Meyer Franz. A Handbook of Ornament

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The

Hanging-Cabinet.

—

The

Chest.

—

The

Desk, &c.

451

Plate

255. Tfte

Hanging-cabinet.

Renascence,

German,

(Formenschatz).

Modern, with

intarsia panels,

Dir.

Hammer,

Nuremberg.

Modern,,

arcliitect

Crecelius,

Mainz.

ilodern,

Dir. Gotz,

Carlsruhe

Modern,

Prof.

Haas, Lucerne.

The

Chest.

(Plate

256.)

Chests are

of 'older

date than

Cabinets.

We meet

with

thea

Antique vase-paintings,

and among the

objects

found in

Pompeii.

They

have the form of boxes,

prismatic

widening

towards the

top,

with short legs and

with rich mountings,

nailheads,

&c.

(fig.

1).

In the Middle Ages, the Chest was a

very

popular piece

of fur-

niture. Its form was mostly that of

prismatic

box

without feet,

with

delicate iron mounts, and all kinds of

carving

(figs.

—

5).

Very

often

Chests were

at the same time used as

benches.

The same form

was

retained

the Renascence but

differently

decorated in

accord-

ance with the style of the time.

Besides this, we

have

numerous

examples of smaller Chests with feet and

lids of

pyramid

form, richly

decorated with carving, intarsia,

ivory,

and

metal

reliefs. These

small

Caskets

were

chiefly

used for

jewelry, and

as work-boxes,

etc.,

for

which

purposes

similar

caskets are still

manufactured.

Plate

256.

The

Chest.

Antique, Pompeii, (Menard

Sauvageot).

Mediaeval reliquary, (Viollet-le-Duc).

Mediaeval bench-chest, 13th century MS. (Viollet-le-Duc).

Gothic, carved chestnut

wood

with iron mounts and handles,

century, (Viollet-le-Duc).

Mediaeval, Brampton

church, England, (VioUet-le-Duc).

Renascence, Dutch,

(L'art

pour toua).

7. Renascence, Italian.

8. Renascence, Flemish, 17th

century, (L'art

pour tons).

Miscellaneous.

The Desk,

&c.

(Plate

257.)

The Desk is a stand

with

sloping

top,

which

books and

other

things may

be placed.

Passing

over

Reading-desks, Music-desks,

and other

desks for

secular use,

which as a rule are left

undecorated;

we have

the

desks

used

in churches,

the

"Prie-dieu", the

Lectern,

&c.,

which

are to

some extent

found of rich workmanship as

early

29*

452

FURNITURE.

Plate

256.

The Cheat.

The Desk,

&c.

—

The

Clock-Case, &c

453

the

beginning

the Middle Ages.

They are

made

of wood, or

metal,

both

combined.

We distinguish

between

single

and

double

desks.

The

Lectern

frequently

supported on

the

back

of an

Eagle

with

outspread

wings,

design

which is

supposed

contain

reference

the

Evangelist S.

John, whose

symbol

the

eagle.

Ecclesiastical

desks

eiter have a

fixed position

in the

choir

chancel,

they are

moveable.

These

latter were

sometimes

like a

Saw-horse

and could be

folded -up; in which

case the

slope

was

replaced by

bands (fig.

6).

The

upper part

of fixed desks

frequently

revolves,

and is

furnished

with sconces for

lights.

The Easel is

a sloping

frame with

three or

four legs.

The

front

and rear

are often connected

hinges

enable

the

angle

the

slope to be

altered at

will. The front is

provided with a

small

board,

which can be

adjusted to

difi'erent heights

by pins or other

mechanism.

is an

invention of modern

times;

and in

its

usual

undecorated,

form is

employed

painters,

sculptors, &c.

But

it is

often

made

as a

decorative piece of

furniture of superior finish,

hold

pictures,

portfolios, &c.

The decoration

in this case may

consist

of the

sym-

bols of art, as shown in fig. 7.

Plate 257.

The Desk,

<fcc.

Gothic,

15th

century, base of wood,

slope of

wrought-iron,

eagle

and ball

gilt, dragon

painted groen, S.

Siraphorien,

Nuits,

(VioUet-

le-Duc).

Mediaeval,

San Stefano, Venice, (Mothes).

3. Renascence,

marble, Pisa Cathedral, Italian,

(Kunsthandwerk).

4. Mediaeval,

Double-desk with revolving shaft,

end of

13th century

(Yiollet-le-Duc).

Mediaeval,

Upper

part of Double-desk,

(Viollet-le-Duc).

6. Renascence,

Folding

stand, cathedral,

Gimignano,

Italian,

(Kunst-

handwerk).

Modern

decorative Easel, architect

Durm,

(Gewerbehalle).

The

Clock-Case,

&c.

(Plate

258.)

The Clock-case, as a piece of furniture,

of comparatively

recent

date, for the invention

of the clock with

a train of

wheels

itself

not

old;

and for some time

after their introduction clocks were

manu-

factured without

cases or,

at any

rate,

without

o&ses

of artistic

importance. In

the

century,

cases

for

protecting the works

against

dust and for

giving the

clock a more

pleasing aspect,

begin

to appear.

The forms

at first manufactured were

chiefly

two.

The

first

is that of

the

old-fashioned tall Hall -clock,

something like the

toilet-stands

(figs.

5 and

6),

the

upper

part accommodating

the

clock

454

FURNITUEE.

Plate

257.

The Desk,

&c.

The

Clock-Case,

&c.

455

and tho lower part being destined for the weights. The other form

that of the dwarf drawing-room clock, the weights being replaced

by springs,

that the case does not need to be

tall, and

only

dependent on the

length of

the pendulum. These

clocks

are placed

on chimney-pieces, cabinets,

&c.,

or on pedestals (fig.

1).

third

form, which was

added

later date,

is the

hanging-

case,

intended

for

both

weight and pendulum

clocks.

With

more or less alteration

these forms, together

with

number of

innovations, are in use at the

present time. Pendules and similar constructions are not taken into

account here. Clock-cases are mostly of wood, frequently

decorated

with

gilding, and metal mounts. A special

division, in

respect

material,

formed

the clocks in

Buhl

work. The dials, of

lacquered

wood, porcelain,

metal,

enamelled,

niello-work,

&c., are

often

bordered

by a metal ring and closed

glass

doors. Pendulum

and weight-cases may

either

open or closed; sometimes they have

only

a slit for the

bob.

The sides

of the case are often of

fret-work,

in order that the sound

the striking

work may

be better heard.

Dome

shaped

clocks are sometimes crowned

by a small bell -turret

(fig.

3).

Calendar-clocks,

Cuckoo-clocks, Trumpeter-clocks, and similar

fancy

forms, also require special

constructions. In general, we may

assume that the get-up of our modern regulator and other

clocks is

perfectly familiar

the reader. The starting-points

designing

clock

case are

the

diameter

the dial,

the

depth

of the works, the

distance from the centre of the dial to the centre of the

bob

and the

extent of swing of the pendulum, and (in

the case of Weight-clocks)

the length

which the weights

run.

'It is

possible that

Toilet-stands may have been

met-with

in the

Middle

Ages; but they were not treated

as decorative furniture till

the Renascence. A number of really magnificent

examples from this

period

have been

preserved (fig.

5).

The usual form is that of

slender, tall Cabinet, the

upper and lower parts of which

are

provided

with doors, and

serve to hold various necessary

objects,

while the

centre

takes the form of a niche. In

this

niche

han^rs a

metal

water-

reservoir

with a lid and

a cock; at

the lower

end of

the niche is a

basin

to receive the waste water. Elegant "wrought-iron towel-holders

are

attached. The

two

figures

and

wU give an idea

of the

arrangement

of these pretty

]jieces of

furniture,

which are

now be-

coming

popular again,

after they had been supplanted

and fallen

into

disuse.

Plate

258.

The

Clock-case,

&c.

Barocco, with

pedestal, by Daniel

Marot.

Modern,

with

roof,

by Hans

Steinier, Furtwangen.

Modern,

with

metal ornaments, architect Lauter, Carlsruhe.

4. Modern

Fr. Miltenberger,

Nuremberg.

456 FURNITURE.

Plate 258.

The

Clock-Case,

&c.

The Clock-Case, &c.

—

The Bedstead,

and the

Cradle.

457

Toilet

stand

German Renascence,

1597,

Town-hall, Ueberlingen,

(Gewerbehalle).

Toilet-stand,

various coloured woods,

Gern^an Renascence,

(Formen-

schatz).

The

bedstead, and the Cradle.

(Plates

259

—2G0.)

From the

earliest

the present time, the

Bedstead

has passed

through many

changes. In the Egyptian and

Assyrian styles:

find

metal

Bedsteads imitating the forms of animals (Plate 259.

1, 2);

and

sometimes arranged

fold up like

Camp-bed

(Plate

259.

2).

Those

the Greeks and Romans, which

served

partly

Beds, and

partly

Couches,

are of

manifold

forms. In addition to the

four-legged bench

(Plate 259.

3),

we have benches with

head -board

(Plate 259.

1),

with

head and foot board (Plate

259.

4),

the

latter

being

usually lower

than the former, and

others with head, foot, and

back

boards,

our modem

Sofas (Plate

260.

2).

The

materials are

wood

and metal,

sometimes more

precious materials, ivory,

&c.,

as we

learn

from the

examples found

in Pompeii.

The

same fundamental

idea may

seen

in the

Bedsteads

the earlier

Middle

Ages, which show traces

Byzantine influence,

and

have richly

decorated,

turned

posts,

and

carved sides. The

front

was

often furnished

with an opening

allow

of getting into

the

bed

(Plate

259.

6).

At a later

period the

Bedstead

was

furnished

with

canopied

hangings suspended

from special

rods

fixed to

the

wall.

The

Renascence considerably

enlarged the

size; placed it

on a

podium;

raised the

head-board; and

carried

the legs

higher to receive

the

tester

or canopy -frame,

which

was then

adorned

with drapery

and hangings.

Examples of this period

have been

preserved (Plate 260.

and

2).

the Barocco and

Rococo periods:

textile

materials pre-

dominate,

and

the wooden frame

is neglected.

Then the

so-called

'Tarade-beds'

(Plate

260,

became fashionable.

Modem

times again

have generally simplified

the form.

The

commonest

that

with high foot

and

head -boards

(the latter

often

excess), and low

sides. Tester-bedsteads

have

passed

out

fashion.

The

Cradle

seems

have been

invention

the

Middle

Ages.

By means

pins the little

box or

trough

•

shaped

Bedsteads

were

fixed

frame

in which

they

were moveable;

the legs

the

Bedstead

were

replaced

by curved battens which

admitted

rock-

ing

(Plate

259.

and

9).

The Cradles of the

Renascence

are

similar

form,

often

with

raised

end-boards,

and rich carving.

Owing

to sanitary

objections,

Cradles

have

almost

gone out of

use. Some-

458

FURNITURE.

Plate 259.

The

Bedstead,

.&c.

FURNITURE. 459

The Bedstead, &c. Plate 260.

460

The

Bedstead, and

the

Cradle.

times Cradles are made of metal

rods, like

basket, with the

head

of the

frame raised to support

a canopy.

Plate

259. The Bedstead, &c.

Egyptian, (Menard et

Sauvageot).

Egyptian collapsible

Camp-bedstead.

Greek, vase-painting,

(Menard

Sauvageot).

Roman, 'Porapeian vase-painting,

(Menard et

Sauvageot).

Mediaeval, MS.

the 13th century,

(Viollet-le-Duc).

Mediaeval, MS. of the 12th century,

(Hortus

deliciarum of

Herrad of Landsberg), (Viollet-le-Duc).

Chinese, (L'art

pour

tous).

—9. Mediaeval Cradles, (Viollet-le-Duc).

Plate

260. The Bedsteajd, &c.

Renascence, Plantin

Museum, Antwerp,

(Gewerbehalle).

Renascence,

French, Cluny Museum,

Paris,

(L'art

pour

tous).

Barocco,

Parade-bedstead,

Daniel

Marot.

4 Renascence,

-Head

-board of

Cradle,

French,

gilt

ornaments

red ground

(L'art

pour

tous).