DOI Artikel:
Levetus, A. S.: Dr. Figdor's collection of old chairs, Vienna
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20710#0350
A ncient Chairs
BACK OF CHAIR FIFTEENTH CENTURY
olden times reclined at table as do the Orientals
to this day, the women occupying chairs or
benches. The modest folding stool, the bench
and the chair each had its use in the homes
of our forefathers. The primitive stool, or
escabeau, was like our three-legged one, and is
described by M. Viollet-le-Duc as "a seat much
lower than the bench or chair." It was practical
and easily moved from place to place, and was
useful as a weapon when no other means of
defence was at hand — a use not unknown to
us in our present stage of civilisation. The
escabeau had its place iu courts of justice, for
prisoners had to sit on it while the cause of
arrest" was made known to them, the selletie, or
stool of repentance, being reserved for those forced
to submit to interrogation. We learn also that
those lowest in rank always occupied stools at
meal-times, while the master of the house sat on
the throne, or chair of honour, for in olden days
the two words were practically synonymous terms,
the honoured guests taking their places on high
backed immovable benches on either side of the
host, a disposition still to be seen in parts of the
Tyrol. The guests lowest in rank were the first to
leave the table, which was then cleared, the host
and guests of distinction remaining sitting during
the operation, after which cercle was held.
At first stools were only made of simple wood ;
later the fashion of adorning them with velvet and
rich stuffs, or painting them, came into vogue,
the final development being carving. As they
increased in beauty so did they in honour, for in
the course of centuries the humble three-legged
stool developed several variations in form, and
gradually assumed a more dignified character, for
we hear that Catherine de Medicis possessed as
many as twenty-two of them, and that they were in
high favour at Court.
Next in order came the bench, which, in its
primitive form, was like those in the kitchens of
the present day. In its final stage of development
FRENCH CHAIR FIFTEENTH CENTURY
333
BACK OF CHAIR FIFTEENTH CENTURY
olden times reclined at table as do the Orientals
to this day, the women occupying chairs or
benches. The modest folding stool, the bench
and the chair each had its use in the homes
of our forefathers. The primitive stool, or
escabeau, was like our three-legged one, and is
described by M. Viollet-le-Duc as "a seat much
lower than the bench or chair." It was practical
and easily moved from place to place, and was
useful as a weapon when no other means of
defence was at hand — a use not unknown to
us in our present stage of civilisation. The
escabeau had its place iu courts of justice, for
prisoners had to sit on it while the cause of
arrest" was made known to them, the selletie, or
stool of repentance, being reserved for those forced
to submit to interrogation. We learn also that
those lowest in rank always occupied stools at
meal-times, while the master of the house sat on
the throne, or chair of honour, for in olden days
the two words were practically synonymous terms,
the honoured guests taking their places on high
backed immovable benches on either side of the
host, a disposition still to be seen in parts of the
Tyrol. The guests lowest in rank were the first to
leave the table, which was then cleared, the host
and guests of distinction remaining sitting during
the operation, after which cercle was held.
At first stools were only made of simple wood ;
later the fashion of adorning them with velvet and
rich stuffs, or painting them, came into vogue,
the final development being carving. As they
increased in beauty so did they in honour, for in
the course of centuries the humble three-legged
stool developed several variations in form, and
gradually assumed a more dignified character, for
we hear that Catherine de Medicis possessed as
many as twenty-two of them, and that they were in
high favour at Court.
Next in order came the bench, which, in its
primitive form, was like those in the kitchens of
the present day. In its final stage of development
FRENCH CHAIR FIFTEENTH CENTURY
333