[10]. Metal furniture, however, was known to the ancients. To quote a single example, in the palace of King Ahasuerus, “the beds were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and black marble.” The Assyrian furniture was of gold, silver, and bronze, and splendid furniture of gold, silver, and bronze, likewise adorned the Egyptian and Roman palaces and villas. The Romans d’aventure of the Middle Ages contain descriptions of such rich furniture, inspired by Oriental luxury.
[11]. In the anthemion, the springing point is the base, and the units arrange themselves on either side of a central member, and form a bi-symmetrical figure. This anthemion type of form is met with in almost every style and period of art. The anthemion is sometimes called the honeysuckle pattern. It is an old dogma that the decorative form was suggested by this plant; but its more or less remote resemblance to the buds of the honeysuckle is accidental, not incidental; and the charm, both in nature and in art, is the inherent beauty of a mass of radiating and upspringing forms, instinct with the suggestion of vitality and growth. Hulme, The Birth and Development of Ornament. London, 1893.
[12]. “A cantonnière is a piece of material almost always of Gobelin or Aubusson tapestry, which, hanging flat in the manner of a lambrequin, has two hangings or tails falling down the sides and forming a kind of frame for the curtains beneath. Sometimes these two hangings are held back by hooks which give the effect of curtains; cantonnières for the decoration of beds are also made. The richness, the delicacy and the good design of tapestry can give much value to this kind of decoration. The narrow curtains of less fullness that are called bonnes grâces are an imitation of the cantonnières, an imitation that is demanded by economy rather than the principles of decoration.” Deville, Dictionnaire du Tapissier, Paris, 1878–1880.
[13]. In 1726, these curtains were used to upholster some furniture for the Queen’s apartments at St. Cyr.
[14]. All of the draperies of this niche, like the alcove curtains already described, were used in 1726 to cover a chair, a lit de repos and four folding-seats as well as three portières for the Queen’s apartment at St. Cyr.
QUEEN ANNE PERIOD
QUEEN ANNE PERIOD
