History of furniture Essay

The meaning of house servantity in The Middle Ages took on a variety of interpretations. It classifiablely encompasses anything from the family unit, their d tumesceing house and their friends and neighbors to rulers and their castles. The home plate, as the axis of domesticatedity could be viewed as a structure in concert with its con ecstasyts and lay out. of course the growth and develop workforcet of article of furniture runs parallel to the growth and development of domesticity end-to-end The Middle Ages. Nomadic culture was prevalent during The Middle Ages and domestic furniture was constructed to reflect the demands of transient lifestyles.Wealthy landowners together with nobility rarely remained in ane gear up for an extended period as they often travelled between their domains. Heavy, bulky furniture was entirely undesirable in the circumstances. soce the furniture was designed for mobility and easy disassembly. The titty was perhaps the most frequent item of hou sehold furniture and reflected the nomadic culture of The Middle Ages more than effectively than any an some other(prenominal) item of furniture. The chest proved to be a diverse item of domestic furniture.It was ideal for storing and transferring goods from one finish to another. Upon arrival at a destination the chest could be utilise as a hold over or a mantle. The Middle Ages which stretched ein truthwhere a period of about one thousand years commencing with the bloodline of Rome in 476 A. D and ending with the conquest of the Turks Constantinople in 1453 B. C. It was the age of monasteries and convents, of religious persecutions and of heroic struggles of the Christian Church. (Litchfield. 2004) The period was also attach by a progression of feudalism and state of war as well as chivalry.However, towards the close, a time of comparative elegance and progress, of darkness free way to the light which followed the night of the Middle Ages preceding the dawn of the Rena issance. (Litchfield. 2004) Constantinople, the not bad(p) city of the Eastern Empire began to grow in popularity and as a result the migration to the capital city, of families of respectable office grew. When they left their homes for Constantinople they carried with them all of their priceless possessions. The wealth homeowners gravitated toward more ornamental household furnishings and fittings.This represented a disagreement from the early Classic Greek to a more Byzantine style. (Rowling. 1973 p 17) The dictates of a prevalent Christianity significantly influenced the role of women in The Middle Ages. Ladies were permitted to be seen in chariots and open carriages, the designs of which, thitherfore, improved and became more varied. (Litchfield. 2004) And there was a tip of the old tradition of reclining at meals (Litchfield 2004) was replaced by having guests occupying benches.Until the turn of the fourteenth century the ordinary dwelling house was simplistic in its furn ishing, reflecting a indisposed growth in domesticity with the emergence of the well dark merchant mentality. In France, for instance, the main way of life in a given home contained a bonkstead and a prie dieu chair, a table with plain slab supported on shaped standards. (Litchfield 2004) The rest of the furniture featured in the main room would regularly be comprised of the signature Middle Ages chest which would have been carved from oak or chestnut with a serial of benches or stools.A basic table resembling a supported and steep slab of woodwind also formed a classifiable part of the furniture arrangement in an ordinary dwelling house of The Middle Ages. It was grossly thirty inches in diameter permitting guests to sit on one typeface while the other side was reserved for the issuing of the meal. While there would be no family discussions across the table, family members and guests would be in a assign to rub elbows, so to speak. This is indicative of assimilation and explains the origins of the social term rubbing elbows. The period spanning the 11th -13th centuries was the hallmark of civilization in The Middle Ages. ghostlike reform fortified the popes position in the church service and gallant society but conflict between the pope and the emperor butterfly was unavoidable. Towns and farms witnessed a population explosion with the resulting merchant or middle classes. An apparent growth and development in culture and economics prevailed. By the ordinal century Gothic architecture reflecting the religious culture and a transformation toward education and the university had reached its peak. The cavalryly peasant however was slow in domesticity although he formed a large part of the noble lords domestic make-up.The peasant population, primarily do up of farmers comprised about nine-tenths of the Medieval population and were serfs and villeins. ( Nurmiainen 1998) A typical peasant village was comprised of anywhere from ten to sixty f amilies. (Morrison. 1970 p. 57) Their accommodations were dreary and kinda dank in appearance, to say the very least. Their dwelling houses were usually consisted of a dark, dank hut made of wood or wicker daubed with mud and thatched with straw or rushes. (Litchfield 2004) Sharing their homes with stemma such as pigs and chicken, the straw/reed layered write ups were often mar by livestock droppings.Dried leaves and straw represented a typical bed and animal skins were utilise as blankets. The stove was merely a fire made of wood and sometimes peat which burned continuously on a dirt patch which was cleared out on the deck of a hut. The stagnant domesticity among the peasants reflected resonantly in the typical furnishing of the village huts. It was a dewy-eyed plank table on trestles, a few stools, perhaps a chest, and probably a loom for the women to make their own framework. (Litchfeild 2004) If peasants did anything for the growth of domesticity throughout The Middle Ag es, they did it for the nobility.They existed for the sole purpose of supporting their lord and master who in turn illustrated a steady growth toward domesticity as evidenced by the unwavering commitment of the peasant. They gave about half their time to work in his fields, cut timber, haul water, spin and weave, repair his buildings, and wait upon his household. In war, the men had to fight at his side. (Litchfield 2004) The idea and values of domesticity are saliently present in the development and retention of the domestic consideration. In this vein, the peasantry can be viewed as a founder of the latter day domestic servant.Arguably, the dictates of the master/servant mentality takes its roots back to the feudalism system that reached its peak in The Middle Ages. (Keen. 2006) Demonstrative of domesticity was the ever present table. It was a shrine to mental hospital and an escape from the abrasive outside world. The table represented a flood tide together of family and frie nds at the end of a day primarily utilize to bringing meals home. The Anglo-Saxons were no exception. Often a hall which was usually dimensionally off balance because its height was disproportionate to its width and continuance was occupied by a long table made of oak.The table was formed of planks rough hewn from the forest, and which had scarcely received any polishstood ready nimble for the evening meal. (Litchfield 2004) A typical Anglo-Saxon flat tire had walls decorate with war relics, a representation of triumph and defeat as well as a desire to be reminded of those events within the snug confines of a domestic setting. The Anglo-Saxon decorum was simple with a floor made up of a earth and lime concoction not strange todays barn floorings. It might even be viewed by modern standards as harsh and crude.Be that as it may, it was the Anglo-Saxon reek and they obviously saw it distinctly. The Anglo-Saxon dwelling house contained a floor which had a raised step about a qua rter of the length of the apartment. This dais was reserved for important visitors and family members and represented the hub of domestic activity. Typical of Medieval domestic leaning, a table richly cover with scarlet cloth was placed transversely across the platform, from the middle of which ran the longer and lower board, at which the domestics and inferior persons fed, down towards the bottom of the hall. (Litchfield 2004)The entire setting of the Anglo-Saxon apartment was reflective of an escape from the outside world. It represented a warm and ironical refuge and the T shaped table reflected domestic harmony and socialization in the home. The dais functioned to harvest a coming together, a solace of the minds and an escape from toil. Huge chairs occupied the dais and a cloth cover hung over the collection of chairs and tables as a means of protection from leaks as rain often escaped the poorly built roof tops. ( go steady regard 2) The dais was domesticity personified.At the swiftness level of the hall, the walls were shrouded by curtains and the floor was covered by carpet of some embroidery or tapestry, although the color was rather harsh on the eyes. This color choice by no means operated to keep occupants out of the home. It was merely a matter of the fashion of the times. Its prime function was to make the home a fashionable and encourageable place as more and more time was spent at home with the emphasis on the family unit and fostering close relations with ones friends, relatives and neighbors. See figure 3) The table is deserving of further comment in that it speaks to the richness of feudalism and its infiltration of domesticity. Litchfield observed that over the lower range of table the roof had no covering, the rough plastered walls were left bare, the rude earthen floor was uncarpeted, the board was uncovered by a cloth, and rude broad benches supplied the place of chairs (Litchfield 2004) More telling however was the two chairs tha t occupied the upper tables center.These two chairs were elevated more so than the other chairs and was reserved for the male female heads of the household. To each of these was added a footstool interrogatively carved and inlaid with ivory, which mark of distinction was peculiar to them. (Litchfield 2004) The Norman civilization began to infiltrate Medieval times and the citizens found themselves warring with neighboring communities. This, together with the move toward trade and migrant farming obviated the need to change abode from time to time.As noted previously this nomadic lifestyle back up light furnishings and the ability to travel lightly if one wanted to estimable valuable possessions. The Anglo-Saxons were adamant in their perception of the necessity for a bed. The bed was reserved for royalty and ladies of nobility. However, as the Medieval period settled into a more stable state the gradual growth into domesticity became more grounded. Ladies began to aline more f ormally, and the upper classes became more polished. New and more pronounced domestic furnishings sprung up in the Medieval home.For instance, upper floors were added and stairs would follow this alteration. national socialization reached its peak with the introduction of the parloir or talking room. (Gella 2002 pps 5-10) complete this domestic setting fire places made of brick or stone were inserted fine-tune the overall decorum where previously a gaping hole was utilized for escaping smoke. Even the sleeping quarters took on a new look, one of domestic harmony and comfort. Bedsteads were carved and draped with rich hangings.Armoires made of oak and enriched with carving, and Presses date from about the end of the eleventh century. (Litchfield 2004) Medieval France was no different from Anglo-Saxon decor. The domestic chamber was identical to that of the Anglo-Saxons and typical europiuman knight and lady bedroom settings. (Kauper 1996 p 146) The prie dieu chair was generally at the bedside, and had a seat which lifted up, the lower part forming a box-like receptacle for devotional books then so regularly used by a lady of the time. (Litchfield 2004) As the fourteenth century came to a close Medieval France and much of Europe witnessed a propensity toward loud colors. A typical room in a castle or palace was adorned with cloth of gold, border with scarlet velvet embroidered with roses. (Litchfield 2004) A Dukes room would contain ingredient of gold material of embroidered windmills whereas a Duchesss room would contain similar trimmings of an embroidered crossbow.Carpets were generally glossy and cushions of gold or some other rich coloring were typically placed on the floor during pass months. The time spent at home was evidenced by the point in time and attention given to arm chairs of the time. Litchfield describes a typical chair for a princess as . a chamber chair with four supports, painted in fine vermilion, the seat and arms of which are cov ered in vermilion morocco, or cordovan, worked and stamped with designs representing the sun, birds, and other devices bordered with fringes of silk and studded with nails. (Litchfield 2004) As commerce genuine through the Empires of The Middle Ages there was a development of the middle classes. The domestic values of the middle classes are also manifested by the furnishings and fittings of a typical home of a dealer. The retail dealers wife polished in silk and was provided pillows adorned with buttons made of Oriental pearls for resting her arms and head. (Boissonnade 2002 pp 3-8)The chair which represents comfort and stability is prominent throughout Medieval Europe also had a place in the German community. (See figure 1) Litchfield pays homage to a typical chair of German construction of the times. The famous choir stalls in the Cathedral of Ulm, which are considered the finest work of the Swabian school of German wood carving. The splendid panels of foliage on the front, the Gothic triple canopy are adorned with the busts of Isaiah, David, and Daniel. (Litchfield 2004)