CHAPTER VIII

FOR MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS OF FURNITURE [Sidenote: Art and Industry] When you think of your home, making a picture in your mind of the familiar surroundings associated in your memory with your greatest pleasures, you are really thinking of furniture. Tradition makes the dwelling itself the tangible symbol of home, because when a primitive tribe ceased to be wanderers, the walls that excluded wild beasts and inclement weather and gave privacy were conspicuous evidences of a change for the better. But in our higher civilization our way of thinking has changed. Nothing seems to us more desolate than the bleak surfaces and harsh angles of an unfurnished house. Colour and softness and the curved lines which we instinctively love because they suggest softness come into the dwelling with furniture, and culture has progressed so far that the chair or bed must be a delight to the eye as well as to the weary limbs, that the dinner table and the bookcase must be so designed as to enhance the satisfaction we find in refreshing body and mind. You would not get so much pleasure as you do from your Encyclopaedia Britannica if its paper and print and pictures and the colour and texture of the bindings did not make it one of the chief adornments of your home; the volumes might be just as useful in a less pleasing guise, but you would not feel the same affection for the book. [Sidenote: Form and Embellishment] To satisfy the spirit of home-love and house-pride in the making of furniture is an art, and the idea that furniture can only be artistic when it is made by hand, from a design that is to be used but once, is as nonsensical as it would be to say that a beautiful etching is not true art because a press produces it and others like it. “Fine art is everything which man does or makes _in one way rather than another_ ... in order to express and arouse emotion ... with results independent of direct utility.” These words from Sir Sidney Colvin’s delightful Britannica article FINE ARTS (Vol. 10, p. 361), and another passage (p. 370), in which he speaks of “the artificers who produce wares primarily for use, in a form, or with embellishments, that have the _secondary virtue of giving pleasure_,” might well be quoted to the supercilious and superficial critic who condemns every product which machinery has brought within the reach of the less fortunately situated. Furniture, made in one form rather than another, because that one form gives greater pleasure, is artistic furniture whether it is made of machined pine chemically stained or of handworked and hand-polished rosewood. The manufacturer and dealer who ingeniously minimize the cost of production and distribution are benefiting the public just as truly as did Thomas Chippendale, “at once an artist and a prosperous man of business,” or Thomas Sheraton, “the great artistic genius who lived in chronic poverty.” The adaptation and variation of their ideas, under modern conditions of manufacture, have given pleasure to tens of thousands for every one whose home was enriched by the original products. [Sidenote: Related Subjects] We have, then, in the furniture business, the combination of an art with an industry of the most practical and useful kind, and this art is one which does more than any other to “express and arouse” the home-cherishing emotions which solidify family life. The principles which underlie architecture, sculpture, painting, metal work, embroidery and the weaving of patterns all affect the design of furniture, since its contours and surfaces are obtained by the application of the structural and decorative laws of all of them, and it might therefore be said that the only course of reading in the Britannica which could fully justify the title of this chapter would be one which covered all these diverse fields. The reader can, however, with the assistance of other chapters of this Guide, easily find his way to the Britannica’s articles on each of these allied subjects, and an indication of the articles dealing specifically with furniture will at any rate serve his primary purpose. [Sidenote: “Art Nouveau” School] The keystone article FURNITURE (Vol. 11, p. 363) is by James Penderel-Brodhurst, one of the greatest of living authorities, to whom many of the subsidiary articles are also due. The 37 illustrations on plate paper include two large views of the most famous and resplendent piece of furniture ever constructed, the cylinder desk, now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, made for Louis XV by a number of “artist-artificers,” the chief among them Oeben and Riesener, with bronze mounts by Duplessis, Winant and Hervieux. The article explains the scanty attention paid to furniture in ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, and throughout the Middle Ages in Western Europe, as due to the routine of life in centuries during which people spent their days in the open air, and went to bed as soon as it was dark, therefore needing but few household appliances. The Renaissance was the first era of sumptuous and elaborately varied furniture; and it was not until the 18th century that the art of the cabinet-maker was fully developed. The English periods of Queen Anne and early Georgian craftsmanship and the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI brought the development to its high-water-mark. Since then, there has been no really new departure except the “art nouveau” school, which professed to be free from all traditions and to seek inspiration from nature alone. The revolution which was thus attempted was not successful, and the permanent influence of the movement will, in all probability, be less notable for its effect upon style than for the very great service it rendered in reviving the use of oak. Lightly polished, fumed or waxed, this wood, which was so long neglected, is the most effective that can be employed at moderate cost. [Sidenote: Beds] The oldest and most indispensable of all furnishings is treated in the article BED (Vol. 3, p. 612). The Egyptians had high bedsteads to which they ascended by steps, and the Assyrians, Medes and Persians followed the same custom. The Greek bed had a wooden frame, with a board at the head, and bands of hide laced across, upon which skins were laid. At a later period, as vase-paintings show, the Greeks used folding beds. Another ancient application of an idea commonly supposed to be of modern origin is found in the Roman use of bronze beds, and metal is so much more sanitary than wood for this purpose that it seems strange it was afterwards discarded for many centuries. The bed of the Emperor Eliogabalus was of solid silver, with counterpane and hangings of purple embroidered in gold. In Pompeii wall-niches for beds, like those still used in Holland, are found, and were apparently closed by sliding partitions as well as by curtains. To our modern ideas, this arrangement seems to have been disgustingly devoid of ventilation, but the four-poster, with its “tester” roof and its curtains, which was widely used until the middle of the 19th century, was not much better. Mattresses developed very slowly, for in the 18th century pea-shucks and straw were the stuffing materials employed in houses of prosperous people, and hair had not come into use. The article gives a full and interesting account of the quaint custom, instituted by Louis XI of France, and followed by many of his royal successors, of a sovereign remaining in bed while he received the visits of his ministers and courtiers. [Sidenote: Chests and Chairs] The chair, to us the commonest of objects, did not come into general use until, as the articles BENCH (Vol. 3, p. 715) and STOOL (Vol. 25, p. 967) indicate, these two had long been the usual seats. The CHEST (Vol. 6, p. 106) was also used as a seat, and was the original form of wardrobe before hanging space and drawers were provided. The ecclesiastical chests, of great length in order that they might contain, without folding, church vestments stiff with embroidery, are the most ornate of all the models of furniture which have been preserved from the 13th and 14th centuries. The article CHAIR (Vol. 5, p. 801) shows that chairs were everywhere uncommon until the middle of the 16th century; and it was not until the 17th was well advanced that upholstery began to be employed for them. The typical Louis XVI chair, with its oval back and ample seat, descending arms, round-reeded legs and gay tapestry was the most beautiful and elaborate model that has ever been devised. But it was the original Chippendale design and the still lighter patterns of Hepplewhite, Sheraton and Adam that gave us the slender, compact and easily moved chairs which will always be the more numerous. It is interesting to observe that the revolving chair, commonly regarded as an office convenience of modern origin, has a pedigree of no less than four centuries. [Sidenote: Bookcases and Desks] It would seem that the old English makers of furniture went somewhat astray when they gave themselves the general designation, still surviving, of “cabinet-makers”; for we learn from the article CABINET (Vol. 4, p. 918) that the elaborate cabinets which have come down to us from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are almost invariably of Italian, Dutch and French origin, and it was in other branches of work that the English were most successful. THE CUPBOARD (Vol. 7, p. 634) was used to contain books long before the BOOKCASE (Vol. 4, p. 221) had assumed a distinct form, and in the earlier bookcases the volumes were either placed on their sides, or, if upright, were ranged with their backs to the wall and their edges outwards. Until printing had cheapened books, it was not the custom to mark the title on the back, and the band of leather which closed the volume, like the strap on an old-fashioned wallet, bore the inscription. Sheraton’s satinwood bookcases were among the most elegant of all his pieces. The DESK (Vol. 8, p. 95) about the year 1750 had assumed the form which is now described as a library table—a flat top with a set of drawers on each side of the writer’s knees, when its vogue was interrupted by the invention of the cylinder-top desk. At first the cover was a solid piece of curved wood, but the “tambour,” or series of slats mounted on canvas proved more serviceable; and the American roll-top desk is now exported to all parts of the world. Other articles dealing with individual pieces of furniture are WARDROBE (Vol. 28, p. 323), SIDEBOARD (Vol. 25, p. 38), DRESSER (Vol. 8, p. 577), CHEFFONIER (Vol. 6, p. 22), CRADLE (Vol. 7, p. 360), BUFFET (Vol. 4, p. 757), and MIRROR (Vol. 18, p. 575). [Sidenote: Technical Articles] Of the more technical articles TIMBER (Vol. 26, p. 978) shows the comparative advantages of all the varieties of wood used for furniture; and, as the list at the end of this chapter shows, there is a separate article on each kind. TOOL (Vol. 27, p. 14), by J. G. Horner, is of great importance. It would fill 75 pages of this Guide, and contains 79 illustrations. The furniture maker will find in it complete information about all the hand tools and machine tools used in the industry. JOINERY (Vol. 15, p. 476), by James Bartlett, describes, with practical diagrams, every variety of joint and dovetail. Sound guidance for the workshop will be found in GLUE (Vol. 12, p. 143), PAINTER-WORK (Vol. 20, p. 457), LAC (Vol. 16, p. 35), LACQUER (Vol. 16, p. 53), in regard to which there is also information in the article JAPAN (Vol. 15, p. 188), FRENCH POLISH (Vol. 11, p. 154), WEAVING, _Industrial Technology_ (Vol. 28, p. 440), DYEING (Vol. 8, p. 744), by Profs. J. J. Hummel and Edmund Knecht; REP (Vol. 23, p. 105), TAPESTRY (Vol. 26, p. 403), with numerous illustrations, by A. S. Cole; SILK, _Manufacture_ (Vol. 25, p. 102); PLUSH (Vol. 21, p. 857), VELVET (Vol. 27, p. 979), MARBLE (Vol. 17, p. 676), by J. S. Flett; ONYX (Vol. 20, p. 118); and ALABASTER (Vol. 1, p. 466). [Sidenote: Decoration and Ornament] [Sidenote: Biographical Articles] Although wood, ivory, precious stones, bronze, silver and gold have been used from antiquity for the decorations of furniture, the modern maker will be more concerned with WOOD-CARVING (Vol. 28, p. 791), illustrated, by F. A. Crallan, author of _Gothic Wood-carving_. In this article materials and methods are described, and there is much information as to the domestic use of wood-carving. The article will be most valuable to manufacturers and dealers who have to do with church fittings. GILDING (Vol. 12, p. 13) and CARVING AND GILDING (Vol. 5, p. 438) impart knowledge of a practical nature as to these processes. The art of inlaying is described in MARQUETRY (Vol. 17, p. 751) and BOMBAY FURNITURE (Vol. 4, p. 185); see also VENEER (Vol. 27, p. 982). Materials other than wood used for inlaying are described, as, for example, PEARL (Vol. 21, p. 25) for pearl and mother of pearl; IVORY (Vol. 15, p. 92), LAPIS LAZULI (Vol. 16, p. 199), TORTOISESHELL (Vol. 27, p. 71), BRASS (Vol. 4, p. 433), etc. The mention of the last two materials naturally suggests the name of BOULLE and the Britannica’s biography of that artist. Such biographies, as anyone interested in the subject knows, are most difficult to find, and they are included in much detail in the new Britannica. BOULLE (Vol. 4, p. 321) was the most distinguished of modern cabinet-makers before the middle of the 18th century; and, beginning with that date, both France and England produced a number of men whose renown is scarcely less than that of the great painters, sculptors, architects or musicians of the period. The Britannica’s accounts of their lives, ideas and work will be of much value and interest to those who make or deal in furniture. For the French schools we get the essential facts about, for example, OEBEN (Vol. 20, p. 11), to whom Louis XV’s famous desk owes its general plan; RIESENER (Vol. 23, p. 324), his more celebrated pupil, who completed the desk; RÖNTGEN, DAVID (Vol. 23, p. 693), the maker of “harlequin furniture,” several of whose ingenious mechanical devices are described; and GOUTHIÈRE (Vol. 12, p. 291), the metal-worker whose furniture mounts are among the most noted art products of the Louis XV and XVI periods. CHIPPENDALE (Vol. 6, p. 237), with whom arose the marvellously brilliant school of English cabinet-makers, is the subject of a biography describing fully the characteristics of his designs; and the history of this school is continued under such headings as HEPPLEWHITE (Vol. 13, p. 305), whose taste at its best “was so fine and so full of distinction, so simple, modest and sufficient that it amounted to genius”; ADAM, ROBERT (Vol. 1, p. 172), who left so deep and enduring a mark upon English furniture, and SHERATON (Vol. 24, p. 841), “the most remarkable man in the history of English furniture,” whose extravagant creations marked the end of the great school. Many other biographies are included in the list appended. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ARTICLES, INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES, IN THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA WHICH ARE OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS Acacia Adam, Robert Agate Ailanthus Alabaster Alder Algum Arabesque Arbor Vitae Armoire Arts and Crafts Ash Bahut Bamboo Baroque Barry, Sir Charles Basin-stand Basket Bed Beech Bérain, Jean Birch Bombay Furniture Bonheur du Jour Bookcase Boulle, André Charles Box Boxwood Brass Brocade Buffet Carving and Gilding Casket Cassone Casuarina Cedar Chair Cheffonier Chenille Cherry Chest Chestnut Chintz Chippendale, Thomas Coco-nut Palm Coffer Console Copal Copeland, Henry Corduroy Cradle Crash Cressent, Charles Cretonne Crunden, John Cryptomeria Cupboard Curtain Cushion Cypress Damask Dammar Date Palm Design Desk Divan Dresser Dumb-Waiter Duramen Dyeing Ebony Electroplating Elm Embossing Encoignure Etagère Fir Footman Frame French Polish Furniture Gilding Gillow, Robert Glue Gouthière, Pierre Halfpenny, William Hazel Hepplewhite, George Hickory Holly Huon Pine Ince, William Ingle-nook Inlaying Iron Ivory Japan, _Art_ Japanning Jarrah Wood Johnson, Thomas Juniper Kauri Pine Lac Lacquer Lampstand Lapis Lazuli Larch Leather Leather, Artificial Le Pautre, Jean Lime, or Linden Linen-press Liquidambar Lock Lock, Matthias Lowboy Mahogany Mammee Apple Manwaring, Robert Maple Maple, Sir John B. Marble Marot, Daniel Marquetry Mastic, or Mastich Mayhew, Thomas Meissonier, J. A. Mirror Moreton Bay Chestnut Morris, William Nettle Tree Oak Oeben, J. F. Olive Onyx Ormolu Ornament Osier Ottoman Overmantel Painter-work Pearl Pergolesi, M. A. Pigments Pine Plane Plush Prie-dieu Rep Resin Riesener, J. H. Rococo Röntgen, David Rosewood Rousseau de la Rottière, J. S. Sabicu Wood Satin Wood Screen Sequoia Settee Settle Shearer, Thomas Sheraton, Thomas Sideboard Silk Sofa Spruce Stall Stool Table Tallboy Tapestry Tea-caddy Teak Tea-poy Textile Printing Throne Ticking Timber Tortoiseshell Tray Triclinium Tripod Turpentine Upholsterer Varnish Velvet Velveteen Vernis Martin Walnut Wardrobe Washstand Weaving What-not Willow Window-cornice Window-seat Wine Table Wood-carving