Fig. 234.—Italian Work; Sixteenth Century. (P.)
In the Kensington Museum there is an extensive collection of Italian cassoni embracing all the above varieties. Chairs carved and gilt of the same style and period as the coffers were usually placed between the rows of the latter in the halls of the Italian palaces (Fig. 235). These chairs had their backs and legs richly carved, each part being made out of a single slab of wood.
The pair of bellows (Fig. 234) is a further illustration of the design and excellence of workmanship as shown in the work of the wood carvers of Italy in the sixteenth century, or “Cinquecento” period.
Another fine specimen of wood carving is the Italian stool (Fig. 236) of the same date, which is remarkable for its delicacy of treatment.
Another form of chair of a rectangular character, with or without arms, having an embossed leather or velvet covering on the back and seat, with turned and carved legs and rails, was made in Italy about this time (Fig. 237); it was much used subsequently in Spain, France, and in England, and has continued to be in favour down to the present day.
Cabinets were made in Italy and in France in which slabs of beautifully coloured and veined marbles and rare stones were inserted as panels in various shapes, to which the name of “pietra-dura” work has been given. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries painted plaques of porcelain took the place of these marbles.
In England, France, Spain, and Germany, the great houses, both private and religious, and the king’s palaces were elaborately furnished, and kept in a state of great splendour.
Fig. 235.—Chair; Italian; Sixteenth Century. (P.)