Illustrated History of Furniture

t Furn

useum-the Workman's Stool-various articles of Domestic Furniture-Dr. Birch quoted. Greek Furniture: The Bas Reliefs in the British Museum-the Chest of Cypselus-Laws and Customs

al Ref

indow," to "pitch it within and without with pitch," and to observe definite measurements. From the specific directions thus handed down to us, we m

nabled them to acquire sufficient skill and experience to carry out such precise instructions as were given for the erection of the Tabernacle, some 1,500 years before Christ-as to the kinds of wood, measurements, ornaments, fastenings ("loops and taches"), curtains of linen, and coverings of dried skins. We have onl

ct, to notice some details of furniture which are given, with their approximate dates as generally accepted, not because there is any particular importance attached to the precise chronology of the events concerned, but because, speaking generally, they form landmarks in a history of furniture. One of these is the verse (Kings ii. chap. 4) which tells us the contents of the "little chamber in the wall," when Elisha visited the Shunamite, about B.C. 895; and we are told of the preparations for the reception of the prophet: "And

escriptions in the Old Testament. In these, the "table for shew-bread" is generally represented as having legs partly turned, with the upper portions square, to which rings were attached for the poles by which it was carried. As a nomadic people, their furniture woul

an Fur

B.C. 880, Reign of Asshurnazirpat. (From a photo by

ities that the furniture was ornamented with the heads of lions, bulls, and rams; tables, thrones, and couches were made of metal and wood, and probably inlaid with ivory; the earliest chair, according to Sir Austin Layard, having been made without a back, and the legs terminating in lion's feet or bull's hoofs. Some were of gold, ot

the condition of houses of a date which can be correctly assigned to B.C. 860:-"Altogether in this place I opened six chambers, all of the same character, the entrances ornamented by clusters of square pilasters, and recesses in the rooms in the same style; the walls were coloured in horizontal bands of red, green, and yellow, and where the lower parts of the chambers were panelled with sm

m Khorsabad. (In t

om Xanthus. (In t

ne. (In the B

the inlaid ornament of a throne, shewing how richly such objects were ornamented. This carving is said by the authorities to be of Egyptian origin.

Asshur, the Assyrian Jupiter; the pine cone, another sacred emblem, is also found, sometimes as in the illustration

e a footstool, and in "Nineveh and its Remains" these footstools are specially alluded to. "T

bas relief in the British Museum, is said to be of a period so

ipal. (From a Bas relief

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tance in the examples carefully preserved to us, and accessible to everyo

"Vase on a Stand", "Folding Stool", "Ebony Seat Inlaid with Ivory"

by three legs curving outwards. This is simple, convenient, and admirably adapted for long service. For a specimen of more ornamental work, the folding stool in the same glass case should be examined; the s

by Mansell & Co. of the Original Wall Painting

d tenons, fill us with wonder as we look upon work which, at the most modern

be classed under the head of furniture, are articles of luxury and comfort, and demonstrate the extraordina

t. (From a Wall Pa

n spoons, carved in most intricate designs, of which one, representing a girl amongst lotus flowers, is a work of great artistic skill; boats of wood, head rests, and

intings in the tombs, gorgeous pictures and gilded furniture are depicted. For cushions and mattresses, linen cloth and colored stuffs, filled with feathers of the waterfowl, appear to have been used, while seats have plaited bottoms of linen cord or tanned and dyed leathe

head of this department of the British Museum, has prefaced a catalogue of the antiquities alluded to. The visitor

of the furniture of this interesting people. In one of these will be seen a representation of the wooden head-rest which prevented the disarrangement of the coiffu

Supports. (From Papyr

vory

(Reproduced from a Bas-relief in the B

Furn

tries, carpets, and other accessories, which must therefore have formed part of the contents of a g

of rich material, while for the comfort of the sitters there is a footstool, probably of ivory. On the opposite leaf there is an illustration of a

a Table. (From an

olding chairs, and couches for sleeping and resting, but not for reclining at meals, as was the fashion at a later period. In most of the designs for these various arti

e. (From Antiq

Corinth, the story of which runs that when his mother's relations, having been warned by the Oracle of Delphi, that her son would prove formidable to the ruling party, sought to murder him, his life was saved by his concealment in this chest, a

of the best kind, painting of the highest merit-in a word, the best that art could produce-were all dedicated to the national service in the enrichment of Temples and other public buildings, the State having indefinite and almost unlimited power over the property of all wealth

tells us that he kept the painter Agatharcus a prisoner until his task was done, and then dismissed him with an appropriate reward. Another ancient writer relates that "the guest of a private house was enjoined to praise the decorations of

ish Museum, the National Library of Paris, and other sources,

Furn

e great Roman Empire. From that little village on the Palatine Hill, founded some 750 years B.C., Rome had spread and conquered in every direction, until in the time of Augustus she was mistre

time of Rome's prosperity. The houses had no upper story, but were formed by the enclosure of two or more quadrangles, each surrounded by courts o

wellings of the Roman nobles, and corresponding to the modern Palazzi, while the latter were the habitations of the middle and lower classes. Each insula consisted of several sets of apartments, generally let out to different families, and was frequently surrounded by shops. The houses described by Mr. Pollen appear

e. Said to have been that of Sall

esigns, but other parts of furniture were ornamented by carvings in bas relief of subjects taken from Greek mythology and legend. Veneers were cut and applied, not as some have supposed for the purpose of economy, but because by this means the most beautifully marked or figured specimens of the woods could be chosen, and a much richer and more decorative effect produced than would b

om the Marble example

p and Stand. (Fo

The possession of thyine wood was supposed to bring good luck, and its sacredness arose from the fact that from it was produced the incense used by the priests. Dr. Edward Clapton, of St. Thomas' Hospital, who h

k for household purposes, and the occupation of the wife and family; for although the position of the Roman wife was superior to t

riod, each of which held three persons, and was called a triclinium, making up the favorite number of a Roman dinner party, and possibly giving

camnum

ersons. But generally occupied by

oman citizens, and there is a useful illustration at the end of this chapter of the furniture of a library or study in which th

were kept in round boxes called Scrinia, which were generally of beech wood, and could be locked or sealed w

oms, and he quotes Plutarch's anecdote of the purple cloaks of Lucullus, which were so nu

llas," "it was here that numbers assembled daily to pay their respects to their patron, to consult the legislator, to attract

as doubtless to produce more ease and luxury, more warmth and comfort, than would be possible if the outline of every article of useful furniture were decided by a rigid adherence to classical principles. We have seen that this was more consonant with the public life of an Athenian; but the Romans, in the later period of the Empire, wit

y of Bronze. (From an

teen generations, for some five hundred years, did this decay, this vast revolution, proceed to its conclusion. Barbarian hosts settled down in provinces they had overrun and conquered, the old Pagan world died as it were, and the new Christian era dawned. From the latter end of the second century until the last of the Western Caesars, in A.D. 476, it is, with the exception of a short interval when the strong hand of the great Theodosius stayed the avalanche of Rome

s or Books in a "Scrinium;" a

iclinium, or

sts; the place of honor was that which is indica

en from Dr. Jacob von Fa