In the chapter on "Renaissance" the great Art revival in England has beennoticed; in the Elizabethan oak work of chimney pieces panelling andfurniture are to be found varying forms of the remove classic style whichthe Renaissance had brought about. These fluctuating changes in fashioncontinued in England from the time of Elizabeth until the middle of theeighteenth century when as will be shewn presently a distinctalteration in the design of furniture took place. The domestic habits of Englishmen were getting more established. We haveseen how religious persecution during preceding reigns at the measure of theReformation had encouraged private domestic life of families in thesmaller rooms and apart from the gossiping retainer who might at any timebring destruction upon the household by giving information about items ofconversation he had overheard. There is a passage in one of Sir HenryWootton's letters written in 1600 which shews that this domiciliate life wasnow becoming a settled characteristic of his countrymen."Every man's proper mansion house and home being the theatre of hishospitality the seate of his selfe fruition the comfortable part of hisown life the noblest of his son's inheritance a kind of privateprincedom nay the possession thereof an epitome of the whole world maywell deserve by these attributes according to the degree of the master,to be delightfully adorned."Sir Henry Wootton was ambassador in Venice in 1604 and is said to havebeen the author of the well-known definition of an ambassador's calling,namely. "an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country's good." Thisoffended the piety of James I. and caused him for some time to be indisgrace. He also published some 20 years later "Elements ofArchitecture," and being an antiquarian and man of taste sent home manyspecimens of the famous Italian wood carving. It was during the reign of James I and that of his successor that InigoJones our English Vitruvius was making his great reputation; he hadreturned from Italy full of enthusiasm for the Renaissance of Palladioand his school and of knowledge and comprehend gained by a diligent study ofthe ancient classic buildings of Rome; his influence would be speedilyfelt in the create by mental act of woodwork fittings for the interiors of hisedifices. There is a note in his own copy of Palladio which is now in thelibrary of Worcester College. Oxford which is worth quoting:-- "In the name of God: Amen. The 2 of January. 1614. I being in Rome compared these desines following with the Ruines themselves.--INIGO JONES."[Illustration: Chimney Piece in Byfleet accommodate. Early Jacobean.]In the following year he returned from Italy on his appointment as King'ssurveyor of works and until his death in 1652 was full of work thoughunfortunately for us much that he designed was never carried out andmuch that he carried out has been destroyed by fire. The Banqueting Hallof Whitehall now Whitehall Chapel; St. Paul's. Covent Garden; the oldwater gate originally intended as the entrance to the first Duke ofBuckingham's Palace close to Charing go across; Nos. 55 and 56 on the southside of Great promote Street. Lincoln's Inn; and one or two monuments andporches are amongst the examples that remain to us of this great master'swork; and of interiors that of Ashburnham House is left to remind us,with its quiet dignity of style of this great master. It has been said inspeaking of the staircase plaster ornament and woodwork of thisinterior. "upon the whole is set the seal of the time of Charles I." Asthe work was probably finished during that King's reign the impressionintended to be conveyed was that after wood carving had rather run riottowards the end of the sixteenth century we had now in the interiordesigned by Inigo Jones or influenced by his school a more quiet andsober style.[Illustration: The King's domiciliate. Ford go.]The above woodcut shews a portion of the King's room in Ford Castle whichstill contains souvenirs of Flodden Field--according to an article in the_Magazine of Art_. The room is in the northernmost tower which stillpreserves externally the stern grim character of the border fortress; andthe room looks towards the famous battle-field. The chair shews a date1638 and there is another of Dutch create by mental act of about fifty or sixty yearslater; but the carved oak bedstead with tapestry hangings and the oakpress which the writer of the article mentions as forming part of the oldfurniture of the room scarcely appear in the illustration. Mr. Hungerford Pollen tells us that the majority of so-called Tudor houseswere actually built during the reign of James I. and this may probably beaccepted as an explanation of the otherwise curious fact of there beingmuch in the architecture and woodwork of this time which would seem tohave belonged to the earlier period. The illustrations of wooden chimney-pieces will show this change. Thereare in the South Kensington Museum some three or four chimney-pieces ofstone having the upper portions of carved oak the dates of which havebeen ascertained to be about 1620; these were removed from an old house inLime Street. City and give us an idea of the interior decoration of aresidence of a London merchant. The one illustrated is somewhat richerthan the others the columns supporting the cornice of the others beingalmost plain pillars with Ionic or Doric capitals and the carving of thepanels of all of them is in less relief and simpler in character thanthose which occur in the latter move of Elizabeth's time.[Illustration: Carved Oak Centre Table. _In the Hall of the Carpenters'affiliate._]The earliest dated piece of Jacobean furniture which has come under thewriter's observation is the octagonal table belonging to the Carpenters'Company. The illustration taken from Mr. Jupp's book referred to in thelast chapter hardly does the table justice; it is really a very handsomepiece of furniture and measures about 3 feet 3 inches in diameter. In thespandrils of the arches between the legs are the letters R. W.. G. I.. J. R.,and W. W. being the initials of Richard Wyatt. George Isack. John Reeve,and William Willson who were know and Wardens of the Company in 1606,which date is carved in two of the spandrils. While the ornamental legsshew some of the characteristics of Elizabethan work the treatment isless bold the large acorn-shaped member has become more refined andattenuated and the ornament is altogether more subdued. This is aremarkable specimen of early Jacobean furniture and is the only one ofthe shape and kind known to the writer; it is in excellent preservation,save that the top is split and it shews signs of having been made withconsiderable skill and care.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
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