SUPPLEMENTARY READING
| French Furniture | A. Saglio |
| A History of English Furniture | Percy Macquoid |
| French Furniture in the Eighteenth Century | Lady Dilke |
| Colonial Furniture in America | Luke Vincent Lockwood |
| English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century | Herbert Cescinsky |
| Furniture | Esther Singleton |
| French and English Furniture | Esther Singleton |
| The Furniture Designs of Thomas Chippendale | J. Munro Bell |
ANTIQUE CHEST—THIRTEENTH CENTURY
FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
Old Furniture
ONE
People have always used furniture; but the kind of furniture we use today is of comparatively recent origin. Wood, ivory, precious stones, bronze, silver, and gold have been used from earliest times in the construction and for the decoration of furniture, but modern furniture is a development of little more than four centuries.
Furniture has always varied in kind and style, according to the needs and customs of its users. There are few examples left of really ancient furniture. This is due partly to the perishable materials used in its making, and partly to the fact that the people of olden times had little furniture of any kind. Even the poorest home of today is better supplied with some household appliances than the most aristocratic house of splendid Egypt, tasteful Greece, or luxurious Rome.
And in the long period between the destruction of these ancient civilizations and the Renaissance the making of furniture developed very little. The rulers of Egypt were as well housed as the early kings of England. Household furnishings were the privilege of the great alone. No person of mean degree could or would dare to have used a chair—one of the commonest objects in every modern home. Active people, as they were, living much in the open air, they needed but benches on which to sit at meals, and beds on which to sleep. Our luxuries were not only unknown, but unnecessary to them.
The Egyptians used wooden furniture, carved and gilded; they also used chests in which to keep things. The tables and couches of the Assyrians were inlaid with ivory and precious metals. The wood used was mostly cedar and ebony. Solomon’s bed was of cedar of Lebanon. The furniture of Greece was oriental in form, and from this the Romans absorbed many ideas. The Roman tables were of marbles or rare woods. They used gold and silver plentifully, even cooking utensils being made of these precious metals.
Most medieval furniture of Italian make was richly gilded and painted. In the north of Europe carved oak was used to a greater extent. The feudal halls were furnished with benches carved and paneled. Chests of oak or Italian cypress were used as receptacles for clothes and tapestries. The oak coffer with wrought iron bands shown in the picture is of French make, of the latter half of the thirteenth century.
The Renaissance made a great change in furniture making. Cabinets and paneling were done in the outlines of palaces and temples. In Florence, Rome, Venice, and Milan there began on a large scale the manufacture of sumptuous cabinets, tables, chairs, and chests. Spain, France, and Germany soon followed the fashion, and in England Henry VIII greatly encouraged the art of furniture making.
Then came the great period of furniture, the eighteenth century. From being massive and exceedingly scarce and costly, furniture became light, plentiful, and cheap.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30
LOUIS XIV ARMCHAIR
FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
Boulle and Marot
TWO
There was no limit to the prices a reckless and profligate court was willing to pay for luxurious beauty during the sumptuous, extravagant reign of Louis the Magnificent of France. For much that was most splendid and beautiful in furniture making at this period stands the name of Charles André Boulle. His imagination and skill were given full play, and he proved equal to the demands made upon him.
Boulle was a remarkable man. In a court whose only thought was of pleasure and display, he realized that his furniture must not only excel all others in richness, beauty, and cost; it must also be both comfortable and useful. He was appointed cabinet maker to the Dauphin, the heir to the throne of France. This distinction, together with his own tastes, led him to copy some of the manners and bearing of his rich customers.
He was an aristocrat among furniture makers. He spent the greater part of his large fortune in filling his workshop with works of art. His warehouses were packed with precious woods and finished and unfinished pieces of magnificent furniture. In his own rooms were priceless works of art, the collection of a lifetime—gems, medals, drawings, and paintings, which included forty-eight drawings by Raphael.
Boulle’s ruin came in a single night. When he was seventy-eight years old all his property was destroyed by fire. His loss was not only of fortune, but of reputation as well; for when he was down and out he resorted to tricks and questionable dealings which brought him many lawsuits. He died in debt and poverty, a discredited and broken man.
The English court vied with France in its extravagance, and heaped honors and wealth on the man who, like Boulle, in France, was foremost among designers of furniture in that country. The authorities on fine furniture frequently speak of Marot’s work in connection with that of the great Boulle. Daniel Marot was the son of Jean Marot, an architect and engraver. After he went to England with William III he principally concentrated his talent upon the adornment of Hampton Court Palace. Much of the furniture at Hampton Court bears unmistakable traces of his authorship. At Windsor Castle also there is a silver table that is attributed to him.
Marot’s work differs from that of Boulle in that he inserted, in medallion form, pictorial subjects in a heavy framework of ornament. In other pieces the inlay took the form of geometrical, floral, and animal patterns, combined with the warmer and more beautiful tints of the exotic woods. The whole was marked by an unsurpassed degree of excellence in workmanship.
Besides furniture, Marot designed carved chimney pieces, panels for walls, ceilings, and wall brackets. He was also famous as a designer of gold and silver plate, and he even made tea urns and cream jugs.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30
LOUIS XV SIDEBOARD—MADE BY RIESENER
FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
J. H. Riesener
THREE
The early years of the life of Jean Henri Riesener would seem to indicate that he was born under a lucky star. But long before his death, at the age of seventy-one, in the first decade of the nineteenth century, his star had set. Before the outbreak of the French Revolution he commanded enormous prices for his work. One small table that he constructed is said to have been sold for more than a thousand dollars. Yet in his old age he was only saved from utter ruin by his son, a portrait painter.
Œben, the famous and successful furniture maker, under whom Riesener served as an apprentice, died and left, besides a young and handsome widow, one of the largest workshops in Paris and a large fortune. The young man promptly married the widow, and upon her death, six years later, came into possession of both the property and the fortune. Three years later he married the daughter of a citizen of Paris; but again his marriage proved of short duration, for after a few stormy years of wedded life he took refuge in the new divorce laws of the country, and returned again to the state of single blessedness.
Œben, his master, had been commissioned by King Louis XV of France to make a bureau. King Louis was called the “well beloved,” although he was really hated by the majority of his subjects. This bureau contributed greatly to Riesener’s fame; for its construction took three years, and, Œben having died in the meantime, his pupil completed it.
The massive bronze doors of this royal bureau were ornamented with elaborate and intricately modeled figures, and the whole was fashioned after a complete and perfect miniature model. The degree of craftsmanship that was brought to bear upon this historical piece of furniture was of such a character that a second bureau, built similarly, was begun and completed by a competitor before the original was finished.
Riesener became a greater artist than his teacher, Œben, and was recognized as one of the leading furniture makers of his time. His great activity is shown by the quantity and elaborate detail of the furniture he made.
At the beginning of the French Revolution evil days came upon Riesener. Those wealthy customers who did not flee and escaped the guillotine were made bankrupt. In 1793 he held a sale of his prized collection of furniture; but he was forced to buy most of it back himself. A little later he tried again to realize some money on the furniture; but this also was a failure.
His son, who had joined the army, returned to Paris and saved the aged furniture maker from starvation.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30
INTERIOR SHOWING THREE CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS
FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
Thomas Chippendale
FOUR
A young art student came to a furniture shop in London and the talk was of beauty of line, the dignity of proportion, and the introduction of mahogany in the manufacture of furniture. The art student afterward became Sir Joshua Reynolds, the world famed painter. The furniture maker was Thomas Chippendale, known as “King of the Eighteenth Century Furniture Designers.” And to these early friendly talks and arguments Chippendale attributes his reputation as a master of line and a genius of proportion.
Before the time of Chippendale most of the furniture was made of the heavier native woods, such as walnut or oak. Mahogany made a powerful appeal to him, because of its highly polished surface and the exquisite beauty of the wood itself; for the young cabinet maker who came up to London from Worcestershire had a passionate love of beauty and he was a master workman. From his father, who had achieved considerable local fame, he inherited this love, and he had learned how to make the wood carvings that are characteristic of his designs.
After a fire he converted four adjacent dwelling houses into a shop, which was situated on St. Martins Lane, in the fashionable section of London; and because he protested against the amount of his taxes it seems probable he was prosperous. Moreover, he belonged to the Society of Arts, with Gibbon the historian, Richardson the novelist, Dr. Johnson the lexicographer, and Horace Walpole the politician. If you add to this that he married in 1748 and died in 1779, there is summed up practically all there is known of Thomas Chippendale himself.
Chippendale made beautiful furniture. He was recognized by both the nobility and gentry, not only as an authority on the subject, but as an artist. He was probably better known as a designer of chairs than of any other form of furniture. Chippendale was familiar with artistic designs in Japan, Italy, and Spain, and was ready always to take ideas from the humble as well as the great, as is shown from the fact that subscribers to his book, “The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director,” range from the Duke of Northumberland to a local bricklayer. A large part of his reputation is attributed to this book, which was not so much a guide to his finished productions as an outline of the designs he would like to make. And these designs have served as a guide to furniture makers ever since.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30
LOUIS XVI CHAIR, WITH BEAUVAIS TAPESTRY
FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
Thomas Sheraton
FIVE
At forty years of age Thomas Sheraton was a poverty-pinched journeyman cabinet maker and Baptist preacher in Stockton-on-Tees. Then in 1790 he went to London, where he found even a greater poverty, but where he made for himself as a designer of furniture a name that will last as long as the world loves beautiful things. The fifteen remaining years of his life were tragically sad.
Sheraton’s knowledge was gained through years of hardship and privation. He lived to see his chosen art reach its zenith, and then to see it fall away. He had scarce perfected his creations when they were overwhelmed by a wave of bad taste that swept much beauty from English furniture.
When Sheraton reached London he hadn’t enough money to set up shop, much less to employ skilled workmen. So, instead of making furniture, he wrote about it, varying this occasionally by writing sermons or tracts. He made little money, but many enemies, for he had a bitter tongue.
Adam Black, afterward the famous publisher, was then a printer’s apprentice, and lived for a time in Sheraton’s humble home. “The night I arrived,” Black wrote, “there were but two cups and saucers, one of which I used, Sheraton’s wife sharing her young daughter’s porridge bowl.”
Black published Sheraton’s “Encyclopedia of Furniture.” This brought Sheraton some fame, but little food. The big work showed the great range and variety of Sheraton’s art.
We love his furniture for its finely curved surfaces, graceful sweeps of sideboards and cabinets reflecting the light. Aside from its beauty, Sheraton’s furniture was essentially practical—sometimes in most original fashion. For example, he invented a summer bed, divided in the center so as to give a greater circulation of air. There was likewise a hollow-front sideboard that became popular for the ease with which a butler could reach across for a stray glass or piece of china ware. His “conversation chair” was designed for the beaux of Georgian times, whose coat-tails were too costly to be sat upon. The proper position in this chair was for the sitter to face the back of the chair, with his arm resting on the top rail, so that his coat-tails could hang. The so-called “Pouch Table,” much beloved today by neat housewives, was Sheraton’s invention. It was a work table with a pouch of silk on each side.
Besides his great book, Sheraton got up a handbook for the benefit of his brother craftsmen, in which he gave in a helpful manner minute descriptions of his various pieces. The spirit that prompted him to do this was the finest thing in Sheraton’s nature. He had his faults. He was narrow, self-centered, and bitterly resentful of the success of others, but he believed it to be a man’s duty to give to the world the benefit of his full knowledge, and he sacrificed himself through life to do this.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30
LOUIS XVI CABINET
FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
George Heppelwhite
SIX
George Heppelwhite was one of the great names in furniture making. His wife published after his death a book, “The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, or Repository of Design for Every Article of Household Furniture in the Newest and Most Approved Taste,” on which his reputation rests. This book went through three editions in 1788, two years after the author’s own death.
The designs in his book are characterized by comfort rather than artificiality. With this is combined great technical excellence and extreme lightness and durability. Curiously, however, these designs are not all of equal value. Some are as good as the best work of any era, while others are most commonplace.
Although even at that time tea cost five dollars a pound, its use had become very popular throughout England. Heppelwhite introduced many articles that had to do with the tea service. Many peculiarly constructed and choice urn stands, tea trays, chests, and caddies are attributed to him.
Heppelwhite’s furniture had an interesting characteristic. The legs tapered delicately on the inside faces only, and were finished with a square foot. This gave the impression of grit and power to otherwise fragile furniture.
There were several stock designs, or ornaments, of which this furniture maker made frequent use. He was particularly fond of inserting ovals in the backs of his chairs. Frequently a carved ear of corn was used as a decoration. Heppelwhite also made abundant use of a Prince of Wales feather in delicate carving, combined with an inlay of colored woods. This use of the royal plume was attributed to his loyalty to the Prince of Wales. It was conclusive proof of the popularity of the Prince’s party when the illness of George III caused such national strife.
The fact that Heppelwhite was accused by his enemies of plagiarism does not detract a bit from his real position. It shows rather that, like all real artists, he remained a student until the close of his career. He never disdained to profit by the experience and teachings of others, even those less eminent than himself.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30