Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

6 Conservation of Furniture
common. Some beds were magnificent structures
with high canopies and curtains.
The skill of Byzantine woodworkers was
demonstrated by their use of the lathe. They
also used the panelled construction process to
avoid the cracking of ivory panels due to
shrinkage. As in other parts of the
Mediterranean, limited amounts of wood
meant that stone, metal and other materials
were also used to make furniture.
The cataclysmic changes in the Western
economy and political map resulted in an
amalgam of classical styles, Byzantine skills
and northern traditions. This period, called
Romanesque (AD 1000–1300) was notable for
its unsettled and unstable way of life, which
resulted in generally sparsely furnished homes
which had furniture that could be easily moved
at will. This mobility is remembered in a variety
of European languages in words such as
mobili, möbel and meubles.
Chests and boxes of all sizes were the commonest
articles of furniture. They ranged from
the simple dugout tree trunk, through dometopped
and detachable lidded versions, to sixplank
or boarded chests. Cupboards and
presses were sturdily constructed and brightly
decorated, and tables were trestle types or
semicircular in shape.
Chairs were still a sign of rank, and the style
of a chair reflected one’s position in society.
Both simple turned chairs with pegged members
and box-seated chairs were decorated
with carving, applied mouldings and arcading.
Stools with turned legs were common, but the
X-shaped or faldsthul (folding stool) was more
convenient.
1.3 Medieval
Background
For much of the Medieval or Gothic period, a
large part of Europe was at war or in an unsettled
state. The feudal system limited the ability
of most of the population to own any furniture
other than the basic necessities, and most
craftsmen were only employed by powerful
churches or nobles. In 1215 the Magna Carta
was signed and became a basis for an English
Parliament and system of law which gradually
developed to support a growing merchant
class. During the 1350s the Black Death led to
serious depopulation, which indirectly brought
about the end of the feudal system. It was not
until 1485, when the Wars of the Roses were
brought to an end by a victorious Henry Tudor,
that a firm monarchy could be established and
bring peace and prosperity to England.
Owing to these difficult conditions, few
items of furniture were needed and those that
were available were made to be portable or
collapsible. Scanty furniture contrasted with the
prestige of textiles, hangings, gold and silver
plate and carpets, which were portable as well
as useful and luxurious.
In the history of furniture, the architectural
shell has always had a great influence on
design. Gothic architectural forms are overriding
in any discussion of medieval furnishings
or designs. The Gothic style was all pervasive
over much of Europe, and is evident in all furniture
forms in most countries. However, the
beginning of a Renaissance in Italy in the early
fifteenth century changed forever the way furniture
was made, decorated and used.
Functional types
It is important to remember that domestic
requirements were generally very limited,
although there are records of very finely furnished
interiors for elite residences. Seating
remained a prime use of furniture. Benches
were made in the same way as three-legged
stools, i.e. legs were pushed into holes and
pegged with wedges. Thrones remained symbols
of authority: examples could include the
Coronation chair, Dagobert’s bronze throne
and the silver throne of King Martin of Aragon.
Chairs developed in England, France and the
Netherlands, based on a box-like panelled
structure, possibly derived from chest construction.
The chest was arguably the most important
piece of medieval furniture. Chests, which, as
previously mentioned began as dugouts or
trunks, had developed by the fourteenth century
into a type that was made up from solid
planks, nailed or pegged together. From the fifteenth
century, some chests were made using
a framed construction thus reducing the undesirable
consequences of both shrinkage in
inadequately seasoned timber and the normal
movement of wood in service.
Apart from chests, cupboards began to be
made for storage (Figure 1.3). German exam-