The Home of Ancient and Medieval Times and Its Furniture - The Renaissance - Period Styles of Furniture - The Modern Reawakening.

Vague Ideas Of Public In Regard To Period Furniture

One of the foremost interior decorators of the country recently said that his greatest trouble came with otherwise cultured women who had the idea firmly fixed in their minds that there were just three styles of furniture. All straight-lined furniture, to them, is mission, all mahogany with glass knobs is colonial, and all painted or gilded furniture is Louis the Sixteenth!

Many Styles

Although there are many more than three styles in furniture, it is nevertheless extremely difficult to give even an approximate number. Timms and Webb, in a recent work illustrating furniture from about 5000 B.C. down to the present day, give thirty-five distinct styles. Other authorities, however, differ greatly. Many of the styles blend so gradually into those preceding and succeeding, that, if a line is drawn between them at all, it must be purely arbitrary.

Furniture Of Ancient Times Not Adapted To Modern Use

The furniture of the ancient has little bearing upon our needs to-day - a fortunate circumstance, considering our meager knowledge. We know that the Egyptians constructed their household furniture in stone, the Greeks and Romans in marble and bronze, and the people of the Middle Ages in wood. Little of the furniture of that time is now in existence. In fact, our knowledge is chiefly due to old drawings, usually in the form of tapestries representing historical events. In these old records the furniture is merely a detail, an accessory used in the background to illustrate a situation. A bench or settle figures in an Interview between a knight and a lady, a chair of state is rudely indicated in the story of a coronation ceremony, or a long banquet table serves as a center about which valiant warriors gather. Without the aid of these manuscripts, if they may be called such, all domestic furniture made prior to the thirteenth century would be largely a matter of conjecture. Fragments from many of these manuscripts have been fitted together, so that we now have a fairly clear picture of the life and homes of the people of that time.

The Home Of The Middle Ages

The house, or home, of the Middle Ages contained one large room called the heal, which served as a dining, living, and sleeping apartment. Adjoining it was the bower, or chamber for the ladies of the household. There was little furniture in the main room. A long rude table, composed of a board laid upon trestles, occupied the center of the floor, and about it were placed rough stools and benches for the members of the family with the exception of the lord and his lady. For them were placed two rudely constructed chairs, usually the only chairs in the house. The walls were hung with cloths or tapestries bearing legends of the time, which served to keep but wind and cold. A hearth fire placed below an opening in the roof furnished the necessary warmth, and illumination was provided by means of torches and extremely primitive lamps.