First Half of the Nineteenth Century.
The French Revolution and the First Empire--Influence on design of
Napoleon's Campaigns--The Cabinet presented to Marie Louise--Dutch
Furniture of the time--English Furniture---Sheraton's later
work--Thomas Hope, architect--George Smith's designs--Fashion
during the Regency--Gothic revival--Seddon's furniture--Other
makers--Influence on design of the Restoration in France--Furniture
of William IV. and early part of Queen Victoria's reign--Baroque
and Rococo styles--The panelling of rooms, dado, and skirting--The
Art Union--The Society of Arts--Sir Charles Barry and the new
Palace of Westminster--Pugin's designs--Auction Prices of
Furniture--Christie's--The London Club Houses--Steam--Different
Trade Customs--Exhibitions in France and England--Harry Rogers
work--The Queen's cradle--State of Art in England during the first
part of Queen Victoria's reign--Continental designs--Italian
carving--Cabinet work--General remarks.
EMPIRE FURNITURE.
There are great crises in the history of a nation which stand out in
prominent relief. One of these is the French Revolution, which commenced
in 1792, and wrought such dire havoc amongst the aristocracy, with so much
misery and distress throughout that country. It was an event of great
importance, whether we consider the religion, the politics, or the manners
and customs of a people, as affecting the changes in the style of the
decoration of their homes. The horrors of the Revolution are matters of
common knowledge to every schoolboy, and there is no need to dwell either
upon them or their consequences, which are so thoroughly apparent. To
the confiscation of the property of those who had fled the country, was
added the general dislocation of everything connected with the work of the
industrial arts.
Nevertheless it should be borne in mind that amongst the anarchy and
disorder of this terrible time in France, the National Convention had
sufficient foresight to appoint a Commission, composed of competent men in
different branches of Art, to determine what State property in artistic
objects should be sold, and what was of sufficient historical interest to
be retained as a national possession. Riesener, the celebrated _ébeniste_,
whose work we have described in the chapter on Louis Seize furniture, and
David, the famous painter of the time, both served on this Commission, of
which they must have been valuable members.
There is a passage in an article on "Art," by a democratic French writer,
as early as 1790--when the great storm cloud was already threatening to
burst--which is quoted by Mr. C. Perkins, the American translator of Dr.
Falke's German work, "Kunst im Hause," and gives us the keynote to the
great change which took place in the fashion of furniture about the time
of the Revolution:--"We have changed everything; freedom, now consolidated
in France, has restored the pure taste for the antique! Farewell to your
marqueterie and Boule, your ribbons, festoons, and rosettes of gilded
bronze; the hour has come when objects must be made to harmonize with
circumstances."
Thus it is hardly too much to say that designs were governed by the
politics and philosophy of the day; and one finds in furniture of this
period, the reproduction of ancient Greek forms for chairs and couches;
ladies' work tables, too, are fashioned somewhat after the old drawings
of sacrificial altars; and the classical tripod is a favourite support.
The mountings represent antique Roman fasces with an axe in the centre;
trophies of lances, surmounted by a Phrygian cap of liberty; winged
figures, emblematic of freedom; and antique heads of helmeted warriors
arranged like cameo medallions.
After the execution of Robespierre, and the abolition of the Revolutionary
Tribunal in 1794, came the establishment of the Directory; and then, after
Buonaparte's brilliant success in Italy, and the famous expeditions to
Syria and Egypt two years later, came his proclamation as First Consul in
1799, which, in 1802, was confirmed as a life appointment.
We have only to refer to the portrait of the great soldier, represented
with the crown of bay leaves and other attributes of the old Roman
imperialism, to see that in his mind was the ambition of reviving much of
the splendour and of the surroundings of the Cæsars, whom he took, to some
extent, as his models; and that in founding on the ashes of the Revolution
a new fabric, with new people about him, all influenced by his energetic
personality, he desired to mark his victories by stamping the new order of
things with his powerful and assertive individualism.
The cabinet which was designed and made for Marie Louise, on his marriage
with her in 1810, is an excellent example of the Napoleonic furniture. The
wood used for this style of furniture was almost invariably rich mahogany,
the color of which made a good ground for the bronze gilt mounts which
were applied. The full-page illustration shews these mountings, which are
all classical in character; and though there is no particular grace in the
outline or form of the cabinet, there is a certain dignity and solemnity,
relieved from oppressiveness by the fine chasing and gilding of the metal
enrichments, and the excellent color and figuring of the rich Spanish
mahogany used. This cabinet, and several other more or less ornate pieces
of Napoleonic furniture, may still be seen in the Chateau of Fontainebleau.
[Illustration: CABINET IN MAHOGANY WITH BRONZE GILT MOUNTINGS.
Presented by Napoleon I. to Marie Louise on his Marriage with her in 1810.
PERIOD: NAPOLEON I.]
On secretaires and tables, a common ornament of this description of
furniture, is a column of mahogany, with a capital and base of bronze
(either gilt, part gilt, or green), in the form of the head of a sphinx
with the foot of an animal; console tables are supported by sphinxes
and griffins: and candelabra and wall brackets for candles, have winged
figures of females, stiff in modelling and constrained in attitude, but
almost invariably of good material with careful finish.
[Illustration: TABOURET, OR STOOL.
Carved and Gilt.
ARM CHAIR.
In Mahogany, with Gilt Bronze Mountings.
PERIOD OF NAPOLEON I.]
The bas-reliefs in metal which ornament the panels of the friezes of
cabinets, or the marble bases of clocks, are either reproductions of
mythological subjects from old Italian gems and seals, or represent the
battles of the Emperor, in which Napoleon is portrayed as a Roman general.
There was plenty of room to replace so much that had disappeared during
the Revolution, and a vast quantity of decorative furniture was made
during the few years which elapsed before the disaster of Waterloo caused
the disappearance of a power which had been almost meteoric in its career.
One of the best authorities on "Empire Furniture" is the book of designs
published in 1809 by the architects Percier and Fontaine. It is the
more valuable, as a work of reference, from the fact that every design
represented was actually carried out, and is not a mere exercise of fancy,
as is the case with many such books. In the preface the authors modestly
state that they are entirely indebted to the antique for the reproduction
of the different ornaments; and the originals, from which some of the
designs were taken, are still preserved in a fragmentary form in the
Museum of the Vatican.
The illustration on page 205 of an arm chair and a stool, together with
that of the tripod table which ornaments the initial letter of this
chapter, are favourable examples of the richly-mounted and more decorative
furniture of this style. While they are not free from the stiffness
and constraint which are inseparable from classic designs as applied
to furniture, the rich color of the mahogany, the high finish and good
gilding of the bronze mounts, and the costly silk with which they are
covered, render them attractive and give them a value of their own.
The more ordinary furniture, however, of the same style, but without
these decorative accessories, is stiff, ungainly, and uncomfortable, and
seems to remind us of a period in the history of France when political
and social disturbance deprived the artistic and pleasure-loving
Frenchman of his peace of mind, distracting his attention from the
careful consideration of his work. It may be mentioned here that, in
order to supply a demand which has lately arisen, chiefly in New York,
but also to some extent in England, for the best "Empire" furniture, the
French dealers have bought up some of the old undecorated pieces, and by
ornamenting them with gilt bronze mounts, cast from good old patterns,
have sold them as original examples of the _meubles de luxe_ of the period.
In Dutch furniture of this time one sees the reproduction of the
Napoleonic fashion--the continuation of the Revolutionists' classicalism.
Many marqueterie secretaires, tables, chairs, and other like articles,
are mounted with the heads and feet of animals, with lion's heads and
sphinxes, designs which could have been derived from no other source; and
the general design of the furniture loses its bombé form, and becomes
rectangular and severe. Whatever difficulty there may be in sometimes
deciding between the designs of the Louis XIV. period, towards its close,
and that of Louis XV., there can be no mistake about _l'epoch de la
Directoire_ and _le style de l'Empire_. These are marked and branded with
the Egyptian expedition, and the Syrian campaign, as legibly as if they
all bore the familiar plain Roman N, surrounded by a laurel wreath, or the
Imperial eagle which had so often led the French legions to victory.
It is curious to notice how England, though so bitterly opposed to
Napoleon, caught the infection of the dominant features of design which
were prevalent in France about this time.
[Illustration: NELSON'S CHAIRS.
DESIGNS PUBLISHED BY T. SHERATON, OCTOBER, 1806.]
[Illustration: DRAWING ROOM CHAIR.
Design published by T. Sheraton, April, 1804.]
Thus, in Sheraton's Book on Furniture, to which allusion has been
made, and from which illustrations have been given in the chapter on
"Chippendale and his Contemporaries," there is evidence that, as in France
during the influence of Marie Antoinette, there was a classical revival,
and the lines became straighter and more severe for furniture, so this
alteration was adopted by Sheraton, Shearer and other English designers
at the end of the century. But if we refer to Sheraton's later drawings,
which are dated about 1804 to 1806, we see the constrained figures and
heads and feet of animals, all brought into the designs as shewn in the
"drawing room" chairs here illustrated. These shew unmistakable signs of
the French "Empire" influence, the chief difference between the French
and English work being, that, whereas in French Empire furniture the
excellence of the metal work redeems it from heaviness or ugliness, such
merit was wanting in England, where we have never excelled in bronze
work, the ornament being generally carved in wood, either gilt or colored
bronze-green. When metal was used it was brass, cast and fairly finished
by the chaser, but much more clumsy than the French work. Therefore,
the English furniture of the first years of the nineteenth century is
stiff, massive, and heavy, equally with its French contemporary wanting
in gracefulness, and not having the compensating attractions of fine
mounting, or the originality and individuality which must always add an
interest to Napoleonic furniture.
[Illustration: DRAWING ROOM CHAIR.
Design published by T. Sheraton, April 1, 1804.]
There was, however, made about this time by Gillow, to whose earlier work
reference has been made in the previous chapter, some excellent furniture,
which, while to some extent following the fashion of the day, did so more
reasonably. The rosewood and mahogany tables, chairs, cabinets, and
sideboards of his make, inlaid with scrolls and lines of flat brass, and
mounted with handles and feet of brass, generally representing the heads
and claws of lions, do great credit to the English work of this time.
The sofa table and sideboard, illustrated on the previous page, are of
this class, and shew that Sheraton, too, designed furniture of a less
pronounced character, as well as the heavier kind to which reference has
been made.
[Illustration: "CANOPY BED."
DESIGN PUBLISHED BY T. SHERATON, NOVEMBER 9TH, 1803.]
[Illustration: "SISTERS' CYLINDER BOOKCASE."
DESIGNED BY T. SHERATON, 1802.]
[Illustration: SIDEBOARD.
In Mahogany, with Brass Rail and Convex Mirror at back.
Design published by T. Sheraton, 1802.]
[Illustration: SOFA TABLE.
Design published by T. Sheraton, 1804.]
A very favourable example of the craze in England for classic design in
furniture and decoration, is shewn in the reproduction of a drawing by
Thomas Hope (known as "Anastasius Hope"), in 1807, a well-known architect
of the time, in which it will be observed that the forms and fashions of
some of the chairs and tables described and illustrated in the chapter on
"Ancient Furniture" have been taken as models.
There were several makers of first-class furniture, of whom the names of
some still survive in the "style and title" of firms of the present day,
who are their successors, while those of others have been forgotten, save
by some of our older manufacturers and auctioneers, who, at the request of
the writer, have been good enough to look up old records and revive the
memories of fifty years ago. Of these the best known was Thomas Seddon,
who came from Manchester and settled in Aldersgate Street. His two sons
succeeded to the business, became cabinet makers to George IV., and
furnished and decorated Windsor Castle. At the King's death their account
was disputed, and £30,000 was struck off, a loss which necessitated an
arrangement with their creditors. Shortly after this, however, they took
the Barracks of the London Light Horse Volunteers in the Gray's Inn Road
(now the Hospital), and carried on there for a time a very extensive
business. Seddon's work ranked with Gillow's, and they shared with that
house the best orders for furniture.
Thomas Seddon, painter of Oriental subjects, who died in 1856, and P.
Seddon, a well-known architect, were grandsons of the original founder
of the firm. On the death of the elder brother, Thomas, the younger one
then transferred his connection to the firm of Johnstone and Jeanes, in
Bond Street, another old house which until recently carried on business
as "Johnstone and Norman," and who some few years ago executed a very
extravagant order for an American millionaire. This was a reproduction of
Byzantine designs in furniture of cedar, ebony, ivory, and pearl, made
from drawings by the late Sir Alma Tadema, R.A.
Snell, of Albemarle Street, was established early in the century, and
had obtained an excellent reputation; his specialité was well-made birch
bedroom suites, but he also made furniture of a general description.
The predecessor of the present firm of Howard and Son, who commenced
business in Whitechapel as early as 1800, and the first Morant, may all be
mentioned as manufacturers in the first quarter of the century.
[Illustration: DESIGN OF A ROOM IN THE CLASSIC STYLE, BY THOMAS HOPE,
ARCHITECT, IN 1807.]
Somewhat later, Trollopes, of Parliament Street; Holland, who had
succeeded Dowbiggin (Gillow's apprentice), first in Great Pulteney
Street, and subsequently at the firm's present address; Wilkinson, of
Ludgate Hill, founder of the present firm of upholsterers in Bond Street;
Aspinwall, of Grosvenor Street; the second Morant, of whom the great Duke
of Wellington made a personal friend; and Crace, a prominent decorator of
great taste, who carried out many of Pugin's Gothic designs, were all men
of good reputation. Miles and Edwards, of Oxford Street, whom Hindleys
succeeded, were also well known for good middle-class furniture. These
are some of the best known manufacturers of the first half of the present
century, and though until after the Great Exhibition there was, as a rule,
little in the designs to render their productions remarkable, the work of
those named will be found sound in construction, and free from the faults
which accompany the cheap and showy reproductions of more pretentious
styles, which mark so much of the furniture of the present day. With
regard to this, more will be said in the next chapter.
There was then a very limited market for any but the most commonplace
furniture. Our wealthy people bought the productions of French cabinet
makers, either made in Paris or by Frenchmen who came over to England,
and the middle classes were content with the most ordinary and useful
articles. If they had possessed the means, they certainly had neither the
taste nor the education to furnish more ambitiously. The great extent
of suburbs which now surround the Metropolis, and which include such
numbers of expensive and extravagantly-fitted residences of merchants
and tradesmen, did not then exist. The latter lived over their shops or
warehouses, and the former only aspired to a dull house in Bloomsbury, or
like David Copperfield's father-in-law, Mr. Spenlow, a villa at Norwood,
or perhaps a country residence at Hampstead or Highgate.
In 1808 a designer and maker of furniture, George Smith by name, who held
the appointment of "Upholder extraordinary to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,"
and carried on business at "Princess" Street, Cavendish Square, produced
a book of designs, 158 in number, published by "Wm. Taylor," of Holborn.
These include cornices, window drapery, bedsteads, tables, chairs,
bookcases, commodes, and other furniture, the titles of some of which
occur for about the first time in our vocabularies, having been adapted
from the French. "Escritoire, jardinière, dejuné-tables, chiffoniers"
(the spelling copied from Smith's book), all bear the impress of the
pseudo-classic taste; and his designs, some of which are here reproduced,
show the fashion of our so-called artistic furniture in England at the
time of the Regency. Mr. Smith, in the "Preliminary Remarks" prefacing his
illustrations, gives us an idea of the prevailing taste, which, looking
back now some three-quarters of a century, it is instructive to peruse:--
[Illustration: "LIBRARY FAUTEUIL."
Reproduced from Smith's Book of Designs, published in 1804.]
"The following practical observations on the various woods employed in
cabinet work may be useful. Mahogany, when used in houses of consequence,
should be confined to the parlour and the bedchamber floors. In furniture
for these apartments the less inlay of other woods, the more chaste will
be the style of work. If the wood be of a fine, compact, and bright
quality, the ornaments may be carved clean in the mahogany. Where it may
be requisite to make out panelling by an inlay of lines, let those lines
be of brass or ebony. In drawing-rooms, boudoirs, ante-rooms, East and
West India satin woods, rosewood, tulip wood, and the other varieties of
woods brought from the East, may be used; with satin and light coloured
woods the decorations may be of ebony or rosewood; with rosewood let the
decorations be _ormolu_, and the inlay of brass. Bronze metal, though
sometimes used with satin wood, has a cold and poor effect: it suits
better on gilt work, and will answer well enough on mahogany."
[Illustration: "PARLOR CHAIRS."
Shewing the inlay of Brass referred to. From Smith's Book of Designs,
published in 1808.]
Amongst the designs published by him are some few of a subdued Gothic
character; these are generally carved in light oak, or painted light stone
color, and have, in some cases, heraldic shields, with crests and coats
of arms picked out in color. There are window seats painted to imitate
marble, with the Roman or Greco-Roman ornaments painted green to represent
bronze. The least objectionable are those of mahogany with bronze green
ornaments.
Of the furniture of this period there are several pieces in the Mansion
House, in the City of London, which apparently was partly refurnished
about the commencement of the century.
[Illustration: BOOKCASE.
DESIGN PUBLISHED BY T. SHERATON, JUNE 12TH, 1806.
_Note._--Very similar bookcases are in the London Mansion House.]
[Illustration: "DRAWING ROOM CHAIRS IN PROFILE."
From G. Smith's Book, published in 1808.]
In the Court Room of the Skinners' Company there are tables which are now
fitted with extensions, so as to form a horseshoe table for committee
meetings. They are good examples of the heavy and solid carving in
mahogany, early in the century before the fashion of representing the
heads and feet of animals in the designs of furniture had gone out. These
tables have massive legs, with lions' heads and claws, carved with great
skill and shewing much spirit, the wood being of the best quality and rich
in color.
EARLY VICTORIAN.
In the work of the manufacturers just enumerated may be traced the
influence of the "Empire" style. With the restoration, however, of the
Monarchy in France, came the inevitable change in fashions, and "_Le
style de l'Empire_" was condemned. In its place came a revival of the
Louis Quinze scrolls and curves, but with less character and restraint,
until the style we know as "baroque,"[20] or debased "rococo" came in.
Ornament of a florid and incongruous character was lavished on decorative
furniture, indicative of a taste for display, rather than for appropriate
enrichment.
It had been our English custom for some long period to take our fashions
from France, and, therefore, about the time of William IV. and during
the early part of Queen Victoria's reign, the furniture for our best
houses was designed and made in the French style. In the "Music" Room
at Chatsworth are some chairs and footstools used at the time of the
Coronation of William IV. and Queen Adelaide, which have quite the
appearance of French furniture.
The old fashion of lining rooms with oak panelling, which has been noticed
in the earlier chapter, had undergone a change worth recording. If the
illustration of the Elizabethan oak panelling, as given in the English
section of Chapter III., be referred to, it will be seen that the oak
lining reaches from the floor to within about two or three feet of the
cornice. Subsequently this panelling was divided into an upper and a lower
part, the former commencing about the height of the back of an ordinary
chair, a moulding or chair-rail forming a capping to the lower part.
Then pictures came to be let into the panelling: and presently the upper
part was discarded and the lower wainscoting remained, properly termed
the Dado,[21] which we have seen revived both in wood and in various
decorative materials of the present day. During the period we are now
discussing, this arrangement lost favour in the eyes of our grandfathers,
and the lowest member, or base, of the Dado only was retained, which is
now termed the "skirting board."
As we approach a period that our older contemporaries can remember, it
is very interesting to turn over the leaves of the back numbers of such
magazines and newspapers as treated of the Industrial Arts. The _Art
Union_, which changed its title to the _Art Journal_ in 1849, had then
been in existence for about ten years, and had done good work in promoting
the encouragement of Art and manufactures. The "Society of Arts" had been
formed in London as long ago as 1756, and had given prizes for designs and
methods of improving different processes of manufacture. Exhibitions of
the specimens sent in for competition for the awards were, and are still,
held at their house in Adelphi Buildings. Old volumes of "Transactions
of the Society" are quaint works of reference with regard to these
exhibitions.
About 1840, Mr., afterwards Sir, Charles Barry, R.A., had designed and
commenced the present, or, as it was then called, the New Palace of
Westminster, and following the Gothic character of the building, the
furniture and fittings were naturally of a design to harmonize with what
was then quite a departure from the heavy architectural taste of the day.
Mr. Barry was the first in the last century to leave the beaten track,
although the Reform and Travellers' Clubs had already been designed by
him on more classic lines. The Speaker's chair in the House of Commons is
evidently designed after one of the fifteenth century "canopied seats,"
which have been noticed and illustrated in the second chapter; and the
"linen scroll pattern" panels can be counted by the thousand in the Houses
of Parliament and the different official residences which form part of
the Palace. The character of the work is subdued and not flamboyant, is
excellent in design and workmanship, and is highly creditable, when we
take into consideration the very low state of Art in England fifty years
ago.
This want of taste was very much discussed in the periodicals of the
day, and, yielding to expressed public opinion, Government had in 1840-1
appointed a Select Committee to take into consideration the promotion of
the Fine Arts in the country. Mr. Charles Barry, Mr. Eastlake, and Sir
Martin Shee, R.A., were amongst the witnesses examined. The report of this
Committee, in 1841, contained the opinion "That such an important and
National work as the erection of the two Houses of Parliament affords an
opportunity, which ought not to be neglected, of encouraging, not only the
higher, but every subordinate branch of Fine Art in this country."
Mr. Augustus Welby Pugin was a well-known designer of the Gothic style
of furniture of this time. Born in 1811, he had published in 1835 his
"Designs for Gothic Furniture," and subsequently his "Glossary of
Ecclesiastical Ornament and Costume"; and by skilful application of his
knowledge to the decorations of the different ecclesiastical buildings he
designed, his reputation became established. One of his designs is here
reproduced. Pugin's work and reputation have survived, notwithstanding
the furious opposition he met with at the time. In a review of one of his
books, in the _Art Union_ of 1839, the following sentence completes the
criticism:--"As it is a common occurrence in life to find genius mistaken
for madness, so does it sometimes happen that a madman is mistaken for
a genius. Mr. Welby Pugin has oftentimes appeared to us to be a case in
point."
[Illustration: PRIE-DIEU.
In Carved Oak, enriched with Painting and Gilding.
Designed by Mr. Pugin, and manufactured by Mr. Crace, London.]
At this time furniture design and manufacture, as an Industrial Art in
England, seems to have attracted no attention whatever. There are but few
allusions to the design of decorative woodwork in the periodicals of the
day; and the auctioneers' advertisements--with a few notable exceptions,
like that of the Strawberry Hill Collection of Horace Walpole, gave no
descriptions; no particular interest in the subject appears to have been
manifested, save by a very limited number of the dilettanti, who, like
Walpole, collected the curios and cabinets of two or three hundred years
ago.
[Illustration: SECRETAIRE AND BOOKCASE.
In Carved Oak, in style of German Gothic.
(_From a Drawing by Professor Heideloff. Published in the "Art Union,"
1846._)]
York House was redecorated and furnished about this time, and as it is
described as "Excelling any other dwelling of its own class in regal
magnificence and vieing with the Royal Palaces of Europe," we may take
note of an account of its re-equipment, written in 1841, for the _Art
Union_. This notice speaks little for the taste of the period, and
less for the knowledge and grasp of the subject by the writer of an
Art critique of the day:--"The furniture generally is of no particular
style, but, on the whole, there is to be found a mingling of everything,
in the best manner of the best epochs of taste." Writing further on of
the ottoman couches, "causeses," etc., the critic goes on to tell of an
alteration in fashion which had evidently just taken place: "Some of them,
in place of plain or carved rosewood or mahogany, are ornamented in white
enamel, with classic subjects in bas-relief of perfect execution."
Towards the close of the period embraced in the limits of this chapter,
the eminent firm of Jackson and Graham was making headway. A French
designer named Prignot was of considerable assistance in establishing
their reputation for taste; and in the Exhibition which was soon to take
place this firm took a very prominent position. Collinson and Lock,[22]
who afterwards acquired this firm's premises and business, were both
brought up in the house as young men, and left some thirty odd years ago
for Herrings, of Fleet Street, whom they succeeded about 1870.
Another well-known decorator who designed and manufactured furniture of
good quality was Leonard William Collmann, first of Bouverie Street, and
later of George Street, Portman Square. He was a pupil of Sydney Smirke,
R.A. (who designed and built the Carlton and the Conservative Clubs), and
was himself an excellent draughtsman, and carried out the decoration and
furnishing of many public buildings, London Clubs, and mansions of the
nobility and gentry. His son is at present Director of Decorations to the
King at Windsor Castle. Collmann's designs were occasionally Gothic, but
generally classic.
There is evidence of the want of interest in the subject of furniture
in the auctioneers' catalogues of the day. By the courtesy of Messrs.
Christie, Manson and Woods, the writer has had access to the records of
this old firm, and two or three instances of sales of furniture may be
given. While the catalogues of the Picture sales of 1830-40 were printed
on paper of quarto size, and the subjects described at length, those
of "Furniture" are of the old-fashioned small octavo size, resembling
the catalogue of a small country auctioneer of the present day, and the
printed descriptions rarely exceed a single line. The prices seldom
amounted to more than £10; the whole proceeds of the day's sale were often
less than £100, and sometimes did not reach £50. At the sale of "Rosslyn
House," Hampstead, in 1830, a mansion of considerable importance, the
highest-priced article was "A capital mahogany pedestal sideboard, with
hot closet, cellaret, 2 plate drawers, and fluted legs," which brought
£32. At the sale of the property of "A Man of Fashion," "a marqueterie
cabinet, inlaid with trophies, the panels of Sêvres china, mounted
in ormolu," sold for twenty guineas; and a "Reisener (_sic_) table,
beautifully inlaid with flowers, and drawers," which appears to have been
reserved at nine guineas, was bought in at eight-and-a-half guineas.
Frequenters of Christie's of the present day who have seen such furniture
realise as many pounds as the shillings included in such sums, will
appreciate the enormously increased value of really good old French
furniture.
Perhaps the most noticeable comparison between the present day and that of
half-a-century ago may be made in reading through the prices given at the
great sale at Stowe House, in 1848, when the financial difficulties of the
Duke of Buckingham caused the sale by auction which lasted thirty-seven
days, and realised upwards of £71,000; the proceeds of the furniture
amounted to £27,152. We have seen in the notice of French furniture that
armoires by Boule have, during the past few years, brought from £4,000
to £6,000 each, under the hammer, and the want of appreciation of this
work, probably the most artistic ever produced by designer and craftsman,
is sufficiently exemplified by the statement that at the Stowe sale
two of Boule's famous armoires, of similar proportions to those in the
Hamilton Palace and Jones Collections, were sold for £21 and £19 8s. 6d.
respectively.
We are accustomed now to see the bids at Christie's advance by guineas, by
fives, tens and fifties; and it is amusing to read in these old catalogues
of marqueterie tables, satin wood cabinets, rosewood pier tables, and
other articles of "ornamental furniture," as it was termed, being knocked
down to Town and Emanuel, Webb, Morant, Hitchcock Baldock, Forrest,
Redfearn, Litchfield (the writer's father), and others who were the buyers
and regular attendants at "Christie's" (afterwards Christie and Manson) of
1830 to 1845, for such sums as 6s., 15s., and occasionally £10 or £15.
A single quotation is given, but many such are to be found:--
_Sale on February 25th and 26th, 1841._ Lot 31. "A small oval table, with
a piece of Sêvres porcelain painted with flowers. 6s."
It is pleasant to remember, as some exception to this general want of
interest in the subject, that in 1843 there was held at Gore House,
Kensington, then the fashionable residence of Lady Blessington, an
exhibition of old furniture; and a series of lectures, illustrated by the
contributions, was given by Mr., now Sir, J. C. Robinson. The Venetian
State chair, illustrated on page 57, was amongst the examples lent by the
Queen on that occasion. Specimens of Boule's work and some good pieces of
Italian Renaissance were also exhibited.
A great many of the older Club Houses of London were built and furnished
between 1813 and 1851, the Guards' being of the earlier date, and the Army
and Navy of the latter; and during the intervening thirty odd years the
United Service, Travellers', Union, United University Athenæum, Oriental,
Wyndham, Oxford and Cambridge, Reform, Carlton, Garrick, Conservative, and
some others were erected and fitted up. Many of these still retain much of
the furniture of Gillows, Seddons, and some of the other manufacturers of
the time whose work has been alluded to, and these are favourable examples
of the best kind of cabinet work done in England during the reign of
George IV., William IV., and that of the early part of Queen Victoria. It
is worth recording, too, that during this period, steam power, which had
been first applied to machinery about 1815, came into more general use in
the manufacture of furniture. With its adoption there seems to have been
a gradual abandonment of the apprenticeship system in the factories and
workshops of our country; and the present "piece-work" arrangement, which
had obtained more or less since the English cabinet makers had brought out
their "Book of Prices" some years previously, became generally the custom
of the trade, in place of the older "day work" of a former generation.
[Illustration: CRADLE.
In Boxwood, for H.M. Queen Victoria. Designed and Carved by H. Rogers,
London.]
In France the success of national exhibitions had become assured, the
exhibitors having increased from only 110, when the first experiment was
tried in 1798, by leaps and bounds, until at the eleventh exhibition, in
1849, there were 4,494 entries. The _Art Journal_ of that year gives us a
good illustrated notice of some of the exhibits, and devotes an article to
pointing out the advantages to be gained by something of the kind taking
place in England.
From 1827 onwards we had established local exhibitions in Dublin, Leeds,
and Manchester. The first time a special building was devoted to the
exhibition of manufactures was at Birmingham in 1849; and from the
illustrated review of this in the _Art Journal_, one can see that there
was a desire on the part of our designers and manufacturers to strike out
in new directions and make progress.
We are able to reproduce some of the designs of furniture of this
period; and in the cradle designed and carved in Turkey-boxwood, for
Queen Victoria, by Mr. Harry Rogers, we have a fine piece of work, which
would not have disgraced the latter period of the Renaissance. Indeed,
Mr. Rogers was a very notable designer and carver of this time; he had
introduced his famous boxwood carving about seven years previously.
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR A TEA CADDY.
By J. Strudwick, for Inlaying in Ivory.
Published as one of the "Original Designs for Manufacturers" in the _Art
Journal_, 1849.]
This cradle was also, by Queen Victoria's command, sent to the Exhibition,
and it may be worth while quoting the artist's description of the
carving:--"In making the design for the cradle it was my intention
that the entire object should symbolize the union of the Royal Houses
of England with that of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and with this view, I
arranged that one end should exhibit the arms and national motto of
England, and the other those of H.R.H. Prince Albert. The inscription,
'Anno, 1850,' was placed between the dolphins by Her Majesty's special
command."
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR ONE OF THE WINGS OF A SIDEBOARD.
By W. Holmes. Exhibited at the "Society of Arts" in 1848, and published in
the _Art Journal_, in 1849.]
In a criticism of this excellent specimen of work, the _Art Journal_ of
the time said:--"We believe the cradle to be one of the most important
examples of the art of wood carving ever executed in this country."
Rogers was also a writer of considerable ability on the styles of
ornament: and there are several contributions from his pen to the
periodicals of the day, besides designs which were published in the _Art
Journal_ under the heading of "Original Designs for Manufacturers." These
articles appeared occasionally, and contained many excellent suggestions
for manufacturers and carvers, amongst others the drawings of H. Fitzcook,
one of whose designs for a work table is here reproduced. Others more or
less constant contributors of the original designs for furniture were J.
Strudwick and W. Holmes, a design from the pencil of each of whom is given.
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR A WORK TABLE.
By H. Fitzcook. Published as one of the "Original Designs for
Manufacturers," in the _Art Journal_, 1850.]
But though here and there in England good designers came to the front, as
a general rule the art of design in furniture and decorative woodwork was
at a very low ebb about this time.
In furniture, straight lines and simple curves may be plain and
uninteresting, but they are by no means so objectionable as the over
ornamentation of the debased rococo style, which obtained in this country
about forty years ago; and if the scrolls and flowers, the shells and
rockwork which ornamented mirror frames, sideboard backs, sofas, and
chairs, were debased in style, even when carefully carved in wood, the
effect was infinitely worse when, for the sake of economy, as was the
case with the houses of the middle classes, this elaborate and laboured
enrichment was executed in the fashionable stucco of the day.
Large mirrors, with gilt frames of this material, held the places of honor
on the marble chimney piece, and on the console, or pier table, which was
also of gilt stucco, with a marble slab. The chiffonier, with its shelves
having scroll supports like an elaborate S, and a mirror at the back, with
a scrolled frame, was a favourite article of furniture.
Carpets were badly designed, and loud and vulgar in coloring; chairs,
on account of the shape and ornament in vogue, were unfitted for
their purpose, on account of the wood being cut across the grain; the
fire-screen, in a carved rosewood frame, contained the caricature, in
needlework, of a spaniel, or a family group of the time, ugly enough to be
in keeping with its surroundings.
The dining room was sombre and heavy. The pedestal sideboard, with a
large mirror with a scrolled frame at the back, had come in; the chairs
were massive and ugly survivals of the earlier reproductions of the
Greek patterns, and though solid and substantial, the effect was neither
cheering nor refining.
In the bedrooms were winged wardrobes and chests of drawers; dressing
tables and washstands, with scrolled legs, nearly always in mahogany; the
old four-poster had given way to the Arabian or French bedstead, and this
was being gradually replaced by the iron or brass bedsteads, which came
in after the "Exhibition of 1851" had shewn people the advantages of the
lightness and cleanliness of these materials.
In a word, from the early part of the last century, until the impetus
given to Art by this great Exhibition had had time to take effect, the
general taste in furnishing houses of all but a very few persons was at
about its worst.
In other countries the rococo taste had also taken hold. France
maintained a higher standard than England, and such figure work as was
introduced into her furniture, was better executed, though her joinery
was inferior. In Italy, old models of the Renaissance still served as
examples for reproduction, but the ornament was more carelessly carved
and the decoration less considered. Ivory inlaying was largely practised
in Milan and Venice; mosaics of marble were _specialités_ of Rome and of
Florence, and were much used in the decoration of cabinets; Venice was
busy manufacturing carved walnutwood furniture, in buffets, cabinets,
negro page boys elaborately painted and gilt; and carved mirror frames,
the chief ornaments of which were cupids and foliage.
Italian carving has always been free and spirited, the figures have never
been wanting in grace, and though by comparison with the best time of
the Renaissance there is a great falling off, still, the work executed
in Italy during the nineteenth century has been of considerable merit as
regards ornament, though this has been overdone. In construction, and
joinery, however, the Italian work was and still is, for the most part,
very inferior. Cabinets of great pretension and elaborate ornament, inlaid
perhaps with ivory, lapislazuli, or marbles, are so imperfectly made that
one would think ornament, and certainly not durability, had been the
object of the producer.
In Antwerp, Brussels, Liege, and other Flemish Art centres, the School of
Wood Carving, which came in with the Renaissance, appears to have been
maintained with more or less excellence. With the increased quality of the
carved woodwork manufactured, there was a proportion of ill-finished and
over-ornamented work produced; and although, as has been before observed,
the manufacture of cheap marqueterie in Amsterdam, and other Dutch cities
was bringing the name of Dutch furniture into ill-repute--still, so far
as the writer's observations have gone, the Flemish wood-carver appears
to have been, at the time now under consideration, ahead of his fellow
craftsmen in Europe; and when, in the ensuing chapter, we shall notice
some of the representative exhibits in the great International Competition
of 1851, it will be seen that the Antwerp designer and carver was
certainly in the foremost rank.
In Austria, too, some good cabinet work was being carried out, M.
Leistler, of Vienna, having at the time a high reputation.
In Paris, the house of Fourdinois was making a name which, in subsequent
exhibitions, we shall see took a leading place among the designers and
manufacturers of decorative furniture.
England, it has been observed, was suffering from languor in Art industry.
The excellent designs of the Adams and their school, which obtained
early in the century, had been supplanted, and a meaningless rococo
style succeeded the heavy imitations of French pseudo-classic furniture.
Instead of, as in the earlier and more tasteful periods, when architects
had designed woodwork and furniture to accord with the style of their
buildings, they appear to have then, as a general rule, abandoned the
control of the decoration of interiors, and the result was one which--when
we examine our National furniture of half a century ago--has not left us
much to be proud of as an artistic and industrious people.
Some notice has been taken of the appreciation of this unsatisfactory
state of things by the Government of the time, and by the Press; and, as
with a knowledge of our deficiency, came the desire and the energy to
bring about its remedy, we shall see that, with the Exhibition of 1851,
and the intercourse and the desire to improve, which naturally followed
that great and successful effort, our designers and craftsmen profited by
the great stimulus which Art and Industry then received.
[Illustration: VENETIAN STOOL OF CARVED WALNUT WOOD.]
[Illustration: SIDEBOARD IN CARVED OAK, WITH CELLARET.
DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MR. GILLOW, LONDON. 1851 EXHIBITION.]
[Illustration: CHIMNEYPIECE AND BOOKCASE.
In carved walnut wood, with colored marbles inlaid, and doors of
perforated brass.
DESIGNED BY MR. T. R. MACQUOID, ARCHITECT, AND MANUFACTURED BY MESSRS.
HOLLAND & SONS, LONDON. 1851 EXHIBITION.]
[Illustration: CABINET IN THE MEDIÆVAL STYLE.
DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MR. CRACE, LONDON. 1851 EXHIBITION.]
[Illustration: BOOKCASE IN CARVED WOOD.
DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MESSRS. JACKSON & GRAHAM, LONDON. 1851
EXHIBITION.]
[Illustration: GRAND PIANOFORTE.
In Ebony inlaid, and enriched with Gold in relief.
DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MESSRS. BROADWOOD, LONDON. 1851 EXHIBITION.]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 20: The word baroque, which became a generic term, was derived
from the Portuguese "barrocco," meaning a large irregular-shaped pearl.
At first a jeweller's technical term, it came later, like "rococo," to be
used to describe the kind of ornament which prevailed in design of the
nineteenth century, after the disappearance of the classic.]
[Footnote 21: Mr. Parker defines Dado as "The solid block, or cube,
forming the body of a pedestal in classical architecture, between the base
mouldings and the cornice: an architectural arrangement of mouldings,
etc., round the lower parts of the wall of a room, resembling a continuous
pedestal."]
[Footnote 22: Collinson and Lock amalgamated with Warings in 1897.]