Indonesia Furniture

For much of the Medieval or Gothic period, a large part of Europe was at war or in an unsettled state. The feudal system limited the ability of most of the population to own any furniture other than the basic necessities, and most craftsmen were only employed by powerful churches or nobles. In 1215 the Magna Carta  was signed and became a basis for an English  Parliament and system of law which gradually  developed to support a growing merchant class. During the 1350s the Black Death led to serious depopulation, which indirectly brought about the end of the feudal system. It was not  until 1485, when the Wars of the Roses were  brought to an end by a victorious Henry Tudor, that a firm monarchy could be established and bring peace and prosperity to England.

Owing to these difficult conditions, few items of furniture were needed and those that  were available were made to be portable or collapsible. Scanty furniture contrasted with the prestige of textiles, hangings, gold and silver plate and carpets, which were portable as well as useful and luxurious.

In the history of furniture, the architectural shell has always had a great influence on design. Gothic architectural forms are overriding in any discussion of medieval furnishings or designs. The Gothic style was all pervasive over much of Europe, and is evident in all furniture  forms in most countries. However, the beginning of a Renaissance in Italy in the early fifteenth century changed forever the way furniture was made, decorated and used.

Functional types

It is important to remember that domestic  requirements were generally very limited, although there are records of very finely furnished  interiors for elite residences. Seating remained a prime use of furniture. Benches  were made in the same way as three-legged stools, i.e. legs were pushed into holes and pegged with wedges. Thrones remained symbols of authority: examples could include the Coronation chair, Dagobert’s bronze throne and the silver throne of King Martin of Aragon.  Chairs developed in England, France and the Netherlands, based on a box-like panelled structure, possibly derived from chest construction.

The chest was arguably the most important piece of medieval furniture. Chests, which, as previously mentioned began as dugouts or trunks, had developed by the fourteenth century into a type that was made up from solid planks, nailed or pegged together. From the fifteenth century, some chests were made using a framed construction thus reducing the undesirable  consequences of both shrinkage in  inadequately seasoned timber and the normal  movement of wood in service.

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