Earthenware

though made in the form of pitchers and jugs, does not seem to have been applied to the fabrication of i and dishes. In the 14th and 15th centuries remarkable progre was made and a considerable degree of splendor in furniture was attained. Defense began to be not the only object studied in the construction of buildings. The apartments expanded in height and were hung with the: newly invented tapestry of the Netherlands (the workshop and exchange of medieval Europe), called “Arras” from the place of its origin. The Gothic paneling of the carved bedsteads, chairs, screens, etc., was dazzling with scarlet, blue, and gold, and costly embroidered hangings and curtains heavy with heraldic symbolism, eabinets,. reading-desks, prie-die us, ivory and enameled coffers, fire dogs or andirons elaborately chased and gilded, began to appear, all harmonized to a rich glow of color by the gemmed and jeweled light that stole through the mullions of the storied. windows of “bower and hall.” The progre of this decorative style was suddenly arrested by the ‘“Renai ance,” or revival of ancient cla ic a) art and literature, of which Italy was the ‘earliest seat, and from whence the impulse was given that communicated itself speedily to the rest of. Europe. <A genuine and self-evolved style instantly went out of fashion, and was discarded for an imitation and counterfeit one based on the copying of understood cla ic models which were applied without consideration to the most incongruous objects. The cla ical temple was the dominant idea in the manufacture of furniture as well as in the construction of a palace or a cathedral, and columns were considered as nece ary in one species of art as in the other. All the architectural details of Roman buildings were then applied to furniture; the lions, griffins, chimeras, ete., of the temple frieze encumbered the stately pillars of the Italian palaces, and caryatides and Roman trophies replaced the patron saint and the crucifix. With all its absurdities, it must be noted that this style was in the hands of great men, and their productions display a boldne and vigor of line, and a mastery over human and animal forms that give dignity to a licentious freedom of design in which all appropriatene is forgotten. Specimens of the Renai ance are still met with, though daily increasing in value.