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.