Furniture

Seats And Tables

Among all the peoples that have invented and used them, seats have always been at the peak of cabinetmaking; the throne , for instance, is the ultimate armchair .

In Crete the basic types of seat from the medieval period onwards were the armchair , the chair and the sofa , established in accordance with Byzantine 11th- and 12th-century designs and transmitted down the generations to the early 20th century.

The use of these three types of furniture was socially circumscribed, for the reasons set out below.

The armchair is considered a luxury item used exclusively by the master of the house and offered to distinguished visitors on special occasions. This distinction may well have its origins in the reservation of the throne to the monarch. There is never more than one armchair in a house.

The chair is used exclusively by the men of the family and male visitors. The chair is a only simple seat with a back, but its direct relationship to the armchair means that it too is reserved for male use in patriarchal societies.

The sofa is a comfortable piece of furniture decorated with special woven fabrics and placed in a prominent position in the main room of the house. It is used exclusively by women and children. Its upholstered seat makes it comfortable for long hours of women’s work and so it has been established as a piece of furniture for female use. The long living-room table is placed opposite the sofa, so at family or friendly gatherings the women sit on the sofa, facing the men sitting in the chairs and armchair.

The other types of seats, the small chairs are much simpler and usually made by the head of the family, whether farmer, shepherd or artisan. They do not contain elements of professional cabinetmaking and the shape is determined by the knowledge, skill and economic environment of the amateur furniture-maker. They include

and stools made of boards, sections of tree trunk and woven plant stems. Tiny footstools also fall into this category. Rough benches were put together from planks supported by stools, when necessary for large gatherings.

Due to the fact that seats were intended for everyday use, usually in large families, they did not last long and thus few examples have survived from the past 200 years.

Tables were rarely found in Crete due to their high cost, and were replaced by boards on trestles. There were also various small tables carved out of tree trunks, with legs made of branches. Finally, a very low round table, the sofras , was used exclusively by the housewife, who sat at it on a small chair or stool to prepare food or knead dough.

Among all the peoples that have invented and used them, seats have always been at the peak of cabinetmaking; the throne , for instance, is the ultimate armchair .

In Crete the basic types of seat from the medieval period onwards were the armchair , the chair and the sofa , established in accordance with Byzantine 11th- and 12th-century designs and transmitted down the generations to the early 20th century.

The use of these three types of furniture was socially circumscribed, for the reasons set out below.

The armchair is considered a luxury item used exclusively by the master of the house and offered to distinguished visitors on special occasions. This distinction may well have its origins in the reservation of the throne to the monarch. There is never more than one armchair in a house.

The chair is used exclusively by the men of the family and male visitors. The chair is a only simple seat with a back, but its direct relationship to the armchair means that it too is reserved for male use in patriarchal societies.

The sofa is a comfortable piece of furniture decorated with special woven fabrics and placed in a prominent position in the main room of the house. It is used exclusively by women and children. Its upholstered seat makes it comfortable for long hours of women’s work and so it has been established as a piece of furniture for female use. The long living-room table is placed opposite the sofa, so at family or friendly gatherings the women sit on the sofa, facing the men sitting in the chairs and armchair.

The other types of seats, the small chairs are much simpler and usually made by the head of the family, whether farmer, shepherd or artisan. They do not contain elements of professional cabinetmaking and the shape is determined by the knowledge, skill and economic environment of the amateur furniture-maker. They include

and stools made of boards, sections of tree trunk and woven plant stems. Tiny footstools also fall into this category. Rough benches were put together from planks supported by stools, when necessary for large gatherings.

Due to the fact that seats were intended for everyday use, usually in large families, they did not last long and thus few examples have survived from the past 200 years.

Tables were rarely found in Crete due to their high cost, and were replaced by boards on trestles. There were also various small tables carved out of tree trunks, with legs made of branches. Finally, a very low round table, the sofras , was used exclusively by the housewife, who sat at it on a small chair or stool to prepare food or knead dough.