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SPECIMENS OF 
 
 nrifttt furniture 
 
 DRAWN FROM EXISTING AUTHORITIES 
 BY HENRY SHAW F.S.A. 
 
 WITH 
 
 DESCRIPTIONS 
 
 SIR SAMUEL RUSH METRIC K K. H. 
 
 LL.D. AND F.S.A. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 1866 . 
 
TO 
 
 THOMAS LISTER PARKER, ESQ. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN WHOSE DEVOTION TO THE ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, AND 
 KINDNESS TO THOSE ENGAGED IN THEIR ILLUSTRATION, 
 
 IS UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED, 
 
 € 1)10 Wloxk 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 HENRY SHAW. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 Plate 
 
 I. The Title from a MS. in the Abbey of St. Germain rles Pres 
 
 II. Looking-glass in the possession of Sir Samuel Meyrick, Goodrich Court, 
 Herefordshire 
 
 III. French Looking-glass from Willemin’s “ Monumens Fran^ais inedits ”. . . . 
 
 IV. Silver Furniture at Knole Park, Kent 
 
 V. Couch from Penshurst Place, Kent 
 
 VI. Antient Chairs at York and Evesham 
 
 VII. Two chairs from a Psalter in the Royal Library at Paris 
 
 VIII. Chair from St. Mary’s Hall, Coventry 
 
 IX. The Abbot’s Chair, Glastonbury, Somersetshire 
 
 X. French Chair, and Table with Reading-stand 
 
 XI. Chair in the Possession of Joseph Abel, Esq. Mitchel Dean, Gloucestershire 
 
 XII. An Ebony Chair in the Ashmolean Libraiy, Oxford 
 
 XIII. Ebony Chair formerly at Strawberry Hill 
 
 XIV. Chair in the Cartoon Gallery, Knole Park 
 
 XV. Chairs from Penshurst Place, Kent 
 
 XVI. Chairs in the Vestry Room of St. Catherine’s Chapel, and in the possession 
 
 of J. W. Wright, Esq 
 
 XVII. Chair at Hardwicke Hall, Derbyshire . 
 
 XVIII. Chair brought from Cromwell Hall, Finchley 
 
 XIX. Table from Hill Hall, Essex 
 
 XX. Table at Leeds Castle, Kent 
 
 XXI. Table at Longford Castle, Wiltshire 
 
 XXII. Wassail Table and Candelabra in the possession of the Hon. Mrs. Cockayne 
 
 XXIII. Two Tables at Hardwicke Hall, Derbyshire 
 
 XXIV. Sideboard in St. Mary’s Hall, Coventry 
 
 XXV. Buffets from illuminated MSS. in the King’s Library at Paris 
 
 XXVI. Oak Cabinet at Cornishead Priory, Lancashire 
 
 XXVII. Sideboard in the possession of David Hodgson, Esq. Liverpool 
 
 XXVIII. Cabinet or Wardrobe in the possession of Mr. Webb, Bond Street 
 
 XXIX. Chest at Clemping Church, Sussex . 
 
 XXX. Chest in Haconby Church, Lincolnshire 
 
 XXXI. Chest in Shauklin Church, Isle of Wight 
 
 XXXII. Chest which belonged to Sir Thomas More 
 
 XXXIII. German Chamber Organ 
 
 XXXIV. Napkin Press in the possession of Sir Samuel R. Meyrick, K.H 
 
 XXXV. Chairs, Bedsteds, and Chandeliers from Illuminated MSS 
 
 XXXVI. Bedsted in the possession of the Rev. William Allen 
 
 I'n ge 
 
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 28 
 
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LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 Plate Page 
 
 XXXVII. The Great Bed of Ware, Hertfordshire 40 
 
 XXXVIII. Bedsted of the Time of James the First at Goodrich Court 40 
 
 XXXIX. Bedsted of the Time of Charles the First, at Goodrich Court 40 
 
 XL. Crimson Bedsted at Hardwicke Hall 41 
 
 XLI. The Cradle of Henry the Fifth, in the possession of J. W. Braikenridge, Esq. 41 
 
 XLII. Reading-desk in Detling Church, Kent 42 
 
 XLIII. Top of the Reading-desk at Detling Church 42 
 
 XLIV. Reading-desk at Ramsey Church, Huntingdonshire 42 
 
 XLV. Brass Reading-desk in the possession of Mr. Hull 43 
 
 XLVI. Antient Lanthornin the Bishop’s Palace, Wells; and Table in the Chapter 
 
 House of Salisbury Cathedral 43 
 
 XLVII. Brass Chandelier in the Temple Church, Bristol 44 
 
 XLVIII. Brass Chandelier in the Chapter Room of St. Katherine’s Hospital 44 
 
 XL1X. Lantern of Bronze in the Ashmolean Museum 44 
 
 L. Various Candlesticks 45 
 
 LI. Details of a Candlestick in the possession of Sir Samuel R. Meyrick, K.H. 45 
 
 LII. Inkstands at Goodrich Court 46 
 
 LIII. Bellows of the Time of Elizabeth 47 
 
 LIV. Fire Dogs from Godington, Kent 47 
 
 LV. Furniture of Fire-places, Times of Queen Elizabeth and Charles the First, 
 Warming-pans, and Bellows, in the possession of Sir Samuel R. Mey- 
 rick. K.H. 48 
 
 LVI. Brass Fire-dogs in the possession of Messrs. Pratt, Bond Street 48 
 
 LVII. Bronze Fire-Dogs of the Time of James the Second 49 
 
 LVIII. Silver Fire-Dogs at Knole Park 49 
 
 LIX. Iron Scroll-work, Worksop Church, Nottinghamshire 49 
 
 LX. Lock and Keys 49 
 
 LXI. Door-handle, Escutcheon, and Knockers 50 
 
 LXII. Casket of Enamelled Copper in the possession of George Pocock, Esq. . . 50 
 
 LXIII. Horn at Queen’s College, Oxford, and Cup at Oriel College, Oxford.. .. 52 
 
 LXIV. Salt-celler at New College, Oxford 54 
 
 LXV. Salt-celler at Corpus Christi College, Oxford 54 
 
 LXVI. Salt-celler and Nut-crackers at Goodrich Court 54 
 
 LXVII. Ancient Cup of Silver-gilt enamelled, in the possession of the Corporation 
 
 of Lynn, Norfolk 55 
 
 LXVII1. Cup and Stand at Oriel College, Oxford 55 
 
 LX1X. Ancient Chalices 56 
 
 LXX. Tankard enamelled on Copper. 56 
 
 LXXI. Ci’ozier at Corpus Christi College, Oxford 56 
 
 LXXII. Reliquary of Box-wood, in possession of the late William Bullock, London 57 
 
 LXXIII. Details of Reliquary. 57 
 
 LXXIV. Tankard in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 57 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The progress of civilization has constantly a tendency to make articles 
 of convenience become objects of luxury ; and hence, the ingenuity as 
 well as taste of man are lavished to render splendid the common neces- 
 saries of life. This fact is in no instance more strongly demonstrated 
 than in ornamental household furniture; and any examination of the 
 various successive steps by which the rude block of wood and simple 
 elevated plank have assumed the elegant shapes displayed in modern 
 specimens, is an instructive as well as amusing pursuit. 
 
 Although it does not necessarily follow that the forms and ornaments 
 of tables and chairs should, as a fundamental rule, bear reference to the 
 style of a building, yet such an investigation cannot fail to prove that 
 they have been invariably copied from the prevailing architecture 
 of the time. Hence it is, that the date of one being ascertained, we 
 arrive at certainty with respect to the other ; and hence it is, that a 
 similar excellence or debasement in the artistic handling will be found to 
 prevail equally in both. The representations we have of wdiat was used 
 by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, are those only of the 
 most finished and tasteful specimens ; and, consequently, materials do 
 not exist for the formation of a chronological series. But if we examine 
 such as are of subsequent date in Europe, the inquiry will be found 
 amply to repay the trouble. Ancient drawings, illuminations, carvings 
 in ivory, painted glass, and sculptured friezes, afford great assistance. 
 Any work, however, that should profess to comprise these among its 
 engravings would be too extensive for the purpose of publication, and 
 therefore Mr. Shaw has confined the “ Specimens of Ancient Furniture” 
 almost entirely to those he has “ drawn from existing authorities.” He 
 stated with great propriety in his Prospectus, that “ the painter, the 
 
 b 
 
2 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sculptor, and the architect, when called upon to portray or imitate any 
 article of early domestic furniture, have been obliged to trust to imperfect 
 descriptions or to their own imaginations, instead of being able to refer 
 to faithful drawings of those numerous original authorities which are 
 scattered throughout the kingdom. From the want of such a collection, 
 artists of the highest reputation have sometimes produced pictures, of 
 which the details are so full of incongruities and anachronisms, as mate- 
 rially to detract from the general merit of the piece. In an historical 
 composition, correctness in the auxiliaries is scarcely less important than 
 in the more prominent parts, for the introduction of a wardrobe or a chair 
 of the time of Queen Anne in the representation of an apartment of the 
 reign of Henry the Sixth, is as glaring an error as to depict soldiers in 
 a painting of the battle of Cressy in the uniform and with the weapons 
 of the dragoon guards of the present day. Extreme accuracy, even in 
 the minutest detail, can alone produce that illusion which is requisite for 
 the perfect success of a work of art ; every thing must be consistent to 
 be complete, and an anachronism in an historical picture is as offensive 
 to the eye of taste as is an imperfect metaphor or a defective verse to 
 the ear. Costume has been more regarded since the reform in dress 
 on the stage, which probably produced a similar improvement in paint- 
 ing.” The exertions of Mr. Planche, whose scrutinizing eye very early 
 observed the absurdities in what are termed the theatrical properties, 
 have, in spite of prejudice and every other obstacle, laid the foundation 
 for correctness in costume. Wherever he has had the opportunity and 
 the permission, he has pushed this highly useful antiquarian feeling 
 usque ad unguem , in order to prevent the violation of truth in the 
 scenery, decorations, and furniture. 
 
 “It is the design,” says Mr. Shaw, “of the present work still further 
 to extend historical correctness in art, by placing within the reach of its 
 professors a standard authority for all articles used for domestic pur- 
 poses, from the earliest period of which specimens exist to the reign of 
 Queen Anne. They will consist of jewellery, cabinets, bedsteads, chairs, 
 tables, coffers, wardrobes, carvings, and other relics, remarkable for 
 exquisite workmanship or design. Fidelity of delineation will be the 
 principal aim of the author, who flatters himself he shall produce a work 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 of standard value, illustrative as well of the manners, customs, tastes, 
 and domestic economy, as of the arts in the early periods of British 
 history.” 
 
 It will be my business, therefore, briefly to allude to what appears in 
 ancient descriptions, illuminations, and ivory sculptures, as introductory 
 to the descriptions of what are here engraved. 
 
 Although from seals and some other sources we have abundant repre- 
 sentations of seats and stools, we have little to instruct us in the general 
 decorations of rooms prior to the middle of the thirteenth century. 
 Needle work, such as the celebrated Bayeux tapestry, had been at all 
 times very rare, but about this period was succeeded by paintings on the 
 walls, generally from subjects of romance, legends, or the fabliaux that 
 formed the fashionable reading of the day. Thus, in the Romance of 
 Arthur of Lytle Brytayne, written in the time of Edward the Second, 
 we are told, that “ out of this hall he entered into a chambre the moste 
 rychest that ever was seen ; for syth God first made mankynde, there 
 was no maner of hystorie nor bataile but in that chamber it was por- 
 trayed with gokle and asure and other fresche coloures as quyckely 
 adurned that it was wonder to behold ; there was portrayed how God 
 dyde create the sonne and the mone, and in the rofe were all the seven 
 pianettes wrought with fyne gokle and sylver, and all the sytuacyons of 
 the hevens, wherin were pyglit many carbuncles and other precyous 
 stones, the which dyde cast grete clerenes both by daye and by nyght. 
 To saye the truthe, it was the most rychest chambre and the wonder- 
 fullest that ever was seen in all the worlde.” But we need not have 
 recourse to fabulous story, though in the romances we find the truest 
 pictures of real life. The following documents refer to domestic apart- 
 ments at this period, for I have studiously avoided introducing any 
 relating to ecclesiastical edifices. 
 
 Anno 1233, 17 Hen. III. m. 6. Mandatum est Vicecomiti Southton: 
 quod cameram regis lambruscatam de castro Winton: depingi faciat 
 eisdem historiis et picturis quibus fuerat prius depicta. Et custum &c. 
 computabitur. Vesti rege apud Kiderminstr iii die Junii. “ The sheriff 
 of Hampshire is commanded to take care that the wainscotted chamber 
 of the king in the castle of Winchester be painted with the same histories 
 
4 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 and pictures as it had been previously painted. And the cost, &c. shall 
 he computed. Witness the king at Kidderminster, the 3rd of June.” 
 This is a valuable document, showing, as it does, that the painting of 
 history on the walls of rooms had been in use prior to its date. 
 
 Rot. Claus. 20 Hen. III. m. 15. Mandatum est tliesaurario reg-is, 
 
 O 7 
 
 quod magnam cameram regis apud Westm. bono viridi colore depingi 
 faciat ad modum cur tan m et in magno gabulo ejusdem cameras juxta 
 hostium depingi ludum ilium : 
 
 Ke ne dune ke ne tine, ne pret ke desire, 
 
 et etiam parvam garderobam regis viridi colore ad modum eurtanse 
 depingi faciat : ita quod rex in primo adventu suo illuc inveniat pre- 
 dictas cameram et garderobam ita depictas et ornatus, sicut predictum 
 est. Anno 1236. “ The king’s treasurer is commanded to have the great 
 chamber of the king at Westminster painted with good green colour, in 
 imitation of a curtain, and in the great gable of the same chamber near 
 the door to have painted the following game : 
 
 Qui ne donne ce qu’il tient, ne prend ee qn’il desire ; 
 
 and also the little wardrobe of the king to have painted with green 
 colour in the fashion of a curtain, so that the first time the king enters 
 he shall find the aforesaid chamber and wardrobe painted and orna- 
 mented as is aforesaid.’’ 
 
 In the extract from Arthur of Lytle Brytayne, mention is made of 
 the ceiling being studded with stars. This style of ornament for walls 
 appears by the following document to have been adopted at least as 
 early as the commencement of the thirteenth century. Liberat A° 22 
 Hen. III. m. 3. Mandatum est vie’. Southampt. quod cameram apud 
 Winton colorari faciat viridi colore et stellari auro, in quibus depin- 
 garitur historiae veteris et novi testamenti. “ The sherif of Hampshire 
 is ordered to cause the chamber at Winchester to be coloured with a 
 green colour, and starred with gold, on which shall be depicted the 
 histories of the Old and New Testaments.” 
 
 The next precept shows us that oil colours were used in such decor- 
 rations : Rex thesaurio et camerariis suis salutem liberate de thesauro 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 nostro Odom aurifabro et Edwardo filio suo centum et septemdecem 
 solidos et decern denarios pro oleo, vernici, et coloribus emptis et pic- 
 turis factis in camera Reginae nostrae apud Westm. ab octavis Sancta 
 Trinitatis anno regni nostri xxiii usque ad festum Sancti Barnabas apos- 
 toli eodem anno, silicet per xv dies. 
 
 Anno 1239. “ The king to his treasurer and chamberlain greeting. 
 Pay from our treasury to Odo the goldsmith, and his son Edward, 117 
 shillings and 10 pence, for the purchase of oil, varnish, and colours, 
 and for making pictures in the chamber of our queen at Westminster, 
 from the octaves of the Eloly Trinity, in the 23rd year of our reign, to 
 the festival of St. Barnabas the apostle in the same year, namely for fit- 
 teen days.” 
 
 Several existing specimens still attest the high degree of skill with 
 which painted glass was effected during this reign, and there is a man- 
 date in its twenty-fifth year, ordering two windows with pictures to be 
 put in the hall, with the motto before cited, which shows that this 
 costly and brilliant decoration was not confined to religious structures, 
 although it might have been more sparingly used. Seven years after, 
 that is in 1248, we meet with another order running thus: Rex cus- 
 todi manerii de Wodestoke praecepit, ut inter alia freri faciat duas 
 fenestras de albo vitro et fenestram aulae versus orientem, similiter cum 
 pictura ejus aulas emendari faciat. Quoddam etiani scaccarium fieri 
 faciat in eadem aula quod contineat hunc versum : 
 
 Qui non dat quod habet, non accipit ille quod optat. 
 
 “ The king to the keeper of the manor of Woodstock sends this pre- 
 cept : that among other things he causes two windows to be made of 
 white glass, and that he takes care to have mended the eastern window 
 of the hall with its picture of the hall : that he causes to be made in 
 that hall certain chequer work, which shall contain this verse : 
 
 Who does not give what he has, shall not have what he wants.” 
 
 This article explains in some degree the nature of the game mentioned 
 in the one previously quoted ; inasmuch as it seems to indicate that 
 the table on which it was played resembled a chess-board. Yet such 
 
(3 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a conclusion is by no means to be relied on, as chequer-work was often 
 the ground on which the artists of former times placed their subjects. 
 
 Liberat. 36 Hen. III. m. 15. Mandatum Vic. Northampton quod 
 fieri faciat in castro North: fenestras de albo vitro et in eisdem his- 
 torian! Lazari et Divitis depingi. Anno 1252. “ The sherif of North- 
 
 ampton is commanded to cause to be made windows of white glass in 
 the castle of Northampton, and to have painted in them the history of 
 Lazarus and Dives.” 
 
 We learn from the romance before cited, of Arthur of Lytle Bry- 
 tayne, that these windows were made with lattices to open and shut. 
 “ Thus as Florence sate on her fader’s beddes fete a good space, at 
 laste the kinge felte one syttynge on hys beddes fete ; therewith he 
 awoke and opened his eyen, and behelde the grete wyndowes open 
 before hym, fayre glased, and the some shynynge all about the cham- 
 bre, the whiche was hanged ryght rychely.” Again : “ The arowe 
 hytte one of the wyndowes so sore, that it flew wide open with the 
 stroke.” And, “ Than there rose suche a wynde so grete and fervent, 
 that it brast the glasse windows and latesses.” 
 
 The introduction of stained or painted glass most successfully reme- 
 died what our ancestors studied to effect much more than architects 
 of the present day, the want of richness in colour, while it excluded 
 unsightly objects. The manufacture of this beautiful ornament was 
 carried on at first more particularly at Venice, but after its introduc- 
 tion to this country English artists soon endeavoured to compete with 
 foreigners. In proof of this fact I may, perhaps, be permitted to refer 
 to the fine windows of York Minster, which were executed by Thornton 
 in the year 1400. 
 
 Liberat. 36 Hen. III. m. 15. Rex Vicecomiti Nottingham! as salu- 
 tem. Praecipimus tibi quod in camera reginae nostras apud Nottingham 
 depingi facias historian! Alexandri circumquaque, et custum, &c. Teste 
 rege apud Nottingham xv die Januarii. “The king to the sheriff of 
 Nottingham greeting. We order you to have painted in the cham- 
 ber of our queen at Nottingham the history of Alexander round 
 about it, and the cost, &c. Witness the king at Nottingham the 15th 
 January.” 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 Clause 36 Hen. III. m. 22. Mandatum Radulpho de Dungun cus- 
 todi librorum regis, quod magistro Willielmo pictori regis liabere faciat 
 colores ad depingendum parvam garderobam reginae. Teste rege apud 
 Westm. xxv die Febr. per regem. “Ralph de Dungun, the king’s 
 librarian, is commanded to take care that Master William, the king’s 
 painter, should have colours to paint the little wardrobe of the queen. 
 Witness the king at Westminster the 25th of February, by the king 
 himself.” 
 
 In a clause dated the 44th of Hen. III. 1260, memb. 6, orders 
 are given, ad renovendas picturas regis apud Windsor, “to restore the 
 king’s pictures at Windsor ; and in another, membrane 11, the sherif 
 of Surry is directed without delay to have the paintings in our great 
 hall at Guldeford repaired, et in magna camera nostra ibidem ad caput 
 lectri nostri super album rniiram quoddam pallium depingi: “and in 
 our great chamber there, on the blank wall at the head of our bed, to 
 have painted the resemblance of a curtain (or hanging).” This docu- 
 ment shows that paintings on walls were not confined to the sitting 
 apartments, but also adorned the bedchamber ; and indeed the quota- 
 tion from Arthur of Lytle Brytayne, had it been carried somewhat 
 further, would have proved the same thing. It might be sufficient to 
 close these testimonies of the mode of decorating rooms, with merely 
 mentioning the fact that the great hall of Borthwick Castle, in Scot- 
 land, the architecture of which is of the time of Henry the Third, has 
 on its vaulted ceiling the remains of painting such as occur in old illu- 
 minations ; and there can yet be traced the representation of a castle 
 with its battlements, towers, and pinnacles, and the legend in old charac- 
 ters, “ Y e Temple of Honor,” still distinctly legible.* But the following 
 circumstances must not be omitted. 
 
 Though the subjects painted on the walls were often taken from the 
 fabliaux, the authors of those interesting specimens of early poetry, on 
 the other hand readily availed themselves of the imagery of the paint- 
 ings suggested. Thus, in the lay of Sir Gugemer, we read in Way’s 
 translation : 
 
 * Picturesque Scenery of Scotland, 1826, vol. i. 
 
8 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cf Her prison room was fair ; from roof to floor 
 With golden imageries pictured o’er ; 
 
 There Venus might be seen, in act to throw 
 Down to the mimick fire that gleamed below. 
 
 The ‘ Remedies of Love’ Dan Ovid made ; 
 
 Wrathful the goddess look’d and ill appaid, 
 
 And many more than I may well recall. 
 
 Illumining throughout the sumptuous wall.” 
 
 Warton is of opinion that this poem suggested to Chaucer much of his 
 picturesque composition. Thus in his Dreme, v. 1320, we have 
 
 In a chamber paint 
 Full of stories old and divers. 
 
 And again, v. 2167, 
 
 For there was ne lady ne creture 
 Save on the wals old portraiture 
 Of horsemen, hawkis and houndes, &c. 
 
 And in an old French romance we have 
 
 Et lors cambres et lors grans sales 
 Font lambroissier, peindre et pourtraire. 
 
 “ And they caused their chambers and great halls 
 To be wainscotted and painted with figures.’’ 
 
 In the year 1277, Otho, Duke of Milan, having restored peace to 
 that city by a signal victory, built a noble castle, in which he ordered 
 the particular circumstances of his triumph to be painted. Paulus 
 Jovius relates that these paintings remained in the great vaulted cham- 
 ber of the fortress fresh and unimpaired in the year 1547. So Langton, 
 Bishop of Lichfield, in this country, commanded, about the year 1312, 
 the coronation, marriages, wars, and funeral of his patron King Edward 
 the First, to be painted in the great hall of his episcopal palace recently 
 built. In the year 1322, Symeon, a friar minor and doctor in theology, 
 wrote an itinerary in Latin; and, speaking of Westminster Abbey, says, 
 “ near this monastery stands the celebrated royal palace of England, in 
 which is that well known chamber on whose walls all the warlike his- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 tories of the Bible are painted with inexpressible skill, and explained by 
 a regular and complete series of texts beautifully written in French over 
 each battle, to the no small admiration of the beholder, and the increase 
 of royal magnificence.” These paintings, or rather the remaining part 
 of them, have recently been destroyed by the government architect to 
 enlarge the imperial parliament house, but not before the late Charles 
 Stothard made accurate drawings of them for the Society of Antiquaries, 
 and which, it is to be hoped, will soon be engraved. Warton, in his 
 History of English Poetry, observes that that part of the Old Testament 
 which records the Jewish wars was regarded as a book of chivalry, and 
 their chief heroes, Joshua and David, the latter of whom killed a giant, 
 are often recited among the champions of romance. It was the appear- 
 ance of this vulgata camera just described that probably suggested to 
 the author of Piers Plowman’s Crede the line, 
 
 “ As a parlement hous ypeynted aboute.” 
 
 To this style of decoration on the wall succeeded the more com- 
 modious and warmer one of tapestry, which being fabricated more espe- 
 cially at the town of Arras, generally went by its name. This manu- 
 facture prospered chiefly in the Netherlands, where it originated ; but 
 the earliest specimen I have seen is preserved in the church of St. Sebald 
 at Nuremberg, being of the time of our Henry the Fourth, and repre- 
 senting the life of that saint. In about forty years after, John Holland, 
 Duke of Exeter, by will dated July 10, 1447, gives to his son Sir Henry 
 all the stuff of his wardrobe and of his arras ; so that we may conceive 
 it to have become prevalent in the early part of the fifteenth century. 
 A very ancient specimen may still be seen at Berkley Castle. Such 
 were the apartments of our ancestors : it will now be proper to consider 
 the furniture that was put into them. 
 
 Looking-Glasses. The disuse of paintings on the walls led to 
 pictures in frames, several of which, with these original additions of an 
 open scroll pattern and flat, of the time of Henry the Eighth, are still 
 inexistence ; and it was further productive of those beautiful appendages 
 to our walls, known by the name of looking-glasses. Mirrors of polished 
 steel had been known to the ancients, and were still used set in silver or 
 
 c 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ivory until the commencement of the fifteenth century ;* but these were 
 very small, and merely to hold in the hand. In the wardrobe account 
 of the twenty-eighth year of King Edward the First are enumerated 
 “a comb and mirror of silver gilt (unum speculum argent! deauratum) 
 enamelled and in the Doucean Museum at Goodrich Court are three 
 interesting specimens of ivory, on the backs of which are some military 
 representations cleverly carved, one of which is the favourite subject of 
 the attack of the Chateau d’ Amour. 
 
 But suspended looking-glasses were afterwards imported from France. 
 Thus, in the privy purse expenses of Henry the Eighth in 1532, we 
 meet with a payment “ to a Frencheman fer certeyne looking-glasses 
 and at Goodrich Court is a fine specimen of one of the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth, which Mr. Shaw has engraved for this work. 
 
 Moveables. In the Anglo-Saxon times, seats in the form of our 
 modern camp-stools were prevalent, the sitting part terminating with the 
 representations of the heads of some animals, the feet with their claws, 
 sometimes a plane back consisting of two upright posts and a cross 
 piece was added, which thus converted it into a chair. Hence in 
 Willemin. Monumens Francais inedits, we have engravings of a stool 
 in the form of an X, and a solid one, probably of ivory, made to look 
 like brick-work, from a MS. of the seventh century. See also Strutt’s 
 Dresses and Habits of England, PL hi. vi. x. xv. and his Manners 
 and Customs, PI. xxx. where there are examples of cross, solid, and 
 pyramidal stools, some with square backs and others with triangular seats, 
 all from MSS. of the eighth century. In PL xvi. of the Dresses and 
 Habits of England is a representation of Aldhelme, Bishop of Sherborne, 
 sitting on a stool with wolves’ heads on each side, and their paws at the 
 feet, and resting his own on a square foot-stool. The seats we find 
 generally furnished with cushions and drapery thrown over, as was the 
 fashion in the classical times of Greece and Home. 
 
 Montfaucon has given us a representation of the seat of Charlemagne, 
 very nearly resembling that of Aldhelme. In Willemin’s Monumens, 
 &c., Charles le Chauve in the ninth century appears sitting on a solid 
 
 * See a lady holding one in Strutt’s Dresses and Habits, PI. XCI. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 seat with a square back : and two figures from a MS. of the year 989 
 sit on solid stools. Strutt, in his Dresses and Habits, has given in 
 PI. xvii. a copy of a very grand stool of the ninth century, from an 
 illuminated MS. of that date. 
 
 In the tenth century the seats became completely panelled, and were 
 then perforated so as to exhibit several circular-headed arches, and this 
 fashion continued during the prevalence of the Norman architecture. 
 Thus Willemin gives, from a MS. in the abbey of St. Germain des Pres 
 of this period, a stool so adorned ; and from one in the Bibliotheque du 
 Roi, about the year 989, a solid couch for two persons with similar 
 apertures. Another, from No. 987 in the then Imperial Library, of the 
 eleventh century, ornamented with balustrades. Roth he and Strutt 
 afford us specimens of some of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but 
 not materially distinguished from those already described. 
 
 Strutt, in his Manners and Customs, PI. xxxvi. gives an engraving 
 of a beautiful chair, from a MS. copy of Matthew Paris, about the time 
 of Henry the Third, and in Plates xxxix. xl. xlii. and xlv. others. 
 
 This fashion of seats gave way to the tall pediment of the pointed 
 style of architecture, of which the coronation chairs in Westminster 
 Abbey are very early existing specimens. Probably that square-backed 
 one given by Strutt in PI. xxxix. of his Sports and Pastimes, from 
 a MS. in the Royal Library at the British Museum marked 20, B. xi. 
 is what immediately preceded. Two ivory carvings, one a casket, the 
 other a diptych, of the time of Edward the Second, in the Doucean 
 Museum at Goodrich Court, afford good representations of the short- 
 backed chairs with the architectural ornaments of the day, and we have 
 in the seals of our monarchs the richly sculptured character of their 
 thrones and foot-stools. 
 
 Willemin has engraved an arm-chair with balustrades below, in which 
 is a panel, and under that a trefoil-headed arch, from a MS. written in 
 the year 1380 by Gaston de Foix. Several beautiful thrones also, from 
 a Latin Psalter of the fourteenth century, highly ornamented, according 
 to the architecture of the period, with flying buttresses, &c. In the 
 fifteenth century he gives us one with Gothic arches behind and quatre- 
 foils at the side ; and another, the back of which has five sides of open 
 
 c 2 
 
12 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 work. In the same century, from a MS. No. 6736, he produces a high 
 back chair with solid sides, panelled, and carved with Gothic work, one 
 in which the back is made to form a canopy, from the Roman de 
 Renauld de Montauban ; and an arm-chair architecturally ornamented 
 in the pointed style, from an original in the church of Cresker a 
 Rosecoff He also affords us specimens of the chairs used in the time 
 of Francis the First, being high backed, with napkin panels and much 
 carving, of which period Mr. Shaw has inserted one in this work, now 
 preserved at M itchel Dean, in the county of Gloucester. The chair on 
 which Ludovic de Gonzagues, Due de Nivernois, sits, from the painting 
 of the date of 1587, is also engraved by Willemin, and will be found to 
 resemble some given by Mr. Shaw. 
 
 Tables. Strutt, in his Manners and Customs, has given specimens 
 of Anglo-Saxon tables, PI. xvi. in which they appear circular, oblong, 
 and long with the angles rounded. All have table-cloths. 
 
 To simple square legs for tables succeeded the more commodious 
 invention of tressels, of which Willemin gives an ornamented specimen 
 of the end of the fourteenth century, from a MS. copy of the Roman 
 de Lancelot du Lac, No. 6964, Rib. du Roi. The same indefatigable 
 antiquary has engraved a dressing-table on four plain legs of the fifteenth 
 century ; also a table and ink-stand, and a round table on a pillar and 
 claw of the sixteenth century, and that in an apartment of Henry the 
 Second of France, which is also given by Montfaucon. 
 
 Sideboards. Several beautiful buffets in the last style of Gothic 
 architecture will be found in Willemin’s book, and the plain ones of 
 the time of Elizabeth in George Rixner’s Thurnier buch. 
 
 Coffers. Willemin has given one richly carved of the time of 
 flenry the Eighth, but Mr. Shaw has, in the present work, presented 
 the public with a splendid series, through the kindness of William 
 Twopenny, Esq. 
 
 Musical Instruments. The only instruments of music which in 
 ancient times can be considered in the light of furniture, were the stand 
 of bells and the organ. Of the former a specimen of the time of Edward 
 the Third may be seen in Strutt’s Sports and Pastimes, PI. xxiv. 
 from a MS. in the Royal Library, Brit. Mus 20. B. xi. and the latter 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 16 
 
 occur first as portable, being merely a support for the keys and pipes, 
 but have in the sixteenth century a complete casing in the form of a 
 cabinet. 
 
 Bedsteds. The bedsteds were in the first instance imitations of 
 those of the Greeks of the Lower Empire, I mean from the time they 
 are at all worthy of notice ; and these were simply couches with four 
 straight legs and an elevated plank of wood at the back to support a 
 pillow. Willemin has given one from a manuscript in the Bibliotheque 
 du Roi, at Paris, No. 510, written in the year 886. Strutt, in his 
 Manners and Customs, has a very similar one, which he terms Anglo- 
 Danish, though the MS. from which he took it* has every appearance 
 of being Anglo-Saxon. Drapery is thrown over the whole. He lias, 
 however, represented a very singular Anglo-Saxon bed and bedsted in 
 Plate xiii. Fig. 2, from Claudius, B. iv. The latter is four- posted, 
 supporting a tester like the roof of a house, within which are curtains 
 drawn back and twisted round the posts. Willemin has engraved a 
 couch, with a side terminating with a wooden canopy, from a MS. 
 of the 12th century. In Plate lxiii. of Strutt’s Manners and 
 Customs, is a bedsted of the time of Henry the Third, much like a 
 modern French one, except that there is no board between the two 
 foot-posts. It has drapery over all. In Plates lxxiii. and xci. of 
 his Dresses and Habits, are two bedsteds of the fourteenth century, 
 much of the same character, though the latter has a sort of pinnacle 
 rising from behind the head-board. But we have in the Romance of 
 Arthur of Lytle Brytayne the following picturesque description. After 
 mentioning the chamber, as in the extract before given, the authoi 
 proceeds to say : “ Also there were dy verse beddis wonderfull ryche, 
 but specyally one, the whiche stode in the myddes of the chambre, sur- 
 mounted in beaute all other ; for y e utterbrasses therof were of grene 
 jasper with grete barres of golde set full of precyous stones, and the 
 crampons were of fyne sylver enbordered wyth golde, the postes of 
 yvery, with pomelles of corall, and the staves closed in bokeram covered 
 wyth crymesyn satyn, and shetes of sylke with a ryche coverynge of 
 
 * Cott. Library, Brit. Mus. Calig. A. vii. See Strutt, PI. XXVII. Fig. 3. VoL i. 
 
14 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ermyns, and other clothes of doth of golde, and four square pyllowes 
 wrought amonge the Sarasyns ; the curtaynes were of grene sendall 
 vyroned* wyth gold and azure ; and rounde aboute this bedde there 
 laye on the flour carpettes of sylke poynted and embrowdred wyth 
 ymages of gold ; and at the foure corners of this bedde there were foure 
 condytes mervaylously wrought by subtyll entayle, out of the whiche 
 there yssued so swet an odour and so delectable, y* all other swetenesse 
 of the world were as no thynge to the regarde thereof; and at the head 
 of thys bedde there stode an ymage of golde, and had in his lyfte hand 
 a bo we of yvery, and in his right hande an arowe of fyne sylver ; in the 
 myddes of his brest there were letters that sayd thus,” &c. It appears 
 a little further on, that this bedchamber was paved, a fashion still pre- 
 valent in France. In another part of the same romance, in the descrip- 
 tion of a bed, we have : “ Upon the bed there was a riche quylt wrought 
 with coten, covered with crimson sendal stytched with thredes of golde 
 and shetes of whyte sylke, and over al a rych furre of ermynes.” The 
 bedsted, which stood in the middle of the room, seems to have been 
 made on the principle of modem cribs, with a railing here called outer- 
 bras, at the sides and feet, while the head, which was solid, was sur- 
 mounted by a figure. The posts, which we find afterwards mentioned 
 as sustaining the tester, we are there told were two in number at the 
 feet, while the uprights, called staves, at the head, covered with crim- 
 son satin, supported it at the other end. There “ stode before thys 
 bedde a bench with great brases (arms) of ivory.” 
 
 Making every allowance for the wish to astonish in a romance writer, 
 this description nevertheless gives us a splendid idea of the beds and 
 bedsteds in the time of Edward the Second. Nearly a century after 
 we meet with a bedsted, separate from the tester and curtains, in the 
 representation Willemin has given us of Pierre Salmon presenting to 
 Charles the Sixth his book entitled Des Maximes Royales, from an 
 illumination to a MS. in the Bib. du Roi, at Paris. But we have 
 undoubted authority, that beds of sumptuous materials and skilful 
 workmanship in embroidery became a general fashion with the nobility. 
 
 * Surrounded. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 An inferior stuff had been previously used, called caraoke, camoka, cha- 
 miere, and camelette, which was made by the orientals of camel’s hair ; 
 but this was imitated in silk only, and then termed camlette. In 
 Chaucer’s Dreme we have : 
 
 “ Of downe of pure dove’s white 
 I wol give him a fether bed, 
 
 Raied wel with gold, and right wel clad 
 In fine blacke sattin d’outremere, 
 
 And many a pillow, and every bere 
 Of cloth of Raynes, to slepe on soft.” 
 
 This expression, “many a pillow,” and that before quoted, “foure 
 square pyllowes,” shew that several were appropriated to a bed, and 
 here we find that the pillowberes or cases were of cloth of Rennes. 
 Serica, or silk, was as a manufacture unknown in Europe before the 
 sixth century. Its name was derived from “ the Seres,” who were the 
 progenitors of the Boukarians. From Greece it passed to Italy, and 
 in the thirteenth century Bruges was its chief mart. Thomas de Mus- 
 sendun, by will dated 20th July, 1402, bequeaths to his wife a bed, 
 with a coverlet made of velvet and sattin, and paned with ermine in 
 stripes or borders. In 1356, Elizabeth Countess of Northampton, 
 bequeaths to her daughter a bed of red worsted and embroidered. In 
 1409, Elizabeth Lady Despenser does the same ; as does Lady Eliza- 
 beth Andrews in 1474. King Edward the Third, in 1377, leaves to 
 Richard, son of the Black Prince, “ an entire bed marked with the 
 arms of France and England, nowin our Palace of Westminster.” Hum- 
 ph rey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, wills, in 1361, to his niece a bed 
 with the arms of England. Agnes Countess of Pembroke, in 1367, 
 gives to her daughter a bed, with the furniture of her father’s arms ; 
 and William Lord Ferrers of Groby ? in 1368, leaves to his son “my 
 green bed, with my arms thereon;” and to his daughter, “my white 
 bed, and all the furniture with the arms of Ferrers and Ufford thereon.’ 
 Edward the Black Prince, in 1376, makes bequests, “to our son 
 Richard, the bed which the king our father gave us : to Sir Roger de 
 Clarendon, a silk bed : to Sir Robert de Walsham, our confessor, a 
 large bed of red camera, with our arms embroidered at each corner. 
 
16 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 also embroidered with the arms of Hereford : to Mods. Alayne Cheyne, 
 our bed of camora powdered with blue eagles.” His widow, in 1385, 
 gives “ to my dear son, the king, (Richard the First) my new bed of 
 red velvet, embroidered with ostrich feathers of silver and heads of 
 leopards of gold, with bows and leaves issuing out of their mouths : to 
 my dear son, Thomas Earl of Kent, my bed of red carnak, paied with 
 red and rays of gold: to my dearson, John Holland, a bed of red 
 camak.” in 1368, Robert Earl of Suffolk bequeaths his “bed with 
 the eagle Sir Walter Manney, in 1371, “all my beds and dossers 
 (dossers were put at the backs of chairs and tables) in my wardrobe, 
 excepting my folding bed, paly of blue and red and Edmond Earl 
 of March, “ our large bed of black satin, embroidered with white lions 
 and gold roses with escutcheons of the arms of Mortimer and Ulster,” 
 in 1386. Margaret Countess of Devon, in 1391, leaves to her son 
 Peter, “ my bed of red and green paly Richard Earl of Arundel, in 
 1392, to his wife Philippa, “ a blue bed marked with my arms and the 
 arms of my late wife, also the hangings of the hall which were lately 
 made in London, of blue tapestry with red roses, with the arms of my 
 sons, the Earl Marshal, Lord Charlton, and Monsk Will m . Beauchamp; 
 to my son Richard a standing bed called Clove ; also a bed of silk, 
 embroidered with the arms of Arundel and Warren ; also to my said 
 son, the hangings of the large hall, of the arms of Arundel and Warren 
 quarterly i to my dear son Thomas, my blue bed of silk embroidered 
 with griffins : to my daughter Charlton, my bed of red silk : to my 
 daughter Margaret, my blue bed.” Sir John Cobham, in 1394, “a red 
 lied embroidered with lions, also a bed of Norwich stuff embroidered 
 with butterflies and Alice Lady West, in 1395, “a bed paled black 
 and white,” and “a bed of tapiter’s work.” John Duke of Lancaster, 
 in 1397, disposes of “ my large bed of black velvet embroidered with 
 a circle of fetter-locks (the badge of the house of Lancaster) and gar- 
 ters, all the beds made for my body, called in England trussing beds, 
 my white bed of silk with blue eagles displayed and Thomas Earl 
 of Warwick, in 1466, “a bed of silk embroidered with bears and my 
 aims with all thereto appertaining.” In 1411, Joane Lady Hunger- 
 ford leaves “ a green bed embroidered with one greyhound and, in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 17 
 
 1415, Edward Duke of York, “my bed of feathers and leopards, with 
 the furniture appertaining to the same ; also my white and red tapestry 
 of garters, fetterlocks and falcons (badge of the house of York) my 
 green bed embroidered with a compas.” In 1434, Joane Lady Berga- 
 venny devises “ a bed of gold swans, with tapetter of green tapestry, 
 with branches and flowers of divers colours, and two pairs of sheets of 
 Raynes, a pair of fustians, six pairs of other sheets, six pairs of blankets, 
 six mattrasses, six pillows, and with cushions and banncoves that longen 
 to the bed aforesaid ; a bed of cloth of gold with lebardes, with those 
 cushions and tapettes of my best red worsted that belong to the same 
 bed, and bancours and formers that belong to the same bed ; also four 
 pairs of sheets, four pairs of blankets, three pillows, and three mat- 
 trasses j a bed of velvet white and black paled, with cushions, tapettes, 
 and formez that belong to the same bed, three pairs of sheets, three 
 pairs of blankets, three pillows, and three mattrasses ; a bed of blue 
 baudekyn (the richest kind of stuff, the web being gold and the woof 
 silk with embroidery), with cushions, tapettes of blue worsted, the 
 formez that belong to the same bed, four pairs of sheets, four pairs of 
 blankets, four pillows and four mattrasses ; my bed of silk black and 
 red, embroidered with woodbined flowers of silver, and all the costers 
 and apparel that belongeth thereto, twelve pairs of sheets of the best 
 cloth that I have save Reynes, six pairs of blankets, and a pane* of 
 menyver ; and my best black bed of silk, with all the apparel of a 
 chamber of the best black tapetter that I have, six pairs of sheets,” &c. 
 The pane of minever or fur was succeeded by the counterpane, i. e. 
 one that was contrepointe, or having knotted threads stitched through. 
 At the commencement of the sixteenth century, we find mentioned as 
 furniture of beds, “ a good fedur bedde, a boulster, a pair of blankets, 
 a paire of fustians, a pair of fine sheets, a sellor or sillur, a tester, a 
 counterpointe of rosemary, a quilt happing, a chike happing, a white 
 square happing, and a white mantell,” as bequeathed by Katherine 
 Lady Hastings, and “ a bedde of tymbre,” i. e. in a bedsted of carved 
 wood. 
 
 * From the Latin word Pannum, here acting as a counterpane. 
 
 d 
 
18 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Willemin has engraved a specimen of a bed of the fifteenth century, 
 in which there appears an opening in the side of the bedsted, and 
 another of the seventeenth century, which is pannelled and railed. 
 
 In one of the drawings to Rous’s Life of Beauchamp Earl of War- 
 wick, Cott. Lib. Julius E. iv. written in the time of Edward the Fourth, 
 the tester of the bedsted has no fore posts to support it. Strutt, in 
 his Dresses and Habits, FI. icxvm. has engraved a similar one of the 
 time of Henry the Sixth. In both these instances the tester extends 
 quite as far as the bedsted. Montfaucon, in his Monarchic Fr. has 
 given us an elegant representation of a French bedsted, in his engraving 
 of the death of Henry the Second, King of France, and in the Gene- 
 alogies des Comtes de Flandres, PI. xxm. is one of the time of our 
 James the First. 
 
 Of Cradles Mr. Shaw has given the earliest specimen extant, being 
 that which tradition with the greatest probability, assigns to King 
 Henry the Fifth in his infancy, and the carving upon the supports to 
 the stand precisely corroborates the date. This, therefore important, 
 ornament has been entirely omitted in the engraving of it by Bonner 
 in his account, of Goodrich Castle, and that in Bingley’s Tour round 
 North Wales, where it is unaccountably called Edward the Second’s, 
 taken from the London Magazine for March, 1774. Willemin has a 
 pretty representation of a cradle with its furniture of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury ; and that of Maximilian the First, Emperor of Germany, is 
 engraved in Der Weiss Kunig. In 1480, Ann, Duchess of Bucking- 
 ham, bequeaths “ a sperver of red velvet, party gold, with a counter- 
 part of the same of scarlet.’’ This Dugdale calls a bed; but as it is 
 evidently a contraction of the old French word esperver, which 
 Lacombe says is synonymous with epervier, a drag-net, we may con- 
 ceive it to have been a kind of hammock.* 
 
 Reading-Desks. Strutt, in his Dresses and Habits of England, 
 PI. xxvii. has an engraving of Wulfstan, Archbishop of York at the 
 close of the Anglo-Saxon period, sitting on a solid stool, over the cushion 
 
 * The net-work on the bowsprit of a ship 
 called a cradle. 
 
 in which the fore top- mast stay-sail reclines is 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 19 
 
 of which is thrown a handsome trellissed drapery, and with a book on a 
 simple reading-desk, the support of which is formed by the union of 
 three quarters of circles on a single upright post. At PL l. he has 
 Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, from a MS. of the twelfth cen- 
 tury, in a splendidly carved armed chair, with corresponding foot-stool 
 attached, and a reading-desk on a pillar with three legs, with a drapery 
 thrown over it, in one twist of which appears his ink-horn. In his 
 Manners and Customs, Vol. I. we have in Pl. xxxiv. a handsome read- 
 ing-desk on a pillar, terminating in foliage in so picturesque and clever 
 a manner, as completely to support the slab, which is taken from a MS. 
 Chronicle of England by John de Wallingford, who died in 1213; and 
 in PL xxxv. Matthew Paris represented as he died in 1259, reclining 
 on a couch with a plain reading-desk, from an illumination by the con- 
 tinuator of his history. Piers Plowman’s Vision mentions monks 
 lounging on benches, but the peculiar circumstance of Matthew Paris 
 will account for his lying on a couch in preference to sitting on a chair. 
 Willemin has an engraving of a tasteful reading-desk of the fifteenth 
 century, from a MS. in the then imperial library at Paris, and some 
 very beautiful ones with architectural Gothic ornaments of the same 
 period, from the frontispiece of a Bible drawn with a pen by Jean de 
 Bruges. But the series given in the present work by Mr. Shaw from 
 the drawings of William Twopeny, Esq. made after the original spe- 
 cimens, affords magnificent examples of the richness displayed by the 
 taste of our ancestors. 
 
 Lamps and Candlesticks. A lamp of the thirteenth century, from 
 the original, will be found in this work. Chandeliers of the fifteenth 
 may be seen in Willemin and in Der Weiss Kunig one of the sixteenth 
 century, composed of stags’ horns. Of candlesticks, specimens of the 
 twelfth and other centuries are engraved by Mr. Shaw. 
 
 Clocks. Although the prescribed limits of this work have not 
 admitted any specimens of clocks to be engraved, yet these useful 
 articles of furniture were so prized by our ancestors that some mention 
 of them is absolutely indispensable. Dante, who wrote at the close of 
 the thirteenth century, makes the earliest mention of a clock that 
 struck the hour in these lines : 
 
 d 2 
 
20 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Indi come horologio che ne chiami 
 
 Nel hora che la sposa d’Idio surge. paradiso, c. x. 
 
 “ Thence as the clock which chimed 
 At the hour that the spouse of Idio rose.’’ 
 
 But in England a clock-house was erected in the year 1288 opposite 
 Westminster Hall, with a clock to be heard by the courts of law, and 
 paid for with the money arising from a fine imposed on Ralph de 
 Hengham, chief justice of the King’s Bench in the sixteenth year of 
 Edward the First. This clock was, during the reign of Henry the 
 Sixth, considered of such consequence that the king gave the custody 
 of it with the appurtenances to William Warby, Dean of St. Stephen’s, 
 together with the pay of 6d. per diem, to be received at the Exchequer. 
 The clock-house continued in a ruined state till the year 1715 ; though 
 the clock was removed soon after the time of Queen Elizabeth. Dart, 
 in his History of Canterbury Cathedral, has given from a MS. in the 
 Cotton Library, marked Galba E. L., the following extract, which shows 
 that this was not the only clock in England in the reign of Edward the 
 First. Anno 1292, Novum orologium magnum in ecclesia (Cantuariensi) 
 pretium £30. “For a new large clock for the church (of Canterbury) 
 the sum of thirty pounds.” The word “ magnum ” here introduced 
 seems to indicate that there were small clocks also used at this period, 
 an inference that is fully borne out in the following passage from the 
 Roman de la Rose, written by Jean de Meun before the year 1305. 
 
 Et puis fait sonner ses orloges 
 Par ses salles et par ses loges, 
 
 A roes trop subtillement 
 De pardurable mouvement. 
 
 “ And then he made his clocks strike 
 In his halls and in his chambers, 
 
 With wheels very subtily contrived 
 With a continuing movement.” 
 
 We have here, therefore, mention made of chamber clocks as the fur- 
 niture of apartments, and they may have been contrived either to hang 
 on the walls or stand on tables. 
 
 For the encouragement of the art of clock-making, Edward the Third, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 21 
 
 in 1368, granted a protection to three Dutchmen who were Orologiers, 
 which will be found in Rymer’s Foedera under the following title, De 
 Horologium artificio exercendo. Indeed, it should be observed that the 
 word “ clock ” does not occur before the reign of Henry the Eighth to 
 signify any thing but a bell, the French term being that in constant use. 
 Thus Chaucer in the time of Richard the Second says : 
 
 “ Fall sikerer was his crowing in his loge, 
 
 As is a clock or any abbey orloge 
 
 which in modern language would be 
 
 Full surer (or as certain) was his crowing in his roosting-place, 
 
 As a bell (regularly tolled) or an abbey clock. 
 
 The great clock in Wells Cathedral, brought originally from Glaston- 
 bury, has been so much altered from time to time that much of its 
 antiquity is obscured, though enough remains to render it an object of 
 great curiosity. 
 
 Clocks were not long before they became applied to astronomical 
 purposes, and one was constructed by an Englishman named Richard 
 of Wallingford, and put up at St. Albans, which Leland describes* as 
 “ showing the course of the sun and moon, marks the fixed stars, and 
 the rising and falling of the tides.” This renowned clock, which con- 
 tinued to go at the commencement of the sixteenth century, was called 
 by the inventor “ Albion.” Froissart tells us that, during the year 1332, 
 Philippe le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, removed from Courtray to his 
 capital at Dijon a famous clock, which struck the hours and was remark- 
 able for its mechanism. The great clock at Paris was put up in the 
 year 1370, during the reign of Charles the Fifth, King of France, having 
 been fabricated by Charles de Wic, a German. A little after this, a 
 clock was made by a Frenchman, and put up at Montargis, with the fol- 
 lowing inscription : Charles le Quint me fit par Jean de Jouvence. 
 “ Charles the Fifth caused me to be made by Jean de Jouvence.” 
 Willemin has an engraving of a chamber clock hung against the wall 
 
 * Leland de Script. Brit. 
 
22 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which has graduated Gothic buttresses on each side, and a dome at top 
 for the bell, and from beneath it appear the strings and weights, in the 
 manner of what are now ordinarily termed Dutch clocks. This he has 
 taken from a MS. of the fifteenth century, entitled the Roman de 
 Renauld de Montauban. A similar one was in the tapestry of the time 
 of Edward the Fourth, which hung in the painted chamber in the palace 
 of Westminster.* Still for all this, sun-dials outside of the houses and 
 hour-glasses within them were commonly resorted to for the purpose of 
 measuring time. 
 
 The oldest untouched clock that is supposed to go tolerably in Eng- 
 land is that at Hampton Court, the date on which is 1.540. The Hon. 
 Daines Barrington notices a table clock belonging to a Mr. Peckett, 
 made at Prague, and dated 1525, the dial of which was nine inches and 
 three quarters diameter. It was also applied to astronomical purposes ; 
 and Horace Walpole, in his description of Strawberry Hill, mentions in 
 the library “ a clock of silver gilt, richly chased, engraved and ornamented 
 with fleurs-de-lys, little heads, &c. On the top sits a lion holding the 
 arms of England, which are also on the sides. This was a present from 
 Henry the Eighth to Anne Boleyn ; and since from Lady Elizabeth 
 Germaine to Mr. Walpole. On the weights are the initial letters of 
 Henry and Anne within true lovers’ knots ; at top ‘Dieuet mon Droit,’ 
 at bottom ‘ The most happy.’ One of the weights, agreeably to the 
 indelicacy of that monarch’s gallantry, is in a shape very conformable to 
 the last motto. The pedestal is adorned with small heads of bronze 
 gilt of the age of Henry the Eighth, but which did not belong to the 
 clock.” 
 
 At Goodrich Court is a curious table-clock of German manufacture, 
 the engravings of costume on which show it to be of the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth, which has two bells, one to strike the hours, and the other the 
 
 * la a work just published, entitled “ Interesting Papers relating to the History of France, 
 from the time of Louis XI. to that of Louis XVIII.” is the following entry of the former 
 period : “ To John of Paris, clock-maker, the sum of £16 10d., ordered for him by the said lord 
 in the month of March for a clock, which has a dial-plate, and which sounds the hours, 
 garnished with all that appertains to it, and which the said lord caused to be taken and bought, 
 that he might curry it with, him to every place whither he might go. April 4th, 1180.” 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 quarters. Besides the larger front-dial, it has two smaller, one with the 
 twelve, the other with the twenty four hours, each with indices that move 
 at the same time as the hands to the larger one. At the sides are dials 
 to show how many times the greater bell has struck the hours, and what 
 quarter the smaller one ; at the back an astrolabe surrounded by a circle 
 of the twenty-four hours, and an index for astronomical purposes. The 
 pendulum works outside. The whole is about fourteen inches in height, 
 and is of metal partly gilt and partly silvered. This double set of hours 
 is alluded to by Shakespeare in these words : 
 
 “ He’ll watch the horologe a double set 
 
 If drink rock not his cradle.” othello, act ii. sc. 3. 
 
 Fire-Dogs or Andirons. Some of these of a late date, that are 
 splendid in material and elaborate in workmanship, have been represented 
 in this work; what are anterior are more curious than beautiful, and of 
 extremely rare occurrence though mentioned as early as the Wardrobe 
 Account of Edward the First. The fire-places of our forefathers were 
 sometimes in the side wall, and sometimes in the centre of the apartment, 
 though the latter fashion appears to have been confined to great halls. 
 In this case there was an aperture in the roof, over which was a kind of 
 lantern through which the smoke escaped; as was the case in West- 
 minster Hall, and that at Penshurst. At this interesting seat of the 
 Sidneys, the raised hearth and the andirons still remain, and it is to be 
 hoped will always be preserved, to afford future generations an undoubted 
 proof of this primitive practice. When the fire places were in the walls 
 of which specimens exist in the oldest buildings extant, behind the fire- 
 dogs was placed a large slab of iron, termed an arriere-dos, or corrupt- 
 edly, a reredos, that the stone-work might not be injured from the heat. 
 After cast iron was used for the purpose, these became ornamented with 
 armorial bearings and other devices, and in the Elizabethan room at 
 Goodrich Court, the back and the dogs so enriched, and the small brass 
 fender are all of that period. Strutt, in the second volume of his dresses 
 and habits, has copied at PI. cxvm., from an illumination of the time of 
 Henry the Sixth, a pair of andirons, which at top are made to curve 
 forward, and at their termination have flat circular plates affixed some- 
 
24 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 what similar, except the curves, to the brass ones of Charles the First’s 
 time. These latter, where coal was more particularly the fuel than 
 wood, had not only a reredos, but some bars to hold the coals more 
 conveniently together. Such a practice gave origin to grates, the 
 earliest specimens of which are to be found at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire. 
 
 Warming-pans. One of these, having on its brazen cover the royal 
 arms, with I. 11. and the words “ God save ourkinge James 1620,” is in 
 the James the First room, and another with a figure in the costume of 
 the time, the date 1635, and the words “ who burnt j ; Nobodie,” in the 
 Charles the First room at Goodrich Court. The pans are of copper, of 
 small diameter, though very deep, and held in the hoops of iron handles 
 to which they are fastened. The modern style of wooden handle was 
 introduced in the time of Charles the Second; and in that of William 
 the Third, the cover of the pan was ornamented with flowers painted on 
 enamel. 
 
 Plate and Jewellery. It were in vain to attempt an enumeration 
 of these articles used in olden times ; household ordinances, accounts 
 of household expences, and ancient wills, continually mention them, 
 and frequent notices of them occur in the works of poets and romance 
 writers of the middle ages. The Anglo-Saxons were celebrated for 
 their skill in the manufacture of these luxuries, and there is certainly 
 one if not more specimens of their productions still extant. 
 
 In the reigns of Henry the Third and Edward the First, enamelled 
 cups and rings were brought into England from Rome and France, par- 
 ticularly those of the manufactory at Limoges. After the conquests 
 in the latter country by Edward the Third new luxuries of jewellery, 
 particularly with regard to cups and dishes, were introduced. These 
 we see frequently in illuminated representations of feasts, as either 
 standing on the table, or ranged on the shelves of the great sideboards 
 near the dais. The inventory of Charles the Fifth, king of France, 
 calls these standing cups, hanaps, Colettes, argueries, flacons, and dra- 
 geours. These were of high value. 
 
 In 1385, Sir John Devereux bequeaths “four dozen of silver dishes, 
 and six chargers, of silver,” which latter were of the most capacious kind 
 on purpose to receive the large joints. These were sometimes called 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 25 
 
 “flat pieces,” to distinguish them from the salt-cellers and spice-dishes, 
 one of which latter, all gilt and enamelled, became the property of Car- 
 dinal Wolsey, though originally made for Edward of Carnarvon. 
 There is extant an account of this cardinal’s plate, given in by his gold- 
 smith, Rober Amadal, in 1518, wherein we find chargeours, platters, 
 dishes, and saucers of silver, cups of gold, and “ six great candlesticks 
 made at Bruges, with leopards’ heads and cardinals’ hats chased and 
 gilt.” Besides this, Cavendish, in his memoirs of his life, says, “ There 
 was a cupboard, being as long as the chamber was in breadth, with six 
 deskes in height garnyshed with guilt plate, and the nethermost desk 
 was garnyshed all with gold plate, having with lights one paire of candle- 
 sticks of silver and guilt being curiously wrought, which cost three hun- 
 dred markes. This cupboard was barred round about, that no man 
 might come nigh it, for there was none of all this plate touched in this 
 banquet, for there was sufficient besides.” 
 
 The ornaments of goldsmiths’ work were Nouches or Ouches of gold 
 surmounted with pearls, rubies and diamonds, either circular or made 
 in fanciful forms, and generally worn on the head, and sometimes placed 
 on chaplets ; chaplets of pearl with roses at intervals, chains of gold 
 variously designed, collars of the same with jewels set in them, crosses 
 pendant from chains, fermailes, loops, rings, &c. 
 
 It now only remains to reconsider and reflect on the many curious 
 facts thus laid before the reader, the result of which must necessarily 
 give a very different idea of the domestic appointments of our ancestors 
 than what is generally allowed. During what have been termed “ the 
 dark ages,” we find taste preeminent, and skill far beyond what the want 
 of scientific research would be supposed to effect. Instead of fancying 
 with the mind’s eye that we behold the stately knights and dames of 
 old sitting within bare walls, and resting their feet on rushes, — instead 
 of imagining that we imitate their greatest splendour when we confine 
 the decorations of rooms in modern Gothic buildings, to oak and stone 
 colours relieved with a little gilding, — we must now do them the justice 
 to allow, that while their tables glittered with plate and jewels, their beds 
 dazzled with the richness of their hangings, and their seats were decorated 
 with refulgent draperies, the Gothic carving of their furniture became 
 
 e 
 
26 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 brilliant by scarlet, blue and gold, and the walls of their apartments bad 
 the most interesting, as well as most effective appearance, from the 
 grand paintings or the rich tapestry which were placed upon them. 
 
 The fact is, that modern furniture is too poor. It is of little value to 
 an artist, and unless he can in great measure conceal it by draperies, it 
 deteriorates, rather than embellishes his pictures. A feeling has now 
 arisen for the ancient decorative style, which it is hoped the present 
 work will materially assist ; for however beautiful the elegant simplicity 
 of Grecian forms, these are not of themselves sufficient to produce that 
 effect that should be given to the interior of an English residence. 
 
 Samuel R. Meyrick. 
 
 Goodrich Court, 
 10th July, 1835. 
 
SPECIMENS 
 
 <V W 
 
 OF 
 
 ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE I. The Title from a MS. in the Abbey of St. Germain des 
 
 Pres , of the fifteenth century. 
 
 This plate exhibits a portrait of Rene D’Anjou in his cabinet, and has 
 been selected to shew the various decorations of a room at that period. 
 
 PLATE II. Looking-glass of the Time of Queen Elizabeth , in the 
 possession of Sir Samuel Meyrick, K.H. Goodrich Court, Here- 
 fordshire. 
 
 This rare, if not unique specimen in this country, is of oak partially 
 gilt, and measures three feet six inches by four feet five inches. It is 
 composed of architectural mouldings, cupids, and wreaths of flowers, 
 with a female personification of Faith. It has on it, in gilt characters, 
 the letters R.M., and the date 1559, the year in which Dr. Roland 
 Meyrick was elected bishop of Bangor. It exhibits in a very satisfac- 
 tory manner the peculiarity of transition pieces, which so decidedly 
 mark the frame work of the time of Elizabeth. 
 
 e 2 
 
28 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE III. French Looking-glass, from TVillemin's “ Monumens 
 
 Franqais inedits” 
 
 This splendid example of the French fashion of the time of our Charles 
 the Second, has been introduced from a desire to shew the connecting 
 link between the Elizabethan style and that in Plate iv., though it 
 should be observed that in the time of our Charles the First, the frames 
 were so made as to give the greatest projection to the glass by being 
 worked on a bevil from thence to the wall. Willemin, without any 
 just grounds, assigns this French mirror to the sixteenth century. 
 
 PLATE IV. Silver Furniture of the Time of James the Second, at 
 Knowle Park , Kent , the Seat of the Countess of Plymouth. 
 
 The looking-glass, the first subject in this plate, shows that the convex 
 bevelled frames, with the higher part nearest the glass, which had been 
 introduced in the reign of Charles the First, were continued, though 
 with a profusion of ornament both upon and above them so late as the 
 time of James the Second. It was made for one of the Earls of Dorset, 
 whose initials are seen beneath the coronet. The table is richly adorned 
 as the looking-glass, and with the marks of ownership in like manner, 
 has its legs of that form that marks the period of Charles the Second, 
 and his brother James the Second. 
 
 The candelabra are en suite with the rest. 
 
 PLATE V. Couch from Penshurst Place, Kent , the Seat of 
 
 Sir Philip Sydney, Bart. 
 
 This splendid specimen, which has been wrongly stated to be of the 
 date of Elizabeth, is in reality of the time of William the Third, and 
 belongs to a set of chairs, two of which are engraved in a subsequent 
 plate. The escalop shell ornament at its head is the only part that has 
 
Fk. e it c 
 
 L © © K ' 
 
SILVER FU1KTIT HIE, 
 
 at Knole Park, a Seat of the Countefs of Plymouth 
 Dale the time ofJam.es 2° . d 
 Drawn & Engraved by Henry Shaw. 
 

SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 29 
 
 an Elizabethan character, and even the edge of that instead of being- 
 indented would have been formed by a simple curved line. The frame 
 is gilt, and the furniture of damask silk. 
 
 PLATE VI. Ant tent Chairs at York and Evesham. 
 
 The very curious chair preserved in the vestry of the cathedral at York, 
 on which tradition says some of our kings have been crowned, is perhaps 
 the only specimen in existence of this early form. From the shape of 
 the shield in front, an earlier date than that of Richard the Second, 
 cannot be assigned to it, but though there are instances of ecclesiastics 
 represented sitting on such as still continue something of the character 
 so late as the time of Henry the Eighth ; this would rather approach 
 the former than the latter period. The whole height is about four 
 feet ; and that of the seat one foot live inches and a half. The cushion 
 is stuffed, and covered with green velvet, and the shield covered with 
 leather, the upper part of which has been torn away ; and the lines 
 upon it are but slightly stamped. 
 
 A comparison of this drawing with PI. xxix. of Strutt’s Sports and 
 Pastimes will justify the opinion of its high antiquity. 
 
 The conventual chair of the Abbot of Evesham appears from its 
 architectural sculpture to be of the fourteenth century, and probably was 
 made for the chapter house, soon after its erection by J ohn de Broke- 
 hampton, at the commencement of that period. It passed, together 
 with the grant of the abbey to Sir Philip Hobby, into the hands of his 
 successor Sir William Courteyn, who sold the whole to Edward Rudge, 
 Esq. Robert Cooke, the steward of the estate, removed the chair to 
 his own house, and Dr. Baylies marrying his daughter, obtained pos- 
 session of it; when his effects being sold about the year 1763, it was 
 purchased by Mr. Beaufoy the vinegar merchant, who removed it to 
 his residence at Lambeth. It then became the property of Mr. Biddle, 
 his relative, and ultimately with great propriety was presented to 
 Edward Rudge, Esq. the present owner of the abbey, by one of the 
 late M.P.’s of High Wycomb, into whose hands it had fallen. 
 
30 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITUP..E. 
 
 PLATE V IT. Two Chairs of the fifteenth century , from the Psal- 
 
 ter of Jean fils du Roi meme nomine, in the Royal Library at 
 Paris , marked No. 6. 
 
 These two elegant specimens copied from Willimen’s work have their 
 backs so formed as to represent Gothic windows, if indeed he did not 
 mistake as a part of each chair what belonged to the apartment in 
 which they are placed. The otherwise dwarf appearance of the backs, 
 and these resemblances being yellow, instead of the colour of glass, 
 induce an opinion that his judgment was correct. 
 
 PLATE VIII. Chair from St. Mary s Hall, Coventry. 
 
 This magnificent architectural chair of state is preserved in St. Mary’s 
 Hall, Coventry, and may be assigned to the close of the reign of Henry 
 the Sixth, or the commencement of that of Edward the Fourth. It is 
 of oak, but from the mortices on one side, and the lower pattern dis- 
 continued, it would seem to have been attached to a series of stalls, 
 and therefore some church or chapel, rather than this hall, was its 
 original receptacle. It is in a high state of preservation. 
 
 PLATE IX. The Abbot’s Chair, Glastonbury, Somersetshire , 
 Time of Henry the Eighth, and a Table from a Drawing in a 
 MS. at Oxford. 
 
 This chair of simple contrivance is of oak, with carving on it, that 
 marks the early part of the reign of Henry the Eighth. On the upper 
 part of the back, in old English characters, are the words monachus 
 glastonie, and within and without sides of the arms, the inscription 
 
 JOIIANES ARTHURUS. 
 
 Its resemblance to the chair formerly in the priory of Southwick, 
 
C HAIlt 
 
 From S* Mary's Hall, Coventry 
 
 Da.to the lb 1 ?' Century 
 
Prom, a Drawing in M.S. N?264, 
 

 
FEEIC1 € HAIR, 
 of the time of Henry 8* acid 
 TABLE WILT HU EEABIHG STAID, 
 of the 15* Century 
 
 i ike i, fr >m illumination:- in M i l A of the Bibliotheque at Pari:*. 
 
 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 31 
 
 Hampshire, is evident on the slightest comparison. That religious house 
 was surrendered on the 7th of April, 1539. Instead of the ornamented 
 circle in the back of the Glastonbury chair, is an animal bearing some 
 resemblance to a stag within a square panel, and above two mitres. 
 
 The beautiful little table given on the same plate, although not from 
 any real specimen, was too valuable to be omitted. It is taken from a 
 drawing in a MS. marked No. 264. in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, 
 of the close of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century, and 
 has been engraved of larger dimensions. 
 
 PLATE X. French Chair of the time of Henry the Eighth , and 
 Table with Reading Stand of the fifteenth century , taken from 
 Illuminations in MSS . of the Bibliotheque at Paris. 
 
 This chair will be found to contain the same characteristics as that 
 engraved in the next plate, and may be regarded as the fashion imme- 
 diately preceding it. 
 
 The reading desk, which is circular, and the table are somewhat 
 earlier, though the napkin panelling on the latter forbid a higher 
 antiquity than the reign of Henry the Seventh. 
 
 PLATE XI. Chair of the time of Henry the Eighth , in the pos- 
 session of Joseph Abel, Esq. Surgeon , Mitchel Dean , Gloucester- 
 shire. 
 
 This interesting example is of a period after the introduction of what was 
 termed “Romayne work” into England, that is, when the frescoes adopted 
 by Raphael and other celebrated painters from the antique had given a 
 new character to ornamental furniture. It is so carved within, and with 
 napkin panelling without, is of oak, and in a good state of preservation , 
 
32 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE XII. An Ebony Chair given by Charles the Second to 
 Elias Ashmole , Esq . in the Museum , Oxford. 
 
 Among other curiosities in the Ashmolean collection is this chair, said to 
 have been given by King Charles the Second. The spiral carving in 
 the legs and back is a characteristic of the time, and the little elevation 
 of the back proves it to be an example appertaining to the early part 
 of his reign. 
 
 PLATE XIII. Ebony Chair formerly at Strawberry Hill, the Seat 
 
 of the Hon . Horace Walpole. 
 
 This is another specimen of the reign of Charles the Second, in which 
 the back is somewhat higher than in the last, a circumstance that may 
 render this a little posterior to it in its date. 
 
 PLATE XIV. Chair with Velvet Furniture , in the Cartoon Gallery 
 at Knole , time of James the Second. 
 
 The legs and supports for the arms are the only marks by which this 
 chair can be distinguished from such as probably belonged to the time 
 of William the Third. The velvet covering was a splendid improvement 
 in luxury to the simple cane backs that had immediately preceded, 
 though better suited for the winter than the summer season. 
 
 PLATE XV. Chairs from Penshurst Place , Kent, the Seat of Sir 
 Philip Sydney , Bart., time of William the Third. 
 
 A chair and an arm chair are here represented as examples belonging 
 to the couch described in PI. iv. with furniture of the same colours. 
 
* 
 
 w 
 
 EBO If CHAU GIVE5 BY CHA1US TO 
 Elias Astmo I e Esq r . e 
 In tlie Museum at Oxtorcl. 
 
 Drawn «= Engraved 
 
 London. FubM P rLU5.J633. by Whickering. Chancery Lane. 
 
 * %■ 
 
 by Henry Shaw. 
 

Drawn & Engraved by Henry Shaw. 
 
 CHAIM, FORMERLY IB E L© NGING TO HORACE WALIfHe' AT STRATOEEIY HIL1L. 
 Wo?/ in the pofsefston oF .Mi Webb, Old Bond Street 
 
-D.ra.vm A >lngxave& 'by Homy Shaw. 
 


 ' > 
 
 
 
 
hapel, Regent's Park. 
 
 CSAIRS, OF THE TIME OF WILLIAM 
 

BacDi&’Seat of Crimson Velvet with. Silver tifsue Ornaments. 
 
 Iff/ /it 4-? /_ width- of £a,c/c. 2? 0 .. . wtdtm ofl'ro/U • 2/?J /4 
 
 :iAIE TO T1HI.JE STATE IfUDdDM AT HAIBWICIE HaBL, DEEBYSH-RK 
 A Seat of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 Dale about the time of William. 3'.^ 
 
 Drawn & J:'.n^xaved by flonry Shaw. 
 
■s. 
 
 •7 
 
 
 
FE®.M € 3ES2) MWEILIL SIJL3L3L . 3F2 H C BE JLE'Sf, 
 
 ■ <' 72 / /At> 
 
 On., of CROMWELLS PALACES, of the time of Vfilliam 3 d 
 
 
 
 Drawn & Engraved by Henry Shaw. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 33 
 
 PLATE XVI. Chairs of the Time of William the Third. 
 
 This plate exhibits three chairs which, however different they may at a 
 first glance appear, have each the characteristics of the time of William 
 the Third. The first is in the possession of J. W. Wright, Esq. the 
 other two in the vestry room of St. Catherine’s Chapel, Regent’s Park, 
 London. 
 
 PLATE XVII. Chair at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, the Seat of 
 the Duke of Devonshire, Time of William the Third. 
 
 Another specimen of the reign of William the Third is afforded by 
 this chair in the state room at Hardwicke Hall. The back and seat are 
 of crimson velvet, while the broad stripe in the centre is placed over 
 raised carved work, and ornamented with silver thread. The frame is 
 of a light coloured wood, apparently pear-tree. 
 
 PLATE XVIII. Chair brought from Cromwell Hall, Finchley, of 
 the Time of William the Third. 
 
 This example may be assigned to the close of the reign of William the 
 Third, and what immediately preceded the gilt, or white and gilt chairs 
 with damask backs and cushions that became fashionable in the time of 
 Queen Anne. There is a sort of foliage somewhat resembling an escallop 
 shell, or when in length not unlike the frill of a shirt, that may be traced 
 on the supports between the legs, which leads to this conclusion. 
 
 f 
 
34 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE XIX. Table of the Time of Henry the Eighth , from Hill 
 
 Hall, Essex. 
 
 This may be regarded as the earliest style of ornamental table after the 
 revival of the arts, and corresponds with Mr. Abel’s chair given in Pl. 
 xi. It is of oak, and the leaves when opened are kept in a horizontal 
 position by sliding bars underneath. 
 
 PLATE XX. Table at Leeds Castle , Kent , the Seat of Fiennes 
 Wykeham Martin , Esq . of the Time of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 The architectural ornaments of the Grecian style intermixed with foliage 
 are distinguishing marks of the Elizabethan style, and these are finely 
 developed in the existing specimen although greatly mutilated. Two 
 ends are made to be drawn out by main force, which then become sup- 
 ported by sliders, while the centre, previously held by these in a higher 
 position, falls to its place from its own weight. The immense diameter 
 of the legs is a characteristic of this reign, and the beginning of the next, 
 and which we also find in the front posts of bedsteds. 
 
 PLATE XXL Table at Longford Castle, Wiltshire, the Seat of the 
 
 Earl of Radnor. 
 
 This magnificent specimen is a fine example of decorative furniture at 
 the close of Elizabeth’s and beginning of James the First’s reign. It is 
 boldly sculptured in oak supporting a marble slab. 
 
Fiennes Wykekain Marlin 
 
Date the tirae of Jaro.es 1 S . L 
 
 '.luapuy; jo 
 
****** 
 
 

by rtenry ojiaw. 
 

 
»xp OTVQ 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 35 
 
 PLATE XXII. Wassail Table and Candelabra of the Time of 
 Charles the Second , in the possession of the Hon . Mrs. Cockayne. 
 
 The peculiarity of tlie twisted column, which appears to have been first 
 assigned to objects of furniture in the time of Charles the Second, has 
 induced that date to be assigned to these curiosities. There is a tradi- 
 tion, however, that they were captured with the baggage of Charles the 
 First after the battle of Naseby, though this is not countenanced by the 
 probability of their being such things as would be thought fit to encum- 
 ber the march of an army. They are the property of the Hon. Mrs. 
 Cockayne, and are supposed to have been in her family ever since the 
 above mentioned period. 
 
 PLATE XXIII. Two Tables at Hardwick Hall , Derbyshire, the 
 Seat of the Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 Both these tables, which are of oak, must, more especially from the 
 character of the legs, have been made about the time of William the 
 Third. The lower one, which has its slab inlaid with various coloured 
 w oods, may be of the period of Queen Anne. 
 
 PLATE XXIV. Sideboard in St. Mary's Hall t Coventry. 
 
 This, although now used for that purpose, appears rather to have been 
 originally a church chest, having been altered to its present form by 
 moving its sides to the front, and putting on a new top. 
 
 This was probably done at the time the termini w^ere inserted, the 
 costume of which fixes their date not earlier than James the First’s 
 reign. The Coventry badge, if not the roses, is of the same period. In 
 other respects the carving may be of the time of Henry the Sixth, and 
 we may hazard the conjecture that it came from the same place as the 
 chair, PI. vii. 
 
36 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 Indeed, in another part of the hall, these is a chest with precisely 
 similar details, in which the armour used in the annual processions has 
 been kept ever since the Restoration. 
 
 PLATE XXV. Buffets of the fifteenth century. 
 
 These elegant designs of the latter part of the fifteenth century, are 
 taken from illuminated MSS. in the King’s Library, at Paris, and from 
 that of the Dukes of Burgundy at Brussels, and have been introduced 
 by Mr. Shaw to supply the deficiency of actual specimens. 
 
 PLATE XXVL Oak Cabinet at Cornishead Priory , Lancashire , 
 the Seat of T. R. Braddyll , Esq. 
 
 This article of furniture is undoubtedly of the time of Elizabeth ; and, 
 if in its original form, instead of recent composition, may have belonged 
 to the class of sideboards. If this be the case, we may have before us 
 the representation of a court-cupboard, mentioned in the play of Romeo 
 and Juliet, act i. sc. 5. 
 
 “ Away with the joint-stools, remove the court- cupboard ; K 
 
 Capulet’s hall being to be cleared for the dance. 
 
 The cabinets were enclosed by doors. 
 
 PLATE XXVII. Sideboard in the possession of David Hodgson, 
 
 Esq. Liverpool. 
 
 This is another and a splendid specimen of the court-cupboard, and 
 hears the characteristics of the close of Elizabeth’s reign and beginning 
 of James the First’s. Its dimensions are 5 ft. 3f in. high, and 5 ft. 6 in. 
 wide. 
 
From a M.S. at Brufsels. From M.S.S.in the Bibliotheque dn Roi de France 
 
Oak Cab ihe t, 
 
 of T . R . B raddyll l , /sq , '. e Coro i she a.d Priory, 
 ' lh.e time of Queen Elizabeth or James l ® 1 
 
Drawn & Engraved "by Henry Shaw. 
 
Mr., II 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 37 
 
 PLATE XXVIII. Cabinet or Wardrobe in the possession of 
 Mr. Webb , of Bond Street. 
 
 This specimen, which cannot be assigned to a period later than the 
 time of James the First, though probably of the close of the reign of 
 Elizabeth, is so formed at top as to perform the office of a buffet. 
 Notwithstanding the delineation of the human figure is by no means in 
 good drawing, yet there is a unity and richness in the whole design 
 that cannot fail to please. 
 
 There is at Goodrich Court a wardrobe sculptured with more artistic 
 feeling, which is a few years earlier in point of date, and has the more 
 peculiar characteristics of the period. At the top are two receding 
 cupboards, and the projection of the capping to these is supported in 
 front by three elegant female figures. 
 
 PLATE XXIX. Chest at Clemping church , Sussex . 
 
 This interesting example is of the time of Henry the Third. 
 
 PLATE XXX. Chest in Haconby church , Lincolnshire. 
 
 The front of this, as may be perceived, is richly ornamented with the 
 architectural details of the time of Edward the Third. 
 
38 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 1 LATE XXXI. Chest in Shanklin Church , Isle of JVight 
 
 1 he front of this chest has the Initials of Thomas Silksted tastefully 
 carved so as to become highly ornamental, and between them the 
 
 Thlas' SkT°D p T ‘ 1e ^ * S . f0rmed b >' *e inscription, Dominus 
 ISt D 1 W ’ Ann ° Dm: 1519 - Like ‘be former ones, the 
 
 PLATE XXXII. Chest which belonged to Sir Thomas More, now 
 in possession of the Rev. Thomas Thurlow. 
 
 Inis chest affords another specimen of the time of Henry the Eighth 
 and is at Baynard s Park, which was the seat of this eminent man and 
 now the property of the Rev. Thomas Thurlow. It is made of wrought 
 ion; the edges, studs, and portions of the lock, gilt; and the space 
 V tvveen covered with canvass, on which are painted imitations of fruit 
 
 PLATE XXXIII. German Chamber Organ, late in the possession 
 
 of Mr. Gwennap . 
 
 This very fine specimen of the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign is 
 extremely well carved in oak, and in a very good state of preservation! 
 organ was built by Hoffhenner at Vienna in 1392; and although 
 
 tittThev mVhf 1CT ° Ut , ° f ° rder ’ they are * 110 “ ®o much so but 
 
 !ght be easily repaired. This splendid piece of furniture 
 ongina y made for an Austrian nobleman, whose coronet, initials, and 
 ai nional bearings are interwoven with its decoration, is now the property 
 ot Mr. Cartwright, the celebrated dentist. 
 
© IF Wt G H T. 
 

 
 £ 
 
 O 
 
 "Which. belonged to Sir Tho" More, 
 

AST 
 

 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ V. 
 
 
XXXI VI 
 
 Napkin Press, 
 
 of ike time of Queen Elizabeth., 
 
 In i he Pofsefsion. of Sir Sami Meyrick, Goodrich. Court, Kerefordskira 
 
I 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
... . hair# SiMolt of the I £>* Cent? from the Roman Ae Renaad Ae Montaoban.. Drawn by Jean Ae Bruges. 
 
 » < mtl< d ire Romaine " lie of the a M.S. in the Bib Imperial®. 
 
 7. Cradb- or the I.V Cent" from a M.S. in tho Bib. dn Roi. N»ft. Bed of the l.^Cent? Born a M.S. djg Miracles de Saint Louis 
 ' ■ 9 . Bed A Table of the 15* Cent? from the British Museum. Royal M.S. 16. G. III. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 39 
 
 PLATE XXXIV. Napk in Press in the possession of Sir Samuel 
 
 11. Meyrick , K.H. Goodrich Court, Herefordshire . 
 
 This piece of furniture is in the Elizabethan room termed Sir Gethley’s 
 Chamber, at Goodrich Court, where is also the looking-glass engraved 
 in Plate n. It is of oak, with the handle of the drawer, the exterior 
 ornaments on the square uprights, and the urns above them, of ebony. 
 It is in good condition, and may be assigned to the latter part of Eliza- 
 beth’s reign. 
 
 PLATE XXXV. Chairs, Bedsteds, and Chandeliers, Sfc. of the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, from Illuminated MSS. 
 
 These are all taken from Willemin’s work, with the exception of the 
 bedsted at the right hand lower corner, which is from the British 
 Museum, Royal MS. 16 G. in. and are given as introductory to the 
 actual specimens which have been engraved for this work. The pre- 
 vailing colours are green, blue, and gold, except in the bedsted at the 
 left hand lower corner, which is crimson, green, blue, pink, and gold ; 
 and the one at the right, the draperies of which are all crimson. 
 
 PLATE XXXVI. Bedsted of the time of Henry the Eighth , in the 
 possession of the Rev. Win. Allen , Lovely Hall, near Blackburn. 
 
 This interesting example, which unfortunately has lost its true cornice, 
 no doubt highly enriched, was observed by Mr. Allen in the course of 
 his professional duties, in administering to a dying parishioner the last 
 consolations of religion, and purchased by him after the decease of 
 the sick person from his heir. 
 
40 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 P LATE XXXVII. The Great Bed of Ware , Hertfordshire . 
 
 This celebrated piece of furniture is already amply illustrated by the 
 quotation on the copper-plate. It is a fine specimen of a bedsted of 
 the time of Queen Elizabeth in oak, in good preservation, and has 
 some remains of colour in its frieze. The wardrobe in the room where 
 it stands is of the time of Charles the First, and the chair of that of 
 George the Second. 
 
 PLATE XXXVIII. Bedsted of the time of James the First at 
 Goodrich Court , Herefordshire , the Seat of Sir Samuel Rush 
 Meyrick , K.H. 
 
 This rare specimen, the posts of which are of a very dark foreign wood, 
 and the back of one somewhat lighter, inlaid with mother o’ pearl, 
 occupies an apartment where all the furniture is of corresponding date. 
 It has plain panels behind the bolster, a dome top with sky-blue figured 
 damask curtains, and a splendid counterpane of the same colour em- 
 broidered with flowers. 
 
 PLATE XXXIX. Bedsted of the time of Charles the First in one 
 of the Apartments of Goodrich Court , Herefordshire. 
 
 This bedsted has upon it the date 1628, and stands in what is termed, 
 from the period of its furniture, the Charles the First’s room, at Sir 
 Samuel’s residence. It is of oak, very dark from age ; and the panel- 
 ling of the apartment, which is of the same time, reaches only half-way 
 up the wall. 
 
THU ©3EMAT ®5E® 
 
 at Wake, 
 
 Drawa 1832 
 
 s, 
 
 l 
 
 Vi 
 
 & 
 
 m 
 
 ."b e Lb. . 
 
BE! STEB OIF THE TIME OF JAMB S I st 
 
 From Goodrich Court, Herefordshire. 
 
 The Seat of Sir Samuel Meyrick. 
 
XXXI X 
 
 
 BED STED OF TIE TIME OF ClAlltE S II -'7 
 At Goodrich Court. Herefordshire. The Seat of Sir Samuel Mbyi-Lck. 
 
 n r •. vn A- I-, mfrnvi'd l»V lU’liPV Sh'iW. 
 
\ 
 
 
 
 Pofsefsion. of George "We are Bxaikenridge Esq r . e Brisling ton, near Bristol. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 41 
 
 PLATE XL. Crimson bedsted at Hardwicke Hall, Derbyshire , 
 the Seat of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire . 
 
 This very handsome specimen is of William the Third’s, probably the 
 close of his reign, as in character it does not materially differ from that 
 of Queen Anne’s time at Warwick Castle. It is of crimson velvet, with 
 ornaments carved in wood, and covered with gold and silver thread. 
 
 The counterpane is of damask silk. On the top of the bedsted is at 
 each angle a plume of pink and white ostrich feathers, and the fringes 
 are of blue, brown, red, and other coloured silks. 
 
 PLATE XLI. The Cradle of Henry the Fifth , in the possession of 
 G. TV. Braikenridge, Esq . Brislington , near Bristol. 
 
 The beautiful foliage which fills the space between the uprights and 
 stays of the stand of this cradle were never before engraved, although 
 Bonner in his Itinerary, the London Magazine for 1774, and Bingley 
 in his tour through North Wales, pretended to give representations of 
 this interesting piece of antiquity. 
 
 Henry the Fifth was born at Monmouth in the year 1388, and sent 
 to Courtfield in that county, about seven miles off, to be nursed for the 
 benefit of his health, under the superintendence of Lady Montacute. 
 Here it was preserved for many years, until a steward of the property 
 contrived to sell it. It then got into the hands of the Rev. Mr. Ball, 
 rector of Newland, Gloucestershire ; and next those of Mr. Whitehead, 
 of Hambrook ; and has been finally purchased by Mr, Braikenridge. 
 Its dimensions are 3 ft. 2 in. long, 1 ft. 8 in. wide at the head, 1 ft. 
 51 in. at the foot, and 1 ft. 5 in. deep. The uprights, including the 
 birds, are 2 ft. 10 in. in height. The foliage before mentioned corro- 
 borates the date. 
 
 or 
 
 V> 
 
42 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE XLIL Heading-Desk in Detling Church , Kent . 
 
 This beautiful specimen lias been furnished by the accurate pencil of 
 William T wopeny, Esq. and shews the elaborate carving bestowed by 
 our ancestors on what was often covered with books. The rosettes 
 formerly in the upper cavetto moulding have been broken away, with 
 the exception of one at the side ; and whatever terminated the pin 
 round which the desk revolved is likewise wanting. 
 
 PLATE XLIII. Top of the Heading-Desk at Detling Church , 
 
 Kent . 
 
 This plate not only gives the top of larger dimensions, but exhibits 
 the other two sides, shewing more plainly that the moulding above the 
 cavetto, which was pegged on, is wanting, and that the one which acted 
 as a ledge to prevent the sliding off of the books is complete only half 
 way. 
 
 This reading-desk is of the time of Edward the Third, and is of oak. 
 
 PLATE XLIV. Heading -Desk at Ramsey Church , 
 Huntingdonshire. 
 
 Though much more simple in its details than that at Detling, this has 
 its stand, furnished with that elegant architectural appendage the flying 
 buttress, one of which supports each side. It is of oak like the former. 
 The finials of the flying buttresses are wanting, and so is a part of one 
 of those on the pinnacles of the top. The time is the close of the reign 
 of Henry the Sixth. 
 
ZLll 
 
 Hug he S*.S _ width jtiO- ting* 2*4 >s 
 
 beabifg Desk from detliig Church, Kent, 
 
 by W~ Two oomvy Esqf D ate about 135 0 . 
 
 Engraved by If.Shao- 
 
 
 
 -. P< , k cl T) . . ' / /.o on... 
 
AT DEIUH& CHUmffflf. KE^T, 
 

by 
 
 READING DISK HOM 
 
 Tv/op Esq re 
 
 Date about 1450, or rather later. 
 
 iRAMSAif c Menus c h, Hirers. 
 
Dr'v.-rn -?• 
 
XLVI. 
 
 AirOEJTT 3LAS-TB®® Of THE BISHOPS BA1LACJE AT WB1L1LS, 
 formerly in tile Crypt of tire Cathedral. 
 
 Date, about the Middle of the 13 S ' 1 Century. 
 
 TABLE or T1RIJE CATHEBEA1L AT SAMSMmUY, 
 
 Kagrave d “by Hemy Siia^-. 
 
 Date, about tJie Middle of the 13 ?*■ Century. 
 
 - /. A". mV. hy IV ."'Pickering. Chancery .Lane. 
 
 * 
 
 
 L r.don.. Pub/ July 
 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 43 
 
 PLATE XLV. Brass Beading-Desk of the latter part of the fifteenth 
 
 century . 
 
 This specimen, which is in height 6 ft. 7 in., was brought from Brussels, 
 and is now in possession of Mr. Hull, of Wardour Street. It exhibits 
 the style which became prevalent in the reign of Henry the Eighth, 
 foisted upon the last remains of Gothic architecture, and cannot be as- 
 signed to an earlier date than the close of the fifteenth century. 
 
 PLATE XL VI. Antient Lanthorn in the Bishop s Palace at Wells . 
 
 This unique specimen may fairly be assigned to the commencement of 
 the reign of Edward the First, and is here represented accompanied 
 with architectural sections explanatory of the mouldings, &c. It is of 
 oak, and formerly was suspended in the crypt of the cathedral. 
 
 Table in the Chapter House of Salisbury Cathedral . 
 
 This engraving, had it been on a separate piece of copper, would have 
 preceded PI. xix. as taking priority in point of date of the tables exhi- 
 bited in this work. It is of the same period as the lanthorn, and on 
 that account they have been put together. Details of a capital and 
 band of the columns are given on an enlarged scale. The material is 
 oak, and the remains of painting and gilding are to be discovered in 
 several of the mouldings. 
 
44 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE XL VII. Brass Chandelier in the Temple Church , 
 
 Bristol . 
 
 The military costume, as well as architectural ornament, assign this to 
 the time of Henry the Sixth. Except the sharpness being worn down 
 by continual rubbing, this chandelier is in pretty good preservation. 
 
 PLATE XL VIII. Brass Chandelier in the Chapter Room of 
 St. Katherine’s Hospital , Regent's Park , London. 
 
 This being a composition of different dates is not very useful as an 
 authority, and is therefore introduced as a caution to those who delight 
 in the relics of our ancestors not to take for granted what may be told 
 them of the age of any curiosity. The frame-work, which is the oldest 
 part, may perchance be of the time of Henry the Eighth ; but the 
 branches, busts, and lion, cannot be considered older than the time of 
 Charles the First. 
 
 PLATE XLIX. Lantern of bronze in the Ashmolean Museum , 
 
 Oxford. 
 
 This lantern has been denominated Saxon, and attributed to King 
 Alfred. Whoever, however, will take the trouble of examining the 
 Flemish brass and bronze pans and dishes of Henry the Seventh’s 
 time, will find an exact resemblance in point of ornament, and readily 
 assign it to that period. It is of bronze, and studded with crystals to 
 give light. 
 
B HA § § 1. 
 
 In tiie Temple Church, Bristol, 
 
 Date the middle of the 15^ Centuiy; 
 
 Dr&vrn. & Engraved by Henry Shaw. 
 
' 
 
 xlviii 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 k 
 
 $ 
 
 Height. Si 3. 
 
 Da.te shout th-e time of Henry 7 
 
 BRASS CHiHBEilEl, 
 in. 35 Ca.the lines Churcli, Regents Park 
 
 T) rawn A Engraved, l >y Henry Shaw. 
 
AICIEIT LAWTE Elf, 
 
 of Bronze studded, with Chiystals 
 In the Ashmolean Museum Oxford. 
 
 Drawn & Engraved "by Henry Slav. 
 
 J7eig?U /J U — Diameter .0 Sz 
 
 'London. Fii-b? June 1./833, by WP'- P Cckerinq . Chancery Lane. 
 
€ AID 1LE STICKS 
 
 N? 1, Enamelled, of tie 12 ^Century; in the pofsefsion of Sir S ami Meyrick. Goodrich. Court, Herefordshire. 
 
 — 2. From a Print by ’Wenceslaus of Olmatz in Bohemia, Date 1481. 
 
 _3, From the Chapel of S t Crofs near Winchester, said to have been given by Cardinal Pole. 
 
 — Of lilG time of Jrdxne.s 1 st in tho nnrqpfqinn r*f 
 
E TAILS OF A CANDLESTICK OF THE 12™ CEWTU1Y, 
 
 In th" Portion of Sir Sami Meyriok, Goodrich Court, Herefordshire. 
 
 ID t awn <& En grave d by Hen ry Shaw. 
 
 /•'/V// Jfi. /■!.' li'T / ir/iV/V't//, CJtCfJZC&y' Z&S 16 . 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 45 
 
 PLATE L. Various Candlesticks. 
 
 The first is one of a pair of copper enamelled candlesticks in the draw- 
 ing room at Goodrich Court, the costume and ornaments on which prove 
 them to be of the twelfth century, and therefore extremely curious. 
 Their height, including the spike on which the candle was affixed, is 
 sixteen inches. 
 
 The second, dated 1481, although ornamented in a different style, 
 exhibits great similarity of character, but being from an engraving, the 
 candle is shewn placed on the spike. 
 
 The third is of oak, and in the chapel of St. Cross, Winchester, tra- 
 ditionally asserted to have been given by Cardinal Pole. 
 
 The fourth is in the James the First room at Goodrich Court, and 
 from the dresses of the little figures on its feet is shewn to be of that 
 period. It is of iron with brass ornaments. 
 
 PLATE LI. Details of a Candlestick in the 'possession of Sir Samuel 
 Meyrick , K.H. Goodrich Court , Herefordshire. 
 
 Here are represented of the full dimensions the ornamental details of 
 the candlestick first described in the account of the last plate. 
 
 In the centre is exhibited the triangular base, at each angle of which 
 is a foot, similar to that figured above, on which is a rude representa- 
 tion of a lion’s head. 
 
 On the opposite side is an example of the running ornament on the 
 upper and lower boss on the stem. 
 
 At bottom is the pattern of the centre boss. 
 
 At top what runs round the concave plate below the spike, and on 
 which the base of the candle rests. 
 
46 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE LIT Inkstands at Goodrich Courts Herefordshire , the Seat 
 
 of Sir Samuel R . Meyrick , K.H. 
 
 r TiiE dimensions in the plate of these inkstands are exactly one half 
 those of the originals. 
 
 That in the centre is of bronze, and of Italian workmanship, of the 
 middle of the reign of our Henry the Eighth. The lion acts as a 
 handle by which the lid is drawn backwards, and there are withinside 
 divisions for two ink-bottles and pens. The ornaments are in high relief. 
 
 The inkstand represented open in the upper part of the plate is of 
 steel, enriched inside and out with Milanese work in gold and silver. A 
 specimen of the first appears close to the lion’s tail, and of that of the 
 side border just before his head of their full size. Within are three re- 
 servoirs for ink, &c. with their lids, and a covered recess for pens. This 
 is of the close of Henry the Eighth s time. 
 
 The lowest inkstand is of the time of Queen Elizabeth, of Dutch 
 manufacture, and of the kind of earthenware called Delft. It has two 
 apertures, one for a glass to hold ink, the other for one to contain pin- 
 dust, and there is a trough in front for the pens, &c. It is ornamented 
 all round with repetitions of a drinking party attended with musicians 
 and jesters. The inscription mutilated runs thus, bee, :s . . . . : hop . . . . t : 
 
 HARDEN : REIN : BER : LAS : DIE : BAVREN : IRE : HOCH : ZEIT : ALL : EIN. The 
 
 latter part meaning, Now is it high time for every one to drink, is given 
 again on the table cloth. 
 
 These inkstands used to be placed in a sort of tray called a standish ; 
 for George Silver, at p. 64 of his Paradoxes of defence, published in 
 1599, says, “ Signior liocko came into England some thirtie yeares past, 
 lie had in his schoole a large square table, with a green carpet done 
 round with a verie faire standish covered with crimson velvet, with inke, 
 pens, pin-dust, and sealing-waxe, and quiers of verie excellent fine 
 paper, gilded readie for the noblemen and gentlemen (upon occasion) 
 to write their letters.” 
 
 The pin-dust answered the purpose of our modern steel filings. 
 
IlKSTAIi S , 
 
 At Goodrich. Court. Herefordshire, the Seat of 
 Sir Sam? R. Mevrick, K. H.. 
 
 ft 
 

 
 
 
 
N°l, At Brows holm i- Hall, Yorkshire. 
 
 The Seat of Tho? Goulhoume Parker Esg'T 
 N?2. From the Collection of M . Lauvai^eot. 
 
iPlME Docs, IP M O Alt GOBMTON KENT. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 47 
 
 PLATE LIII. Bellows of the Time of Elizabeth. 
 
 The first of these is preserved at Browsholme Hall, the seat of Thomas 
 Goulborne Parker, Esq. with a tradition that they had been left by 
 Henry the Sixth, with his boot, spurs, glove, and an archer’s brace, at 
 Bolton Hall in Yorkshire, but although the archer’s brace, which I have 
 seen, is decidedly of that time, I cannot conceive the bellows to be of 
 that period. Indeed were it not for the leafjust above the nozzle I would 
 not have ventured to assign a date so early as Elizabeth. The fox 
 preaching to the assembled animals is in a protestant surplice, and in a 
 satirical representation of Henly’s Chapel, Chartres, in ivory, in the 
 Doucean museum at Goodrich Court, is just as much of a fox issuing 
 from the preacher’s wig, whose congregation have the faces of various 
 animals. Certain it is, that there is not the least indication of the age 
 of Henry the Sixth, and its being said that these bellows were left with 
 the other articles is anything but conclusive. 
 
 The other pair have so decidedly a James the First, if not Elizabethan, 
 character in the frame pattern with which they are ornamented, that 
 there can be no doubt on the subject. 
 
 PLATE LIV. Fire-dogs, from Godington , Kent , the Seat of 
 
 N. R. Toke, Esq. 
 
 These specimens are nearly of the same date, and may be assigned to 
 the reign of Henry the Eighth. They greatly resemble a pair at 
 Leeds Castle, Kent, which are known to have been put there at that 
 period. Although the shape of the shield on the first approximates to 
 what was used in the time of Henry the Seventh, that on the other was 
 not anterior to the date of his successor, and sometimes occurs even in 
 the early part of Elizabeth’s time. They are of iron. 
 
48 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE LV. Furniture of Fire-places, Times of Queen Elizabeth 
 and Charles the First , Warming-pans and bellows in the possession 
 of Sir Samuel 11. Meyrick , K.1L 
 
 The highest subject in the plate represents the furniture of the fire-place 
 in Sir Gethley’s chamber at Goodrich Court, consisting of a rere-dos 
 of cast iron, and andirons of the same, with a fender of brass, all of the 
 time of Queen Elizabeth. The rere-dos from its date must have been 
 ordered at the foundry before the mould of the new royal arms had 
 arrived, as 1605 is two years after the death of the queen. 
 
 14ie fire-place furniture at the bottom of the Plate is in the Charles 
 the First’s room. It shews the earliest application of brass dogs to a 
 grate, the back of which is formed by a cast iron representation of the 
 arms of Bristol. The dogs, fender, shovel, and tongs are of brass. 
 
 The cover of a warming-pan of the time of James the First is brass, 
 and has engraved on it the royal arms, with the initials i. r. and the 
 legend god save ovre kinge james, 1620. The other warming-pan is 
 of brass, with a handle and support of iron. It has engraved on it a 
 figure with sabre and target, of the time of Charles the First, with the 
 legend who bvrnd y e nqbodie, 1635. A side view of this is also 
 given. 
 
 The higher pair of bellows is inlaid with mother o’ pearl and silver, 
 and of the time of James the First. The lower is simply of wood rudely 
 carved, having near its edge the words, now man to man is so univst, 
 
 THAT ONE CANNOT ANOTHER TRVSTE. 
 
 These are all reduced to the size of one-eighth. 
 
 PLATE LVI. Brass Fire-Dogs in the possession of Messrs. Pratt , 
 
 Bond Street , London. 
 
 These are a front and side view of one of a pair of brass fire-dogs, which 
 are in good preservation. They are of the time of Charles the First. 
 
I 
 
 Furniture of .a Fireplace, time of Queen Elizabeth. _ Df time of Charles 1 
 
 Top of a Wa.Tminjt pan, and Bellows time of James I s . 1 Two view- of a Warm in c | n, 
 
 a pair of Bellows, time of Charles 1'^ 
 
in tb. e p ofs e fs ion o f M t; fs r . s S a*LLi : H T r :jl It, Bon<l b' tre o' t - 
 
 * 
 
 of the time of Queen Elizabeth or James 
 
 r • i i . . • .... ■ ■ 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I 
 
at Ku ole Pai’k a Heat of the Couutefs of Plymouth. 
 

 
p.OK' M1LI ©If THE SOUTH B©©® ©E 
 VOlKSOf CBUBCI, H©TTmGHAM§HIME. 
 
 aboul the lime of Edward l? 1 
 
 I'j n.£ra\ . -1 . He ary Sh a w. 
 
 by W^ftckmng. 
 
 / (f/ir , 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 !d© C K IM THE CIIJ1CI © F S’? FIT II, E AT ILOUIVAIK, 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 49 
 
 PLATE LVII. Bronze Fire-Dogs of the time of James the Second 
 the -property of the late Marchioness of Lansdowne. 
 
 These andirons are more tasteful in detail, and more elegant in shape, 
 than those which characterised the succeeding reign. They were in 
 the possession of the late Marchioness of Lansdowne, but have been 
 lately sold. 
 
 PLATE LVI1I. Silver Fire-Dogs at Knole Park , Kent , the 
 Seat of the Countess of Plymouth . 
 
 Front and side views are here given of two pairs of silver fire-dogs, 
 which are very finely chased in the superb style of William the Third, 
 to whose reign they must be assigned. 
 
 PLATE LIX. Iron Scroll-Work , Worksop Church , 
 Nottinghamshire . 
 
 This beautiful specimen of iron scroll-work ornaments the south door of 
 Worksop Church, and may be assigned to the time of Edward the First. 
 The terminations are given on an enlarged scale, to demonstrate more 
 fully the taste and elegance that often accompanied the designs of our 
 ancestors. 
 
 PLATE LX. Lock and Keys. 
 
 This lock, with its bolt, is taken from one in the church of St. Pitie at 
 Louvain in Flanders, and exhibits what may be considered the fashion 
 of Edward the Fourth’s time. In Baker’s History of Northampton- 
 shire is etched by Edward Blore, from a drawing by Miss Baker, what 
 
 h 
 
50 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 is termed the nun’s lock at Catesby Priory in that county, which may 
 be regarded as the next specimen in point of date, and may be referred 
 to the very close of the fifteenth century. 
 
 The key taken from one in the possession of the late Francis Douce, 
 Esq. and now in the Boucean Museum at Goodrich Court, is of about 
 the same time as the lock from St. Pitie. The other key is much older. 
 
 PLATE LXL Door-handle, Escutcheon , and Knockers. 
 
 The door-handle is from Woo key, Somersetshire, and the date the close 
 of Elizabeth’s reign. 
 
 The escutcheon is from Eastbury House, Barking, Essex, and is a 
 very tasteful specimen of the middle of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The knockers are both of about the year 1600 ; one is from Street, 
 Somersetshire; the other from Bexon Bredgar, in the county of Kent. 
 The cloisters to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and the entrance door 
 of Hever Castle, Kent, afford specimens of the time of Henry the 
 Seventh, in which the Catherine-wheel has been elegantly introduced 
 in the escutcheon plate. 
 
 PLATE LXII. Casket of Enamelled Copper in the possession of 
 George Pocock, Esq. London. 
 
 This highly curious and interesting example is entirely covered with 
 armorial bearings, arranged in the manner that was anciently termed 
 diapree, and of which we have a cotemporary example on the monument 
 of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 In former times only the eldest son took his father’s arms, the others 
 each varying the coat, a practice of which we have several examples in 
 the time of Edward the Second, and which continued in Wales even as 
 late as the commencement of the reign of Elizabeth. To cite a few 
 instances. The arms of Clare were or, three chevronels gules ; but 
 Richard, surnamed Strongbow, took on a chief three cross crosslets. 
 
D ate a b out 1600. 
 
 D af.e afifont 165 0. 
 
 at Wookey Somersetshire 
 
 at Eastbuiy House. Barking, ECsex;. 
 
 at Street, Somersetshire. 
 
 Door Hahdie, Escijtcieot, aid Kiockeis 
 


 CASKET OF COPPER CULT. UK LAID 'WITH. EIAMEL, 
 
— 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 51 
 
 Those of Sir Richard Talbot were bendy arg. and gules ; his son took 
 instead his wife’s arms, gules, a lion rampant within a border engrailed 
 or ; while his brother assumed these in a shield, party per chevron, the 
 base vert. William le Mareshall, gules, a bend lozengee or ; and his 
 brother had party per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules. Roger 
 de Chandos, gules, a lion rampant with his tail fourche or ; his son, Sir 
 John, arg. a pile gules. The evil ensuing from this ad libitum assump- 
 tion was found to be so great, that ultimately particular marks were 
 arranged by the heralds to be placed on the same armorial bearing as 
 used by the common ancestor. The fact is here noticed to account for 
 the difficulty of assigning the original ownership of this casket, and it 
 may be further remarked that the lozenge-shape shield was not at this 
 period assigned to females only, a fact most fully established by the 
 monument of William de Valence as well as other authorities. 
 
 The number of shields repeated all over the casket is six. 
 
 The first is barry of twelve argent and azure, an orle of martlets gu. 
 
 Second, gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or. 
 
 Third, lozengy, gules, and or. 
 
 The fourth, checquey, or, and azure, a border gules, over all a canton 
 ermine. 
 
 The fifth, sable, a lion rampant or. 
 
 The sixth, or, a lion rampant purpure. 
 
 Five of these may be identified as Valence, England, Angouleme, 
 Dreux, and Brabant ; the only difficulty is with the sixth, which may 
 have been a variation of the bearing of the Counts of Holland, their 
 paternal coat being or, a lion rampant gules.* 
 
 The modern arrangement of quartering had not at the date of this 
 casket been established and the selection of armorial bearings to be 
 placed as ornament was chosen from whatever may have been in the 
 families of the ancestry, and placed according to fancy. 
 
 Perhaps it may be a pardonable conjecture to imagine that this box 
 
 * Nineteen of the lost escutcheons from the monument of William de Valence were 
 copied in 1 610, together with those that now remain, and may be found among the Lans- 
 downe MSS. in the British Museum. Among them may be twice seen this very coat, or a 
 lion rampant purpure. 
 
52 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 was made for Aylmer de Valence, and presented by him to his first wife, 
 previous to his marriage with that lady ; for had it been enamelled after 
 that event, her armorial ensigns would have been one of its ornaments. 
 
 Though William de Valence died in 1296, it is probable that his 
 monument was not erected till some time afterwards, which will assign 
 the end of the thirteenth century as the date of the casket. 
 
 That the workmanship, like that of the monument, is French, and 
 probably of Limoges, there can be little doubt; for the tomb of Walter 
 de Merton put up in Rochester Cathedral was from that manufactory ; 
 and we may further judge by comparing it with the enamelled monument 
 of Alice, Duchesse de Bretagne, engraved in the Histoire de Bretagne 
 par Lobineau. 
 
 The use of such sort of caskets was to contain jewels, a custom repre- 
 sented on the fictile vases of the ancient Greeks, and probably introduced 
 into Europe by the crusaders. 
 
 The large collection of ivory caskets in the Doucean Museum at 
 Goodrich Court shews the distinction between those for relics and 
 those generally given at marriages. 
 
 PLATE LXM. Horn at Queen's College , Oxford; — Cup at 
 
 Oriel College , Oxford. 
 
 Horns were greatly in fashion among our ancestors. They were of 
 four kinds — those for drinking only, those appropriated to the chace, 
 those used for summoning the people, and those for various purposes, 
 and consequently of a mixed character. There is one preserved at 
 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, presented about the year 1347 by 
 its founder John Goldcorne, alderman of the gild of Corpus Christi, 
 which seems to have been intended both for drinking and sounding. 
 Queen’s College, Oxford, was founded in the year 1340 by Robert 
 Egglesfield, confessor to Queen Philippa, and as tradition states this 
 horn to have been Her Majesty’s present, it may account for the singular 
 custom that, according to the statutes he framed, the society was to be 
 called together by the sound of a horn. The trumpet which is now 
 
SOIF .AT QFEEM’S COUEGE, OXEOID 
 Said to lave “been. Presented "by Queen FhiTlippa. 
 
 Drawn &. Engraved hy Henry Shaw. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 53 
 
 used for that purpose is not older than the time of Charles the First, the 
 earliest date that can likewise be assigned to the eagle which now forms 
 the cap of the horn. It may therefore be allowable to conjecture that 
 this horn, which is that of a buffalo, may have been originally employed 
 for summoning the society, and that such order in the statutes was a 
 compliment to the royal donor. Of course for this purpose the stopper 
 was removed, and a mouth-piece inserted in its place. That it was 
 also intended for a drinking-horn the word wasseil on the silver gilt 
 bands which encircle it, and the style of which mark the period of 
 Edward the Third, as well as its traditional name, Poculum caritatis, 
 sufficiently evince. It is thus used on the founder’s day, and on all 
 occasions of rejoicing. 
 
 The very curious cup at Oriel College, which is of silver gilt, mea- 
 sures 7f inches in height to the bottom of the cross, 3 s inches wide at 
 its base, and its greatest width at top 5§ inches. The ball and cross 
 with which it is surmounted appear to be modern additions. This cup 
 is an enigma. If, as is said, it were given by Edward the Second, and 
 that the E upon it be his initial, then was the collar of SS known as 
 early as his time. But we have no representations of this collar before 
 the time of Henry the Fourth, around whose neck and that of his Queen 
 it appears in their monumental effigies at Canterbury. It has been 
 fairly conjectured that he first formed this collar, being a repetition of 
 the first letter of his motto, Souverein, which, though used when simply 
 an earl, had become so auspicious. It had always been my opinion that 
 the ornaments of this cup were not earlier than the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, and I am happy to find this conjecture corroborated by the 
 critical acumen of the deeply versed architectural antiquary, my friend 
 William Twopeny, Esq. If this be so, then to whom can the letter E 
 and the representation of a crown or coronet refer ? Perhaps to Prince 
 Edward, son of Henry the Sixth. We know that his enterprising 
 mother, in 1459, distributed his badge of a silver swan among the 
 Cheshire gentlemen, in order to arouse their loyalty in favour of Eng- 
 land’s heir ; and the pious bearing of the father might previously have 
 induced this present to an ecclesiastical royal foundation. The collar 
 of SS more particularly applied to the house of Lancaster, and on that 
 account was revived by Henry the Seventh. 
 
54 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE LXIV. Salt-celler at New College, Oxford. 
 
 This salt-celler is of silver-gilt and ornamented on its cover with blue 
 enamel. The chasing is exquisite, though there be nothing very taste- 
 ful in the contour. It was presented, in the year 1493, by Walter 
 Mil, warden of the college, as the inscription at the base testifies. 
 
 PLATE LXV. Salt-celler at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. 
 
 This splendid specimen of the early part of the reign of Henry the 
 Eighth is like that at New College of silver-gilt. It has been extremely 
 well executed and profusely covered with enamel, though here and there 
 portions have been chipped out. It was presented about the year 1517 
 by Thomas Fox, Bishop of Winchester, who was founder of the college. 
 
 PLATE LX VI. Salt-celler and Nut-crackers at Goodrich Court, 
 
 Herefordshire , the Seat of Sir Samuel R. Meyrick 9 K.H. 
 
 The salt-celler which, from the square-toed shoes, the puckered lambois, 
 and the sword-hilts of the four figures which support it, indicates the 
 reign of Henry the Eighth, is probably Danish or Icelandic. It is 
 composed of three pieces of what appears to be the tusks of the walrus, 
 and contains two cups for the salt. The design is extremely rude, and 
 the ornament simply hatched lines. 
 
 Of the nut-crackers the small one at the bottom is of steel, and of 
 the time of Charles the First. 
 
 The one above it with the whistle at the end has on it in front a 
 fancifully emblazoned shield, being a lion passant on a cross, which has 
 its quarters, 1st and 4tli, a chevron between three figures that look like 
 7 ; and 2nd and 3rd, a bouquet of roses. On the contrary side to what 
 is shewn is the date “ Sept r . ; 28, 1685,” though the character of the 
 
Height j '.'2 ?x 
 
 ASXIEITT SAIT (CJEJULAIR AT IE¥ C ©UTE &]S B ((Tran? OTIS TIT) - 
 Given in. th.e Yean 1493. "by 
 Walter Hil, "Warden of th_e College. 
 
 Drawn Engraved. lyTTenry Sliaw 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
given by Bishop Fox: the Founder, about the ye 
 
 Drawn & Engraved by Henry Siiaw, 
 
 London. Z'ul'^'AprU /0. Jj?33.0y l\ /n dirfo:rf no. Chan a ry Z.a/n. 
 
A Saltcellar,'.- 
 
 apparently of the time of Henry 8 ‘A of Ivoiy 
 
 A STEEL TTUT CRACKER, 
 
 of the time of Charle s 1. 
 
 Two O.f Woo d. made in imitation of the human mouth, time oi Charles 2 , 
 
 Drawn "by Sir Sam 1 . R.lteyrick. K.H. 
 

AJsTClKNT CUP & STAND AT ©KJ.EIL COIAECE, ©XJfilRJJ, 
 Given by Bishop Carpenter A L). 1470. 
 
 The Cup is formed of a. Cocoa But & the Stand of part of a Gourd mounted in Silver Gilt. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 55 
 
 head appears much more antient. This pair was found in ploughing a 
 field belonging to the farm of Biddlesdon, in the parish of Llangarran, 
 county of Hereford. 
 
 The other pair of nut-crackers is, like the last, of hard wood, and has 
 on it the date of 1668. It was bequeathed by Francis Douce, Esq. as 
 well as the salt-celler. 
 
 All these subjects are reduced on the plate to two-thirds of their real 
 size. 
 
 PLATE LXVII. Antient Cup of Silver-gilt enamelled ’ in possession 
 of the Corporation of Lynn , Norfolk. 
 
 This beautiful cup is of the period of Edward the Third, proved not 
 only by the architectural details but the costume in which the hanging- 
 sleeves are decisive evidence. It has been erroneously termed King 
 John’s cup, owing probably to that king’s having pawned his regalia to 
 Bishop Grey, who built a palace at Gaywood, about a mile from the 
 town of Lynn. 
 
 The ball and spike at top were probably added in the time of Charles 
 the First. 
 
 PLATE LXVI1I. Cup and Stand at Oriel College , Oxford. 
 
 These were presented to the college by Bishop Carpenter, who had 
 been provost in the year 1470. The cup is formed of the shell of a 
 cocoa-nut, and the stand of part of a gourd, which are set in silver-gilt. 
 The engraving represents the inside and outside of the former, and it 
 may be perceived that within the rim there is an inscription. 
 
56 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 PLATE LXIX. Antient Chalices. 
 
 These chalices are of silver-gilt and have been well executed. 
 
 The first is at Corpus Christi College, and presented by Bishop Fox, 
 the founder, about the year 1517. 
 
 The other was removed from St. Albans’ Abbey, Hertfordshire, by 
 Sir Thomas Pope, and given by him to Trinity College, Oxford. The 
 inscription round the cup is repeated around the base, and the date can 
 be but little anterior to the other. 
 
 PLATE LXX. Tankard enamelled on Copper of the time of 
 
 Francis the First. 
 
 The beautiful ewer is the property of E. V. Utterson, Esq. and forms 
 one of the tasteful ornaments of his elegant residence in the Isle of 
 Wight. It is of the close of the reign of Francis le Premiere, and of 
 Limoges enamel. There are several of a similar character in Warwick 
 Castle. 
 
 PLATE LXXI. Crosier at Corpus Christi College , Oxford. 
 
 This example of the splendid style of the fifteenth century is of silver 
 gilt, inlaid with blue enamel. It was presented, inter alia, by Bishop 
 Fox in 1517. With that of William of Wykeham at New College and 
 the one at Limerick it may be fairly classed, and therefore fabricated 
 long anterior to its presentation. 
 
 At Goodrich Court is the crosier attributed to Ragenfroi, Bishop of 
 Chartres in 941, but of the eleventh century and two of the twelfth, all 
 enamelled on gilt copper. 
 
At Corpus Christ) College Oxford. 
 
 AY W (C ][ K K T € Hi mi € K 
 
TAH'KAIRICD , 
 
 Enamelled on Copper, 
 
 of the time of Francis 1^ 
 
 J>ratvn, Jf. .S7 uzh' *jT. Antiren'j LtfA<? 
 
 Strp?urij Z UfUryrapAy, 70 S e 'Jft* rTisle Zan< 
 
.London .Pub a 7Lo\ / 2 0.J833. bv lV. m Pic/cerin g. Chancery Lone. 
 
M,iE TLITfiJ UT AIRLY ‘BOXWOOD, 
 i l e pofsefsion of M r Bullock. Egyptian Hall Piccadilly, brought from Spam. 
 
 Full size. 
 
 ' PtiS * . ry < ' ^Picrccring> Chancery Zone-. 
 
 Engraved by ifenry STie.v.-. 
 
BOM1SICVS ACA VJL f A. 
 
 ME FECIT AH O' 1582. 
 
 D E TAIL S OF RE LI Q U AEY. 
 
 - H 
 
 "b\x :v mvb ? §tp§ ttmfa r$tos& 
 
 m 
 
 Engraved, “by Henry Shav 
 
 lona'cn 8uA?'0ct, r J834 Ay WV^8i<ckcriritf. Ghwioeiy /.iwt 
 

 
•' E ® TAMAR! or THE ASHMOLEAir M-TETSEITM, OXFORD. 
 
 % lull sixe. 
 
 Presented "by Sir Christopher Pegge. 
 
 Date 15 . Ceiiltiiy. 
 
 Dt.'i.’wtl Si Engrave cl by Henry Shaw. 
 
 /.o/u/o/i, /'uZ/'A t vv. r //833. by W "[/*/ c/ecrt rig . C/uQjfhccry .Lcwfy&. 
 
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT FURNITURE. 
 
 57 
 
 PLATE LXXII. Reliquary of Box-wood, in possession of the late 
 
 William Bullock, London . 
 
 This exquisite piece of curving in box- wood was with much more pro- 
 bability a salt-celler, the reliquaries being altogether of a different form. 
 Notwithstanding there has been engraved on it in Roman characters 
 the words Dominic Acavala me fecit alio 1562, we may with safety 
 assign it to the early part of Henry the Sixth’s reign, the original in- 
 scriptions being all of the characters of that time. 
 
 PLATE LX XIII. Details of the Reliquary. 
 
 An attentive observer will readily perceive what parts have been selected 
 for these details, and the various subjects of religious history to which 
 some of them apply. It will hence be further evident that the date novr 
 assigned is borne out, not only by the style of architectural ornament, 
 but that of the costume. 
 
 It was brought originally from Spain. 
 
 PLATE LXXIV. Tankard in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. 
 
 Such kind of tankards as had pegs driven into them at different depths 
 to shew how much each person might drink, were called peg-tankards. 
 This rude specimen, probably of the time of Henry the Eighth, was pre- 
 sented by Sir Christopher Pegge, the eminent physician, and is of wood 
 of very light weight. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 BILLING, PRINTER, GUILDFORD* 
 
L h ■