Development in Dwellings

No. 95. Jacobean Wood Carving. Palace of Bromley-by-Bow.

The chimney-piece might be in wood, stone or marble, and while there were many varieties of treatment, the designs readily fall under one general type. Columns or pilasters flanked the opening,

No. 96. Jacobean Chimney-piece. Palace of Bromley-by-Bow.

carrying an entablature consisting of architrave frieze and cornice, the latter forming a shelf. Above this there was a similar arrangement, but on a smaller scale and with finer proportions. The space between the columns above the shelf was usually filled with carving, which sometimes took the form of armorial bearings. In manyexamples the upper part is divided into two panels, which were generally filled with carved ornament such as strapwork or shields charged with heraldic devices.

Where the chimney-piece was of wood, the fireplace opening was surrounded by a stone lining, which had moulded splays on the upright jambs. In earlier examples the jambs were connected by a flattened arch with carved spandrils. In later work a horizontal panel was employed or a frieze of carved detail.

The opening itself was wide, and was lined with brick or stone. The interior was occupied by a fire-back of cast-iron and a movable grate or basket supported on dogs.

No. 97. Jacobean Door, shewing absense of architrave.

Doors were at first merely a part of the panelling without hanging frames, but later they were treated as important features of the rooms. They were often framed with columns and pilasters, surmounted by entablatures, with or without pediments. Obelisks were sometimes placed over the pilasters. The friezewas fluted or carved. In many cases the tympanum of the pediment or even one of the door panels bore the owner’s coat of arms.

In the earlier phases the mouldings framing the panels were simple in form, and worked on the stiles and rails. But later they were applied, being wider in display and more elaborate in section. These applied mouldings, evidently the result of mechanical appliances, later led to extreme license in broken angles and panellings of complicated form.

No. 98. Jacobean Doors.

Ceilings, and occasionally the frieze, were in plaster, decorated with intersecting ribs, or bands dividing the surface into compartments geometric in shape, andfurther enriched with stamped or modelled ornament.

Windows were relatively small as to individual openings, large lighting areas being obtained by grouping a number of these side by side, and also in tiers, the dividing bars or mullions being either in wood or stone.

Glazing took the form of small pieces of glass united by lead frames, commonly arranged in trellis form, resulting in diamond-shaped pieces. Occasionally painted or coloured glass was used, generally in heraldic devices in the upper portions of the windows.

The windows themselves were frequently deeply embayed.

The growing appreciation of domestic comfort, evident in the general arrangement of the buildings of this period, is also apparent in the furniture, which from this time approximates somewhat to the modern forms, though still crude, and leaving much to be desired in the way of personal comfort.

No. 99. Oak Table, English. 17th century.

Tables, which had hitherto been mere portable boards laid on trestles, or, if fixed, were on heavy legs with rails below, developed into more useful forms. These were the draw-inge table which could be extended by drawing out two flaps worked on runners frombeneath the normal top, and the gate-leg table, which in principle resembled the modern folding type. Large tables were formed by putting a number of gate-leg tables together, and when not so in use they could be placed in different parts of the room.

No. 100. English Chairs, early 17th century.

Legs and the under rails of chairs and tables were turned in the lathe, and the carved details were invariably simple and direct in execution, similar in character to much of the work in the early French Renaissance, in contrast to the Italian carving, which was in high relief and plastic in character.

The majority of examples in our national collection of this period are of Court furniture, and cannot be taken as typical of what was in common use. The over-ornamented Italian work compares unfavourably withthe English Jacobean furniture, in which utility is obvious and the decoration subordinate and to the purpose.

Oak was chiefly employed in England, but in Italy, and later in France, walnut was much used.

No. 101. English Chair, middle of 17th century, influenced by Italian design.

Panelling was prevalent for interiors in the Italian and French Renaissance. In Italy, where the art of weaving had been preserved at Lucca, and other places, tapestry was also frequently employed as wall hangings, also as coverings for upholstered work.

No. 102. Oak Chair, English, 17th century.

Compared with the earlier period, this was a time of luxury and display, favourable to the arts generally.

Painting, freed from the restrictions of the church, broke away from the Byzantine traditions, and revelling in realism, lost to some extent its decorative character.

No. 103.

Under patronage, the individual artist and craftsman was allowed to develop on his own lines, and no longer worked under the dominance of the architect. Demand, owing to growing appreciation of artistic production, eventuated in the evolution of the professional designer.

No. 104.

Although the Renaissance had come to stay, the manner of its interpretation in England by the native workers was very far removed from the Italian school which had supplied the first impulse, until the advent of Inigo Jones in the reign of James I. This artist, who had visited Italy and studied principally the architecture of Palladio and his school, was appointed King’s Surveyor of Works. Under his influence proportions and details were used, which conformed more nearly to classic types.

Born about 1572A.D., he studied in Italy, where he became acquainted with the work of Palladio, and was a follower of the Venetian school.

Dying in 1652, he left a tradition which would have had a more immediate effect but for the internecine troubles of the later period of his life.

No. 105. Banqueting House, Whitehall. Inigo Jones.

A typical example of his work in London is the Banqueting House in Whitehall, the only part built of the projected palace for James I, now used as a museum by the United Service Institution. Also the Church of St. Paul, Covent Garden.

By the time of Louis XIII the principles of the Renaissance had become thoroughly assimilated in France, and a native school of architecture had arisen of marked distinction. France from then onward took the initiative, though strongly influenced by the Venetian school.

The orders were used consistently as to proportion and detail, but in the decoration considerable development in character is manifest.

The general construction and details developed on

No. 106. Louis XIII. Luxembourg Pavilion Entrance, by Salamon de Brose, 1615-24.

more architectural lines, and shew a better appreciation of the Italian originals. Pilasters were used to divide the wall surfaces, these and the entablaturesclosely following in detail the classic types. Panels were much wider than in the preceding style, generally occupying the whole space between the pilasters. The usual arrangement for these panels was to have them in two tiers—the shallow ones confined to the lower portions of walls and those of deeper proportions above. Fireplaces and doors were surrounded by boldly moulded architraves, and surmounted by panels occupied by carved details of scroll-work and foliage.

No. 107. Ste. Marie, Nevers. Louis XIII. Example of Barocco (Flemish influence).

No. 108. Upholstered Chair. Louis XIII.

Ceilings were modelled in stucco and sub-divided into compartments, which were richly moulded, and in some cases decorated with paintings.

During the reign of Louis XIII, chairs were made more comfortable by being upholstered in velvet, tapestry or needlework, instead of being smothered with carving. The frames were covered by velvet or other material, leaving onlythe legs and arms visible, and these were but slightly carved.

In France the Renaissance reached its highest degree of splendour in the reign of Louis XIV.

No. 109. Louis XIV. Louvre, Paris, by Perrault.

The palace of Versailles, designed by Jules Hardouin Mansart, was completed, and French designers were many and famous. Amongst the most prominent were Lebrun, who was responsible for much of the interior work at Versailles, Jean and Claude Berain, Lepautre, Daniel Marot and André Charles Boule, the inventor of the particular class of inlay which bears his name.

The style of Louis XIV is characteristic of its time. Love of display was manifested in every direction, but nowhere did it give rise to greater magnificence than in furniture and decoration.

The employment of architectural features, with a close approximation to accepted proportions, had been the keynote of the preceding style, but the work of thisperiod broke away from all tradition. As a departure it was quite original, and constituted a phase in the development of the Renaissance that was purely and typically French, and this particularly in its massiveness and grandeur.

No. 110. The King’s Bedchamber, Versailles. Louis XIV.

Panelling became more varied in proportion, and heavily framed with mouldings of the Bolection type.Glass was also used in panels as at Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors, where the windows on one side of the gallery are repeated in form by mirrors in reciprocal positions.

Important rooms were panelled and divided by pilasters, surmounted by entablatures. The Corinthian order was the one most frequently used.

Panel mouldings were heavily and richly carved. Curved sections and facias were fluted, or carved with guilloche or leaf detail. Figures andamorini, heavy festoons, wreaths, cartouches and shields were among the decorative motifs. Strapwork, a survival of the preceding styles, was moulded and clothed with foliage of the acanthus variety.

Ceilings were modelled in stucco and were divided into bold geometrical compartments by strongly moulded ribs. The compartments were sometimes occupied by paintings. In some cases the cornice was not taken up to the height of the ceiling, but the ceiling line was continued in form of a curve to meet the top of the cornice, forming what is known as a cove.

No. 111. Upholstered Chair. Louis XIV.

Chairs were massive, the frames were carved and gilt, and the seats and backs upholstered in tapestry. In the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV metal was used in the construction of furniture in the form ofmounts—as framing and protecting pieces to angles, and was gilt by the mercury process. The introduction of veneer probably led to this use of metal.

A method of decorating furniture with inlays of brass or tin and tortoiseshell originated by André Charles Boule, came into vogue. The sheets of metal and shell were placed together and cut simultaneously, with the result that the patterns produced were interchangeable—thus the metal pattern could be fitted with a tortoiseshell background and vice versa. There was a tendency for this style of work to become more ornate and showy, and later, instead of the transparent shell being used in its natural colour, either vermilion or gold leaf was placed underneath.

Mirrors, in the sixteenth century, had been imported from Italy, and those of considerable size were first made in Venice.

Later glass manufactories were established in England—near Battersea—and in France, where larger mirrors and plates of glass were produced than hitherto.

Rooms lined with mirrors became popular, in some cases even the ceiling being made of glass.

Console tables, which were frequently gilt, were often placed under the large wall mirrors.

Hanging bands of material were employed to drape the heads of windows and the tops of bedsteads. Beds were important pieces of furniture, and had elaboratelycarved head and foot boards. The overhanging Tester was also ornamented, and besides the valances already mentioned, was surmounted by groups of plumes.

No. 112. Pantheon, Paris. Soufflet. Louis XV.

Little advance was made in architecture during the reign of Louis XV, to which period belongs the Pantheon at Paris, originally the Church of St. Geneviéve, the work of Soufflet, born in 1713.

The style passed through two stages. The earlier, known as the Régence—the principal exponents of which were Charles Cressent, Gilles Marie Oppenord, and Nicholas Pineau—is distinguished by a certain reserve and moderation which were entirely abandoned in the later Rococo period.

The term “Rococo” is derived from a French word meaning rockwork, and is applied to the style in which rock and shell forms are used as details.

No. 113. Detail of Wood-carving, Regency Period.

Ornament became extravagant and meaningless, and was wrongly used to serve the purpose of construction, the actual constructive elements being at times completely ignored. It cannot be denied, however, that powerful draughtsmanship and inventiveness were displayed, but without the consideration of practical execution, which is essential to all good design.

Evidently the artist or designer dominated the craftsman, who, however, grappled with difficulties in an admirable manner, often achieving results which would appear from the constructional point of view almost impossible of attainment.

The work of the latter part of the period expresses the enervated and frivolous spirit of the time.

Walls were panelled and often divided by pilasters, which, however, lost all structural significance.

Cornices and friezes were dispensed with, the frieze being replaced by a cove curving into the ceiling.

Mouldings were broken at angles and intersections into curves, scrolls and foliage.

Carved details of the curiously twisted leafage peculiar to the style were employed wherever possible.

Painted panels were fashionable, and were used particularly over doorheads. They were surrounded or framed by curved and enriched mouldings.

No. 114. Carved Wood Door. Louis XV.

Interiors of this later period were invariably painted white, and partly gilt, the wall panels decorated with tapestry or paintings with which are associated the names of Bouchier, Watteau, and Fragonard.

Ceilings were also painted, wall mirrors were employed and furniture (at this period at times extremely costly) was veneered and decorated with metal mounts in gilt ormolu.

Chair and table legs were of the cabriole type.

Bureaux fronts were swelled into curves both horizontally and vertically.

Veneer and marqueterie were much used.

Chased and gilt brass was employed to protect angles, as feet, handles, escutcheons and other ornamental details.

No. 115.

No. 116. Chair with cane back English, later half 17th century.

Furniture was also decorated in imitation of Chinese lacquer. The principal worker in it was Robert Martin, who introduced a varnish of fine transparent quality.

Artistic progress was hindered in England by thedisturbed conditions at the time of the Civil War, and in consequence little change in style took place in this and the Commonwealth period.

With the Restoration came the influence of the French Court, and foreign furniture was imported, thus giving fresh models for the English workers.

One result of the Great Fire in 1666 was that a great impetus was given to architecture and to the crafts associated with it, and the influence of Wren and Grinling Gibbons produced a school of most efficient carvers and craftsmen.

Wren was a worthy successor to Inigo Jones, and the general destruction wrought by the fire in the city gave him a fine field for his activity. He was employed not only to rebuild the churches, eighty-nine of which had been burnt, but also many of the city halls; and was commissioned by William and Mary to build the state-rooms at Hampton Court Palace.

No. 117. English Chair, period of Charles II.

The style of Wren, which, like that of Inigo Jones, was based rather upon the Venetian school, was perpetuated and found individual exponents in the worksof his pupils and immediate successors. Among whom may be mentioned James Gibbs (1720 to 1754), architect of St. Martin’s in the Fields (1726) and St. Mary le Strand, and Nicholas Hawksmoor, who was responsible for the churches of St. George’s, Bloomsbury, and St. Mary, Woolnoth, the latter commenced in 1716 was finished in 1718.

No. 118. St. Paul’s Cathedral. Wren.

Notable among Wren’s churches is that of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, in the City of London; of his secular work an example may be cited in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

A characteristic of the period in the churches of Wren and his school is the spire, which, though tapering like the Gothic variety, is invested with features quite Renaissance in form, arranged in successive tiers.

The architecture of the period is in excellent proportion, and all the details of mouldings, capitals, etc., were executed in a masterly manner.

Panelling was still employed, mostly in oak, and was now carried up to the ceiling. The panels were very wide, frequently bevelled at the edges—the stiles and rails forming the framings being much wider than hitherto. The framing mouldings were sometimes carved.

No. 119. Spire of St. Mary le Strand.

Doorways and chimneypieces were surrounded by well-designed architraves, with carved mouldings, and were surmounted by pediments, above which it was not unusual to have carved festoons and pendants of fruit and foliage.

No. 120. English Interior Wood-work. Late 17th and early 18th century.

Pilasters were decorated with cherubs’ heads used as caps, and pendant drops of the usual type.

Carving was profusely used, the details consisted mainly of interlacing scrollwork of acanthus-like foliage, heavy fruit and flower festoons and drops, trophies and cherubs’ heads. The relief was high, the work occasionally being detached, and the manner of execution was sharp and crisp, implying no hesitation on the part of the carver.

The high relief necessitated building up thicknesses of wood, and formed a great contrast to the earlier work in which the ground was slightly set back, leaving the original panel face as the highest part of the pattern.

The woods commonly used were oak for wainscotting and cedar for doors. Where it was intended that the woodwork should be painted or gilt it was made in deal. Some of the carving was in oak, but the favorite material was limewood, and pear; cedar or lime was used when small fine detail was required. Elm was employed for various articles such as dressers: ash, beech, birch, poplar, sycamore, English and Italian walnut were also used.

With William III and his Dutch court the influence of the Netherlands became once more apparent. It was coloured by the French style of the Louis XIV period, probably through an immigration of French workmen after the Edict of Nantes in 1685. This influence can be traced in some of the furniture at Hampton Court, particularly in the carved and gilt tables of French design and English workmanship.

No. 121. A. Walnut Chair, period of Queen Anne. B. Dutch Chair, 17th century. C. Inlaid Chair, period of Queen Anne. D. Carved Chair, period of Queen Anne.

The chairs and settees of the period have shaped backs, generally with delicately carved central vertical panels of vase-like form; and cabriole legs with a carved shell ornament on the knee.

Bureaux and corner cupboards were introduced. They were decorated with marqueterie or with inlay of boxwood or holly on a walnut ground.

Flemish or Dutch influence prevailed during the period known as Queen Anne.

The typical Queen Anne chair in common with all the furniture of the period was made of walnut. The seat was wide, the front legs cabriole shaped, ending, as a rule, in club or claw-and-ball feet. The back was high and curved at the top, and this was connected centrally with the seat by a long vase or fiddle-shaped splat. Carving was not much used, but the splat was sometimes ornamented with floral and other designs in marqueterie after the Dutch fashion.

During this period an appreciation for Oriental china and lacquer work had an important effect on furniture and decoration.

The later fashion of inlay and marquetry work of Sheraton was perhaps as much the outcome of the Dutch practice of this form of decoration, as it was due to the discovery of the possibilities of mahogany as a suitable wood for furniture.

The eighteenth century in England was the age of the connoisseur and dilettante, and the strugglingprofessional, literary or artistic, had little opportunity except by the favour of a patron. As for instance, Lord Burlington, who is reported to have practised architecture in conjunction with hisprotégéKent.

William Kent, born in 1685, died 1748, a painter as well as an architect, was responsible for many designs, among which may be mentioned the Horse Guards in Whitehall, and Holkham in Norfolk for the Earl of Leicester.

Georgian work shows more evidence of French influence, but is invariably stiff and heavy in feeling.

In panelling rooms a surbase or dado was employed. The bolection moulding was universally used round panels.

Doorways and chimneypieces were made up of architraves, surmounted by pediments, and were formal in design and detail. The Greek key was often most unsatisfactorily used in their decoration.

Among others, Chippendale’s name is associated with the furniture of this period, and his book of designs, published about the middle of the eighteenth century, contained, besides furniture, suggestions for the complete decoration of rooms. Chippendale was undoubtedly influenced by the Louis XV style, and at one period he attempted to exploit Chinese forms and details.

The chairs designed by him were based on the earlier Queen Anne type, but the vase-shaped back was replaced by pierced and carved interlacing bands and ribbons. For a time the cabriole leg was retained, but

No. 122.A. Transitional Chair, 18th century.B. Mahogany“““Sheraton.C.““““Chippendale.D. Walnut“““Hepplewhite.

later examples have straight square legs. The chairs were fitted with loose upholstered seats covered with morocco leather.

Furniture was generally in mahogany, which had been introduced a little earlier from the West Indies, and had become popular on account of the colour and figure developed by polishing. Mahogany lends itself to fine mouldings and detail, and this was evidently appreciated, as relief decoration on furniture in this wood received a more restrained treatment, while plain surfaces were made more extensive.

Contemporary workers were Mainwaring and Mayhew. Mayhew was responsible for a form of fretwork decoration which is often ascribed to Chippendale.

Prominent among his contemporaries, more perhaps for his influence on interior decoration, was Robert Adam, who died at the age of ninety-four in 1792.

A student of the later antique Roman work, and inspired by the remains of Diocletian’s Palace at Spalatro, he evolved a style which bears his name, that was personal and distinctive. A style that had many followers, and which largely influenced the work of Sheraton.

Simple as to structural form, and delicate in detail, it carried on the tradition of the later Graeco-Roman work on which it was founded, avoiding absolute reproduction.

No. 123. Interior Decoration. “Adam.”

No. 124. Interior Decoration. “Adam.”

The Adam influence is evident also in the pottery of this period, and in the details of Sheffield plate.

Examples of Robert Adam’s architectural design may be seen in London at the Adelphi, which was built as a speculation, in the Admiralty screen in Whitehall, and houses in Portland Place, W.

No. 125. Adam influence.

Hepplewhite also was designing and manufacturing about this time, and is noted principally for his japanned or painted furniture. In this process the wood was first coated with a preparation after the manner of Chinese or Japanese lacquer, and then decorated with fruit and flowers in gold on a background. Subsequently, furniture of this character, instead of being japanned, was merely painted white. Hepplewhite’s chair-backs differ in form from Chippendale’s, being shield or oval shaped.

Satinwood came into use, and much of the work ascribed to Sheraton was made of it.

Painted decoration of a delicate character, the details including ribbons, borders and medallions, was applied to table-tops, harpsichord cases, chair-backs and other objects. The names of Angelica Kauffmann and Cipriani are associated with this form of decoration.

Hepplewhite and Sheraton were apparently influencedby the work of the brothers Adam, which was a distinct departure from the earlier style. The cabriole leg was rarely used, its place being taken by gracefully tapered forms.

Although some of Sheraton’s furniture had painted detail, he more often used marqueterie and inlay of fine design.

Panels were treated in marqueterie, with ovals or other simple shapes surrounded by narrow bands or lines of contrasting colour.

Sheraton sideboards were usually without backs, and were sometimes furnished with brass rails on top.

Bookcases had glass doors with well designed and finely worked sash bars.

The general tendency was towards elegance and refinement, and led to simplicity of treatment rather than over enrichment.

Indeed this may be taken as the culminating period for the finest production of furniture, not only with regard to design and exquisite workmanship, but in carefully studied utility. This consideration may be seen in the dressing-tables and secretaires, which were full of ingenious devices, and secret drawers and contrivances for hiding papers and valuables were quite a feature of the work.

Towards the end of the reign of Louis XV there was a distinct change in taste, and consequently in style. This was manifested by a return to simplicity of line,

No. 126. Painted Interior Decoration. Marie Antoinette Boudoir. Louis XVI.

No. 127. Interior Treatment. Louis XVI.

No. 128. Chimney-piece with Mirror. Louis XVI.

No. 129. Library with fitted Book-cases. Louis XVI.

a more sparing use of enrichments and greater refinement of detail.

No. 130. Door Treatment. Louis XVI.

Probably the same influence that inspired Adam was at work in France, when the license that marked the Rococo gave place to a more severe and restrained expression in the succeeding Louis XVI style, in which the curvilinear and plastic forms became once more structural in feeling and refined in detail.

Associated with this change was Jacques Gondouin, who died at Paris in 1818 at the age of eighty-one, whose most celebrated work is the Ecole de Médécine.He was also entrusted with the erection of the column in the Place Vendôme.

No. 131. Detail of Cornice. Louis XVI.

The most familiar names associated with the wood-work at the Louis XVI period are Riesener and Gouthière. Riesener is famous for his furniture, and Gouthière for the highly finished chased mounts with which this furniture was decorated.

No. 132. Arm-chair covered with Beauvais Tapestry. Louis XVI.

Interior woodwork was generally of oak, painted white. Pilasters were used, and were either carved or painted in colours. Mouldings were frequently gilt.

Chairs and sofas were, in many instances, paintedwhite and partly gilt. They were upholstered in silk or Beauvais tapestry, the designs of which were in panel form specially made for the purpose.

Cabinets, tables and other pieces of furniture were often exquisitely inlaid with various woods, tulip, rosewood, pear, holly and ebony were the most common, and Sèvres porcelain placques and gilt metal mounts were also used to embellish them.

No. 133. Carved Oak Panel. Louis XVI.

Furniture supports, such as table and chair legs, were straight, tapered and fluted, with husks in the hollows of the flutes.

Among the decorative details were torches, quivers and other emblems, trophies, musical instruments, bouquets and festoons of flowers, and ribbons with peculiarly square and crisp folds. The laurel leaf was much used in borders, festoons and wreaths.

The style of the Louis XVI period was more severe than the preceding one, and was, infact, a reaction from the flippancy which characterised the reign of Louis XV. There was a tendency to return to more classic forms, which prepared the way for the still more austere Empire phase which was deliberately based on the Roman and Greek styles.

Furniture was made in mahogany, rosewood and ebony, and was decorated with brass mounts or with carved ornaments, which were gilded.

Furniture legs and supports were fashioned after Greek and Roman forms, human figures and sphinxes being often employed.

Inlay was used of ivory and metal, and this class of work attained a very high degree of excellence.

Metal-work was unquestionably good, except that the details were somewhat hard in character.

The most striking decorative features were sphinxes, winged figures of Liberty, masks, the thyrsus of Bacchus, laurel wreaths and festoons, which were all severe in treatment and delicate in execution.

The Empire style spread to other parts of Europe, and was closely imitated in England, where it was chiefly remarkable for the extreme nicety and finish of the metal-work, metal being extensively used for the enrichment of furniture, for clocks, vases, candlesticks, inkstands and other objects.

Probably the most important name associated with English architecture towards the end of the eighteenthcentury is that of Sir William Chambers, who died in 1796.

Chambers, who at one time held the position of Surveyor General in the Board of Works, was one of those concerned in the establishment of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. During his professional career he executed commissions in various parts of the country, his principal work being Somerset House, which was commenced in 1776.

Another name associated with this period is that of George Dance, who designed the Mansion House of the City of London, which was built during the years 1739-53. Dance died in 1768, and was succeeded by his son, who was the architect of Newgate Prison, the site of which is now occupied by a modern building.

A pupil of Sir William Chambers, James Gandon, had the distinction of carrying off the first gold medal given for architecture by the newly-founded Royal Academy of Arts in 1768.

He designed, among other works, the Customs House, the Four Courts, and the building which is now the Bank of Ireland, all at Dublin.

Throughout this necessarily brief summary it will be noted that attention is mainly given to the architectural development in France and England. The rest of Europe was similarly affected more or less, both in the Gothic period and in the revival known as the Renaissance, in which the initiative was taken by France early in the seventeenth century. From which period may be dated the decline in Italian taste.

French feeling, both as to form and detail, is apparent in not only Dutch and Flemish work, but in the more southern parts of Europe, particularly the phase known as Rococo.

Even in England, though the architectural traditions of Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren became national in character, French feeling is evident in much of the decorative work, as in the designs of Chippendale and his contemporaries; with the exception of the brilliant period of Grinling Gibbons, whose distinctive manner and robust treatment survived, and constituted a school of carving typically English and unique in its artistry and craftsmanship.

IN Architecture the edges of projecting courses are softened into curved profiles, sometimes enriched with details, which are technically known as mouldings. These are invariably a stumbling-block to the beginner, presumably due to want of appreciation of their purpose, which properly understood, is indicative of their desirable employment.

Back to Index Next