Gothic Style Furniture

(1558-1625)

Typical Gothic Style Characteristics

The Gothic style actually originates in the middle of the 12th century, with the general use of the pointed arch in architecture. However, it is by the middle of the 16th century that gothic furniture as we know it today became frequent.

 

Domestic furniture during the early Gothic period were essentially of simple and crude construction. The furniture was solid and massive and severe in character. The forms of the furniture were generally rectilinear with emphasis on the vertical. The use of curved lines was limited to the folding chair of curule form.

 

 

Woods

In the northern countries Gothic style furniture was chiefly made of oak, a wood of great durability. Walnut was also used in France and other local woods were used in each country to some extent.

 

 

Framework

The framework of Gothic style furniture was held together with mortise and tenon joints. In paneled pieces the panels were grooved into the framework. No glue was used in construction. The tenons were secured by square oak pegs which were driven through round holes into the joints.

 

 

Carvings

The Gothic style furniture craftsman was completely influenced by the architecture that surrounded him. Carving was the favorite process for decorating the surface of the furniture. Foliage was much favored as a decorative motif in Gothic ornamentation. The plants were always selected from the native plant life and included; vine leaves with grapes, maple leaves, parsley, and cress leaves.

 

The treatment of the motif was almost infinite and varied from the simple to the elaborate. In England it was generally treated in a rather simple manner, with the folds being ogee shape at top and bottom. Small panels of checker carving or carved spandrels were done above and below the lock plates. Carved geometrical network or honeycombing was also used. Other popular Gothic motifs included the Gothic trefoil, quatrefoil and cinquefoil, cusping, heraldic devices and a stylized floral motif having three or four lobes with a ball in the hollow center, known as the ball-flower. The dogtooth motif having four leaves grouped together in a conical manner and joined at the point, and the Tudor rose with its five open petals were both fashionable forms of ornament. Arcaded work and foliated and floral scrollwork were also used.

 

It is generally accepted that the finest examples of Gothic style furniture were made in France. French carving was praiseworthy for the precise clean-cut detail which gave it a flat and finished effect. Foliage, especially vine leaves and grapes, tracery and arcaded work were constantly employed. The fleur-de-lis, the Gothic trefoil and cinquefoil, rosettes, real and fantastic birds and animals, grotesque figures were included among their favorite decorative motifs. Human figures were rarely used for decorative purposes on furniture. Polychromy was occasionally used to accent the delicate richness of the tracery designs.

 

 

Tracery Work

Tracery work either solid or pierced was extensively employed by the wood carver in decorating Gothic style furniture and was copied from the great tracery windows first developed in Gothic architecture. Panels with fenestration's, which also had their origin in architecture, were widely used on the facades of chests. Figure subjects, animals and birds employed in Gothic ornament were often treated in a humorous and exaggerated manner. The linen-fold motif, having a resemblance to linen arranged in narrow vertical folds, was introduced by Flemish craftsmen. It was much favored for decorating the panels of furniture such as chairs and chests.

 

 

Painting

In order to provide the cabinetwork with a touch of color, both painting and gilding were occasionally employed. Gothic style furniture was occasionally painted with heraldic devices and sacred subjects in bright colors.

 

 

Metal Mountings

In England the iron lock plates and hinges were generally plain. However, in France

metal mountings, hasps and lock cases were veritable works of art. Exquisite motifs of imaginary animals and birds and pictorial scenes, all of jewel-like quality, were worked on the metal fittings.

 

 

Tapestry

Colorful fabrics were draped over the furniture and cushions were placed on the settle, stools and benches to provide a little comfort and some feeling of luxury.

France also excelled in the art of tapestry weaving, with Arras and Paris, as the great tapestry centers. The technique of tapestry weaving displayed in French Gothic tapestries has never been surpassed.

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