DUTCH AND FLEMISH FURNITURE
[Illustration:
FRONTISPIECE. _Bed by Daniel Marot._
]
DUTCH AND FLEMISH FURNITURE
By
ESTHER SINGLETON
Author of “French and English Furniture,” etc
_With numerous illustrations_
NEW YORK:
THE McCLURE COMPANY
44–60 EAST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
1907
_Butler and Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, France, and London_
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE
No special inducement need be held out to an educated Englishman at the
present day to take an interest in a particular field of the arts and
crafts of the Low Countries. Long before the nobles of Flanders, France
and England were associated in attempts to free the holy places from the
pollution of infidel possession, the dwellers on the opposite coasts of
England, Normandy and the Netherlands had been bound together by many
dynastic and trade bonds. As we follow the course of history, we find
that the interests of the English and the Flemings were inextricably
connected; and there was a constant stream of the manufactures of the
Low Countries pouring into English ports. The English supplied much of
the raw material upon which the Flemings depended for subsistence. In
mediaeval days the inhabitants of the Low Countries could always be
forced by English statecraft to help the Plantagenet kings in their
continental intrigues by the mere cutting off of the supply of wool.
Later, the community of tastes and interests in Reformation days drew
the races closer together; and all through Elizabethan days, and then
onwards till the close of the Marlborough campaigns, the inhabitants of
England and the Netherlands were on terms of intimate acquaintance,
socially and industrially.
In the following pages, therefore, constant evidence will appear of the
influence of the arts and crafts of the Low Countries on English
manufactures and importations. Trade rivalry frequently gave rise to
coolness between England and Holland, and to an inglorious war in the
days of the Merry Monarch. The latter period I have treated at
considerable length on account of the importance of the Oriental trade
on the interior decorations of Dutch homes.
On taking a general survey of the Decorative Arts of the Low Countries,
we notice several well-defined periods and influences.
Materials are too meagre for us to learn much about domestic interiors
during the Dark Ages, but we know that, in common with England and
Northern France, Scandinavian Art largely prevailed.
The feudal lords of the territories that now formed the Netherlands were
enthusiastic in assuming the cross; and for two centuries the arts and
crafts of Byzantium and the luxury of the East dominated Western Europe.
About 1300 the influence of Byzantium had waned, and the Gothic style
was bursting into full bloom. For the next two centuries it held full
sway, and was then pushed aside by the Renaissance, which made itself
felt at the end of the fifteenth century.
At the end of the sixteenth century we find the Renaissance fully
developed; and for the next fifty years Flanders is the willing slave of
Rubens and his school. The Decadence quickly follows.
The provinces that now constitute Holland and Belgium went hand in hand
in the Decorative Arts until about 1600. If there was any difference,
Holland was more influenced by German and Flanders by French Art. After
the establishment of the Dutch trade with the Far East at the beginning
of the seventeenth century, Dutch and Flemish Art diverge.
In the following chapters I have tried to trace these influences and
developments.
In illustrating the book I have gone to the original works of the great
masters of design—De Vries, Van de Passe, Marot and others. As for Dutch
interiors, nothing can convey a clearer idea of the home than the famous
pictures by the Great and Little Masters—Jan Steen, Teniers, Rembrandt,
Cocques, Metsu, Maes, Terburg, Dou, Weenix, Van Hoogstraten, Troost,
etc., etc., many of whose famous canvases are reproduced here.
I also include photographic reproductions of authentic examples of Dutch
and Flemish furniture preserved in the Cluny, Rijks, Stedelijk and other
museums.
In my attempt to reconstruct Dutch and Flemish interiors of past days, I
have consulted not only histories, memoirs and books of travel, but
wills and inventories as well.
I wish to thank Mr. Arthur Shadwell Martin for valuable research and aid
for both text and illustrations.
E. S.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGES
THE MIDDLE AGES 1–29
Ecclesiastical Art—Wood-carving and Carvers—Primitive
Character of the Furniture of Castles and Mansions—
_Huchiers_—_Menuisiers_—A Typical Bedroom—_Dinanderie_—
Wood-work and panelling—Chest, _banc_, _bahut_, sideboard,
_dressoir_, credence, table and chair—Embroideries—
Definition of _Chambre_—Textiles and Tapestries—
Ecclesiastical Hangings—Tapestry-weavers—Tapestry of
Philip the Bold—Flemish Looms—Cordovan and Flemish
Leathers—Goldsmith’s Work—Glass and Glass-workers—Guilds
of St. Luke.
CHAPTER II
THE BURGUNDIAN PERIOD 31–62
The luxurious Dukes of Burgundy—Possessions of the House
of Burgundy—The Burgundian Court—Household of Philip the
Good—the Feast of the Pheasant—the Duke of Burgundy at the
Coronation of Louis XI—Arras Tapestries—Sumptuous
_Dressoirs_ and their Adornments—Celebrations in honour of
the Knights of the Golden Fleece—Luxury of Charles the
Bold—Charles the Bold at Trèves—Furnishings of the Abbey
of Saint-Maximin—Charles the Bold’s Second Marriage—
Furnishings of the Banqueting Hall at Bruges—Descriptions
by Olivier de la Marche—Aliénor of Poitiers’ Descriptions
of the Furniture of the Duchess of Burgundy’s Apartments—
Rich _Dressoirs_—the _Drageoir_ and its Etiquette—the
Etiquette of the _Escarbeau_—Philip the Bold’s Artisans—
Flemish Carving—the _Forme_ or _Banc_—Burgundian
Workmanship—Ecclesiastical Work—Noted Carvers—Furniture of
the Period—the “Golden Age of Tapestry”—Embroideries—
Tapestry-weavers of the Low Countries—Introduction of
Italian Cartoons—Goldsmiths’ Work—Furniture of the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.
CHAPTER III
THE RENAISSANCE: PART I 63–96
Dawn of the Renaissance—The Transitional Period—Coffers
and _Bahuts_—Court of Margaret of Austria—Perrèal’s Style—
Margaret’s Tomb by Perrèal—Taste of the Regent—Margaret’s
Tapestries, Carpets, Table-covers and Cushions—Her Curios—
Flemish Tapestries—Cartoons by Bernard van Orley—William
de Pannemaker—English Tapestries—Last Days of the Gothic
Style—Guyot de Beaugrant, Lancelot Blondeel and Peter
Pourbus—Stalls in the Groote Kerk, Dordrecht—Carvings in
Haarlem—Invasion of the Renaissance—Walnut, the Favourite
Wood for Furniture and Carving—Versatility of the Artists—
the Fleming as Emigrant—the Renaissance in Burgundy—Hugues
Sambin—Sebastian Serlio—Peter Coeck of Alost—Pupils of
Peter Coeck—Lambert Lombard—Francis Floris, the “Flemish
Raphael”—the Craze for Numismatics—Hubert Goltzius—
Cabinets of the Sixteenth Century—Italian Furniture—
Characteristic Features of Renaissance Furniture—
Ornaments, the Arabesque, Pilaster, Cartouche, _Cuirs_,
Banderole and Caryatid—Publications of Decorative Design—
Alaert Claes, Lucas van Leyden, Cornelis Bos and Martin
van Heemskerck.
CHAPTER IV
THE RENAISSANCE: PART II 97–129
Second Period of the Renaissance—Court of Mary of Hungary—
Charles V a Fleming—Influence of Burgundian Court in
Spain—Gilded Leather—Wealth of the Nobles in the
Netherlands—Margaret of Valois at Namur—Antwerp in the
Sixteenth Century—Christopher Plantin—Cornelis and James
Floris—Jerome Cock—Hans and Paul de Vries—Jacques van
Noye—Famous Designers—Characteristics of the Second Period
of the Renaissance—Bedsteads, Tables and Chairs,
_Armoires_, Cabinets and Chests—Porcelain, Glass and Glass
Cupboards—Windows and Glass-painters—Guicciardini on the
Artists of the Low Countries—Paul de Vries—Crispin de
Passe the Elder—the Collaerts—Wood-carving—Music and
Musical Instruments.
CHAPTER V
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (FLEMISH) 131–167
Renewed Italian Influence—Rubens: his Studio, his House,
his Pupils, his Influence, his Successors—Seventeenth
Century Wood-carvers—Development and Tendencies of
Furniture—Crispin van den Passe—Rembrandt’s Goods and
Chattels—Old Belgian Houses—The Pitsembourg—Kitchens—
Leather-hangings—Tapestry—Marquetry—Chairs—Masters of
Ornamental Design—The “Auricular Style.”
CHAPTER VI
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (DUTCH) 169–202
Famous Dutch Architects—The Royal Palace on the Dam, Het
Loo, The Mauritshuis and Huis Ten Bosch—Interior Carvings—
Specimens of Rooms and Ceilings in the Rijks Museum—Love
of the Dutch for their Houses—Miniature Dutch Houses and
Models of Old Amsterdam Houses in the Rijks Museum—
Architecture of the Seventeenth Century—A Typical Dutch
Home—The _Luifel_, _Voorhuis_ and _Comptoir_—Interior
Decorations and Furniture—Dutch Mania for Cleaning—
Descriptions by Travellers of Dutch Houses and Cleaning—
Cleaning Utensils—House and Furniture of Andreas Hulstman
Janz, in Dordrecht—Inventory of Gertrude van Mierevelt,
wife of the painter, in Delft—“Show-Rooms” and their
Furnishings—Cooking Utensils—Bedroom in the House of Mrs.
Lidia van der Dussen in Dordrecht—The Cradle and
“Fire-Basket”—The Baby’s Silver—The “Bride’s Basket”—The
“Bride’s Crown” and “Throne”—Decorations for a Wedding—
Description by Sir John Lower of the Farewell
Entertainment to Charles II at the Hague.
CHAPTER VII
THE IMPORTANCE OF PORCELAIN 203–235
Rise of Dutch Taste in Decorative Art—Influence of Foreign
Trade in the Dutch Home—Accounts of Porcelain by Mediaeval
Travellers: Edrisi, Ibn Batuta and Shah Rukh—Quotation
from Pigapheta—A Great European Collection—Monopoly of
Trade by the Portuguese—Quotation from Pyrard de Laval—
Portuguese Carracks—Voyages to Goa and Japan—Porcelain and
Cabinets—Mendoza’s Description of Earthenware—Dutch and
English Merchants—Presents to Queen Elizabeth—Dutch
Expeditions and Establishment of the Dutch East India
Company—Embassy to the Emperor of China in 1655—
Descriptions of the Manufacture of Porcelain—Manufacture
and Potters of Delft—Quotation from d’Entrecolles on
Porcelain and Oriental Trade—Prices—Tea—Tea-drinking—A
Dutch Poet on the Tea-table—Chrestina de Ridder’s
Porcelain—Prices of Porcelain in 1653.
CHAPTER VIII
THE DUTCH HOME 237–270
Love of porcelain—The Amsterdam Mart—Prices of China in
1615—Oriental wares before 1520—Luxury of the Dutch
Colonists—Rich Burghers in New Amsterdam—Inventories of
Margarita van Varick and Jacob de Lange—Dutch Merchants in
the East—Foreign Views of Dutch Luxury—Dutch Interiors
after the Great and Little Masters—House-furnishing by a
young married couple—The Linen Chest—Clothes Chests and
Cupboards—The Great _Kas_—The Cabinet—The Toilet—
Table-covers—Foot-warmers—Looking-glasses—Bedsteads—Tables
and Chairs—Woods—Kitchen Utensils—Silverware—Household
Pets.
CHAPTER IX
DUTCH FURNITURE UNDER FRENCH AND ORIENTAL INFLUENCE 271–293
The Dutch Craftsmen in the Employ of Louis XIV—Huguenot
Emigration—Marot—The Sopha—Upholstery—The Bed—Chairs—
Sconces—Tables—Rooms—English and Dutch Alliances—Hampton
Court—Queen Mary—Looking-glasses—Chandeliers—
Chimney-pieces—The _style refugié_—John Hervey’s
Purchases—Oriental Furniture manufactured after European
Patterns—Complaints of Home Manufacturers—Trade with the
Indies—“Prince Butler’s Tale”—Enormous Importations—
Imported Textiles—Foreign Textiles for Upholstery.
CHAPTER X
FURNITURE OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES 295–327
Lacquer—Oriental Methods—European Importations and
Limitations—Prices—An Ambassador’s Report—_Singerie_,
_Chinoiserie_ and _Rocaille_—The Dutch Decadence—Interiors
of Cornelis Troost—Mirrors—Wealth and Luxury of Dutch
Merchants—Court Contrasts—Tapestry—Brussels as a Centre of
Art and Luxury—Eighteenth Century Furniture—The Empire
Style in the Low Countries—Dutch Homes of the Nineteenth
Century—The Maarken House and Furniture—Typical Farmhouse
and Furniture—Country Seats and Town Houses—Hindeloopen
Houses and Furniture—A Friesland House—Canal Boat
Furniture—Dutch Love of Symmetry—Collectors and
Collections.
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE FACING PAGE
Bed by Daniel Marot _Frontispiece_
I. Choir-Stall 4
II. Bedroom (Fifteenth Century) and Figs. 1–5 8
III. Flemish Dressoir (Fifteenth Century), and Figs. 14
6–9
IV. Credence (Fifteenth Century) 38
V. Coffer in Flemish Style 66
VI. Flemish Coffer or Huche 68
VII. Huche, or Bahut (Sixteenth Century) 70
VIII. Cabinet (Sixteenth Century) 84
IX. Armoire (Burgundian School) 86
X. Bedroom, by De Vries 92
XI. Flemish Bedstead (1580) and Figs. 10–18 94
Bed, Tables, Chair and Footstool, Flemish 106
Chairs. Figs. 19–25
XII. Bedstead, Chairs and Table, by J. Stradan 108
XIII. Bedstead, by De Vries 110
XIV. Bedstead, Rijks Museum 112
XV. Armoire, Rijks Museum 114
XVI. Glass Cupboard, or Vitrine, by De Vries 116
XVII. Glass Cupboard, or Vitrine, by De Vries 118
XVIII. Flemish Armoire and Figs. 26–27 120
XIX. Cabinet, or Armoire, by De Vries. Design for 122
Goldsmith’s Work, by Jerome Cock
XX. Cabinet, or Armoire, by De Vries. Design for 124
Goldsmith’s Work, by Jerome Cock
XXI. Design for Goldsmith’s Work, by Adrian Collaert 126
XXII. Design for Goldsmith’s Work, by Adrian Collaert 128
XXIII. Lady at Spinet, by J. M. Molenaer 132
XXIIIA. Spinet, by Ruckers 134
XXIV. Interior, by Barthol van Bassen (Seventeenth 136
Century) and Figs. 28–30
XXV. Panelled Bedstead, Rijks Museum 144
XXVI. The Sick Woman, by Jan Steen, and Figs. 31–34 146
XXVII. Woman with a Parrot, by Jan Steen 148
XXVIII. Flemish Chair, Cluny Museum 154
XXIX. Flemish Chair Cluny Museum 156
XXX. Chairs, Cluny Museum 158
XXXI. Marquetry Cabinet, Rijks Museum 160
XXXII. Kitchen, Stedelijk Museum 162
XXXIII. Chairs, Rijks Museum 164
XXXIV. Chairs, Rijks Museum 170
XXXV. Chairs, Rijks Museum 172
XXXVI. The Oyster Feast, by Jan Steen, and Figs. 35–37 248
XXXVII. The Sick Lady, by Hoogstraten 250
XXXVIII. Interior, by J. Koedyck 252
XXXIX. The Music Lesson, by Terborch 254
XL. Interior, by J. B. Weenix 256
XLI. Breakfast, by G. Metsu 258
XLII. Interior, by Jan Steen 260
XLIII. Kas of Ebony and Ivory, Rijks Museum 262
XLIV. Dutch Kas, Cluny Museum 264
XLV. Flemish Chair, Cluny Museum 266
XLVI. “Buire,” by Mosyn, Auricular Style 268
Screen in the Style Refugié. Fig. 39 272
XLVII. Carved Oak Bahut, Cluny Museum, and Fig. 38 274
Sophas, Lower part of Chair, Lambrequins. Figs. 276
40–45
XLVIII. Bed and Bedroom, by Marot 278
XLIX. Mirrors and Sconces, by Marot 280
L. Mirrors, by Marot 282
LI. Mirrors, Console Table and Candlestands, by 284
Marot
LII. Tables and Mascarons, by Marot 286
LIII. Clocks and Details, by Marot 288
LIV. Interior, by Cornelis Troost 298
Cabinet from Liège, Dutch Mirror Frame. Figs. 300
46–47
LV. Interior, by Cornelis Troost 302
LVI. Room in the Stedelijk Museum 308
LVII. In Bruitlaen, by Artz 312
CHAPTER I
THE MIDDLE AGES
Ecclesiastical Art—Wood-carving and Carvers—Primitive character of the
Furniture of Castles and Mansions—_Huchiers_—_Menuisiers_—A
Typical Bedroom—_Dinanderie_—Wood-work and panelling—Chest,
_banc_, _bahut_, sideboard, _dressoir_, _credence_, table and
chair—Embroideries—Definition of _Chambre_—Textiles and
Tapestries—Ecclesiastical hangings—Tapestry-weavers—Tapestry of
Philip the Bold—Flemish Looms—Cordovan and Flemish Leathers—
Goldsmith’s Work—Glass and Glass-workers—Guilds of St. Luke.
In the turbulent days of the Middle Ages, the goods of the Church were
the only ones respected, and, sometimes, not even those. The castles
afforded protection to those in their immediate vicinity, but rival
feudal ambitions rendered the calling of a luxurious craftsman more or
less precarious. The abbey walls always sheltered a community of
carpenters, joiners, leather-dressers, iron-workers, goldsmiths,
sculptors, painters and calligraphists.
Towards the end of the Crusades, the new organization of the Communes,
after the period of anarchy, becomes firmly established. Industry,
commerce and art begin to make rapid strides in the towns, and craftsmen
form themselves into corporations that receive special privileges from
their titular overlords. So long as the artists of the ecclesiastical
school remained under the protection of the monastic houses, they
naturally followed a hieratic road. The ornamentation they were called
upon to produce for the Church, they reproduced when luxurious furniture
was required in domestic life. The great Corporations, however, as they
grew in wealth and power, demanded something superior to, or at least,
different from, the work of their forerunners. In the monastic houses,
it was long before this influence made itself felt; but among the
secular clergy it received a hearty welcome.
The distinguishing character of Mediaeval work is the freedom of
execution allowed to the workman. The architect decided on heights,
dimensions, dispositions of parts and profiles of stalls, or _armoires_;
but the details were left to be worked out by the artistic ability of
the skilled workman. Individual expression was allowed full play, while
the original conception of the designer was respected.
Gradually, as the Communes became more powerful and were able to afford
stable protection to their members, the spirit of association and
solidarity tended to break away from exclusively ecclesiastical art.
The art of wood-carving was developed principally in the production of
choir-stalls and altar-pieces. The building of a beautiful temple to the
glory of God was usually begun by some pious founder from motives of
gratitude or repentance. It was dedicated to some patron saint, and the
work was carried out under the supervision of some abbey or other
religious house. Often the church or cathedral was originally the abbey
church itself. In early Mediaeval days, the arts and sciences were
confined to the cloister, and the embellishment of the Holy House was a
labour of love. Many an obscure monk put all that was beautiful and
fanciful in his nature into the production of carvings in stone and wood
that have never been surpassed.
The precise date at which choir-stalls were introduced into churches is
not known; but it is certain that they were in general use as soon as
the Pointed Style was finally established, that is to say, not later
than the thirteenth century. When the sanctuary was railed off from the
rest of the church, the priests, in their light garb, naturally wanted
to be protected from cold, damp and draught by woodwork, which, like the
high back of a settle, enclosed the choir.
The stall is composed of several parts: the socle, the tablet, or seat,
half of which can be raised, as it turns on hinges, the half thus
raised, called the _miséricorde_, serves as a support for a person
resting, half standing, half sitting; the _paraclose_, or sides that
separate it from the adjoining stalls [the forward extremities of these
are called _museaux_ (snouts)]; the arm rest; the high back; the daïs,
or baldaquin; and, lastly, the woodwork at each end of a set of stalls,
called _jouées_ (cheeks).
With the exceptions of the socle and seat, every part of the stall in
all the great Gothic churches has received very richly carved
ornamentation, which is often remarkable for its profusion of detail.
The _miséricorde_ is ordinarily decorated with foliage and fruits; but
it often presents fantastic objects, such as dragons, sirens, dogs,
bears, and hybrid monsters of every kind. Frequently also we find
personages in ridiculous and gross attitudes, and all sorts of human and
animal caricatures. The _paraclose_ is decorated with Gothic tracery in
the earliest examples; and later with foliage, tendrils and branches of
elegant curve. These are usually open-work, the pierced oak producing a
charmingly light and graceful effect. Sometimes here also we find human
and animal forms. The high backs are enriched with bas-reliefs, the
subjects of which are by no means taken exclusively from the Old or New
Testament. On the contrary, here the carvers have given free rein to
their fancy by reproducing scenes of private life, and graceful
compositions of flowers and fruits with little animals intermingled.
Sometimes the subjects are framed in clusters of _colonnettes_, or in
pilasters decorated with niches containing statues. Sometimes also
statues of considerable size adorn this woodwork. The _jouées_ receive
the most beautiful decorations, and frequently these side entrances to
the stalls are ornamented by statues. The daïs, which at first was
merely a shelter of boards on an inclined plane over the whole range of
stalls, began to assume great importance in the fifteenth century. It
curved into vaultings; and very soon each seat received a separate daïs
decorated with _ogives_, pinnacles, little steeples, pendentives,
_culs-de-lampe_ and crockets; and the skilful carver did not hesitate to
introduce delightful statuettes into the company of all these
decorations.
[Illustration:
PLATE I.—_Choir-Stall._
]
A fine example of a Mediaeval carved oak stall is shown in Plate I. By
the richness of the carving it must originally have held an important
position in some choir. Richly ornamented with Gothic shafting and
tracery, it is a splendid example of architectural furniture. The
_miséricorde_ represents a knight fighting with a dragon. The scene
depicted with the chisel on the back is the favourite _Judgment of
Solomon_. Around the elbows are various animals and men on all fours.
The side scrolls under the daïs are decorated with angels playing
trumpets.
The names of the carvers who embellished the Mediaeval choirs have, as a
rule, been lost; and fire and iconoclasm have destroyed most of their
work. Some few relics, however, of the splendour of wood-carving as it
existed before the Renaissance are still to be found. For elaborate oak
carving of the fifteenth century, it would be hard to find a more
interesting example than the carved oak stalls in the great church of
Bolsward (Broederkerk) in Holland. This was built in 1280 A.D.; but the
richly carved late Gothic choir stalls date from about 1450.
One of the earliest churches of the Low Countries is that of Nivelles.
The convent was founded about 650 A.D. by Ita, wife of Pepin of Landen.
The Romanesque church, built in the eleventh century, somewhat spoilt by
bad restoration, still stands. On the high altar is the shrine of St.
Gertrude, which was carved in 1272 by the _orfèvres_ Nicolas Colars, of
Douai and Jackenon of Nivelles. This work of art is famous for the
delicacy and beauty of its details.
The Protestant Church of Breda (Hervormde Kerk), built in 1290, also
contains notable carving, especially on the side entrances of the stalls
(_jouées_). The choir was consecrated in 1410, and here the carvers gave
free rein to satire on the clergy, representing the monks in various
comical attitudes.
Examples of ecclesiastical furniture of Mediaeval days are naturally
scarce, as might be expected on the “Battlefield of Europe.” It is
indeed astonishing that so much has survived after the ordeal by fire
and sword to which the Netherlands have been so often subjected.
Occasionally we come across a muniment chest. An interesting one, the
front of which is perforated with quatrefoils, is to be seen in Notre
Dame, Huy. This dates from 1225. Two others in the same treasury are by
the hand of Godefroid de Claire, called “the noble high goldsmith”;
these, however, have lost their original character, having been restored
in 1560 by Jaspar, a Namur goldsmith.
The ordinary movable furniture of a castle or Mediaeval mansion was of a
very primitive character. It must be remembered that in those days
merchants travelled from town to town in veritable caravans. Nobles
whose business or pleasure induced them constantly to be changing their
residence, also travelled with an escort and baggage-train that
resembled a small army. The necessary furniture and goods for the
comfort of the household were carried in carts and on the backs of
mules. The wooden furniture was, therefore, primitive. The tables
consisted of boards and trestles; the beds were of similarly elemental
construction; and what seats were taken along were also of the folding
variety. The beds and benches were supplied with cushions carried in
chests, and the walls were hung with printed linen or tapestry, while
the floors were covered with rugs, or, in the majority of cases, with
odoriferous plants, rushes, or straw. Luxury chiefly declared itself in
rich products of the goldsmith’s art, which were displayed on buffets of
shelves rising like steps. These customs prevailed for several
centuries.
Pieces of furniture of earlier date than 1400 are exceedingly rare; and
those existing had a religious destination, and are preserved in, or
taken from, churches and convents.
In the fourteenth century, as Gothic Art blossomed after the disturbing
influence of the Crusades, carving entered more extensively into the
decoration of furniture, as it was more highly developed in
ecclesiastical art. The cabinet-makers of the period were skilful
carvers: in France and Flanders these _huchiers-menuisiers_ were called
upon to supply royal and princely castles with artistic furniture, the
accounts of which have come down to us. We find not only carved oak, but
also tables inlaid with ebony and ivory. The chief feature, however, of
interior decoration during the fourteenth century was the hangings. The
Genoese and Venetians still had a monopoly of the trade with the Levant;
and Europe was supplied by the Italians with Oriental rugs, tablecloths
and hangings. The Flemish looms also produced rich stuffs for upholstery
and chamber hangings, which were often sumptuously embroidered.
Through the fourteenth century, wood-carving kept pace with the lovely
stone sculpture of the cathedrals. We learn there was no light furniture
in palace or castle, but that even in the lady’s chamber there were only
benches, trestles, forms, faldstools and armchairs. The wood-carver
carved these with a mass of bas-reliefs and bosses; the carpenters
surrounded them with panelling; and the artists painted them red and
decorated them with white rosettes.
In studying the arts and crafts of the Middle Ages, we must always bear
in mind the fact that art was not specialized. The workmen were
thoroughly trained, and their artistic talents had free play. We find
many men who were at once architects, sculptors, painters, goldsmiths
and image-makers. This condition existed till the middle of the
seventeenth century.
In the Middle Ages, the carpenter made the household furniture which
formed an integral part of the dwelling; and he was quite capable of
giving to it the Gothic ornamentation in vogue.
It was not till the fourteenth century that the increase of luxury and
the progress of the arts demanded a division of labour; and that the
_huchiers_ and joiners formed separate bodies from the carpenters. The
_huchiers_, who then became exclusively what we should now call joiners
and cabinet-makers, devoted their attention especially to all that
required ornate treatment in carving, such as doors, windows, shutters
and panelling, as well as chests, benches, bedsteads, chairs, dressers
and wardrobes. These were largely fixtures and formed part of the
permanent woodwork of a hall, or bedroom. The mouldings and other
ornaments were carved directly out of the oak, and not applied.
[Illustration:
PLATE II.—_Bedroom (Fifteenth Century)._
Fig. 1: AIGUIÈRE (Fifteenth Century); Fig. 2: AIGUIÈRE (Fourteenth
Century); Fig. 3: BRACKET CANDLESTICK; Fig. 4: BED, CHAIR, AND STOOL
(Fourteenth Century); Fig. 5: BAHUT AND CHAIR (Fifteenth Century).
]
Before the great artists of the Netherlands arise, we must go to the
miniatures of early manuscripts in order to form a correct idea of a
Mediaeval interior. We usually find a very simple arrangement of
furniture, which consists of a bed, a bench, an armchair and some kind
of _dressoir_, or sideboard. The floor is tiled, or tessellated; and
sometimes the bed stands on a rug or carpet, which also covers part of
the adjoining floor space. The windows with small leaded panes are
supplied with shutters of two or three wings: these are sometimes
covered with leather fastened with large brass-headed nails. The
chimney-piece is always wide and high; the funnel shape of this occurs
in the earliest examples. The shelf above the opening is usually adorned
with glass, plate or earthenware. The armchair stands beside, or near,
the bed; the _dressoir_ is close by; and the settle is beside, or
sometimes in front of, the fire. The bed is often nothing but a long
chest on short legs with a mattress and pillows on top; and this is
moved out in front of the fire in case of need. The curtains and canopy
are suspended by cords from the rafters, as is also the chandelier.
This same arrangement of furniture occurs in a picture of the
_Salutation angélique_ in the Louvre, by an unknown Flemish painter: it
has been attributed both to Lucas van Leyden and Memling. This room,
reproduced in Plate II, is one of the middle class at the end of the
fifteenth century. The walls are bare, the ceiling shows open rafters of
natural wood, and the floor is tiled. The panes of the windows are
leaded, and the inner shutters, which are trebly hinged so as at need to
fold into the thickness of the wall, are, moreover, divided in two
parts, so that only the top may be opened if needed. The other window
has a window seat. The high chimneypiece is furnished with the lateral
shelves in use throughout Mediaeval times from the twelfth century
onward. The chimney diminishes in size as it rises, like an inverted
funnel. In summer time, when the fire was not needed, the fireplace was
masked by a wooden screen to prevent draughts. In front of this, with
its back to the screen, was placed the high-backed settle, which in
winter faced, or was placed laterally to the cheerful blaze of the
hearth. The bench shown in this picture is made of plain boards, with a
little plain Gothic carving below the seat. For comfort, it is supplied
with three red cushions. The bed, which is raised on a low platform, is
also furnished with red curtains, bolster and counterpane. The tester is
suspended by cords from the ceiling. Beside the head of the bed is a
chair, and next to that a credence, which is used as a wash-hand stand.
On it are placed a ewer and shallow basin. These, and the brass
chandelier hanging above, are of the manufacture of Dinant, a metal ware
known all over Europe under the name of _Dinanderie_. The chandelier has
six branches, each a grotesque form of some animal, and the top of it is
surmounted by the figure of a seated quadruped. It is raised and lowered
by a pulley and chain.
The ewer, or _aiguière_, standing on the credence, is an excellent
specimen of _Dinanderie_ of the fifteenth century; it has a double
spout, as shown in Fig. 1. Other examples of _Dinanderie_ of this period
are represented in Fig. 2, a grotesque _aiguière_; and Fig. 3, a bracket
candlestick of very graceful form.
_Dinanderie_ became celebrated as early as the thirteenth century.
Although made at first in Dinant, its manufacture spread throughout the
valley of the Meuse, and _Dinantairs_ were established in various cities
and towns in the Netherlands, Germany, England and France. In 1380, one
Jehan de Dinant, living at Rheims, furnished some articles to the King.
Among the copper and brass ware delivered at this period to the royal
household and to the establishments of other great personages by this
workman, we find all kinds of kitchen articles, cooking utensils, stoves
of all sizes, wash-basins, kettles for heating water for the bath,
barbers’ basins, large boilers of all kinds, warming-pans for the beds,
candlesticks, chandeliers, and _aiguières_ (ewers).
The permanent woodwork of the apartments in Mediaeval days was
furniture, without being “movables,” just like the carved oak in the
choir of a cathedral. The panelling contained cupboards and wardrobes;
bedsteads were contrived in the timbered lining of the walls; and the
woodwork readily lent itself to the adaptation of window seats, settles
and benches. It may easily be understood how the woodwork of a room
might conceal a whole series of shelves to which sliding panels, or
panels opening outwards as doors, gave access. These various
compartments served as cabinets for curios, bookcases, glass and plate
cupboards, wardrobes and larders. When one of these compartments was
made as a separate piece of furniture to stand by itself out against the
flat wall of a room, it was called a cabinet, or _armoire_. As late as
the middle of the seventeenth century, however, the _armoire_ was
generally part of the fixed woodwork. _Relai_ was another name for it.
Thus in 1635, Monet defines _armoire_, _armaire_, _aumoire_ as a
“_reservoir pratique en la muraille à servir et garder tout chose_”; and
Cotgrave (1673) has: “_Relai_” as “_armaire_, a hole or box contrived in
or against a wall.”
The plain box, or chest, was the origin of all the developments of
Mediaeval furniture. It had many uses: it contained the treasures and
valuables of the lord; it was used as a packing-case or trunk for
travelling; with supports at the four corners and back, and arms added
above, it served as a chair or settle, with a seat that could be lifted
on hinges; raised also on legs and supplied with a daïs, it became a
_dressoir_, credence, or sideboard; chest-upon-chest superimposed,
developed into the elaborate _armoire_; and, finally, supplied with a
head and foot rail and made comfortable with mattress or pillows, it
served as a bed.
In the old manuscripts of the Middle Ages, we find many illustrations of
the developments of the chest and its various uses. Fig. 4 shows a long
chest with short solid legs on which bedding is laid, and over which a
canopy with curtains has been raised. By its side is a chair, the seat
of which is manifestly the lid of a small chest. The chest-bed and chair
stand on a carpet: the floor is tiled. The shape of the pillow is
characteristic of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The carving of
the panels in bed and chair show the “linen fold,” which was so popular
in the Netherlands and which was laid in even more intricate folds by
the English carvers. Gothic tracery in furniture, in combination with
the “linen-fold” is shown in the chair of Fig. 5, which exhibits also
another chest, or _bahut_. The original illustration shows flames
leaping up the chimney, against which the bed is closely placed. The
cushions, with heavy tassels at each corner, are similar in shape to
those in Fig. 4.
There were several varieties of the chest, known by various names, such
as _huche_, _bahut_ and _arche_. The _huche_ usually had a flat top: it
was the oldest and simplest form—a plain oblong box. As time wore on the
_huche_ gave its name to the cabinet-makers (the _huchiers_) of the
Middle Ages. They made windows, doors, panels, shutters, _bancs_,
_bahuts_, _armoires_, credences, and whatever else was required; and the
guild of _huchiers_ was one of the largest corporations of the period.
The _huchiers_ were particularly distinguished for their execution of
choir-stalls and splendid carving. The _huche_, at first a very simple
piece of furniture, was later decorated with beautiful paintings and
rich carvings; moreover, it was enriched and strengthened with chiselled
and pierced iron hinges and locks.
The chests until the thirteenth century were works of simple carpentry.
The faces consist of plain surfaces which are ornamented with paintings
on linen or leather; and further adorned with hinges and clamps of
pierced and wrought metal.
The _bancs_, benches or settles, were made in the Middle Ages by the
_huchiers_. They were made of planks and often had backs and arms. In
the fifteenth century, they were enriched with sculpture and surmounted
by a canopy or daïs. They were also called _formes_ or _bancs d’œuvre_.
The Cluny Museum possesses many fine examples of this period, both civil
and religious. In the halls and bedrooms of the Mediaeval _châteaux_ the
_banc_ is often seen placed laterally before the wide chimney-piece, and
its high back was very useful in keeping off the draughts. It may be
thought that their rigid form and absence of upholstery rendered them
uncomfortable, but the numerous soft cushions with which they were
supplied quite atoned for the absence of upholstery. (_See_ Plate II.)
The chief use of the Mediaeval sideboard was the display of ornate
plate, crystal and similar articles. The kitchen dresser with its
shelves holding plates and dishes set upright against the wall is a
lineal descendant of the old _dressoir_. The shelves of the _dressoir_
were regulated by etiquette: every noble person could have a _dressoir_
with three shelves; others, only two; royalty had four and five.
According to some authorities, the difference between the _dressoir_ and
the buffet is simply this: the _dressoir_ was intended to display the
articles taken from the buffet, and had no drawers and no cupboard; the
buffet, on the other hand, contained both drawers and cupboards. The
buffet of our dining-rooms and our cellarets that close with lock and
key, are therefore survivals of the _credence_ of the Middle Ages.
Sometimes the _credence_ and _dressoir_ were combined in one piece, or
rather the _dressoir_ served as a _credence_. A small one shown in the
illuminated MS. of the _Histoire de Gérard, Comte de Nevers_, has but
one shelf, upon which the silver platters are arranged, leaning against
the back, which is covered with some kind of fabric. The cupboard
serving as a _credence_ is covered with a cloth on which are placed
three silver ewers—_aiguières_. This was, therefore, more of a buffet
than a _dressoir_, for the real _dressoir_, as we have seen, was
composed of shelves (_gradins_) and had a back (_dorsal_), or sometimes
a daïs of stuff or sculptured wood.
[Illustration:
PLATE III.—_Flemish Dressoir (Fifteenth Century)._
Figs. 6–7: DRESSOIRS (Fifteenth Century); Fig. 8: TABLE ON TRESTLES;
Fig. 9: METAL CHAIR.
]
Varieties of the _dressoir_ of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
appear in Plate III, and Figs. 6 and 7; and a _credence_ of the
fifteenth century of Gothic decoration from the Cluny Museum, Paris, on
Plate IV.
The Mediaeval table was a simple affair, with either fixed or movable
supports. In nine cases out of ten, either in hall or cottage, it
consisted simply of a board and trestles. In court and castle, kings and
nobles sat only on one side, the other being left free for service, and
for a clear view of the mummers, jongleurs and minstrels who entertained
the company during the feast. These boards and trestles could be readily
folded up and packed away in carts for travelling. A good example of the
fifteenth century table of this construction occurs in a picture of Mary
Magdalen at the feet of Jesus, by Derick Bouts (1410–1475). This is
represented in Fig. 8.
We have seen that the chest with its various developments—chair, bench,
bed and _dressoir_—furnished the Mediaeval chamber. The ordinary hall
contained merely a plain buffet and a table, consisting of boards and
trestles, with simple forms for seats. Chairs there were none, except
for the lord and honoured guests at the head of the board. It must not
be supposed, however, that there was no attempt at comfort or decoration
in the homes of the Middle Ages. It would be difficult to attach too
much importance to the use of cushions and hangings.
We have already seen one form of chair in Figs. 4 and 5, which show a
box with a lid for the seat, on which is a cushion. This chair has arms
and a high panelled back. The common stool, faldstool, or _escarbeau_
also appears in Fig. 4. The rigid square high-backed chair, however, was
not the only form known in the Middle Ages. The type represented in Fig.
9 was in great favour. This chair is reproduced from a miniature by
Jehan de Bruges (fl. 1370). This form of chair, with curved lines in the
back, arms and supports, was a great favourite, not only in the
Netherlands, but throughout Europe for several centuries. Sometimes it
was made of wood, and carved on the extremities of the back, arms and
legs; and sometimes it was made of wrought metal, brass, silver and even
gold. In the latter case it was probably plated. Sometimes the
inventories mention chairs of great value and very precious workmanship.
Some of them were even ornamented with enamel. These were the work of
the _orfèvre_. Brass and copper chairs of this type were made in large
numbers by the skilful smiths of Dinant. Naturally they were comfortably
and sumptuously upholstered. An inventory of 1328 contains an item of a
chair of copper garnished with velvet.
Flanders was always famous for its woven stuffs: wool was the staple on
which its prosperity depended. The Duke of Burgundy recognized this when
he chose the Golden Fleece as the emblem of his great Order of
Knighthood. Apart from the looms, the art of the needle was also held in
high esteem; and ladies of high and low estate devoted much of their
time to embroidery.
Everything was embroidered: vestments and cloths for the church; shoes,
gloves, hats and clothes of men and women; and cushions and draperies
for the house. Notwithstanding the lavish use of tapestry, the taste for
embroidered materials was ever on the increase. The entire furnishings
for a bedroom were often the product of the needle; for instance, the
“embroidered chamber” of Jane of Burgundy, Queen of Philip V, at her
coronation at Rheims in 1330, was ornamented with 1321 parrots, with the
arms of the King, and 1321 butterflies, with the arms of Burgundy.
In Mediaeval days, the word “_chambre_” had a broader signification than
it has to-day. By _chambre_ was meant the whole of the rugs, curtains,
hangings and upholstery that adorned a bedroom. There was a distinction
drawn between “_court pointerie_” and “_tapisserie_.” “_Court
pointerie_” included everything pertaining to the bed, such as the daïs,
mattress, head-board, etc. The “_tapisserie_” was changed every season
like the altar cloths and vestments of church and clergy. Cords were run
across the rafters, and the curtains and canopies were hung on these
with hooks. Thus the rooms at the various seasons received such names as
the “Easter,” “Christmas,” or “All Saints’ Chamber.” Then again the
rooms were named after the subjects (mythological, historical, romantic
or religious), of the tapestry that adorned them, such as the Chamber of
the Cross, of the Lions, of the Conquest of England, of Queen
Penthesile, of the Nine Paladins, of the Unicorn and Maiden, etc., etc.
Plate II shows how the canopy and curtains of the bed were usually
supported. Sometimes, however, the hangings were attached to the rods by
means of tenterhooks.
The inventories and chronicles of the Middle Ages frequently mention
textiles; but it is difficult to know from the numerous terms the old
scribes employ whether they are describing woollen and silk tapestry,
brocades, damasks, velvets, or embroidered material. The fabrics are of
many varieties, and their names vary with the details of production and
places of manufacture, as well as the material of which they are
composed, and the subjects they depict.
A great deal of Byzantine tapestry, with other hangings and carpets, was
brought into Western Europe, by those returning from the First Crusade
(1096–1099); and after 1146, when Count Robert of Sicily brought home
from his expedition into Greece some captive silk-workers, and
established a manufactory for brocades and damasks at Palermo, beautiful
materials were carried northward from Italy.
During the early centuries the use of tapestry was very extensively
devoted to the decoration of churches, and therefore represented scenes
from the Scriptures, and lives of the Saints and the Virgin.
Cathedrals and monasteries were very rich in hangings of tapestry,
brocades, and embroideries of various kinds, as well as stuffs on which
ornaments were laid and sewn. About 985, the Abbot Robert of the
monastery of Saint Florent of Saumur, ordered a number of curtains,
carpets, cushions, _dossers_ and wall-hangings, all of wool; and,
moreover, had two large pieces of tapestry made in which silk was
introduced, and on which lions and elephants were represented upon a red
background.
In 1133, another Abbot of the same monastery had two _dossers_ made to
hang in the choir during festivals. On one of these the twenty-four
elders of the Apocalypse with citharas and viols were depicted. The
hangings he got for the nave, represented centaurs, lions and other
animals.
On all festal occasions, the cathedrals were beautifully decorated with
superb tapestries. Some of them served as hangings and door-curtains,
others draped the altars, while the seats and backs of the benches were
covered with pieces called _bancalia_, _spaleriae_, and _dossalia_.
Tapestries also covered the baldachins, or canopies; and foot-carpets,
called _substratoria_, _tapetes_, _tapeta_, or _tapecii_ were lavishly
spread upon the ground.
During the thirteenth century tapestries came into general use for
hangings in private mansions. It is not unlikely that Baldwin, Count of
Flanders, who came into power in 1204, stimulated the work of the
Netherland looms; for, from the very opening years of the thirteenth
century, the Flemish weavers adopted brighter colours in their
tapestries; and Damme, the poet of Bruges, received all kinds of goods
from the East, including “seeds for producing the scarlet dye.”
This was the period when the _Roman_ was in full flower, and the
tapestries naturally turned from Biblical to heroic stories. The artists
and weavers now begin to devote their energies to the production of
secular subjects. The stories of _Paris and Helen_, _Æneas_, and others
from Grecian mythology, become as popular as those inspired by the
Bible.
High-warp workers were established in Paris, Arras, Brussels and Tournay
in the first half of the fourteenth century; but it is not until the
reign of Charles V (1364–1380) that they are explicitly described in the
inventories. The King was a collector of French and Flemish tapestries:
he had more than 130 armorial tapestries and 33 “_tapis à images_” that
decorated the walls.
The Dukes of Anjou, Orleans, Berry and Burgundy, had very valuable sets.
Charles VI also had fine pieces. He bought from Nicholas Bataille, a
Flemish worker, who calls himself a citizen of Paris in 1363, about 250
hangings. Bataille produced many superb pieces for the wealthy houses of
the day, and many sets for Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. A
fellow-worker, Jacques Dourdain, who died in 1407, made tapestries for
the Duke of Burgundy, to whom he sent in 1389 _The Conquest of the King
of Friesland by Aubri the Burgundian_, _The Story of Marionet_, _Ladies
setting out for the Chase_, _The Wishes of Love_, _The Nine Amazons_,
_The History of Bertrand Duguesclin_, and _A History of the Romance of
the Rose_. The latter must have been very choice, as it was woven “in
gold of Cyprus and Arras thread.” He also furnished this rich patron
with other hangings, the greater number of which were cloth of gold.
The marriage of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, to the daughter and
heir of the Count of Flanders, in 1369, greatly helped the Flemish
tapestry-workers, who soon equalled those of Paris. For instance, the
Duke gave an order to Michel Bernard of Arras for a fine piece, called
_The Battle of Rosbeck_, of colossal dimensions. It measured 285 square
yards, and cost 2,600 _francs d’or_. Other sets purchased from the Arras
looms were: _The Coronation of Our Lady_, _The Seven Ages_, _Story of
Doon de la Roche_, _History of King Pharaoh and the People of Moses_,
_Life of St. Margaret_, _The Virtues and Vices_, _History of Froimont de
Bordeaux_, _Story of St. George_, _Story of Shepherds and
Shepherdesses_, _Life of St. Anne_, _Story of Percival the Gaul_, _Hunt
of Guy of Romany_, _History of Amis and Amile_, _History of Octavius of
Rome_, _History of King Clovis_, _History of King Alexander, and of
Robert the Fusileer_, _History of William of Orange_, and a _Pastoral_.
The Flemish looms thus early acquired a great reputation, rivalling
those of the midland and northern provinces of France. Paris, Arras,
Brussels and Tournay were the chief centres for the most beautiful
high-warp tapestry. Arras was celebrated as early as 1311, when
Marchaut, Countess of Artois, paid a large sum for “a woollen cloth
worked with various figures bought at Arras”; and in 1313 she ordered
from the same town “five cloths worked in high warp.” The name became
generic: the Italians called all woven tapestries _Arazzi_; the
Spaniards, _Panos de raz_; and the English, “Arras,” a name that was
used for many centuries. Polonius hides “behind the arras,” in _Hamlet_,
and Spenser, in _The Faerie Queen_, says:
Thence to the hall, which was on every side
With rich array and costly arras dight.
Book I., Canto iv.
Agnes Sorel owned a superb specimen at her _Château de Beauté_ in 1350.
It is described as “a large piece of Arras, on which are pictured the
deeds and battles of Judas Maccabaeus and Antiochus, and stretches from
one of the gables of the gallery of Beauté to the other, and is the same
height as the said gallery.”
During the troublous times in France under Charles VI, the Paris looms
ceased to work, and Flanders supplied all the tapestry that came to
France. In 1395, the Duke of Orleans orders his treasurer to deliver to
Jaquet Dordin, “merchant and bourgeois of Paris,” 1,800 francs for
“three pieces of high-warp tapestry of fine Arras thread.”
Leather was also extensively used during the Middle Ages for interior
decoration: it was hung upon the walls and beds; it was spread upon the
floors; and it covered the seats and backs of chairs, coffers, cabinets,
shelves, folding stools, frames, frames for mirrors, and all kinds of
boxes both large and small. In 1420, we hear of a piece of Cordovan
called _cuirace vermeil_ “to put on the floor around a bed,” and also a
“chamber hanging” of “silvered _cuir de mouton_, ornamented with red
figures.” Charles V of France had “fifteen _cuirs d’Arragon_ to put on
the floor in summer,” and the Duke of Burgundy’s inventory of 1427
mentions “leathers to spread in the chamber in summer time.”
The Duke of Berry had twenty-nine great _cuirs_ among his possessions,
which were used to cover the walls, beds and chairs.
Leather made a very sumptuous, durable and decorative wall-hanging. The
patterns of flowers, foliage, arms, devices and other figures were
richly gilded, and stood out in high relief from the brilliant
backgrounds of red, blue, green, orange, violet, brown or silver.
Although the use of gilded leather (_cuirs dorés_) did not become
general until the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the art of
gilding, silvering, painting and goffering leather had long been known.
It is more than probable that the First Crusaders brought home
specimens; but it is certain that Cordova was making beautiful gilded
leathers in the eleventh century. The most beautiful, as well as the
most beautifully worked, leathers came from Spain, where they were often
called _Guadameciles_, from Ghadames in Africa where they were prepared
for many years, and from which town the Moors carried the art into
Cordova. Ebn’ Abd el Noûr el Hamîri el Toûnsi (of Tunis), in his
geographical work written in the twelfth century, thinks it worth while
to mention that the _djild el Ghadâmosi_ comes from Ghadames. The monk,
Theophilus, in his _Diversarum artium Schedula_ shows how well Arabian
leather was known, and describes the methods of preparing it for
decoration; but from what he says it appears that leather was used at
that period only for the coverings of chairs, stalls, benches, stools,
etc., and not for wall-hangings.
From Cordova the manufacture spread into Portugal, Italy, France and
Brabant. The great centres for gilded leathers in the Middle Ages were
Cordova, Lille, Brussels, Liège, Antwerp, Mechlin and Venice; and each
town impressed a special style upon its productions, which
_connoisseurs_ are able to recognize.
The Cordovan leathers are stamped with patterns of very high relief,
gilded and painted, the designs consisting of branches or large flowers
in the style of the textiles of Damascus and India. The South Kensington
Museum has a very fine collection of Spanish leathers ornamented with
foliage, flowers, vases, birds and pomegranates. The colours of the
background are green, blue, white, gold, red, etc.
The Flemish leathers are very similar to those of Cordova, but the
relief is less pronounced and the designs are more delicate. The
hangings of Flanders are almost exclusively made of calfskin, and they
were highly prized throughout Europe.
Generally speaking, the earliest specimens of gilded leathers resemble
on a large scale the miniatures in the manuscripts: there is little or
no perspective, and the subjects are like those of the contemporary
tapestry drawn from sacred or mythological stories. The details of the
faces, ornaments, costumes, arms, etc., are stamped by hand-work and
finished with a brush; and the background, instead of representing sky,
is ornamented by guilloches (twisted bands) in gold and colour, applied
by means of a goffering iron.
The Low Countries were almost as celebrated for their _orfèvrerie_ as
for their tapestries. Celebrated schools of goldsmith’s work existed in
the Netherlands during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Waulsort
under the direction of d’Erembert, in Stavelot and in Maestricht; and
the diocese of Liège had an important _atelier_ for enamel-work in the
twelfth century. A very skilful goldsmith named Godefroid de Clerc
worked in the town of Huy in the first half of the thirteenth century,
and another was Friar Hugo, who made in the Abbaye d’Oignies the famous
pieces now in the treasury of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Namur.
The principal towns of Flanders, Ghent, Bruges, Tournay, Liège and
Brussels, possessed in the thirteenth century skilful goldsmiths who
followed the principles of the School of the Rhine. In 1266, the
Brussels goldsmiths formed an important Corporation to which John III,
Count of Hainault, granted privileges. It was in the fourteenth century
particularly that the Flemish goldsmiths acquired a great reputation.
A great deal of the goldsmith’s work during these centuries was
ornamented with _niello_, the style of decoration following the Rhenish
School.
The goldsmiths were sculptors, chisellers and engravers, as well as
designers; and, moreover, modelled beautifully in wax. When their works
were cast in silver, they ornamented these themselves with beaten
bas-reliefs, or traced delicate patterns upon the surface of the metal
with the burin. Wishing to make the figures stand out more prominently,
they used cross-hatchings on the background and cut out the shadowy
parts, which they then filled with black enamel. This made the uncovered
portions of the silver shine with more brilliancy. To this effective
work was given the name _niello_ (_nigellum_), on account of its colour.
This black enamel was used to ornament the chalices and other church
vessels, the hilts of swords, handles of knives, and particularly the
handsome little coffers, or cabinets, which, with the _bahut_, comprised
the furniture that the bride always carried to her new home. These
little boxes were usually of ebony, ornamented more or less with
incrustations of ivory, shell, mother-of-pearl, _pietra-dura_, or
_niello_, according to the wealth of the respective families. When
decorated with _niello_, the designs consisted of simple ornaments or
arabesques, single figures or groups.
Western Europe made no glass in Mediaeval days: what was used in church
and castle all came from the East. In the early inventories, whenever an
object of coloured glass is found, it is always accompanied by a mention
of its Oriental origin. It is doubtful whether even plain glass was
manufactured in England, France, Germany or the Netherlands before the
close of the Crusades. The efforts made as late as the fourteenth
century by several French and German princes to attract glass-blowers to
their dominions shows how scarce they were.
In 1338, we find a feudal noble giving a portion of his forest to a
certain Guionet, who was acquainted with the methods of glass-making, to
set up a glass factory, on condition of supplying his house every year
with one hundred dozen bell glasses, twelve dozen little vase-shaped
glasses, twenty dozen hanaps, or cups with feet, twelve amphorae, and
other objects. As in all the other industrial arts, Flanders was well to
the fore in the manufacture of plain glass. Before 1400, glass factories
existed there; but the products were only white glass, not gilded nor
enamelled. The Flemish wares, however, were highly prized, and were
freely exported to other countries. In 1379, we find in the inventory of
Charles V of France: “_Ung gobelet et une aiguière de voirre blant de
Flandres garni d’argent_.”
To have glass mounted in silver shows how precious it was considered in
those days. Moreover, the royal accounts of the end of the fourteenth
century prove that Charles VI accorded high protection and recompense to
the Flemish glass-blowers who established their industry in France.
Before the end of the fifteenth century, we find entries that would seem
to show that the Low Countries were no longer exclusively dependent on
the Orient for coloured and enamelled glass. In the inventory of Charles
the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1477), we read: “_Une coupe de voirre jaune
garny d’or; ... une couppe de voirre vert garny d’or; ... un pot de
voirre de couleur vert, garny d’or; ... un aiguière de voirre vert
torssé garny d’or; ... deux petis pots de voirre bleu espez, garnis
d’argent doré; ... ung voirre taillé d’un esgle, d’un griffon et d’une
double couronne garny d’argent_.” These, however, may have come from
Venice, which city had in the latter half of the fifteenth century
learned from the Greeks the secret of making coloured, gilded and
enamelled glass.
Painting on glass was never held in higher honour than during the
fifteenth century: castles and mansions were adorned with coloured
windows like the churches; and, therefore, a considerable number of
windows of this period have survived. The Cathedrals of Tournay, Dietz
and Antwerp offer splendid examples. In M. Levy’s _Histoire de la
peinture sur verre_, are the names of several Flemish glass-painters
that have escaped oblivion.
The principal schools that fostered all forms of Decorative Art were the
Guilds of St. Luke. They sprang up in every prosperous city, and were
very close corporations of trades unionism. The idea probably originated
in Italy. A Society of St. Luke was established in Venice before 1290,
and another in Florence in 1349. One Gerard de Groote organized a
brotherhood of this kind in Cologne in the fourteenth century; and
Societies of St. Luke were founded in Flanders in the fifteenth century.
These Guilds exerted the greatest influence upon taste and skill, for in
these Societies of Guilds of St. Luke, side by side with the Masters of
Painting and Sculpture, were placed what we may call the Masters of the
Decorative Arts. There were workers in stone and marble including
mosaics in colour for the decoration of churches and chapels; workers in
enamel and ceramics for vases, panelling and pavements; workers in wood,
sculptors and carvers for the altar fronts, canopies, choir stalls, etc.
(these _menuisiers_ also worked in marquetry and _intarsie_, and
produced furniture for the sacristy, coffers, _bahuts_, etc., and
pontifical seats); glass-workers who produced windows, panels and
embroideries with glass beads for decoration; metalworkers, including
goldsmiths, bronze-workers, who made sacred vessels, luminaries, fonts
ornamented with _repoussé_-work, chiselling, engraving, incrustation
with precious stones and _niello-niellure_; leather-workers (including
makers of harness for wars and tourneys); gilders, setters of jewels;
bookbinders; illuminators and painters of manuscripts; weavers and
embroiderers of tapestries, silken stuffs, etc.
Society benefited by development of these arts very greatly, and the
sumptuous adornment of the churches soon extended to private dwellings.
Carved panels, or panels inlaid with precious woods, soon decorated the
walls of wealthy houses that were further enriched by magnificent
tissues of silk and gold, tapestries or panels of stamped leather as a
background for pictures beautifully framed in carved and gilt wood. In
marquetry furniture, the most remarkable objects were the coffers for
jewels, and the cabinets (_stipi_), in ebony, shell and ivory,
embellished with gilt, bronze, and the dower chests, “_arches de
mariage_.”