Proceedings e report - Firenze University Press

WOOD SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
Sacristy furniture ( %)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Styles and techniques applied on the 18th and 19th century sacristy furniture
Styles and techniques applied on the sacristy furniture
Central cabinet
Door construction
- panel
Door construction
- mitred, bridle or
mortice and
tennon joints
Decorative
elements -
pilasters
Decorative
elements -
capitals
279
Decoration -
more sculptural
elements
Styles and techniques
Platform
Bench
(Incorporated
with wardrobe)
18th Century (32 pieces of sacristy furniture) 19th Century (9 pieces of sacristy furniture)
Fig. 14 - 18 th- and 19 th- century sacristy furniture - styles and techniques [33]
Both nineteenth-century sacristy furniture and that found in Gozo represent a minority and so the
above interpretation may be slightly inconclusive. Even though both islands are very small and close
to each other, a slight difference in style and technique was noticed. There is no doubt that the boom in
sacristy furniture construction occurred in the eighteenth century in Malta and Gozo.
Fig. 15 - Graphic documentation of part of the eighteenth-century sacristy furniture of the Parish Church of St
Philip’s, Żebbuġ [33]
3. Conclusion
Considering all the analyses on the wood samples, the presence of wood from local trees was nil,
implying a low probability in the use of indigenous trees for local furniture construction during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Picea sp. (spruce) and Larix decidua (larch) being the two
dominant types of wood used throughout the two-above mentioned centuries. In cases of intricate
carving works, a harder and denser type of wood from broad-leaved trees was often used.
A boom in sacristy furniture construction is noticeable during the eighteenth century. Some elements
of furniture, such as the sacristy bench, which is incorporated within the main construction, seem to be
pertinent to the Maltese Islands. The latter was so popular during the eighteenth century that none
were found in the nineteenth-century sacristy furniture considered. Eighteenth-century furniture was
richer in decoration with respect to the furniture dating to the nineteenth century, yet, some classical
features, such as the pilaster, the capital and the frieze, still remained popular during the latter century.
The graining technique was found to be quite popular during the eighteenth century becoming less
significant during the following, although the framed door constructions developed with greater
frequency in the nineteenth century.
Surface coating
Oil/wax/varnish
Surface coating
painting/Graining
technique