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.