ANTIQUE: EGYPT, ASSYRIA, GREECE, AND ROME.
The furniture of the antique nations has been noticed in some instances in the former volume of this work, especially in the cases of Egyptian and Assyrian examples, where fortunately we can point out the many representations of it that occur on the bas-reliefs. It is from these that we chiefly form an opinion as to how the palaces and interiors must have been furnished, for, owing to the great lapse of time, nearly every vestige of furniture of these old nations has passed away.
The British Museum and the Louvre contain a few Egyptian chairs or seats that have been made in ebony and ivory, which owe their preservation to the lasting nature of the material.
Two Egyptian chairs or thrones are illustrated at Figs. 146 and 147, in the first part of this work, and a wooden coffer at Fig. 149. At Fig. 148 carpenters are represented as occupied in chair making, the feet and legs of the chairs being designed from animals’ limbs, and the stools on which the workmen are sitting are blocks of wood hollowed out at the top. The Egyptian couch was of a straight-lined design in the body with a curved head like an ordinary sofa, the legs, feet, and other salient points being carved with heads, feet, and tails of animals. Some boxes and coffers with gable tops dovetailed together, small toilet boxes having carved or painted decoration, and mummy cases of cedar-wood having elaborate hieroglyphic decorations, may be seen in the British Museum and in the Louvre. Chariot and horse furniture are well represented in the reliefs and wall paintings. Egypt was famed for chariot building, and exported them in trade to the surrounding nations. We read that King Solomon imported his war-chariots from Egypt.
Fig. 207.—Assyrian Throne.
Fig. 208.—Assyrian Seat.
If examples of Egyptian furniture are scarce, the furniture of Assyria is practically non-existent, as the climate of the latter country was not so dry or preservative as that of Egypt, so that all examples that have not been wilfully destroyed have long ago perished. Many ornaments of bronze and of ivory decorations have been discovered that have been used as mountings to feet, ends or legs of seats, chairs, or thrones. The bas-reliefs of the latter enable us to form a fairly accurate judgment of the nature and style of Assyrian furniture, the decoration of which was of a heavier and coarser character than that of the more elegant Egyptian (Figs. 207 and 208). Forms and parts of animals were used by the Assyrians and nearly all Oriental nations as furniture decorations. The human figure was used also, but generally in the representation of slaves or conquered peoples, who were degraded to the position of bearing the weight of the seat or throne of the monarch (see Persian throne, Fig. 256, first vol., from Persepolis, which was an adaptation from an Assyrian throne). The Egyptian chairs had also carved human figures as captives tied under the seat (Figs. 146, 147, first vol.).
Fig. 209.—Greek Chair.
The furniture of the Hebrews was doubtless of the same kind as the Assyrian. From the description of King Solomon’s throne it was apparently similar to those of the Assyrian kings. It had lions for the arm supports, and had six lions in gold and ivory on the six steps on either side of the throne.
In the manufacture of the furniture of the nations of antiquity the principal materials were—in woods, ebony, rosewood, walnut, pine, teak, and, above all, cedar-wood; ivory, gold, silver, bronze, and electrum were also much used for inlays and for solid mountings.
The furniture and the chariots of the Greeks in their early period were simply copied from Egyptian and Asiatic sources, with less of the animal forms and more of plant forms as decorative details (Figs. 209, 210). Folding stools and chairs were made in wood and in metal, and the backs of the chairs were upright, or nearly so couches resembling modern sofas, elaborate footstools, and arm-chairs with sphinxes for the arms were made by the Greeks (Figs. 210, 212).
Fig. 210.—Greek Folding Stools and Chairs, &c.
Fig. 211.—Greek Chair.
In the British Museum are some small models of Greek chairs made in lead, and wooden boxes showing the dovetail construction.
In the later Greek periods the furniture was inlaid with ivory, ebony, gold, and silver. Tripods were made of bronze, and had ornamented legs in the shapes of the limbs of lions, leopards, and sphinxes. The Roman bronze tripods were very similar to the Grecian ones in design, and were not only used for sacred purposes in the temples, but also to support braziers for heating purposes, or for burning perfumes in the houses of private people (Fig. 213).
Fig. 212.—Greek Couches and Sofa.
Hand-mirrors and cistæ were made in great quantities in bronze or in other metal alloys, in silver, and sometimes in gold. The mirrors were polished on the face, and had often rich designs of figure subjects. The Greek cistæ were cylindrical metal boxes that rested on feet designed from those of various animals, having a lid or cover, with a handle or knot usually of figure design, the whole surface of the body being covered with engraved figure compositions and ornamental borders. They were probably used to contain jewellery and trinkets. Some very fine specimens of these hand-mirrors and cistæ may be seen in the British Museum.
Fig. 213.—Bronze Tripod, Greco-Roman.
Fig. 214.—Folding Tripod, Roman.
The furnishing of the houses of the Romans was very much of the same character as that of the Greeks and Etruscans, from whom the Romans inherited all their arts.
Fig. 215.—Roman Bronze Candelabra.
The interior plan and aspects of the Roman houses were such as those of Pompeii and Herculaneum, described in the first vol. Tables and tripods of bronze or braziers were supported on three legs, some of which were made with hinges for folding purposes (Fig. 214), and others were of sphinx and animal forms of a rich design (Fig. 213). Lamp-stand designs were quaint and elegant and were made in bronze (Fig. 215). Candelabra of architectural design were carved in marble and were from six to ten feet in height (Fig. 217).
Fig. 216.—Roman Tables.
Fig. 217.—Marble Candelabrum, Roman.
The Romans highly prized and paid good sums for tables that were made from the pollard cross grain of different hard woods in which the knots and grain showed to advantage, the beauty of the wood being brought out by hand-polishing and by staining it with various coloured dyes. Bird’s-eye maple and the wood of the cedrus atlantica were much prized. The smaller tables, abaci, rested usually on one foot—monopodium—and larger tables had three or four legs, which had ivory claws or heads of animals as carved decoration (Fig. 216). Boxwood, beech, and palm, inlaid with ivory, ebony, and precious metals, were used in the materials of chairs and couches. The latter were also made in bronze (Fig. 218), and chairs of state were carved in marble, one of this kind being in the Louvre, a cast of which is now in the Kensington Museum (Fig. 219). The form of the Roman curule chair was like the letter X, and was so called because it could be folded and carried easily in the curules or chariots. It was used from the earliest times of the Romans down to modern days in Italy, and was often constructed of elephants’ tusks, wood, or metal, with ivory feet. The curule chairs were carried about for outdoor use and for the theatre. The sella or bisellium, to seat two persons, was often a very ornate kind of seat with turned legs similar to the couches (Fig. 220).
In the houses of the Romans a separate room or wardrobe was fitted up to keep the dresses and clothes of the family; this room had cupboards with doors and shelves, drawers, and lockers.
Fig. 218.—Couch in Bronze, Roman.
Portable coffers and chests were used, in which they packed their clothes and valuables when carrying them to and from their town and country houses. The Roman furniture and wooden construction of their houses were decorated with paintings and carvings of animals’ heads, limbs, and feet, and with figures of heroes and masks, as well as with the usual architectural acanthus foliage. Veneering of woods was an art in which the Romans were skilled; both small and large designs or pictures in tarsia work were the chief decorations of the best furniture.
Fig. 219.—Marble Chair, Roman.
Fig. 220.—Roman Sella or Bisellium.