Chapter III

THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY: Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaelle--Church of
St. Peter, contemporary great artists--The Italian Palazzo--Methods
of gilding, inlaying and mounting Furniture--Pietra-durá and
other enrichments--Ruskin's criticism. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE:
François I. and the Chateau of Fontainebleau--Influence on
Courtiers--Chairs of the time--Design of Cabinets--M. E. Bonnaffé on
The Renaissance--Bedstead of Jeanne d'Albret--Deterioration of taste
in time of Henry IV.--Louis XIII. Furniture--Brittany woodwork. THE
RENAISSANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS: Influence of the House of Burgundy
on Art--The Chimney-piece at Bruges, and other casts of specimens
at South Kensington Museum. THE RENAISSANCE IN SPAIN: The resources
of Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--Influence of
Saracenic Art--High-backed Leather Chairs, the Carthusian Convent
at Granada. THE RENAISSANCE IN GERMANY: Albrecht Dürer Famous
Steel Chair of Augsburg--German seventeenth century carving in St.
Saviour's Hospital. THE RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND: Influence of Foreign
Artists in the time of Henry VIII.--End of Feudalism--Hampton
Court Palace--Linen Pattern Panels--Woodwork in the Henry VII
Chapel at Westminster Abbey--Livery Cupboards at Hengrave--Harrison
quoted--The "parler," alteration in English customs--Chairs of the
sixteenth century--Coverings and Cushions of the time, extract
from old inventory--South Kensington Cabinet--Elizabethan Mirror
at Goodrich Court--Shaw's "Ancient Furniture"--The Glastonbury
Chair--Introduction of Frames into England--Characteristics of
Native Woodwork--Famous Country Mansions--Alteration in design of
Woodwork and Furniture--Panelled Rooms at South Kensington--The
Charterhouse--Gray's Inn Hall and Middle Temple--The Hall of
the Carpenters' Company--The Great Bed of Ware--Shakespeare's
Chair--Penshurst Place 47

CHAPTER IV.

English Home Life in the Reign of James I.--Sir Henry Wotton
quoted--Inigo Jones and his work--Ford Castle--Chimney Pieces in
South Kensington Museum--Table in the Carpenters' Hall--Hall of the
Barbers' Company--The Charterhouse--Time of Charles I.--Furniture
at Knole--Eagle House, Wimbledon--Mr. Charles Eastlake--Monuments
at Canterbury and Westminster--Settles, Couches, and Chairs
of the Stuart period--Sir Paul Pindar's House--Cromwellian
Furniture--The Restoration--Indo-Portuguese Furniture--Hampton Court
Palace--Evelyn's description--The Great Fire of London--Hall of the
Brewers' Company--Oak Panelling of the time--Grinling Gibbons and
his work--The Edict of Nantes--Silver Furniture at Knole--William
III. and Dutch influence--Queen Anne--Sideboards, Bureaus, and
Grandfather's Clocks--Furniture at Hampton Court 91

CHAPTER V.

CHINESE FURNITURE: Probable source of artistic taste--Sir William
Chambers quoted--Racinet's "Le Costume Historique"--Dutch
Influence--The South Kensington and the late Duke of Edinburgh
Collections--Processes of making Lacquer--Screens in the Kensington
Museum. JAPANESE FURNITURE: Early History--Sir Rutherford Alcock and
Lord Elgin--The Collection of the Shôgun--Famous Collections--Action
of the present Government of Japan--Special characteristics.
INDIAN FURNITURE: Early European influence--Furniture of the
Moguls--Racinet's Work--Bombay Furniture--Ivory Chairs and
Tables--Specimens in the India Museum. PERSIAN WOODWORK: Collection
of Objets d'Art formed by General Murdoch Smith, R.E.--Industrial
Arts of the Persians--Arab influence--South Kensington Specimens.
SARACENIC WOODWORK: Oriental customs--Specimens in the South
Kensington Museum of Arab Work--M. d'Aveune's Work 125

CHAPTER VI.

PALACE OF VERSAILLES: "Grand" and "Petit Trianon"--The three Styles
of Louis XIV., XV., and XVI.--Colbert and Lebrun--André Charles
Boule and his Work--Carved and Gilt Furniture--The Regency and its
Influence--Alteration in Condition of French Society--Watteau,
Lancret, and Boucher. LOUIS XV. FURNITURE: Famous Ébenistes--Vernis
Martin Furniture--Caffieri and Gouthière Mountings--Sêvres Porcelain
introduced into Cabinets--Gobelins Tapestry--The "Bureau du Roi."
LOUIS XVI. AND MARIE ANTOINETTE: The Queen's Influence--The
Painters Chardin and Greuze--More simple Designs--Characteristic
Ornaments of Louis XVI. Furniture--Riesener's Work--Gouthière's
Mountings--Specimens in the Louvre--The Hamilton Palace Sale--French
influence upon the design of furniture in other countries--The Jones
Collection--Extract from the "Times" 145

CHAPTER VII.

Chinese Styles--Sir William Chambers--The Brothers Adams'
work--Pergolesi, Cipriani, and Angelica Kauffmann--Architects
of the time--Wedgwood and Flaxman--Chippendale's Work and his
Contemporaries--Chair in the Barbers' Hall--Lock, Shearer,
Hepplewhite, Ince, Mayhew, Sheraton--Introduction of Satinwood
and Mahogany--Gillows, of Lancaster and London--History of the
Sideboard--The Dining Room--Furniture of the time 173