Two new medieval furniture books

Two recommended recent books on medieval furniture.

Two very interesting books on medieval furniture have been published during the last three years, which I was able to obtain this month: Le Meuble Medieval - ustensiles et ceramiques de 500 a 1500 by Georges Bernage (Editions Heimdal) and Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale - VIe-XIIIe siecle by Cecile Lagane (Presses Universitaires de Rennes). Both books are written in the French language, which is not exactly my forte, but nowadays with the help of your mobile phone and the translate function reading the text is perfectly doable. 

For Le Meuble Medieval this is not even neccesary, as most of the content of the 192 page book consists of photos. The whole set-up gives off the vibe of the DK 'Eye-witness' books and travel guides, but also of articles in the Moyen Age magazine (published by Heimdal) - to which the author also contributed.

The double-sided lectern in on the left bottom of the page can be found as a low-resolution image without any other information on the internet, but in this book you can find a good-quality picture with the information: The oak tripod lectern was sold by the auction Espace Tajan SVV in Paris in June 2012. The height of the lectern can be regulated with the screw thread of the central column, so the provided height could be a maximum or minimum one. Height 147 cm, length 73 cm, width 73 cm. French, 15th century.

The book starts with the early middle ages (6th century) and then makes a jump into the 11th and 12th century (high middle ages), followed by the 13th, 14th and 15th century (late middle ages). The few page articles are ordered by furniture type, as well as country of origin. Indeed, there are clear stylistic differences and overlaps visible between the different regions of Europe. A small part of the book also gives attention to some other household utensils: candleholders, ceramics, glass and spoons. 

An article on English (15th century) medieval furniture in Le Meuble Medieval.

Many of furniture examples were taken from auction pieces of Sotheby's, Aguttes SVV or Prunier. These unknown examples (to me) would have been otherwise 'hidden' away in forgotten catalogues. For that alone I would already recommend the book. There are a few downsides for this book. Some furniture types are hardly mentioned, such as the common north/mid-German pointed armoires (Giebelschränk). Whereas the number of photos is exceptionally large, the bibliography is very short and mostly concerns manuscript illuminations. 

The armoire of Noyon is featured in both books with many photos, 

but the book by Cecile Lagane also shows its construction scheme.

Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale by Cecile Lagane is a bit harder to digest, but it is a trove of information, especially on furniture of the early medieval times, such as the beds of the Anglo-Saxons, Franks and Vikings. The book connects the surviving examples from the early and full medieval period with descriptions in medieval literature and art. It contains a dictionary of furniture items in different languages (like the Multilingual medieval furniture dictionary posts 1 and post 2), and it is lavisly illustrated with photos and construction schematics as well. The book meticulously covers all aspects of each furniture type, from wood, iron and polychrome colouring to its use. This book contains a large bibliography, in which I already found some other interesting furniture literature. 

Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale is more than just photos (there are 173 in this book), it also contains discussions on the furniture, schematics, and tables listing examples of similar furniture (on this page the Noyon armoire type III).

• Georges Bernage. 2025. Le Meuble Medieval - ustensiles et ceramiques de 500 a 1500. Editions Heimdal, St Martin-des-Entrées, France. ISBN 9782840486312. 192 pages, 39 Euro.
• Cecile Lagane. 2023. Meubles et Ameublements Medievaux en Europe Occidentale - VIe-XIIIe siecle. Serie Archeologie & Culture. Presses Universitaires de Rennes (PUR), Rennes, France. ISBN 9782753593749. 226 pages, 34 Euro. 

Updated medieval furniture books and articles page

I have updated the sources page for books and articles on medieval furniture; in fact I created a new separate page for it. We have acquired quite some information over the years on medieval furniture, in such a way that the original list on the 'Sources - books' page more than quadrupled. The list has become quite long and is now ordered alphabetically on the first author name. Most of the items are in English, French or German language. A few are in Dutch, Italian, Spanish or Scandinavian language. Some of the books and articles have annotations on the contents. I hope this may be of help to you to see if a book or article is worth reading.

One of our latest acquisitions is the book 'Corpus der Mittelalterlichen Holzskulptur und Tafelmalerei in Schleswig-Holstein - Band 4' by Uwe Albrecht (Ludwig Verlag, Kiel, Germany). I have included some furniture pieces from this book as an extra in this post.

Side, front and bookshelf of a15th century oak lectern from the Pfarrkirche in Schobüll. The backside is connected by a mortise joint, while the front of the lectern is nailed. Green paint added in the 19th/20th century. Height 35 cm, width 33 cm, and depth 29 cm.

Side and back view of a late 15th century lectern from the St. Nicolai church in Uelvesbüll where it resides on the altar. The lectern made from oak and painted in red, green and gilded parts.  The construction is relatively simple with mortises, while the rail to hold the book is nailed. Height 26 cm, width 53.5 cm, depth 30 cm. Note that the horizontal rail has some V-cuts to provide light for the pattern.

Note that many of the articles, and even some of the books, can be found on internet where they can be read and/or downloaded. The doi (digital object identifier) is a permanent link to such a source. 

Oak sacristy cabinet of around 1500 in the choir of the St. Andreas church in Haddeby (Hedeby). The outside was painted blue, but now mostly the black underpaint remains. The cabinet has two doors which are reinforced with iron strips, and stands on the socalled 'kufen' that protrude 14 cm from the wall. The inside of the cabinet has 4 parts, one of which can be locked separately. The upper door used to have two locks, the lower door one. The upper door is painted on the inside with an image of Christ in misery. The nails (of the iron strips) are bent on the inside of the door and hammered back. Although the cabinet now is fixed inside the wall, the presence of the kufen indicates that it used to be a free-standing armoire. Height 225 cm, width 95 cm, depth 50 cm.

 

Oak sacristy armoire in the choir of the St. Clemens church in Nebel auf Amrum. The armoire likely dates from 1486. Height 176 cm, width 88 cm, depth 51 cm. Upper door 62 cm height, 47.5 cm width; lower door 88 cm height, 47.5 cm width. Back, side and front parts made from vertical boards, connected with dowels. Thickness of the boards is 3.5 cm. The armoire has two doors, each with one lock. Behind the upper door another iron grilled door with lock exists. The lower part has 2 shelves, the upper part none. The iron bands are painted black, the wood on the outside blue. The inside of the doors are painted with a Christ in misery (above) and a resting Christ (below).

A late medieval woodwork book

Recently I bought an antique set of seven 'books' on 'Die Zimmergotik in Deutsch Tirol [late medieval woodwork in Tirol] by Franz Paukert. They were published between 1890 to 1903 and contain many superb engravings on the late medieval woodwork and furniture from Italian and Austrian Tirol. Each of the books contain 32 engraved plates of around A3 size and a similar sized booklet of a few pages containing the descriptions. The engravings are printed in a reddish-brown colour, black, and even some are printed in green ink. My set of books is not complete, a few plates are missing, and some others are damaged, but this caused the lot to be at an affordable price. What makes this book so interesting is that the engravings are very detailed, some engravings focus even on details of the construction. Furthermore, the engravings show a rule, so you actually have the dimensions of the woodwork.

 The seven books contain 32 loose printed engravings and a thin booklet with the descriptions.

Though many plates show furniture pieces, most of the plates concern other carved woodwork, like doors, wooden panelling, ceilings, etc. Also the ironwork on the woodwork is focussed on several plates: hinges, locks, door knockers. Also a few designs of medieval wall drawings are shown. To give you an idea of the furniture included in the book, some of the plates are given below with their original (translated) comments.  As my scanner has an A4 limit, each plate consists of two scans are 'glued' together.

Folding chairs from Campan Castle (Bressanone, Italy) and Bolzano (Italy). Movable gothic seating has hardly come across us in Tyrol. The depicted examples present a form that has hardly been used at least in the German part of the country. Its form has been borrowed from the late Gothic stock of Italian decorative art. Both armchairs are made of beech wood and almost only differ from one another in the cross-section of the ribs.

Despite the extremely heavy shapes, this object is not uninteresting because of its structure. The basic ornaments of the crenellated canopy are very lively in the drawing and emphasized in colour. Burg Reifenstein, Campo di Trens, Italy.

The whole lattice, consisting of four rectangular parts with a common pointed arch, is mainly formed of openwork tracery. The fillings are red, yellow or blue, while the carved frames are painted green. Burg Reifenstein, Campo di Trens, Italy.

Tratzberg also conveyed a gothic light woman - a unique item for this country - to the present. The engravings reproduce the colour-coded model in front and side views to such an extent that the composition clearly can be recognized. Schloss Tratzberg, Jenbach, Austria.

In this piece we encounter a very attractive achievement of gothic small art. The wood of the stone pine, which is used almost everywhere in Tyrol, served as material for the work. The background of the freely treated ornaments as well as that underlaid with the tracery fillings is blue. All of the rods of the epiglottis resemble cords made of dark and light wires. It's just a shame that the work suffered more than it gained from a restoration that was carried out decades ago. A newer, much too low base and completely nonsensical, admittedly neglected elements on the crenellated wreath today spoil the impression of the whole cabinet.

Chair from Tirol castle near Merano (Italy). In his art history of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Atz describes this piece of furniture as one of the oldest chairs in the country. At present, the chair shown has a praying desk in front, which, on closer inspection, reveals itself to be a new addition. The ornament on the rear wall of the chair is engraved, the decoration on the crown is flat-cut. The two side walls show different contours. The only thing to note about the construction of the furniture, which can be seen in full from the drawing, is that the seat can be uplifted.

The table comes from Burgeis in the upper Vintschgau and has only recently been found in the collection of the Merano Museum Association, along with several wood carvings and carpentry work of religious origin. It is well preserved and only supplemented in some places. 

 

Chest from the collection of the antiquarian Alois Ueberbacher in Bolzano, Italy. The chest is of particular interest, taken from the daily changing material of its owner: the one due to the charm of the varied decoration, this one due to the way the tracery is treated. 

Of what the Fugger room holds in the form of movable household items, one is easily identified as a cabinet holding a wash basin.Schloss Trazberg, Jenbach, Austria.

The romanesque chests in Sion, Switzerland

The medieval chests room at Musée d'histoire du Valais , Sion

A few things make the collection of chests at the Musèe d'histoire du Valais, in Sion, Switzerland, quite exceptional. Very old and very well preserved, these  "coffres" were made in XII-XIII centuries (the age has been determined mainly by dendrochronology and radiocarbon methods) and, since the construction of the Valère Basilica (XIV-XVth), they have been used as church furnishing.
The six chests on display are part of a much larger group (about twenty, including a few dug out from logs), most of which built for the same purpose: storage of liturgical objects, cloths, books, documents, valuables. Their history is well described in the book "Coffres et coffrets du moyen age", by Claude Veuillet and Corinne Charles,2012 (two volumes), published by Musées cantonaux du Valais, Sion, ISBN 978-2-88426-070-1.

We are going to examine here some details showing how these chests are made, how the parts are joined together,  and take a look to the ironware.

First, the so called "Coffre Ave Maria", shown in foreground at the top of this page, and in detail below.

A rich architectural ornamentation and high-relief carving are distinctive of this chest.

The four sides and the lid are made of single walnut boards.

Measurements : cm 102(H)x206(W)x67(D).

The 25mm thick front (horizontal) board is pinned into the legs by a tenon/tongue (single rabbet) and mortise/groove (in the leg). This is possible because the leg is much thicker than the front board, as the drawing below shows :

The front-left corner viewn in section from above. Outside, the leg and the panels are flush each other. Note that the big nails are just "covers".

The bottom is housed in a groove, all around the perimeter :

Bottom. View from below. Looks like a one-piece board. The groove runs all around the perimeter; legs are also grooved. The iron strap is a later addition. Two reinforcement straps were also added in the front, and removed during the restoration in recent years. 

  

The beautifully carved legs are left unfinished in the back side.

View from the back. Two hinges are present.

The lid and the locking system.

A frame is nailed all around the lid.

"AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA" - The purpose of the other letters (AB-CD-O(?)E) is unknown.

Chisels, knives and gouges. These toolmarks (after 800 years !) help figure out how the chip carving has been made.

The second chest is totally different :

This is made from softwood. Very long, 331 cm x 104(H) x 89,5(D), it'a double chest, with two separate lids and six legs. The ornamentation is similar in style to the "coffre Ave Maria" (arches and columns), but it is obtained by a second layer superimposed on the one below. The joinery is similar to all the other chests: tongue and groove.

The bottom is nailed to the sides. Only the end grain sides (short sides of the bottom) are housed in grooves .

One of the four hinges and, below, a view of the back.

Third: the "Coffre aux gueules de félin". Cat's (or feline's) heads are sculpded in the columns at the base of the legs, hence the name. Unfortunately this picture suffers from bad lighting (and other defects), but gives you the idea:

This chest is taller than the others: 121(H) x 212(L) x 99(D).

Made of larch (legs)  and spruce (the rest). All the four legs are sculpted in this case, and carved decorations can be seen in the four sides. No side is left rough. The lid is a totally different type, compared to the previous two:

Two strong side-battens (carved) hold together the planks of the lid...

... and provide hinging by two wooden pins. Note that the back, pictured here, is also carved, and colored.

The four perimetral panels are joined to the legs, but this time in recessed position, not flush.

Fourth: "Coffre aux graffiti":
 

A mixture of experimental/imaginative carving has been carried out here. The wood is swiss pine (Pinus cembra), a favourite of sculptors of all ages for its fine texture and its nice natural shine.

Some more photos and mixed details:

A few small boxes (coffrets) are also on display (Through a glass). Above : XV century, northern France .

A different type of strap hinges, and a broad walnut board used for the back (no cheap second-choice wood).

Coffre Saint Sébastien.

Taking a close look to all the artifacts in exibition, what is surprising is the state of conservation of most of them. Aside from some worm holes and some worn or burnt parts, they look impressively "clean". No sign of improper treatment though, like sanding or similar.

All the chests have been restored by Claude Veuillet not many years ago. Unfortunately in his book, full of informations as it is (and really worth having), no description is given about the process of restoration. It would have been very interesting to see them taken apart, and compare these almost millenial pieces of wood before and after.
Sion is a small town in the middle of a valley. Surrouned by mountains it's not as easy to reach as Zurich or Bern, but, for those who are fascinated by romanesque style, and medieval woodwork in general, the content of this small museum is a treasure.