward to account for the origin of this device. That it was carved to represent a piece of folded linen is un-doubtedly true, but it probably owed its origin to a practical reason, especially as the earlier patterns were of simple form, just an ogee-shaped section, thin at the edges and rising to a point at the centre.
Most early oak was riven, that is, the log was cleft at the end with a wedge and so forced apart. The method was far less laborious than sawing, and it was stronger since it followed the natural line of cleavage. Fig. 9 shows the
FIG. 20. SIMPLE TUDOR GOTHIC STOOLS.
Early 16th century.
Note that the Gothic shaping of the uprights in the stool to the right is
similar to that in the long form in Fig. 19.
FIG. 21. ELIZABETHAN BOX
STOOL.
Late 16th century.
A small box space is formed beneath the seat, the latter acting as a lid.
process. At the same time the boards were not so straight and the surface was liable to have ridges in it. These ridges may have suggested the lines of the folded linen, and in any case the edges had to be reduced in thickness to enable them to fit in the grooves of the framing. Thus it seems to be a case of the craftsmen making the most of the peculiarities of the material, and adapting the design to suit the natural formation.
The enlarged illustration on p. IS shows a linenfold pattern in closer details in which the wood is cut thin at the sides to enable it to enter the grooves. This cutting-away forms a part of the design. Note also that the recessing of the groundwork at top and bottom to throw the folds into relief answers the same purpose.
Curved Rib Panels.—Another form of decoration was what is usually termed the curved rib design, an example of which is also given on p. 18. It probably owed its origin to the same causes as the linenfold. If the two illustrations C and D are compared it will be seen that the linenfold has the same downward curve in the ends of the folds at the top. The only fundamental difference is the introduction of the centre fold. The thinning of the edges occurs in both, and the riving of the timber would make it suitable for either one or the other in accordance with the amount of timber left by the cleavage. In fact it may be that the craftsman decided which treatment he would give after the timber had been riven. Or, alternatively, assuming that he had some timber already riven, he would select that which was the more suitable for the design he had in mind.
Tracery Designs.—This, however, is largely theory, and we may now turn to yet another kind of panel, the origin of which is more certain. This is the traceried panel of which two examples are given on p. 18. They were taken from the Gothic traceried windows which were a common feature of buildings of the period. Generally they were pierced right through, and this had the advantage of providing ventilation for such items as were used for storing food. When this was undesirable, for instance in the front of an ordinary chest, the ” window ” portions were just recessed, leaving the ribs standing up in high relief.
It is sometimes argued that the ecclesiastical appearance of these chests suggests that they were made originally for a church, but this is by no means necessarily the case. That the traceried designs were similar to the work found in churches is true, but it must be remembered the same thing applied to all secular work, because there was no other style than the Gothic. The Gothic style was evolved chiefly from the building of churches, but secular work followed on precisely the same lines.
Renaissance Designs.—The panel at E on p. 19 is of particular interest in that it shows the beginning of the new spirit the Renaissance brought with it. It is true that there are features about it that are reminiscent of the Gothic, but the main design is something outside what the latter pro-duced. It was probably a case of a man brought up in the Gothic tradition feeling his way rather cautiously in an unfamiliar element. It is somewhat meaningless in the treatment of the upper scrolls terminating in the horizontal band with the leafwork sprouting below, and one has the feeling that here was a man to whom new ideas were suggested but who was uncertain what to make with them.
Romayne Panels.—Another basic motif found in early Renaissance work was the Romayne panel, which consisted of a wreath of leafwork encircling the carved representation of a head, usually in profile. Such designs were often found on buildings, for instance, in the Gateway of Hampton Court Palace, and they provided a rich field for the carver’s fancy. Sometimes they were purely mythological head pieces, often of Roman origin, the head having the wreath of victory around the brow. On the other hand, these busts were often carved as a portrait of the person for whom the chest was made, and one can imagine the self-sufficiency of the owner as he would point out the likeness to his friends—though to judge from some of them the result could hardly have been flattering.
We have gone into the details found on these chests at some length because they form the basis upon which ornament of the time was built up. First the Gothic tracery or the linenfold, then the curious intermixture of the Renaissance with the Gothic, and finally the purer Renaissance, if such a term may be applied to a style which was handled in so free a way. Whatever its merits as a design, however, it had this about it, that it was extremely virile and spirited in its execution. A man came across this and that motif, and he worked on them with a complacent disregard for their true meaning and gave of his best in dealing with them. The result was the production of the style we know as Tudor Gothic.
At this point we may leave the chest for the time being. That made during the last phase of the period, that cf Elizabeth, was similar to that in Fig. 5, except that the linen-fold device was replaced by Renaissance details, and the framing was usually more or less elaborately carved. We shall pick up the thread again when we come to the next chapter dealing with the Jacobean times.

Mid 16th century.    About 1530•
FIG. 7. TUDOR GOTHIC PANELS WITH RENAISSANCE
INFLUENCE.

TRESTLE TABLE WITH GOTHIC LINES.
First half 16th century.
These tables were made specially so that they could be taken to pieces
and stacked away flat. The withdrawal of the wedges enabled the rails
to be pulled away clear of the trestle ends.
FIG. 23. DRAW TABLE OF ELIZABETH’S DAYS.
Second half 16th century.
This is the earliest form of extending table, and it is still the most reliable.
The extending leaves rest beneath the main top, and as they are pulled
out they are caused to rise by means of tapering bearers beneath.

USING THE RIVING IRON TO CONVERT TIMBER,
The iron was placed at the end of the timber and struck with the ” beetle to enter it. It was then levered over so that the timber was split.
FIG. 10. THE ADZE.
This was used to clean
the surface after cut-
ting out.
FIG. 11. SCRATCH TOOL.
The chief purpose of this was to work
mouldings. It was simply worked
back and forth.
FIG. 8. CUTTING OUT TIM-
BER WITH THE PIT SAW.
The man at the top was in
control, and it was his job to see
that the saw kept to the line.
He was called the top sawyer.
The man in the pit simply helped
to supply the power.

CARVING OF
FIGURES SEATED ON
A SETTLE.
Late i5th century.
Although the whole thing measures only some IS In. in height, it is of special Interest in that it shows the type of settle in use at the time it was carved. Note the linenfold panels, and the way in which the front framework reaches
right to the floor.

FIG. 16. PENITENT STOOL FROM
FORDWICH CHURCH, KENT.
Date uncertain, but probably earlier than i5th century.
The construction of this is crude in the
extreme. It is simply a solid piece of timber
with the upper part chopped out to form
the seat and back.
FIG. 17. EARLY FORM
OF PANELLED CHAIR
WITH LOWER BOX
PORTION.
First half 16th century.
The general form is
similar to that of the
settle shown in Fig. 15,
and the idea was prob-
ably prompted by the
chest. The back In this
case has a slight slope,
though in many similar
chairs it was quite
upright.

TUDOR GOTHIC PERIOD
S0 few examples of English domestic furniture dating from a period earlier than the accession of Henry VIII exist, that for the purpose of this book there is little purpose served in going back earlier than the end of the fifteenth century, except to see how what had gone before influenced the woodwork that was to come. The longer the period that elapses, the greater the chances of destruction and decay, and the troublous times through which this country went in the Middle Ages certainly enabled destruction to carry out its work of waste. An army marching through an enemy country would spare little that came its way, and even in peaceful times the outbreak of fire must have been an ever-present source of danger. Domestic houses were invariably built of timber, and, as the fire on the open hearth was never or seldom allowed to go out, being just fanned to a flame every morning, the chances of the building catching fire must have been high.
Apart from this, however, furniture was a rare commodity in those days. Even in the larger houses the hall would contain little more than a large table, a chair for the owner of the house, forms and stools for the rest of the household, a cupboard of some sort, and a chest. In the chief sleeping room there would be a bed, a chest to hold clothes, and possibly a cupboard or press. The sleeping rooms for the less important people might contain little more than a mattress or even just a couch of rushes. Smaller houses were furnished on a correspondingly smaller scale, so that it becomes clear that the chances of survival were extremely small.
The closing years of the fifteenth century mark the beginning of a change in conditions. The accession of Henry VII had brought to an end the long period of strife known as the Wars of the Roses, and with the feeling of comparative security men began to find time to turn their attention to their houses. There could have been but little encouragement for a man to beautify his house when he knew that it might be burnt over his head either by the first party of soldiers that came marching through, or by a band of insurgents such as that headed by Jack Cade. His first thought would have been to fortify it against attack. It was not until warfare came to an end that he felt justified in making, or was able to make, himself more comfortable. Not that the change came quickly. The wars had bled the country of its manhood so that many a man who might have spent his life peaceably in making useful things was pressed into the service of his local lord to fight on whichever side happened to be in favour locally.
Coming of the Renaissance.—Nevertheless the coming of peace did encourage the development of the home as distinct from the fortified house, and, what was equally important, it set the stage, as it were, for that remarkable influence, the Renaissance, which was to sweep across the country during the sixteenth century. It is an extraordinary thing that men can be carried off their feet, so to speak, by an intangible thing like this Renaissance. It is hard to find a name by which to call it. It was just a great influence which was to leave its mark on all the arts and crafts, and alter even the very lives of men.
To understand it fully one must realise that hitherto the crafts had been dominated entirely by the Gothic. Men knew no other style. In architecture it had developed from the Norman at the end of the twelfth century, and had become almost a creed, the absolutism of which it were heresy to doubt. It was in fact closely bound up with the church, which had been the seat of learning and the consequent fountain-head of ideas and knowledge ever since the coming of the Normans. Every monastery had its group of stonemasons, carpenters, carvers, and so on.
The carpenters engaged on secular work had only one source from which to draw their ideas, the church, and a man called upon to make, say, a chest simply copied whatever detail he might find in a building, often with the most delightful disregard for its true meaning. Thus one often finds details used in woodwork which belong entirely to the technique of stone masonry.
The point we wish to make clear is that until the coming Tudor Gothic Period
of the Renaissance all the woodwork was entirely Gothic in detail, form, and construction and as a consequence, when new ideas began to filter through, men did not know quite what to make of them, and they became little more than a grafting of Renaissance detail to a groundwork of Gothic.
This will become more obvious when we come to examine individual pieces.
It was a condition that was aggravated by the fact that the early workers did not understand the spirit of the Renaissance. They regarded the details as just so many motifs to be used in any convenient way that suggested itself, and the result was often a curious mixture. It must be remembered that the Renaissance was a thing that filtered through from abroad. It was entirely new. It was not like the Gothic,which was a natural development on lines which were built up on experience. It will be recognised by the use of the
Roman orders of architecture (often wrongly applied), the intricately interwoven strapwork, carved egg and tongue mouldings, and all the many other details that had belonged to Rome in its glory.

OLD CHEST IN CHURCH AT HARBLEDOWN.
Probably 13th century.
The lid is hollowed out of a solid baulk of timber, the curve approximating to that of the tree trunk from which it was cut.
CHEST WITH PIN-HINGED LID.
Probably 15th century.
Although probably made In the fifteenth century, the construction
is typical of an earlier period. All the wood is cleft and finished
with the adze.

FIG. 4. PLANKED CHEST WITH CARVED FRONT
Early 16th century.
This exemplifies the early simple construction in which the front and
back are merely nailed to the sides. The carving is purely Gothic in
character.
FIG. 5. FRAMED-UP CHEST WITH LINENFOLD PANELS.
Early 16th century.
Here the panels are held in the grooves of a framework and are so free to
shrink without danger of their splitting. Compare with chest above.