Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/1123

 ELIZABETHAN- VILLA FURNITURE. 1099 (Hunt's important ends by the simplest means, ■which the Grecian chair displays, and which indeed is characteristic of the whole of Grecian art. The object of these observations is, to show that the present taste for Elizabethan furniture is more that of an antiquary, or of a collector of curiosities, than that of a man of cultivated mind. 2169. Chairs. In Elizabethan houses, Hunt observes, we find in most apart- ments two great chairs : " these were arm-chairs, with stiffed backs and sides, entirely covered, and similar to the lounging-chairs of the pre- sent day. Others, described as ' Flemish chairs,' ' scrolled chairs,' and ' turned chairs,' were wrought in ebony, wal- nut, cherry-tree, &c., with high backs ; and either stuff- ed in one long upright panel, or filled in with wickerwork ; the seats being also stuffed, and covered with costly kinds of materials, as various as their shapes. To these may be added low arm-chairs, tastefully turned, and carved in ebony, enriched with ivorj- knobs and inlayings, chiefly of Italian or Flemish manu- facture, with cusliions or pil- lows on the seats. Besides these, there were •' some Httle gilt chairs for women ;' and long seats, with backs and arms, resembling in form the more ancient settle, and holding several persons, were also much in use. Tudor Architecture, p. 146.) Fig. 2029 is a low arm-chair in the Elizabethan style, contributed by Mr. Shaw ; and fig. 2027 is a drawingroom chair, sent us by the same gentleman. Figs. 2028, 2030, and 2C3 1 are chairs now existing in the neighbourhood of Haslemere, in Surrey, the drawings of which were sent us by Miss Sarah Perry of Stroud House. Fig. 2032 is a richly carved Dutch chair, in the possession of a family at Bavswater, from a very beautiful and accurate drawing of which our engraving was made. Fig. 2033 Ls an arm-chair and cushion from Hunt, said to be of the time of Henry VIII., and to be now existing. It has nothing to recommend it but its antiquity : the form of the seat is the very reverse of what may be called natural ; since, so far from its affording relaxation and ease to the body, the person sitting on it must inevitably be cramped and con- fined. This is not the only chair or piece of ancient furniture to which similar remarks may be applied. The truth is, that neither in ancient furniture, dress, nor even Architecture, is there any thing to admire, in point of comfort or use when viewed with reference to our own times. There is much of taste and beauty in many parts and articles, considered with reference to their composition ; because excellence in art depends more upon the natural talent and exertion of the individual, than on any stores of scientific knowledge left him by his predecessors ; and art may, consequently, be carried to a high degree of perfection in an age of general ignorance. Hence, numerous great painters, sculptors and carvers existed in the dark ages, when philosophers and men of science were rarely to be met with : hence, also, while science progressively improves, in consequence of the discoveries handed down from one generation to another, the imaginative arts, in any one age, depend mainly upon the individual exertions of the artists of that age. No natural process of human improvement could produce a Shakspeare ; but thousands now know more than Brindley did in his time. AVe state these facts to show that the admiration which is bestowed on many of the works of art of the dark ages may often proceed from the justest taste, and be neither the admiration of ignorance, nor the mere veneration of antiquity. The finest proofs of this may be obtained from the magnificent work of Seroux d'Agincourt; and also from Perrault, an Architect who, as Mr. Hope finelv observes, " knew how to imite philosophy with bricks and moriar."