Medieval and Renaissance Furniture

by Daniel Diehl

  ALSO BY DANIEL DIEHL AND MARK P. DONNELLY

  Pirates of Maryland

  Pirates of Virginia

  Death & Taxes

  Pirates of New Jersey

  Haunted Houses

  Inventors & Impostors

  The Big Book of Pain

  Management Secrets from History

  Eat Thy Neighbor

  Tales from the Tower of London

  Elbert Hubbard

  How Did They Manage?

  Medieval Celebrations

  Medieval Furniture

  Siege: Castles at War

  Constructing Medieval Furniture

  Copyright © 2007 by George Bradford

  Published by

  STACKPOLE BOOKS

  5067 Ritter Road

  Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

  www.stackpolebooks.com

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books.

  Printed in the United States of America

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  FIRST EDITION

  Cover design by Caroline M. Stover

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Diehl, Daniel.

  Medieval and Renaissance furniture : plans and instructions for historical reproductions / Daniel Diehl and Mark P. Donnelly. — First edition.

  pages cm

  Contained herein are most of the projects from Constructing Medieval Furniture and Medieval Furniture, as well as several new projects that have never been published before.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-0-8117-1023-7 (pbk.)

  1. Furniture—Reproduction. 2. Furniture, Medieval. I. Donnelly, Mark, 1967– II. Title.

  TT197.D54 2012

  684.1—dc23

  2012011468

  eBook ISBN 978-0811-7-4879-7

  CONTENTS

  Foreword by Roy Underhill

  Preface

  Notes on Furniture Making

  Woodworking

  Woodcarving

  Finishes

  Metalworking

  Locks

  Projects

  Benches, Stools, and Chairs

  1. Fifteenth-Century Bench

  2. Fifteenth-Century Stool

  3. Curule Chair

  4. Glastonbury Chair

  5. Barrel Chair

  6. Italian Folding Chair

  7. Church Pew

  8. Settle

  9. Spanish Armchair

  Tables and Sideboards

  10. Trestle Table

  11. High Table

  12. Italian Table

  13. Worktable

  14. Welsh Dresser

  Cupboards

  15. Fifteenth-Century Ambry Cupboard

  16. Wine Cabinet

  17. Sixteenth-Century Ambry Cupboard

  18. Cathedral Cabon

  Trunks, Chests, Coffers, and Boxes

  19. Kist

  20. Oxford Chest

  21. Vestment Chest

  22. Tax Box

  23. Hewn Timber Chest

  24. Paneled Coffer

  Beds

  25. Monastic Canopy Bed

  26. Half-Tester Bed

  27. Gothic Cradle

  Desks and Bookcases

  28. Fourteenth-Century Reading Desk

  29. Writing Slope

  30. Jacobean Bookcase

  31. Oxford Chained Library Shelves

  Lighting

  32. Candle Stand

  33. Mirrored Wall Sconce

  Architectural Pieces

  34. Fifteenth-Century Window Frame

  35. Fifteenth-Century Interior Door

  36. Fifteenth-Century Exterior Door

  Sources

  Furniture Locations

  Metric Conversion Chart

  Index

  FOREWORD

  Roy Underhill

  O traveler—here is your atlas!

  The destinations within are the shapes that gave comfort and convenience to knights and knaves, merchants and monks. You, however, will travel as an artisan—steam-bending ash for the barrel chair, draw-knifing elm for the banqueting table, adze-dubbing oak for the tax box. Fear not, though. You need not “go native” right at the start of your travels—for the paths are laid out using turns and measures that you already know. But, if you be bold, if you be venturesome, the destinations are here. Keep them in sight and soon you will plot your own course.

  In our journey to this foreign land, we trust this, our worthy guide. Here is no fantasy. No dragons and seamonsters fill blank spaces on these maps. Each shape presented here, either through accident or excellence, is a rare survivor that we now study for the truth of its time. Our guides have learned from them, and now may we.

  We want our guides to share a vision for our journey, for these are not just distant shapes. These destinations were intimate with the people who made and used them. They made and had babies in them. They sat in them and ate off them and sometimes threw them. That living connection is here to discover. Our guides share the context of each piece, helping us see it in its place, see it with its people.

  Our guides need to encourage us, as well as challenge us. For encouragement, we have easier destinations with the step-by-step path clearly marked, steps taken with the basic tools familiar to all. But within these pages are also destinations that can only be reached by riskier approaches. Eventually, you find a dowel will no longer take you where you want to go—you must cleave an oak pin. Roaring rotary tools brought you along at first, but now you need silence as the edge of your adze across the elm speaks to you in ancient whispers.

  Now you are there. You no longer need your translator. Your guide is far behind. From the grain in the wood the spirit of the piece emerges. The form is there, and so is the texture. Where once you ventured cautiously, now your bold adventure begins. The wood becomes a partner with you and your steel. You emerge as a craftsman in the land ruled by risk, and the working of your tools is no more premeasured, and no less precise, than a broadsword in action.

  The chair, the bed, the table await you at the end of your journey. Rest a while with the comforts of your own making, peruse this atlas for your next adventure—and welcome home!

  PREFACE

  This compendium follows our previous books, Constructing Medieval Furniture (1997) and Medieval Furniture (1999). When we began researching medieval furniture back in 1992, we had a difficult time finding good research in existing literature. Certainly there were many good books regarding the history of furniture through the ages, but information on medieval and Renaissance furniture in particular was scarce. We could not find much if anything in the way of plans and schematics for building or re-creating medieval furniture. Once we had completed the research for the projects we were building, we wondered if there might be a demand for a book or two on the subject, because to our knowledge there was nothing available in print. We were convinced of the demand for instructional books on the design and construction of medieval furniture, and the overwhelming popular response was gratifying.

  After a decade and a half since our first medieval furniture book was published, we considered putting out a second edition. But we debated whether we should do a second edition of the first book, a second edition of the second book, or a new book with additional pieces. In the end we decided to do all three. The result is the book in your hands. Contained herein
are most of the projects from Constructing Medieval Furniture and Medieval Furniture, as well as nine new projects that have never been published before.

  In assembling this material, we have traveled to museums, castles, monasteries, stately homes, cathedrals, and universities throughout Europe and the United States. Once we managed to locate a piece of surviving furniture that seemed to be suitable as a candidate for inclusion, we set about getting permission to photograph it, take detailed measurements, and even in a few cases, carefully disassemble the original piece to detail the construction techniques. It has proven to be an interesting challenge and a fascinating journey. We believe it has been a worthwhile and important one, too, for not only has the general public embraced our previous work, but we have learned that it has become a permanent part of the libraries of such august institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as those of numerous theatrical houses and film production companies. This response has reinforced our belief that these rare and fine pieces of our physical past need to be carefully documented, ensuring that the work and techniques of medieval craftsmen are preserved for future generations to appreciate and emulate.

  Many of the pieces of furniture presented here have never been previously cataloged, except, of course, in our two previous books. Some, like the thirteenth-century church pew, were erroneously listed many decades ago. We have attempted to present you with a wide variety of types and styles of furniture. Although there is not enough room in this book to take an in-depth look at the inventory of a complete household’s furniture from any one era, we hope that we have presented a tantalizing look into the lives of a variety of people from a wide range of time periods. To augment the furniture pieces themselves, we have included other sorts of furnishings such as lighting and architectural pieces. We hope that this will give you a better idea of the settings in which these wonderful objects were meant to be viewed. Only when we can envision the Middle Ages as a physical whole can we begin to develop a reliable image of the lives of the people who lived in it. Certainly we believe that a more realistic view of the physical world of our medieval ancestors will help us to understand their way of life and the hardships and limitations their world imposed on them.

  The original pieces of furniture, with few exceptions, were the models for the drawings in this book. The exceptions were reproductions that had been made from original models. As in the previous books, we have been forced to make very slight standardizations in the dimensions to compensate for irregularities in the original pieces, because of the wear this furniture has suffered, well-meant but historically inaccurate repairs, and the ravages of time. All of the plans are drawn to accurate scale, which in many cases will enable the craftsman to enlarge them to full size, allowing them to be used as templates from which the work can be copied directly. If such an enlargement would be of specific benefit, such as in reproducing patterns for carved or cutout work, it is noted in the specific chapter.

  Wherever possible, we have featured the wood grain pattern. This accurately indicates the direction of the wood grain, an important consideration if there is some question as to the direction of the grain in a panel or a particular board’s orientation.

  Occasionally when discussing the topic of medieval and Renaissance furniture and the projects included in our two previous books, we have encountered the belief among many reenactors that all of these pieces should be easy to load in the minivan so they can be set up at encampments with wellfurnished tents. While we agree that a well-furnished campaign tent is a marvelous—and highly authentic—undertaking, the fact is that precious few pieces of campaign furniture survive. The pieces from that age that do exist were designed for castles, cathedrals, and universities, where they have been safely protected and well cared for over the last five or six centuries. And while we could well draw up some plans for medieval campaign furniture based on illustrations, we decided to concentrate solely on surviving originals that could be measured and photographed. That said, just about any skilled woodworker worth his sawdust should be able to alter these plans for the originals so that they can be more easily disassembled, packed, moved, and reassembled anywhere he wishes, including a campaign tent.

  Please note that while this is a book about medieval and Renaissance furniture and furnishings, the instructions that follow are not medieval or Renaissance construction techniques. The skills and talents of truly medieval and Renaissance carpentry are frankly beyond the scope of this volume. If you wish to construct any of these projects using a drawknife, planking ax, adze, or brace and bit, then by all means do so and our hats are raised to you. On the other hand, if you have a wellequipped woodshop and wish to use laser-guided saws and power planers, then that is fine too. No special gadgets are required for these projects beyond basic woodworking tools. The idea here is to detail how the original pieces are put together. We have provided instructions for how an average woodworker with the most commonly available tools can accomplish similar results to the originals. If upon examination of the schematics, however, you decide on a different method for accomplishing the various construction phases, based on tools or equipment at your disposal, then proceed in whatever way you deem most expedient.

  With all of that having been said, we hope that you find these plans for reproducing artifacts from our shared medieval and Renaissance legacy to be both interesting and challenging. And we wish you the very best of luck with your projects and hope that you succeed in crafting new masterpieces that will survive for generations, if not centuries, to come.

  The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of all who helped make this book a reality. Without their cooperation, compiling the information would not have been possible.

  Our thanks go to His Grace the Duke of Rutland, John O’Brien, and the management of Haddon Hall; the Right Honorable Harry Orde-Powlett, the Dean and Chapter of York Minster Cathedral; the Dean and Chapter of Hereford Cathedral; the Dean and Chapter of Winchester Cathedral; English Heritage; Jack Hinton and the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters Museum; Warwick Castle; and Madame Tussaud’s.

  Thanks also to Lucy Johnson of Lucy Johnson Antiques, Dr. Sarah Bendall and the Warden and Fellows of Merton College at Oxford University, Dr. Dean Walker of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Nick Humphrey and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Andy Elkin and the management of the Mary Rose Trust.

  Individual notes of thanks go to John Leask, for sharing his extensive knowledge of woodcarving; Dave Greenhaigh and Chris Blythman, for information on medieval locksets; and Kyle Weaver, our editor at Stackpole, for guiding our books on medieval furniture through the past sixteen years of production and sales. We owe you all a debt of gratitude.

  NOTES ON

  Furniture Making

  Woodworking

  A few general observations and suggestions about woodworking methods and materials will facilitate the construction of the furniture described in this book.

  General Construction

  Medieval construction techniques were of the type that architect Frank Lloyd Wright once called “cut and butt.” The rudimentary tools and technology of the Middle Ages necessitated that basic assemblage be simple. Only a few of the pieces covered in this book include construction techniques that require advanced woodworking skills.

  Doweling

  The first step in fastening a wood joint with a dowel is to align the segments to be joined, clamping them securely. Select a drill bit identical to the size of the specified doweling on the materials list. If the construction plans do not specify locations, consult the drawings to determine where to drill the holes. To prepare the dowel, cut a length no more than 1 inch longer than the depth of its designated hole. To ease entry, slightly round the end of the dowel. Light sanding will permit it to be tapped smoothly into place. Tap the dowel gently into the drilled hole with a wooden mallet. Too snug a dowel may bre
ak off before it is seated or eventually split the surrounding wood. Too loose a dowel may cause the piece of furniture to wobble and eventually come apart.

  Clamps

  The use of clamps is frequently recommended in this book to hold segments of furniture together while a work is being assembled. Best for this purpose are long bar clamps, or cabinet clamps. They generally extend far enough to press together even the largest section of furniture. To prevent the metal jaws of clamps from biting into the wood and leaving deep scars that will need to be sanded out later, pad the jaws of the clamp with a thin piece of wood slightly larger than the jaws.

  Wood

  Oak and pine were the staple woods for the construction of furniture during the Middle Ages, just as they still are in the furniture industry today. If you live in the United States or Canada, you might choose to use white oak rather than red oak unless you are an expert woodcarver, because the uneven grain in red oak can make the carving more complicated. White oak resembles the English oak originally used to construct many of our choices for this book. Exotic woods, such as walnut and limewood, are occasionally suggested for our projects. Finding these woods may be difficult; alternative materials will also be recommended. Unlike when we began work on the first two books, the Internet now has a wealth of information on medieval woodworking. A useful article listing woods used in medieval carpentry, along with some of their characteristics, has been compiled by Gary R. Halstead (see the Sources section on page 321).

  Timber

  Tree species have not changed much in the past millennium, but the way boards are cut has changed considerably. In medieval times, carpenters tended to use axes, rives, and planes to cut their boards to desired thicknesses depending on the intended purpose. Today, boards are usually milled to preset standards and dimensions. To precisely replicate surviving medieval pieces, it may be necessary to have your planks custom milled. Naturally, having wood custom milled is more expensive than simply picking up some boards at your local DIY superstore, but to serious medievalists it is worth the extra expense. Using custom-milled lumber will give your furniture a medieval look. At times the structural integrity of the piece compels the use of bulkier lumber, or chunkier boards may be needed so that everything fits together as shown in the schematics.