5. What are styles named for? Find the examples in the text.

6. Using the information in the text below find the answers to the questions in the following texts.

Ancient Greece (about 1100 B.C. - A.D. 400)

What does klismos stand for?

In ancient Greece, as in ancient Egypt, only persons of the highest social rank possessed much furniture. Most Greek citizens owned only a three-legged stool and perhaps a crudely made table.

The Greeks borrowed many furniture forms, including the bed and the couch, from the Egyptians. Beds became major pieces of household decoration in ancient Greece because they were used for dining as well as for sleeping. During a meal, a person would lie on the bed on his or her side, leaning on one elbow for support.

Greek artisans produced a variety of seating furniture. The most important were the thrones made for people of high rank. Some thrones had a low back decorated with one or more carvings of animal heads. Others had a high back with flowerlike carvings. The arm supports were in the form of rams' heads. The most common type of Greek chair, called the klismos, had curved legs. The front legs curved forward, and the rear legs curved to the back.

Most Greek tables had three legs that ended in feet shaped like hoofs or paws. Greek artisans decorated the finest furniture with inlaid patterns of fine wood, silver, gold, and gems. They either carved ivory to form the feet or cast them in silver or bronze.

Ancient Rome (700's B.C. - A.D. 400's)

What is a curule?

The Romans borrowed many furniture forms from the Greeks but gave them a distinctly Roman character. For example, the Romans used more bronze and silver in their furniture than did the Greeks. Romans used the Greek klismos but made it heavier and larger. They also covered it with upholstery. Roman furniture makers adopted a Greek stool design and developed it into a stool called a curule. The curule had two pairs of legs. The delicate, curved legs in each pair were crossed in the form of an X.

Tables were very popular among the Romans. Many tables had three or four legs connected by crossbars. The slab table was a major Roman contribution to table design. The tabletop consisted of a large slab of marble or wood, which rested on carved upright marble slabs. Artisans sculptured various designs into the upright slabs, including animals, flowers, fruits, and vines.

China

What is a cabriole leg?

By the time of the Han dynasty (202 B.C. - A.D. 220), the Chinese had developed several furniture forms. The most characteristic was the kang, a platform on which a person could lie to sleep or rest. The Chinese of this period grouped a variety of small stools and tables around the kang.

Later Chinese furniture falls into two categories: household furniture and the furniture used in royal palaces. Chinese household furniture was simple and practical. Palace furniture was larger, heavier, and more richly decorated than household furniture.

A notable characteristic of all Chinese furniture was the skillful manner in which artisans joined the parts. They used no pegs or nails and seldom used glue. Instead, they carved the edges of parts so expertly that the parts fitted together tightly.

By the early 1400's, the Chinese were using low dining tables supported by gracefully curved legs now known as cabriole legs. A cabriole leg has S-shaped curves, and it ends with a decorative foot.

Japan

How did Japanese architecture influence Japanese furniture?

Japanese architectural styles largely determined that country's furniture styles. Earthquakes occurred frequently in Japan, which resulted in the building of light, one-story buildings. In both home and palaces, the Japanese used small, lightweight cabinets, chests, and writing tables rather than large, heavy pieces. The Japanese sat and slept on floor mats, and so they used no chairs or beds. Their furniture was simple in shape, but it was beautifully decorated with colorful designs of flowers, animals, and scenes from Japanese literature. Japanese artisans lacquered the furniture to give it a glossy finish. This use of lacquer gave the furniture a distinctive quality. Japanese furniture makers also beautified their work with shell inlays and rich fabrics.

The Renaissance

How did classical art influence Italian Renaissance furniture?

The Renaissance was a period of European history that lasted from about 1300 to 1600. A major characteristic of the period was a revival of interest in classical cultures - that is, the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Classical art had a strong influence on furniture designed during the Renaissance. Italian artisans created the first important Renaissance furniture and their work attracted much attention in other European countries.

During the Renaissance, the palaces of Italian nobles became famous for their luxurious interiors, which included fine furniture and magnificent paintings. Actually, these palaces contained few pieces of furniture by today standards. The best-furnished room in a palace was the studio, a library in which the owner kept books, manuscripts, gems, medals, and small sculptures. These items rested on shelves in beautifully ornamented cupboards.

During the early 1500's, a large type of chest called a cassone was carved, gilded, and painted with scenes from classical history and mythology. A new form of chest called the cassapanca developed from the cassone. The cassapanca had a backrest and arms, and it was used as a sofa as well as a chest. Large cupboards called sideboards became popular pieces of Italian furniture. Artisans decorated them with columns and other features of classical architecture.

Louis XIV style

What were two main characteristics of the Louis XIV style?

Louis XIV furniture was the most notable furniture of the late 1600's. Louis XIV had become king of France in 1643, when he was only 4 years old. He took control of the French government in 1661, after the death of France's chief minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin. Louis, who was then 23 years old, devoted himself to making France the cultural and political center of the Western world. He considered furniture making and the decorative arts to be politically important because he could use them to glorify his position as king. He bought a building on the outskirts of Paris, turned it into workshops, and staffed the shops with expert artisans. He commissioned them to create furnishings for his residences. These furnishings created a new national style of art.

Actually, the artisans worked almost entirely on a single project in Versailles, where they converted a royal hunting lodge into a luxurious royal palace. The noted French architect Charles Le Brun supervised the huge Versailles project and hired artisans from other countries. The decorating and furnishing of the Versailles palace became such a large undertaking that many foreign artisans took up permanent residence in France. Many of them married French women and had children who became furniture makers, creating a native French group of artisans.

This luxurious style was particularly notable for two important characteristics. One was a veneer technique invented by a French cabinetmaker, Andre Charles Boulle. In this technique, artisans "sandwiched" a veneer (thin layer of material) between two veneers of a contrasting material. Artisans used such materials as brass, ebony, and a dull silvery metal called pewter. They cut through the layers to create contrasting scrolled patterns. Veneers were applied to Louis XIV cabinets, writing tables, and other furniture. Le Brun and Louis himself were responsible for the second characteristic - furniture of solid silver made for the main rooms at Versailles.

• The Regence style

What were some characteristics of the Regence style?

The style of the early 1700s received its name because a regent (temporary ruler) governed France during the period. After Louis XIV died in 1715, his 5-year-old great-grandson became King Louis XV. Because of the king's youth, his uncle, the Duke of Orleans, was appointed regent. The duke disliked the formality of Versailles and moved the royal court to Paris. There, a less ceremonial life style developed. People of the court lived in residences called town houses, which were smaller and more intimate than the Palace of Versailles. The style of furniture created for these town houses became known as the Regence style.

Regence furniture had a lighter, more graceful quality than Louis XIV furniture, emphasizing curves and delicate floral designs. Perhaps its most important characteristic was the use of the cabriole leg, which was inspired by Chinese furniture.

During the Regence period, the French cabinetmakers Andre Charles Boulle and Charles Cressent developed a low chest of drawers called a commode.

• The Bauhaus style

How did the Bauhaus influence furniture design in the 1900's?

It was an influential school of design founded in 1919 by the German architect and educator Walter Gropius. It made important contributions to furniture design in the 1900's. One such development was the use of tubular steel to frame and support chairs, tables, and sofas. Produced by machine, steel tubing could be bent and shaped to form simple, elegant frames that required little hand-finishing and upholstery.

The German architect Marcel Breuer, a Bauhaus instructor, introduced tubular steel in his light, graceful, and comfortable Wassily chair of 1925. The Wassily chair had a frame of chrome-plated tubular steel and simple canvas or leather upholstery. In 1929, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a director of the Bauhaus, created the Barcelona chair, which had curved, flat steel struts supporting loose removable leather back and seat cushions. The curved X-shaped legs of this chair resembled those of the ancient Roman curule stool.

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