The Limpsfield Decorative and Fine Arts Society
The Origins, Use & Arrangement of English Furniture
Ann Gore, author and lecturer, gave an illustrated lecture to the Limpsfield Decorative & Fine Arts Society on 'The Origins, Use & Arrangement of English Furniture'.
The most common items of early furniture were coffers, usually made of oak. These were used for storage and transporting items and led to travelling trunks. By 1600 there were coffers on legs, evolving into cupboards and ornate cabinets with drawers by 1800. Beds were the most expensive items of furniture with elaborate fabrics and curtains to keep out the cold. Bed bugs were countered with more hygienic brass bedsteads in the 19th Century.
Tables were originally planks on trestles. By Tudor times extending tables had been developed and gate-leg tables started in the 17th Century. Dressers began to be used in dining rooms as well as kitchens and evolved into sideboards. Chairs were rare until the 18th Century as previously people sat on stools. Settees appeared in the early 18th Century as did bookcases, bureaus and filing cabinets. There were big changes in furniture arrangement in the early 19th Century with furniture in groups in the middle of rooms rather than at the sides.
Details of the Limpsfield Decorative & Fine Arts Society may be obtained on www.limpsfield.net and those interested in joining and attending lectures should contact the Chairman, Rosemary Buchan on 01883-722294.
Member Society of NADFAS