{
    "system": "GoGuides Verified Text",
    "api_version": "verified-text-v1",
    "status": "ok",
    "response_type": "verified_text_record",
    "source_key": "britannica_1911",
    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
    "license_code": "public_domain",
    "attribution": null,
    "license_url": null,
    "chunk_id": "1911:furniss:b6d58009f681",
    "title": "FURNISS",
    "section": null,
    "hash_alg": "sha256",
    "hash_sha256": "5f82c439b18e88731761296b2b5467def841239a0109a16e140bc1cba2d5b37c",
    "normalizer": {
        "name": "ggnorm",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    "verified_text": "furniss, harry (1854- ), british caricaturist and illustrator, was born at wexford, ireland, of english and scottish parents. he was educated in dublin, and in his schooldays edited a _schoolboy's punch_ in close imitation of the original. he came to london when he was nineteen, and began to draw for the illustrated papers, being for some years a regular contributor to the _illustrated london news_. his first drawing in _punch_ appeared in 1880, and he joined its staff in 1884. he illustrated lucy's \"diary of toby, m.p.,\" in _punch_, where his political caricatures became a popular feature. among his other successes were a series of \"puzzle heads,\" and his annual \"royal academy guy'd.\" in _royal academy antics_ (1890) he published a volume of caricatures of the work of leading artists. he resigned from the staff of _punch_ in 1894, produced for a short time a weekly comic paper _lika joko_, and in 1898 began a humorous monthly, _fair game_; but these were short-lived. among the numerous books he illustrated were james payn's _talk of the town_, lewis carroll's _sylvie and bruno_, gilbert a beckett's _comic blackstone_, g.e. farrow's _wallypug book_, and his own novel, _poverty bay_ (1905). _our joe, his great fight_ (1903), was a collection of original cartoons. his volume of reminiscences, _confessions of a caricaturist_ (1901), was followed by _harry furniss at home_ (1904). in 1905 he published _how to draw in pen and ink_, and produced the first number of _harry furniss's christmas annual_. furniture (from \"furnish,\" fr. _fournir_), a general term of obscure origin, used to describe the chattels and fittings required to adapt houses and other buildings for use. wood, ivory, precious stones, bronze, silver and gold have been used from the most ancient times in the construction or for the decoration of furniture. the kinds of objects required for furniture have varied according to the changes of manners and customs, as well as with reference to the materials at the command of the workman, in different climates and countries. of really ancient furniture there are very few surviving examples, partly by reason of the perishable materials of which it was usually constructed; and partly because, however great may have been the splendour of egypt, however consummate the taste of greece, however luxurious the life of rome, the number of household appliances was very limited. the chair, the couch, the table, the bed, were virtually the entire furniture of early peoples, whatever the degree of their civilization, and so they remained until the close of what are known in european history as the middle ages. during the long empire-strewn centuries which intervened between the lapse of egypt and the obliteration of babylon, the extinction of greece and the dismemberment of rome and the great awakening of the renaissance, household comfort developed but little. the ptolemies were as well lodged as the plantagenets, and peoples who spent their lives in the open air, going to bed in the early hours of darkness, and rising as soon as it was light, needed but little household furniture. indoor life and the growth of sedentary habits exercised a powerful influence upon the development of furniture. from being splendid, or at least massive, and exceedingly sparse and costly, it gradually became light, plentiful and cheap. in the ancient civilizations, as in the periods when our own was slowly growing, household plenishings, save in the rudest and most elementary forms, were the privilege of the great--no person of mean degree could have obtained, or would have dared to use if he could, what is now the commonest object in every house, the chair (q.v.). sparse examples of the furniture of egypt, nineveh, greece and rome are to be found in museums; but our chief sources of information are mural and sepulchral paintings and sculptures. the egyptians used wooden furniture carved and gilded, covered with splendid textiles, and supported upon the legs of wild animals; they employed chests and coffers as receptacles for clothes, valuables and small objects generally. wild animals and beasts of the chase were carved upon the furniture of nineveh also; the lion, the bull and the ram were especially characteristic. the assyrians were magnificent in their household appointments; their tables and couches were inlaid with ivory and precious metals. cedar and ebony were much used by these great eastern peoples, and it is probable that they were familiar with rosewood, walnut and teak. solomon's bed was of cedar of lebanon. greek furniture was essentially oriental in form; the more sumptuous varieties were of bronze, damascened with gold and silver. the romans employed greek artists and workmen and absorbed or adapted many of their mobiliary fashions, especially in chairs and couches. the roman tables were of splendid marbles or rare woods. in the later ages of the empire, in rome and afterwards in constantinople, gold and silver were plentifully used in furniture; such indeed was the abundance of these precious metals that even cooking utensils and common domestic vessels were made of them. the architectural features so prominent in much of the medieval furniture begin in these byzantine and late roman thrones and other seats. these features became paramount as pointed architecture became general in europe, and scarcely less so during the renaissance. most of the medieval furniture, chests, seats, trays, &c., of italian make were richly gilt and painted. in northern europe carved oak was more generally used. state seats in feudal halls were benches with ends carved in tracery, backs panelled or hung with cloths (called cloths of estate), and canopies projecting above. bedsteads were square frames, the testers of panelled wood, resting on carved posts. chests of oak carved with panels of tracery, or of italian cypress (when they could be imported), were used to hold and to carry clothes, tapestries, &c., to distant castles and manor houses; for house furniture, owing to its scarcity and cost, had to be moved from place to place. copes and other ecclesiastical vestments were kept in chests with ornamental lock plates and iron hinges. the splendour of most feudal houses depended on pictorial tapestries which could be packed and carried from place to place. wardrobes were rooms fitted for the reception of dresses, as well as for spices and other valuable stores. excellent carving in relief was executed on caskets, which were of wood or of ivory, with painting and gilding, and decorated with delicate hinge and lock metal-work. the general subjects of sculpture were taken from legends of the saints or from metrical romances. renaissance art made a great change in architecture, and this change was exemplified in furniture. cabinets (q.v.) and panelling took the outlines of palaces and temples. in florence, rome, venice, milan and other capitals of italy, sumptuous cabinets, tables, chairs, chests, &c., were made to the orders of the native princes. vasari (_lives of painters_) speaks of scientific diagrams and mathematical problems illustrated in costly materials, by the best artists of the day, on furniture made for the medici family. the great extent of the rule of charles v. helped to give a uniform training to artists from various countries resorting to italy, so that cabinets, &c., which were made in vast numbers in spain, flanders and germany, can hardly be distinguished from those executed in italy. francis i. and henry viii. encouraged the revived arts in their respective dominions. _pietra dura_, or inlay of hard pebbles, agate, lapis lazuli, and other stones, ivory carved and inlaid, carved and gilt wood, marquetry or veneering with thin woods, tortoise-shell, brass, &c., were used in making sumptuous furniture during the first period of the renaissance. subjects of carving or relief were generally drawn from the theological and cardinal virtues, from classical mythology, from the seasons, months, &c. carved altarpieces and woodwork in churches partook of the change in style. the great period of furniture in almost every country was, however, unquestionably the 18th century. that century saw many extravagances in this, as in other forms of art, but on the whole it saw the richest _floraison_ of taste, and the widest sense of invention. this is the more remarkable since the furniture of the 17th century has often been criticized as heavy and coarse. the criticism is only partly justified. throughout the first three-quarters of the period between the accession of james i. and that of queen anne, massiveness and solidity were the distinguishing characteristics of all work. towards the reign of james",
    "source_url": "https://archive.org/details/EB1911WMF",
    "observed_at": "2026-02-08 18:42:54",
    "integrity": {
        "hash_check": "match",
        "hash_scope": "full_normalized_text",
        "computed_sha256": "5f82c439b18e88731761296b2b5467def841239a0109a16e140bc1cba2d5b37c"
    },
    "machine_use": {
        "read": true,
        "cite": true,
        "decision": "verified_public_domain_text"
    },
    "goguides_data_license": "https://www.goguides.com/data-license",
    "goguides_data_license_version": "2.0",
    "documentation": {
        "white_paper_url": "https://www.goguides.com/white-paper.php",
        "pdf_url": "https://www.goguides.com/whitepapers/goguides-ai-source-clearance-white-paper.pdf"
    }
}