Part 18 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Sideboard in Mahogany with Inlay of Satinwood. In the Style of Robert Adam.]

The ”wine table” of this time deserves a word. These are now somewhat rare, and are only to be found in a few old houses, and in some of the Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. These were found with revolving tops, which had circles turned out to a slight depth for each gla.s.s to stand in, and they were sometimes shaped like the half of a flat ring. These latter were for placing in front of the fire, when the outer side of the table formed a convivial circle, round which the sitters gathered after they had left the dinner table.

One of these old tables is still to be seen in the Hall of Gray's Inn, and the writer was told that its fellow was broken and had been ”sent away.”

They are nearly always of good rich mahogany, and have legs more or less ornamental according to circ.u.mstances.

A distinguis.h.i.+ng feature of English furniture of the last century was the partiality for secret drawers and contrivances for hiding away papers or valued articles; and in old secretaires and writing tables we find a great many ingenious designs which remind us of the days when there were but few banks, and people kept money and deeds in their own custody.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Carved Jardiniere, by Chippendale.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A China Cabinet, and a Bookcase With Secretaire. Designed by T. Sheraton, and published in his ”Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book,” 1793.]

Chapter VIII.

First Half of the Nineteenth Century

The French Revolution and First Empire--Influence on design of Napoleon's Campaigns--The Cabinet presented to Marie Louise--Dutch Furniture of the time--English Furniture--Sheraton's later work--Thomas Hope, architect--George Smith's designs--Fas.h.i.+on during the Regency--Gothic revival--Seddon's Furniture--Other Makers--Influence on design of the Restoration in France--Furniture of William IV. and early part of Queen Victoria's reign--Baroque and Rococo styles--The panelling of rooms, dado, and skirting--The Art Union,--The Society of Arts--Sir Charles Barry and the new Palace of Westminster--Pugin's designs--Auction Prices of Furniture--Christie's--The London Club Houses--Steam--Different Trade Customs--Exhibitions in France and England--Harry Rogers' work--The Queen's cradle--State of Art in England during first part of present reign--Continental designs--Italian carving--Cabinet work--General remarks.

Empire Furniture.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

There are great crises in the history of a nation which stand out in prominent relief. One of these is the French Revolution, which commenced in 1792, and wrought such dire havoc amongst the aristocracy, with so much misery and distress throughout the country. It was an event of great importance, whether we consider the religion, the politics, or the manners and customs of a people, as affecting the changes in the style of the decoration of their homes. The horrors of the Revolution are matters of common knowledge to every schoolboy, and there is no need to dwell either upon them or their consequences, which are so thoroughly apparent. The confiscation of the property of those who had fled the country was added to the general dislocation of everything connected with the work of the industrial arts.

Nevertheless it should be borne in mind that amongst the anarchy and disorder of this terrible time in France, the National Convention had sufficient foresight to appoint a Commission, composed of competent men in different branches of Art, to determine what State property in artistic objects should be sold, and what was of sufficient historical interest to be retained as a national possession. Riesener, the celebrated _ebeniste_, whose work we have described in the chapter on Louis Seize furniture, and David, the famous painter of the time, both served on this Commission, of which they must have been valuable members.

There is a pa.s.sage quoted by Mr. C. Perkins, the American translator of Dr. Falke's German work ”Kunst im Hause,” which gives us the keynote to the great change which took place in the fas.h.i.+on of furniture about the time of the Revolution. In an article on ”Art,” says this democratic French writer, as early as 1790, when the great storm cloud was already threatening to burst, ”We have changed everything; freedom, now consolidated in France, has restored the pure taste of the antique!

Farewell to your marqueterie and Boule, your ribbons, festoons, and rosettes of gilded bronze; the hour has come when objects must be made to harmonize with circ.u.mstances.”

Thus it is hardly too much to say that designs were governed by the politics and philosophy of the day; and one finds in furniture of this period the reproduction of ancient Greek forms for chairs and couches; ladies' work tables are fas.h.i.+oned somewhat after the old drawings of sacrificial altars; and the cla.s.sical tripod is a favourite support. The mountings represent antique Roman fasces with an axe in the centre; trophies of lances, surmounted by a Phrygian cap of liberty; winged figures, emblematical of freedom; and antique heads of helmeted warriors arranged like cameo medallions.

After the execution of Robespierre, and the abolition of the Revolutionary Tribunal in 1794, came the choice of the Directory: and then, after Buonaparte's brilliant success in Italy, and the famous expeditions to Syria and Egypt two years later, came his proclamation as First Consul in 1799, which in 1802 was confirmed as a life appointment.

We have only to refer to the portrait of the great soldier, represented with the crown of bay leaves and other attributes of old Roman imperialism, to see that in his mind was the ambition of reviving much of the splendour and of the surroundings of the Caesars, whom he took, to some extent, as his models; and that in founding on the ashes of the Revolution a new fabric, with new people about him, all influenced by his energetic personality, he desired to mark his victories by stamping the new order of things with his powerful and a.s.sertive individualism.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cabinet in Mahogany with Bronze Gilt Mountings, Presented by Napoleon I. to Marie Louise on his Marriage with her in 1810 Period: Napoleon I.]

The cabinet which was designed and made for Marie Louise, on his marriage with her in 1810, is an excellent example of the Napoleonic furniture. The wood used was almost invariably rich mahogany, the colour of which made a good ground for the bronze gilt mounts which were applied. The full-page ill.u.s.tration shews these, which are all cla.s.sical in character; and though there is no particular grace in the outline or form of the cabinet, there is a certain dignity and solemnity, relieved from oppressiveness by the fine chasing and gilding of the metal enrichments, and the excellent colour and figuring of the rich Spanish mahogany used.

On secretaires and tables, a common ornament of this description of furniture, is a column of mahogany, with a capital and base of bronze (either gilt, part gilt, or green), in the form of the head of a sphinx with the foot of an animal; console tables are supported by sphinxes and griffins; and candelabra and wall brackets for candles have winged figures of females, stiff in modelling and constrained in att.i.tude, but almost invariably of good material with careful finish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tabouret, or Stool, Carved and Gilt; Arm Chair, In Mahogany, with Gilt Bronze Mountings. Period of Napoleon I.]

The bas-reliefs in metal which ornament the panels of the friezes of cabinets, or the marble bases of clocks, are either reproductions of mythological subjects from old Italian gems and seals, or represent the battles of the Emperor, in which Napoleon is portrayed as a Roman general.

There was plenty of room to replace so much that had disappeared during the Revolution, and a vast quant.i.ty of decorative furniture was made during the few years which elapsed before the disaster of Waterloo caused the disappearance of a power which had been almost meteoric in its career.