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European Influences On Sixteenth Century Furniture
Italian Influences On Furniture
Italy was prolific in it’s furniture design and interor and architectural styles. The Italian states were exceedlingly prosperous and there were many wealthy Italian merchants building huge palaces and houses during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. They wanted their homes to be filled with the finest furniture and there were no shortage of Italian craftsmen to produce it for them.
They used opulent and exotic materials. Tables were modelled on the huge slab tables of Ancient Rome. Others had table tops made of marble or inlaid wood supported on a base sculptured in the form of mythical creatures, shells and floral motifs. Human forms supported chairs, candlesticks and cabinets.
Italian craftsmens developed their own unique styles for chests, cabinets, and cupboards that spread throughout Europe. The cassone of the 1500's developed into a long credenza with a number of doors. The credenza, in turn, gradually developed into two new forms. One form was a tall two-door cabinet. The other was a tall chest of drawers that rested on a stand.
Upholstery could be a used as a measure of social rank and prestige. Beds for example were sumptuously decorated with silks, velvets and other luxurious fabrics.
French Influences On Furniture
Louis XIV furniture was the most prolific style of furniture of the late 1600's. Louis XIV, “The Boy King” had become King in 1643, when he was only four years old. By the time he was twenty three, Louis, was devoted to making France the cultural and political centre of the Western world. He championed furniture making and the decorative arts and used them to glorify his position as King. He bought a vacant building in the Paris environs, turned it into workshops, and staffed the shops with expert artisans. He commissioned them to create furnishings for his residences. These furnishings created a new national style of art which can be seen today in the Palace of Versailles.
Louis XIV style is characterized in the following ways:-
- A veneer technique introduced by French cabinet maker Andre Charles Boulle. Artisans wedged one layer of wood between two other layers of contrasting wood. The same could be done with brass, ebony and pewter. They then cut through the layers to create scrolling patterns. Veneers were commonly found in cabinets and writing tables
- Solid silver furniture for the main rooms in Versailles
Versailles soon set the standard for other royal palaces and soon its flair was being imitated in places throughout Europe.
When Louis XIV cancelled the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the religious freedom that had formerly been enjoyed by many Huguenot French artisans was removed. They fled to the Netherlands and to England taking their skills with them. As they worked for other noblemen and merchants, so French style spread across Europe.
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