1S45.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL. 



17 



Book, '■ of lianging llii: rooms in the oUl c<isiU», was only lo covir llic nakiJ 

 stone walls with tafifslry or arras, hung iipun tenter hooks, from which they 

 were easily taken down upon every reniovat." 



The walls of tin- (iallnry at York Place, the residence of Cardinal Wolsuy, 

 Men "handed «ith cloth of gold and tissue of divers makings, and doth ol 

 nlver likewise on l>olh the sides, and ricli cloths of bmidkiii, of divers colours.'' 

 That ta(icsliy had long Ijccn in common use, and that the execution of much 

 of it was very inferior, is proved by the frequent allusions lo it in old authors ; 

 and the uncouthness of the (igurcs with which it was wrought was a subject 

 of ridicule willi the wits. Sliakspcrc, for instance, compares a person to the 

 " shaven Hercules in llic sinireh'd worm-eaten tapestry." 



The story of Hercules seems to have been a great favourite with tlie weavers, 

 among other fabulous subjects. Historical scenes, likewise, both sacred and 

 profane, landscapes and hnnting pieces continually occur, as well as heraldic 

 representations ; but, besides these cummon tapestries, the more splendid 

 rooms were furnished with cloth of gold, velvet, and flowered brocade. 



A cheaper sort of hangings was used, under the name of 1" painted doth," 

 being in fact, nothing more than canvas painted in tempera or oil with various 

 devices, mottoes, moral proverbs, and wise sayings. Falstafl, in the enume- 

 ration of his ragged regiment, describes some of his fallowers as " slaves as 

 ragged as Lazarus in (he painted cUilh," and Beatrice playfully boasts of 

 having borroweil her pithy answers from the "painted cloths." 



Hangings, also, of embossed leather were introduced about this time from 

 Spain, ornamented with figures of various kinds in gold, silver, and colours, 

 and were mostly used for the smaller rooms. Some specimens of these still 

 remain. 



In the si'venleenth yearrof lEIizabcth's reign, a petition was presented to 

 the House of Commons from the chartered Society of Painters, complaining 

 of the decay of the art and praying a redress of their grievances. It con- 

 cludes with the following passage, " These walls, thus curiously painted in 

 former ages, the images so pciicelly done, do witness our forefathers' care in 

 cherishing this art." 



Painting on walls in England is of high anticjuity ; Henry HI. kept several 

 painters in his service, and Chaucer has many allusions to the painting on 

 the walls of his time. 



Tlie walls were sometimes divided about lialfway, tlie upper part being de- 

 corated with figures relieved in plaster and painted in their proper colours on 

 the while ground, and tlic lower division either covered with panelled wain- 

 scot, or hung with tapeslry. 



On the vacant spaces were often suspended the antlers of the deer, affording 

 at once an ornament for the walls and a subject of conversation for the host 

 and his guests; and a great hall was scarcely considered complete without 

 the display of suils of armour and warlike weapons. 



Tiie furniture of the hall wasbutscanly ; it consisted chiefly of oaken tables 

 and benches, cupboards for jilate, glasses, &c., a rere-doss for the fire in the 

 centre of the floor, a fire-fork and tongs. 



The tables were of clumsy make, on massive shaped standards, morticed to 

 the floor ; others were hinged for the convenience of folding, and supported 

 by trestles. Capulet says 



" More lights, ye knave?, and turn the tables up." 

 At the end of the hall, on a platform or dais raised by three or more steps, 

 was the scat of the master, at the "orsille" or high table under a canopy or 

 " cloth of estale," as it was called, with his family around him and his re- 

 tainers at two tables down the sides. 



The cupboards were in many respecis the prototype of our modern side- 

 boards. They were of different kinds, some of common boarding, supported 

 by trestles, with'carpet or tapestry coverings ; others were framed in stages 

 for the display of plate, and richly carved, and were then generally called 

 court cupboards. 



Of the plate itself and the other services of the table it will be beyond our 

 subject tt) take notice i but those who would wish more information on this 

 point cannot do better than consult Hunt's valuable work on Tudor architec- 

 ture, from which many of the details in this part of the paper have been 

 taken. 



The coverings of tables, previously to the Tudor period, bad been of car- 

 pels. " In the Iblh century," says Kosbroke, in his Encyclopedia of Anti- 

 quities, ■■ we find carpets of English work, willi arms in the centre, a square 

 carpet-cloth for the table willi arms ; one large carpet for a coop-board ; and 

 carpets fringed with crewel ;'' but in Elizabeth's time, fine linen or iiapenj, as 

 it was called, was generally used by the higher classes. At Wolsey's feasts 

 we read of " fine damask table-cloths, sweetly perfumed." Many of these 

 were of most expensive make. In Ben Jonson's " Silent Woman," one of the 

 characters complains of a table-cloth being stained which had cost her £18. 

 The remaining furniture of the hall consisted sometimes of shove-groat 

 tables and shovel-boards, the latter of which were sometimes made of rare 

 woods, and may be considered as the billiard tables of the age. 



There were also boards for playing dice, eribbage, trictrac, (similar to 

 draughts) and trou-niadame, a kind ot bagatelle. 

 In the houses of noblemen and rich commoners there were generally superior 



looms, called tlic ' t:i' at chambir," (he " gallery," and the 'parlour" or 

 privy room," appropriated to the use of the proprietor and Ins guests. The 

 furniture here was of a more co.stly character; we read of high-backed carved 

 chairs, joined stools with cushions covered in various rich materials and 

 fringed, foot-8(ools, turned chairs, and "lyttle guilt chairs for the women,' 

 curtains over the » indows and doors, high screens of many folds wilh tapes- 

 lry cloths lliroivn over Ihem, long tabli's and square tables wilh ricli cover- 

 ings, and smaller tables of rare woods, sumclimes prepared for eliess or back- 

 gammon, a small tapestry carpet before I lie fire, "conversation stools" with 

 ornamented ends and backs, varieties of cushions and window pillows, carved 

 cabinels, coffers and chests of cypress and ivory, and andirons of dilVcrcnt 

 nielils on a raised hearth, with llie other fittings of the fire-place. 



We cannot aflbrd much space to go into the detail of these matters, but a 

 few may be nolicel. 



Ihc tables appear to have had but little variety ; and their workmanship 

 was in general of a rude character, being concealed by the rich coverings. 

 We have described them above as oblong and square, and we find round tables 

 on pillar and daws mentioned by the writers of (he time. There is an elegant 

 one in Montfaiicon, and several are engraved in .Shaw's work. They could 

 not have been very uncommon, for in Henry IV,, the hostess speaks of Fal- 

 stafl 's sitting at her " round table by a sea-coal fire." 



Chairs and settees were in some variety, as bcfiire remarked. There was 

 usually a canopy or cloth of state over the chair of Ihc noble master of the 

 house. Malvolio, in his dream of greatness, imagines himself "silling in his 

 state," and Coriolanus is described by Menenius as " sitting in his state, like 

 a thing made for Alexander." 



Me have accounts of arm-chairs wilh stuffed backs and sides, and others 

 called " Flemish" chairs, " scrolled" chairs, and " turned" chairs, in ebony, 

 walnut, cherry-tree. &c., with long panelled backs; and low arm-chairs 

 adorned with ivory knobs and inlayings, of Flemish or Italian manufacture i 

 but the more usual seats were stools with rich cushions. 



The pillows and cushions with which the stools and window scats were fur- 

 nished, may be considered as the precursors of our modern Ollomans, and 

 seem to have afl'orded a favourite field for Ihc display of the taste of our an- 

 cestors : they w ere variously shaped and richly ornamented with embroidery, 

 sometimes of gold, silver, and pearl. Shakspere mentions "Turkey cushions 

 bossed wilh pearl," which wou'd imply that they were often imported from 

 the East. 



The cabinets were of massive form, with heavy turned pillars, both these 

 and the panelling overloaded wilh elaborate carving; but the interior fittings 

 in a very rougli and comfortless style. 



The chests were generally raised upon feci, and profusely ornamented with 

 carving. They were often made of cypress wood, which was esteemed as 

 having the property of neither rotting nor becoming worm-eaten. Some 

 commentators on the Bible have considered it identical w ith the Gopher wood, 

 of which Noah framed the ark. 



The ivory collers for holding jewels were small, with silver and gilt locks, 

 and ricjily decorated. Shaksixrc has an illusion to these chests in Twelfth 

 Night: 



" The beauteous evil 



Are empty trunks, o'er fiourished by the devil." 

 Standing and folding screens were sometimes painlcd, but more generally 

 mere frames, over which rich coverings were thrown ; though some were oc- 

 casionally used which are desciibed as " little fine wicker screens," in frames 

 of walnut-tree. 



The pictures on the walls, or " painted tables," as they were called, and 

 the musical instruments, such as the virginals, we must pass over. 



Table clocks were used, richly chased and gill; they sometimes hail a 

 double set of hours, that is, were numbered from one to twenty-four. 



Looking-glasses \i ere lo be found in a few of the houses of the time, but 

 w ere by no means a general ornament, being confined chiefly to the best bed- 

 chamber. They were principally imported from France. In the privy-purse 

 exivnses of Henry Vlli. in 1.532, we meet with payment lo a Frenchman for 

 "certaine looking-glasses," and at Goodrich Court is a fine specimen of one 

 of llic time of Queen Elizabeth, which has been engraved by Mr. Shaw. It 

 is dated 1359. Small mirrors were carried about.their iiersons by the fashion- 

 ables of the day. 



Among the presents to Queen Elizalwlh, we find a "standisli of ebony 

 garnished with silver, wilh two boxes of silver for ink and dust, with a look- 

 ing-glass in the inside of the cover," and Wdsey is said by Slow lo have 

 used a slandish of silver gill. Elizibelli also received as a present " a desk 

 lo write on wilh divers devices, and a pair of tables and chess-board, three 

 silver boxes for the compters, and forty compters." 



It must not be supposed that all these luxuries and conveniences were to 

 be found in every nobleman's house of the time : even in the courl itself 

 there was a deficiency, as ajipears from a whimsical passage in llarington's 

 •' NugsE Antiqu.e." He comidaiiis of the hardness of the seals, and in(|uires 

 if it would not "as well become the slate of the chamber lo have easye 

 ffuilted and lyned forms and stools for the lords and Icdyes to sit on, as great 



