The Romance of Furniture

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 89, 6 July 1927, Page 12

The Romance of Furniture

JACOBEAN 111. (Written for THE SUNJ Y\7TTH the accession to the EngU lish Throne of James VI. of Scotland (James I. of England), we see the gradual discarding of the u n upholstered stools and benches of the Early Elizabethan period. Armchairs were coming into general use. In the previous age many Dutch, French and Italian upholstered chairs had been imported into the country and local craftsmen had begun to acquire some knowledge of the upholsterer’s art from foreign antiques and Continental-made upholstered chairs. Solid oak armchairs with high backs, elaborately carved, were still in use

and continued to be made up to the time of Charles 11. The beginning of English upholstered furniture may be said to have originated with the commencement of the 17th century. Strenuous Times The first appearance of the “MonksBeneh” can be credited to the years 1615-25; this is very useful convertible table-bench is recovering its popularity to-day, as is much of the furniture of the Jacobean period. A clearer idea than that conveyed by dates is sometimes given by recalling historical events. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers sailed in the Mayflower for America. The state of England at this time was not one to lend itself to the cultivating of those arts which can only flower in times of peace. Hence, during the reigns of James I. and Charles I. only slight changes occurred in the design and build of household appointments. Oak was still the principal timber used for furniture-making. Walnut (English walnut, planted in the reign of Elizabeth) had been used experimentally. A few chairs of this age made in walnut are in existence, but generally the timber used was oak. Oak Wasted Like Kauri English oak at this time was lavishly used, which probably accounts for the scarcity of that wood to-day. Wainscot oak was another term for heart of oak. The prodigal use of “wainscot” oak in the building of furniture, houses, roofs of churches and halls in those Elizabethan and Jacobite days has a parallel in this country when, in its early days, of colonisation, the kauri oine was ruthlessly hacked for its “heart.” involving the waste of millions of feet of good timber. Continuing from James I. to Charles 1., the position remains practically unchanged, but for one important event. Charles appointed the celebrated Inigo Jones to the post of surveyor of works, and it is held that this notable man was largely responsible for the trimming up of the Elizabethan-carved furniture in general use, producing

articles of more severe design, but without the characteristic carvings and caryatides of the early Elizabethan craftsmen. That the Civil War, which was for a time to put an end to monarchical rule, was disastrous from the antiquarian point of view, is seldom disputed. The Mussolini character of Cromwell is well exemplified in at least one particular act; that of completely despoiling nineteen Royal palaces of their furniture and other appointments either by destroying them or selling them to foreigners. Cromwell’s Work A considerable gap in the continuity of the history of English furniture will always be apparent due to this fact. To reflect that that wonderful museum of authenticated pieces of old English furniture, viz., “Windsor Castle,” contains not a single piece of “Tudor” furniture, is guarantee that Cromwell’s work was well carried out. The Cromwellian period, short as it was, has left us with a distinctly recognisable type of furniture. Shorn of all decorations, it was strictly utilitarian. Indebted chiefly to the craftsmen of an earlier age for its designs, at least two important additions were made to their inheritance. The gate-leg table and the spiral or twist turning. The universal popularity of the latter form of turning raises a doubt whether the discovery has been a blessing or otherwise. Ordinary chairs were built lower in seat than their predecessors and lower than present-day chairs. The writer suggests that the pr.obable reason for building the seats low was to make the chair serve the dual pur-

poses of seat and Prie-Dieu. Those were “Pious Days.” The Chest of Drawers The chest of drawers had its beginning at this time. The old-time übiquitous chest or coffer was “improved” by adding a drawer. A few years later another drawer was added. Later still other drawers were added. Then the chest part was removed and the drawers were mounted on a stand, and Furniture about this time was becoming more generally used —that is, the middle and lower classes were beginning to demand something to sit on and something to sit at. The gateleg table now arrived to satisfy the demand for something less costly and less cumbersome than the heavy Elizabethan type of bulbous-leg rectangular table. Oak as a furniture timber has now passed its zenith in popular fa vour. It is still largely used, but the wealthy are turning toward timbers long in favour on the Continent. Walnut is beginning to come into its own, but its growth is slow. The restoration of the monarchy in the person of Charles 11. and the reaction which set in after the fall of Cromwell opened up a new era in which the furniture craftsman played his part. Charles 11. and the days of high and riotous living, of “Nell Gwyn” and frenzied finance, are synonymous with elaborate furniture, fine craftsmanship, and an icnreased standard of comfort at least for the wealthy. OSWALD CRINE.