HS1 3 5 Gothic Furniture
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into Gothic era furniture, highlighting its portability and architectural influence. Wealthy individuals, often nomadic, favored movable pieces like stools and chests. Furniture design mirrored Gothic architectural elements, with ornate examples reflecting societal stability and wealth. The script also explores furniture's role in dining, sleeping, and storage, emphasizing the evolution from functional to decorative as society progressed towards the Renaissance.
Takeaways
- 🏺 Early Gothic furniture was minimalistic and portable, often consisting of stools, chests, and boxes due to the nomadic lifestyle of the wealthy and the need for easily transportable possessions.
- 🛏️ Bed frames were not common; instead, beds were often supported by boxes or chests, reflecting the temporary and movable nature of living spaces.
- 🏰 The design of furniture was heavily influenced by Gothic architectural elements, with thrones and chairs incorporating features like pointed arches and tracery.
- 🎨 Evidence of furniture design comes largely from paintings and illuminated manuscripts, as many physical pieces have not survived to the present day.
- 🗝️ Locks became an important aspect of furniture design, with intricate lock mechanisms reflecting both functionality and ornamentation.
- 🖼️ Canopies and curtains were used not only for privacy and protection but also as a status symbol, indicating the wealth and importance of the bed's occupant.
- 🍽️ Dining furniture evolved with the times, with the use of trestle tables and benches being common, and later developments including the introduction of cupboards and credenzas.
- 🗃️ Chests served multiple purposes, from storage to seating, and were often ornately carved or painted, reflecting the growing stability and wealth of society.
- 🏛️ The ornamentation on furniture became more complex over time, with carving techniques like linen fold and Roman work becoming popular in late Gothic and Renaissance periods.
- 🌐 The end of the Gothic era saw a shift towards more stable societies, with the rise of guilds and civil society leading to more complex and permanent furniture designs.
Q & A
What types of furniture were common during the Gothic period?
-During the Gothic period, common types of furniture included stools, chests, boxes, and portable bed supports. These were chosen for their utility and portability due to the nomadic lifestyle of the wealthy and the lack of accumulated wealth.
Why were people during the Gothic period often nomadic?
-People were often nomadic during the Gothic period because they needed to move from residence to residence to oversee their land and keep things in order. This lifestyle necessitated the use of portable furniture.
How did furniture reflect the architectural styles of the Gothic period?
-Furniture during the Gothic period often reflected architectural forms, incorporating elements like pointed arches, tracery, and flamboyant forms similar to those seen in stained glass windows and church facades.
What is a 'box throne' and how does it relate to Gothic furniture?
-A 'box throne' is a type of Gothic furniture that has a box at the bottom, sometimes with a seat that opens up for storage. It is related to Gothic furniture because of its use of architectural forms and ornate carvings, which are characteristic of the period.
What is the significance of the 'linen fold' carving style in late Gothic furniture?
-The 'linen fold' carving style became extremely popular in late Gothic furniture and continued into the Renaissance. It is characterized by a design that resembles folded fabric, often seen in carved panels on chairs and other furniture.
How were chests used as furniture during the Gothic period?
-Chests during the Gothic period were multi-purpose. They were used for storage, could be combined to form larger pieces like beds, and sometimes had ornate carvings or were painted. They could also be transformed into seating with the addition of cushions or textiles.
What role did textiles play in Gothic furniture and interiors?
-Textiles played a significant role in Gothic furniture and interiors, often used to drape or cover furniture, add comfort to seating, and provide insulation and privacy in beds. Textiles were also used to decorate walls and were a significant indicator of wealth.
How did the form of seating evolve from benches to chairs during the Gothic period?
-During the Gothic period, the form of seating evolved from the dominance of benches to the introduction of chairs, with armchairs being more unusual and reserved for the most important people in a household or church.
What is the significance of the 'canopy' in Gothic beds?
-The canopy in Gothic beds served multiple purposes. It not only signified the importance of the bed's occupant but also provided protection, warmth, and a degree of privacy. Canopies could be made of textiles or incorporated into the structure of the bed.
How did the development of locksmithing affect furniture during the Gothic period?
-The development of locksmithing led to the creation of extremely complex locks, which became a central part of the design of chests during the Gothic period. Locks were not only functional but also decorative, often featuring intricate carvings.
What changes in furniture and interior design are indicative of the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance period?
-The transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance period is marked by a shift towards more complex economic and political systems, which led to more stable societies. This is reflected in the furniture and interior design through the introduction of more permanent and complex pieces, a focus on civil society over the church, and the incorporation of elements from classical design.
Outlines
🏺 Early Gothic Furniture: Mobility and Architectural Influence
The paragraph discusses the simplicity and portability of early Gothic furniture, which was largely due to the lack of accumulated wealth and the nomadic lifestyle of the wealthy who needed to move between residences to manage their lands. Furniture was primarily functional, designed to support the human body, and often draped with textiles for comfort and aesthetics. The influence of Gothic architecture is evident in the design of furniture, with examples like the coronation throne of England and box thrones featuring architectural elements such as lancet arches and tracery. The paragraph also mentions the use of furniture in paintings and illuminated manuscripts to understand historical use, and the evolution of furniture design towards more ornate and complex forms reflecting the architectural styles of the time.
🎨 Late Gothic Furniture: The Integration of Renaissance Ideas
This section delves into the late Gothic period's furniture, which began to incorporate ideas from the emerging Renaissance. It highlights the use of linen fold carving and Roman work, drawing inspiration from classical designs. The paragraph describes various forms of seating like stools and benches, and the multi-functionality of chests, which could also serve as beds. It discusses the development of locksmithing with complex locks becoming a central feature and ornament of chests. The paragraph also touches on the role of furniture in dining, with the introduction of cupboards and credenzas, and the use of textiles to enhance the appearance and functionality of furniture.
🍽️ Gothic Dining and Bedroom Furniture: Textiles and Canopies
The focus of this paragraph is on the furniture used in dining and bedrooms during the Gothic period. It describes the use of trestle tables for dining, often placed against walls with guests seated in a way that allowed them to face the room for protection. The paragraph also discusses the use of canopies and textiles to enhance the importance and comfort of beds, which were not only a sign of wealth but also provided privacy and protection. The paragraph mentions the production of textiles in Europe, particularly in Flanders and Paris, and how these were used to adorn beds, making them a central feature of wealthy interiors.
🏠 Transition to Renaissance: Stability and Complex Interiors
This paragraph marks the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance era, noting the increase in economic and political complexity in Europe. It discusses the shift in focus from the church to civil society and the rise of guilds and city-states. The paragraph describes changes in interior design, with the Marauding Altarpiece serving as an example of a middle-class home's interior. It highlights the presence of beautifully crafted furniture like a swiveling-back bench and a central table, both of which could be adjusted for comfort and use. The paragraph also touches on the use of niches for displaying cookware and the typical treatment of windows with wooden shutters and glazed tops.
🏛️ Gothic Architectural Elements in Furniture and Interiors
The final paragraph summarizes the key architectural elements of the Gothic period found in furniture and interiors. It mentions features like the pointed arch or lancet window, quatrefoil, rondelle, trefoil, crockets, and interlacing motifs. These elements were not only integral to the architecture but were also translated into furniture design, creating a cohesive aesthetic between the built environment and the objects within it. The paragraph reflects on the regional variations in the use of these motifs and their popularity throughout medieval Europe.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gothic
💡Furniture
💡Portable
💡Architectural Forms
💡Nomadic
💡Illuminations
💡Locksmith
💡Credenza
💡Trestle Table
💡Canopy
💡Textiles
Highlights
Furniture during the Gothic period was mostly practical and portable, reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of even the wealthy due to social instability.
Stools, chests, and boxes were the primary furniture pieces, often serving multiple purposes, such as supporting beds or being used for storage.
Furniture was typically draped with textiles and cushions to make it look richer, emphasizing decoration over structural design.
Much of the remaining knowledge of Gothic furniture comes from paintings, as many pieces were portable and got worn out over time.
Architectural elements strongly influenced Gothic furniture design, especially in thrones and chairs, which often mimicked the forms of church facades.
The 'linen fold' carving style, mimicking folded fabric, became popular in late Gothic furniture and continued into the Renaissance.
Chests were multifunctional, used for storage, seating, and sometimes as a base for beds, emphasizing their utility in mobile lifestyles.
Locks on chests became increasingly complex and ornamental, showcasing the growing craftsmanship of locksmiths during this period.
The development of more permanent furniture forms like cupboards and credenzas reflects the growing stability of society in late Gothic times.
The credenza originally served to test food for poison, reflecting the cautious nature of dining practices in wealthier households.
Beds during the Gothic period were often surrounded by canopies or curtains for warmth and privacy, highlighting the communal nature of sleeping arrangements.
Textiles were the most expensive and valuable part of furniture during the Gothic period, often serving as wall coverings in wealthy homes.
Trestle tables were common in Gothic dining rooms, often placed against walls with guests sitting with their backs to the wall for protection.
In wealthier Gothic interiors, furniture pieces like benches and tables featured intricate carvings and could swivel to accommodate different needs.
Gothic furniture incorporated decorative elements from architecture, such as the pointed arch (Lancet windows) and quatrefoils, blending structure and ornamentation.
Transcripts
now there wasn't an awful lot of
furniture in
that we've just covered we get more of
it as we get later into the Gothic but
really what most people had were the
most useful kinds of pieces stools
chests boxes that would support their
beds at night not necessarily even real
bed frames and this is in part due to
the fact that there wasn't an awful lot
of accumulated wealth it also has to do
with the instability of society and even
the wealthy for a good portion of this
time were rather nomadic if they owned a
good deal of land they probably had a
few different residences and would need
to move from residence to residence in
order to oversee their land and keep
things in order
and that meant that what they owned was
primarily quite portable you wouldn't
want to leave behind great pieces of
furniture and wonderful interior
decorations if you weren't going to be
in your home for a number of months and
to sort of left their caretakers there
so everything was packable this means
that much of the furniture was really
just about the support of human body and
then often would be draped or covered
with cushions and textiles that would
make it even richer looking so there
wasn't a lot of thought being put into
furniture and because much of it was
portable it got used up our record of
what people used comes in part from
paintings and so we can see something
for instance like the throne that this
image of the Virgin Mary is sitting in
that's from a Byzantine painting
representing something about the way
that Thrones looked at this time they
had a strong relationship to
architecture and that that seems to play
out and the pieces of furniture that are
extant if we look for an instance at
this series of Thrones which kind of run
the gamut of medieval medieval and
gothic furniture we can see lots of
architectural forms and them in the
first
we have the coronation throne from
England and this has been used for
coronations for centuries it has the
form of a gothic church facade on its
back and on the arms you can see these
little Lancet arch s in the central
image we've got a box throne or box
chair which has a box in the bottom
which sometimes the seat would open up
and you'd be able to store things in
there if we look at the back of that
chair what we see is a kind of carving
that represents the kind of tracery that
we saw in the stained glass windows in
the flamboyant form and the flamboyant
form is when those those lines become
very flamboyant or flame-like and you
can see just how Clement they are there
and then in the next piece we've got
this very kind of lace like chair that
again is using lots of forms that come
directly from Gothic architecture so at
its most ornate furniture in this period
reflects the forms of the architecture
now sometimes it's a little bit harder
for the crafts person to be able to do
that when you've got carved panels you
can you can express that when you're
using turned turned members that are all
joined together it's a little more
difficult but you can see that even in
this joined chair at the bottom in the
struts between the front of the seat and
the stretcher we've got some arches that
that are worked in there so the
craftsperson is still looking to
architectural forms for the ornament
that they're going to apply to the
furniture and we can definitely see that
here in this armchair in this settle
both of them have those boxed bases in
the case of the settle the top does open
up and both of them have these carved
panels what we see in the armchair is a
form of carving called linen fold and
you can see it almost looks like folded
fabric in those panels this becomes
extremely popular in the late gothic and
continues into the Renaissance but
in the Netherlands and really spreading
really all over Europe very much in
France and also in England at the top of
that chair at the crest rail we see
these little ears or finials that are
carved at the top and that becomes an
integral part of furniture design in
Europe for quite a long time and then a
carving that's based on Roman ornament
that is often referred to as Roman work
at this time looking at the settle we
have again some linen fold and we also
have some more of this Roman work where
the artist has really looked at
classical design for their inspiration
so we know that this is really late
gothic because it's starting actually to
take some of the ideas that we see
growing up in the Renaissance into
account besides painting we can also
find representations of furniture in
illuminated manuscripts and there are
lots of examples of this here we have a
series of stools we've got some stools
that are rather like box stools we've
got stools that are made from one solid
piece with the legs just sort of fit it
in through sort of simple um carpentry
and the stool would have been the
dominant form of seating at this time
just as it had been in the past with
chairs and they're almost always
armchairs being more unusual and really
meant for the most important people in
the house or the most important people
in the church the other form that we see
very often is the bench and this becomes
a very popular form in Gothic times and
we see the combination of the bench and
the chest as well so you know chests at
this time were multi-purpose and pieces
of furniture they were great for holding
things and keeping things and what we
see really developing is the art of the
locksmith and extremely complex locks
are developed during this time but these
these boxes could also be used to form
bigger pieces of furniture like beds so
very often what would happen is a few of
these chess
so we'll be pushed together and then the
mattress would be laid on top of that
and of course this is a really kind of
mobile way you can change your furniture
around really easily this way and you
can pack it all up and take it away with
you this is a hutch form and you can see
it's a very very simple kind of
carpentry but then it has rather ornate
carving on it and this could have also
been painted very often these chests
were also painted and of course the most
ornate would have been covered with
panels of carved ivory or I'm very fancy
metalwork but what we're looking at here
is something that could have been owned
by an upper-middle-class family this is
another piece that's rather late this is
15th century France and this is a
tilting chest actually meant to hold
armament and weapons and you can see on
the exterior this very fine carving of
knights dowse ting really telling you
what should be inside of the chest
and you can also see this very ornate
lock I mean again the locks become a
central part of the face of chests not
only complex locks in terms of keeping
the chest closed but also they become a
big part of ornament there are some
other furniture forms that develop for
use in the dining room and also for
holding personal property the more
stable society becomes the more diverse
these forms become you're not going to
take pieces of furniture like this with
you the way that you could a chest and
so this really reflects the fact that
people's lives have become more stable
what we have here on the left hand side
is a cupboard or dress wire this would
be a furniture form that would really
display plate which would be made of
silver or made of pewter even brass and
it would talk about the wealth of the
family it would be placed in an area
that was used for the dining room and it
could be as simple as a series of
shelves attached to the wall or as
complex as this piece here where it has
a lot of architectural
combined with it and is clearly a
permanent piece of furniture the piece
on the right is a credenza and the
credenza form which it ultimately
becomes is a small table that would be
placed near near the dining table and
what it would be used for was the
tasting of food before it was served to
test for poison
and so that credence is really given to
the food once it's been tested and the
tester hasn't passed away and what we
see here are again the linen fold
carving on the doors we see strap hinges
which is a hinge that not only holds the
door to the frame of the piece but also
it moves along that door and it creates
this kind of strap like form and then we
also see carving of grapes and vines
which would have been considered Roman
work on the right hand side we have an
enclosed cabinet which is referred to as
a press this one is from Germany in a
press is intended to be used for the
storage of linens and textiles it has
doors on the top and the bottom that are
very simple panel forms but really
complex flamboyant architectural forms
all around it so it's got this gothic
flamboyant almost kind of lace like
Peirce work at the top and the bottom of
the piece on the left hand side of the
screen we have a slightly simpler form
of an armoire know that armoire although
ultimately used for the storage of
clothing is originally for the storage
of armor and would have been a place
where the armor could have been capped
on pegs and even when it gets used for
clothing for a long time it just has
pegs in it hangers are a relatively
modern development dining was done
either alone on a small table or in a
large space it would have been done at
trestle tables we didn't have the kind
of idea of having a central table in the
room that everybody sits around instead
the tables were placed closer to the
wall and all of the guests
with their backs to the wall which
served to protect them people were
really nervous about being attacked and
allowed them to be able to watch
anything that was taking place in the
center of the room like some kind of
entertainment so we can see here in
these drawings the the image of a great
group of guests being entertained behind
them is a bench and the back of the
bench and it's got carved Lancet windows
and then we have all of the servers and
the musicians reaching them from the
outside of the table and you notice that
it's got one long continuous tablecloth
the way to make a trestle table look
better is to put a lot of textile on it
and we can see that happening in both of
these images too both from illuminated
manuscripts great feasts taking place
with trestle tables all the guests
seated on one side in the server's
bringing the food from the other side
and in this image of just a single diner
he's also sitting at a trestle table and
here you can really see the legs of the
table and he's sitting at a bench with a
high back that also has a canopy and
canopies to no importance and we see
them developing as both textiles that
are draped over important seats and
important beds we also see them
developing as actual structures made of
wood or stone that that are incorporated
into the pieces of furniture and here we
can see that on beds now with beds it
has a slightly different purpose not
only does it make the bed important and
honestly having either one of these beds
in your home during the Middle Ages
would have meant that you were an
awfully important person in the first
place but it also gives the sleeper a
certain amount of protection in the case
of the box bed it keeps you warm and you
can see how the solid sides was just a
little bit of piercing would have
enabled the person sleeping in there to
both get fresh air and also be protected
in terms of cold drafts but as well
sleeping wasn't such a private thing to
do
you weren't necessarily sleeping in a
room by yourself very often you would
servants in the room with you and if you
happen to be a servant yourself you
might be sleeping in a room with an
awful lot of other people so if you were
wealthy enough to have a bed chances
were that you would also surround
yourself with curtains in order to give
yourself a certain amount of privacy and
it would be the textiles that were on
this bed that would be the most
expensive part of it and we can see here
in this image from an illuminated
manuscript just how really beautiful the
textiles would have been the Gothic
period is one where I'm greater and
greater trade is built up with with the
east and there's also a lot of textile
production growing up in Europe itself
and we start to see the production of
tapestries in in Flanders and in Paris
we see all kinds of weaving industries
throughout Europe and the development of
really beautiful stuff and and this
really expresses that here we've got the
image of the Virgin Mary sitting on a
bed that has a kind of canopy form this
is called a tester this canopy that is
only supported from one end and not only
is her bed covered with beautiful
textile but the walls are as well which
really tells us something about the most
wealthy interiors part of the reason
that we don't know exactly what they
look like anymore is because none of its
survived because it was actually hung
with textiles and we can see that again
here in another image from an
illuminated manuscript this time the bed
seems to be raised up on boxes and then
we've got a tester and we've got the
curtains even hanging from the tester
and if you notice there's this kind of
funny teardrop form at one corner and
that's because when when the curtains
that surrounded the bed were not in use
they would be tied and bundled into
themselves to tie a knot and then take
the bottom part and stuff it into the
top part to protect them and to open the
bed up so as we reach the end of the
Gothic era and we are kind of turning
the corner into the Renaissance we see a
much more complex system of economy
growing up in Europe we see a much more
complex system in the political realm
which
helps to create a great deal of
stability we still have a strong focus
on the church but we're losing that
focus to civil society and the growing
up of the strength of guilds the the
power of individual cities and a kind of
shift and power to kings and queens that
we didn't have in the gothic period we
also see much more complex interiors and
we can see this taking a close look at
the maraud altarpiece so the altarpiece
is divided into three sections on the
left-hand side we have the exterior of
the home in the middle we have the
interior and on the left-hand side we
have a close look at a carpenter's
workshop so let's take a look at that
home interior and this would have been a
pretty firmly middle-class family
they've acquired a number of pieces of
furniture they don't have a lot in their
interior but what they do have is really
beautifully made so we've got this long
bench that has these little finials that
are each of them little animals really
beautiful carving also kind of gothic
tracery that decorates the lower portion
of the bench and what's interesting
about the bench is that it has a back
that swivels so if you notice they're
kind of hinges at either end of the of
the back of the bench and it can swivel
so that the back is either placing the
sitter facing the fireplace or facing
away from the fireplace which is really
useful in a small interior this is a
large piece of furniture you wouldn't
have to turn it around you just swivel
the back and in the summertime you
probably wouldn't want to be facing the
fireplace and in the winter you probably
would the other piece of furniture is
this central table and the table also
would have swivel the top would have
swivel and we can figure that out by
looking at the base of the table and how
the decorative shaping of that base is
actually one sided so that when the
table was swiveled it would it would
actually sit up against the wall other
elements in the room that are part of
the way that interiors are treated in
this period are
and we see this niche here has a pointed
arch and again it's in that kind of
truffle form at the top and this was the
place where you would put your cooking
pot when it wasn't I'm sitting in the
fireplace cooking and it's an important
piece for the house this was quite an
investment and you would want to keep it
lovely and shiny and you would put it on
display where when you weren't using it
and we see these niches and in other
interiors as well if we move our
attention over to the window we see a
typical way of treating a window in the
late Gothic period the bottom portion is
a wooden screen and it would be closed
off just by the wooden shutters the top
portion is the only part that has any
glazing or glass used glass is still
very expensive and you would really use
it sparingly so when it was cold outside
you'd close up those wooden shutters and
all of your light would just be coming
in from the glazed portion at the top we
see the ceiling is a flat ceiling with
prominent beams that are held up by
ornate corbels at either end and on the
table itself we see some objects that
become important to the region in which
this painting was painted this is a
Flemish painting and in that area the
Netherlands today blue and white
ceramics were a very important part of
the decorative arts production so this
picture is actually really a very good
representation of what those pieces look
like and the other thing is this turned
brass candlestick which also would have
been produced locally when we look over
at the Carpenters workshop we see even
simpler windows and these again are
wooden shutters this time the shutters
are held secure in the ceiling by these
little hooks that come down and the
carpenter is sitting at a trestle table
or workbench and he's sitting on a bench
with a high back all of these are
probably the most typical furniture
forms for the period and just to look
back at some of the ornament that we've
seen throughout the lecture we
looked at the pointed pointed arch and
how its incorporated into the window
forms and we call that a Lancet window
we've seen a number of examples of the
quatrefoil which we see here in the far
right hand corner and then below that we
have a rondelle that circular form and
in the centre of the Rondo we have a
trefoil just over to the left of that we
see two little drawings of Crockett's
now Crockett's are something that that
are really specific to Gothic
architecture and they're these funny
little leaf like knots that appear and
the edges of architectural forms we see
them incorporated into furniture as well
and in a sense they're almost like in a
canvas leave that's all kind of curled
up in some regions they're really
abundant and in others you just don't
see them at all and then in this
composite picture we have a lot of
interlacing in interlacing becomes a
really big part of ornament in
illuminated manuscripts and then it's
translated to low relief carving in
furniture so we'll often see a kind of
interlace motif and it changes a little
bit regionally but it's popular
throughout Europe during the medieval
time
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)