Charles R. Richards

“ 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. ”

“ Where walnut was still used, as in the case of chairs, it was generally gilded or enameled. The chair and the canape or sofa stand out as among the most successful achievements of the Louis XVI designers. Simple as to structural lines, their details were worked out with scrupulous care and, from fluted tapering legs to the carved frames inclosing the beautiful tapestry backs, they represent extreme elegance and consistency of style.
Toward the end of the reign of Louis XVI the quality of furniture design degenerated. ”

“ It is rather surprising to find how late a development furniture is in the modern sense. Up to the seventeenth century chairs were far from common. Outside of the large and heavy armchairs reserved for the head of the family, benches, chests, and stools were the only seats in all but the wealthiest households. Before the sixteenth century fixed tables were unusual. Dining tables were almost always composed of a set of boards placed upon trestles at mealtime. Going a little further back to the fourteenth century we find furniture, even in castles of the nobility, of the scantiest and simplest. ”

“ Heavy and unimaginative as most of the Empire pieces seem, it can at least be said that they are more consistent and satisfying than the inharmonious mixture that characterized the furniture of the last year of Louis XVI. Many of the Empire chairs indeed are of real dignity and beauty of proportion. In some of these ormolu, introduced for the first time in chairs, was used in combination with polished mahogany ”

“ To Heppelwhite we must also give credit for the most refined and tasteful use of inlay and of veneers to be found in English furniture. On the doors of wardrobes and on the front of drawers he employed veneers of the beautiful curl mahogany that came into favor about 1760, and on the front of his solid mahogany tables, sideboards, and bookcases he substituted for carving the inlay of low-toned colored woods in the form of lines and narrow bands and other ornamental motives. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In the sleeping rooms the pieces were limited to a bed, one or two chests, a bench before the fireplace, and seats built into the wall, commonly under the windows. In the hall where meals were served the only indispensable article besides the trestle tables and benches was a dressoir or buffet for the display of plate. ”

“ All of these pieces were exceedingly heavy and massive, and oftentimes built into the structure of the room. Not until the seventeenth century did furniture become lighter, more easily movable, and more comfortable. It was at this period that chairs began to be made with sloping backs and furnished with cushioned seats of leather or woven stuff.
LOUIS XIV CABINET
EXAMPLE OF BOULLE
Every age has impressed its artistic standards strongly upon the furniture of the period. ”

“ The daintiness and elegance of some of these pieces decorated by the brush of Angélique Kauffmann or Pergolesi challenge comparison with some of the exquisite furniture made during the reign of Louis XVI, and they mark the final culmination of English furniture before its degeneration into the mediocrity of later times.
SHERATON SIDEBOARD
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
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. ”

“ With this is combined great technical excellence and extreme lightness and durability. Curiously, however, these designs are not all of equal value. Some are as good as the best work of any era, while others are most commonplace.
Although even at that time tea cost five dollars a pound, its use had become very popular throughout England. Heppelwhite introduced many articles that had to do with the tea service. Many peculiarly constructed and choice urn stands, tea trays, chests, and caddies are attributed to him.
Heppelwhite’s furniture had an interesting characteristic. ”