The earliest woven work would seem to be the _fence_, that is, branches of trees interlaced, serving the purpose of enclosure and of partition. The most savage tribes are acquainted with this method of construction. Thus the employment of coarse tissue or woven work (which was a mere fence) as a means of securing privacy from the world outside certainly far preceded the constructed wall of stone, or of any other material; this last only became necessary at a much later period, for requirements which in their nature bear no relation whatever to space and its subdivision. The stone wall was made for greater security, longer duration, and to serve as a support for heaps of various materials and stores; in fine, for purposes foreign to the original idea; viz., that of the separation of space, and it is most important to remark, that _wherever the secondary motives did not exist, woven fabrics maintained, almost without exception, especially in southern lands, their ancient office, that of the ostensible separation of space_; and even in cases where the construction of solid walls became necessary, these last are but the internal and unseen scaffolding of the true and legitimate representatives of division, that is to say, of drapery richly varied with ornamental work, interlacings, and colours. The difference which exists between the ostensible and principal separation, and the constructed separation, is expressed in ancient and modern languages by terms more or less significative. In the Latin tongue, a distinction is made between _paries_ and _murus_. The Germans, in the word _wand_ (of the same root with _gewand_, which means texture) recal still more directly the ancient origin and type of a wall. New inventions soon led to different methods of replacing the primitive drapery, and every art was successively called in to contribute its part to these innovations, which may have been brought about by various reasons; such, for example, as the desire for longer endurance, for the sake of cleanliness, economy, comfort, distinction, coolness, heat, &c. One of the most ancient and most general methods of replacing the use of drapery or tapestry is the coat of stucco or of plaster, furnished by the masons who built the walls. Another very ancient method of replacing the original tapestry is, that of wooden panels, with which the wall was covered internally. That which proves the antiquity of this custom is, that in several ancient languages the expression which is only properly applicable to panels of wood, serves indifferently to signify every kind of flat surface (_table_) in wood, metal, ivory, or any other material. It is thus we must explain the Greek expression πιναξ, (in Latin _tabula_) as a painting on wood, or also on marble, baked clay, &c. Plates of burnt clay, thin but of large circumference, were equally called “πινακες.”