PANEL OF CARVED OAK.PANEL OF CARVED OAK.ENGLISH; EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY.Showing interlaced strapwork.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
The result of this wave of fashion on the domestic furniture of England was to impart to it the elegance of Italian art combined with a national sturdiness of character seemingly inseparable from English art at all periods. As the reign of Queen Elizabeth extended from the year 1558 to the year 1603, it isusual to speak of architecture and furniture of the latter half of the sixteenth century as Elizabethan.
A favourite design in Elizabethan woodwork is the interlaced strapwork (see illustration p.68), which was derived from similar designs employed by the contemporary stonecarver, and is found on Flemish woodwork of the same period. The panel of a sixteenth-century Flemish virginal, carved in walnut, illustrated, shows this form of decoration. Grotesque terminal figures, half-human, half-monster, supported the front of the buffets, or were the supporting terminals of cornices. This feature is an adaptation from the Caryatides, the supporting figures used instead of columns in architecture, which in Renaissance days extended to woodwork. Table-legs and bed-posts swelled into heavy, acorn-shaped supports of massive dimensions. Cabinets were sometimes inlaid, as was also the room panelling, but it cannot be said that at this period the art of marquetry had arrived at a great state of perfection in this country.
It is noticeable that in the rare pieces that are inlaid in the Late Tudor and Early Jacobean period the inlay itself is a sixteenth of an inch thick, whereas in later inlays of more modern days the inlay is thinner and flimsier. In the Flemish examples ivory was often used, and holly and sycamore and box seem to have been the favourite woods selected for inlay.
Take, for example, the mirror with the frame of carved oak, with scroll outline and narrow bands inlaid with small squares of wood, alternately light and dark. This inlay is very coarsely done, andunworthy to compare with Italian marquetry of contemporary date, or of an earlier period. The uprights and feet of the frame, it will be noticed, are baluster-shaped. The glass mirror is of nineteenth-century manufacture. The date carved upon the frame is 1603, the first year of the reign of James I., and it is stated to have come from Derby Old Hall.
MIRROR.MIRROR.Glass in oak frame with carved scroll outline and narrow bands inlaid with small squares of wood. The glass nineteenth century.ENGLISH. DATED 1603.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
The Court cupboard, also of the same date, begins to show the coming style of Jacobean ornamentation in the turning in the upright pillars and supports and the square baluster termination. The massive carving and elaborate richness of the early Elizabethan period have given place to a more restrained decoration. Between the drawers is the design of a tulip in marquetry, and narrow bands of inlay are used to decorate the piece. In place of the chimerical monsters we have a portrait in wood of a lady, for which Arabella Stuart might have sat as model. The days were approaching when furniture was designed for use, and ornament was put aside if it interfered with the structural utility of the piece. The wrought-iron handle to the drawer should be noted, and in connection with the observation brought to bear by the beginner on genuine specimens in the Victoria and Albert Museum and other collections, it is well not to let any detail escape minute attention. Hinges and lock escutcheons and handles to drawers must not be neglected in order to acquire a sound working knowledge of the peculiarities of the different periods.
COURT CUPBOARD, CARVED OAK.COURT CUPBOARD, CARVED OAK.ENGLISH. DATED 1603.Decorated with narrow bands inlaid, and having inlaid tulip between drawers.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
In contrast with this specimen, the elaborately carved Court cupboard of a slightly earlier periodshould be examined. It bears carving on every available surface. It has been "restored," and restored pieces have an unpleasant fashion of suggesting that sundry improvements have been carried out in the process. At any rate, as it stands it is over-laboured, and entirely lacking in reticence. The elaboration of enrichment, while executed in a perfectly harmoniousmanner, should convey a lesson to the student of furniture. There is an absence of contrast; had portions of it been left uncarved how much more effective would have been the result! As it is it stands, wonderful as is the technique, somewhat of a warning to the designer to cultivate a studied simplicity rather than to run riot in a profusion of detail.
COURT CUPBOARD, CARVED OAK.COURT CUPBOARD, CARVED OAK.ABOUT 1580. (RESTORED.)(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
Another interesting Court cupboard, of the early seventeenth century, shows the more restrained style that was rapidly succeeding the earlier work. This piece is essentially English in spirit, and is untouched save the legs, which have been restored.
COURT CUPBOARD, EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.By kind permission of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq.COURT CUPBOARD, EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.With secret hiding-place at top.
The table which is illustrated (p.78) is a typical example of the table in ordinary use in Elizabethan days. This table replaced a stone altar in a church in Shropshire at the time of the Reformation.
It was late in the reign of Queen Elizabeth that upholstered chairs became more general. Sir John Harrington, writing in 1597, gives evidence of this inthe assertion that "the fashion of cushioned chayrs is taken up in every merchant's house." Wooden seats had hitherto not been thought too hard, and chairs imported from Spain had leather seats and backs of fine tooled work richly gilded and decorated. In the latter days of Elizabeth loose cushions were used for chairs and for window seats, and were elaborately wrought in velvet, or were of satin embroidered in colours, with pearls as ornamentation, and edged with gold or silver lace.
The upholstered chair belongs more properly to the Jacobean period, and in the next chapter will be shown several specimens of those used by James I.
In Elizabethan panelling to rooms, in chimneypieces, doorways, screens such as those built across the end of a hall and supporting the minstrels' gallery, the wood used was nearly always English oak, and most of the thinner parts, such as that designed for panels and smaller surfaces, was obtained by splitting the timber, thus exhibiting the beautiful figure of the wood so noticeable in old examples.
£s.d.Chest, oak, with inlaid panels under arches, with caryatid figures carved in box-wood, English, temp. Elizabeth. Christie, January 29, 1904.4090}Tudor mantelpiece, with elaborately carved jambs, panels, brackets, sides, and cornice, 6 ft. by 7 ft. 3 in. high. Herbert Wright, Ipswich, February 19, 190415500Old oak panelling, in all about 60 ft. run and 6 ft. 6 in. high, with 17 carved panels and 3 fluted pilasters fitted in same, part being surmounted by a cornice. Herbert Wright, Ipswich, February 19, 1904Credence, walnut-wood, with a cupboard and drawer above and shelf beneath, the corners are returned, the central panel has carved upon it, in low relief, circular medallions, pierced steel hinges and lock, 36 in. wide, 50 in. high, early sixteenth century. Christie, May 6, 190434600Bedstead, Elizabethan, with panelled and carved canopy top, supported by fluted and carved pillars, inlaid and panelled back, with raised figures and flowers in relief, also having a carved panelled footboard. C. W. Provis & Son, Manchester, May 9, 190422100Bedstead, oak Elizabethan, with carved back, dated 1560, and small cupboard fitted with secret sliding panel, and further having carved and inlaid panelled top with inlaid panels, the whole surmounted with heavy cornice. C. W. Provis & Son, Manchester, May 9, 19043300Sideboard, Elizabethan old oak, 6 ft. 2 in. wide by 7 ft. 6 in. high, with carved canopy top; also fitted with gallery shelf, supported by lions rampant. C. W. Provis & Son, Manchester. May 9, 19046000
ELIZABETHAN OAK TABLE.By kindness of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq.ELIZABETHAN OAK TABLE.
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
GATE-LEG TABLE.By permission of Messrs. Waring.GATE-LEG TABLE.
James I. 1603-1625.Charles I. 1625-1649.The Commonwealth. 1649-1660.1619.Tapestry factory established at Mortlake, under Sir Francis Crane.—— Banqueting Hall added to Whitehall by Inigo Jones.1632.Vandyck settled in London on invitation of Charles I.1651.Navigation Act passed; aimed blow (1572-1652) at Dutch carrying trade. All goods to be imported in English ships or in ships of country producing goods.
James I. 1603-1625.
Charles I. 1625-1649.
The Commonwealth. 1649-1660.
1619.Tapestry factory established at Mortlake, under Sir Francis Crane.
—— Banqueting Hall added to Whitehall by Inigo Jones.
1632.Vandyck settled in London on invitation of Charles I.
1651.Navigation Act passed; aimed blow (1572-1652) at Dutch carrying trade. All goods to be imported in English ships or in ships of country producing goods.
With the advent of the House of Stuart the England under James I. saw new fashions introduced in furniture. It has already been mentioned that thegreater number of old houses which are now termed Tudor or Elizabethan were erected in the days of James I. At the beginning of a new monarchy fashion in art rarely changes suddenly, so that the early pieces of Jacobean furniture differ very little from Elizabethan in character. Consequently the Court cupboard, dated 1603, and mirror of the same year (illustrated on p.70), though bearing the date of the first year of the reign of James, more properly belong to Tudor days.
In the Bodleian Library at Oxford there is preserved a chair of fine workmanship and of historic memory. It was made from the oak timbers of theGolden Hind, the ship in which Sir Francis Drake made his adventurous voyage of discovery round the world. In spite of many secret enemies "deaming him the master thiefe of the unknowne world," Queen Elizabeth came to Deptford and came aboard theGolden Hindand "there she did make Captain Drake knight, in the same ship, for reward of his services; his armes were given him, a ship on the world, which ship, by Her Majestie's commandment, is lodged in a dock at Deptford, for a monument to all posterity."
OAK CHAIR MADE FROM THE TIMBER OF THE GOLDEN HIND.By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."OAK CHAIR MADE FROM THE TIMBER OF THE GOLDEN HIND. COMMONLY CALLED "SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S CHAIR."(At the Bodleian Library.)
It remained for many years at Deptford dockyard, and became the resort of holiday folk, who made merry in the cabin, which was converted into a miniature banqueting hall; but when it was too far decayed to be repaired it was broken up, and a sufficient quantity of sound wood was selected from it and made into a chair, which was presented to the University of Oxford. This was in the time of Charles II., and the poet Cowley has written somelines on it, in which he says that Drake and hisGolden Hindcould not have wished a more blessed fate, since to "this Pythagorean ship"
" ... a seat of endless rest is givenTo her in Oxford, and to him in heaven—"
" ... a seat of endless rest is givenTo her in Oxford, and to him in heaven—"
which, though quite unintentional on the part of the poet, is curiously satiric.
The piece is highly instructive as showing the prevailing design for a sumptuous chair in the late seventeenth century. The middle arch in the back of the chair is disfigured by a tablet with an inscription, which has been placed there.
OAK TABLE.By permission of the Master of the Charterhouse.OAK TABLE, DATED 1616, BEARING ARMS OF THOMAS SUTTON, FOUNDER OF THE CHARTERHOUSE HOSPITAL.
Of the early days of James I. is a finely carved oak table, dated 1616. This table is heavily moulded andcarved with garlands between cherubs' heads, and shields bearing the arms of Thomas Sutton, the founder of the Charterhouse Hospital. The upper part of the table is supported on thirteen columns, with quasi-Corinthian columns and enriched shafts, standing on a mouldedH-shaped base. It will be seen that the designers had not yet thrown off the trammels of architecture which dominated much of the Renaissance woodwork. The garlands are not the garlands of Grinling Gibbons, and although falling within the Jacobean period, it lacks the charm which belong to typical Jacobean pieces.
At Knole, in the possession of Lord Sackville, there are some fine specimens of early Jacobean furniture, illustrations of which are included in this volume. The chair used by King James I. when sitting to the painter Mytens is of peculiar interest. The cushion, worn and threadbare with age, is in all probability the same cushion used by James. The upper part of the chair is trimmed with a band of gold thread. The upholstering is red velvet, and the frame, which is of oak, bears traces of gilding upon it, and is studded with copper nails. The chair in design, with the half circular supports, follows old Venetian patterns. The smaller chair is of the same date, and equally interesting as a fine specimen; the old embroidery, discoloured and worn though it be, is of striking design and must have been brilliant and distinctive three hundred years ago. The date of these pieces is about 1620, the year when the "Pilgrim Fathers" landed in America.
CHAIR USED BY JAMES I.By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."CHAIR USED BY JAMES I.In the possession of Lord Sackville.
From the wealth of Jacobean furniture at Knole itis difficult to make a representative selection, but the stool we reproduce (p.90) is interesting, inasmuch as it was a piece of furniture in common use. The chairs evidently were State chairs, but the footstoolwas used in all likelihood by those who sat below the salt, and were of less significance. The stuffed settee which finds a place in the billiard-room at Knole and the sumptuous sofa in the Long Gallery, with its mechanical arrangement for altering the angle at the head, are objects of furniture difficult to equal. The silk and gold thread coverings are faded, and the knotted fringe and gold braid have tarnished under the hand of Time, but their structural design is so effective that the modern craftsman has made luxurious furniture after these models.
JACOBEAN CHAIR AT KNOLE.By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."JACOBEAN CHAIR AT KNOLE.In the possession of Lord Sackville.
JACOBEAN STOOL AT KNOLE.By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."JACOBEAN STOOL AT KNOLE.In the possession of Lord Sackville.
UPPER HALF OF CARVED WALNUT DOOR.UPPER HALF OF CARVED WALNUT DOOR.Showing ribbon work.FRENCH; LATTER PART OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.(Height of door, 4 ft. 7 in.; width, 1 ft. 11 in.)(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
Carved oak chests were not largely made in Jacobean days—not, at any rate, for the same purpose as they were in Tudor or earlier times. As churchcoffers they doubtless continued to be required, but for articles of domestic furniture other than as linen chests their multifarious uses had vanished. Early Jacobean coffers clearly show the departure from Elizabethan models. They become more distinctly English in feeling, though the interlaced ribbon decoration, so frequently used, is an adaptation from French work, which pattern was now becoming acclimatised. The French carved oak coffer of the second half of the sixteenth century (illustrated p.61) shows from what source some of the English designs were derived.
In the portion of the French door which we give as an illustration (on p.91), it will be seen with what grace and artistic excellence of design and with what restraint the French woodcarvers utilised the running ribbon. The ribbon pattern has been variously used by designers of furniture; it appears in Chippendale's chair-backs, where it almost exceeds the limitations of the technique of woodcarving.
Art in the early days of Charles I. was undimmed. The tapestry factory at Mortlake, established by James I., was further encouraged by the "White King." He took a great and a personal interest in all matters relating to art. Under his auspices the cartoons of Raphael were brought to England to foster the manufacture of tapestry. He gave his patronage to foreign artists and to foreign craftsmen, and in every way attempted to bring English art workers into line with their contemporaries on the Continent. Vandyck came over to become "Principal painter of Their Majesties at St. James's," keeping open table at Blackfriars and living in almost regalstyle. His grace and distinction and the happy circumstance of his particular style being coincident with the most picturesque period in English costume, have won him a place among the world's great painters. Fine portraits, at Windsor and at Madrid, at Dresden and at the Pitti Palace, at the Louvre and in the Hermitage at Petersburg, testify to the European fame of the painter's brilliant gallery representing the finest flower of the English aristocracy, prelates, statesmen, courtiers and beautiful women that were gathered together at the Court of Charles I. and his Queen Henrietta Maria.
OAK CHAIR.OAK CHAIR.CHARLES I. PERIOD.With arms of Thomas Wentworth, first Earl of Strafford (1593-1641).(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
In Early Stuart days the influence of Inigo Jones, the Surveyor of Works to Charles I., made itself felt in woodwork and interior decorations. He was possessed with a great love and reverence for the classicism of Italy, and introduced into his banqueting hall at Whitehall (now the United Service Museum), and St. Paul's, Covent Garden, a chaster style, which was taken up by the designers of furniture, who began to abandon the misguided use of ornament of later Elizabethandays. In the Victoria and Albert Museum is an oak chair with the arms of Thomas Wentworth, first Earl of Strafford, which, in addition to its historic interest, is a fine example of the chair of the period of Charles I. (illustrated p.93).
ITALIAN CHAIR.ITALIAN CHAIR, ABOUT 1620.Thence introduced into England.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
It is certain that the best specimens of Jacobean furniture of this period, with their refined lines andwell-balanced proportions, are suggestive of the stately diction of Clarendon or the well-turned lyrics of Herrick.
HIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR.By permission of Messrs. Hampton & SonHIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR. EARLY JACOBEAN.Elaborately carved with shell and scroll foliage.(Formerly in the Stuart MacDonald family, and originally in the possession of King Charles I.)
In the illustration of a sixteenth-century chair in common use in Italy, it will be seen to what source the Jacobean woodworkers looked for inspiration. The fine, high-backed oak Stuart chair, elaborately carved with bold shell and scroll foliage, having carved supports, stuffed upholstered seats, and loose cushion covered in old Spanish silk damask, is a highly interesting example. It was long in the possession of the Stuart MacDonald family, and is believed to have belonged to Charles I.
The gate-leg table, sometimes spoken of as Cromwellian, belongs to this Middle Jacobean style. It cannot be said with any degree of accuracy that in the Commonwealth days a special style of furniture was developed. From all evidence it would seem that the manufacture of domestic furniture went on in much the same manner under Cromwell as under Charles. Iconoclasts as were the Puritans, it is doubtful whether they extended their work of destructionto articles in general use. The bigot had "no starch in his linen, no gay furniture in his house." Obviously the Civil War very largely interfered with the encouragement and growth of the fine arts, but when furniture had to be made there is no doubt the Roundhead cabinetmaker and the Anabaptist carpenter produced as good joinery and turning as they did before Charles made his historic descent upon the House in his attempt to arrest the five members.
There is a style of chair, probably imported from Holland, with leather back and leather seat which is termed "Cromwellian," probably on account of its severe lines, but there is no direct evidence that this style was peculiarly of Commonwealth usage. The illustration (p.97) gives the type of chair, but the covering is modern.
That Cromwell himself had no dislike for the fine arts is proved by his care of the Raphael cartoons, and we are enabled to reproduce an illustration of a fine old ebony cabinet with moulded front, fitted with numerous drawers, which was formerly the property of Oliver Cromwell. It was at Olivers Stanway, once the residence of the Eldred family. The stand is carved with shells and scrolls, and the scroll-shaped legs are enriched with carved female figures, the entire stand being gilded. This piece is most probably of Italian workmanship, and was of course made long before the Protector's day, showing marked characteristics of Renaissance style.
JACOBEAN CHAIRS.JACOBEAN CHAIR, CANE BACKCROMWELLIAN CHAIR.ARMCHAIR. DATED 1623.ARMCHAIR. WITH INLAID BACK.JACOBEAN CHAIRS.(By permission of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq.)
JACOBEAN CHAIR, CANE BACKCROMWELLIAN CHAIR.ARMCHAIR. DATED 1623.ARMCHAIR. WITH INLAID BACK.JACOBEAN CHAIRS.(By permission of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq.)
The carved oak cradle (p.107), with the letters "G. B. M. B." on one side, and "October, 14 dai," on the other, and bearing the date 1641, shows the type ofpiece in common use. It is interesting to the collector to make a note of the turned knob of wood so often found on doors and as drawer handles on untouched old specimens of this period, but very frequently removed by dealers and replaced by metalhandles of varying styles, all of which may be procured by the dozen in Tottenham Court Road, coarse replicas of old designs. Another point worthy of attention is the wooden peg in the joinery, securing the tenon into the mortice, which is visible in old pieces. It will be noticed in several places in this cradle. In modern imitations, unless very thoughtfully reproduced, these oaken pegs are not visible.
EBONY CABINET.By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons.EBONY CABINET.On stand gilded and richly carved.FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF OLIVER CROMWELL.(From Olivers Stanway, at one time the seat of the Eldred family.)
In the page of Jacobean chairs showing the various styles, the more severe piece, dated 1623, is Early Jacobean, and the fine unrestored armchair of slightly later date shows in the stretcher the wear given by the feet of the sitters. It is an interesting piece; the stiles in the back are inlaid with pearwood and ebony. The other armchair with its cane panels in back is of later Stuart days. It shows the transitional stage between the scrolled-arm type of chair, wholly of wood, and the more elaborate type (illustrated p.123) of the James II. period.
JACOBEAN CARVED OAK CHAIRS.JACOBEAN CARVED OAK CHAIRS.Yorkshire, about 1640.Derbyshire; early seventeenth century.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
JACOBEAN OAK CUPBOARD.By permission of the Rt. Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, G.C.B, I.S.O.JACOBEAN OAK CUPBOARD. ABOUT 1620.
In addition to the finer pieces of seventeenth-century furniture to be found in the seats of the nobility, such as at Penshurst, or in the manor houses and homes of the squires and smaller landowners, there was much furniture of a particularly good design in use at farmsteads from one end of the country to the other, in days when a prosperous class of yeoman followed the tastes of their richer neighbours. This farmhouse furniture is nowadays much sought after. It was of local manufacture, and is distinctly English in its character. Oak dressers either plain or carved, were made not only in Wales—"Welsh Dressers" having become almost a tradeterm—but in various parts of England, in Yorkshire, in Derbyshire, in Sussex, and in Suffolk. They are usually fitted with two or three open shelves, and sometimes with cupboards on each side. The better preserved specimens have still their old drop-handles and hinges of brass. It is not easy to procure fine examples nowadays, as it became fashionable two or three years ago to collect these, and in addition to oak dressers from the farmhouses of Normandy, equally old and quaint, which were imported to supply a popular demand, a great number of modern imitations were made up from old wood—church pews largely forming the framework of the dressers, which were not difficult to imitate successfully.
The particular form of chair known as the "Yorkshire chair" is of the same period. Certain localities seem to have produced peculiar types of chairs which local makers made in great numbers. It will be noticed that even in these conditions, with a continuous manufacture going on, the patterns were not exact duplicates of each other, as are the machine-made chairs turned out of a modern factory, where the maker has no opportunity to introduce any personal touches, but has to obey the iron law of his machine.
As a passing hint to collectors of old oak furniture, it may be observed that it very rarely happens that two chairs can be found together of the same design. There may be a great similarity of ornament and a particularly striking resemblance, but the chair with its twin companion beside it suggests that one, if not both, are spurious. The same peculiarity is exhibited in old brass candlesticks, and especially the old Dutchbrass with circular platform in middle of candlestick. One may handle fifty without finding two that are turned with precisely the same form of ornament.
The usual feature of the chair which is termed "Yorkshire" is that it has an open back in the form of an arcade, or a back formed with two crescent-shaped cross-rails, the decorations of the back usually bearing acorn-shaped knobs either at the top of the rail or as pendants. This type is not confined to Yorkshire, as they have frequently been found in Derbyshire, in Oxfordshire, and in Worcestershire, and a similar variety may be found in old farmhouses in East Anglia.
In the illustration of the two oak chairs (p.105), the one with arms is of the Charles I. period, the other is later and belongs to the latter half of the seventeenth century.
The Jacobean oak cupboard (illustrated p.101) is in date about 1620. At the side there are perforations to admit air, which shows that it was used as a butter cupboard. The doors have an incised decoration of conventional design. The lower part is carved in style unmistakably Jacobean in nature. The pattern on the two uprights at the top is repeatedly found in pieces evidently designed locally for use in farmhouses.
It is not too much to hope that enough has been said concerning Jacobean furniture of the early and middle seventeenth century to show that it possesses a peculiar charm and simplicity in the lines of its construction, which make it a very pleasing study to the earnest collector who wishes to procure a fewgenuine specimens of old furniture, which, while being excellent in artistic feeling, are not unprocurable by reason of their rarity and excessive cost. It should be within the power of the careful collector, after following the hints in this volume, and after examining well-selected examples in such a collection as that at the Victoria and Albert Museum, to obtain, without unreasonable expenditure, after patient search, one or two Jacobean pieces of undoubted authenticity.
JACOBEAN OAK CHAIRS.By permission of Messrs. Fenton & Sons.JACOBEAN OAK CHAIRS.Armchair, time of Charles I.Yorkshire chair.Late seventeenth century.
£s.d.Cabinet, Jacobean oak, with two drawers, and folding doors below enclosing drawers, decorated with rectangular panels in relief, inlaid in ebony and ivory, and with baluster columns at the side—48 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie, November 27, 19034420Cabinet, Jacobean black oak, 5 ft. wide by 6 ft. 2 in. high, fitted with cupboards above and below, with sunk panelled folding doors, carved with busts of warriors in high relief, the pilasters carved with mask heads and caryatid figures, the whole carved with floral scrolls and other devices. Capes, Dunn & Pilcher, Manchester, December 9, 19035700Chairs, set of three Jacobean oak, with canework seats, and panels in the backs, the borders carved with scrolls, and on scroll legs with stretchers. Christie, January 29, 190452100Table, Cromwell, oak, on spiral legs. Dowell, Edinburgh, March 12, 19041106Elbow-chair, oak, Scotch, back having carved wheel, "A. R., 1663." Dowell, Edinburgh, March 12, 190460180Cabinet, Jacobean oak, with drawer and folding doors below, with moulded rectangular panels and balusters in relief, 50 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie, July 1, 190435140
CRADLE, TIME OF CHARLES I.CRADLE, TIME OF CHARLES I.CARVED OAK; WITH LETTERS G. B. M. B. DATED 1641.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSE.(After picture by Caspar Netscher)INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSE.LATTER HALF OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Charles II. 1660-1685.James II. 1685-1688.William and Mary. 1689-1694.William. 1694-1702.Sir Christopher Wren. (1632-1723).Grinling Gibbons. (1648-1726).1660.Bombay became a British possession. Importation of Indo-Portuguese furniture.1666.Great Fire in London. Much valuable furniture destroyed.1675-1710.St. Paul's Cathedral built under Wren's direction.1685.Edict of Nantes revoked. Spitalfields' silk industry founded by French refugees.
Charles II. 1660-1685.
James II. 1685-1688.
William and Mary. 1689-1694.
William. 1694-1702.
Sir Christopher Wren. (1632-1723).
Grinling Gibbons. (1648-1726).
1660.Bombay became a British possession. Importation of Indo-Portuguese furniture.
1666.Great Fire in London. Much valuable furniture destroyed.
1675-1710.St. Paul's Cathedral built under Wren's direction.
1685.Edict of Nantes revoked. Spitalfields' silk industry founded by French refugees.
CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.With exterior finely decorated with needlework.
After the Civil War, when Charles II. came into his own again, the furniture of the Restoration periodmost certainly took its colour from the gay Court with which the Merry Monarch surrounded himself. The cabinet which we reproduce has the royal arms embroidered on the cover, and is a beautiful exampleof intricate cabinetmaking. The surface of the piece is entirely covered with needlework. On the front stand a cavalier and lady, hand-in-hand. On the side panel a cavalier is leading a lady on horseback.On the back a man drives a laden camel, and on another panel is shown the traveller being received by an old man in the grounds of the same castle which appears all through the scenes. This suggests the love-story of some cavalier and his lady. The casket is worthy to have held the love-letters of the Chevalier Grammont to La Belle Hamilton.
CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.By permission of the proprietors of the "Connoisseur."CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.Showing interior and nest of drawers.
As is usual in pieces of this nature, the cabinet contains many artfully devised hiding places. A tiny spring behind the lock reveals one secret drawer, and another is hidden beneath the inkwell. There are in all five of such secret compartments—or rather five of them have been at present discovered—there may be more. The illustration of the cabinet open shows what a nest of drawers it holds.
In the days of plots, when Titus Oates set half the nation by the ears, when James solemnly warned the merry Charles of plots against his life, provoking the cynical retort, "They will never kill me, James, to make you king," secret drawers were no doubt a necessity to a fashionable cabinet.
Catherine of Braganza, his queen, brought with her from Portugal many sumptuous fashions in furniture, notably cabinets and chairs of Spanish and Portuguese workmanship. The cavaliers scattered by the Civil War returned, and as in their enforced exile on the Continent they had cultivated foreign tastes, it was only natural that Dutch, French, and Italian work found its way to this country and effected the character of the early furniture of the Charles II. period. From Portugal came the high-backed chair, having the back and the seat of leather cut with finedesign, and coloured or gilded. This leather work is of exquisite character, and we reproduce a portion of a Portuguese chair-back of this period to show the artistic excellence of the design. With Catherine of Braganza came the marriage dower of Bombay, and from India, where the settlement of Goa had been Portuguese for centuries, were sent to Europe the carved chairs in ebony, inlaid in ivory, made by the native workmen from Portuguese and Italian models, but enriched with pierced carving and intricate inlay of ivory in a manner which only an Oriental craftsman can produce. Having become fashionable in Portugal, they made their appearance in England, and rapidly became popular. At Penshurst Place there are several fine specimens of this Indo-Portuguese work, with the spindles of the chair-backs of carved ivory; and in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford there is the well-known chair which was presented by Charles II. to Elias Ashmole.