are square. The usual set of seats comprised _fauteuils_, or arm-chairs;
chairs with backs; folding-stools (_pliants_); and a _lit de repos_. In
the ancient inventories the term “_chaises meublantes_” is given to
chairs with covered backs, while the chairs with wooden and open backs
are called “_chaises cacquetoires_” and “_chaises perroquets_.” The most
characteristic chair of the period is the short, square and rather
squat, yet well-proportioned chair that appears in nearly every one of
Abraham Bosse’s drawings, and which in England is known as “the low
leather,” or “Cromwell chair.” This chair is shown in the Frontispiece
and also on Plate V., while variants appear on Plate I. as No. 3 and as
a full drawing. This chair may be covered with leather, serge, silk,
damask, brocade, velvet, tapestry, or needlework; but in every case the
material is fastened to the woodwork by means of large brass, gold, or
silver-headed nails, and the back and seat are both usually ornamented
with a short fringe, as is shown in the Frontispiece. No. 2 and No. 5 on
Plate I. are _fauteuils_ of the period, No. 5 being an Italian chair
decorated with a fringe. Many of the _fauteuils_ of the day were “in the
Italian taste,” that is to say entirely covered with velvet and trimmed
with lace or fringe. The framework of the arm-chair was sometimes
visible, as shown on Plate I., No. 2. It was of pear-wood stained to
resemble ebony, walnut, oak, or it was painted in a colour to harmonize
with the covering. Among Cardinal Mazarin’s many chairs were two
_fauteuils_ and two chairs with backs, entirely covered with velvet
nailed on the wood. These were ornamented with a braid of medium width,
as were also the folding-stools, or _pliants_. The wood of the latter
was painted red. We also hear of two _fauteuils_ trimmed with lace and
fringe of medium width, the wood being entirely covered with the velvet;
at the bottom of the back there was a double row of the _crespine_. The
six folding-stools that went with these arm-chairs were also garnished
with lace and fringe, but their frames were painted green and picked out
with gold. The seats were covered with green serge. Another set of
furniture consisted of six _fauteuils_, six chairs with backs, six
_pliants_ and a _lit de repos_. These were covered with needlework
ornamented with a silk fringe of many colours. The frames were of
pear-wood stained black, and they were decorated with twisted columns.
The twisted column shown in the side-supports and straining-rails of the
chair in the lower right-hand corner on Plate I., and also in No. 2 and
No. 3 on the same plate, is derived from Italy. It is a favourite
ornamentation of the day and occurs in bed-posts and wherever pillars
are used. Another form of the spiral leg is shown on Plate III., No. 6.
Still another form is shown in the arm-chair with twisted and baluster
arms that appears as No. 5 on Plate III. A favourite shape for the leg
of a chair was also the X that so often appears in the pictures of the
Dutch masters. These chairs were of Flemish and Italian origin. (See
Plate VII., lower right-hand corner.) This X is also present in the
_pliant_ or folding-stool, an example of which is shown under the window
in the Frontispiece.
The coverings for the _fauteuils_, folding-seats, etc. were, as we have
said, of damask, brocade, silk, serge, tapestry, or needlework, but we
must add that Genoa and Venetian velvets with floral designs in high
relief were extremely popular.
Two other typical chairs are shown on Plate I. No. 1 is a handsome
_fauteuil_ of noble proportions. Its back and seat are covered with two
squares of material fastened in the correct way with large nails. No. 4
is a very fine specimen indeed with a carved back panel of wood. The
favourite mascaron decorates the top rail.
On Plate I. is shown a typical chair of the period with an open back of
turned spindles. Deville says this was the “_chaise caquetoire_” or
“_chaise perroquet_,” a name that was given to all kinds of chairs with
open backs, whether carved or turned, or simply of two, three, four or
five horizontal rails. If this was so, the _chaise perroquet_ meant a
different kind of chair later in the century, for Saint-Simon says:
“Monseigneur himself and all who were at the table had seats with backs
of black leather which could be folded up for carriage use and which
were called _perroquets_.” In the Château de Chenonceau (1603), there
were “more than two coverings for the _petites chaises cacquetoires_ of
silk of several colours brightened with gold and silver also on canvas
estimated at forty sols, apiece.”
There were three other “_chaises cacquetoires_ like the three chairs
just mentioned, estimated at four livres dix sols apiece.”
In Cardinal Mazarin’s inventory, there was “an old _chaise à perroquet_”
covered with _moquette_ (a kind of velvet or woolen tapestry), and in
the inventory of the Garde Meuble, ten _perroquets_ covered with
“_tripe_” (a kind of red panne velvet) occur.
Another kind of chair is the “_chaise voyeuse_.” The seat of this is
quite high and the top rail resting upon the side supports (which are
continuations of the back legs) is supplied with a _manchette_
(cushion), upon which one may rest his elbows while watching the play at
the card table. The back of this chair is shaped like a violin, or a
_bidet_. These chairs are mentioned in many old inventories such as
Cardinal Mazarin’s Fontainebleau, Versailles, etc. In Fontainebleau in
the _salons de jeux_ were “four _voyeuses en prie-dieu_” and “two
_voyeuses en bidets_.”
The _lit de repos_, or _chaise longue_ (see Plate VIII.) is an elongated
seat. As a rule, this couch, or seat, is six feet long, and upon it
rests a mattress or cushion. It is also furnished with a bolster, which
should be covered with the same material as the mattress and back. Being
exactly the width of the seat, it is placed below the back at right
angles to the mattress. Sometimes this piece of furniture has elbows,
and sometimes it has only turned supports at the sides of the back.
Many of the handsome tables were of a fashion that was continued through
the succeeding reign, being of richly carved and gilded wood with hind’s
feet or with term legs with or without stretchers. Some of them were
enriched with gilded bronze, and incrustations and marquetry work of
shell, copper and other metal. The tops, like those of the preceding
reign, were frequently of marble or marquetry. They were also covered
with a cloth and a _housse_ of leather, serge, tapestry, etc. The
table-carpet, as a rule, reached to the floor and was garnished with a
narrow or wide fringe. This was the _housse_, and above it was a second
cloth (see Frontispiece). These table-coverings were either simple or
rich, according to the purse or fancy of the owner. Cardinal Mazarin,
for example, had four table-coverings of crimson damask flowered,
bearing the arms of his Eminence; four of “red crimson” Turkey leather
trimmed with gold fringe and gold tassels and lined with red taffeta,
and a green flowered damask table-carpet with four sides, lined with
green cloth and trimmed with gold fringe _à la Romaine_. One of the
handsomest varieties of table appears as a full drawing on Plate II.
Although the console is known during the reigns of Henri II. and III.,
it is in the reign of Louis XIII. that the phrase _table en console_
appears in the inventories. The console was derived from the credence,
and was even in its earliest form a large table with a marble top,
jutting out like a bracket and serving to support a bust or vase. The
three visible faces of the console were in the early days frequently
supported with chimæras, fauns, etc. The word table was gradually
dropped and the article was known as console.
A variety of table, known as the _guéridon_, was also popular. This is a
small round table mounted on a stem or baluster that ends in three legs
(Plate III., No. 2). It was made of various woods, sometimes of
pear-wood stained black and sometimes painted. It was of great
convenience. Sometimes it was used for cards; but more often it held a
lamp, or candelabra, or a refreshment tray.
The chandeliers were usually of brass and hung from the centre of the
room. Of course, candles were inserted in the arms. Candelabra and small
candlesticks were also used to give light, and sconces were frequently
attached to the walls. Pictures were framed and hung directly over the
tapestries, as shown in the Frontispiece. Their frames differed but
slightly from the frames of the mirrors, specimens of which appear on
Plate II. as a full drawing and as No. 1. Another frame appropriate for
either a picture or a mirror is seen on Plate IV., No. 3.
THE JACOBEAN PERIOD
[Illustration: PLATE V]
[Illustration]
THE JACOBEAN PERIOD
The Jacobean Period covers almost a century (1603–1690). In its earlier
stages, therefore, it is still Elizabethan in spirit, and in its old age
it is largely influenced by the taste of the dominant French court.
During the reign of James I., the styles of furniture and interior
decoration are still strongly Tudor in character, but the intimate
connection with the Low Countries, and the friction with Spain and her
Western possessions have their effect in making the wealthy classes of
England thoroughly acquainted with the best products of Spanish, Dutch,
and Flemish workmanship. The Tudor mixture of Gothic and Renaissance
styles was gradually modified under the influence of Inigo Jones, “the
English Palladio.” The political ties between England and the Low
Countries, based on mutual interests of a mercantile and religious
nature, were still further strengthened by dynastic alliances. In
Norfolk and Suffolk, the population was largely composed of natives or
descendants of natives of the Low Countries. Flemish and Dutch art and
manufactures, therefore, were extremely influential in forming what is
known as the Jacobean style.
This period covers, of course, a portion of the reigns of Louis XIII.
and Louis XIV.; and much of the furniture fashionable in France at this
period was imported into England; but with the exception of the
wealthiest homes sumptuous articles are not common. There is, indeed, a
massive set of superbly carved silver furniture at Knole, Sevenoaks,
Kent, but such luxury is rare.
Oak and walnut are the woods chiefly used at this period, but we also
find lime, cherry, and cypress (the latter especially for chests).
Sometimes, as even happened in Tudor days, the carving was gilded, and,
in many instances, we find the wood painted. Pear-wood stained black to
imitate ebony is also popular. Mahogany is almost unknown in these days;
but exotic woods are used in the construction of cabinets. Towards the
end of the Seventeenth Century a great deal of ebony was imported, and
even carved ebony furniture from India and Ceylon found its way into
many rich English homes. Shakespeare gives us a hint of the generous use
of rich articles from various parts of the world, showing what a
cosmopolitan atmosphere a Tudor home presented:
Gremio says:
“_My house within the city
Is richly furnished with plate and gold;
Basins, and ewers, to lave her dainty hands;
My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry:
In ivory coffers I have stuff’d my crowns;
In cypress chests my arras counterpoints,
Costly apparel, tents, and canopies,
Fine linen, Turkey cushions boss’d with pearl,
Valance of Venice gold in needlework,
Pewter and brass, and all things that belong
To house or housekeeping._”[1]
[Illustration: PLATE VI]
It is not unfitting that we should first recall a few of the
distinguishing features of Elizabethan ornament, so frequently met with
in the Jacobean home.
The carving was characterized by bold and deep cuttings, leaving the
design in high relief. The panels of the chests, cabinets, cupboards,
beds, etc., present a rich variety of subject. Figures taken from
Biblical or mythological lore, grotesque monsters, animals and floral
forms are met with; and of the latter we particularly find the rose,
vine, carnation, lily, marigold, sunflower and tulip predominating. A
typical floral panel is shown on Plate X., No. 7. Then we often see a
diaper pattern, and, occasionally, the “linen fold.”
The cornices of cabinets, bedsteads, etc., are often adorned with the
“egg and tongue” pattern; and the backs of settees, cornices of
overmantels, etc., are often enriched with rather grotesque dolphins,
placed back to back, forming a kind of scroll the outline of which is
shown on the table on Plate X., No. 2.
Another typical ornament is the swelling acorn-bulb. It appears on the
legs of tables, posts of bedsteads, and supports of cabinets, cupboards,
etc., as shown on Plate X., No. 2. A variety of this bulb occurs on
Plate XI., No. 1, showing the black ebony balls connected by plain
stretchers, or straining-rails. The bulb also appears, but somewhat
smaller and connected by straight stretchers, on the table on Plate V.
The baluster legs of the court cupboard on Plate X. exhibit another kind
of swelling leg. This leg becomes slenderer until it dwindles into the
type shown on Plate X., No. 1.
Other ornamental devices consist of interlaced bands, strapwork, shells,
lyres, bell-flowers, the acanthus, arch panels, branches and leaves in
large flowing designs, besides a great variety of mouldings, panels and
pierced scrolls. Turned work is rapidly superseding carving, which,
however, is never quite driven away.
The newest decoration is the “spindle” ornament which seems to have been
introduced from England from the Low Countries about the middle of the
Seventeenth Century. This was made of ebony, or of pear-wood stained
black, turned, of course, cut in half and applied. Eggs and lozenges
were likewise made, stained black and applied. These ornaments decorate
the cabinet on Plate X., No. 1, and the “spindle” is shown separately as
No. 4 on the same plate. The scroll is an excessively popular device: it
not only occurs upon mouldings and cornices, but it also decorates the
feet, frames of panels and straining-rails of chairs and settees.
[Illustration: PLATE VII]
During this period, the hall was the most important room in the house.
Guests were always received here, and here meals were generally served.
In the baronial homes, therefore, of past generations, the hall was used
as both drawing-room and dining-room. The table was set on a daïs, or
platform, and a screen cut off the entrance from the kitchen. At the
other end of the hall was the minstrels’ gallery. In the course of time,
a bay window was added at the dais end of the hall, which formed a
private retiring-place for conversation while the table was being
cleared. This paved the way for the small “privée parlour,” a little
room built at the end, or side of the hall. The next addition was the
“Great Chamber,” a larger room than the “parlour,” to which the lord of
the household often retired, leaving the hall to his retainers and to
such guests as were not of equal rank with himself. The “Great Chamber”
was used as a bedroom by night and as a living-room by day. Here, of
course, there was a sumptuous bed; and a bed with rich furniture also
stood frequently in both parlour and hall.
The general impression of a Jacobean hall is elegance,—an elegance not
merely derived from the dignified styles of the furniture contained in
it; but from the rich tapestries and hangings, the warm panels, the
comparatively low and beautifully ornamented ceiling, the stately
mantel-piece, the cosy bay window and the bright wood fire crackling
upon the great andirons.
Perhaps the first thing that attracts one’s attention is the lavish use
of the panel. The doors are panelled, as well as the ceilings and
wainscots,—a fashion very popular in the days of Elizabeth. In some
instances, the room is panelled from floor to ceiling, and in others
only the wainscot and doors are panelled, in which case the wall-space
above the wainscot is completely covered with tapestry. Tapestry is
often hung over the[2] panels also, as shown in our illustration (Plate
V.). English people had been fond of tapestry ever since the days King
Alfred, fully appreciating the beauty derived from
“_Hanging about the walls
Clothes of gold and halles
Arras[3] of rich arraye
Freshe as flowers in Maye._”
Tapestry, which had become something of a lost art during the Wars of
the Roses, had been again brought into favour by Henry VIII., and a
fresh interest is now given to it on account of the beautiful articles
that are being made at the Mortlake factory established by James I.
Another hanging, not quite banished as yet, was “painted cloth,” canvas
painted in tempera, or oil, with various devices, figures, mottoes,
proverbs and wise sayings. Falstaff’s comparison “Slaves as ragged as
Lazarus in the painted cloth,” shows us that Biblical subjects were
represented. The saucy Beatrice of _Much Ado about Nothing_ admits that
she took her witty answers from the painted cloth.[4]
[Illustration: PLATE VIII]
Hangings of embossed leather from Spain, with figures in gold, silver,
and various colours, were also used, especially in the adornment of the
small rooms. Another novelty at this period was chintz, figured or
flowered. In 1663, Pepys notes in his _Diary_: “Bought my wife a chint,
that is a painted Indian calico for to line her new study.”
The latter must have been a kind of boudoir, or, possibly, a library. In
some houses there was a special room set apart for books. These
“studies” had been popular in England long before the time of Mrs.
Pepys, since Leland describes one that was called “Paradise,” and which
might be imitated with advantage in modern homes, especially where there
is a restricted space for books. He writes:
“At Wressil Castle, Yorkshire, the seat of the Percies, there was one
thing I liked exceedingly in one of the towers; that was a study called
_Paradise_, wher was a closett in the middle of eight squares lattised
about; and at the top of every square was a deske ledged to fit bookes
on and cofers within them, and these seemed as joined hard to the top of
this closett; and yet by pulling, one or al would come down briste high
in rabattes, and serve for deskes to lay bookes on.”
In some houses, the ceiling is carved in elaborate fretwork, ornamented
with bosses and pendants,—a practice afterwards imitated in plaster.
The windows are furnished with small diamond, or square, panes, and
frequently in the centre of each window the armorial bearings of the
family are displayed, as shown in Plate V. Sometimes these are encircled
with floral, or other devices. The arms are also placed upon the
chimney-piece. In the bay windows we always find a low-cushioned seat
bountifully supplied with soft, movable cushions and pillows, covered
with rich silks of bright hues, and often beautifully embroidered.
Indeed the cushion[5] is one of the features of every room, being a
necessity as well as a decorative accessory to the heavy chairs of the
day.
The floor, of polished oak or inlaid wood, is occasionally enriched with
a “foot carpet.” In many of the older houses, the floors are paved with
tiles of various colours, or laid with chequer-work.
The most important architectural feature of the room, however, is the
chimney-piece. The favourite Tudor chimney-piece and overmantel was a
mass of rich carving, consisting of arch panels, mouldings, scrolls,
coats-of-arms, flowers, vines, columns, and interlaced strapwork,
supported by beautiful, or grotesque, terminal figures. Simpler styles
are now being introduced in sympathy with the growing taste for Classic
severity. The fire-place still remains large enough to admit of big
logs, and the hearth is equipped with andirons, tongs, bellows, and
sometimes a fender,—all of great artistic beauty. Behind the flames,
there is usually an iron “chimney-back,” stamped with a decorative
device, or, occasionally, the arms of the owner.
[Illustration: PLATE IX]
The illumination is obtained by means of lamps, lanterns and
candlesticks. The latter are very ornate. Some of them are branched and
hang from the ceiling. Others have sconce-arms and are placed on the
walls. Tall standing candlesticks of metal are also used, and are moved
about the room at pleasure. The illumination is also helped by means of
small mirrors, with frames carved and gilt, or else made of ebony or
olive-wood.
The furniture consists of one large table, several small round or oval
tables, side tables, chairs, settee, couch, stools, a “court,” or
“livery cupboard” (and sometimes both), a screen, cabinets, chests, and
coffers; while the decorations are pictures, antlers, armour, vases and
other ornaments of porcelain, gold, silver, or pewter, and table-clocks.
There has been much discussion regarding the “court cupboard” and the
“livery cupboard,” mentioned above, but it is now generally accepted
that the “court cupboard,” which may have derived its name from the
French word _court_ (short), to distinguish it from the high standing
cupboards, corresponded to the French _dressoir_, and was used for the
display and keeping of plate, glass, etc., etc. The “livery cupboard,”
on the other hand, still found in the farmers’ and labourers’ cottages
in England, where it is sometimes called the “bread-and-cheese
cupboard,” received its name from the French _livrer_ (to deliver) and
was used both for service and as a receptacle for broken victuals. The
difference between them is well defined in _Janua Linguarum_ (London,
1673), as follows: “Golden and gilded beakers, cruzes, great cups,
chrystal glasses, cans, tankards and two ear’d pots are brought forth
out of the cupboard and glass case; and being rins’d and rubb’d with a
pot-brush are set on the livery cupboard.”
The “court cupboard” corresponded, in a measure, to the modern
sideboard. It was a great feature at festivals and it rose in several
receding stages or shelves, upon which the plate was displayed. The
number of stages varied according to the rank of the master or mistress
of the house. In _Les Honneurs de la Cour_, we learn that two steps were
allowed to the wife of a baronet, three to a countess, four to a
princess, and five to a queen.
At Cardinal Wolsey’s entertainment to the French Ambassadors at Hampton
Court, Cavendish relates: “There was a cupboard for the time in length
of the breadth of the nether end of the same chamber, six desks high,
full of gilt plate, very sumptuous and of the newest fashions; and upon
the nethermost desk garnished all with plate of clean gold were two
great candlesticks of silver and gilt most curiously wrought.” When the
same Ambassadors were entertained by Henry VIII. at Greenwich, there was
a “cupborde seven stages high and thirteen feet long, set with standing
cuppes, bolles, flaggons and great pottles all of fine golde, some
garnished with one stone, and some with other stones and pearles.”
When Queen Elizabeth was entertained at Hatfield House (the present seat
of the Salisburies) in 1556, and there was a great and rich “maskinge in
the great halle at Hatfield,” at night “the cupboard in the halle was of
twelve stages, mainlie furnished with garnish of gold and silver vessels
and a banket of seventie dishes, and after a voide of spices and
suttleties, with thirtie spice plates, all at the charges of Sir Thomas
Pope.”
[Illustration: PLATE X]
A good example of a “court cupboard” with five degrees of stages
ornamented with plate is shown in a picture printed in _Laurea
Austriaca_ (Frankfort, 1627), representing an entertainment given by
King James I. of England to the Spanish Ambassadors during the
negotiations for the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Infanta of
Spain. The stages rest upon a frame of turned baluster legs connected by
straining-rails. Below the first stage there is a drawer. The “carpets”
hang over the front of the cupboard instead of over the sides, as was
more usual. This picture would seem to prove that an ordinary side table
of the period might be converted into a court cupboard by simply placing
the requisite number of shelves above it. However, in the inventory of
Sir Thomas Kytson (1603) the following occurs: “At y^e Great Chamber
Dore one little joined boarde w^t a fast frame to it, to sett on
glassis. Itm, a thing like stayres to set plate on.”