Style In Furniture | by R. Davis Benn
The following pages have been written with two distinct aims in view. In the first place, it has been my endeavour to treat my subject in such a vein as to render the text interesting to those who may wish to acquire sufficiently accurate knowledge of old English and some French furniture in order that they may be able to distinguish one style from another, to apportion each to its proper period, and to learn something of the history of all, without entering upon a very deep study of the questions involved. For inquirers of this class, I trust that my general remarks in each chapter will afford the necessary information.
| Title | Style In Furniture |
| Author | R. Davis Benn |
| Publisher | Longmans, Green, And Co. |
| Year | 1904 |
| Copyright | 1904, Longmans, Green, And Co. |
| Amazon | Style In Furniture |
With Illustrations By W. C Baldock
New Impression
To My Wife
Preface- The following pages have been written with two distinct aims in view. In the first place, it has been my endeavour to treat my subject in such a vein as to render the text interesting to those who may...
- Introduction
- It is not the pretension of this work, as will be understood when its dimensions are remarked, to provide a complete and exhaustive history of furniture, but simply to convey a knowledge of those nati...
- A Table Of Dates
- England Sovereign. Style. Elizabeth, . . 1558 Elizabethan. to 1603. Early Days of Jacobean. James ...
- The Seventeenth Century. Introductory
- The task of tracing, identifying, arranging in chronological order, and placing on record the scattered fragments now available of the history of such English furniture and woodwork as was designed an...
- The Seventeenth Century. Introductory. Part 2
- It is hardly necessary for me to say that the Elizabethan in architecture did not actually attain its highest development until about the year 1607, when King James the First was on the throne. It i...
- The Seventeenth Century. Introductory. Part 3
- It will be apparent then, I think, that it is quite impossible to classify most of the pieces of furniture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as having been designed and manufactured for exclu...
- The Seventeenth Century. Introductory. Part 4
- It is certainly not easy for the twentieth-century housewife, who has at her command fire and burglar proof safes, steel and iron jewel caskets, wardrobes, linen presses, chests of drawers, roomy cupb...
- The Seventeenth Century. Introductory. Part 5
- The inclination to enlarge upon the romantic side of old furniture collecting is great and hardly to be resisted, but I must not give way to temptation here. I must content myself with simply indicati...
- The Seventeenth Century. Introductory. Part 6
- Yet Jacobean detail in its purest phases was neither entirely new nor in any way revolutionary; it must rather be regarded in the light of a crude attempt on the part of the British carver to follow...
- Elizabethan
- Now that we have completed our general survey of the influences at work to render the English furnishings of the greater part of the seventeenth century what they ultimately became, it is time that we...
- Elizabethan. Part 2
- The manner of building-up the two pillars at the foot end is, of course, Italian in origin, but it is the Italian idea filtered, so to speak, through the Francois-Premier mind; while the strap-work...
- Elizabethan. Part 3
- Figure 4 is of this type, and is interesting if only on that account; but it is interesting also in that it really marks the first stage in the development of the simple desk from its original form in...
- Elizabethan. Part 4
- Figure 4, Plate III., calls for no special comment further than that already offered, save that we may note, in passing, the presence of the strap-work in the upper turned pillars, and the superiori...
- Jacobean
- In studying, and attempting to arrange according to exact period, English furniture of times prior to the end of the seventeenth century, we have to encounter, and overcome as well as we can, difficul...
- Jacobean. Part 2
- The most elaborate of all the pieces are the cupboard, cabinet, or press, Fig. 4, Plate I.; the Bread-and-Cheese cupboard, Fig. 4, Plate II.; and one or two other similar types; and even they are fr...
- Jacobean. Part 3
- In Fig. 3, Plate II., we find the double, or inverted, scrolls again, but the panels below them are of a broader character, and display a freer treatment altogether. Fig. 4, Plate III., brings us ba...
- Jacobean. Part 4
- One of the earliest Jacobean types will be found in Fig. 5, Plate III.; and in studying the class to which it belongs it will be advisable first to note in what essential particulars its constituent...
- Jacobean. Part 5
- The old carpenter-made carcases, he argued, needed dressing-up with carving or something, in order that they might be rendered presentable; but his perfect panelling, close joints, and clean mould...
- Jacobean. Part 6
- The thickness of the wood employed is, of course, partly to be accounted for by its nature; for it will not be necessary to inform any one who has, at any time, had much to do with the working of oa...
- Jacobean. Part 7
- This Flemish type found such favour here during the latter part of the seventeenth century, particularly in the north of England and Scotland, that it became naturalised, so to speak, and was regarded...
- Jacobean. Part 8
- It is some years now - how many need not be recorded - since a merry little party was settled down in the cosy parlour of a quaint country inn, half farm house and half hostelry, to celebrate a farewe...
- Jacobean. Part 9
- We have become so accustomed to the luxury - we might almost say effeminate luxury - which has found its way here from across the Channel, that we hardly dare hope a revival of such models as those in...
- Queen-Anne
- As we pass in review the successive changes that have taken place in the applied arts of most countries - and in the applied arts I, of course, include the art of furnishing - it will generally be fou...
- Queen-Anne. Part 2
- Before marking the characteristics of this new style, which was making its way so steadily and surely, we shall be fully repaid if we review, for a brief space, the changes that were taking place in t...
- Queen-Anne. Part 3
- As I have already remarked, however, for indications of the very first appearance of the Queen-Anne, we must look back to a period considerably prior to that which saw the termination of the sway of...
- Queen-Anne. Part 4
- One of the first features that it is desirable to regard carefully, before deciding the question whether any chair is to be classed under this particular heading, is the leg; for by the introduction o...
- Queen-Anne. Part 5
- The foregoing remarks exhaust, I think, the subject of Queen-Anne legs, and we must now see what there is to be noted in the chair seats and backs. The seats, as will be observed, assume a variety o...
- Queen-Anne. Part 6
- Another seat of a similar character, but of an earlier type, and one in which upholstery does not play so prominent a part, is shown in Fig. 1, Plate V. Here, the stuffing has not yet reached the ar...
- Queen-Anne. Part 7
- Furthermore, these were the early days of the cabinet as a distinct article of furniture for the display and protection of valuable knick-knacks and objets d'art et vertu generally, some small beginn...
- Sir William Chambers
- In the present chapter we have to deal, not with the formation or development of a distinct style, but with a germ, if 1 may so describe it, from which grew a certain and not unimportant phase of a st...
- Chippendale
- We have now arrived at that period in the history of the art and craft of cabinet designing and making when the names of leading members of their profession and trade became household words - for very...
- Chippendale. Part 2
- As I have already indicated, early in the eighteenth century the names of certain cabinet makers became prominent among their fellows, and they have been handed down to posterity. There is one which, ...
- Chippendale. Part 3
- I need hardly explain, I think, that Chippendale was among the first in this country to employ, for the manufacture of furniture, Spanish mahogany of the finest figure and colour procurable. In the co...
- Chippendale. Part 4
- At that period in his career when he was of an age to decide what course he should adopt and pursue, there were two styles in furniture and decoration which shared the favour of the public on the othe...
- Chippendale. Part 5
- As to this filling in: a close and careful examination of the backs illustrated, comparing one with another, will result in the discovery that a certain class of shaping, closely resembling two capita...
- Chippendale. Part 6
- This designer more generally, in fact almost invariably, contented himself by building-up a solidly-made, and, usually, unpretentious, carcase of sensible proportions; when that was accomplished, he...
- Chippendale. Part 7
- It is not necessary, I think, to enlarge further upon this section of Chippendale's work, for, by a careful study of the accompanying illustrations, supplemented by the explanatory remarks and critici...
- Chippendale. Part 8
- In dealing with cabinet work Chippendale found that it was not so easy to impart to his productions the desired Chinese character as when dealing with chairs. The respective conditions controlling the...
- Chippendale. Part 9
- Reverting, for a moment, to the frets, it is important to point out that they are almost always purely geometrical, and therefore repetitive, in design, consisting principally of a succession of recta...
- Chippendale. Part 10
- Chippendale, like most people who depend upon the public favour for their livelihood, had, of course, to cater for the requirements of the less-monied portion of the community as well as for those of ...
- Chippendale. Part 11
- It is one thing to examine articles of furniture individually and separately, and often quite another to see them grouped together in a room, with a proper decorative setting of wall hangings, carpet,...
- Chippendale. Part 12
- At a country sale (conducted by Messrs. Robinson and Fisher, of London) at Bradfield Hall, near Reading, of the property of the Connop family, the following bids (as reported in the Times) were made a...
- Heppelwhite
- To pass from the study of Chippendale to that of the work of Heppelwhite, or, to speak more precisely, of Messrs. A. Heppelwhite & Co., is to be brought face to face with one of the greatest and mos...
- Heppelwhite. Part 2
- It is, however, the style which came between the two that now demands our attention, and it is not in any respect one which can be dismissed with brief comment. On the contrary, it is entitled to a re...
- Heppelwhite. Part 3
- We have accepted it as a rule that, so far as the identification of style is concerned, the chairs of the eighteenth century are imbued with stronger and, therefore, more distinctive characteristics t...
- Heppelwhite. Part 4
- The overwhelming majority of Heppelwhite backs are open; that is to say, composed solely of wood, shaped and jointed, or cut-through; for upholstery in them does not seem to have commended itself to...
- Heppelwhite. Part 5
- The pole fire-screen, now but rarely seen, was just becoming popular at this period, and two examples of Heppelwhite's treatment of it are given in Figs, 1 and 5, Plate III. Screens of this type, sa...
- Heppelwhite. Part 6
- Considerable attention was devoted to their design. The earlier caddies were often of soft wood, lacquered in black and gold, and not infrequently covered with the most elaborate diapers and powderin...
- Heppelwhite. Part 7
- Subtle differences, however, in their disposition or arrangement will become apparent if we place side-by-side those belonging to each style respectively, and submit them to a careful and thoroughly c...
- Heppelwhite. Part 8
- In Fig. 2 we have, by way of contrast, one of those handy little corner washstands of a type favoured equally by Heppelwhite and Sheraton (see also Fig. 9, Plate IX., Sheraton). Many of these have b...
- Heppelwhite. Part 9
- The bed illustrated on Plate VII. was, in one of its renderings, draped with dove-coloured satin, lined with green silk, and so dressed-up must have presented a very gay appearance. Figs. 12, 14, an...
- Heppelwhite. Part 10
- But this designer, as I have already indicated, did not rest content with the somewhat primitive side-table, with its attendant cupboards and vases, when he saw that such an arrangement was coming t...
- Sheraton
- In 1751, just three years prior to that in which Chippendale's great book, The Gentleman's and Cabinet Maker's Director, was first published, there was born at Stockton-on-Tees, of humble parentage,...
- Sheraton. Part 2
- In 1791 appeared The Cabinet Maker's and Upholsterer's Drawing-Book (in four parts), by Thomas Sheraton. In this the author describes himself as cabinet maker, and puts forward his book as being ...
- Sheraton. Part 3
- We must now, however, leave generalisation, and commence our study of Sheraton as a style; and following the plan adopted in my chapters on Chippendale and Heppelwhite, we will deal with chairs ...
- Sheraton. Part 4
- Having in the first place devised what he considered to be a graceful form, which satisfied his hypercritical mind in every particular, and might therefore be depended on to satisfy others less exacti...
- Sheraton. Part 5
- As to the form of the superstructure referred to, F'ig. 8, Plate IV., furnishes one example of a type which, says Sheraton, is used to set large dishes against, and to support a couple of candle or l...
- Sheraton. Part 6
- We will take Sheraton bookcases next; and it must be noted that this designer paid very considerable attention to the development of these articles, some capital types of which are illustrated on P...
- Sheraton. Part 7
- To quote full particulars here as to the mechanism of this device - and it is really simple - is quite impracticable; but the following extract from Sheraton's description may be given: This design w...
- Sheraton. Part 8
- Returning to productions in which mechanical ingenuity plays only a minor part - if any part at all - we will now deal with another piece of furniture designed to answer the requirements of the litera...
- Sheraton. Part 9
- The Sheraton pediments, however, are vastly different, and infinitely better, though, it must be admitted, that their designer did err occasionally, but only very slightly, in the direction specifie...
- Sheraton. Part 10
- While in the domain of the toilet, it behoves us to see what manner of bedstead Sheraton was wont to provide for those who favoured him with their patronage. We will first examine the three characteri...
- Sheraton. Part 11
- Fortunately for the reputation of those old craftsmen only the fittest of their work has survived; and it is not necessary to say that that fittest was not supplied at what the trade nowadays terms c...
- Sheraton. Part 12
- I must not, however, leave the consideration of The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book without brief reference to the first part of that work, upon which I have up to the present commented...
- Other Georgeian Types
- After reading the three preceding chapters, and before dismissing the subject of Georgeian types in order to proceed to the consideration of those which come next on our list, the reader will naturall...
- Other Georgeian Types. Part 2
- Georgeian Secretary and Early Chippendale Chair (See preceding page for reference) Georgeian Types. I. Plate 62 Reference in Text. See page 202 I have mentioned earlier in the book that the p...
- Other Georgeian Types. Part 3
- One Hundred and Fifty New Designs. By Thomas Johnson, carver. Published 1761. Ceilings, mantels, mirror and picture frames, clock cases, girandoles, brackets, etc., etc., in extreme Rococo. This was...
- Other Georgeian Types. Part 4
- I have mentioned that there was one exception, and that is a work entitled Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, executed from Designs by Thomas Hope, which was published in 1807. Hope was ev...
- The Louis-Quatorze
- The brief discussion of the few French styles with which I have elected to deal in these pages must be prefaced by a word or two of explanation, which, I sincerely trust, will be most carefully read a...
- The Louis-Quatorze. Part 2
- This monarch was no ordinary man. Moreover, when he attained to years of discretion, and saw a possibility of ordering everything as he wished, he was fortunate in having at his beck and call men of p...
- The Louis-Quatorze. Part 3
- The query naturally arises, what was the secret of the attainment of so high a standard by the artists and craftsmen of France under the rule of Louis the Fourteenth? I am more than a little disposed ...
- The Louis-Quatorze. Part 4
- Colbert was not the type of man to let the appartements pass into the possession of mere place-seekers, and it may be taken for granted that had anyone been able to present stronger claims than those ...
- The Louis-Quatorze. Part 5
- It is impossible to write, however briefly, of the French furniture of this period without paying some attention to the development of metal work other than Boulle as a decorative medium, since the ...
- The Louis-Quatorze. Part 6
- The elaborate table shown in Fig. 6, Plate I., is also a late example, and marks the commencement of the growth of that tendency to overdo ornamentation, and supersede the constructional by the decora...
- The Louis-Quinze
- Whether we agree or not with the idea that the character of a man, or of a nation, may be, in a certain measure, gauged from the character of his or their domestic surroundings, certain it is that the...
- The Louis-Quinze. Part 2
- These personal details may appear to be unimportant, and to savour somewhat of society small talk, but they are really of moment to us, as they convey a graphic impression of the man who had so much t...
- The Louis-Quinze. Part 3
- Yet withal, in its highest phases, the Louis-Quinze is to my mind beautiful, and is endowed with a rare and peculiar fascination possessed by no other style. Appeal to the senses it does, and that ...
- The Louis-Quinze. Part 4
- Let us see, then, in what particular directions the character of French furniture became metamorphosed under these prevailing conditions. A glance at the whole of the examples illustrated in this chap...
- The Louis-Quinze. Part 5
- While dealing with the furniture of the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, we must not omit to call to mind the fact that when the reign was nearing its close there appeared in the field of art industry on...
- The Louis-Seize
- While all those influences were at work in France which led to the ultimate debasement of the Louis-Quinze, others also were active in a totally opposite direction. By the death of his father in 176...
- The Louis-Seize. Part 2
- The more deeply we study the history of past ages the more firmly convinced we become of the fact that, in art as in other walks of life, it is inherent in human nature to go sometimes to extremes; bu...
- The Louis-Seize. Part 3
- This, and much more in a similar vein, was what there was to be symbolised, and it is this which accounts for the presence, indeed the predominance, in Louis-Seize decoration of almost every imagina...
- The Louis-Seize. Part 4
- In Louis-Seize forms themselves, then, we need not look for anything very striking or exceptional; if we do, our search will remain unrewarded by success. They are, in fact, precisely what they shou...
- Empire
- The political history of France during the closing years of the eighteenth century; the events which led up to the execution of Louis the Sixteenth and his queen; the state of chaos that followed the ...
- Empire. Part 2
- Was the Louis-Quinze or the Louis-Seize, with suggestions of pastoral pleasures and amorous delights, of any use here! No. Napoleon's views on the question of morality, it must be admitted, were f...
- Empire. Part 3
- Figure 3, Plate II., as I have already suggested, illustrates another Louis Seize frame upon which the Empire mantle has fallen; in place of the dainty enrichment of the earlier style, we find the...
- Empire. Part 4
- While dealing with models which we know from existing evidence to have actually formed part of the personal surroundings of Napoleon at home, the two beds, Figs. 2 and 4, Plate IV., must come in for a...
- The New Art In France
- It is common to regard, and speak of, the temperament of the French people as one to which perpetual change and excitement are essential; and when the Gallic disposition, so instinct with vivacity, so...
- The New Art In France. Part 2
- Perfect, both in design and execution, as the French renderings of those styles always have been, and are still, there came a time at last when a certain number of artists, rebelling against this cons...
- The New Art In France. Part 3
- Having, then, determined to abolish this state of things in so far as its existence affected their own work, the designers whose productions we shall presently consider positively refused to be bound ...
- The New Art In France. Part 4
- Were I to discuss fully, and in a critical vein, the merits of the New Art under all its aspects, it would be essential for me to deal exhaustively with the old and vexed question of Naturalism vers...
- The New Art In France. Part 5
- With all this present in our mind, it will readily be understood that the cultivation of Applied, as distinct from Fine, art is very far from being a simple matter; and that the life of its discip...
- The New Art In France. Part 6
- It was through losing sight altogether of this aspect of affairs, either through absence of mind, or by reason of a fixed determination to ignore it, that the New Artists committed one of their most...
- The New Art In France. Part 7
- To illustrate my meaning in writing the foregoing paragraphs upon the New Art, many most forcible examples might be brought forward, but it will be sufficient for my present purpose if I refer in pa...
- The New Art In France. Part 8
- It may be contended, of course, and with reason, that, in the first place, all styles were based on Nature, whether confessedly or not; and that even those of Oriental origin, in which the imitation o...
- The New Art In France. Part 9
- In the small chair, Fig. 1, Plate II., there is strong indication that the designer from whose pencil it comes is either unable, or has not the inclination, to forsake the Louis - Quinze altogether,...
- The New Art In France. Part 10
- Of less unusual modern productions which the French include under the heading L'Art Nouveau, I might illustrate many, but they would be simply adaptations, if not actual copies, of English Quaint ...
- The Nineteenth Century (Prior To, And Early, Victorian)
- Having fresh in our memory the standard attained by the British furnisher and decorator during the reign of the Georges, it is difficult to write in terms of moderation of English furniture as it was ...
- The Nineteenth Century (Prior To, And Early, Victorian). Continued
- But when the effort was made to inspire another nation, living under totally different conditions, and possessing a totally different temperament, with enthusiasm for the same symbols, forms, and fanc...
- Quaint Furniture
- Following the condition of affairs referred to in the preceding chapter, it was not until well into the second half of the last century that any signs appeared of a revival as regards tastefulness in ...
- Quaint Furniture. Continued
- Notwithstanding the fact that the task which they set themselves seemed, and still seems, to be a hopeless one, the Society have gone bravely on; have perpetrated many absurdities - as we all do at on...
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