Editing Furniture (section)

=== Antiquity ===
{{Main|Ancient furniture}}

[[Ancient furniture]] has been excavated from the 8th-century BCE [[Phrygians|Phrygian]] [[tumulus]], the Midas Mound, in [[Gordion Furniture and Wooden Artifacts|Gordion]], [[Turkey]]. Pieces found here include [[table (furniture)|tables]] and inlaid serving stands. There are also surviving works from the 9th–8th-century BCE [[Assyria]]n palace of [[Nimrud]]. The earliest surviving carpet, the [[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]] Carpet was discovered in a frozen tomb in [[Siberia]] and has been dated between the 6th and 3rd century BCE.

====Ancient Egypt====
{{main|Art of ancient Egypt#Furniture}}
Civilization in [[ancient Egypt]] began with the clearance and irrigation of land along the banks of the [[River Nile]],{{sfn|Roebuck|1966|p=51}} which began in about 6000 BCE. By that time, society in the [[Nile Valley]] was already engaged in organized agriculture and the construction of large buildings.<ref name="Redford 6">Redford, Donald B. ''Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times.'' (Princeton: University Press, 1992), p. 6.</ref>  At this period, Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and also constructing large buildings. [[Mortar (masonry)|Mortar]] was in use by around 4000 BCE The inhabitants of the Nile Valley and delta were self-sufficient and were raising barley and [[emmer]] (an early variety of wheat) and stored it in pits lined with reed mats.{{sfn|Roebuck|1966|p=52}} They raised cattle, goats and pigs and they wove linens and baskets.{{sfn|Roebuck|1966|p=52}} Evidence of furniture from the [[Predynastic Egypt|predynastic period]] is scarce, but samples from [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]] tombs indicate an already advanced use of furnishings in the houses of the age.{{sfn|Metropolitan Museum of Art|1999|p=117}}

During the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Dynastic Period]], which began in around 3200 BCE, Egyptian art developed significantly, and this included furniture design.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=1}} Egyptian furniture was primarily constructed using [[wood]], but other materials were sometimes used, such as [[leather]],{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=14}} and pieces were often adorned with gold, silver, ivory and ebony, for decoration.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=14}} Wood found in Egypt was not suitable for furniture construction, so it had to be imported into the country from other places,{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=1}} particularly [[Phoenicia]].{{sfn|Gadalla|2007|p=243}} The scarcity of wood necessitated innovation in construction techniques. The use of [[scarf joint]]s to join two shorter pieces together and form a longer beam was one example of this,{{sfn|Smardzewski|2015|pp=13–14}} as well as construction of [[Wood veneer|veneers]] in which low quality cheap wood was used as the main building material, with a thin layer of expensive wood on the surface.{{sfn|Smardzewski|2015|p=14}}

The earliest used seating furniture in the dynastic period was the [[stool (seat)|stool]], which was used throughout Egyptian society, from the royal family down to ordinary citizens.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=15}} Various different designs were used, including stools with four vertical legs, and others with crossed splayed legs; almost all had rectangular seats, however.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=15}} Examples include the workman's stool, a simple three legged structure with a concave seat, designed for comfort during labour,{{sfn|Litchfield|2011|p=6}} and the much more ornate folding stool, with crossed folding legs,{{sfn|Litchfield|2011|pp=6–7}} which were decorated with carved duck heads and ivory,{{sfn|Litchfield|2011|pp=6–7}} and had hinges made of [[bronze]].{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=15}} Full [[chair]]s were much rarer in early Egypt, being limited to only wealthy and high ranking people, and seen as a status symbol; they did not reach ordinary households until the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th dynasty]].{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=17}} Early examples were formed by adding a straight back to a stool, while later chairs had an inclined back.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=17}} Other furniture types in ancient Egypt include tables, which are heavily represented in art, but almost nonexistent as preserved items – perhaps because they were placed outside tombs rather than within,{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=21}} as well as beds and storage chests.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=22}}{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=24}}
<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px">
Stool with woven seat MET 14.10.3 view 4.jpg|Stool with woven seat; 1991–1450 BC; wood & reed; height: 13&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jewelry chest of Sithathoryunet MET DP330328.jpg|Jewelry chest of Sithathoryunet; 1887–1813 BC; ebony, ivory, gold, carnelian, blue faience and silver; height: 36.7&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hatnefer's Chair MET 21M CAT047R4 (cropped).jpg|Chair of [[Hatnefer]]; 1492–1473&nbsp;BC; boxwood, cypress, ebony & linen cord; height: 53&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Egyptian Museum 000 (37).jpg|The ''Throne of [[Tutankhamun]]''; 1336–1327 BC; wood covered with sheets of gold, silver, [[semi-precious stone|semi-precious]] and other stones, faience, glass and bronze; height: 1&nbsp;m; [[Egyptian Museum]] (Cairo)
</gallery>

====Ancient Greece====
[[File:Three illustrations of ancient Greek chairs, each being notated with a letter. a, b-klismos, and c-chair.jpg|thumb|275px|Three illustrations of ancient Greek chairs, each being notated with a letter: a, b-klismos, and c-chair]]
Historical knowledge of Greek furniture is derived from various sources, including [[Greek literature|literature]], [[terracotta]], sculptures, statuettes, and painted vases.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=39}} Some pieces survive to this day, primarily those constructed from metals, including [[bronze]], or marble.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=39}} Wood was an important and common material in Greek furniture, both domestic and imported.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=39}} A common technique was to construct the main sections of the furniture with cheap solid wood, then apply a veneer using an expensive wood, such as maple or ebony.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=39}} Greek furniture construction also made use of [[dowels]] and [[Mortise and tenon|tenons]] for joining the wooden parts of a piece together.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=39}} Wood was shaped by carving, steam treatment, and the lathe, and furniture is known to have been decorated with ivory, tortoise shell, glass, [[gold]] or other precious materials.{{sfn|Richter|1966|p=125}}

The modern word "[[throne]]" is derived from the ancient Greek ''thronos'' (Greek singular: θρόνος), which was a seat designated for deities or individuals of high status/hierarchy or honor.{{sfn|Richter|1966|p=13}} The colossal chryselephantine [[statue of Zeus at Olympia]], constructed by [[Phidias]] and lost in antiquity, featured the god Zeus seated on an elaborate throne, which was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony and ivory, according to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]].{{sfn|Richter|1966|pp=14; NH 5.11.2ff}} Other Greek seats included the ''[[klismos]]'', an elegant Greek chair with a curved backrest and legs whose form was copied by the Romans and is now part of the vocabulary of furniture design,<ref>Linda Maria Gigante, "Funerary Art," in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'', Vol. 1, ed. Michael Gagarin and [[Elaine Fantham]] (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 246.</ref> the backless stool ([[diphros]]), which existed in most Greek [[homes]],<ref>{{cite book |first1=E. |last1=Guhl |first2=W. |last2=Koner |title=Everyday Life in Greek and Roman Times |location=New York |publisher=Crescent |date=1989 |page=133}}</ref> and folding stool.{{sfn|Wanscher|1980|p=83}} The [[Klinai|kline]], used from the late seventh century BCE,<ref>Simpson, 253.{{full citation needed|date=July 2020}}</ref> was a multipurpose piece used as a [[bed]], but also as a [[Couch|sofa]] and for reclining during meals.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=43}} It was rectangular and supported on four legs, two of which could be longer than the other, providing support for an armrest or headboard.<ref>Andrianou, 36.{{full citation needed|date=July 2020}}</ref> Mattresses, rugs, and blankets may have been used, but there is no evidence for sheets.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=43}}

In general, Greek tables were low and often appear in depictions alongside ''klinai''.{{sfn|Richter|1966|p=63}} The most common type of Greek table had a rectangular top supported on three legs, although numerous configurations exist, including trapezoid and circular.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=42}} Tables in ancient Greece were used mostly for dining purposes – in depictions of banquets, it appears as though each participant would have used a single table, rather than a collective use of a larger piece.{{sfn|Richter|1966|p=66}} Tables also figured prominently in religious contexts, as indicated in vase paintings, for example, the wine vessel associated with Dionysus, dating to around 450 BCE and now housed at the [[Art Institute of Chicago]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Chicago Painter |title=Stamnos (Mixing Jar) |url= http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/177 |website=Art Institute of Chicago}}</ref> [[Chest]]s were used for storage of clothes and personal items and were usually rectangular with hinged lids.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=42}} Chests depicted in terracotta show elaborate patterns and design, including the [[Greek fret]].{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=43}}

<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px">
Bronze foot in the form of a sphinx MET 2000.660.jpg|Foot in the form of a sphinx; circa 600 BC; bronze; overall: 27.6 x 20.3 x 16.5&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)

Bronze rod tripod stand MET DT4174.jpg|Rod tripod stand; early 6th century BC; bronze; overall: 75.2 x 44.5&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Athenian red-figure pelike, found in Gela, 5th c BC, slave boy, AshmoleanM, AN 1972.268, 142536.jpg|[[Pelike]] which depicts a boy carrying furniture for a symposium (drinking party), in the [[Ashmolean Museum]] ([[Oxford]], UK)

Pentelic Marble Funerary Stele of Hegeso, Found in Kerameikos, Athens, 410-400 BC (28387059682).jpg|Funerary stele in which appears somebody staying on a ''[[klismos]]'', from circa 410–400 BC, in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]] ([[Athens]], Greece)
</gallery>

====Ancient Rome====
Roman furniture was based heavily on Greek furniture, in style and construction. Rome gradually superseded Greece as the foremost culture of Europe, leading eventually to Greece becoming a province of Rome in 146 BC. Rome thus took over production and distribution of Greek furniture, and the boundary between the two is blurred. The Romans did have some limited innovation outside of Greek influence, and styles distinctly their own.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=61}}

Roman furniture was constructed principally using wood, metal and stone, with marble and limestone used for outside furniture. Very little wooden furniture survives intact, but there is evidence that a variety of woods were used, including maple, citron, beech, [[oak]], and holly. Some imported wood such as satinwood was used for decoration. The most commonly used metal was bronze, of which numerous examples have survived, for example, headrests for couches and metal stools. Similar to the Greeks, [[Demography of the Roman Empire|Romans]] used tenons, dowels, nails, and glue to join wooden pieces together, and also practised veneering.{{sfn|Blakemore|2006|p=61}}

The 1738 and 1748 excavations of [[Herculaneum]] and [[Pompeii]] revealed Roman furniture, preserved in the ashes of the AD 79 [[Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79|eruption of Vesuvius]].

<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px">
Handbook of ornament; a grammar of art, industrial and architectural designing in all its branches, for practical as well as theoretical use (1900) (14804265373).jpg|Illustration of Roman furniture details, from 1900, very similar with [[Empire style]] furniture
Clevelandart 1995.10.jpg|Tripod base; circa 100 BC; bronze; overall: 77 x 32.3 x 28&nbsp;cm; [[Cleveland Museum of Art]] ([[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], USA)
Forziere con sacrificio a giove, I secolo dc, legno, ferro e bronzo, con ageminature, dalla casa di trittolemo a pompei (napoli, man) 01.jpg|Treasure chest with a sacrifice of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] depicted on it; 1st century AD; wood, iron and bronze, with ageminature; from [[Pompeii]]; [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples|Naples National Archaeological Museum]] ([[Naples]], Italy)
Couch and footstool with bone carvings and glass inlays MET DP138722.jpg|Couch and footstool with bone carvings and glass inlays; 1st–2nd century AD; wood, bone and glass; couch: 105.4 × 76.2 × 214.6&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
</gallery>

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