World Furniture [antikvár]

T ivr T* T? T^ T T ' I ' T IVr Furniture is not only useful, and much of it essential to civilised X 1\| i JA. -L/ U JL X V-/1 1 living, but often it is also a form of art. Modem designers have to come to terms with the first of these aspects much more realistically than has been necessary in the past. Today a well-designed interior must be practical and exclude the superfluous. Limited space must be used ingeniously and a sense of clarity is needed as a setting for efficient living. Furniture must fijlfil a specific purpose and need Httle care or attention. At the same time, costs must be kept down, for in the modem world there are many luxuries competing for favour. Inevitably, function and economy are of the first importance. In the past, designers offumiture, serving the needs of royalty, nobility, landowners or rich merchants, were not inhibited by such conditions. From the Renaissance until the early 19th century, the art of the cabinet-maker was highly valued. Function was not the first consideration and interiors did not always have to be practical. They expressed in various ways the particular needs of society and a survey of world furniture reveals some wholly different and, to modem eyes, astonishing roles which furniture has been called upon to play. In the Renaissance, fine fumiture and interiors were designed to emphasise not only the riches, but also the learning and wisdom of their owners. Artists in every field exploited rare materials and used exacting techniques. Frederick, Duke of Urbino, was one of the most learned patrons of the arts of the late 15 th century, and the little studio in his palace reflected his intellectual distinction. Decorated with inlaid panels in variously coloured woods, its trompe I'oeil designs suggested objets d'art, musical instruments or pieces of armour, the subtle deception arousing wonder and admiration. As connoisseurs in an expanding world, Renaissance princes and merchants collected, with equal enthusiasm, books, curiosities, pictures, fumiture and scientific instruments. These treasures were displayed in rooms which were, in themselves, expressions of learning and skill. Curios were also housed in the splendid cabinets-on-stands of the 16th and early 17th centuries made in Italy, South Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain. Miniature palaces of this kind were fitted with rows of Uttle drawers, which, in turn, were mounted with semi-precious stones, inlaid panels or carved plaques of ivory, ebony or boxwood. They were virtually works of art, rather than practical cupboards, and their purpose was not to furnish a room in any utilitarian sense, but to exhibit learning and taste. No modem designer would countenance such displays of virtuosity. Yet so highly prized were these pieces that a superb cabinet, made at Augsburg, set with brilliantly contrived inlaid panels, was proudly brought home as war booty by the Commander of the Swedish troops in the Thirty Years' War. Included in his loot was also a chair of chiselled steel, once a worthy gift to the Emperor Rudolf II. It was ornamented with sculptured scenes depicting the four great monarchies of the world, as a compliment to the Emperor. Such scholarly attention to detail and wealth of allusion delighted Renaissance Europe. The increasing affluence of the late 17th and i8th centuries encouraged a rather different attitude towards the role that