_English Furniture from Gothic Days to the Period of Queen Anne._


The early history of furniture in all countries is very much the
same--there is not any. We know about kings and queens, and war and
sudden death, and fortresses and pyramids, but of that which the people
used for furniture we know very little. Research has revealed the
mention in old manuscripts once in a while of benches and chests, and
the Bayeux tapestry and old seals show us that William the Conquerer and
Richard Coeur de Lion sat on chairs, even if they were not very
promising ones, but at best it is all very vague. It is natural to
suppose that the early Saxons had furniture of some kind, for, as the
remains of Saxon metalwork show great skill, it is probable they had
skill also in woodworking.

In England, as in France, the first pieces of furniture that we can be
sure of are chests and benches. They served all purposes apparently, for
the family slept on them by night and used them for seats and tables by
day. The bedding was kept in the chests, and when traveling had to be
done all the family possessions were packed in them. There is an old
chest at Stoke d'Abernon church, dating from the thirteenth century,
that has a little carving on it, and another at Brampton church of the
twelfth or thirteenth century that has iron decorations. Some chests
show great freedom in the carving, St. George and the Dragon and other
stories being carved in high relief.

[Illustration: An Apostles bed of the Tudor period, so-called from the
carved panels of the back. The over elaboration of the late Tudor work