7:42 PM
TAIN
Modern home interiors are a reflection of the lifestyle of people. Colors also play a vital role in enhancing the interiors of your home. Not only they enhance the interiors, but color schemes of your home also act upon your instinctive aspects. The colors are what set the theme of the ambiance of your home, in terms of the interior decoration. Therefore, you should select the color carefully. You can take the help of interior decorators and paint manufactures to stay on the right track.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Furniture time-travelogue 3: Rome
Now Rome, unlike Greece, was not only prolific in its furniture building but also apparently diligent about preservation. But then what else would you expect from nearly the first empire builders in the history of the world.
The Greek style is very strongly reflected in Roman furniture but with the additional embellishment of bronze and stone. The ornamentation on this furniture generally consisted of vegetable and animal motifs. With time the rigidity of the furniture relaxed towards more flowing lines and the ever-present Greek influence became more pronounced.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the folding chairs and the stool make an appearance in Roman history too, except the Romans tended to use it as a chair and footstool combination, the footstool usually being fashioned out of bronze. However the Roman besellium had cylindrical legs and lateral arm supports but no back rest (think Julius Caesar in Asterix) making them extremely uncomfortable to sit on. By contrast there is evidence of stone chairs with a curved back rest that were so perfect technically that were, paradoxically, very comfortable.
However, the most characteristic piece on Roman furniture remains richly decorated, portable, folding stool with double curved feet called the curule which was mainly used for dignitaries.
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| A bas relief showing the Roman curule |
Tables were also a popular item of furniture and there is reason to believe that the three-legged wall leaning console originated then as also we see the first signs of a large serving table often with a marble top.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Furniture time-travelogue 2: Greece
The Greeks have long since been acknowledged as some of the greatest architects of the world. It’s only natural that their furniture should also be equally spectacular. However unfortunately there are few examples of ancient Greek furniture existing that could give us a clear picture of their craftsmanship in that area. But what we do have is sufficient for us to glean some information from it.
In the construction of their furniture the Greeks basically used indigenous wood like cedar, pine, cypress etc and much like the Egyptians their work was inlaid with other precious materials like marble and metal.
Classic Greek furniture, with its curves, also had a novel delicacy as compared to any other preceding period. Their sinuous form with the sharp dip of the back is also evidence of their understanding of and an attempt to adapt to the human body. In this regard the light-weight klismos chairs created circa 5th century BC were extremely popular, especially as evidenced by their frequent appearance on Greek period property and bas relief. Their slender legs swept outward as well as inward giving them not just their flowing shape but also stability. Since then the klismos chairs have made several appearances in furniture fashion around the world from France to England and even America.
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| The klismos chair |
Another popular Greek design was the diphros – backless and with scissor shaped curved legs reminiscent of the Egyptian design. These were often also foldable. The Greeks also seem to have a found a wide use for tables, unlike the Egyptians, though their tables also remained compact and portable, scattered around corners in their homes, used to hold food and drinks.
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| A representation of the diphros |
Interestingly, Greek couches apart from their rather decorative legs were also fairly simple in structure. Consisting of a rectangular frame for the seat and the back, the legs were often turned outward or were built like Greek pillars and decorated with classic motifs. From these couches evolved the ever-popular triclinium that also became tremendously popular with the Romans. In fact various versions of it are visible even today.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Furniture time- travelogue: Egypt
It was a well-travelled friend of mine who set me on this path. It was on one of my recent visits to his house that I realised that his house increasingly resembled a ‘curiosities of the world’ museum more than anything else. But the result, rather than being a mess, was a rather eclectic thing of beauty. So if you’re somebody who travels the world a lot or knows people who do, the next time, instead of chocolates ask them to pick up something that truly reflects the culture of the place they’re visiting. And please try to remember that culture isn’t something that usually comes in a bottle! Or if you’d like to attempt something more suited to your personality wherever you live we have a quick dose of background info for you!
One of the oldest and richest cultures in the world, it’s lucky indeed for us that Egyptians were masters of preservation. Thanks to that we have live snapshots of Egyptian culture available to us even today. Lets’s take furniture for instance. It is apparent from a study of Egyptian cultural history that furniture in ancient Egypt was an indication as well as a consequence of social standing. But even the rich and the powerful didn’t pack their rooms with furniture. They were, however, comfortable and well-made, and a lot of it consisted of chairs. Some of the folding variety like the scissor and the X-shaped chairs have been replicated and remained popular through centuries. It wouldn't, in fact, be far off the mark to say that most skills known to modern furniture makers were already to known to those Egyptian craftsmen of yore.
The bed otherwise was a simple rectangular frame interwoven with leather thongs. Since Egyptians weren’t really into pillows their headrests sport some interesting features. Along with being portable they were usually made of wood, iron or ivory and in some special cases were covered with linen making them only marginally more comfortable! The headrests were usually a little higher than the rest of the bed to facilitate breathing and also to protect their complicated hairstyles!
We start this slightly peculiar travelogue/ time travel journey with Egypt ... feel free to join in.
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| Egyptian cross-legged stool |
Their tables were made in varying sizes not so much to accommodate the height of the person but the fact that Egyptians were accustomed to sitting both on floors as well as chairs.
A fascinating peculiarity of their furniture design is the clear influence of nature, particularly animals. So if you thought only Europe had a thing for claws, think again! The legs of Egyptian furniture most often were slender and curved or shaped like claws or even hooves. Even the legs of their beds show a clear influence of cats, gazelles and sometimes even bulls and lions!
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| Egyptian bed |
Another intriguing thing about Egyptian furniture was the way they used wood. Since most of the wood indigenously available in Egypt was unsuitable for furniture making and had to be imported from the neighbouring countries their carpenters and craftsmen learned how to make the best use of the wood with barely any wastage!
We could certainly learn a lesson or two there!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Taj Was Not Built In A Day!
One of the wonders of the world and the spectacular mausoleum that has been constructed in the year, 1654 by emperor Shah Jahan stands as a magnificent triumph of Indian architectural traits. The Taj Mahal, rendered by the Mughals is a splendid expression of architectural nuances of Indian architects. The monument in its entirety is the result of the grand total of all the efforts put meticulously by the expert artists of the age. 22,000 laborers lent their skills and sweat into construction of the mausoleum.
