The luxurious Dukes of Burgundy—Possessions of the House of Burgundy—The Burgundian Court—Household of Philip the Good—the Feast of the Pheasant—the Duke of Burgundy at the Coronation of Louis XI—Arras Tapestries—Sumptuous _Dressoirs_ and their Adornments—Celebrations in honour of the Knights of the Golden Fleece—Luxury of Charles the Bold—Charles the Bold at Trèves—Furnishings of the Abbey of Saint-Maximin—Charles the Bold’s Second Marriage— Furnishings of the Banqueting Hall at Bruges—Descriptions by Olivier de la Marche—Aliénor of Poitiers’ Descriptions of the Furniture of the Duchess of Burgundy’s Apartments— Rich _Dressoirs_—the _Drageoir_ and its Etiquette—the Etiquette of the _Escarbeau_—Philip the Bold’s Artisans— Flemish Carving—the _Forme_ or _Banc_—Burgundian Workmanship—Ecclesiastical Work—Noted Carvers—Furniture of the Period—the “Golden Age of Tapestry”—Embroideries— Tapestry-weavers of the Low Countries—Introduction of Italian Cartoons—Goldsmiths’ Work—Furniture of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. CHAPTER III THE RENAISSANCE: PART I 63–96 Dawn of the Renaissance—The Transitional Period—Coffers and _Bahuts_—Court of Margaret of Austria—Perrèal’s Style— Margaret’s Tomb by Perrèal—Taste of the Regent—Margaret’s Tapestries, Carpets, Table-covers and Cushions—Her Curios— Flemish Tapestries—Cartoons by Bernard van Orley—William de Pannemaker—English Tapestries—Last Days of the Gothic Style—Guyot de Beaugrant, Lancelot Blondeel and Peter Pourbus—Stalls in the Groote Kerk, Dordrecht—Carvings in Haarlem—Invasion of the Renaissance—Walnut, the Favourite Wood for Furniture and Carving—Versatility of the Artists— the Fleming as Emigrant—the Renaissance in Burgundy—Hugues Sambin—Sebastian Serlio—Peter Coeck of Alost—Pupils of Peter Coeck—Lambert Lombard—Francis Floris, the “Flemish Raphael”—the Craze for Numismatics—Hubert Goltzius— Cabinets of the Sixteenth Century—Italian Furniture— Characteristic Features of Renaissance Furniture— Ornaments, the Arabesque, Pilaster, Cartouche, _Cuirs_, Banderole and Caryatid—Publications of Decorative Design— Alaert Claes, Lucas van Leyden, Cornelis Bos and Martin van Heemskerck. CHAPTER IV THE RENAISSANCE: PART II 97–129