PART I. 1. THE EGYPTIAN FURNITURE.

A set of furniture was found in Gisech, in the grove of the queen Hetepheres, it was reconstructed by the experts, it offered a very important information. The pieces have supports which have the shape of the animals feet, a rigid moulding, supports for the hands in the shape of papyrus. The bed was more rised in the part of the head, with a big plate which was decorated in relief with symbols of the gods and religious scenes. Other pieces are more simple, the examples offered in the wall painting suggest that the furniture devoted for the aristocrats was ample decorated. The feet of the tables and choirs were covered with thin pieces of gold, other surfaces were covered with ivory or other expensive materials.

2. THE MESOPOTAMYAN FURNITURE. The pieces from this period are lost, but we can find the specific feature in the basreliefs and paintures. The tables, choirs and thrones were ample decorated with intarsias of shells, but it saved the simplity and sobriety. One of the surviving pieces is a summerian harp with rich and coloured intarsias, it had on the upper part a buffalo head sculpted in relief and covered with a thin piece of gold. On a plate of stone is sculpted a very simple and nigh throne, without sword bearer, which has a very elegant upholstery. The furniture present on a bas-relief kept in British Museum, from the period of asirian king Ashurnasipal II is more evolved; the tables and the throne have the supports which have the shape of the animals feet and trumpets, they were adorned with decorations in relief.

3.THE FURNITURE

FROM MINOA AND MYCENE.

It is very hard to find some furniture from the bronze epoch of the cultures from Mycene or from the Aegian isles region. All the proves are found on the relieves, jevellery or on the small works in bronz or terracotta. One copy is the throne from the Thrones Room in Knossos, it revlals that the functionality and the material were more important than the design, the pieces didnt have any decorations, but two works with intarsias of golden ornaments were found it is a luxury furniture. A similar object is a foot of chair, made of ivory, it comes from Theba. PART II. 3. THE GREEK FURNITURE. The Hellnic furniture is known from the pictures and sculptures. The details from the pictures which adorn the receptacles and the tombstones offer a lot of information. One of this examples is the frieze from Parthenon and a lot of statuettes of bronze and terracotta. Some thrones of marble and pieces of wood from this period are kept. The proves reveal than the Hellenic designers tried to harmonize the furniture with the architecture, the general symmetrie and the balance. The Greek bed was used for the rest and in order to be lied down during the meals. This bed had the same height with the table. There didnt exist any supports for the feet, the heads part was a little bit curved up for leaning up on the pillons. Usually the shape of the supports were imitating the shape of the columns. The chairs were folding or standard, about the VI th century BC. A good innovation of the Greek designers was the chair Klismos with a light sword bearer. Very comfortable and popular, it was used by the Greeks in VII-IV th centuries BC. Klismos is a simple and a right piece, with feet which were curved in exterior, and a sword blarer without ornaments, curved edge. The tables had a in rectangular sometimes sculpted insinde on the three feet plate,

zoomorphical shapes; this tables age appear the roun tables.

were very light.

In Hellenistic

4. THE ROMAN FURNITURE.

At first view the Roman furniture is very similar to Greek furniture. The ruins from Pompei and Heraculaneum offer an information about the architecture of the nouses and show which type of furniture was necessary and now it was arranged. The wall paintures from Pompei demonstrate how was used the furniture, and the large variety of shapes. It was also found a cupboard in marble and bronze. Together with the small usual tables were used big, rectangular and round tables. Other models like folding chairs were introduced later on. The pieces of Roman furniture were very beautiful adorned with intarsias and ornaments in ivory, bronze and wood. Heraculaneum. The Romans have created more pieces of

5. MIDDLE AGES FURNITURE IN CONSTANTINOPLE. The Byzantine art always was very high appreciated. The ornamental wealth of the churches from Istanbul or Ravenna show the fact that the decorations of the places were very important. The Byzantine mosaics suggest that the ornaments were used till 400-1000 age BC. A very important piece from this age was kept the throne of the Bishop Maximian, made in 550 BC. It is a veritable master piece sculpted in ivory which cover a carcasse of wood, it was devoted only for Bishops. The throne shows the rich ornamentality and the stylization of this period. Another piece the Throne of Dragobert I is a folding chair of bronze, the feet have shape of animals.

6. THE GOTHIC FURNITURE. The Gothic Architecture is characterized through the utilization of the sharp archways, space effects, but the furniture wasnt influenced from this style. In the interior were used simple pieces of furniture, of dark oak tree. Hardly in 1400 year in the construction of the furniture were introduced gothic elements like the very sharp angles. Later on the gothic elements were on the sword bearers of the chairs, on the chests and on the tables sides. Since XV th century were introduced new types of furniture. The first was a chest-of-drawers with a little space inside and very high feet. On the upper part it had a shelf for the exhibition of some objects, and another shelf below. The cupboards were made with one or two rows of spaces closed with doors. The famous armoire the ancestor of the present wardrobe was introduced. With big doors and internal space (about 1,5-2 m). These were decorated with motives like archways, columns and leaves. In the Northern part of Europe the gothic style kept the influence in furnitures art till the beginning of the XVI th century.

PART III. 7. THE RENAISSCENTIST FURNITURE IN ITALY. The first innovation in this domain was caisson a chest with complicated decorations sculpted, gilded or painted. The motives were classic. The shape chosen for casone was inspirited from the Roman sarcophagus, some models had illustrations of the gothic love story Le Roman de la Rose. The interiors shown in the Italian painture show the simplity of the furnitures arrangement. Since the XV th century the sculpture and the ornaments were made of wood of walnut tree. Are fashionable the folding choirs of wood, covered with leather or texture. High choirs with sward bearer are included, they are very adorned with a lot of sculptures, the were replaced with thick panels.

8. THE RENAISSCENTIST FURNITURE IN FRANCE.

In France the kings employed Italian artists who introduced the renaisscentist style in this country. One of these was Jacques du Cerceau, the other was Hugues Sambu he made cupboards, and a large collection of sculptures which have adorned the cupboards and other pieces of furniture. This style survived till the XVII th century. The typical tables with high feet and the choirs with thick sword bearer made in 1560 were very used later than 1600 year. Later in age of Louis XIII, the shapes of the furnitures pieces were a little bit changed, they became more delicate, the used materials were of ebony tree very expensive and the tortoises shell.

9. THE RENAISSCENTIST FURNITURE IN ENGLAND. The English furniture was simpler than the French, this style survived till the XVII th century too. The details werent sculpted so elegant like in France, they were modest and flat. The used material was the oak tree wood. PART IV.

10. THE BAROQUE FURNITURE.

In the furniture, this style is view in the XVII-XVIII th centuries, after then the Italian architects Gianlorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini showed their new ideas the utilization of the Caryatids for the high furniture, the feet were sculpted in spiral shape. The cupboards and the chests-of-drawers were adorned with curved shapes, it was the new baroque architectures style. The choirs began to be very amply sculpted, with high sword bearers, upholstered or adorned with a lot of small sculptures.

11.THE BAROQUE FURNITURE IN FRANCE. The mast elegant pieces of furniture were made for king Ludovic XIV. The artisan Andre Charle Boulle created unusual shapes and he ornamented this objects with combinations of metals (silver, bronze or lead), tortoises shell and the ebony. This models were full of imagination and beauty.

12. THE ROCCOCO FURNITURE.

The baroque was popular till the 1730 th year, but when the fashion changed, firstly in Paris, a new style have appeared, it was rococo.

13.THE ROCCOCO FURNITURE IN FRANCE. The pieces and the series made in this period were the most elegant furniture ever seen, they were sought by foreigners. The rococo began his climbing in the age of Ludovic XIV and it touched the apogee in age of Ludovic XV. The specific feature were the lines and the shapes very intricate sculpted. The models of decorations were inlayed in layers of wood which were framed in gilded bronze, it underlined the feet of the furniture, the edges and the front of the drawers.

14.THE ROCCOCO FURNITURE IN ENGLAND.

Here this style was very rare used, and it was stricter than in other countries. The craftsmen were using wood of walnut tree. Later the designers changed the decorated feet with curved shapes with the spheric endings. But later on the French influence the ornaments came back. The designer Chippendale and the other craftsmen wanted to bring back the air of whim and game of this style.

PART V. 15.THE NEOCLASSIC FURNITURE. The neoclassicism is a reaction of rejection of roccoco style, it was a movement which appeared in the apogee of the roccoco. The designers wanted a return to the greekroman styles. Robert Adam was the first who suggested to the public the first works in neoclassic style. Later than 1760 at Paris the collector La Live de Jully showed a room with the same type of decoration, he named it a la greque. After these presentations a lot of artists, craftsmen and designers from the whole Europe tried to find the ruins of the ancient civilization for the inspiration. Rome and Athens were rushed of this people. The ideas circulated vastly and this style was adopted in all the countries. The shapes of the pieces were simple and geometrical: rectangular, circular, oval; the feet were round or square. For ornaments were used the flowers, the curtains

16. THE FURNITURE EMPIRE.

This style is the second part of the neoclassic style. It appeared in the age of Napoleon when he began the fight for expansion. Charles Percier and Pierre Franois Leonard Fontaine the designers of Napoleon were the innovators in France. Their works were published in Journal des Modes. In England the Empire was named Regency. The architect Henry Holland made a lot of rich people. Empire became an international style. It disappeared after the second part of the XIX th century.

17.ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE. The style Art Nouveau was very popular between 1890-1910 years in all the domains of decorative art. Art Nouveau can be characterized like a style inspired of organic shapes which give the impression of movement. An example is the curved line frequently met. In furniture the first works were made by Belgian architects Henry van de Velde and Victor Horta, they decorated the interiors with pieces in this style. In 1900 the French architect Hector Guimard created pieces of furniture with light shapes and rich sculptures. Emile Galle created the most opulent pieces of art nouveau

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furniture, which were adorned with floral motives. Louis Majorelle created luxury furniture, inspirited by the shapes, after the second world war he became a very important designer of Art Nouveau. The Scottish architect Charles Rennie Makintosh offered a very personal interpretation of this tendency, he created very beautiful furniture in great demand. The standard pieces were made of oak tree wood painted in white colour, whith elegant intarsias and elements of metal or painted glass, which had abstract shapes of plants.

PART VI. 18.THE FURNITURE BAUHAUS. introduced in 1919 at Weimar by architecture. The The style Bauhaus was

the German architect Walter Gropius, it was in a school of arts and

furniture was realized by the famous architects like Marcel Breurer and Ludvig Mils van der Rohe. Breurer created the famous armchair wassily made of tubes of steel covered with chrome and texture. Mils created in 1929 the famous chair Barcelona a real masterpiece of two frames in the X shape, of chromed stell and square cushions covered with leather.

19.THE This style has

FURNITURE ART DECO. started in the first ten years of the

XX th century. A big influence had the style Bauhaus and the utilization of new materials for the creation of the furniture. Art Deco resisted till 1939, but it came back in 1970-1980 years. The most important designers of Art Deco were French Louis Majorelle, Andre Groult, Pierre Chareau and Jaques Emile Ruhlmann. The furniture made by them was very

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rich and expensive thanks to the special production. The furniture disappeared very fast thanks to the high prices and bad quality.

was made of rare

essential wood, luxurious finishing, intarsias of exotic materials like ivory. But the style

Ministerul Educaiei din Republica Moldova ULIM

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REFERAT LA LIMBA ENGLEZ

Efectuat Guu Alina Gr.DI-14 Controlat

CHIINU 2007

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