Furniture refers to movable items intended to support different human activities like eating, seating, and sleeping. Furniture is also use to hold small objects in an easily accessible height for easy storage, or simply for work. Furniture may be a delicate piece of art, designed by skilled artisans, and is designed to add elegance and style to a home environment. It may consist of any number of objects, which may be made from wood, metal, glass, or even synthetic materials.
Historically, furniture was created for living spaces. The most common type of furniture among early homes was a simple chair with armrests on either side. These chairs were usually made from wood like ash, cherry, pine, maple, mahogany, oak, and sometimes even hazel. Art deco and Art Nouveau furniture has a very distinct look and feel to it, often being shiny and bold red, green, blue, white, and even purple. Some pieces would have intricate carvings or even mosaics on them.
Art deco furniture became more popular as the wealthy began to decorate their houses in this highly fashionable style. During the first few decades of the nineteenth century, Italian furniture makers started creating this style of ornate and sophisticated furniture for the masses. This style came to be known as Art Deco, a term that derived from two Italian words: art and deco. As the term became more commonly used, it became known as a period that occurred during the rise of the first modern world’s middle class. The first ancient furniture designs were inspired by Italian craftsmen who were working in the Italian colonies in Africa, Sicily, and Italy.
The fifteenth century brought new designs in different materials, including wood, ceramics, and gold. The Renaissance had introduced new vases and dishes, which were decorated with different decorative elements and used for serving food. These vases and dishes were made of precious stones, and there was a new sophistication in using decorative objects in interior design. The designs for dining tables, chairs, chests, and other furniture pieces had been developed long before the Renaissance; they were just being used in Western European countries at the time.
Furniture designs developed in the Chinese civilization were influenced by the Buddhist religion and the carving of figures and scenes from the Buddha series. Buddha and the symbols associated with him were carved into the furniture they used. Early Chinese furniture was simple, consisting of flat surfaces and square or rectangular shapes. As the years passed, the styles and designs of Chinese furniture began to include complex patterns on the surface of the furniture.
Byzantine furniture became very popular during the Italian Renaissance. This was due to the influence of Spain and the Venetian Empire. Venice introduced new trends in furniture design, and their influence was carried over to the Italian court, making their influence known in the byzantine furniture. Byzantine ornaments became even more ornate as the Renaissance continued, and their use of vivid colors and elaborate carvings became even more popular.
