Proceedings e report - Firenze University Press

ON 18TH- AND 19TH- CENTURY SACRISTY FURNITURE IN THE MALTESE ISLANDS: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES
Motifs, mouldings and other decorative features are not only attributable to architecture but also to
furniture. The Baroque period had a great influence in Malta and this style was also adapted to less
important and ordinary pieces of furniture. [22]
During the two years of French occupation in 1798-1800, new developments in furniture may not have
been present due the great instability which existed until the British took over. [23] With the new
British occupation of Malta, local craftsmen grasped new methods of furniture production and
furniture design was therefore directed towards a British style with some Italian embellishments.
Galea-Naudi states that it was during the eighteenth century that sacristies were furnished with built-in
cupboards. [24] The large wall-to-wall cupboards were mainly constructed for sacristies and other
important buildings. Their function was basically to store liturgical vestments. In the eighteenth
century, the design of such cabinets was mainly geometrical. [25]
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, furniture styles became less elaborate. [26] Galea-Naudi
states that during the first half of the nineteenth century, wood was abundant for the building and
repair of ships. He also states that in the second half of the century, following the Industrial
Revolution, Maltese churches underwent enormous structural alterations as well as redesigning and
changing church decorations which originally dated back to the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
[27] It was then that Maltese furniture developed a truly independent style. [28] The Maltese cabinet
makers, by the nineteenth century, specialised in the craft of finishing. With the introduction of British
styles, Maltese craftsmen started copying English furniture and produced it abundantly. [29]
Nonetheless the importation of Italian furniture continued. [30] Baroque influences persisted till the
nineteenth century and, even during the British period, local craftsmen were still asked to incorporate
Baroque elements of design. [31]
2.5. Styles and techniques
Following the collection of all data, two comparisons were made: the first delineates the differences
between the two centuries under consideration, while the second compares styles and techniques used
between Maltese and Gozitan sacristies (Fig. 5).
On analysing results, the following can be hypothesized:
• The central cupboard was perhaps more frequently included in nineteenth-century sacristies.
This depended mostly on the size of the room.
• During the nineteenth century, there were more framed door constructions with joints.
• Pilaster decorations as well as the use of platforms remained popular throughout both
centuries.
• Eighteenth-century sacristy furniture was richer in decoration.
• The use of the bench, integrated with the wardrobe construction, is missing in nineteenthcentury
furniture.
• In both centuries, the use of transparent coatings was more popular, yet the graining technique
was still present in 26% of the total sacristy cupboards visited.
• The central cabinet was more popular in Maltese sacristy furniture.
• The use of joints in door construction was more evident in Gozitan sacristies.
• The bench was more popular in Malta while the platform dominated more in Gozo.
• Comparing percentages, the graining technique was presumably more popular in Maltese
sacristy furniture.
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