PART II FURNITURE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE AGES AND AFTER ( series of part 1-5 )

1. By: Surashmie Kaalmegh
Dept. of Interior Design
Associate Prof. LAD College
Nagpur.
:EVOLUTION OF FURNITURE :
PART IV BYZANTIUM

2. Furniture development
Byzantium , Romanesque, Gothic
500- 1000 AD early medieval
Byzantine
1000- 1100 AD high medieval
Romanesque Gothic
1100-1200 AD 1200 –1300 AD
Circa 400 - 1500 AD ===== MIDDLE AGES / Dark Ages

3.  The Roman
Empire fell in 476
AD.
This date marks
the beginning of the
Middle Ages.
However, before its
fall, the empire was
divided into the
Eastern and Western
Roman Empires.
The Dark Ages is a historical periodization originally for the Middle
Ages, which emphasizes the cultural and economic deterioration
that supposedly occurred in Western Europe following the
decline of the Roman Empire.

4. The "Western Roman Empire" fell, to hordes of
invading barbarians,
and most of Europe was plunged into the Dark
Ages.while the Eastern Roman Empire,
whose capital became Constantinople,
preserved Roman culture (and architecture)
and became the Byzantine Empire . It became
the center of culture to Byzantium.
Art, architecture, education
and craftsmanship were lost
as the common man
struggled for survival in a
world of anarchy, warring
tribes and plundering
invaders.
Aspects of cultures may be passed
from an area to another through
some method of cultural diffusion
– either war, trade, dominance or
some other means.

5.  The Byzantine Empire
became the only
surviving link with the
old civilization.
 Byzantine Government
Byzantine government
was strong
and hence culture, art,
mathematics and
craftsmanship thrived and
grew in the relative peace
of this great empire.
 Byzantine furniture,
architecture and art all
flourished during this time
with artists and craftsmen
building on the skills and
techniques of earlier
civilizations.

7. The people & the society
highly stratified
The pinnacle: The
Emperor of the kingdom
Upper class : The
aristocracy , military
officials, large Land
Owners
Middle class: the medium
Landowners ,Merchants ,
The clergy & the Guilds of
craftsmen
Lower class : the labourer,
the Serfs / bonded labour

8. The Pope
Lords and the fiefs
The Bishops
The peasant + monks
The parish
The King & his court
The Merchants +
Landowners

9. Architecture
Byzantine architecture was a mixture of
Eastern and Western influences, with
elements of Greek and Roman styles
intermingled with the spires and domes of
the East.Byzantine
Introduction of Church
furniture as Christianity
spread --
New spaces & furniture
 but mostly crude .
 Byzantine Religion
Byzantine religion was a
strong factor in this culture, with
the first imposing church
structures being built during this
era. Byzantine icons from this
era are still in existence and are
much prized today.

10. Architecture
Byzantine
architecture was a
mixture of Eastern
and Western
influences, with
elements of Greek
and Roman styles
intermingled with
the spires and
domes of the East

11. Early Christian and Byzantine furniture was
of two distinct types.
THE CHURCH AND PALACE .
The common people had very little
furniture. The few items they had were
lightly built and usually designed so that
they could be easily folded and put away,
leaving additional space in cramped
environments.

14.  Byzantine palace furniture
can still be seen in
museums today.
 The throne of Queen Marie,
for example, is skillfully
turned and richly carved.
The back is inlaid with silver
embossed in an intricate
design.
 Palace furniture included
heavy, carved and pillared
chairs, tables with inlaid
worktops, cabinets and
storage chests
 Church and palace
furniture, however, was
built of solid, heavy
timber, designed to last,
and designed for the
space it was to occupy.
The throne of
Queen Marie,
Furniture

16.  The skill of Byzantine
woodworkers was
demonstrated by their
use of the lathe.
 They also used the
paneled construction
process to avoid the
cracking of ivory panels
due to the shrinkage.

17. Chairs
 were still a sign of
rank, and a 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
moldings and
arcading.
 Stools with turned
legs were common,
but the x-shaped or
faldsthul (folding
stool) was more
convenient. Coronation Chair

18. Throne of Maximian 545-553 AD
The Archbishop
Made of Ivory
Florentine folding chair
Dagobert Chair
A throne

19.  Small table tops like these
were used to celebrate
feasts for the dead at
gravesites throughout the
early Byzantine world.
 They were often supported
on bases elaborately carved
with messages promising
humankind's salvation. At
the lower edge of the table,
four sheep, representing the
blessed according to
Matthew 25:33–40, flank a
chi-rho, the monogram for
the name of Christ based on
the first two letters of his
name in Greek.
 The tables are often called
sigma tables due to their
resemblance to the Greek
letter of that name.
Table tops

20.  In Byzantium the applied arts
of manuscript illumination,
ivory carving, metal work,
enamel work, & textile
manufacture held an
importance & achieved a
magnificence seldom
matched in other cultures.
 They were produced for:
imperial court, churches,
or as diplomatic presents for
export, such as Saint
Stephen's Crown of Hungary.
 Such objects were sought by
Western medieval rulers and
churchmen.
 They frequently served as models
for works later produced locally
and survive in large numbers in the
major European & American
collections.
 From the 6th - 12th century, Byzantium
held a monopoly on the production of
silk textiles, which were treasured in
the West.
Silks

21.  Glass making techniques
were refined to a fine art, and
with the addition of gold to
the mix, richly luminous
stained glass was used to
produce the famous
Byzantine mosaics - works of
outstanding beauty.
 Byzantine art moved away
from the three-dimensional
sculptures of Roman times to
painting on flat surfaces.
Byzantine paintings mainly
depicted forms of humans
and angels, and were usually
religious in context.

22.  The cupboard initially was
a sideboard & later open
shelves, both to display
plates became enclosed .

 Since the 16th century the
name has referred to a
case fitted with doors.
 Byzantine & Romanesque
cupboards were of simple
board construction &
sometimes decorated with
elaborate painted designs
 .
 They were freestanding ,
made for churches before
they came in common
use in domestic
interiors(14th C), when
portable furniture began
to be preferred to fixed
objects that stood as
permanent parts of a
building.

23. Characteristics :
 Stonework was copied &
joinery was crude
 Heavy furniture with low
maintenance
 Decoration – painting &
gilding
 Furnishings – imported
from east , popular
 Benches , Chairs were
high backed ,
 Stools, Chests and boxes
used for storage
 The later
Romanesque and
Gothic styles
followed the
furniture making
techniques
preserved by the
Byzantine empire,
 and this made
possible the
Renaissance with
its proliferation of
art, architecture and
furniture styles.
Romanesque

24. By: Surashmie Kaalmegh
Dept. of Interior Design
Asstt. Prof. LAD College
Nagpur.
:EVOLUTION OF FURNITURE :
PART V ROMAN ESQUE

25. The Romanesque Style
The Romanesque (style Roman), which prevailed in Europe during
the Dark Ages, stands between the Byzantine and the Gothic Style.
• That is 11th and 12th C. AD .
• Civilization in Europe was beginning to re-
emerge after the Dark Ages following the
fall of the Roman Empire.
• Taking ancient Roman remains as their
model, Romanesque artists, architects &
furniture designers copied Roman styles
in a rather crude fashion, but  later
works of Romanesque art show a
brilliance of their own.
Actually beginning in the 5th C, it dominated
architecture and the Decorative Arts till the 12th
C.
During this period and until the Renaissance,
furniture was architectural in form and
decoration.

26.  The style of Romanesque
architecture is impressive,
since with little knowledge of
mathematics or engineering,
medieval builders were able
to create massive structures
on a scale never seen before,
in such a way that they have
endured through the centuries.
Romanesque art has been called the art
of Christendom. The term refers to the
Latin-based geographic area of post-
Empire Western Europe that had
inherited the traditions of the classical
past - including present-day Italy,
France southern Britain, Spain,
Germany, and Austria.
The style united motifs from Late Antique
Rome, Byzantium and the Barbarians,
but the pull of the classical past was
strongest.
Western furniture and decoration became,
from this time forward, that of
Christendom.

27.  French
Romanesque
architecture
introduced the
vaulted style
with soaring
arches and
pillars.
 This style was
later brought to
Britain by the
Norman
conquerors.

28. Portals & Sculpture
 Romanesque portals were imposing and
heavily decorated.
 Romanesque sculpture and artwork were
used to lavishly decorate churches and
cathedrals, giving an insight into the fashions,
lifestyles and culture of early medieval
Europe.
 The cataclysmic changes in the
Western economy and political
map resulted in an amalgam of
classical styles,
Byzantine skills
and northern traditions.

29. Romanesque furniture is most appropriately
characterized as "architectural".
Some architectural motifs transferred to furniture:
• Rounded arches set over piers or columns .
• Columns are often incised with pattern - dogtooth or
diaper designs - that recall the patterned columns in
Durham Cathedral
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, mobel, and meubles.

30. Romanesque churches and
monasteries were the focal
point of civilization, and most
of the furniture and works of
art of this period are
ecclesiastical.
Both Gothic and Romanesque
architecture styles are predominantly
seen in churches and cathedrals.
However, Romanesque cathedrals
were massive, solid, dark and gloomy,
whereas the Gothic style was much
lighter, with slender, steeper lines and
tapering spires.

31. Romanesque Furniture :
• Furniture includes carved chests,
simple stools, benches and
trestle tables, and roughly carved,
pillared bedsteads.
• Since the common people of this
era lived very simply, Romanesque
furniture was predominantly
designed for churches and for the
aristocracy.
• The poorer classes would make
with a rough bed, or just a
mattress of straw on the ground,
perhaps a storage chest or two,
and a board supported by tree
trunks that served as a dining table
• Chairs as we know them, with
back and arm rests, were mainly
the prerogative of important
personages such as bishops and
overlords.
• Such chairs were often heavily
decorated with carving, painting
and inlays, and were a symbol of
power.

32.  The three-legged stool
appears to have been the most
common type both domestic
contexts and in workshops.
 Most seem to have "D"-shaped
seats, with one leg at either of
the two corners and the third
at the midpoint of the curved
side.
Reliquary : A
container for
holy relics .
Gargoyals and quatrefoil arches
 Church furniture was
ornate, decorated with
either carvings or
paintings in an imitation
of the old Roman
furniture styles. Arches
and curves were the
design theme, both in
the shape of the item
itself, and the carved
paneling and
decoration. Simple
animal and plant forms
were also used in
carving.
 Many items were
brightly painted to
lighten up gloomy
interiors .
 Chair backs imitating
the church façade, with
posts and finials that
resemble its twin spires.

33.  Chests , stools and
boxes of all sizes were
common.
 They ranged  the
simple dugout tree
trunk, through dome-
topped and detachable
lidded versions, to six
plank or boarded
chests.
 Chests seem to have
had bolts or padlocks -
modern-looking.
 Cupboard and presses
were sturdily
constructed and
brightly decorated, and
tables were trestle
types or semicircular in
shape.

34.  The Four Poster Beds: For
centuries, the bed has been a sign
of wealth, the richer the nobleman,
the better the bed, which is
probably why many people still
aspire to owning a four poster bed,
the bed of kings, and the king of
beds.
 The two essentials in their lives
were "bed and board," a phrase still
used today; the 'board' was literally
a board or boards, set up on
trestles or tree stumps used for a
table and a bed.
 The bed clothes would consist of
pillows, quilts and fur rugs, and
would have only been for the
wealthy, everyone else would have
slept on the floor of the hall, around
the fire.

35. • The panels were
carved or painted with
arcades of round
arches, and the
spaces were filled
with saintly figures
and monsters.
• Geometrical figures
were also largely
used in the
ornamentation.
• The characteristic
details of the
marquetry of this
style are the star,
saw-tooth, checker,
billet, overlapping
lozenges, battlement
mouldings and
diamond points.

36. CHARACTERISTICS :
 simple geometric arrangements,
coarsely rendered animal and plant
forms Arcading & carved architectural
decoration .
 Lack of sense of Proportion, crude
output.
 Preference to movable furniture.
 Gilding & Painting still popular.
 predominance of lathe work i.e.
turning .
 Good designs in chairs for seats of
authority.
 Tables of all shapes, movable .
 Cupboards were plain shelves.
 beds were the most elaborate pieces
with
 Presence of head & foot board &
tapestry.
 Extensive use of Tracery and paint in
decorative hues.
 crude Roman influences found
throughout Europe,
The Romanesque style preceded Gothic
and Renaissance styles. Gothic Style

37. By: Surashmie Kaalmegh
Dept. of Interior Design
Asstt. Prof. LAD College
Nagpur.
:EVOLUTION OF FURNITURE :
PART VI GOTHIC

38. Gothic style ( France)
1200-1300 AD

39. Gothic Furniture & Decor :
Medieval Gothic Furniture
 Gothic
architecture
involved the use
of pointed
arches, flying
buttresses, and
other dramatic
innovations to
create
spectacular
spatial effects,
 but 12th-century
furniture design
was not
influenced by
the novel style.
 The Gothic styles of
architecture, art and
furniture date from the 12th
century through to the 16th
century.
 With the Byzantine
influence introduced to
Europe by the crusaders,
as well as Islamic and
arabesque elements,
furniture and
architecture became
more ornate, . From
12th - 13th C. Gothic
furniture was expressing
one’s opulence.
 The typical Gothic motif of
the pointed arch became
prevalent in furniture design
as well as in buildings.

40. Furniture imitated Architecture --

41.  Gothic Furniture - influenced
by Roman & Medieval
architecture styles.
 Initial Gothic designs were
similar to classical Roman
designs which
later evolved into an individual
form of expression.
 It evolved along with
architectural history well
known for its magnificent
churches with use of
embellished, carved-out
surfaces. Reflected in Gothic
furniture items too.
 The new cathedrals were
expressions of affluence, but
for their interiors the rich
patrons of the church appear
to have favored simple,
functional oak furniture
enriched with tapestries and
metalwork.

42.  In 14thC. Gothic furniture became more
functional & hence popular worldwide
.It was revived in American Victorian
(18th C ). the style used the pointed
arch (architecture).
 Domestic furniture in early Gothic
period was of simple, crude
construction. It was solid & massive ,
severe in character.
 The forms of the furniture were
generally rectilinear with emphasis on
the vertical & use of curved lines was
limited to the folding chair of Curule
form.
The decorative elements of the Gothic,
particularly the pointed arch, were not
employed in furniture ornament until about
1400. Then, for more than a century,
tracery and arches were carved on the
panels of chairs, on chests, and on tables
of every

43.  Gargoyles and other horrific
mythical creatures were
popular motifs since it was
believed that they would
frighten away evil spirits.
 Bed coverings and hangings in
rich colors completed the
elaborate Gothic bedroom
style.
 Gothic bedroom furniture
featured massive four poster
beds, with linen fold-carved
valances, and heavily carved
and decorated posts and
bedsteads.
Typical Gothic Furniture:

44. Typical Gothic Furniture
 Gothic furniture craft paved the
way for the Renaissance
period to follow, and many new
items of furniture appeared at
this time.
 The armoire for clothes
storage, the buffet for eating
utensils, and tables with
drawers were first seen in this
period.
 Gothic cabinet furniture
progressed a long way from
the simple storage chests and
coffers of earlier times.

45. Styles & Wood
 Gothic wood furniture was mostly
made from oak, although local
softwoods were also used towards the
end of the period.
 Medieval Gothic style furniture was
heavily carved and decorated.
 Religious themes were popular in
carvings, as were heraldic symbols
such as griffins, lions or hawks. Floral
themes were also widely used, and the
royal fleur-de-lis furniture motif dates
from this era.
 Paintings and inlays were also used
for furniture decoration so that the
whole effect was much more ornate
than the furniture of earlier eras.
 Furniture pieces were large and solid,
following the lines of Gothic church
furniture

46. Storages - Gothic era
 In the 15th C.  new
forms introduced.
  a type of sideboard
with a small storage area
set on tall legs; it had
display space on the top
of the enclosure as well
as on a shelf below it.
Cupboards were made
with either one or two
tiers of storage areas
enclosed with doors.
 Modified Dressoir

47. The gothic press / cupboards
 finest medieval
cupboards were finely
carved with Gothic
designs using
architectural motifs &
forms. With increasing
importance of the
cupboard, decoration
became lavish, taking the
form of paneling, carving,
and intarsia (mosaic of
wood).
 Italy led the way in the
16th C. with some of the
finest intarsia panels.
 Panels were rectangular
and sometimes contained
finely carved scenes, or
motifs, accompanied by
carved friezes (horizontal
bands )

48. 1. A decorative
inlaid pattern in a
surface, especially a
mosaic worked in
wood.
2. A knitted design
resembling a mosaic
that is visible on both
sides of a fabric.
Intarsia :

49.  Another important
storage piece was the
armoire, with tall doors
enclosing an area of 1.5
m to 2 m (4 ft to 6 ft).
 Along with such
architectural motifs as
arches, columns, and
foliate patterns
appeared decorative
carving based on
hanging textiles, a motif
known as linen fold.
 As a primarily northern
European style, Gothic
remained influential in
furniture design into the
early 16th century.

50. Nuremburg museum :
Settle

51. Munich museum :
Bedstead

53. IDENTIFICATION
 The foliage motif that was
characteristic of Gothic furniture
varied from uncomplicated to
extremely detailed designs.
Notable features of Gothic-style
furniture 
 Renowned pointed arches,
rosettes, gargoyles real and
imaginary animals and
misshapen figures.
 The ball flower  a floral motif
with three or four lobes and a ball
in the hollow center, was another
common Gothic ornamentation.
 In addition, Gothic furniture can
be identified by the use of the
popular Gothic trefoil (three-lobed
shape), quatrefoil (flower design
with four petals), and cinquefoil
(five arcs).
Pointed arches

54. The ball flower Gargoyals

63. Gothic Church
furniture
Gothic: Duomo di Siena (Siena, Italy)
1215 -1263
church designed by Giovanni & his father

64. A Confessional

65. Bishops Chair

66. Credenza

67. Statue Pedestals

68. Choir stalls and Pews

69. sacristy
 A room in a Church to
store vessels and
vestments; a vestry.
etc.

70. Literature racks

71. THE RENNAISSANCE DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE
THE RENNAISSANCE ITALY , FRANCE , ENGLAND