FRENCH AND ENGLISH FURNITURE

LOUIS XIII INTERIOR

FRENCH AND ENGLISH FURNITURE
DISTINCTIVE STYLES AND PERIODS DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED

BY

ESTHER SINGLETON

AUTHOR OF THE FURNITURE OF OUR FOREFATHERS

ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES

BY

H. D. NICHOLS

NEW YORK

McCLURE PHILLIPS & CO

MCMIII

Copyright 1903

By McClure, Phillips & Co.

Published December, 1903. N

PREFACE

PREFACE

The purpose of this work is to provide all who are interested in French and English furniture since the Renaissance period with a comprehensive and detailed view of the various periods or styles. A chapter is devoted to each period, and the chapters naturally vary in size, in accordance with the importance and length of the different periods. So far as I have been able to discover in my researches, there is no work precisely of the same aim and scope as this one in existence. Many books have been written about furniture as a whole, and the history of furniture,—especially the French styles; but I do not know of one that enables the student to learn with slight expenditure of time and energy all that is necessary to know in order to fit up a room in any given style. Anyone who wants to furnish and decorate a Louis XV. boudoir properly, or a Heppelwhite dining-room, or an Empire bedroom, can find all about it in the following pages. The collector, the student, the cabinet-maker, the upholsterer, and even the architect will find ready at hand valuable material gathered from many sources. The ceilings, wall-decorations and chimney-pieces proper to each period are described from contemporary authorities and illustrated from contemporary pictures and prints. The furniture is described from specimens existing in many collections and museums; and frequently in the words of the great makers and designers themselves.

In many instances the collector is forced to buy the survivals of whatever period he fancies, instead of being able to select for reproduction the more artistic specimens that have perished, and his rooms are filled with anachronisms because he cannot find articles to complete his set of furniture. The reproduction of a beautiful model will give more pleasure to a person of taste than a piece of furniture whose only recommendation is that it is an “antique”; and I think many persons will sympathize with me in my desire to see correct reproductions of beautiful models of furniture multiplied, as well as the textiles that accord with them.

In all periods people have given much thought not only to beautifying their homes, but to achieving the correctness of style that contributes elegance and dignity to an establishment, unconsciously following the opinion that Sir Henry Wootton gave about 1600: “Every man’s proper mansion house and home being the Theatre of his Hospitality, the seat of his self-fruition, the Comfortablest part of his own Life, the noblest of his Son’s Inheritance, a kind of Private Princedom—nay, the Possession thereof an Epitome of the whole World, may well deserve by these attributes, according to the degree of the Master, to be delightfully adorned.”

In order to give an even more thorough understanding of the appearance of the rooms, I have included many partial inventories of representative homes and many descriptions of separate sumptuous beds and other pieces of furniture typical of the style. Upholstery has received minute attention. Any one can learn here how to drape a bed, or a window; what valances, curtains, lambrequins, cords and tassels are appropriate, and what materials, braids and nails may be used.

The characteristics of the decorative art of each period are set forth with some detail, and the motives of carving of the woodwork are clearly defined in the numerous line drawings and details of the many plates.

I have carefully selected the illustrations from the designs of the recognized representatives and leaders of the styles. Besides going to these fountain-heads, I have not hesitated to adopt the views and translate in many cases the words of the recognized modern authorities on French furniture. These include Alexandre, Jacquemart, Havard, Deville, and others. In the Chippendale, Heppelwhite and Sheraton styles, these writers speak for themselves.

I wish to express my thanks to Mr. Arthur Shadwell Martin for his valuable assistance in my researches for both pictures and text.

E. S.

New York, December, 1903.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LOUIS XIII. PERIOD

LOUIS XIII. PERIOD

In decorative art, the form of Renaissance known as Henri II., which owed so much to the taste and influence of Diana of Poitiers, lasted for three quarters of a century. There was practically no change till the regency of Marie de’ Medici, when she invited Rubens to Paris. In 1625, he had completed his Luxembourg works, and the commencement of his visit is generally regarded as the date of the beginning of the pure Louis XIII. style. Flemish influence, therefore, is the keynote of this modified Renaissance style. Marie de’ Medici called many of her own countrymen from Italy to design the new works, and Rubens himself had spent eight years in Mantua, and therefore Italian taste is often apparent in the Louis XIII. style, but is quite secondary to that of Flanders. The great fame that Rubens enjoyed and his splendid reception in Paris gave his work unquestioned authority with the contemporary French decorative artists. His painting affected furniture with its luxuriant, robust and somewhat heavy qualities.

A period of magnificence and lavish expenditure by art-lovers had begun. Richelieu at the beginning almost rivalled in luxury Mazarin and Fouquet at the end of this period. The Cardinal employed Simon Vouet and other artists on the decoration of his magnificent Palais Royal and the Castle of Rueil; and his expenditures in art collecting attracted such undesirable public attention that he presented a great part of his treasures to the King in 1636. Among these was a great silver buffet weighing about 1625 pounds.

Vouet, during this period, occupied a somewhat similar position to that held by Le Brun during the Louis XIV. period. It is interesting to note the importance now held by goldsmiths in decorative art. A great deal of the furniture of the day was designed by them. Architects also regarded furniture as an integral part of the interior decoration of their apartments, and therefore designed the important pieces. For instance, Crispin de Passe (1570–1642) shows, besides his chimney-pieces (which being the most important architectural feature in the room, always received careful artistic treatment from the architects), chairs and bedstead. The latter still retains a good deal of Renaissance feeling, with carved posts, open-carved colonnade in the high foot-board and bulb feet. It is somewhat reminiscent of Du Cerceau’s design.

PLATE I

Besides the names already mentioned, the goldsmiths, Gideon Legare and Carteron, the armorial designer, Jacquard, and particularly Abraham Bosse, Picart, Stella, and Lepautre’s master Adam Philippon have left stamps or engravings that how the Louis XIII. style in all its details and characteristics. The goldsmiths, engravers and designers of this period were Audran, Barbet, Berton, Betin, Betou, Biard, Bignon, Blosset, Bouquet, Boutemie, Boyceau, Brebiette, Brosse, Caillard, Callot, Carterson, Chrestollien, Collot, Cotelle, Daubigny, David, De la Barre, Dorigny, Faber, Firens, Francard, Fornazoris, Gandin, Gautrel, Hedouyns, Heince, Hennequin, Huret, Hurtu, Jacquard, Jardin, Jousse, La Fleur, La Houe, Langlois, Le Clerc, Lefebvre, Le Mercier, Le Rou, Le Roy, Levesville, Lionnais, Loriot, Lorris, Marchant, Mellan, Menessier, Messager, Millot, Montcornet, Moriet, Mortin, Nolin, Picart, Pierretz, Piquot, Pompeus, Rabel, Rivart, Roussel, Sordot, Tavernier, Testelin, Thomassin, Torner, Tortebat, Toutin, Vignon, Vivot, Vouet and Vovert. Rabel’s ornaments are formed by a species of rinceaux of quite a particular kind, which look like the curves of an ear. Many artists of this period were certainly inspired by this part of the human body. It is impossible to imagine more strange productions; the genre (auricular style) lasted only a short time in France, and was carried to its apogee by the Germans and Flemings.

The age of Louis XIII. saw the transformation of Paris, and the application of the decorative arts to private life. The new manners in this period finally break with the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is a transitory, but decisive, period with its own originality; a period which announces the splendours of the age of Louis XIV.

Paris was so embellished, and so many houses were rebuilt and new finer ones built, that rents rose greatly, and the authorities published five abortive ordinances regulating the excessive rents between 1622 and 1649. The new luxury had to be paid for. Under Marie de’ Medici and Richelieu, a new city with characteristics of utility, beauty and magnificence arose. Corneille’s le Menteur (1642) notes the wonderful change:

“Paris semble à mes yeux un pays de romans;

J’y croyais ce matin voir une île enchantée;

Je la laissai deserte et la trouve habitée.

Quelque Amphion nouveau sans l’aide des maçons

En superbes palais a changé ces buissons.

*       *       *       *       *

Toute une ville entière avec pompe bâtie,

Semble d’un vieux fossé par miracle sortie.”

So Corneille tells us that the striking change in Paris was one to pomp and grandeur.

Even more than the magnificence of the dwellings, the change to comfort is to be observed. Far from increasing during the reigns of the Valois kings, comfort had suffered. Viollet le Duc says: “The excessively laboured refinement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries and the internal luxury of the apartments of the beginning of the Sixteenth had been lost or laid aside during the long religious wars of the close of the Sixteenth Century, and the furniture of a great lord under Louis XIII. would have appeared barbarous and coarse to one of Charles VII.’s vassals. Perhaps it was better to live under the reign of Louis XIV. than under that of Charles V.; but certainly Charles V. and the nobles and middle classes of his time had better lodgings and were more comfortably furnished than the lords and common people were under the reign of the Great King.”

However barbarous an interior of the Louis XIII. period might have been in comparison with one of the age of Charles VII., it certainly was changing for the better. Convenience was being sacrificed less for magnificence. There was an attempt to combine usefulness with elegance. Mme. de Rambouillet was one of the heads of this movement; and, according to Tallement des Réaux, was the originator of it. She established her salon as early as 1608. Tallement says that she was the first to arrange suites of rooms through which guests could move easily. “Being dissatisfied with the plans submitted to her (it was in the Maréchal d’Ancre’s time) for at that time they only knew how to make a hall on one side, a chamber on the other, and a staircase in the middle, one day, after long reflection, she cried: ‘Quick! some paper! I have found how to do what I wanted.’ She drew the plan, and it was followed exactly.... She it was who taught people how to put the staircases to one side, so as to have a large suite of rooms, to make high windows from the floor up and to make high and broad doorways opposite one another.”

The decorative motives and accessories characteristic of this style are clearly defined. An analogy has been traced between the general lines of the furniture and the contemporary costume. In the latter, as shown in Abraham Bosse’s engravings, the waist line is set unusually high, giving an appearance of a short bust. This division of the figure into two unequal parts, the upper one being disproportionately short, is carried into the furniture. The characteristic chair of the period (see Plate [I.]) is short in the back. The larger pieces of furniture follow the same general form, being divided into two bodies by a horizontal cornice, shelf, or other line at above half the total height of the piece of furniture. The cabinets, architectural in form, have greater width than height, and rest on a frame or table with legs turned spirally and connected. This style of cabinet was introduced early in the period.

One of the important decorative details and ornaments is the cartouche which also follows the prevailing taste: it is wider than it is high, and its field has always a somewhat exaggerated convex curve. The rounded form also predominates in the cut-work fringing the frame, and protuberance is also a noticeable feature of the balusters that are made use of in the various parts of furniture that require columns or supports. The vases also are very corpulent in form, which effect is exaggerated by their very small bases. The faces of the mascarons are very chubby, and are unusually lacking in expression. The decorative garlands, which are composed almost exclusively of leaves and fruits, very seldom of flowers, are arranged in heavy swags, almost always disposed in a semi-circle. Pears, and more especially apples, are the fruits most frequently met with. They are usually accompanied with short leaves without serrated edges. The garlands are of uniform thickness throughout; they are quite heavy. Cornucopias symmetrically disposed are often found on the frontons. It is a peculiarity of these cornucopias that notwithstanding the considerable size and quantity of the fruits overflowing their mouths, they are so slender that they might almost be taken for curved trumpets. Though rich and very abundant in detail, this ornamentation does not show much relief, because the composition, as a rule, does not present any important or dominant motive. In the decoration it is seldom that the living form plays more than an entirely accessory part. The bold round mouldings now dispense with the ornaments and details of preceding styles. In many cases, these mouldings frame panels in which the square form predominates. When the square is extended into a rectangle, its dimensions are always greater horizontally than vertically. The hexagon, so much employed in the Henri II. style, is now supplanted by the octagon, which is frequently to be noticed.

Having now gone over the general characteristics and decorative features of this period, we may proceed to describe the separate pieces of furniture that are appropriate for a room of the Louis XIII. style.

First let it be said, however, that it is a mistake to suppose that a Louis XIII. room need be in any sense bare, cheerless, or lacking in comfort or convenience. The impression gained from the charming engravings of Abraham Bosse is one of cosiness as well as elegance.

The only sense of severity of this period in the interiors is produced by the massive chimney-pieces and the somewhat monumental forms of wardrobes, presses, cabinets, armoires, etc. These are usually in two tiers, the lower one usually being solid, as on Plate [II.], No. 4. The frame, or open lower part, however, was winning its way into favour. A good example of the latter appears on Plate [III.], No. 1, and the more curious and ornate transitional form in No. 4 of the same plate. Another example of the armoire of this period, having drawers between two compartments of doors is shown on Plate [IV.], No. 4, the details of which are purely characteristic of this period. The full drawing on the same plate shows a smaller cabinet with drawers beneath the two doors. This is a very handsome example of marquetry work. The patterns of the inlaid wood under the cornice are very effective. It will be noticed that panelling plays a most important part in the decoration of these pieces of furniture. Many of them had pediments of an architectural character. These pediments were frequently broken, and in the centre on a pedestal stood an allegorical figure, or similar ornament, such as that of Justice shown in Plate [II.], No. 2. The panels were frequently richly carved with characteristic Louis XIII. ornaments, or with Biblical, allegorical or mythological subjects, such as Juno and the peacock, Judith with the head of Holofernes (Plate [IV.], Nos. 2 and 1), and Paris with the golden apple (Plate [II.], No. 3). The important part played by pillars, whether straight or twisted, in the decorative scheme is readily seen by a glance at the pieces of furniture on Plates [III.] and [IV.] No. 4 (Plate [III.]), called a credence, has three varieties of columns on the same tier. The flat bulb foot, plain or carved, so typical of this period, is also shown on Plates [II.], [III.] and [IV.] The buffet credence (Plate [IV.], No. 4) shows a peculiar combination of straight and twisted column. The shield in its broken pediment is flanked by the peculiar ear decoration characteristic of this period which has already been referred to (page [5]). The winged cherub, which is so often found as a decorative accessory, appears to splendid effect on the mirror on Plate [II.], under the cornice of No. 4 on the same plate and on Plate [III.], No. 4. Several varieties of mascarons also appear on Plates [II.] and [III.]

The woods of which these massive cabinets, chests-of-drawers, etc., were made were oak, walnut, chestnut and sometimes ebony. The Dutch were bringing great quantities of new exotic woods from the Far East, and the Spaniards were also introducing beautiful woods from the Central and South American forests and the West Indies. Mahogany, however, was scarcely known as yet in France, and was not generally used till a century later. The French, Germans, and especially Netherland cabinet-makers, however, were making full use of the advantages offered by the beautiful grains and tints of the new imported woods for the purposes of marquetry. Ebony, of course, was also extensively used for inlay and in the cheaper work blacked pear-wood was substituted. Ebony was too costly except for the richest kind of work. France was procuring it from Madagascar; the most highly-prized varieties, however, came from Ceylon, from which island green and yellow varieties were brought as well as the black. The workers of ebony gave their name to the whole craft of cabinet-making; the word ébéniste becomes generally used about this time.

In many of the larger pieces of furniture, the severe, rectangular and geometric character, the antique columns, pediments, broken pediments, garlands, pagan gods and goddesses, heroes, caryatides, grotesque figures, arabesques, vegetable and animal forms, imaginary beings half animal and half vegetable issuing from foliage, terms, and heads are ornaments and characteristics of the preceding reigns which have been carried over into the Louis XIII. period. The importation of Florentine and other Italian artists and workmen by Marie de Medici is clearly discernible in the great cabinets of this period. Not only were they inlaid with exotic woods, but also incrusted with precious metals and semi-precious stones. A cabinet of the Louis XIII. period made by a Florentine artist frequently exhibits the most astonishing prodigality of material as well as workmanship. One of more than usual sumptuousness is described as being composed of three tiers and being entirely covered with shell, inside and outside. An aspect of extraordinary richness is produced by pilasters of lapis-lazuli, cornaline ornaments, plates of embossed silver, paintings and miniatures, framings of delicately repoussé and gilded copper and a top enriched with stones and silver figurines. Such a cabinet by its elaborate workmanship required the services of many craftsmen,—the cabinet-maker, the smith, the engraver, the lapidary, the mosaic-worker, the miniaturist, the sculptor and the ivory-worker.

PLATE II

We should naturally expect to find fine examples of Italian-made Louis XIII. cabinets among the possessions of the magnificent Cardinal Mazarin. In fact, the inventory of his goods mentions many such. One is thus described: “An ebony cabinet having a little moulding on the sides, quite plain outside, the front being divided into three arcades, in the middle of which are six niches, in four of which, in the lower row, are four virgins of ebony bearing bouquets of silver, the said doors being ornamented with eight columns of veined lapis-lazuli, the bases and capitals of composite order in silver, the fronts of the doors and the rest of the cabinet being ornamented with various pieces, viz., cornalines, agate and jasper, set with silver; and above the arcades are three masks in jasper and twelve roses of the same mixed with six oval cornalines; the remainder is ornamented with silver let into the ebony in cartouche and leaf-work.”

Another cabinet owned by Cardinal Mazarin was of ebony, the cornice ornamented with copper gilt, resting on four copper lions silver gilt, the base of lapis-lazuli with a dome between two pilasters ornamented with ten miniatures. In the centre on the door, Apollo was represented; on the front of the drawers, the Nine Muses; and, on the four corners of each drawer, a medal showing portraits of two ancient and two modern poets. These were covered with Venetian crystal and enclosed in a little cornice with festoons of copper, silver gilt. The cabinet was of two sections and stood on eight columns of pear-wood stained black. It was 3 feet, 1 inch high; 3 feet wide; and 1 foot, 2 inches deep.

Two other ebony cabinets, both known by the name of “Cabinet de la Paix,” also belonged to the Cardinal. One of these was made by Dominico Cussey. This was of ebony inlaid with metal and was almost entirely covered with jasper, lapis-lazuli and agates. In front, it was enriched by four figures representing heroes, of bronze gilt on a background of lapis-lazuli. In the centre, there was a portico supported by two columns of lapis-lazuli with base and capitals of gilt bronze, having on the frontispiece the arms of France crowned and supported by two angels,—all in gilt bronze on a background of lapis-lazuli. In the depth of the portico, there was a statue of Louis XIII. seated and holding in his left hand a shield with the device of His Majesty. Beneath his feet, there were a carpet and a cushion,—all in gilt bronze. In the top part of the cabinet there was a little niche which contained the figure of Peace that gave the cabinet its name. The cabinet stood upon a gilded wooden base supported in front by two pilasters on an azure background, and four figures representing “the four principal rivers of the world.” The whole was 8 feet high; 5 feet, 3 inches wide; and 19 inches deep.

The companion cabinet of the same dimensions and proportions was likewise in two parts (à double corps); and likewise incrusted with jasper, lapis-lazuli and agates. In the large portico, the figure was that of Queen Marie Thérèse of Austria dressed as Pallas, and above were the arms of France and Spain supported by two angels. On the sides were four figures of the Virtues in relief, standing on a base of sculptured and gilded wood, which, instead of rivers, as in the companion piece, represented the four geographical divisions of the world.

Another of Mazarin’s cabinets that had formerly belonged to his great predecessor, Richelieu, is described as being decorated with wavy mouldings (guilloches) and compartments ornamented with various flowers, masques and half figures, the frieze bearing marine monsters and the middle of the doors having an octagonal panel in which is an Amphion on a dolphin. It rested on a base of four ebony columns united in front, and four pear-wood pilasters behind; and between the columns was a cartouche bearing the arms of the deceased Cardinal Richelieu. This cabinet was 5 feet in length; 1 foot, 7 inches in depth; and 5 feet, 10 inches in height. This was evidently an excellent typical specimen of pure Louis XIII. work, since it was made for Richelieu.

These rare cabinets were undoubtedly the origin of the Boulle furniture of the next reign, and they existed in great numbers until destroyed during the Revolution. The few that survived the ravages of the mob are preserved in museums and private collections.

The cabinets à porte (cabinets with doors) were, as a rule, more severe than the sumptuous articles just described. They depend far more upon the architectural form and talent displayed by the cabinet-maker and designer than upon the skill and art of the decorator. The first cabinets à porte date from the Renaissance, and received their name at the moment when one kind of bahut, placed on four feet, contested popularity with another kind that stood on a base with doors, and foreshadowed the form of those pieces of furniture called à deux corps. The construction of these pieces, no matter how fine the execution of their mouldings, panels, and doors, was as a rule massive, and was the work of the joiners and carvers instead of the ébénistes and marqueteurs.

One of these double cabinets is shown on Plates [II.] and [IV.], the upper part appearing in No. 2 on Plate [II.], and the lower in No. 2 on Plate [IV.] A carved oak bahut is shown on Plate [IV.], No. 1. Another walnut double cabinet is shown on Plate [II.], No. 4. A cabinet of another variety appears on Plate [III.], No. 1. This is made of oak and cedar inlaid with rosewood, and has two doors in front with projecting panels, and an oval moulding in the centre and one outside drawer with brass drop handles.

The cabinet-makers of Southern Germany also excelled in their art, and their Kunstschranken were sought for presents to princes. The most famous piece of furniture of this class is known as the “Pomeranian Art Cabinet,” now in the Chamber of Arts in Berlin. It was made between 1611 and 1617 for Philip II., Duke of Pomerania. Philip Heinhofer of Augsburg designed it and it was made in that town by Baumgartner. The elaborateness of this cabinet may be appreciated from the great number of workmen employed in its construction. These included three painters, one sculptor, one painter in enamel, six goldsmiths, two clock-makers, an organ-maker, a mechanician, a modeller in wax, a cabinet-maker, an engraver upon metal, an engraver of precious stones, a turner, two locksmiths, a binder and two sheath-makers. This cabinet is 4 feet, 10 inches high, 3 feet, 4 inches wide, and 2 feet, 10 inches deep. It is made of ebony with sandal-wood drawers lined with red morocco, and mounted with silver and pietra dura work. It is supported on four griffins with heads and manes of silver gilt but the real weight is borne upon a large scroll. The base is inlaid with small panels of lapis-lazuli, jasper, cornelian and agate, with plates of chased silver between them. The upper and lower friezes are composed of fruit, and other ornaments consist of female figures and boys playing musical instruments. There are also medallions of silver and Limoges enamel.

A fine example of a cabinet of the Seventeenth Century was owned by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill. This was 5 feet high and 3 feet wide, composed of ebony, rosso antico columns, lapis-lazuli and bloodstone panels, with settings of or moulu and precious stones. Neptune was represented in the central niche and on either side Tritons and sea nymphs sported. Beneath these were serpents and shells, horses, griffins, lions, bulls and dogs. In the panels above children were fishing with nets and rods. The whole was supported on four ebony legs ornamented with gold. Tables of the period were also most ornate.

Vasari speaks of a “splendid library” table made by Bernardo Buontalenti, at the order of Francesco de’ Medici. It was “of ebony veneered with ebony divided into compartments by columns of heliotrope, oriental jasper, and lapis-lazuli, which have the vases and capitals of chased silver. The work is furthermore enriched with jewels, beautiful ornaments of silver, and exquisite little figures interspersed with miniatures and terminal figures of silver and gold in full relief united in pairs. There are besides other compartments formed of jasper, agates, heliotropes, sardonyxes, carnelians, and other precious stones.”

The armoire did not lose its importance until the end of the Seventeenth Century, when it was relegated to the Garde-Robes; but the armoires, called placards, hidden under the panels of the room, remained. Mazarin had an armoire in his Garde-Robe 7 feet high and 5 feet 3 inches wide.

In the inventory of Madame de Mercœur, the garde-robe contains armoires, a bed and seats, and gives a hint of the dressing-table by “a table with drawer, having a housse of red serge d’Aumalle.”

The feature of a Louis XIII. room that formed one of its chief attractions was its tapestries and other hangings. Wherever the furniture would admit of it, a gay cloth was spread or hung. The parquet, boarded, or tiled floor also was partly covered with rugs from the Levant.

It is an age of rich textiles: not only do we find tapestry with its mythological, Biblical, allegorical, historical and floral pictures, but damasks, silks, velvets, brocades, serges and Oriental goods occur in bewildering variety. Their designs have never been surpassed in effect and elegance. When the materials were of one solid colour, they were usually ornamented with embroidery, braids, passementerie and gold and silver lace in addition to fringes. The latter existed in great number. They were of various widths and materials as well as designs. Sometimes fringes of two widths were used on the same drapery, and it was not infrequent that a fringe of gold was placed directly above one of silver, or the reverse. One of the most popular fringes was the crespine, a very narrow fringe composed of slender threads placed close together and sometimes tufted. This was used for trimming the bed-curtains, tablecloths and chairs (see Frontispiece). Another favourite fringe was the Milanaise or Napolitaine, composed of two kinds of threads, frequently silver and a coloured silk rolled together in the form of a spiral.

The window curtains and portières were also trimmed with braid and fringe. They hung from cornices of oak or walnut, carved to accord with the rest of the furniture. The centre of the cornice was decorated with a cartouche; or a figure of some kind, very frequently a mascaron, and beneath this hung the curtain or the lambrequin. The curtains were of tapestry, brocade, brocatelle, lampas (a kind of brocade), Genoa velvet or damask lined with silk or serge and bordered with braid, lace and fringe of gold, silver or silk, or worsted. The lambrequin used toward the end of the period consisted of a series of denticulated scallops or square flaps, shaped like those that bordered the tops of tents and pavilions, or in the form of the housings on which the knights’ arms were emblazoned.

The bed is highly decorative. It is almost solely dependent upon its furniture for its effect, as the wood is seldom, or never, visible. The typical bed of the period is known as the lit en housse. It is the one that appears in Abraham Bosse’s engravings. We may note in passing that the word housse has the some origin as the housse or housings applied to the coverings of the horses in the Middle Ages.

The wooden framework is of comparatively little importance, after the correct proportions have been assured. The ciel, or canopy, which is supported by four posts must never quite touch the ceiling of the room. The posts are covered with the same material as the curtains, or painted in harmony, and occasionally they are left plain. Iron rods surround the canopy beneath the valance for the support of the curtains, which may be drawn up or down by means of cords and pullies. When closed, the lit en housse has the appearance of a square box. The lit en housse consists therefore of the four posts, the canopy or ciel, the headboard and the base around which the lower valance is fastened. The canopy is always lined and surrounded by a valance, which is repeated around the base. The straight curtains that hang from the canopy in rigid lines behind the headboard (or bolster if there is no headboard) are known as bonnes grâces. From the canopy and underneath the valance hang the three outside curtains. The counterpane, called courtepointe, or couverture de parade, is generally of the same material as the curtains or their linings. The bolster is always long and round. Pillows never occur.

PLATE III

The lit en housse is particularly easy to reproduce. It is merely necessary to be sure of the correct proportions and the appropriate materials. As we have already remarked in the days of Louis XIII., there was a great variety of rich textiles. A lit en housse was covered with any material from tapestry, brocade, damask, silk and velvet, to serge, or cloth, or even linen, or East Indian goods. The fringe, galloons, braids, laces, tassels, etc., for the ornamentation of the curtains and counterpanes are legion. When tapestry or striped goods were not employed, the silk, velvet, serge, or damask, etc., was usually decorated with handsome braid put on in the form of stripes, or squares, as shown in our Frontispiece and on Plate [III.], No. 3. The linings of the bed-curtains were, as a rule, of different material, and frequently of different hue from the curtains. The valance was of the same material as the curtains; but the lining of the canopy, the covering of the headboard (if there was one) and the bonne grâces matched the linings of the outside curtains. The braids preferably were gold or silver lace with gold or silver fringe to edge the curtains, the upper and lower valances and the rich counterpane. The valance and curtains may be arranged as shown on Plate [III.], No. 3, or as in the Frontispiece; but, in all cases, the four corners must be decorated with a bunch of plumes or panache, a “bouquet,” of silk ornaments, or a carved or turned wooden knob, the “pomme.” The courtepointe, or counterpane, must cover the entire mattress and fall to the floor on the three sides. The beds, to which we have just referred, also show the peculiar square and rigid shape of the bed when made and the long round bolster that always adorns the head of the lit en housse. The bed may stand lengthwise or “vu de pied.” A lit en housse of later date appears as a full drawing on Plate [III.] This is represented “vu de pied” and is furnished with a headboard. The latter is upholstered.

For the sake of suggestions for those who might wish to reproduce a lit en housse, we give a few descriptions of beds taken from some French inventories of the day. One of Cardinal Mazarin’s beds is described as a “green taffeta bed” and fortunately the dimensions are given. It was 6½ feet long and equally wide, so that it was a perfect square. It was 7 feet, 3 inches high. The housse was furnished with three curtains of cloth of Holland green lined with taffeta and garnished at the base with gold and silver fringe. A smaller fringe ornamented the sides. The head-board and the cases for the bed-posts were of cloth of silver lined with green. The four knobs decorating the tops of the bed-posts were covered with velvet and trimmed with lace, and each of these was surmounted by a “bouquet” of gold and silk on wire.

Another bed of the period is exquisite. It was of old rose velvet embroidered with grotesque figures of animals, festoons and cartouches. On the ciel underneath the “dais” were five oval medallions,—one at each corner and one in the centre. In these the story of David and Saul was embroidered in silk illuminated with gold threads.

The Château de Turenne in 1615 contained two green velvet beds, one of which had its posts covered with green velvet; the other had a double valance of green velvet trimmed with gold and silver lace, a fringe of green silk and a fringe of gold and silver. The head was ornamented with a fringe of green silk mixed with gold and silver and a fringe of violet silk mixed with gold and silver.

The Château de Chenonceau contained a number of beds of this kind. One was a bed of green damask, en housse, the bottom and the headboard trimmed with a narrow fringe of green silk, while a deep fringe surrounded the valance. The curtains were fastened at the corners with shank buttons of green silk. Another was of green Carize, or kersey, ornamented with green silk lace and trimmed with a narrow fringe of green silk. A third was of violet Carize trimmed with a narrow fringe of violet silk; and a fourth of dun-coloured Carize trimmed with a fringe of dun-coloured silk. Then there were four beds of black and white drugget, trimmed with a fringe of black and white worsted. There were also many hangings for beds en housse. One was of needlework of many colours ornamented with a fringe of red, yellow and green worsted. Two hangings of tapestry, representing trees and flowers, were trimmed with a deep fringe of red and yellow worsted.

Another tapestry for bed-hangings represented all sorts of flowers. The fringe that ornamented it was of red, green and yellow worsted. Another tapestry, representing fountains and savages, had a deep fringe of green and red worsted. Another depicted foliage, roses, grapes and wild beasts, and was ornamented by a deep fringe of green, red and yellow worsted. Another had a greenish-brown background on which all kinds of flowers were thrown, and it was ornamented with red, white and green fringes. Another was of blue tapestry sown with yellow fleur-de-lis. One of needlework was composed of squares of blue, white and flesh colour; the headboard and bottom valance were also like the curtains. The worsted fringes were yellow, white, blue and red.

A very handsome bed was entirely made of crimson velvet lined with crimson taffeta. The canopy was also of crimson velvet lined with crimson taffeta, and so were the curtains, which were fastened down the sides by forty-two buttons and buttonholes. The hangings, the valance, the headboard, and the curtains were all ornamented with gold and silver lace applied in the conventional stripes. Deep and narrow fringes of crimson silk, crespines of gold and silver, and small fringes of gold and silver contributed further decoration. The fringe was put on double, that is to say, the crimson silk fringe was covered by the smaller fringes of gold and silver. The ornamental counterpane was of crimson velvet lined with taffeta, and ornamented with a crespine of gold and silver. It was fastened tightly to the base of the bed by means of forty-four shank buttons and buttonholes, and the whole length of the buttons there was a little fringe of crimson silk covered with a fringe of gold. Each curtain required five lengths of velvet.

Another bed with its valance on three sides, its valance around the base and its bonnes grâces was of cloth-of-gold mingled with blue, decorated with squares formed of raised crimson velvet, and bordered with black velvet ornamented with gold and silver and tinsel. The valance was lined with white taffeta garnished with fringes of blue silk with a gold crespine; the curtains were lined with crimson taffeta and edged with little fringes of gold and blue silk; and the lower valance was ornamented with fringes of gold and blue silk. The ornamental counterpane was made of squares of crimson silk, trimmed with gold braid, ornamented with a deep fringe of crimson silk, and headed by a gold crespine. The outside curtains of crimson silk, each three lengths and a half, were ornamented with gold braid and a narrow fringe of crimson silk and gold.

The valances and curtains of another were of green and gold velvet with bars of crimson satin bordered with gold. The valances were lined with white satin, trimmed with a fringe of crimson silk and a gold crespine. The bonnes grâces were of crimson taffeta with narrow fringes of gold and crimson silk. The lower valance was garnished with fringes of gold and silk.

Another, was of cloth-of-silver of Milan, damasked with flesh-coloured silk, and trimmed with silver tinsel, flesh-coloured silk, and a crespine of gold and silver. The bed-posts were covered with the same. The curtains and valances were of flesh-coloured and white damask, trimmed on the seams with a fringe of flesh-coloured silk, covered by a narrow fringe of silver.

Another, was formed of squares of cloth-of-gold (old gold) and squares of cloth-of-gold and cloth-of-silver and violet, separated by strips of crimson velvet covered with a braid of gold and silver, and trimmed with a small fringe of gold and white silk. The valances were lined with white taffeta, garnished with a deep fringe of white silk and a crespine of gold. The lining of the canopy and curtains was of cloth-of-silver bordered with cloth-of-gold; the headboard was covered with cloth-of-gold and silver damasked with black. The three curtains and the bonnes grâces of white damask were ornamented down the seams with gold braid, but had no fringe. The bed-posts were covered with cloth-of-gold (old gold) ornamented with narrow gold and silver braid. A tasteful bed was of violet velvet and violet damask, the latter being used to cover the head-board and for the bonnes grâces. The fringes were violet silk, and the braid and crespines of violet silk also. The curtains were of violet damask, each four lengths, trimmed horizontally with violet silk lace and a narrow violet silk fringe.

A bed of dun-coloured serge was trimmed with silk fringe of the same hue, its bonnes grâces being dun-coloured taffeta. The counterpane was of dun-coloured serge trimmed horizontally with a deep fringe of dun-coloured silk and forty-eight silk buttons and buttonholes. The four posts were covered with serge ornamented with silk braid, and the four “pommes” were also covered with serge ornamented with silk braid.

Another bed was of scarlet lined with red taffeta and trimmed with gold braid and a deep fringe of common silk covered with crespines of gold. The curtains were decorated with gold braid and a narrow fringe of gold. The four posts were covered with scarlet ornamented with gold braid.

Another bed was of flesh-coloured satin with squares of cloth-of-gold-and-silver. The ornamental fringe was red.

Another, was of green satin embroidered in gold and silver. The fringes were of green and white silk, both deep and narrow. The curtains were of green damask.

Another, of violet velvet embroidered in gold and silver flames, bordered with cloth of silver, was lined with violet taffeta. The fringes were of violet silk.

Another, was of green velvet ornamented with gold and silver lace and fringes of green silk covered with crespines of gold and silver; the headboard was of cloth-of-gold-and-silver ornamented with green silk fringe; the lower valance was trimmed with gold and silver braid and a fringe of violet silk covered with a fringe of gold and silver. The curtains were green damask trimmed with gold and silver braid and silk fringe, and the ornamental counterpane of green taffeta trimmed with fringes of silk and gold.

Another bed was of cloth-of-gold striped with black and crimson satin; the curtains were flesh-coloured taffeta ornamented with crimson fringe.

The bed-posts, as we have noted, are always surmounted by ornaments, known, no matter what their form may be, as “pommes de lit.” The following kinds are mentioned in the inventory of the Château de Turenne in 1615:

“Four pommes de lit of wood covered with crimson velvet ornamented with gold and silver braid and garnished with bouquets of gold and silver and varied coloured silks and little egrettes of gold and silver; four wooden pommes de lit covered with cloth-of-silver and green trimmed with gold lace, belonging to the bed of green velvet on a gold background; four pommes de lit covered with crimson velvet trimmed with gold and silver lace and three grey plumes, belonging to the crimson velvet bed; four pommes de lit of wood painted violet and gold, belonging to the violet velvet bed; twenty-eight pommes de lit of gilded wood belonging to various beds, and twelve pommes de lit.”

Another bed that is characteristic of this period was the lit de baldaquin. This is a bed with daïs of three sides. Its framework was of natural wood, or wood carved and gilded, or covered with some rich material. This bed that dismisses the columns or posts, was introduced during this reign and carried into the next one. The baldaquin, which replaces the canopy supported by posts, must be slightly smaller than the bed it overshadows. Sometimes it is equipped with an arch that is covered with the same material as the general drapery of the bed, and this arch, which may be found in the old designs, following the curved movement of the baldaquin is sometimes surmounted with a bunch of feathers. When this arch contains a dome that surmounts the baldaquin, it is called the “Lit Impérial.”

A lit à impériale of the period was one of green velvet and gold and silver, trimmed with a gold and silver crespine and a little green silk fringe covered with a gold and silver fringe. The curtains were of green damask trimmed with gold and silver braid. Another was of cloth of gold and yellow damask in squares with bands of white damask and a deep fringe of white and blue. The valance was composed of squares, but the head-board was in lengths.

This probably differed but slightly from the “pavillon” bed, of which there are many descriptions in the old inventories. Mazarin, for example, had two “pavillon” beds in red serge. In the Château de Turenne there was a pavilion of crimson damask ornamented on the seams with a wide braid of gold and silver. A braid of gold and silver also surrounded the base, as well as a narrow fringe of crimson silk covered with a fringe of gold and silver. The chapiteau was of crimson velvet ornamented with the same braid on every seam and also upon the bottom with a deep fringe of crimson silk covered with a deep crespine of gold and silver. The chapiteau was an ell in circumference. Upon the top was a “pomme” painted red and silvered, to which was attached a silk cord of red, yellow and white.

PLATE IV

Another was of white gauze, upon the seams of which little tufts, or tassels, of various colours were sewn. The “pomme” painted in various colours, had attached to it a green silk cord; another was of crimson and gold; and another of violet velvet trimmed with silk fringe of the same hue. The “pomme” of the latter was painted violet and silver, and the cord was of violet silk.

A glance at Plate [I.] will show that the general outlines of the chairs are square. The usual set of seats comprised fauteuils, or arm-chairs; chairs with backs; folding-stools (pliants); and a lit de repos. In the ancient inventories the term “chaises meublantes” is given to chairs with covered backs, while the chairs with wooden and open backs are called “chaises cacquetoires” and “chaises perroquets.” The most characteristic chair of the period is the short, square and rather squat, yet well-proportioned chair that appears in nearly every one of Abraham Bosse’s drawings, and which in England is known as “the low leather,” or “Cromwell chair.” This chair is shown in the Frontispiece and also on Plate [V.], while variants appear on Plate [I.] as No. 3 and as a full drawing. This chair may be covered with leather, serge, silk, damask, brocade, velvet, tapestry, or needlework; but in every case the material is fastened to the woodwork by means of large brass, gold, or silver-headed nails, and the back and seat are both usually ornamented with a short fringe, as is shown in the Frontispiece. No. 2 and No. 5 on Plate [I.] are fauteuils of the period, No. 5 being an Italian chair decorated with a fringe. Many of the fauteuils of the day were “in the Italian taste,” that is to say entirely covered with velvet and trimmed with lace or fringe. The framework of the arm-chair was sometimes visible, as shown on Plate [I.], No. 2. It was of pear-wood stained to resemble ebony, walnut, oak, or it was painted in a colour to harmonize with the covering. Among Cardinal Mazarin’s many chairs were two fauteuils and two chairs with backs, entirely covered with velvet nailed on the wood. These were ornamented with a braid of medium width, as were also the folding-stools, or pliants. The wood of the latter was painted red. We also hear of two fauteuils trimmed with lace and fringe of medium width, the wood being entirely covered with the velvet; at the bottom of the back there was a double row of the crespine. The six folding-stools that went with these arm-chairs were also garnished with lace and fringe, but their frames were painted green and picked out with gold. The seats were covered with green serge. Another set of furniture consisted of six fauteuils, six chairs with backs, six pliants and a lit de repos. These were covered with needlework ornamented with a silk fringe of many colours. The frames were of pear-wood stained black, and they were decorated with twisted columns.

The twisted column shown in the side-supports and straining-rails of the chair in the lower right-hand corner on Plate [I.], and also in No. 2 and No. 3 on the same plate, is derived from Italy. It is a favourite ornamentation of the day and occurs in bed-posts and wherever pillars are used. Another form of the spiral leg is shown on Plate [III.], No. 6. Still another form is shown in the arm-chair with twisted and baluster arms that appears as No. 5 on Plate [III.] A favourite shape for the leg of a chair was also the X that so often appears in the pictures of the Dutch masters. These chairs were of Flemish and Italian origin. (See Plate [VII.], lower right-hand corner.) This X is also present in the pliant or folding-stool, an example of which is shown under the window in the Frontispiece.

The coverings for the fauteuils, folding-seats, etc. were, as we have said, of damask, brocade, silk, serge, tapestry, or needlework, but we must add that Genoa and Venetian velvets with floral designs in high relief were extremely popular.

Two other typical chairs are shown on Plate [I.] No. 1 is a handsome fauteuil of noble proportions. Its back and seat are covered with two squares of material fastened in the correct way with large nails. No. 4 is a very fine specimen indeed with a carved back panel of wood. The favourite mascaron decorates the top rail.

On Plate [I.] is shown a typical chair of the period with an open back of turned spindles. Deville says this was the “chaise caquetoire” or “chaise perroquet,” a name that was given to all kinds of chairs with open backs, whether carved or turned, or simply of two, three, four or five horizontal rails. If this was so, the chaise perroquet meant a different kind of chair later in the century, for Saint-Simon says: “Monseigneur himself and all who were at the table had seats with backs of black leather which could be folded up for carriage use and which were called perroquets.” In the Château de Chenonceau (1603), there were “more than two coverings for the petites chaises cacquetoires of silk of several colours brightened with gold and silver also on canvas estimated at forty sols, apiece.”

There were three other “chaises cacquetoires like the three chairs just mentioned, estimated at four livres dix sols apiece.”

In Cardinal Mazarin’s inventory, there was “an old chaise à perroquet” covered with moquette (a kind of velvet or woolen tapestry), and in the inventory of the Garde Meuble, ten perroquets covered with “tripe” (a kind of red panne velvet) occur.

Another kind of chair is the “chaise voyeuse.” The seat of this is quite high and the top rail resting upon the side supports (which are continuations of the back legs) is supplied with a manchette (cushion), upon which one may rest his elbows while watching the play at the card table. The back of this chair is shaped like a violin, or a bidet. These chairs are mentioned in many old inventories such as Cardinal Mazarin’s Fontainebleau, Versailles, etc. In Fontainebleau in the salons de jeux were “four voyeuses en prie-dieu” and “two voyeuses en bidets.”

The lit de repos, or chaise longue (see Plate [VIII.]) is an elongated seat. As a rule, this couch, or seat, is six feet long, and upon it rests a mattress or cushion. It is also furnished with a bolster, which should be covered with the same material as the mattress and back. Being exactly the width of the seat, it is placed below the back at right angles to the mattress. Sometimes this piece of furniture has elbows, and sometimes it has only turned supports at the sides of the back.

Many of the handsome tables were of a fashion that was continued through the succeeding reign, being of richly carved and gilded wood with hind’s feet or with term legs with or without stretchers. Some of them were enriched with gilded bronze, and incrustations and marquetry work of shell, copper and other metal. The tops, like those of the preceding reign, were frequently of marble or marquetry. They were also covered with a cloth and a housse of leather, serge, tapestry, etc. The table-carpet, as a rule, reached to the floor and was garnished with a narrow or wide fringe. This was the housse, and above it was a second cloth (see Frontispiece). These table-coverings were either simple or rich, according to the purse or fancy of the owner. Cardinal Mazarin, for example, had four table-coverings of crimson damask flowered, bearing the arms of his Eminence; four of “red crimson” Turkey leather trimmed with gold fringe and gold tassels and lined with red taffeta, and a green flowered damask table-carpet with four sides, lined with green cloth and trimmed with gold fringe à la Romaine. One of the handsomest varieties of table appears as a full drawing on Plate [II.]

Although the console is known during the reigns of Henri II. and III., it is in the reign of Louis XIII. that the phrase table en console appears in the inventories. The console was derived from the credence, and was even in its earliest form a large table with a marble top, jutting out like a bracket and serving to support a bust or vase. The three visible faces of the console were in the early days frequently supported with chimæras, fauns, etc. The word table was gradually dropped and the article was known as console.

A variety of table, known as the guéridon, was also popular. This is a small round table mounted on a stem or baluster that ends in three legs (Plate [III.], No. 2). It was made of various woods, sometimes of pear-wood stained black and sometimes painted. It was of great convenience. Sometimes it was used for cards; but more often it held a lamp, or candelabra, or a refreshment tray.

The chandeliers were usually of brass and hung from the centre of the room. Of course, candles were inserted in the arms. Candelabra and small candlesticks were also used to give light, and sconces were frequently attached to the walls. Pictures were framed and hung directly over the tapestries, as shown in the Frontispiece. Their frames differed but slightly from the frames of the mirrors, specimens of which appear on Plate [II.] as a full drawing and as No. 1. Another frame appropriate for either a picture or a mirror is seen on Plate [IV.], No. 3.

THE JACOBEAN PERIOD

PLATE V

THE JACOBEAN PERIOD

The Jacobean Period covers almost a century (1603–1690). In its earlier stages, therefore, it is still Elizabethan in spirit, and in its old age it is largely influenced by the taste of the dominant French court. During the reign of James I., the styles of furniture and interior decoration are still strongly Tudor in character, but the intimate connection with the Low Countries, and the friction with Spain and her Western possessions have their effect in making the wealthy classes of England thoroughly acquainted with the best products of Spanish, Dutch, and Flemish workmanship. The Tudor mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles was gradually modified under the influence of Inigo Jones, “the English Palladio.” The political ties between England and the Low Countries, based on mutual interests of a mercantile and religious nature, were still further strengthened by dynastic alliances. In Norfolk and Suffolk, the population was largely composed of natives or descendants of natives of the Low Countries. Flemish and Dutch art and manufactures, therefore, were extremely influential in forming what is known as the Jacobean style.

This period covers, of course, a portion of the reigns of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV.; and much of the furniture fashionable in France at this period was imported into England; but with the exception of the wealthiest homes sumptuous articles are not common. There is, indeed, a massive set of superbly carved silver furniture at Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, but such luxury is rare.

Oak and walnut are the woods chiefly used at this period, but we also find lime, cherry, and cypress (the latter especially for chests). Sometimes, as even happened in Tudor days, the carving was gilded, and, in many instances, we find the wood painted. Pear-wood stained black to imitate ebony is also popular. Mahogany is almost unknown in these days; but exotic woods are used in the construction of cabinets. Towards the end of the Seventeenth Century a great deal of ebony was imported, and even carved ebony furniture from India and Ceylon found its way into many rich English homes. Shakespeare gives us a hint of the generous use of rich articles from various parts of the world, showing what a cosmopolitan atmosphere a Tudor home presented:

Gremio says:

“My house within the city

Is richly furnished with plate and gold;

Basins, and ewers, to lave her dainty hands;

My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry:

In ivory coffers I have stuff’d my crowns;

In cypress chests my arras counterpoints,

Costly apparel, tents, and canopies,

Fine linen, Turkey cushions boss’d with pearl,

Valance of Venice gold in needlework,

Pewter and brass, and all things that belong

To house or housekeeping.”[^[1]]

PLATE VI

It is not unfitting that we should first recall a few of the distinguishing features of Elizabethan ornament, so frequently met with in the Jacobean home.

The carving was characterized by bold and deep cuttings, leaving the design in high relief. The panels of the chests, cabinets, cupboards, beds, etc., present a rich variety of subject. Figures taken from Biblical or mythological lore, grotesque monsters, animals and floral forms are met with; and of the latter we particularly find the rose, vine, carnation, lily, marigold, sunflower and tulip predominating. A typical floral panel is shown on Plate [X.], No. 7. Then we often see a diaper pattern, and, occasionally, the “linen fold.”

The cornices of cabinets, bedsteads, etc., are often adorned with the “egg and tongue” pattern; and the backs of settees, cornices of overmantels, etc., are often enriched with rather grotesque dolphins, placed back to back, forming a kind of scroll the outline of which is shown on the table on Plate [X.], No. 2.

Another typical ornament is the swelling acorn-bulb. It appears on the legs of tables, posts of bedsteads, and supports of cabinets, cupboards, etc., as shown on Plate [X.], No. 2. A variety of this bulb occurs on Plate [XI.], No. 1, showing the black ebony balls connected by plain stretchers, or straining-rails. The bulb also appears, but somewhat smaller and connected by straight stretchers, on the table on Plate [V.] The baluster legs of the court cupboard on Plate [X.] exhibit another kind of swelling leg. This leg becomes slenderer until it dwindles into the type shown on Plate [X.], No. 1.

Other ornamental devices consist of interlaced bands, strapwork, shells, lyres, bell-flowers, the acanthus, arch panels, branches and leaves in large flowing designs, besides a great variety of mouldings, panels and pierced scrolls. Turned work is rapidly superseding carving, which, however, is never quite driven away.

The newest decoration is the “spindle” ornament which seems to have been introduced from England from the Low Countries about the middle of the Seventeenth Century. This was made of ebony, or of pear-wood stained black, turned, of course, cut in half and applied. Eggs and lozenges were likewise made, stained black and applied. These ornaments decorate the cabinet on Plate [X.], No. 1, and the “spindle” is shown separately as No. 4 on the same plate. The scroll is an excessively popular device: it not only occurs upon mouldings and cornices, but it also decorates the feet, frames of panels and straining-rails of chairs and settees.

PLATE VII

During this period, the hall was the most important room in the house. Guests were always received here, and here meals were generally served. In the baronial homes, therefore, of past generations, the hall was used as both drawing-room and dining-room. The table was set on a daïs, or platform, and a screen cut off the entrance from the kitchen. At the other end of the hall was the minstrels’ gallery. In the course of time, a bay window was added at the dais end of the hall, which formed a private retiring-place for conversation while the table was being cleared. This paved the way for the small “privée parlour,” a little room built at the end, or side of the hall. The next addition was the “Great Chamber,” a larger room than the “parlour,” to which the lord of the household often retired, leaving the hall to his retainers and to such guests as were not of equal rank with himself. The “Great Chamber” was used as a bedroom by night and as a living-room by day. Here, of course, there was a sumptuous bed; and a bed with rich furniture also stood frequently in both parlour and hall.

The general impression of a Jacobean hall is elegance,—an elegance not merely derived from the dignified styles of the furniture contained in it; but from the rich tapestries and hangings, the warm panels, the comparatively low and beautifully ornamented ceiling, the stately mantel-piece, the cosy bay window and the bright wood fire crackling upon the great andirons.

Perhaps the first thing that attracts one’s attention is the lavish use of the panel. The doors are panelled, as well as the ceilings and wainscots,—a fashion very popular in the days of Elizabeth. In some instances, the room is panelled from floor to ceiling, and in others only the wainscot and doors are panelled, in which case the wall-space above the wainscot is completely covered with tapestry. Tapestry is often hung over the[^[2]] panels also, as shown in our illustration (Plate [V.]). English people had been fond of tapestry ever since the days King Alfred, fully appreciating the beauty derived from

“Hanging about the walls

Clothes of gold and halles

Arras[^[3]] of rich arraye

Freshe as flowers in Maye.”

Tapestry, which had become something of a lost art during the Wars of the Roses, had been again brought into favour by Henry VIII., and a fresh interest is now given to it on account of the beautiful articles that are being made at the Mortlake factory established by James I.

Another hanging, not quite banished as yet, was “painted cloth,” canvas painted in tempera, or oil, with various devices, figures, mottoes, proverbs and wise sayings. Falstaff’s comparison “Slaves as ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth,” shows us that Biblical subjects were represented. The saucy Beatrice of Much Ado about Nothing admits that she took her witty answers from the painted cloth.[^[4]]

PLATE VIII

Hangings of embossed leather from Spain, with figures in gold, silver, and various colours, were also used, especially in the adornment of the small rooms. Another novelty at this period was chintz, figured or flowered. In 1663, Pepys notes in his Diary: “Bought my wife a chint, that is a painted Indian calico for to line her new study.”

The latter must have been a kind of boudoir, or, possibly, a library. In some houses there was a special room set apart for books. These “studies” had been popular in England long before the time of Mrs. Pepys, since Leland describes one that was called “Paradise,” and which might be imitated with advantage in modern homes, especially where there is a restricted space for books. He writes:

“At Wressil Castle, Yorkshire, the seat of the Percies, there was one thing I liked exceedingly in one of the towers; that was a study called Paradise, wher was a closett in the middle of eight squares lattised about; and at the top of every square was a deske ledged to fit bookes on and cofers within them, and these seemed as joined hard to the top of this closett; and yet by pulling, one or al would come down briste high in rabattes, and serve for deskes to lay bookes on.”

In some houses, the ceiling is carved in elaborate fretwork, ornamented with bosses and pendants,—a practice afterwards imitated in plaster.

The windows are furnished with small diamond, or square, panes, and frequently in the centre of each window the armorial bearings of the family are displayed, as shown in Plate [V.] Sometimes these are encircled with floral, or other devices. The arms are also placed upon the chimney-piece. In the bay windows we always find a low-cushioned seat bountifully supplied with soft, movable cushions and pillows, covered with rich silks of bright hues, and often beautifully embroidered. Indeed the cushion[^[5]] is one of the features of every room, being a necessity as well as a decorative accessory to the heavy chairs of the day.

The floor, of polished oak or inlaid wood, is occasionally enriched with a “foot carpet.” In many of the older houses, the floors are paved with tiles of various colours, or laid with chequer-work.

The most important architectural feature of the room, however, is the chimney-piece. The favourite Tudor chimney-piece and overmantel was a mass of rich carving, consisting of arch panels, mouldings, scrolls, coats-of-arms, flowers, vines, columns, and interlaced strapwork, supported by beautiful, or grotesque, terminal figures. Simpler styles are now being introduced in sympathy with the growing taste for Classic severity. The fire-place still remains large enough to admit of big logs, and the hearth is equipped with andirons, tongs, bellows, and sometimes a fender,—all of great artistic beauty. Behind the flames, there is usually an iron “chimney-back,” stamped with a decorative device, or, occasionally, the arms of the owner.

PLATE IX

The illumination is obtained by means of lamps, lanterns and candlesticks. The latter are very ornate. Some of them are branched and hang from the ceiling. Others have sconce-arms and are placed on the walls. Tall standing candlesticks of metal are also used, and are moved about the room at pleasure. The illumination is also helped by means of small mirrors, with frames carved and gilt, or else made of ebony or olive-wood.

The furniture consists of one large table, several small round or oval tables, side tables, chairs, settee, couch, stools, a “court,” or “livery cupboard” (and sometimes both), a screen, cabinets, chests, and coffers; while the decorations are pictures, antlers, armour, vases and other ornaments of porcelain, gold, silver, or pewter, and table-clocks.

There has been much discussion regarding the “court cupboard” and the “livery cupboard,” mentioned above, but it is now generally accepted that the “court cupboard,” which may have derived its name from the French word court (short), to distinguish it from the high standing cupboards, corresponded to the French dressoir, and was used for the display and keeping of plate, glass, etc., etc. The “livery cupboard,” on the other hand, still found in the farmers’ and labourers’ cottages in England, where it is sometimes called the “bread-and-cheese cupboard,” received its name from the French livrer (to deliver) and was used both for service and as a receptacle for broken victuals. The difference between them is well defined in Janua Linguarum (London, 1673), as follows: “Golden and gilded beakers, cruzes, great cups, chrystal glasses, cans, tankards and two ear’d pots are brought forth out of the cupboard and glass case; and being rins’d and rubb’d with a pot-brush are set on the livery cupboard.”

The “court cupboard” corresponded, in a measure, to the modern sideboard. It was a great feature at festivals and it rose in several receding stages or shelves, upon which the plate was displayed. The number of stages varied according to the rank of the master or mistress of the house. In Les Honneurs de la Cour, we learn that two steps were allowed to the wife of a baronet, three to a countess, four to a princess, and five to a queen.

At Cardinal Wolsey’s entertainment to the French Ambassadors at Hampton Court, Cavendish relates: “There was a cupboard for the time in length of the breadth of the nether end of the same chamber, six desks high, full of gilt plate, very sumptuous and of the newest fashions; and upon the nethermost desk garnished all with plate of clean gold were two great candlesticks of silver and gilt most curiously wrought.” When the same Ambassadors were entertained by Henry VIII. at Greenwich, there was a “cupborde seven stages high and thirteen feet long, set with standing cuppes, bolles, flaggons and great pottles all of fine golde, some garnished with one stone, and some with other stones and pearles.”

When Queen Elizabeth was entertained at Hatfield House (the present seat of the Salisburies) in 1556, and there was a great and rich “maskinge in the great halle at Hatfield,” at night “the cupboard in the halle was of twelve stages, mainlie furnished with garnish of gold and silver vessels and a banket of seventie dishes, and after a voide of spices and suttleties, with thirtie spice plates, all at the charges of Sir Thomas Pope.”

PLATE X

A good example of a “court cupboard” with five degrees of stages ornamented with plate is shown in a picture printed in Laurea Austriaca (Frankfort, 1627), representing an entertainment given by King James I. of England to the Spanish Ambassadors during the negotiations for the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Infanta of Spain. The stages rest upon a frame of turned baluster legs connected by straining-rails. Below the first stage there is a drawer. The “carpets” hang over the front of the cupboard instead of over the sides, as was more usual. This picture would seem to prove that an ordinary side table of the period might be converted into a court cupboard by simply placing the requisite number of shelves above it. However, in the inventory of Sir Thomas Kytson (1603) the following occurs: “At y^e Great Chamber Dore one little joined boarde w^t a fast frame to it, to sett on glassis. Itm, a thing like stayres to set plate on.”

In the early days, before the “livery cupboard” was brought from behind the screen into the hall, the “court cupboard” was removed from the lower end of the hall. The “livery cupboard” took its place. The “court cupboard” was then placed on the daïs, at the “Lord’s borde end,” or in a recess at the back of the high table. Sometimes it was placed in front of the bay window at the end of the daïs, where it acted as a kind of screen.

The “livery cupboard” was not only used for service, but for “liveries” of food and drink, served at night and in between meals. Smaller livery cupboards were sometimes found in the bedrooms, and these were usually furnished with doors and locks. As food was kept in them, the panels are frequently perforated for the sake of ventilation.

Occasionally, especially in later times, the uses of the “court” and “livery” cupboards were combined. Between these pieces of furniture, one difference long existed: a portion of the court cupboard was enclosed at a very early period, while the livery cupboard remained with its open shelves.

If we may believe the old inventories, there were many varieties of the cupboard, or many names for it. We find cupboard and chest-of-drawers, great cupboard, table and cupboard, table-cupboard, livery cupboard, side cupboard, press cupboard, sideboard cupboard, half-headed cupboard, standing cupboard, “cort” cupboard, etc., etc.

PLATE XI

Its use was universal, as it was an article of convenience, beauty and ceremony. On Plate [X.] a characteristic specimen of a Seventeenth Century “court cupboard” of oak is shown. This is preserved in the Vestry in Jamston Church, Nottinghamshire. The lower part would resemble the ordinary side table of the day, if the back supports were like the two turned baluster legs in the front. The long drawer with carved panels is appropriated for linen, or cutlery. The enclosed cupboard is cut in the form of half a hexagon,—a favourite device of the period for cupboards, and has three doors enriched with carved panels and mouldings. The top slab or “cupboard head” is supported by spirally turned columns. The proper way to adorn this piece of furniture is to place a cupboard cloth, or “carpet” (of damask with fringed ends, or a strip of the same material as the hangings of the room) upon the top, allowing the ends of the scarf to fall over the sides (but not the front), and then to arrange on it a few choice pieces of plate, or porcelain. It is interesting to compare this example with No. 8 and No. 1 on the same plate. No. 8 is a portion of a cupboard of later date. This has a “double head,” and under the first stage the ornament is a pendant, instead of a column or pillar. This stands on a ball foot, of an older form than the foot of No. 1 or No. 3. This example, moreover, has its lower portion enclosed with panelled doors. The earlier specimens of the “court cupboard” are generally (and often richly) carved. Sometimes the pillars have Ionic capitals, sometimes they are ornamented with the swelling bulb or acorn enriched with the acanthus leaf, as exhibited in No. 2, Plate [X.] The devices for the mouldings and panels open to the carver were innumerable. Towards the close of our period, cupboards were decorated with applied ornaments of ebony (or an imitation of it) in the form of eggs, spindles and lozenges, as shown in the cabinet No. 1 on Plate [X.]

The cabinet is a development of the enclosed cupboard. The characteristic cabinet of James I.’s time is adorned with pillars, arch panels and spindle ornaments. The specimen just referred to on Plate [X.], No. 1, has these decorations. It stands on a frame of six legs,—a frame that was also used for the lower part of the high case-of-drawers that was coming into fashion towards the end of our period.

The cabinet was always a handsome piece of furniture equipped with shelves, drawers, compartments, and doors,—a repository for jewels, documents and curios. It was sometimes defined as a set of boxes, or drawers for curiosities, and from it the cabinet-maker, “one whose business it is to make cabinets and the finer kind of joiner’s work,” took his name.

The cabinet was known in England at an early date. In 1550, we read of a “fayre large cabinett covered with crimson velvet with the King’s arms crowned.” In the Seventeenth Century, the cabinet was panelled and carved, adorned with turned pillars, pendants or swelling bulbs, or it was of the newer style with applied ornaments and turned supports. Frequently also an imported cabinet was to be seen in the English home of this century,—a beautiful specimen of Dutch marquetry, of Italian inlay, of Oriental lacquer, or, indeed, of Boulle work, to say nothing of the splendid examples of Flemish carving.

Some of these cabinets were very ornate specimens of workmanship. Inlay or marquetry was the leading feature of decoration for them. Natural flowers, birds, animals and foliage in bright colours, or in the colours of the exotic woods, undyed, were in use. Ivory and mother-of-pearl, as well as shell were also employed. Even before the days of William and Mary, when the Dutch marquetry became universally popular, there was much inlaid furniture.

In 1697, John Evelyn notes:

“Emblema, continued to this day by the Italians in their Pietra Comessa.... St. Lawrence at Florence, where the pavement and all the walls are most richly encrusted with all sorts of precious marbles, serpentine, porhirie, ophitis, achat, rants, coral, cornelian, lazuli, etc., of which one may number thirty sorts, cut and laid into a fonds or ground of black marble (as our cabinet-makers do their variegated woods) in the shape of birds, flowers, landskips, grotesks, and other compartments.”

The above reference shows that the English cabinet-makers were accustomed to work in inlay.

One of the designs of marquetry that came into vogue in the Seventeenth Century was the “herring-bone” pattern. A clock made by Daniel Quare late in the Seventeenth Century, and preserved at Hampton Court Palace, has its case inlaid with a border of herring-bone pattern.

The characteristic table of Jacobean days is the “drawing-table,” a solid piece of furniture with massive legs, often carved, and connected with rails near the floor. The top is a large slab of oak and beneath it are two other slabs or leaves; when these are drawn out at each end, the large slab falls into the space they occupied, and the table is thus lengthened.

Another typical table, called either “round” or “oval,” is shown on Plate [XI.] This is an eight-legged table provided with flaps, or falling leaves, supported by legs that can be pulled forward. When not in use, they fold into the frame. Sometimes this variety of table has six instead of eight legs. A popular modern name for these is “the gate-legged” and “the thousand-legged tables.” Frequently the legs were turned spirally. There was another round, or oval table, whose falling leaf was supported by a bracket, shaped something like the wing of a butterfly, from which it has received the modern and popular name of “butterfly table.” The square table was also in use. The table was always covered with its “carpet”; indeed, in the inventories of the period, the “table and carpet” are often mentioned together.

On Plate [XI.] are three specimen table legs. No. 1 shows legs that are ornamented with a round globe, which like the round ball foot, is of ebony or wood stained black in imitation. The stretchers and rest of the frame are oak. Frequently the table leg was decorated with the carved bulb or acorn, as is shown in No. 2, Plate [X.] A similar leg to No. 1, Plate [XI.], occurs on the table in Plate [V.], but the stretchers here are different. No. 2 and No. 3 on Plate [XI.] are good types of the ornamentation of the period and their legs are also connected by stretchers. The latter would be used as side-tables or placed in the centre of a room.

The furniture of the parlour in the late Tudor period consisted of high-backed carved chairs, joined stools with cushions covered with rich material and fringed, foot-stools, turned chairs, “lyttle guilt chairs for the women,” high folding screens with many leaves, long, square and round tables with “carpets,” “conversation stools” with ornamented ends and backs, chests, cabinets, coffers and all the ornaments of the period. A wood fire gives warmth, and silver candelabra and sconces light to the room, while further comfort is added by the tapestries, curtains and innumerable cushions. Often, indeed, a bed occurs.

The Jacobean parlour differed but little; indeed, in some houses this exact room survived; but the new styles were gradually driving out the heavy chairs and cabinets for the lighter varieties with turned frames and cane webbing or their upholstered backs and seats; and the old carving was being rapidly supplanted by the newer decoration of the black mouldings and applied ornaments. The high-backed and richly carved settle had to give place to the “couch and squab,” a handsome specimen of which appears on Plate [VIII.] This is also called a settee or a “chaise longue.” Our particular example is composed of a walnut frame covered with cane, upon which are placed a mattress or long cushion and a round bolster, both of which are covered with green silk damask bordered with a narrow fringe. The back, resembling the back of a chair, is enclosed in an ornamental frame of scroll-work, somewhat similar to that of No. 1 on the same plate, and turned side pillars. The top rail is surmounted by a pedimental scroll with a crown in the middle. The six legs have projecting knees and feet connected lengthwise by ornamental rails upon which scrolls and crowns are carved. This piece of furniture dates from 1660.

We have noted that the bed was generally met with in every room in the house. There were, however, separate bedrooms even in the Tudor age. Shakespeare’s description of Imogen’s apartment gives a very charming picture of a rich sleeping-room of the time:

“First her bed-chamber

(Where I confess I slept not; but profess,

Had that was well worth watching,) it was hang’d

With tapestry of silk and silver; the story,

Proud Cleopatra when she met her Roman,

And Cnydus swell’d above the banks, or for

The press of boats or pride; a piece of work

So bravely done, so rich, that it did strive

In workmanship, and value; which I wonder’d,

Could be so rarely and exactly wrought,

Since the true life on’t was....

The chimney

Is south the chamber; and the chimney-piece,

Chaste Dian bathing: never saw I figures

So likely to report themselves; the cutter

Was as another Nature dumb; outwent her,

Motion and breath left out....

The roof o’ the chamber

With golden cherubins is fretted: her andirons

(I had forgot them) were two winking Cupids

Of silver, each on one foot standing, nicely

Depending on their brands.”[^[6]]

It is interesting to compare the above with the room that was prepared for the reception of James I. at Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, which is still intact. The walls are covered with tapestry depicting the story of Nebuchadnezzar. The state bed, which cost £8,000, is richly ornamented and has a canopy top, while its furniture is of gold and silver tissue, lined with rose-coloured satin, and embroidered and fringed with gold and silver. The chairs and stools in the room are covered to correspond with the hangings and other furniture of the bed.

Another room in the same house, known as the “Venetian Bedroom,” because the Venetian ambassador, Nicolo Molino, slept there, contains a fine state bed, said to have been arranged for the entertainment of James II. The canopy and headboard are carved and gilt and surmounted by the royal arms. The hangings and other furniture are of green cut velvet lined with lutestring,[^[7]] and the chairs and stools in the room are similarly upholstered.

Another room at Knole, known as the “Spangled Bedroom,” on account of its ceiling, is hung with tapestry and contains a handsome bed which is represented on Plate [IX.] The stools and chairs in this room are covered with crimson silk embroidered in the same pattern as the bed-furniture.

The massive Elizabethan “four-posted” bed died hard. Although in many homes the new styles were being introduced, the “beddes of tymbre” were treasured and still formed objects of special bequests. Oliver Cromwell’s bed, which is still in existence, is similar in general style to the “Great Bed of Ware,”[^[8]] which was so large that it could hold twelve persons. In 1598, Paul Hentzer, visiting Windsor, notes the beds belonging to princes of preceding reigns measured 11 feet square and were covered with quilts shining with gold and silver.

The large Tudor bed was the richest piece of furniture. Apart from the sheets of finest linen, the soft and handsome blankets, the counterpane of marvellous needlework, the quilts of silk and rugs of fur, and the curtains of tapestry, samite, silk or velvet, it was a mass of superb carving luxuriantly expressed upon headboard, canopy, tester, columns, and panels. The columns were often carved to represent the “four gospellers,” or evangelists, and angels: which explain the old rhyme:

“Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

Bless the bed that I sleep on;

Two angels at my head,

Two angels round my bed,

Two to watch, and two to pray,

And two to carry my soul away.”

One of the popular decorations of the columns was the acorn-shaped central bulb on the posts, and the arch panel on the headboard. Even the under side of the canopy is formed of carved panels. On either side of the headboard, the terminal figures of men or women or angels were not merely decorative, but formed supports for looping back the curtains. Many of these carved oak bedsteads were imported from Flanders, especially those whose testers are carved with designs suggested by drapery or fringe. Under this great bed, which sometimes stood upon a low platform, the “trundle” or “truckle” bed was rolled.

“In the best bed the Squire must lie,

And John in truckle bed hard by.”

The bed shown on Plate [IX.] is of the new style which lingered with a few changes far into the reign of Queen Anne. It is therefore a typical Jacobean or Stuart bed. The proportion is entirely different to that of the Tudor four-poster. The pillars, or supports, for the tester are taller, and the whole framework is of lighter build. This interesting specimen is still preserved at Knole, the home of the Sackvilles at Sevenoaks, Kent. Its hangings, tester, valance and counterpane are of crimson silk lined with satin and richly embroidered with gold and silver.

No. 1 on the same Plate shows the bed with light, spiral column that was also in use. The post is surmounted by an ornament, or knob, or bunch of feathers which, in France are called “pomme.”

This is the kind of bed which appears on Plate [III.], No. 3.

It will be noticed that there is no carving on this bed which depends for its elegance upon the richness of its furniture. At this period, green, yellow and crimson were the favourite colours for draping the bed. The materials chosen were silk damask, worsted damask, plain satin, silk, or serge, according to the wealth of the owner; and when it is remembered that the windows were hung with the same stuff, and the chairs, stools, cushions, table-carpets and cupboard cloth and cushions were of similar stuff, it will be admitted that a Jacobean bedroom is lacking neither in beauty nor richness.

The rich materials mentioned above were often embroidered in gold or silver as is the case in bed shown on Plate [IX.]

Striped silk was another favourite for the hangings of the bedroom. As a rule, when worsted materials were used, the curtains of both bed and windows were lined with silk. There was a great variety of silks, known variously as lutestring, paduasoy, tabby, taffetas, sarcenet, chaney, cheney or China, etc.; while the woollen goods included serge, darnick or dorneck, perpetuana, mohair, camoca or camak, camlet, say, serge, rateen, watchet, fustian, damask, and kitterminster or kidderminster, some of which were mixed with camel’s hair or threads of silk. There were also dimity, flowered chintz, and callimanco (a glazed linen), as well as Turkey-work and “wrought” (which, of course, was needlework). East India goods, such as printed calico and seersucker, were also used at the end of the period. White curtains for the bed are rarely employed.

The modern upholsterer will have no difficulty in finding suitable and equivalent materials for furnishing a Jacobean bed and bedroom.

The valance hanging from the tester, as shown on Plate [IX.], is adorned with fringe, as is also the stool that stands at the foot of the bed.

Beside the bed, there was always laid a narrow strip of carpet, or tapestry, or rug, always referred to as a “bedside carpet.”[^[9]]

In the bedroom, we always find a large “trussing chest,” used as a receptacle for the bed clothes, and there may be another chest for the preservation of wearing apparel. The latter is more likely to be a chest-with-drawers, consisting of the chest proper, below which are two long drawers, appearing to the eye as four on account of the panels, mouldings and knobs. On lifting up the top, a deep well is revealed, at the side of which there is a “till,” or compartment, for small articles, trinkets, etc.

At first, the chest was decorated with carved panels and mouldings, and was usually rendered secure with a lock and great iron hinges that were extremely decorative. The date and the initials of the owner were carved upon it, as well as a fanciful motto or legend. At a later period, the chest was placed on a frame of short square legs. The next development was the addition of a long drawer below the chest. Another drawer was added, and another, until this piece of furniture gradually became, instead of a simple box or trunk, a “chest-of-drawers,” a “chest-with-drawers,” a “nest-of-drawers,” a “case-of-drawers,” a “press,” a “cupboard-press,” etc., etc. The bureau, or desk, or “screetore,” is another development; and, of course, the cabinet in its simplest form is nothing but a chest-of-drawers with shelves inside shut in by doors.

This development will be apparent by glancing at the chest-of-drawers, or case-of-drawers, on Plate [X.] This contains but four drawers, although at first sight it would seem that there were eight. The panels of these drawers are edged with a flat bevelled moulding stained black, and within that is a sunk panel, in the centre of which is the brass handle-plate. A moulding incised with cuts edges the top slab. The chest-of-drawers stands on four turned knobs or balls. A specimen handle and key-plate of the period appropriate for chest, chest-of-drawers, or cabinet are No. 5 and No. 6 on Plate [X.] The case-of-drawers is also found in the bedroom, where the other furniture includes a dressing-table and glass, tables, chairs and stools, very often a cupboard, sometimes a desk or “screetore,” and always plenty of cushions.

The “drawing-table,” of course, has no place in the bedroom; such a one as that shown on Plate [XI.], with either a square or round top is the most usual. Its “carpet” matches the hangings of the room. The cupboard, chairs, stools, and couch and desk do not differ from those already described. The dressing-table is merely a simple table covered with drapery, and upon it or above it stands or hangs a mirror, the frame of which in general design is like the one shown on Plate [XI.] In very rich homes, this is of solid silver, but more frequently it is carved and gilt, or made of olive-wood, or ebony. Sometimes it has merely a square and unornamented frame, and again the frame may be inlaid.

Turning now to the chairs, we find the heavy wooden chairs, such as are shown on Plate [VII.], Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and No. 2 on Plate [VIII.], are giving place to newer forms. One of the most typical is the “low leather” chair, which we have already spoken of in the preceding chapter. This was generally covered with leather put on with large brass nails, and was sometimes also decorated with fringe. Genoa velvet, silk, serge, needlework, etc., were also used for covering this form of chair. A square straining-rail usually connects the legs close to the floor. It was popularly known as “the Cromwell,” and is shown on Plate [V.] and in the Frontispiece. Two good variants occur on Plate [I.], No. 3, and lower right-hand corner. Another typical chair, which is also reminiscent of Abraham Bosse, appears on Plate [VII.] This shape is frequently met with in the pictures of the old Dutch masters.

This particular specimen, which is preserved at Knole Park, is covered with rose-coloured velvet, divided into squares by means of a braid of mixed gold and silk threads, and adorned with a fringe of the same. The nails that fasten the material are copper-gilt, and a large quatrefoil ornament marks the intersection of the legs. The oval finials on the back are also decorated with copper-gilt nails. The woodwork is painted with red lacquer ornamented with a floral design in gold.

All the styles shown on Plate [I.] are also known in England. A very characteristic chair is the “high backed” chair, known also to France and Flanders. It is very slender and upright. Examples are shown on Plates [V.] and [VIII.] The side-posts are either spiral, as in Plate [V.], or spindle, as shown in No. 1 and No. 6 on Plate [VIII.] The back panel and seat are of cane webbing, or stuffed and upholstered. The frame of the panel may be rounded as in No. 6 on Plate [VIII.], or square as No. 1 on the same plate. The top is usually carved in some kind of scroll-work. Sometimes the cane-webbing is framed with a simple moulding, as shown in No. 6. Plate [VIII.] and again it may have an ornate combination of scrolls and leaves, as shown in No. 1 on the same Plate. Stretchers render the legs firm. Sometimes there are two spiral front rails as shown on Plate [V.], but more frequently the rail is an elaborate arrangement of scrolls, as shown on the chair in the upper left hand corner on Plate [VII.] or on No. 4 and No. 5 on Plate [VIII.] The feet are often made of a large and somewhat clumsy scroll turned outward, as shown on No. 5, Plate [VIII.] Another variety occurs on the arm-chair above. Another species of foot is moulded into a kind of embryonic claw, known as “the Spanish foot.” The arm-chair on Plate [VIII.] is one of the richest productions of the age. It is elaborately carved and gilt. The border or frame surrounding the panel of the back is beautifully carved with the strawberry leaf, and Cupids and other figures enrich the top. The side supports of the back are spirally turned, ending in a decorative acorn (which is repeated in detail on No. 3). The seat and back are upholstered in red velvet. This valuable relic dates from 1660.

A simpler chair, also dating from 1660, occurs on Plate [VII.] This is of walnut. The side-supports are continuations of the back legs, the front legs curve outward, and the front rail is a series of scrolls. The back is surmounted by a carved and pierced pediment. The stuffed seat and back are covered with needlework on canvas.

Other typical seats of the day are shown on Plate [VI.], a settee or double chair, and stool, the frames of which are painted black. The back of the settee is very high with a curved or wavy top. The arms curve downward with a bold sweep. The four short legs, curving outwards, with projecting knees and feet, are connected by heavy straining-rails formed of heavy scrolls. Both settee and stool are upholstered in rich Mortlake tapestry of the age, representing sprays of flowers.

[1]. Taming of the Shrew, Act II., Scene 1.

[2]. “The usual manner,” says Percy in his preface to the Northumberland Household Book, “of hanging the rooms in the old castles, was only to cover the naked stone walls with tapestry or arras, hung upon tenter hooks from which they were easily taken down upon every removal.” Afterwards it seems to have been hung on projecting frames leaving a space between it and the wall, affording a convenient hiding-place. It will be remembered that Hamlet killed Polonius behind the arras, where the latter had concealed himself.

[3]. So called from the town of that name in Flanders.

[4].

“Read what is written in the painted cloth

Do no man wron; be good unto the poor

Beware the mouse, the maggot and the moth

And ever have an eye unto the door.”

(Old Tract, 1601).

[5]. The cushion was in favour at an early date; it is mentioned in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, “Whyssynes upon quelde-poyntes” (1340 c); in the Will of Edward the Black Prince in Nichol’s Royal Wills, “74 curtyns quissyns” (1361); Chaucer’s Troylus, “And down she sett here by hym upon a quysshon gold y-bete” (1229); Isumbras, “Bryn a chayere an a qwyschene” (1400); Wyclif, “Seetis of skynnes ethir cuyschuns” (1388) Wyclif, Ezek iii, “Woo to hem that sewen tegider cusshens” (1382); Mallory, “And there was laid a cusshyn of gold that he should knele upon” (1470–85); and Berners, Arth. Lyt. Bryt., “They set them down on cosshyns of sylke” (1530).

[6]. Cymbeline, Act II. Scene IV.

[7]. A heavy ribbed silk.

[8]. “Taunt him with the license of ink; if thou thou’st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss; and as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England, set ’em down.”—Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene II.

[9]. This name occurs as early as 1301.

LOUIS XIV. PERIOD

PLATE XII

LOUIS XIV. PERIOD

The culminating period of the long reign of Louis XIV. (1643–1715) was reached at the Treaty of Nimeguen in 1678. From this time forward, France not only dominated Europe by force of arms, but also by her taste and achievements in art. Paris set the fashions for the whole Continent and for the Court of Charles II. across the Channel.

The “Roi magnifique,” now able to indulge every fancy and whim, makes the Palace of Versailles the symbol of the time. Although the architect Mansart began the improvements there in 1661, it was not until 1682 that the residence of the Court was fixed at Versailles. Then it became the expression of pomp, pleasure and magnificence. Magnificent Versailles, with its water-works, its statues, its groves, its gardens, its galleries, its pictures and its furnishings, cost the King a fortune. The furniture alone, not including either pictures or tapestries, amounted to 13,000,000 livres.

Anxious to exhibit a magnificence unknown since the days of Rome and Byzantium, the “Sun King” conceived the idea of entrusting the designing and manufacture of carpets, tapestries, furniture, plate, etc., etc., to artists of the first rank. His first plan was to gather around him a number of talented men, to each of whom he granted apartments in the Louvre; but he found that it would be well to subject all the various individual works to one guiding spirit and thus to create harmony. Therefore, in 1667, he established the “Manufacture des Gobelins,” with the painter, Le Brun, at its head. This manufactory of the crown became not only famous for the superb tapestry that bears its name, but for cabinet work (ébénisterie), goldsmith work (orfèvrerie), etc., etc., and was the special pride of Louis XIV., who, according to a contemporary:

“Ne passe guère de semaine

Où toute sa cour il n’y mène.”

Among the famous artists and workers employed at the Gobelins, were the ébéniste André Charles Boulle, the goldsmiths Claude Ballin and Delaunay, the painters and decorators Jean Bérain and Jean Lepautre, and the engravers La Barre, Viaucourt, Debonnaire, and Guillaume and Alexandre Loir. Nor must Colbert be forgotten, the great minister of finance who aided the King in founding this important establishment. Le Brun dominated all productions with his taste, which was that of Louis himself,—magnificent, splendid, heroic and pompous. Here were produced not only the furnishings for the homes of the wealthy, but those superb gifts that Louis lavished upon the ambassadors from foreign courts.

Massive silver[^[10]] furniture, which seems to have originated in Spain, and to have crossed the Pyrenees with Anne of Austria, the daughter of Philip III., became extremely popular at court and with those of Louis’s courtiers who could afford such a luxury. When Charles II. ascended the English throne, and brought with him from France all the styles of Louis XIV., silver furniture was introduced into the country, some of which is still preserved.

Doubtless the richness and beauty of these rare articles developed the taste for carved and gilded wood. Its use was not confined to the wealthy; in comparatively modest dwellings and hôtels the frames of the seats, mirrors, tables, consoles, etc., were carved elaborately and gilded. It is probably owing to this dazzling and glittering effect of gilded wood that has caused critics to refer to the preceding style of Louis XIII. as “sombre.” The luxury and splendours of the court penetrated to the middle classes, who adopted all the styles of the day. It was not long before great changes in interior decorations were sufficiently apparent to attract the notice of contemporary writers. La Bruyère speaks of the preceding reign when copper and pewter had not been supplanted by silver. The enormous and monumental chimney-piece which reached to the cornice, a typical example of which is shown in the frontispiece, was banished for the “petite cheminée,” or little chimney-piece. Mirrors now made at the Gobelin manufactory became far more common, having been brought within the reach of many who could not afford the hitherto unrivalled glasses made in Venice. The flags and tiles were now superseded by floors of inlaid woods, or parquetry, and the tapestries and embossed leather that adorned the walls in the preceding period were gradually succeeded by painted and gilt panels. There was a tendency everywhere for lighter hues. This taste had already reached high expression in the Marquise de Rambouillet, who astonished everyone with her “Blue Parlour,” which was decorated and draped in the colour of the sky.

It must not be imagined, however, that tapestry was rejected. The magnificent productions of the Gobelins reproducing in their bold colours the pictures of Le Brun, Van der Meulen, and others, made superb wall-decorations for the homes of the wealthy; and those who did not care for the hunting-scenes, war-scenes, mythological subjects, or allegories, could select Bérain’s fine “arabesques.” We notice, however, some new colours that were extremely popular. These were particularly the yellowish pink hue of dawn, called aurora, flame-colour, flesh-colour, and amaranth, a purplish red such as occurs in the common flowers, Love-lies-bleeding and Prince’s Feather. These colours occur chiefly in the sumptuous brocades and damasks from Lyons, Genoa and Flanders that were used to line the walls, for covering the seats, and draping the great beds.

PLATE XIII

The influence of Le Brun cannot be over-estimated. All the industries of the day that had any connection with art passed into his control. For at least twenty-five years, he regulated all the types and models, and was the arbiter and judge of the productions. He furnished designs for painters, sculptors, cabinet-makers, weavers, etc., etc. Let us in confirmation of this turn to the Mercure de France for 1692; “Although I have mentioned,” says the writer, “many works, I have forgotten to speak of those large and superb cabinets that they make at the Gobelins from his designs and under his guidance; it would seem that all the arts have contributed something to them. Finally, M. Le Brun is so universal that all the arts work under him, and he even goes so far as to make designs for the locksmith. I have seen very cultivated strangers gazing at the locks and bolts of the doors and windows at Versailles and the Galerie d’Apollon at the Louvre as if they were chefs-d’œuvre, from whose beauty they could not tear themselves away.”

Colbert’s industrial system was founded upon the idea of useful luxury. Everything in common use had to be beautiful, and the result was that, although the taste was aristocratic, the result upon France was democratic. Silk and velvet, tapestry and rugs, vases of porphyry and porcelain, candelabra and andirons, clocks and articles of silver, rich cabinets and armoires, in fact, all kinds of useful and ornamental articles were soon to be found in middle-class houses as well as in the homes of the wealthy. A great progress was noted in the art of the dyer; the tapestries became brighter, with the famous Gobelin scarlet, Lyons black, Rouen blue, Tours green, the Nîmes yellow, etc.

To appreciate the general luxury of the day, let us recall the magnificent entertainment that Fouquet gave to Louis XIV. at the Castle of Vaux, when “he went so far as to cause to be placed in the room of each courtier of the King’s retinue a purse filled with gold to supply at the play those who had not enough, or none at all;” and the still more remarkable lottery that Cardinal Mazarin held in his palace in 1660 (the year before his death), for the benefit of the courtiers. The prizes given on this occasion consisted of precious stones, jewels, textiles, mirrors, tables, cabinets, and other furniture, crystal candelabra, silverware, gloves, ribbons and fans, valued altogether at half a million.

Again, when Louis received the Siamese Ambassador, he was seated on a throne of silver, and his costume was so heavy with gold and jewels that he was soon forced to remove it.

It was an age of jewels. Travellers brought home from the East many precious stones, particularly diamonds; Tavernier, for instance, made six voyages to India and Persia, and brought diamonds to the King. Chardin, merchant to the King, publishes his voyage to Persia. This contact with the East touches popular fancy, and the Persian, the Turk and the Hindu appear in court-ballets, and their art often inspires the art of the day, as may be noted in some of the arabesques of Jean Bérain.

The general impression of the Louis XIV. style is that of imposing majesty,—a style that is more appropriate to ceremonial rooms than to familiar living. It is an age of carved and gilded furniture; the period indeed has been called “the triumph of gilded wood.” The carving, however, is entrusted to sculptors who seem to find inspiration in the work of the goldsmiths, for the complicated ornamentation that appears on the frames of chairs sofas, consoles, tables, etc., etc., suggests the chiselling of metal. Dead gold and burnished gold are both used, and the profusion of scrolls, leafy boughs, guilloches, heavy foliage, lozenge-shaped imbrications embossed with flowers in high relief, shells and flowers in high relief, arranged as festoons, garlands, bouquets, and sheaves, not to speak of the acanthus, the mascaron and the cartouche, produce an appearance of luxury and brilliancy that was unknown until the days of Louis XIV.

In the reign of Louis XIV., it was generally understood that every piece of decorative work should consist of a combination of the straight line and the curve. A series of bars interlaced, or ending with scrolls, is a distinguishing characteristic of this period. This combination is found not only in the forms of the furniture, but in the inlays of wood and brass and upon the walls of rooms, both painted and carved.

A feeling of stoutness and width characterizes the mouldings, the hollows of which never refuse to admit light, and these architectural mouldings are usually rich in classic ornaments (palm-leaves, ovolos, etc.). Sometimes the mouldings are replaced by a torus enriched with imbricated laurel-leaves.