Octagonal table, c. 1480-1500.

Oak wood, 75 x 90.5 x 79 cm.

Musée de Cluny, Paris.

 

 

The 13th century, while bringing more advanced developmental tools, also caused a separation amongst the workmen specially employed in the construction of furniture, who thenceforth were divided into two different classes: carpenters and joiners. The first applied themselves solely to massive works; the others, advancing further and further into the domain of art, became assimilated with the ymaigiers or sculptors themselves. They traced flowery patterns with elegant scrolls of foliage on the pliant wood to form the framework of personages and scenes from sacred or profane history, or else representing in Gothic or square compartments subjects of fables or legendary songs.

In the 14th century and early years of the 15th, elegant luxury was primarily displayed in rich fabrics and tapestries made to cover furniture, seats and benches. The flowing draperies of the beds partook of this taste, which originated with the Crusades, and was initially inspired by the sight of the magnificent fabrics of the East. Sculpture, nevertheless, continued its progress, and even Italian woodwork began to show Oriental derivation.

In the 15th century, the appearance of a bedroom is thus represented. The curtains of the bedstead are tied back in order to display its costly coverlets; on one side sits the master’s chair, then the devotional picture or small domestic altar attached to the wall. The armoire and other small pieces of furniture were arranged around the room, and often in front of an immense fireplace was a high-backed seat where one came to seek warmth. This arrangement, which can be seen in miniatures and tapestries taken from various sources, proves the uniformity of lifestyles in the different classes of society. Here we find figures whose dress and elegance denote their high position; here, again, are plain citizens surrounded by their serving men and a number of objects which allow us to judge that the room is in one moment the bedroom, the reception room in another, and also the family refectory. If we enter the study of a statesman or writer, we find the monumental high-backed chair, a revolving desk with a turning wheel intended to keep a number of books close within reach, lecterns, and various other types of desks for writing.

This age also corresponds with the complete expansion of Gothic architecture and furniture. The furniture is divided into flamboyant Gothic cloisters, crowned by fine needle-shaped sticks and flourishing leaves; their niches contain elegantly quaint figures, and the panels, with their bas-reliefs, rival the perfection of altarpieces and religious triptychs of intricate workmanship. Accordingly, no part of these articles of furniture was covered so that the artist’s ingenious conceptions could be easily viewed, unless a covering was absolutely necessary. Much of this furniture served only for luxurious display, while that which was destined for travelling remained simple in form and was modestly concealed in those parts of the dwelling reserved for private life.

We will not extend this brief sketch any further, for, from the 16th century, both public and private life is pictured in so large a number of monuments, paintings, tapestries, engravings and manuscripts that it would be superfluous to attempt an analysis essentially colourless beside the originals. Now, rather than study furniture as a whole, we will view it broken down into genre so as to show its progress, connections and appreciate its styles in their successive transformations.