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76-481: Robert " Mouseman " Thompson (7 May 1876 – 8 December 1955), also known as ' Mousey ' Thompson , was a British furniture maker. He was born and lived in Kilburn , Yorkshire , England, where he set up a business manufacturing oak furniture, which featured a carved mouse on almost every piece. It is claimed that the mouse motif came about accidentally in 1919 following a conversation about "being as poor as

152-419: A "protection against chaos". The concept of style was foreign to architects until the 18th century. Prior to the era of Enlightenment , the architectural form was mostly considered timeless, either as a divine revelation or an absolute truth derived from the laws of nature, and a great architect was the one who understood this "language". The new interpretation of history declared each historical period to be

228-603: A church mouse", which took place between Thompson and one of his colleagues during the carving of a cornice for a screen . This chance remark led to him carving a mouse and this remained part of his work from this point onwards. Thompson was part of the 1920s revival of craftsmanship, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement led by William Morris , John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle . More specific to furniture making in this genre and era include Stanley Webb Davies of Windermere . The workshop, now being run by his descendants, includes

304-404: A crimson tinge in its natural state. Birch is frequently stained to complement other types of wood in furniture. Birch is used to make a lot of transparent, cabinet-grade plywood because it absorbs stain well and finishes beautifully. Birch is frequently used to construct interior doors and cupboards in addition to furniture. Restoring a piece of furniture may imply attempting to repair and revive

380-514: A number of styles which have acquired other names. Architectural styles often spread to other places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twist. For instance, Renaissance ideas emerged in Italy around 1425 and spread to all of Europe over the next 200 years, with the French, German, English, and Spanish Renaissances showing recognisably

456-664: A place in history that is independent of its author. The subject of study no longer was the ideas that Borromini borrowed from Maderno who in turn learned from Michelangelo , instead the questions now were about the continuity and changes observed when the architecture transitioned from Renaissance to Baroque . Semper, Wölfflin, and Frankl, and later Ackerman, had backgrounds in the history of architecture, and like many other terms for period styles, "Romanesque" and "Gothic" were initially coined to describe architectural styles, where major changes between styles can be clearer and more easy to define, not least because style in architecture

532-436: A quite distinct history. The traditions out of India , China , Korea , Pakistan , Indonesia (Bali and Java) and Japan are some of the best known, but places such as Mongolia , and the countries of South East Asia have unique facets of their own. The use of uncarved wood and bamboo and the use of heavy lacquers are well known Chinese styles. It is worth noting that Chinese furniture varies dramatically from one dynasty to

608-420: A readily available material that could be worked easily and turned into items for use within the household. Each house shows a high degree of sophistication and was equipped with an extensive assortment of stone furniture, ranging from cupboards, dressers, and beds to shelves, stone seats, and limpet tanks. The stone dresser was regarded as the most important as it symbolically faces the entrance in each house and

684-552: A showroom and visitors' centre, and is located beside the Parish Church, which contains "Mouseman" pews , fittings and other furniture. The company is now known as "Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd – The Mouseman of Kilburn." Fr Paul Nevill, a former Headmaster of Ampleforth College , asked Thompson to make the Ampleforth Abbey 's furniture; the school liked it so much that Ampleforth kept asking Thompson for more work, including

760-422: A simple three legged structure with a concave seat, designed for comfort during labour, and the much more ornate folding stool, with crossed folding legs, which were decorated with carved duck heads and ivory, and had hinges made of bronze . Full chairs were much rarer in early Egypt, being limited to only wealthy and high ranking people, and seen as a status symbol; they did not reach ordinary households until

836-522: A single table, rather than a collective use of a larger piece. Tables also figured prominently in religious contexts, as indicated in vase paintings, for example, the wine vessel associated with Dionysus, dating to around 450 BCE and now housed at the Art Institute of Chicago . Chests were used for storage of clothes and personal items and were usually rectangular with hinged lids. Chests depicted in terracotta show elaborate patterns and design, including

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912-414: A stage of growth for the humanity (cf. Johann Gottfried Herder 's Volksgeist that much later developed into Zeitgeist ). This approach allowed to classify architecture of each age as an equally valid approach, "style" (the use of the word in this sense became established by the mid-18th century). Style has been subject of an extensive debate since at least the 19th century. Many architects argue that

988-418: A thin layer of expensive wood on the surface. The earliest used seating furniture in the dynastic period was the stool , which was used throughout Egyptian society, from the royal family down to ordinary citizens. Various different designs were used, including stools with four vertical legs, and others with crossed splayed legs; almost all had rectangular seats, however. Examples include the workman's stool,

1064-400: A veneer using an expensive wood, such as maple or ebony. Greek furniture construction also made use of dowels and tenons for joining the wooden parts of a piece together. Wood was shaped by carving, steam treatment, and the lathe, and furniture is known to have been decorated with ivory, tortoise shell, glass, gold or other precious materials. The modern word " throne " is derived from

1140-538: Is American black cherry. Cherry is a light reddish brown to brown color that intensifies into a rich color as it ages, and grows mostly in the eastern United States. Cherry has a tighter grain than birch and is softer. Much cherry lumber is narrow, and it has been utilized to make many lovely classic furniture pieces. Birch is a sturdy, durable, even-textured hardwood that is common in the United States and Canada. The wood appears white or creamy yellow to light brown with

1216-405: Is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture" ( Nikolaus Pevsner , 1943). Nonetheless, the traditional and popular approach to the architectural history is through chronology of styles, with changes reflecting the evolution of materials, economics, fashions, and beliefs. Works of architecture are unlikely to be preserved for their aesthetic value alone; with practical re-purposing,

1292-509: Is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures ) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction , building materials used, form , size, structural design , and regional character. Architectural styles are frequently associated with a historical epoch ( Renaissance style ), geographical location ( Italian Villa style ), or an earlier architectural style ( Neo-Gothic style ), and are influenced by

1368-460: Is a depressing affair indeed". According to James Elkins "In the later 20th century criticisms of style were aimed at further reducing the Hegelian elements of the concept while retaining it in a form that could be more easily controlled". In the middle of the 19th century, multiple aesthetic and social factors forced architects to design the new buildings using a selection of styles patterned after

1444-420: Is amongst the oldest known furniture types, and authors including Encyclopædia Britannica regard it as the most important. In addition to the functional design, seating has had an important decorative element from ancient times to the present day. This includes carved and sculpted pieces intended as works of art, as well as the styling of seats to indicate social importance, with senior figures or leaders granted

1520-522: Is based on environmentally friendly design. Its use and popularity are increasing each year. Industrialisation, Post-Modernism, and the Internet have allowed furniture design to become more accessible to a wider range of people than ever before. There are many modern styles of furniture design, each with roots in Classical, Modernist, and Post-Modern design and art movements. The growth of Maker Culture across

1596-464: Is derived from various sources, including literature , terracotta , sculptures, statuettes, and painted vases. Some pieces survive to this day, primarily those constructed from metals, including bronze , or marble. Wood was an important and common material in Greek furniture, both domestic and imported. A common technique was to construct the main sections of the furniture with cheap solid wood, then apply

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1672-414: Is easier to replicate by following a set of rules than style in figurative art such as painting. Terms originated to describe architectural periods were often subsequently applied to other areas of the visual arts, and then more widely still to music, literature and the general culture. In architecture stylistic change often follows, and is made possible by, the discovery of new techniques or materials, from

1748-523: Is in the homes of Skara Brae in Scotland , and includes cupboards, dressers and beds all constructed from stone. Complex construction techniques such as joinery began in the early dynastic period of ancient Egypt . This era saw constructed wooden pieces, including stools and tables, sometimes decorated with valuable metals or ivory. The evolution of furniture design continued in ancient Greece and ancient Rome , with thrones being commonplace as well as

1824-508: Is not a style, but an application of local customs to small-scale construction without clear identity of the builder. The concept of architectural style is studied in the architectural history as one of the approaches ("style and period") that are used to organize the history of architecture (Leach lists five other approaches as "biography, geography and culture, type, technique, theme and analogy"). Style provides an additional relationship between otherwise disparate buildings, thus serving as

1900-518: Is regarded as the "first comprehensive trade catalogue of its kind". There is something so distinct in the development of taste in French furniture, marked out by the three styles to which the three monarchs have given the name of " Louis Quatorze ", " Louis Quinze ", and "Louis Seize". This will be evident to anyone who will visit, first the Palace of Versailles , then the Grand Trianon , and afterwards

1976-407: Is restored. The 3 methods of restoring furniture are rejuvenate, repair, and refinish. Rejuvenate The piece can easily be restored by just cleaning and waxing the surface while preserving the current finish. It works on wooden furniture that is still in good shape and is the simplest way to clean it. Repair This process can fix dents and cracks by touching up some worn-out areas without removing

2052-544: Is revived, it is different. The Spanish mission style was revived 100 years later as the Mission Revival , and that soon evolved into the Spanish Colonial Revival . Early writing on the subjects of architectural history, since the works of Vitruvius in the 1st century B.C. , treated architecture as a patrimony that was passed on to the next generation of architects by their forefathers. Giorgio Vasari in

2128-447: Is specific to that language; French and other Romance languages as well as German use variants of the word meubles , which derives from Latin mobilia , meaning "moveable goods". The practice of using natural objects as rudimentary pieces of furniture likely dates to the beginning of human civilization. Early humans are likely to have used tree stumps as seats, rocks as rudimentary tables, and mossy areas for sleeping. During

2204-514: Is therefore the first item seen when entering, perhaps displaying symbolic objects, including decorative artwork such as several Neolithic carved stone balls also found at the site. Ancient furniture has been excavated from the 8th-century BCE Phrygian tumulus , the Midas Mound, in Gordion , Turkey . Pieces found here include tables and inlaid serving stands. There are also surviving works from

2280-564: Is usually defined by revival styles . The first three-quarters of the twentieth century are often seen as the march towards Modernism . One unique outgrowth of post-modern furniture design is a return to natural shapes and textures. The English word furniture is derived from the French word fourniture , the noun form of fournir , which means to supply or provide. Thus fourniture in French means supplies or provisions. The English usage, referring specifically to household objects,

2356-465: Is well known for its minimalist style, extensive use of wood, high-quality craftsmanship and reliance on wood grain instead of painting or thick lacquer. Japanese chests are known as Tansu , known for elaborate decorative iron work, and are some of the most sought-after of Japanese antiques. The antiques available generally date back to the Tokugawa and Meiji periods . Both the technique of lacquering and

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2432-455: The klismos , an elegant Greek chair with a curved backrest and legs whose form was copied by the Romans and is now part of the vocabulary of furniture design, the backless stool ( diphros ), which existed in most Greek homes , and folding stool. The kline , used from the late seventh century BCE, was a multipurpose piece used as a bed , but also as a sofa and for reclining during meals. It

2508-412: The 18th dynasty . Early examples were formed by adding a straight back to a stool, while later chairs had an inclined back. Other furniture types in ancient Egypt include tables, which are heavily represented in art, but almost nonexistent as preserved items – perhaps because they were placed outside tombs rather than within, as well as beds and storage chests. Historical knowledge of Greek furniture

2584-692: The Bible . Chests are the main type of Gothic furniture used by the majority of the population. Usually, the locks and escutcheon of chests have also an ornamental scope, being finely made. Along with the other arts, the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth century marked a rebirth in design, often inspired by the Greco-Roman tradition. A similar explosion of design, and renaissance of culture in general occurred in Northern Europe, starting in

2660-521: The Greek fret . Roman furniture was based heavily on Greek furniture, in style and construction. Rome gradually superseded Greece as the foremost culture of Europe, leading eventually to Greece becoming a province of Rome in 146 BC. Rome thus took over production and distribution of Greek furniture, and the boundary between the two is blurred. The Romans did have some limited innovation outside of Greek influence, and styles distinctly their own. Roman furniture

2736-571: The Petit Trianon . The nineteenth century is usually defined by concurrent revival styles , including Gothic , Neoclassicism, and Rococo. The design reforms of the late century introduced the Aesthetic movement and the Arts and Crafts movement . Art Nouveau was influenced by both of these movements. Shaker -style furniture became popular during this time in North America as well. This design

2812-510: The Pop art movement, gained steam in the 1960s and 70s, promoted in the 80s by groups such as the Italy-based Memphis movement . Transitional furniture is intended to fill a place between Traditional and Modern tastes. Great efforts from individuals, governments, and companies has led to the manufacturing of products with higher sustainability known as Ecodesign . This new line of furniture

2888-644: The Rococo and Neoclassicism were perpetuated throughout Western Europe. During the 18th century, the fashion was set in England by the French art. In the beginning of the century Boulle cabinets were at the peak of their popularity and Louis XIV was reigning in France. In this era, most of the furniture had metal and enamelled decorations in it and some of the furniture was covered in inlays of marbles lapis lazuli, and porphyry and other stones. By mid-century this Baroque style

2964-453: The klinai , multipurpose couches used for relaxing, eating, and sleeping. The furniture of the Middle Ages was usually heavy, oak , and ornamented. Furniture design expanded during the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. The seventeenth century, in both Southern and Northern Europe, was characterized by opulent, often gilded Baroque designs. The nineteenth century

3040-616: The predynastic period is scarce, but samples from First Dynasty tombs indicate an already advanced use of furnishings in the houses of the age. During the Dynastic Period , which began in around 3200 BCE, Egyptian art developed significantly, and this included furniture design. Egyptian furniture was primarily constructed using wood , but other materials were sometimes used, such as leather , and pieces were often adorned with gold, silver, ivory and ebony, for decoration. Wood found in Egypt

3116-585: The 15th century. Very few extant pieces survive, and evidence in literature is also scarce. It is likely that the style of furniture prevalent in late antiquity persisted throughout the Middle Ages . For example, a throne similar to that of Zeus is depicted in a sixth-century diptych , while the Bayeux tapestry shows Edward the Confessor and Harold seated on seats similar to the Roman sella curulis . The furniture of

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3192-619: The 16th century shifted the narrative to biographies of the great artists in his " Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ". Constructing schemes of the period styles of historic art and architecture was a major concern of 19th century scholars in the new and initially mostly German-speaking field of art history . Important writers on the broad theory of style including Carl Friedrich von Rumohr , Gottfried Semper , and Alois Riegl in his Stilfragen of 1893, with Heinrich Wölfflin and Paul Frankl continued

3268-868: The 20th century is seen as the march towards Modernism . The furniture designers of Art Deco , De Stijl , Bauhaus , Jugendstil , Wiener Werkstätte , and Vienna Secession all worked to some degree within the Modernist motto . Born from the Bauhaus and Streamline Moderne came the post-World War II style " Mid-Century Modern ". Mid-Century Modern materials developed during the war including laminated plywood , plastics , and fiberglass . Prime examples include furniture designed by George Nelson Associates , Charles and Ray Eames , Paul McCobb , Florence Knoll , Harry Bertoia , Eero Saarinen , Harvey Probber , Vladimir Kagan and Danish modern designers including Finn Juhl and Arne Jacobsen . Postmodern design, intersecting

3344-610: The 9th–8th-century BCE Assyrian palace of Nimrud . The earliest surviving carpet, the Pazyryk Carpet was discovered in a frozen tomb in Siberia and has been dated between the 6th and 3rd century BCE. Civilization in ancient Egypt began with the clearance and irrigation of land along the banks of the River Nile , which began in about 6000 BCE. By that time, society in the Nile Valley

3420-592: The Emperor. Cherry and apple flowers are used for decorating screens, vases and shōji . Common animal ornaments include dragons, carps , cranes, gooses, tigers, horses and monkeys; representations of architecture such as houses, pavilions, towers, torii gates, bridges and temples are also common. The furniture of a Japanese house consists of tables, shelves, wardrobes, small holders for flowers, bonsais or for bonkei , boxes, lanterns with wooden frames and translucent paper, neck and elbow holders, and jardinieres . Seating

3496-466: The Gothic rib vault to modern metal and reinforced concrete construction. A major area of debate in both art history and archaeology has been the extent to which stylistic change in other fields like painting or pottery is also a response to new technical possibilities, or has its own impetus to develop (the kunstwollen of Riegl), or changes in response to social and economic factors affecting patronage and

3572-502: The Greeks, Romans used tenons, dowels, nails, and glue to join wooden pieces together, and also practised veneering. The 1738 and 1748 excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii revealed Roman furniture, preserved in the ashes of the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius . In contrast to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, there is comparatively little evidence of furniture from the 5th to

3648-511: The Middle Ages was usually heavy, oak , and ornamented with carved designs. The Hellenistic influence upon Byzantine furniture can be seen through the use of acanthus leaves , palmettes , bay and olive leaves as ornaments. Oriental influences manifest through rosettes , arabesques and the geometric stylisation of certain vegetal motifs. Christianity brings symbols in Byzantine ornamentation:

3724-589: The Western sphere of influence has encouraged higher participation and development of new, more accessible furniture design techniques. One unique outgrowth of this post-modern furniture design trajectory is Live Edge , which incorporates the natural surface of a tree as part of a furniture object, heralding a resurgence of these natural shapes and textures within the home. Additionally, the use of Epoxy Resin has become more prevalent in DIY furniture styles. Asian furniture has

3800-423: The ancient Greek thronos (Greek singular: θρόνος), which was a seat designated for deities or individuals of high status/hierarchy or honor. The colossal chryselephantine statue of Zeus at Olympia , constructed by Phidias and lost in antiquity, featured the god Zeus seated on an elaborate throne, which was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony and ivory, according to Pausanias . Other Greek seats included

3876-469: The beginning of human civilization and continues today in some households/campsites. Archaeological research shows that from around 30,000 years ago, people started to construct and carve their own furniture, using wood, stone, and animal bones. Early furniture from this period is known from artwork such as a Venus figurine found in Russia , depicting the goddess on a throne. The first surviving extant furniture

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3952-482: The conditions of the artist, as current thinking tends to emphasize, using less rigid versions of Marxist art history. Although style was well-established as a central component of art historical analysis, seeing it as the over-riding factor in art history had fallen out of fashion by World War II, as other ways of looking at art were developing, and a reaction against the emphasis on style developing; for Svetlana Alpers , "the normal invocation of style in art history

4028-554: The corresponding broader artistic style and the "general human condition". Heinrich Wölfflin even declared an analogy between a building and a costume : an "architectural style reflects the attitude and the movement of people in the period concerned. The 21st century construction uses a multitude of styles that are sometimes lumped together as a " contemporary architecture " based on the common trait of extreme reliance on computer-aided architectural design (cf. Parametricism ). Folk architecture (also "vernacular architecture")

4104-483: The debate into the 20th century. Paul Jacobsthal and Josef Strzygowski are among the art historians who followed Riegl in proposing grand schemes tracing the transmission of elements of styles across great ranges in time and space. This type of art history is also known as formalism , or the study of forms or shapes in art. Wölfflin declared the goal of formalism as German : Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe , "art history without names", where an architect's work has

4180-527: The fifteenth century. The 17th century, in both Southern and Northern Europe, was characterized by opulent, often gilded Baroque designs that frequently incorporated a profusion of vegetal and scrolling ornament. Starting in the eighteenth century, furniture designs began to develop more rapidly. Although there were some styles that belonged primarily to one nation, such as Palladianism in Great Britain or Louis Quinze in French furniture , others, such as

4256-547: The form of beds imitated the Roman ones, but have different designs of legs. The main ornament of Gothic furniture and all applied arts is the ogive . The geometric rosette accompanies the ogive many times, having a big variety of forms. Architectural elements are used at furniture, at the beginning with purely decorative reasons, but later as structure elements. Besides the ogive, the main ornaments are: acanthus leaves, ivy, oak leaves, haulms, clovers, fleurs-de-lis , knights with shields, heads with crowns and characters from

4332-502: The late Paleolithic or early Neolithic period, from around 30,000 years ago, people began constructing and carving their own furniture, using wood, stone and animal bones. The earliest evidence for the existence of constructed furniture is a Venus figurine found at the Gagarino site in Russia, which depicts the goddess in a sitting position, on a throne. A similar statue of a seated woman

4408-1121: The library and most of the main building. Most of Ampleforth College's houses are now decorated with Robert Thompson's furniture. Another collection of Thompson's work is located at the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Hubberholme in North Yorkshire where, during the 1930s, he designed most of the church's interior furnishings, including pews , choir stalls and chairs. Others, including former apprentices who continued in his style working in Yorkshire oak, adopted similar identifying marks and nicknames. These makers include Thomas "Gnomeman" Whittaker (1910–1991), Derek "Lizardman" Slater, Colin "Beaverman" Almack, Robert "Rabbitman" Heap, Graham "Swanman" Duncalf, Alan "Acornman" Grainger, Wilf "Squirrelman" Hutchinson, Albert "Eagleman" Jeffray, Malcolm "Foxman" Pipes, and Shaw & Riley "The Seahorsemen of Hessay". Furniture People have been using natural objects, such as tree stumps, rocks and moss, as furniture since

4484-419: The next. Chinese ornamentation is highly inspired by paintings, with floral and plant life motifs including bamboo trees, chrysanthemums, waterlilies, irises, magnolias, flowers and branches of cherry, apple, apricot and plum, or elongated bamboo leaves; animal ornaments include lions, bulls, ducks, peacocks, parrots, pheasants, roosters, ibises and butterflies. The dragon is the symbol of earth fertility, and of

4560-494: The notion of "style" cannot adequately describe the contemporary architecture, is obsolete and ridden with historicism . In their opinion, by concentrating on the appearance of the building, style classification misses the hidden from view ideas that architects had put into the form. Studying history of architecture without reliance on styles usually relies on a " canon " of important architects and buildings. The lesser objects in this approach do not deserve attention: "A bicycle shed

4636-415: The original finish in some way. More often than not, this entails removing the existing treatment and preparing the raw wood for a new finish. Methods for repair depend on what kind of wood it is: solid or veneered, hardwood or softwood, open grained or closed grained. These variables can sometimes decide if a piece of furniture is worth repairing, as well as the type of repairs and finish it will require if it

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4712-552: The original intent of the original architect, sometimes his very identity, can be forgotten, and the building style becomes "an indispensable historical tool". Styles emerge from the history of a society. At any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas. The new style is sometimes only a rebellion against an existing style, such as postmodern architecture (meaning "after modernism"), which in 21st century has found its own language and split into

4788-748: The pigeon, fishes, the lamb and vines. The furniture from Byzantine houses and palaces was usually luxurious, highly decorated and finely ornamented. Stone, marble, metal, wood and ivory are used. Surfaces and ornaments are gilded, painted plychrome, plated with sheets of gold, emailed in bright colors, and covered in precious stones. The variety of Byzantine furniture is pretty big: tables with square, rectangle or round top, sumptuous decorated, made of wood sometimes inlaid, with bronze, ivory or silver ornaments; chairs with high backs and with wool blankets or animal furs, with coloured pillows, and then banks and stools; wardrobes were used only for storing books; cloths and valuable objects were kept in chests, with iron locks;

4864-531: The power and wisdom of the emperor. Lacquers are mostly populated with princesses, various Chinese people, soldiers, children, ritually and daily scenes. Architectural features tend toward geometric ornaments, like meanders and labyrinths. The interior of a Chinese house was simple and sober. All Chinese furniture is made of wood, usually ebony, teak , or rosewood for heavier furniture (chairs, tables and benches) and bamboo, pine and larch for lighter furniture (stools and small chairs). Traditional Japanese furniture

4940-655: The same style, but with unique characteristics. An architectural style may also spread through colonialism , either by foreign colonies learning from their home country, or by settlers moving to a new land. One example is the Spanish missions in California , brought by Spanish priests in the late 18th century and built in a unique style . After an architectural style has gone out of fashion, revivals and re-interpretations may occur. For instance, classicism has been revived many times and found new life as neoclassicism . Each time it

5016-512: The specific lacquer (resin of Rhus vernicifera ) originated in China, but the lacquer tree also grows well in Japan . The recipes of preparation are original to Japan: resin is mixed with wheat flour, clay or pottery powder, turpentine , iron powder or wood coal. In ornamentation, the chrysanthemum, known as kiku, the national flower, is a very popular ornament, including the 16-petal chrysanthemum symbolizing

5092-502: The surface with this technique, the finish can be maintained while repairing the object with specialized products. Refinish Remove anything that is left for example any paint with a finish-stripper product or lightly sanding the area down and then applying wood finish like oil wax in order to protect the secure the wood. Cleaning Remove dirt, dust, and grime from the furniture using a mild soap or specialized furniture cleaner. Revival styles An architectural style

5168-669: The two main categories for wood. Both hardwoods and softwoods are used in furniture manufacturing, and each has its own specific uses. Deciduous trees, which have broad leaves that change color periodically throughout the year, are the source of hardwood. Coniferous trees, also known as cone-bearing trees, have small leaves or needles that stay on the tree throughout the year. Common softwoods used include pine, redwood and yew. Higher quality furniture tends to be made out of hardwood , including oak, maple, mahogany, teak, walnut, cherry and birch. Highest quality wood will have been air dried to rid it of its moisture. A popular furniture hardwood

5244-415: The use of specially designed seats. The simplest form of seat is the chair , which is a piece of furniture designed to allow a single person to sit down, which has a back and legs, as well as a platform for sitting. Chairs often feature cushions made from various fabrics. All different types of woods have unique signature marks that can help in easy identification of the type. Hardwood and softwood are

5320-573: Was already engaged in organized agriculture and the construction of large buildings. At this period, Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and also constructing large buildings. Mortar was in use by around 4000 BCE The inhabitants of the Nile Valley and delta were self-sufficient and were raising barley and emmer (an early variety of wheat) and stored it in pits lined with reed mats. They raised cattle, goats and pigs and they wove linens and baskets. Evidence of furniture from

5396-472: Was constructed principally using wood, metal and stone, with marble and limestone used for outside furniture. Very little wooden furniture survives intact, but there is evidence that a variety of woods were used, including maple, citron, beech, oak , and holly. Some imported wood such as satinwood was used for decoration. The most commonly used metal was bronze, of which numerous examples have survived, for example, headrests for couches and metal stools. Similar to

5472-400: Was displaced by the graceful curves, shining ormolu , and intricate marquetry of the Rococo style, which in turn gave way around 1770 to the more severe lines of Neoclassicism , modeled after the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome . Creating a mass market for furniture, the distinguished London cabinet maker Thomas Chippendale 's The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director (1754)

5548-631: Was found in Çatalhöyük in Turkey, dating to between 6000 and 5500 BCE. The inclusion of such a seat in the figurines implies that these were already common artefacts of that age. A range of unique stone furniture has been excavated in Skara Brae , a Neolithic village in Orkney , Scotland The site dates from 3100 to 2500 BCE and due to a shortage of wood in Orkney, the people of Skara Brae were forced to build with stone,

5624-409: Was in many ways rooted in necessity and emphasizes both form and materials. Early British Colonial American chairs and tables are often constructed with turned spindles and chair backs often constructed with steaming to bend the wood. Wood choices tend to be deciduous hardwoods with a particular emphasis on the wood of edible or fruit bearing trees such as cherry or walnut. The first three-quarters of

5700-431: Was not suitable for furniture construction, so it had to be imported into the country from other places, particularly Phoenicia . The scarcity of wood necessitated innovation in construction techniques. The use of scarf joints to join two shorter pieces together and form a longer beam was one example of this, as well as construction of veneers in which low quality cheap wood was used as the main building material, with

5776-616: Was rectangular and supported on four legs, two of which could be longer than the other, providing support for an armrest or headboard. Mattresses, rugs, and blankets may have been used, but there is no evidence for sheets. In general, Greek tables were low and often appear in depictions alongside klinai . The most common type of Greek table had a rectangular top supported on three legs, although numerous configurations exist, including trapezoid and circular. Tables in ancient Greece were used mostly for dining purposes – in depictions of banquets, it appears as though each participant would have used

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