Sep
24
Baroque Antiqies: Louis XIV Style
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Needless to say the furnishings of these buildings had to match
setting and once again it was Rome that led the way, this time in
scorative arts, particularl) furniture.
iggeration was the order of the day, in size, scale and proportion.
Jng was lavish and the Renaissance sense of proportion was often
scrollwork and mouldings. This was the furniture of the sculptor
Different styles of turned leg used on
wilh its large leafy scrolls, flower garlands, putti and human figures.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the 19th century’s derisive attitude to the
Baroque was that it was seen out of context. The furniture of this period
was designed exclusively for the room it was to occupy; take it away from
the painted ceilings and the richly hung walls and its ornateness and
massiveness become more obvious. Not all the furniture of the Italian
palaces was so designed, for the members of the household lived mainly
in smaller rooms above their large Baroque chambers. Here the furniture
was of the simpler type common in the 16th century.
As the 16th century progressed the Baroque revolution influenced
other Italian craftsmen including goldsmiths, metalworkers and glass-
workers. It was in France however that the Baroque was further ela-
borated into the Louis XIV style, an interpretation of Baroque that
spread to the rest of Europe in one degree or another.
The reign of Louis XIV, ‘Le Roi soled’, (1643-1717) was a period of
French pre-eminence in European history. An age of cultural and
political ascendancy for France, Louis’ reign saw the origins of an in-
fluence on international fashion that still lingers today. Paris replaced
Rome as the art centre of the world and French became the language of
European courts and diplomacy. The Louis XIV style in the decorative
arts was largely due to Louis himself for he believed that art should be
in the service of the king rather than the Church as it had been for cen-
turies past. Through his minister Colbert, Louis established academies to
standardize style in art. and the style he favoured was a dignified and
stately, but still sumptuous form of Baroque. The over-zealousness of
the Italians was refined into a new classicism.
In England it was not until after the Restoration in 1660 that Baroque
influences appeared. Before that date furniture had remained more or
less in the Elizabethan style and other arts and crafts had made little
progress for a quarter of a century.
A fuller expression of the Baroque only appeared in England with the
reign of William and Mary (1689-1702), after whom the style was named.
The Huguenot refugees from France after 1685 played a significant role
in the propagation of the Baroque, for many of them were skilled crafts-
men bringing with them French techniques and designs at a time when
the Louis XIV style was at the height of its fashion. The influences upon
English decorative arts were both French and Dutch. Dutch Baroque
was characterized by an element of realism which they introduced into
their art by their rejection of the old world peopled with angels and saints
and their acknowledgement of the new Dutch middle class in which the
artist worked not for a sole patron, but for the market.
The Baroque era followed the inspired humanism of the Renaissance
with inflated statements of pomp, power and splendour. During the 17th
century, the institutions of the Church in Italy, the state in France, and
all courts of Germany, spawned materialistic monuments to their
hjlglory in architecture and fine and decorative arts.
■ Italy, papal families such as the Barberini, Pamfili, Aldobrandini
anc Borghese constructed elaborate villas, and filled them with works
■ and expensive furnishings. At Versailles, the association of Louis
V with the sun-god Apollo required the development of an interior
setting not quite of this earth.
I lttiated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Baroque architectural and
ntural style retained classical elements, but took liberties with
iciples of symmetry and restraint. Columns became twisted, sculp-
tured figures contorted, carvings expressive and exuberant. Baroque
inti nors achieved striking effects through a colourful welding together
irchitecture, sculpture, and painting, which dazzled the eye with
qdour and variety. Rising numbers of wealthy merchants, bankers
and Inewly-aristocratic families resulted in a refinement of rules of
etic uette and ceremony in order to define rank rigidly. The villas of
prii wes, cardinals and courtiers were replete with devices that filtered
anc arranged guests and residents to exclude those of lower rank from
the more intimate courtly gatherings. Private audiences were held in
cat sets and closets, small rooms richly decorated with fine furnishings,
hai stings, crystal, porcelain and paintings.
ink determined access to the ‘public’ levees and touchers of heads of
staM princes and nobility in state bedrooms, where elaborately hung
bee s were generally enclosed inside alcoves or behind ceremonial
bal istrades. Rank also determined the allocation of seats: ornate, gilded
throne chairs in Italy and elsewhere were reserved for heads of house-
hol i and state, and progressively less imposing chairs and stools were
use i according to social position. In Spain, ladies were relegated to floor
cus uons.
Franee, privileged women received in bed, and guests sat on cushions
in hie ruelle, or alley, beside them. Fixed positions of most furniture
pie as emphasized the formality of Baroque interiors. Chairs generally
line d room walls, and were put back in place there by servants after use.
I Mended to impress, these palatial interiors were lined with Turkish
tapestries, Genoese cut velvets, Lucchese silks and Spanish embossed
an< gilt leathers that were exported throughout Europe. Ceilings and
wa Is were painted with brilliant frescoes and self-glorifying messages
we e not uncommon. Gilding of ceiling panels and wall ornaments
bee une increasingly fashionable.
/. though still relatively scarce. Baroque furniture took on the pro-
cla c^tory aura of the pompous fittings around it. Carved sconces,
guerdons and chandeliers provided glittering supports for candles, and
the ij gilded surfaces were reflected in cascades of light by decorative
miirors in elaborate carved frames.
I % Italy, large villas such as the Ca’Rezzonico in Venice housed suites
of (late apartments, including galleries, libraries, dining rooms and
sal< ns, all decorated with hangings, gold galloons and fringes, lacquer-
wo k and ivory and marble wainscoting. The furnishings of these rooms
we e objects of sculpture and art, rather than comfort. Produced by lead-
ing contemporary artists, scale, exaggerated style and cost precluded
casual use. The private family apartments located above the show rooms
of the piano nobile were furnished very simply.
Baroque furniture was bold, vigorous and sculptural. Naturalistic
carving in high relief supported tables, beds, chairs, stools and cup-
boards, Carved dolphins, eagles, shells, putti and grotesques were
combined with volutes, dense scrolling and foliage, and placed beneath
seats or slabs of marble to form chairs or tables.
Gilded chairs with outstretching arms and velvet upholstery were
carved with broad, ribbon-like forms which twisted and furled to in-
corporate putti and foliage. Decorative console tables were carved by
sculptors such as the Venetian Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732) in vigorous
compositions of animals, blackamoors, shells and figures.
Brustolon’s training began in his native city of Belluno and was con-
tinued, from his fifteenth birthday, under the Genoese sculptor Filipo
Parodi whose late Baroque style no doubt influenced him. His earliest
known work is a pair of angels for the sacristy altar in the Frari, Venice,
probably about 1683 and it seems that much of his life was spent creating
religious works for church use. The only furniture that can definitely be
attributed to him is a suite, sometimes called the “negro suite’ which he
made for a prominent Venetian, Pietro Venier, sometime before 1699
and now in the Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice. The chairs of this suite are
carved in boxwood, and the arms are fashioned as creeper-entwined
branches supported by negros with lacquered heads and arms. The
largest piece is a side-table in which Hercules, flanked by Cerberus and
the Hydra, supports a platform on which two river gods lie holding por-
celain vases with three nude negros supporting yet another vase in the
centre of the table. Only two other suites can be tentatively assigned to
Brustolon, one made for the Correr family and now in Ca’ Rezzonico
and the other for the Pisani which can be seen in the Quirinal, Rome.
The collection of Lord Burnham in Beaconsfield holds four armchairs
similar to the Venier pieces.
Features of the Italian Baroque reached France during the reign of
Henri IV, who established craft workshops in the Grand Galerie du
Louvreon the example of the Florentine ducal manufactories. Aided by
cardinals Jules Mazarin and Armand Jean de Richelieu, who wished to
establish a national style, Louis XIII continued to promote the emula-
tion of Italian and Flemish achievement in the decorative arts.
In 1661 Louis XIV acceded to the throne, and in 1667 Jean Baptiste
Colbert, his minister of arts, founded the Manufacture Royale des
Meubles de la Couronne, known as the Gobelins after the workshops
previously established in 1622. Under the directorship of the artist
Charles le Brun, and stimulated by the personal interest extended by
Louis XIV, the Gobelins workshop developed into flourishing collabora-
tive manufactories, in which designs of le Brun, Jean Berain (1638-1711),
and Jean le Pautre (1618-82) were completed by craftsmen contributing
diverse skills and talents. Among the most prominent were Jacques
Caffieri (1678-1755) and Andre Charles Boulle (1672-1732).
Boulle is undoubtedly France’s most celebrated cabinetmaker and
his name has been internationally adopted to describe the style of furni-
ture produced in his workshops. In 1672, he was given rooms and a
shop in the Louvre by Louis XIV, where for the next thirty years
jade furniture for the Court and the nobility, receiving the title
ier ebeniste du roi. While he made a great deal of furniture for
VerMilles, only two fully documented pieces are known - a pair of
commodes made for the king’s bedroom at the Trianon. It is not certain
whether boulle actually invented the commode but he certain!) spent
son e time experimenting with the concept and played an important
role in its development. The original versions of the commode were not
the bureau but with fewer drawers which extended the whole
and sometimes provided with doors and the top in either mar-
or marble. While marquetry was fashionable at this time, it was
: who brought the technique to perfection. The technique involved
glueing together thin sheets of brass and tortoiseshcll and then pasting
on to the surface a piece ol paper on which the required pattern had been
drawn. I he pattern was cut out with a saw and the layers separated to
givel two kinds of marquetry, the first called premiere-partie in which the
pattern of brass was on a tortoiseshcll ground and the other, contre-
partie which was the reverse. His most magnificent achievement was the
cabinet of the Dauphin, completed between 1680-83, which was
iestroyed.
French Baroque incorporated the exuberance and lavishness of
designs, forms and ornamented carving into a more restrained
Classical style. Rectilinear gilt upholstered sofas, day-beds and
were made at the Gobelins along with other furnishings for the
ce at Versailles. Tall, imposing cabinets, bureaux, and commodes
were covered with floral marquetry, or the delicate interlacing composi-
tions of contrasting toitoiscshell and brass popularized by boulle’s
craftsmanship. Heavy ormolu mounts of mythological scenes,
s, lions and acanthus leaves appeared on tables and case pieces,
i Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and the great reductions
)belins’ output which the government imposed for economic
is, forced many craftsmen to leave France. Thedesigns of Huguenot
te Daniel Marot (1663-1752) proved especially important in the
lination of the Louis XIV style.
Sep
24
Antique Linen Embroidery
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Linen Embroidery
Sw is linen embroidery was at its height in this century, declining after
6. Most of the work comes from the German-speaking cantons,
Jcularly those where linen was also produced such as St Gall, Con-
ic and Schaffhausen. The linen they used was of blue or brown yarn
because they used only small looms, larger works required the strips
joined. This in itself provided an opportunity for imaginative work
amental overstitching, embroidered braid or lace insertions,
lie Catholic Church had always been the prime inspiration for Swiss
in<£iji embroiderers and during the 16th century when the Swiss, like the
ish embroiderers, were studying books and woodcuts for new
ns, Bible woodcuts took pride of place. Renaissance motifs were
i slowly accepted by the Swiss and certain motifs, such as architec-
scrollwork, were never used.
Spain and Italy
Spanish embroidery, though it owed much to the long Moorish tradi-
tio l, was also influenced by the Incas of South America, for the plunders
of civilization were now reaching Spain. The Incas had achieved
Pair of embroidered gloves given by
Henry VIII to his friend Sir Anthony
Denny.
Embroidery
high artistic standards in their own textile work and their stylized animal-
istic motifs were given a new interpretation in Spain.
The standard of embroidery was high and as well as the previously
mentioned influences, designs were also taken from the Spanish painters
of the day, such as Murillo. Altar cloths, not surprisingly in Catholic
Spain, provide some of the more luxurious examples.
Italian embroiderers were also influenced by the painters of the day
but took greater pains to imitate as closely as possible even the smallest
gradation of shade or colour.
Metal armour has been used by warriors for thousands of years but,
apart from a very occasional excavated piece of Roman or Greek armour,
very few pieces pre-dating the late 16th century are likely to be available.
By this date the wearing of armour was already in decline, for firearms
were changing the face of war and making armour obsolete.
The 16th century had heralded a distinct division of armour into two
types depending on its role. On the one hand there was the late Gothic
style called ‘Maximilian’ armour which was used mainly for pageants
and display and plain, undecorated armour which was used on the battle-
field. The latter is distinguished by the use of chain mail skirts and closed
helmets and by the employment of sabbatons instead of sollerets as foot-
guards. Battle helmets consisted of the crown which had a ridge, usually
roped down the centre and with two cheek-pieces meeting and fastening
at the chin. The visor and bevor were formed of one piece with horizontal
apertures to see through and small holes for ventilation. The chain mail
skirt had been growing in popularity during the second half of the 15th
century and was now in general use. Made of fine mail it usually hung
to about the middle of the thighs, though occasionally it reached below
the knees. Sometimes it had short slits back and front to facilitate riding.
From about 1500 male fashions in general began to change from
close-fitting garments to more ample clothing with slashed doublets.
This interest in new fashions was also reflected in armour design which,
coincidentally, was under review, particularly in Austria by the Emperor
Mi ximilian I, with a view to improving its efficiency. The ‘Maximilian’
sly i lasted, with a few changes, until about 1600 and was characterized
sbveral supplementary fittings for additional protection and the use
decorative fluting. On the helmet, which was of the closed type, the
flu ing usually ran from front to back, while the visor was formed of two
pa ts, the upper, or visor proper, which fell down inside the second section
or bevor which could be raised independently of the visor.
1 rrom about 1545 the fluting on all parts of the armour was discarded
be< ause it had been found that a lance meeting the fluting tended to be
caught and the point directed to vulnerable parts. The fluting was re-
placed by rich engravings and repousse work as well as gold and silver
damascening. As a result, the armour of the aristocracy tended to
be< ome a luxury, lined in velvet or silk, but made of relatively thin metal
an I so useless as a protection.
‘ ‘he armour worn by the lower ranks however tended to be less uniform.
Th b infantry at this time was made up of pikemen, arquebusiers, canoniers
and archers. The pikeman wore a pot-de-fer helmet with a turned down
brin i from about 1530 until later in the century when it changed to a classic
en sted helmet and later still to the cabasset helmet. He wore a breast-
an I packplate but probably only occasionally had arm and thigh armour.
In the early part of the century the arquebusier wore little armour but
about 1550 he was wearing a type of armour called ‘almayne rivets’ a
na ne taken from a German system of metal connected by sliding rivets.
Thsfcavalry wore mainly half-armour consisting of a closed helmet or
cas que and a breastplate and tassets which reached to either the middle
of tie thigh or to below the knee.
During the late 16th century there was an increased use of helmets
without face pieces, and these burgonets were worn by both cavalry and
infantry. Probably the commonest form is that known as the lobster
tai ed burgonet which was popular during the period of the Thirty Years
W; i (1618-48) and the English Civil Wars (1642-8). It had a domed
sku 1 with a peak through which passed a curved bar, the nasal, which
ga 4 some protection to the face. The back of the neck was covered by
a fl ired guard made of several overlapping strips or lames. Two ear flaps
pr< rected the cheeks.
Another light helmet was the morion which had a skull with just a
na rtow brim and perhaps earflaps. Another form had a high central
conb and a very pronounced curve in the brim.
7 till suits of armour are very rare and many of those which do appear
on t ie market are composed of parts from different armours. A number
of Victorian copies also exist and these will seldom deceive the collector
foi t tiey are usually ‘tinny’, light and lack the graceful lines of the original.
Llthough full armours are rare there is a great deal of interest in the
collecting of component parts. Helmets are probably the most desirable
pieiSss. Early 16th century examples of the close helm have a fluted
sui f ice designed to give greater strength. This style is known by collectors
as Maximilian and is very attractive. Some rather crude examples of
clo se helmets may be found and these are usually church helms which
we e hung above the tombs. They were often put together out of odd
piejcjes and many have a crest fitted.
German breastplate decorated with
etching.
Thd word Baroque is thought to have come from the Portuguese word
bartqco meaning an irregularly-shaped pearl. The term did not receive
wid Bjusage as a description of the predominant style of the 17th century
unt 1 the 19th century and, as the translation of the word indicates, it
was originally used disparagingly being applied particularly to post-
Rei a issance architecture. Nevertheless the perjorative use of the word
dis; ppeared and the Baroque style came to be seen as an original style
witl inuch intrinsic merit and beauty.
Whereas the previous two centuries of the Renaissance were an age
of < tcovery, the 17th century was an age of expansion and the art that
it produced, the Baroque, personified this expansive urge. Baroque art
has been described as spacious, dynamic, colourful, sensual, opulent and
exl avagant. It was an age that was to last for over 100 years.
1 He origins of the Baroque have not been well defined but it is clear
tha St began in northern Italy around 1600, the full transition taking
only a quarter of a century before it spread into most of Europe. It is
thought that the Baroque was initially the reaction of papal Rome
agatlst the spread of Protestantism and certainly echoes of this idea can
be :den in the flight of the Huguenots after the Revocation of the Edict
of I lantes in 1685 from France, which by then had become the model of
BaiDque for the rest of Europe. Ironically it was the Huguenots who
wei b among France’s finest craftsmen, and it was they who subsequently
car ied the Baroque to England and other Protestant countries.
I ‘Rome was the birthplace of the Baroque then Michelangelo seems
to 1 ave provided the base on which it was built even though he died in
156|| From Popes Paul III (1534-49) to Sixtus V (1580) a successful
campaign had been led against the rise of Protestantism after which
Six us determined to rebuild Rome more magnificently than before as
an < difice against paganism. For him, the style of the Renaissance carried
elei lents of the paganism he was opposed to. The building of St Peter’s
beg ih by Michelangelo earlier in the 16th century was continued (1606-
12) inderCarlo Moderna and became Rome’s greatest Baroque project.
11 w; s in the amendment of Michelangelo’s basic plans that the Baroque
por entously emerged, but it was left to Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680),
“eatest artist of the Baroque if not the originator of true Baroque,
lplete the design for St Peter’s,
hje desire of the papacy to create a pomp and splendour that would
up the Church and attract more members spread to the nobility
i\y, who had palaces built which reflected the ecclesiastical magni-
ficence.
Sep
24
Renaissance Antiques - Furniture, Glass, Porcelain, Pottery, Silver
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The discovery of the Baths of Titus and Nero’s home stimulated a leap
forward in the decorative arts. The stucco decoration of both buildings
witl animal, floral, human and grotesque motifs all symmetrically
placed was adapted to furniture, metalwork, gold and silversmithing,
pottery, textiles anil jewelry in the early 16th century.
The Renaissance should not be seen however as a backward-looking
sear :b for the glories of a lost empire but as a momentous”advance in
hun ; n culture a desire not so much to re-create classical culture but to
use t as a springboard to the future. 1 he innovations of the craftsmen
of tl e 16th century are a notable illustration of this desire.
The cabinetmaker was, for the first time, primarily concerned with
the oportions of his furniture to which he could then apply classically
pure) decoration. Italian cabinetmakers turned away from oak which
was i flicult lo carve and decorate, to ebony, walnut and soon, framing
was ; dapled as a method of construction which allowed decorative
technques not used before. Both Italian and Spanish cabinetmakers
u ere nfluenced by their contacts with Islam. The geometric and natural-
istic motifs of Moorish decoration were highly appealing to the Renais-
sance artist. New furniture forms were also developed, reflecting the
needs of a population who were becoming accustomed lo more per-
manent dwellings as the political turmoil of the Dark Ages subsided.
The cassone was a development of the Gothic chest while the cassajpanca
was a form of sofa which evolved from the cassone as the cabinetmaker
sought newer forms. The characteristic ‘X’ or scissor chair which had
been a portable folding chair now became a rigid piece of furniture that
was richly decorated. In Spain the chest evolved into the vargueno, a type
of desk. Tables were no longer designed to be folded away thus opening
up a whole variety of forms and decoration to the cabinetmaker.
Italian gold and silversmiths also drew heavily on the surviving
buildings of ancient Rome and Greece for their inspiration, tend ing to
use clean, well proportioned lines for the form and to use decorative
panels. The smiths of Florence achieved renown throughout Europe for
their ingenuity and originality of style and their casting techniques.
Venice, on the other hand, was the centre of the world’s glassmaking
industry. Although the secrets of making high-quality glass had been
lost in the Dark Ages they were rediscovered around the 11th century
and by the 13th century a glass industry was established on the island of
Murano. Venice began to rise to its pre-eminent position in the 15th
century and reached its peak in the 16th century. The glassware of the 15th
century though reflecting the splendour of the Renaissance by the) use of
colour and enamelling, tended to be influenced by silverware of the day
and was rather heavy and massive in shape. By the 16th century lighter
design had opened the way to more fanciful forms and the inven ion of
cristallo was the piece de resistance of the Venetian glassmakers. The
fragility of cristallo led glassmakers to concentrate upon form rather
than applied decoration. Thus glassmaking came of age.
The Renaissance reached France sometime after 1450 at a time when
the Gothic style was at its peak. As a result the first effects of the Renais-
sance were restricted to applied decoration. During the reign of Francois
1 (1515-47) the first distinctive Renaissance style came into being and
underwent subsequent changes during the reign of Francois’ successor,
Henri II, and later (1610) with Louis XIII.
Spain first showed signs of Renaissance influence at the end of the
15th century where it became known as the Plateresque style because
decorative work was similar to the fine work of the silversmith. Although
the goldsmiths of Spain borrowed much from Renaissance Lornbardy
in their designs - foliated scrolls, classical heads, mythical beasts and so
on - they made a style all of their own and their work is amongst the
finest of the Renaissance metalworkers. The skill of the Spanish metal-
workers extended to wrought-iron grilles, railings and so on. Spanish
tables, as elsewhere, were no longer designed to be portable arid were
notable for being bound by wrought-iron stretchers.
The Renaissance did not reach England until the reign of Elizabeth I
(1558-1603) and even then the transformation remained incomplete,
the Gothic style determining form with Renaissance decorative motifs
added on.
By the middle of the 16th century in Italy the creative outpourings of
the Renaissance were all but spent and until the end of the century the
short-lived style called Mannerism was the dominant influence. The
Mannerists ceased research into nature and natural appearance a$ source
material and turned back instead to the masters of the High Rem issance
suqrias Michelangelo, and to relief sculpture for inspiration. But around
the turn of the century a new style began its march across Europe. The
age] of the Baroque was beginning.
Renaissance had been evolving in Italy for nearly a century before
[fiuence reached Northern Europe in the early years of the 16th cen-
The Netherlands were the first to adopt Renaissance forms and it
from there that the style was disseminated to Germany, Scandi-
and England through circulated prints such as those by Cornells
is (active in the 1550s), who introduced Renaissance scrolled
orriament and grotesques to the Low Countries and Germany in mid-
ceriniry. Engravings by Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527—C. 1604) and his
son Paul (1567-c.1630) accelerated the diffusion of northern Renais-
sar ce design.
bound 1580 in Antwerp, de Vries published a pattern-book showing
kg Italian Renaissance and Mannerist influence in his designs for
poster beds, tables, chairs, cupboards and other furnishings. The
Sees, caryatids, pilasters, arches and other architectural details
[rated in these plates were to be as important for northern European
tture production as his depictions of scrolls, spindles, figures, heavy
str^pwork and gem-shaped bosses.
|te Renaissance joined cupboards of the Netherlands, particularly
thdjjB of Antwerp, were characterized by this heavy style. Set on bun
feeLjthey had panelled doors ornamented with rectangular mouldings
and separated by pilasters or consoles. Turned supports of spheres,
blocks and balusters, the latter often fluted, appeared on Flemish stools,
benches, chairs, tables and beds, often joined by similarly turned
st res tellers.
Germany, prints executed by Albrecht Diirer (1471-1528), Peter
inspired forms and motifs which furniture-makers had widely adopted
(c. 1485-1576) and the de Vrieses, circulated Renaissance-
le mid-16th century. Engravings by Lorenz Stoer (active 1555-
(.1620) popularized designs for the inlay and marquetry ornament of
is and cabinets, with involved and complicated perspective views
thajt included overgrown architectural ruins, strapwork, rollwork and
olyhedral forms such as dodecahedra.
the conservative and more commercially isolated north, stylistic
chdriges occurred more slowly; pieces were heavily formed and enriched
wit i massively carved figures and ornament. Gothic vestiges, such as
lintnfold ornament on cupboards, lingered well into the mid-16th
centiiry.
Application of classical architectural motifs to French furniture forms
in the first half of the 16th century created the bold, vigorous Francois I
sty e Tables carved with griffins and grotesques, beds with baluster posts
and) pictorial hangings and panelled chairs, benches, stools and cup
English oak armchair with panelled hack.
boards exhibited the initial ripples of Italian influence in their ornament
and form. In the second half of the century the integrated, mors in-
dependently French Henri II style developed, shaped largely by the
engravings of architecture and furniture executed by the designers
Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (c.1520- 1584) and Hugues Sambin
( 1520-r. 1601). Architectural details, fruit and foliage, caryatids and
lion, ram and eagle forms ornamented the heavily carved armoireS and
tables of this period. These also appeared on the characteristic Four-
doored cupboard in two stages, which was often carved with figure > and
crowned by a broken pediment.
Du Cerceau’s first book of architecture appeared in 1559 and s:rved
to establish his reputation firmly. He went on to publish several ather
books of engraved designs for silver, textiles and furniture as well as
architecture, drawing heavily on the silver designs of Hans Broiamer
and the engraved ornaments of Polidoro, Agostino Veneziane and
Perino del Vaga. He was the first French architect to publish furniture
designs in the Renaissance style and despite the fantastic and elat orate
style of many of his designs, several pieces of furniture still exist, pa rticu-
larly sideboards and cupboards which are clearly derived directly from
his book. Other pieces in which his influence is apparent omit someof his
more imaginative details.
It is not known whether Sambin ever actually made a piece of furniture
and his reputation seems to rest mainly on interior work for the Palais
de Justice in Dijon, notably a wooden screen which separates the chapel
from the Salle des Pas Perdu, as well as on his book Oeuvre de la di >ersite
des Termes, dont on use en Architecture. Some existing cabinets seem to
show the influence of Sambin particularly in the style of their term: igures
which exhibit the curious fantasy quality typical of Sambin.
The school of Fontainebleau combined the styles of du Cerceau,
Sambin and the Italian craftsmen imported by Francois I and Henri II
to decorate the palace of Fontainebleau in the Renaissance manner.
French furniture craftsmanship in the second half of the century
showed increasing mastery and refinement of the techniques of carving,
dovetailing and joinery.
Sep
24
Medieval Antique Chinese Porcelain. chinese sung dynasty, yi dynasty
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
An exciting new range of enamel colours, fused to the surface of the
glaaje, were first successfully used during the reign of the Emperor Cheng
Hui (A.D. 1465-87). An underglaze-blue outline was sometimes used
together with delicate translucent colours, a style referred to as tou-ts’ai
(contrasted colour).
Yung Lo 1403
Hsuan-te 1426\35
Ceramics
Vase of the mei p ling type. Southern Sung
period (early 14th century).
The porcelain produced during this reign is considered to be the main
rival to that of Hsiian-te, showing a delicacy and refinement i lot seen
before. The shade of blue long used changed and became somewhat
paler and a new technique which has been called ‘outline and w; ish’ was
introduced. The reason, it seems, is that by 1434 the Chinese had eceived
the last consignment of imported cobalt and potters had to rel / on the
less satisfactory local ore, which was, however, easier to grind ; tnd pre-
pare. The more finely ground ore enabled the potter to ou line his
pattern first and then fill it in with a paler ‘wash’.
Early Korean Ceramics
Excavations have revealed that Korean potters were produc ng grey
stoneware vessels and figures for burial purposes during the Si la king-
dom (c.57 B.C.-A.D. 935), but it was in the reigns of the Koryo kings
(A.D. 918-1392) that many fine porcellanous stonewares were pi oduced,
with celadon glazes, which at times rivalled the best example s of the
Chinese Sung dynasty. Much originality was introduced, inclu ling the
then unique technique of inlaying black and white clays into :he grey
toned clay body, the whole being covered with a watery blue-green
celadon glaze.
The coarser wares of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910) still showe i a bold
originality, which is so much admired by today’s studio potte s. Iron-
brown and copper-reds were often applied to sturdy porcelain forms,
and these sometimes acquired a greater charm due to lack of tern >erature
control and the partial burning away of colours.
The Potters of Islam
Collectors of early Islamic pottery are few. Those decorathe wares
which are today available have in almost every instance bee l recon-
structed from fragments, often recovered from the sites of early rubbish
tips. There have been rare finds of pots buried for safety because of fear
from invaders, remaining unclaimed until recent years. Fragments of
Chinese imported wares, together with local wares which sho\’ a close
relationship, were excavated on the site of the Mesopotamia l city of
Samarra, occupied by the Abbasids in the mid-9th century.
The Islamic potter was soon to create more original styles ol decora-
tion, and although unable to locate the materials essential for tl e manu-
facture of porcelain, their fine earthenware provided ideal gro jnds for
beautifully applied designs in various coloured clay slips and metallic
oxides, including lustre.
The technique introduced by the Mesopotamian potter in the late 9th
century which was to have such influence in Europe, was the ap plication
of a glaze made both white and opaque by the addition of t n-oxide,
providing a white porcellanous surface, suitable to receive tb: limited
range of colours offered by the metallic oxides known at that time.
Colourful wares in this new style were created in the form ol Chinese
T’ang period pottery and Islamic metalwork.
The skill of these same Near Eastern potters in achieving a beautiful
‘mother-of-pearl’ lustre in a wide range of metallic tones can sti 1 be seen
today on many surviving wall-tiles in mosques and palaces, piinted in
a wide variety of geometrical, human or animal forms, the latter often
showing a Picasso-like quality in the simplicity of line.
Blue
Le-and-white wares are usually thought to have originated in China, . ^
where porcelain was being decorated with designs in underglaze-blue .
from about A.D. 1300, but this same cobalt was being used by the ^
Mesopotamian potter at a much earlier date, during the 9th century. g>
The Chinese are known to have obtained much of the cobalt used during
the Ming dynasty from Iran. Hwg-chih 1488
Many of the Persian wares made during the 17th century in the style
of Ming blue-and-white porcelains were used to fulfil orders placed by
Dutch traders, who were having difficulty trading with China during
the years of internal strife. Wares of this type were still being made
during the 19th century.
-1505
Until comparatively recently the term ‘Rhodian’ was wrongly applied
to a class of pottery made in 1 urkcv from the 15th century at Isnik in
Wes tern Anatolia. These same wares are often wrongly classed as ‘tin- cheng-hua
glazed’; they are actually made from a rather low-fired white siliceous
body, upon which the high-temperature metallic oxides are painted
under a thin transparent glaze. The earliest class, decorated with flowing
arabesques and flowers in cobalt blue, date from the last quarter of the
15lh century.
Spain and the Moors
Thej early influence of the Near Eastern potters was first seen in Europe
during the occupation of the southern regions of Spain by the Moors.
As ^arly as 1154 Arabic writers were telling of the fine ‘gold-coloured
pottery” which even at that early date was being exported to many
neighbouring countries. By the early 14th century lustrewares from
Malaga were reaching as far afield as England.
These early Hispano-Moresque wares showed clearly in their decora-
tion the influence of pottery formerly made at such centres as Rayy and
K a slum in Persia, and Raqqa in Syria, but in form the Spanish wares
were generally more robust in every respect. Many of the pieces were
decorated in both blue and ‘gold’ lustre, the blue being fired at the same
time! as the rather poor quality white tin-glaze. After firing, the fine thin
films of silver or copper oxides to form the lustre were applied, then
subjected to a final firing in a low-temperature reduction kiln.
Knowledge of the so-called ‘Malaga work’ was soon to spread to
neighbouring areas, including Granada and Maniscs, near Valencia.
(me of the best known and oft-i I lustra led examples of M anises workman-
ship is the fine large conical bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, decorated with a stylized Portuguese sailing ship, seemingly
riding upon the backs of four large fish. It is interesting to note that the
practice of painting upon the entire ground with what sometimes appears
to be quite irrelevant patterns is a device that was continued into the
17th century by the English Staffordshire potters when decorating their
“slip-trailed” dishes.
Hispano-Moresque tablewares were very popular with some of the
great Italian families, whose coal-ol-ai ms they often bore, usually upon
a tediously painted background of small leaves and flowers, sometimes
within a gadrooned pattern.
One of the most common shapes was the cylindrical drug-jar, with a
narrow ‘waist’, usually with an out-turned lip to retain a cord to hold a
Italian maiolica drug jar c.1475.
Ceramics
parchment-type cover, the so-called albarello. The form origii ated in
the Near East and was later made by almost every European country
engaged in the manufacture of tin-glazed wares for the us« of the
apothecary.
In 1492 the Moors were finally expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and
Isabella, but the production of Hispano-Moresque type potter
continue in southern Spain to the present day, when the wares
duced for the tourist trade. By 1500 the demand was for lighter and
more practical tablewares, and this resulted in the technique I f press-
moulding being introduced. This made possible the production of shapes
previously made only by silversmiths, including ewers, gob
salvers.
The middle of the 15th century saw Seville as the centre for an
ing ceramic technique which again originated in the Near East. Coloured
tin-glazes were kept from intermingling by first incising the design into
the prepared clay form, the outline was then filled with a prepaiation of
manganese and grease which acted as a barrier between the a lours, a
procedure known as cuerda-seca (dry-cord).
The Moorish Influence in Italy
The popularity of Hispano-Moresque wares in Italy in the 15thj century
soon led to them being imitated there. The imported wares were brought
to Italy via Majorca and so became known as Majorcan ware or i laiolica.
The first known use of the word is in a manuscript of 1454. Italy had had
its own tin-glazed earthenware as early as the 11 th century, but s urviving
examples from that date are very primitive, painted primarily in brown,
yellow and green on a poor quality white ground.
Italian maiolica was at the peak of production from the late years of
the 15th century until the middle of the 16th century. Italy hac already
established a superiority over the Western world in the art of fr :sco and
tempera painting, an art confined primarily to the adornment of c (lurches.
The humble potter was soon to treat his pottery as an artist did; canvas,
introducing forms which were to offer wide scope to his biush and
palette. Indeed, it has been acknowledged that the colourful painted
maiolica gave a much truer record of the art Of the period than many
better known Italian paintings, which over the centuries had suffered
damage and been subjected to considerable restoration.
From about 1450 Florence had become a major centre of the
pottery
industry, producing fine bold forms decorated in a rich paiettie, some-
times referred to as ’severe’, due to their similarity to metal shapes. A
much more common class of ware being made in Florence at his time
was again being made for the apothecary. The large drug-pots d ;corated
in a thickly applied dark blue with a purple outline are often re erred to
as ‘oak-leaf jars, due to their having painted backgrounds of highly
stylized leaves, somewhat similar to those of the oak. The broad strap-
like handles to these larger drug-jars often displayed the bad^e of the
hospital for which they were made.
The last quarter of the 15th century saw Faenza as the major centre
for the manufacture of Italian maiolica, having in turn great nfluence
upon the productions of such other areas of distribution as Siena and
Deruta. The painting on the early Faenza wares was usually very
distinctive, consisting of strong deep blues, purples, drab orange, with
bright yellows and greens. The occasional use of heraldic arms or dated
signatures of painters sometimes enables a precise date to be given, such
as on the service made for Matthias C’orvmus, King of Hungary, whose
arms are coupled with those of Beatrice of Naples, his bride of 1476.
Some of the most beautiful painted maiolica was made at the Cafag-
gioi pottery near Florence, a workshop catering exclusively for the needs
of the household of Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, a member of a younger
branch of the family. Similar fine painting in the so-called istoriato style
is seen on the wares produced at Casteldurante, in the Duchy of Urbino,
painted in many instances by Nicolo Pellipario, whose signature on
warps made at other centres indicates his nomadic travels.
Sep
24
Renaissance Antiques - Furniture, Porcelain, Glass
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The flourishing court of Renaissance Spain eagerly adopted the
decorative elements that Italian craftsmen introduced to the already
unusual mudejar style, a medieval form which had resulted from the
amalgamation of Arab, African and Mediterranean influences, and
whjich was characterized by geometrical interlaces, polygons, stars and
foljage motifs. In furniture, mudejar derived much of its effect from the
native materials, so varied and exotic by northern European standards,
of cypress, orangewood, chestnut, walnut and poplar and from the
increasing imports of rare metals and semi-precious stones from the
Spanish American colonies.
The many-drawered Spanish hembra evolved into the elaborate
vargueho, a writing desk on a stand containing tiny, brightly-painted and
gilt drawers, columns, doors and carvings.
The sillone de frailero, which superseded an earlier X-shaped seat
derived from Italy, was square and solid, with horizontal, sometimes
cuived, arms. Large decorative brass nails attached the leather to the
back and seat, and a hinged stretcher pierced with a geometric ornament
joificd the legs. The characteristic Spanish table, with a thick walnut top
projecting above a frieze of small carved drawers, also came into use
during the Renaissance.
In Northern Europe, where oak was commonly used, the Netherlands
ledl in the adoption of Renaissance forms, disseminating the style to
Germany, Scandinavia and England through circulated prints such as
those by Cornelius Floris (active in the 1550s), who introduced Renais-
sance scrolled ornament and grotesques to the Low Countries and Ger-
many in mid-century. Engravings by Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527—
c. 1604) and his son Paul (1567-c. 1630) accelerated the diffusion of
northern Renaissance design.
Jtalian ideas had begun to influence French styles well before the end
of the 15th century. Architecture was the first to feel the effects, followed
shortly by furniture. The French Renaissance is divided into two periods:
the Francois I style which covers the reign of Charles VIII (1483-98),
Lojuis XII (1498-1515) and Francois I (1515-47); and the High Renais-
sance or Henri II style (1547-98).
During the first period Gothic and Renaissance styles were mixed;
fori example scrolls and arabesques were combined with pinnacles and
pointed arches. It was not until the reign of Francois I that the Gothic
style completely disappeared. A great deal of furniture in France until
thej 16th century was intended to be portable, years of political upheaval
haying made this necessary. This is an important reason why the new
style took time to reach its full expression.
There are very few ceramic bodies and techniques associated with the
artiof the potter which were not originally introduced by Chinese crafts-
men, and even with advanced knowledge of science and technology the
preteent-day potter only rarely achieves the perfection seen on the wares
produced by the Far Eastern potters of earlier times.
From the late Neolithic period, about 2000 B.C., potters in is orthern
China were producing fine, boldly shaped jars for tomb furnishing which
were usually formed by the ‘coiling’ technique and decorat;d with
vigorous designs in red and black clay slips on a buff-toned bi rnished
earthenware body. The slip is clay reduced to a liquid batter, a id used
for making, coating or decorating pottery. Primitive feldspathi z glazes
were occasionally used during the Chou dynasty (10th-3rd centu ry B.C.)
but it was from the early years of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A D. 220)
that the low-fired earthenwares were made to serve a more \ radical
purpose by the addition of a lead-silicate glaze, sometimes tints d green
or brown with metallic oxides. During these early years higler-fired
stonewares were produced with a ‘tight-fitting’ olive-green fel< spathic-
glaze, often inspired by the form and decoration of conter lporary
bronzes. These stonewares were improved when finer pottery shapes
were made during the Six Dynasties period (A.D. 265-589) ind are
known as ‘Yiieh’ wares.
During the T’ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) many fine achievements
were made in China in all artistic fields, aided primarily by an ncrease
in trade with Central and Western Asia. Ceramic tomb wares still pro-
vide the majority of surviving examples of the potter’s art; and th sse may
well be inferior to those made for court use, which have onl / rarely
survived. It was during these years that the popular yellow-and-green
toned glazes, referred to today as ‘egg and spinach’, were so widely used.
It has long been considered that it was during the late years of the
T’ang dynasty that the Chinese potter made his greatest discovery - a
method of producing a white, translucent body, referred to today as
hard-paste porcelain. This was made by fusing China-clay (kao in) and
China-stone (petuntse), at a temperature of about 1,350°C (2 462°F).
China-stone was used to produce a tight-fitting clear glaze, whic h could
be fired together with the body.
Porcelain of this type was considered to have been made by the 9th
century, but the National Palace Museum in Taiwan now claim tjhat true
porcelain was being made in China as early as the Wei and Ts n states
(A.D. 220-420) and that recently more of these early wares have been
discovered, although the earliest porcelains exhibited in the mussum are
of the Northern Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-c.l 127). They include the fine
imperial wares of the Ting, Ju, Kuan, Ko and Chun kilns. Tie most
beautiful wares made during the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) rely
primarily upon their shape and fine glazes rather than painted or applied
decoration, styles which were to become so popular during the Ming
dynasty.
Equally worthy of note are the heavily potted wares with moulded or
carved decoration under a greyish-green celadon glaze, made di ring the
Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1279-1368). During this time the courtry was
under the power of the Mongols, following the successful onslaught of
Kublai Khan.
It was some time during the early 14th century that the Chine; e potter
began to use the metallic oxide of cobalt as an underglaze-blue decora-
tion, a technique and colour that was later to be used throughout Europe
up to the present day. This new form of decoration continued into the
succeeding Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) with very little change, and
the porcelain factories in the city of Ching-te-chen multiplied and flour-
ished, producing wares not only for the court but also for the Near East.
Mapy examples can be seen today in the Topkapi Sarayi Palace in
Istanbul.
The reign of Yung Lo (1403-26) saw the firm establishment of new
ceramic forms. Tastes had also become more sophisticated and the in-
creasing royal patronage of potters helped them develop and show their
true skills. Judging by two vases made for a temple presentation in 1351
and now at the Percival David Foundation, London, the art of blue and
white had been mastered by the mid-14th century, but it was during
Yum Lo’s reign that it gained true recognition both at court and amongst
scholars
Characteristic of this period are large dishes decorated with fruit and
floral motifs and with either plain or foliated rims. The bases are un-
glaaied and cany no reign mark. Other popular patterns include a
bouquet of lotus and other plants tied with a ribbon. The dishes vary in
colour from a kingfisher blue to a fainter shade that is said to give “the
impression of drifting like smoke into the glaze’. While many blue and
whites of this period show this effect, not all do so.
The lotus bowl, lien-tzu, was also developed in this reign and was made
in finely potted plain white porcelain. Decoration was usually in an hua,
the {’hidden decoration’, though underglaze blue was increasingly used
as it became more popular. Ewers, based on Middle liastern designs,
with narrow necks and long spouts with a neck support were popular in
the early years of the century. The stemcup, which had been in use for
centuries, underwent a change in shape, and once again the inspiration
seems to have come from Mediterranean and Near Eastern forms that
gained acceptance during the Yuan Dynasty.
From the time of the reign of the Ming Emperor Hsiian Te (A.D.
14218-35) it became a common practice to add a ‘reign-mark’ in under-
glaze-blue. This form of mark must not necessarily be accepted as in-
dicating the date of the piece; many marks of earlier periods were often
added, some deliberately to confuse, but others merely as a mark of
veneration, indicating similarity to wares made in outstanding periods
in the history of Chinese porcelain.
The skill and artistry achieved with blue and white during the reign
of Hsiian-te has probably never been surpassed. A Chinese writer of the
lata 16th century wrote that ‘during the Hsiian-te period potters were
inspired by Heaven to produce works of subtle meaning and supreme
artistry’. Foreign influences are still apparent in this period, notably in
the so-called ‘tankards’ the shape of which was based on an 8th century
Middle Eastern form. Flattened flasks, often decorated with the yin-
yang symbol and having two rings attached to the body, were also made
in this period.
Sep
24
History of Antiques in Medieval Europe. Medieval Furniture
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Pre 1500
Above all the Renaissance was a time of change in man’s attitude
towards himself and the world around him. He gradually turned away
from the supernatural world, its values and ideas, to a concern with the
natural world. For the first time the world was being viewed without the
spectacles of religion - it was being humanized in fact. The art of the
Renaissance was a celebration of the natural world and of man himself.
T(ie traditions on which the Renaissance was to base its new synthesis
were those of classical culture which were now being rediscovered 100
years after the fall of the Roman Empire. The particular achievements
will be reviewed from the vantage point of the 16th century by which
time all of Europe had fallen under its influence.
furniture
The network of spectacular Gothic cathedrals that sprinkled the 15th
century European landscape with towers, pinnacles, statuary and spires
manifested the wealth and strength of the main force of internationalism
in the Middle Ages, the Christian Church. Commerce also united
European societies, but although mercantile exchange, ecclesiastical
splendour and courtly extravagance all helped shape interior styles in
thsrlate medieval period, they in no way provided the degree of domestic
comfort taken for granted today.
throughout Europe, common houses generally consisted of a single
room only, and their stark furnishings revealed a low standard of living.
Even in rich aristocratic establishments, interiors were likely to be more
shpwy than comfortable. European nobility constantly moved among
their various estates and as they travelled they took with them the sparse
furnishings. The dominant features of late medieval furniture were
necessarily those of adaptability and easy transport.
This furniture reflected in miniature the Gothic architectural style.
This was possibly connected to Arabic sources and was related to the
earlier northern Romanesque style of the 9th and 10th centuries.
Characterized by pointed ogival arches, cusps, tracery and stylized
fl£ me-like carving, the Gothic mode flourished in northern Europe from
the 13th to the 15th centuries. The imposing fabric of cathedrals, such
as Notre Dame, with sculpture and stained glass executed on a large
scale, provided a pictorial medium for presenting the Biblical text to a
world that lacked printing and literacy.
jEcclesiastical furniture followed this style, echoing on pews and
mjsericords such features as tracery, arcades and Biblical figures and
scenes. Domestic furniture shared the same ornament, and by the 15th
century also included the profile ‘romayne’ heads derived from Italian
Renaissance interpretations of Roman coins, and the Flemish-inspired
lir enfold panelling.
Gothic furniture was sparse. Chairs, chests and tables that date from
before the 15th century are rare; hangings were the real furnishings of
medieval interiors, and it was the collection of tapestries, velvets, silks
and leathers that dominated rooms with their presence and colour. These
materials, many produced in Italy and Spain, far outweighed the itatus
and worth of the wooden pieces they dwarfed. Sets of elaborate te ttiles,
called chambres in medieval French inventories, together with tietal-
work were the most ornate of the decorative arts. The rich wall fabrics
of the Coronation Room of Queen Jeanne of Burgundy wen: em-
broidered with 1,321 parrots and the ducal coat of arms. The poor1 >uild-
ing insulation that made these hangings necessary also popularizt d the
footstools that kept feet off cold floors. Also heavy tapestries almost
totally cloaked medieval beds.
Even in wealthier homes, rooms were not assigned exclusive functions,
and the few pieces of furniture that each house contained were moved
according to necessity. Life often centred around a large hall which
accommodated eating, entertainment and casual socializing. Such halls
generally included a long high table for the manor family; this table,
and the rows of tables set beneath it at right angles, were taken apart
into their component trestles and planks at the end of meals and removed
to make way for whatever activity was to follow.
Etiquette required that high tables, four-poster state beds, and pr ncely
seats be elevated on a dais. Canopies were hung above the same p ieces,
and even children’s cradles and press cupboards that displayed dollec-
tions of plate were similarly distinguished.
Tables were made of softwood and oak as well as stone and mirble.
Trestles were of two kinds: those with separate splayed legs arid the
column type which rose from a spreading base. Two surviving tal les of
the latter kind are at Penshurst Place in Kent. Each has three large ti estles
supporting an unattached board some 8 metres (27 ft) long. The trestles
are cruciform, wide at the top and bottom with a waisted centre. Fixed
tables were also in use and were known as dormies or dormant. /, type
of pedestal table is known to have been in use that had a round or hexa-
gonal top supported on cruciform or column pedestals. Library tables,
designed for individual use, had screw pedestals.
Few cradles have survived from the Middle Ages, but it is know l that
among the nobility at least, two cradles were used: a daytime oi state
cradle and a night cradle.
In addition to being easily dismantled, furniture of the late Middle
Ages tended to be plain and serviceable. The woods most often used
were oak, walnut and pine. Construction methods progressed from the
crude, hollowed-out tree trunk chests of early medieval England to
assemblages of wood planks and finally to the more durable pane-and-
frame construction introduced possibly in Flanders towards the end of
the 14th century.
The chest was the most common piece of furniture in the Middle Ages.
It was used to store bridal dowries, to transport belongings, to safeguard
valuables such as books and imported spices, as well as to sit on. Italian
Gothic chests were often gilt and were generally uncarved, being painted
with religious scenes. French chests were carved with Gothic arches,
tracery and figures. Those from Spain were often leather-covered, and
bound with iron. During the Renaissance, chests developed domec tops,
possibly to facilitate their fixture to animals when being transposed.
The next most common pieces of furniture after the chest were the
various forms of seating. The most usual style of stool had two pairs of
c lived or straight legs each pair of which crossed in the centre to form
a:i X; opposite legs were joined by horizontal beams or bars which sup-
p >rted a hide or cloth seat. These early stools were designed to be folded
but by the 15th century they were no longer portable, having developed
a high back. One stool common throughout Europe was the backstool.
Tins was a three-legged stool with a triangular rush or wood seat; one
of pie legs was extended up above the seat and given a short cross-bar
so forming a back - and headrest. They were still being made in the 17th
;entury.
Another 15th-century stool was the slab-ended stool made from a
ngth of plank, supported at either end by two vertical planks which had
their edges shaped like buttresses; a piece of wood in the shape of a
triefoil or Gothic arch, for example, was cut out of the base of each ‘leg’.
In general, Gothic interiors were equipped with few of the accoutre-
ments of easy living that the following centuries would introduce. The
sharp contrast between the minimally comfortable furniture that people
u£ed, and the ostentatious and expensive embellishments displayed in
trie rooms around, only began to diminish during the Renaissance.
In the 15th century the Gothic style began to wane. The flamboyant
ahd perpendicular Gothic exhausted itself in its final stages. It gradually
gave way throughout Europe to Renaissance influences which had
originated about two centuries before in Italy, where the Gothic mode
hap never been completely established. There, a turn towards humanism
in ireligion in the 13th century transformed the medieval preoccupation
with religious salvation into a glorification of man and the world. Simul-
taneously, the papacy and the rigid feudal system declined favouring
aristocratic and mercantile families such as the Medici, Gonzaga and
Sforza, who embraced the new age of expansion, exploration and
unprecedented wealth.
The patronage fostered a revolution in European thought and art,
which originated in Florence. It fast spread to the rest of Italy and
gradually permeated northern Europe. Revived studies of classical
architecture, arts and literature revitalized antique principles, manifest
iri the corporeal realism of paintings such as Giotto di Bondone’s fresco
cycle at the Arena Chapel in Padua, and in the classical proportions of
buildings such as Filippo Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel at Santa Croce,
Florence.
The resurrection of classical architectural forms and concepts brought
with it a profusion of acanthus leaves, griffins, urns and other details
taJcen from ancient villas and temples, introducing a repertoire of motifs
that would appear on furniture for centuries to follow.
Rivalries of patronage and artistic display among aristocratic families
resulted in the building of expensive palaces and villas in Italy and else-
where. These villas disseminated the Renaissance style, attested to the
new social stability and demanded the production of new and finer
furnishings.
Early Renaissance interiors continued to be draped with brightly-
coloured textiles, but as the period progressed it saw the introduction of
Furniture
a variety of new furniture forms, which increased in abundance every-
where. At first, classical ornaments were merely added to traditional
Gothic furniture. Gradually, however, although the types of woods used
remained largely unchanged, Renaissance architecture, painti lg and
sculpture led to the application of classical architectural motifs and
naturalistically carved animals, figures and foliage. Italian and French
chests of the 15th and 16th centuries often combined elements »uch as
Gothic arcades and religious figures with classical columns and cornices.
Furnishings and interior decoration developed from the classic re-
straint of the early Renaissance to an increasing opulence during 1 he 15th
and 16th centuries. Walls were hung with cloths of gold, Italian silks and
velvets, imported oriental carpets, Spanish leathers, and ta vestries
woven with mythological and Biblical scenes. Artists such as Sandro
Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio frequently executed wall lrescoes
of allegories, hunting scenes, landscapes with birds and anim lis and
architectural views.
Wooden wainscoting, often with contrasting marble panels or ntarsia
(inlaying or marquetry) decorations, also covered room walls. C offered
and panelled ceilings, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s gold and azur: stellar
composition in the ballroom of the Castello at Milan, were colourfully
painted.
These interior schemes, opulent in themselves, contained col
of paintings, sculpture, silver and gold plate manuscripts, musica
ments and maiolica. Furniture was still scarce, but increasingly
Italian Renaissance woodworkers ornamented their walnut c ibinets,
beds, chairs and other pieces with rich carving and marquetry.
The Italian cassone, box-like and painted in earlier periods de /eloped
into an architecturally-schemed chest with strong cornice and base,
classical pilasters and panels, and ornaments of arches and refined
classical mouldings. Cassone were usually the most skilfully and elabor-
ately worked pieces of furniture of the period. Made in pairs by specialist
craftsmen, they were designed to hold a bride’s trousseau, though they
were also used for holding household items.
The cassapanca, a form of chair derived from a chest with b ick and
sides, eventually became the honoured seat of the head of an Italian
household. It was fitted with cushions and often raised on a dais as were
the carved or inlaid throne seats, with panel-backs and canopies, found
in patrician ceremonial apartments. Sgabello stools, with narrow
triangular backs, were carved and inlaid. The folding, easily-transported
X-shaped Savonarola chair was upholstered with leather or fabric.
Cabinets acquired the friezes, pediments and columns of Ren; lissance
architecture; their front panels were often inlaid with intarsia trompe
I’oeil scenes which themselves depicted open-doored cabinets w th con-
tents or architectural vistas revealed. Four-poster beds with can spies of
rich velvets, silks and tapestries were often gilt and raised on a dai >. Large
tables, with vase-shaped end supports joined by stretchers, were ft equent-
ly covered with tapestries or exquisite lace, as were the credenze or side-
boards, that developed during the 15th century.
Sep
24
Medieval European Antiques
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
After collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. profoundly
affected the known world politically, socially and culturally. From the
point of view of craftsmen in the decorative arts, they were now cut off
from the skilled centres of craft-making in Byzantium and the Near
East as a result of the chaos following the collapse.
The extent to which the European craftsman relied on Byzantium,
ijia and Egypt for both knowledge of his skills as well as artistic in-
spiration became apparent when the crafts of the cabinetmaker, the
glassmaker and the gold and silversmith went into decline. It was to take
same 500 years for these crafts to be relearned and for a sophisticated
distinctive European style to emerge.
Nevertheless a style did emerge around the 11 th century - the
Romanesque style - which some authors believe was an imperfect form
ofjthe later Gothic form, while others regard it as a complete style in its
own right. As the name suggests, Romanesque borrows from Roman
as well as Byzantine styles - or at least what craftsmen and architects
remembered of classic styles. The style was particularly characterized
by its use of carved ornament, notably plant and animal motifs worked
somewhat crudely and suggesting a certain barbaric energy, which no
doubt reflected the social and cultural life of the times. In England the
Romanesque style became known as the Norman style. With the excep-
tion of churches and their ornament, little Romanesque art survives.
By the 12th century Europe was beginning to re-order itself. Society
was dominated by the Church so that it is not surprising that the first
truly European style, the Gothic, emerged in the design of churches and
was to be triumphant in the cathedrals of Europe. The cradle of Gothic
art js the abbey church of St Denis, near Paris, which was rebuilt around
an older structure in 1140-44 by the Abbot Suger. Although the Abbot
hid to retain much of the original structure he created a circular string
of chapels around the old church, by virtue of which in his own words,
‘tl)e whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted
light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty’. Suger
ha.d achieved his dream of raising the Church of France to new heights
tiie light of the theological and political philosophies of the time.
The inspiration provided by the church of St Denis gradually spread
owejr the whole of western Europe. At the same time other forces were at
work which eventually ensured that the artistic forces behind the Gothic
movement were applied to more than church design - to furniture,
metalworking, gold and silversmithing, embroidery and so on. There
wcfe substantial differences between Romanesque and Gothic society.
While both were feudal, Gothic feudalism was more ordered and more
stable, which encouraged the craftsmen who eventually, with merchants,
lawyers, teachers and so on came to constitute a new middle class. In
addition, Romanesque society was male dominated while in Gothic
society women played a greater role leading to a new sense of romanti-
cism. All these elements led to a revival of interest in the decorati
Gothic art is characterized by its emphasis on vertical lines;
for instance was severely rectilinear and was usually solid and
It was also relatively crudely constructed. In Italy, the Gothi^
introduced in the 13th century, never achieved the popularity it
in the rest of Europe, possibly because Italians were happy wit
own individual styles which were a combination of Romariesq
Lombard and Tuscan styles, and the Gothic, when it arrived, was
combined with them. Illustrative of this partial acceptance of the
was the emphasis on horizontal lines rather than vertical in the
tion and decoration of furniture. The Italians also used a greater
of decoration of furniture, for whereas in the rest of Europe carvifi
predominant in the early Gothic period the Italians used gilding,
and intarsia and other techniques as well. It was partly this wider
of styles and techniques in Italy that encouraged the birth of the R
sance in that country in the 15th century.
The primary inspiration for Gothic decoration was of course
architecture - pointed arches, buttresses, floral motifs such as
maple leaves and cress as well as animal forms treated after the s{
the grotesque gargoyles to be found gazing down from the
Gothic gold and silverwork followed these motifs as well arj
furniture was both massive and heavily decorated.
Gothic style developed within itself becoming more elaborate
decoratively richer in the 13th century, a phase which is called th
Gothic style. Once again it was church architecture that provided
impetus and inspiration to carry the movement to even greater
When, in 1194, the newly rebuilt cathedral at Chartres was
by a fire which engulfed the city, building on a new cathedral was
immediately. Finished in 1220, the new cathedral is generally
to be the first of the High Gothic buildings.
The particular accomplishment of the Gothic craftsman-artfct
stained glass and in no period before or since has the craft achieve d
mystical qualities of light - precisely that quality that Suger was
when he designed his church.
The Gothic style reached maturity in the 13th and 14th centuries
so-called Rayonnant and Flamboyant styles which appeared in
from 1275-1375 and 1375-1515 respectively represent the penu
development of the Gothic style.
The Rayonnant (’radiant’) style was associated with the royall
court of Louis IX (St Louis) who fulfilled the medieval idea of the
king’. The richness of the Rayonnant style reflected the growing
of the royal house and Louis made every effort to spread and
the art and architecture of France.
Even as the French artist was exploring the ultimate possibil
the Gothic style however, the seeds of the Renaissance were germ
in the provinces of Italy. The Renaissance (’rebirth’) is now no
regarded as being an abrupt transition of the medieval world
modern world, for its true origins can be traced to the periods before
Middle Ages and the medieval can be found lingering well i
Renaissance.