43 
May, 1917 
EARLY ITALIAN TABLES AND SEATING FURNITURE 
H. D. EBERI, EIN and ABBOT McCLURE 
To those ‘U'ho are desirous of keeping in touch with the latest mode in decoration, a study of Italian 
furniture is in-caluable. This article is the first of two on Italian tables and seating furniture of 
the 16th and 17th Centuries. The next article, appearing in the June issue, will be on early Italian 
wall furniture. Photographs aie by courtesy of Nicholas Martin 
Fig. 10. One type was the 
IQth Century icalnut arm¬ 
chair, covered with tooled 
and gilded leather and stud¬ 
ded with brass headed nails 
Fig. 12. This is a contempo¬ 
rary of the chair opposite — 
a IQth Century, product. The 
high seats of this type often 
necessitate the use of stools 
A part from the great 
intrinsic interest at¬ 
taching to it, there are 
three good reasons why 
Italian furniture should 
be the object of study at 
this time by all who are 
concerned, either professionally or individ¬ 
ually, with interior decoration. 
First, the vogue for Italian furniture is 
le dernier cri in matters mobiliary, and it is 
well that those who cherish an obsession 
for the very latest fashion should have 
some definite detailed knowledge of the ob¬ 
ject of their pursuit and not be at the mercy 
of nebulous impressions. 
In the second place, the Italian trend in 
American domestic architecture is a fact 
that those who are at all observant of cur¬ 
rent architectural developments must realize 
is bound to react upon the style of fur¬ 
niture that will naturally, to some extent at 
least, be employed in equipping houses in 
whose design and plan Italian ideals have 
been expressed. Here, again, accurate 
knowledge is necessary to intelligent con¬ 
structive results in decoration. 
Last of all, whether or not we realize 
our ultimate obligation to the Italian de¬ 
signers and craftsmen of the Renaissance, 
the leaven of their inspiration has thor¬ 
oughly permeated the manifestation of 
decorative art in all the 
other countries of Europe 
and in England, so that a 
knowledge of Italian fur¬ 
niture is indispensable to 
a sound understanding of 
the mobiliary forms of the 
16th, 17th and 18th Centuries in France, 
Spain, Switzerland, the Low Countries and 
England and, of course, colonial America, 
since our furniture heritage is unquestion¬ 
ably the same as England’s. Unless we 
have this knowledge, our conception of the 
latest development cannot but be faulty. 
In examining critically the Italian fur¬ 
niture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, it 
will conduce greatly to our appreciation of 
its qualities if we keep in mind some of the 
general characteristics of the interiors of 
the period. One of the most striking char¬ 
acteristics of these interiors was their 
austerity, due in great measure to restraint 
in the number of pieces of movable furni¬ 
ture used. By austerity and restraint we 
are not to unclerstand lack of comfort, but 
rather a spaciousness and breadth of effect 
and a freedom from the well nigh clutter¬ 
ing “cosiness” of some later French and 
English interiors, a fullness perhaps per¬ 
missible in colder climates but obviously in¬ 
appropriate in Italy. Of the sterling worth 
{Continued on page 62) 
Fig. 11. The unerring taste of the 16<E Century 
decorators sought to establish a restraint in the 
furnishings in order that a right balance be¬ 
tween furnishings and background might be 
preserved 
Fig. 13. The IQth Century 
settle tvas simply a double 
armchair upholstered in 
red velvet, often ivith a 
fringe added 
Fig. 14. The cassa banca 
or ceremonial bench was 
raised on a dais. It has a 
back and sometimes arms. 
16fE Century 
Fig. 15. The usual type of 
cassa banca had a back as 
well as arms. This is a 
monumental piece of Re¬ 
naissance design 
