History of Interior Design: Ancient Egypt

History of Interior and Furniture Design

1. Egypt

A. Interiors

• Houses and shops were made of sun-dried bricks with flat roofs and small slit windows to keep the sun out.
• Consisted of a small construction, large central living room, and 2-3 other rooms.
• Stairs led to a roof.
• Larger homes had clerestory windows under a roof raised above the house.
• Floors were painted with special hard plaster with flowers, plants, birds, and fishes.
• Ceilings were blue and brightly painted columns supported tiled roof.
• White-washed interiors.

B. Parts of a house

• Loggia: a roofed gallery.
• Portico: a roofed porch upheld by a column.
• Tripartite plan: a plan consisting of a reception room, central hall/living room, and private areas.

C. Furniture Elements

• Bull's hooves or lion's paws for legs.
• Lathe-turned parts with tongue and groove (T & G) construction.

D. Furniture Types

• Stool: the most common of Egyptian furniture, invented the collapsible stool.
• Chest: an important part of Egyptian household collection, highly decorated, large ones for linen, and small ones for cosmetics and jewelry.
• Rush/leather seats.
• Varnish or gesso for finishing.
• Tables: for eating, writing, and gaming.
• Bed.
• Chair: used by important people.

Greek

• Interiors: rooms around a court, the largest room was usually the most decorated.
• Parts: atrium, peristyle court, compluvium, impluvium, living room, store rooms, kitchen, and bathroom.
• Accessories: faience, made of powdered quartz and coated with a vitreous paste.

Dining room (andron)

• Interior treatment: walls, floors, pavement or mosaics, ceilings, and furniture elements.
• Furniture elements: materials, dog's foot/lion's paw for legs, and concave backs.
• Furniture types: stool, thronos, and threnos.

Roman Interiors

• Vestibule: entrance of the home.
• Reception room: central hall of the house with an opening in the roof.
• Atrium: the roofed courtyard.
• Compluvium: the large opening in the roof which let in light and collected rain.
• Impluvium: the water catcher.
• Tablinum: located at the end of the atrium, this was the sacred area where the nuptial bed and dining table were kept.
• Triclinium: the dining room with reclining couches.
• Cubicula: small bedrooms.
• Exedra: kitchen and used for conversations.
• Peristyle court: the courtyard surrounding the garden.
• Kline: bed or couch for eating during the day and sleeping at night.
• Tripods: three-legged tables.
• Chest: furniture for storing items.

Roman Interior Design

• Interior treatment: lavishly decorated, with a passion for luxurious materials, techniques, and illusionistic devices.
• Floors: covered in mosaic tiles, particularly in important rooms.
• Walls: adorned with stuccowork, frescoes, and trompe l'oeil.

Furniture Elements

• Rich fabrics and cushions.
• Little underbracing for legs.
• Designs were derived from Greek models.
• Massive and elaborately decorated.
• Turned legs, animal feet, sphinxes, and griffins were used.

Furniture Types

• Curule: the first chair with a cushion, an x-shaped chair originally a folding stool.
• Bisellíum: double chair or settle.
• Solium: throne chair for men, with an animal.
• Cathedra: chaise for women.
• Scamnum/subselium: bench.
• Monopodium: table with a single column or support.
• Tripod: three-legged table.

Romanesque

• Interior Accessories: tapestry, embroidery in wool-thread and usually tells a story of historical events.
• Illuminated manuscripts.
• Furniture characteristics: mostly ecclesiastical purposes, but there is no difference between ecclesiastical and domestic furniture pieces.
• Furniture types: chest.

Byzantine

• Interiors: homes of the rich opened onto courtyards protected from the street by a stone wall.
• Oriental rugs: very rare.
• The Great Hall: principally used for the assemblies of vassals, banquets, trials, and entertainments.
• Decorative motifs: arches, tracery, foliage, linen fold carving, pierced carving, and pointed arch.
• Furniture elements: wooden construction, decorations were painted and then carved, and presence of Gothic motifs.
• Furniture types: chest or coffer, stool, full-tester bed or four-poster bed, throne chair or "Chair of the Estate", and trestle table.

VL Gothic

• Interior treatment: walls, ceilings, and floors.
• Tapestries: became famous after 1400 to cover walls, decorate furniture, or partition rooms.
• Primitive dug-out type: made by hollowing out a log.
• The ark: had a gabled detachable lid.
• Dome type standard: a standard design.
• Boarded type or six-plank chest: a type of chest.
• The high hutch: a type of furniture.
• Fold stool/cathedra: x-shaped stool for women with implied authority.
• "Chair of the Estate": reserved for the lord and master.
• Sella curulis: x-framed chair.

Aumbry (later, livery cupboard)

• Stood in the bedchamber to store overnight ration of food and refreshment.
• Used to keep sacred vessels, books, reliquaries, and oils.

Credence or serving table

• A sideboard for holding food.

Buffet/cupboard

• A large construction of stepped tiers for grandiose display, the number of tiers being specified according to rank.

Refectory Table

• A long, narrow table having a single stretcher between trestle-like supports at the ends.

Italian Renaissance

• Interior Treatment: interiors consisted of smaller rooms, but larger in scale as compared to today's rooms.
• Coffered and beamed ceilings, and flat plaster ceilings were also used.
• Pilasters, niche, and large paintings were incorporated into the architectural design.
• Majolica tiles were used for walls.
• Windows were either square-headed or topped with a pediment.
• Black-and-white, colored, or terrazzo floors were used, with occasional Oriental rugs.
• Fireplaces were ornamented with mantles, and bolection moldings were typical.
• Cartouche: a medallion or coat of arms often decorating the ceiling.
• Furniture was used sparingly.

Furniture Elements

• Monumental in character.
• Upholstered seats.
• Ornamented nail heads used with leather upholstery.
• Gesso-painted or gilded.
• Furniture decoration included certosina, intarsia, incised carving, chip carving, and pastiglia.

Furniture Types

• Cassone (marriage chest): often made in pairs, to contain the bride's trousseau.
• Cassapanca: a large cassone with back and arms added to form a settee or sofa.
• Credenza (sideboard): sideboards with boards often surmounted by drawers intended for the storage of linen, dishes, and silverware.

Italian Baroque

• Interior Treatment: grand proportions of rooms, great emphasis on fresco painting, carved woodwork in paint or gold, quadratura, floors, walls, windows, and doors.

Furniture Elements

• Spanish influence was evident in the black and white cabinets produced in Italy.

Italian Rococo

• Furniture Elements: proportions were usually awkward, much gilding was used, lacquer was employed, and chinoiserie was used.
• Furniture Types: Venetian mirror, 3-paneled with etches or frosted glass.

French Renaissance

• Interior Treatment: emphasis on symmetry, rectangular plans, and uniform spacing.
• Furniture:
• Sedia: armchair for men.
• Sgabello: light wooden chair for women.
• Savonarola: x-shaped chair named after a monk.
• Dante/Dantesque: usually of tooled leather, curule in front extend as arm supports while the curule at the back extended as uprights of the back.
• Panchetto: similar to the sgabello but had three splayed leg instead of two trestle supports.
• Letto: bed with massive structure placed on a base, a canopy, and panelled footboard.