Fig. 224—English; Fifteenth Century. (P.)
The construction of furniture and the panelling of chests began to exhibit some workmanlike appearances of good carpentry. Panels were placed in framework that was mortised and fastened with wooden pegs, which became the universal method of panelling throughout the Gothic period. Room panelling came into use in England in the early part of the thirteenth century, when pine timber was used at first for this work, but was displaced later by the more substantial oak. This oak panelling during the Gothic periods was often carved with elaborate tracery of an architectural character (Figs. 222, 223), and a common design was a carved imitation of a carefully folded textile, known as the “linen panel” (Fig. 224).
Fig. 225.—Dining Room; Fifteenth Century. (P.)
Chests were used as tables, and the tops had inlaid checkers to be used as chessboards. They were also used as sideboards on which to place dishes of food, the dining-table being a board which was placed on trestles, that could be removed and packed away when not required (Figs. 225, 226). A cross-legged chair and a three-legged stool is shown at Fig. 228, which were common shapes in the fourteenth century. The illustration, Fig. 227, is that of a bedroom of the same period, and is taken from an English manuscript of the date of 1400. For these illustrations, and many others on the subject of furniture, we are indebted to the work of Mr. J. H. Pollen on “Furniture and Woodwork.” The bed in the latter illustration has a flat canopy, or tester, with embroidered hangings. The walls of the room are panelled, and the floor is in checkered parquetry. There is a curious seat that is partly an open press, with pottery, and metal vases placed as decoration on the top.
Fig. 226.—Dining Table on Trestles; Fourteenth Century. (P.)
Fig. 227.—Bedroom Interior; 1400. (P.)