The _bancs_, benches or settles, were made in the Middle Ages by the _huchiers_. They were made of planks and often had backs and arms. In the fifteenth century, they were enriched with sculpture and surmounted by a canopy or daïs. They were also called _formes_ or _bancs d’œuvre_. The Cluny Museum possesses many fine examples of this period, both civil and religious. In the halls and bedrooms of the Mediaeval _châteaux_ the _banc_ is often seen placed laterally before the wide chimney-piece, and its high back was very useful in keeping off the draughts. It may be thought that their rigid form and absence of upholstery rendered them uncomfortable, but the numerous soft cushions with which they were supplied quite atoned for the absence of upholstery. (_See_ Plate II.) The chief use of the Mediaeval sideboard was the display of ornate plate, crystal and similar articles. The kitchen dresser with its shelves holding plates and dishes set upright against the wall is a lineal descendant of the old _dressoir_. The shelves of the _dressoir_ were regulated by etiquette: every noble person could have a _dressoir_ with three shelves; others, only two; royalty had four and five. According to some authorities, the difference between the _dressoir_ and the buffet is simply this: the _dressoir_ was intended to display the articles taken from the buffet, and had no drawers and no cupboard; the buffet, on the other hand, contained both drawers and cupboards. The buffet of our dining-rooms and our cellarets that close with lock and key, are therefore survivals of the _credence_ of the Middle Ages. Sometimes the _credence_ and _dressoir_ were combined in one piece, or rather the _dressoir_ served as a _credence_. A small one shown in the illuminated MS. of the _Histoire de Gérard, Comte de Nevers_, has but one shelf, upon which the silver platters are arranged, leaning against the back, which is covered with some kind of fabric. The cupboard serving as a _credence_ is covered with a cloth on which are placed three silver ewers—_aiguières_. This was, therefore, more of a buffet than a _dressoir_, for the real _dressoir_, as we have seen, was composed of shelves (_gradins_) and had a back (_dorsal_), or sometimes a daïs of stuff or sculptured wood. [Illustration: PLATE III.—_Flemish Dressoir (Fifteenth Century)._ Figs. 6–7: DRESSOIRS (Fifteenth Century); Fig. 8: TABLE ON TRESTLES; Fig. 9: METAL CHAIR. ] Varieties of the _dressoir_ of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries appear in Plate III, and Figs. 6 and 7; and a _credence_ of the fifteenth century of Gothic decoration from the Cluny Museum, Paris, on Plate IV.