FURNITURE (ante), the chattels and fittings required to adapt houses, churches, ships, etc. for use. The sculptures, paintings, and metal work of antiquity and of the later ages, now kept in museums and private collections, have, with few exceptions, formed part of decorations or-furniture of temples, churches, or houses, Most of the ancient bronzes, are either images taken from ancient shrines, or pieces of mirrors, tripods, altar vessels, or even the dishes and pans of the kitchen. Wood, ivory, precious stones, bronze, silver, and gold have been used from the most ancient times in the con struction, or for the decoration, of seats, chests, tables, and other furniture, and for the shrines and altars of sacred buildings. Most of the medimval furniture, chests, seats, trays, etc., of Italian make, were richly gilt and painted, In northern Europe carved oak was more generally used. State seats in feudal halls were benches with ends carved in tracery, backs paneled or hung with cloths, and canopies projecting above. Bed steads were square frames, the testers of paneled wood, resting on carved posts. The splender of most feudal houses depended on pictorial tapestries which could be packed and carried from place to place in chests of carved oak or Italian cypress. Wardrobes were rooms fitted for the reception of dresses, as well as for spices and other valuable stores. Excellent carving in relief was executed on caskets which were of wood or of ivory, with painting and gilding, and decorated with delicate hinges and locks of metal work. The general subjects of sculpture were taken from legends of the saints or from metrical romances. Renaissance art made a great change in furniture, as in architecture. Cabinets and paneling took the outlines of palaces and temples, and curious internal fittings were arranged in cabinets, still following the details of architectural interiors. The elegance of form and perfection of detail, noticeable in the furniture of the 16th c., declined during the 17th all over Europe. The frame-work became bulky and heavy, and the details coarse. To this period belongs the name of Andre Charles Bottle, who furn ished the palace of Versailles. He invented or perfected a beautiful system of veneering with brass and tortoise-shell, or brass and ebony, occasionally using white metal besides. Examples of this buhl or Louie are shown in the Apollo gallery of the Louvre at Paris. The system of veneering or coating common wood with slices of rare and costly woods, fastened down with glue by screw-presses, came into general use in the 18th century. Marquetry
is veneer of different woods, formino. a mosaic of pictorial or ornamental designs. Looking-glasses in large sheets exported from Venice at the end of the 17th c. were engraved with figures pn the backs. The light fantastic frames which came into fashion in France were called " rococo " (from roquale, coquaille, rock and shell work). Carved and gilt furniture was made in Italy, where it was best designed, and all over Europe, till late in the 18th century. The " empire " style, a stiff affected classicalism, prevailed in France during the reign of Napoleon. It •is shown in the metal mounts of veneered mahogany furniture, and in the carvings of chair legs and backs.
A return has been made during recent years to medimval designs. In England there is a revival of the fashions prevalent during the first fifty years of the last century. In France and America the elegant Louis XIV. style is very popular. Bedroom furniture is no longer as rich or costly as when it was the fashion to include state bed-chambers among suites of rooms thrown open for the entertainment of guests. Light-colored woods, with the simplest decorations, are preferred by many, on account of their fresh ness and cheerfulness. Common woods, such as pine, ash, oak, and maple, with French polish and with colored lines sparingly employed, are much in use for bedroom furni ture, though less durable than mahogany. Imitations by graining Et re general, though not satisfactory; the practice was common even in ancient Rome. The Japanese have a method of staining, powdering with gold-dust, and polishing common wood without hiding the grain.
The designs of furniture in the United States vary greatly. Among the styles often seen are the Gothic, Florentine, Venttian, Roman, and Dutch, the classic and the rococo. The Eastlake style, now in favor, is by some critics disliked as exaggerated. Many manufacturers employ "furniture designers," frequently persons who have a high repu tation for artistic work. Often the designs of the furniture are procured from the archi tect of the house, thus avoiding incongruities.
The census of 1870 reported 5,981 manufacturers of furniture, employing 53,298 persons; with a capital of $43,947,913; paying $21,574,531 as wages; using $25,843,170 worth of raw material, and manufacturing furniture to the amount of $69,082,684. [Principally from Encyc. Brit., 9th ed.].