Illustrated History of Furniture, fifth ed.: From the Earliest to the Present TimeLitchfield, Frederick
History
Illustrated History of Furniture, fifth ed.: From the Earliest to the Present Time
Litchfield, Frederick
Furniture -- History
In the following year he returned from Italy on his appointment as King's
Surveyor of Works, and until his death in 1652 was full of work, although
unfortunately for us, much that he designed was never carried out, and
much that he carried out has been destroyed by fire. The Banqueting
Hall of Whitehall, now Whitehall Chapel; St. Paul's, Covent Garden; the
old water gate originally intended as the entrance to the first Duke of
Buckingham's Palace, close to Charing Cross; Nos. 55 and 56, on the south
side of Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn; and one or two monuments and
porches, are amongst the examples that remain to us of this great master's
work; and of interiors, that of Ashburnham House is left to remind us,
with its quiet dignity of style, of this great master. It has been said
in speaking of the staircase, plaster ornament, and woodwork of this
interior, "upon the whole is set the seal of the time of Charles I." As
the work was probably finished during the King's reign, the impression
intended to be conveyed was that after wood carving had rather run riot
towards the end of the sixteenth century, we had now in the interior
designed by Inigo Jones, or influenced by his school, a more quiet and
sober style.
[Illustration: THE KING'S CHAMBER, FORD CASTLE.]
The above woodcut shews a portion of the King's room, in Ford Castle,
which still contains souvenirs of Flodden Field--according to an article
in the _Magazine of Art_. The room is in the northernmost tower, which
still preserves externally the stern, grim character of the border
fortress; and the room looks towards the famous battle-field. The chair
shews a date 1638, and there is another of Dutch design of about fifty or
sixty years later; but the carved oak bedstead, with tapestry hangings,
and the oak press, which the writer of the article mentions as forming
part of the old furniture of the room, scarcely appear in the illustration.
Mr. Hungerford Pollen tells us that the majority of so-called Tudor houses
were actually built during the reign of James I., and this may probably be
accepted as an explanation of the otherwise curious fact of there being
much in the architecture and woodwork of this time which would seem to
belong to the earlier period.
The illustrations of wooden chimney pieces will shew this change. There
are in the South Kensington Museum some three or four chimney pieces of
stone, having the upper portions of carved oak, the dates of which have
been ascertained to be about 1620; these were removed from an old house
in Lime Street, City, and give us an idea of the interior decoration of
a residence of a London merchant. The one illustrated is somewhat richer
than the others, the columns supporting the cornice of the others being
almost plain pillars with Ionic or Doric capitals, and the carving of the
panels of all of them is in less relief, and simpler in character, than
those which occur in the latter part of Elizabeth's time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account