Furniture During

Greek Period

SUBMITTED BY:

ANUBHA

MOLLIEE

NIMISHA

SUNAYANA

TANISHA

Ancient Greece• Ancient Greece was

a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to

6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity 600 AD.

• Greek culture can be said to have begun with the Bronze Age civilization of the Minoans in

Crete.

• The Minoans built vast palaces, and were skilled in metalwork,

pottery, artwork and the crafting of jewellery.

• Ancient Greek civilization was at its zenith during the Classical era,

from 499 BC to 79 BC.

Ancient Greek Furniture

• The Greek history of furniture can be traced back to the heritage of Egyptian

furniture.

• Lines became softer, much use was made of subtle and elegant curves, and

more attention was given to comfort

• Early Greek furniture was largely influenced from furniture crafted by the

Egyptians and unlike Egypt, Greece had enough timber for furniture making.

Greek Bed set with a Table

The Configuration of Greek

Furniture

• So much wealth in the form of precious metals like gold, bronze etc. were lavished in typical Greek furniture.

• The Greeks took time to configure some complicated designs of furniture and this made their technology in furniture outstanding.

• For example, the ancient Greek couch was used for resting as well as for eating. It was constructed with the horizontal reclining area at table height,

rather than low and at an incline.

• The headrest was often curved to support pillows and no foot rest was used.

• Their stools were built in a variety of configurations and the legs were mostly built in trumpet form or a rectangular design based on a columnar

form.

• There were the folding stools with X-shaped legs and stationary stools with straight legs which were made.

Styles• Greek furniture styles were simple, elegant and tasteful.

• carving and inlays were used, furniture was not over-decorated.

• Houses were not cluttered with much furniture, and household items were

made for use and comfort rather than decoration.

• However, the Greek love of beauty and art extended to furniture design, and

the few simple items of furniture in an early Greek household were often works

of art in their own right.

• Oak, maple, beech, citrus and willow were the main woods which did not

require any veneering technique.

• Marble and bronze were used in conjunction with or to replace wood, and laid

ivory, ebony, and precious stones were lavished on the finest wooden pieces,

which sometimes had feet of silver.

• Carved and painted decoration was almost commonplace in this rich market.

• Sears were fitted with perfumed and brightly coloured cushions.

Types Of Furniture• Elegant interiors with marble columns, stucco ceilings and mosaic floors, are portrayed in frescoes and marble carvings.

• From the 7th century BCE to 4th century BCE, there were 5 main types of furniture : stools, couches, small tables,

chests, and chairs.

• The early kinds of ancient Greek furniture were predominantly influenced by Egyptian furniture. Characteristic of this early

furniture was a stiff, rectangular, and unflattering shape

Stools• Two main styles of stools of

ancient Greece have survived

through reliefs.

• The first type looks more like a

small table. The typical stool

consisted of a flat top and four

straight legs. This stool was known

as a Bathron.

• There was no back support and

the bottom was hard and

uncompromising.

Stool and small table

• The second type of stool was light weight

,The X-stool, also known as the diphros

okladias, was easily movable

• It consisted of three animal legs pointed

inwards and ending with lion's paws.

• These were used both indoors and

outdoors.

• When masters went out to stroll in the

streets, the diphoros okladias was carried

by a servant so that it would be ready

immediately whenever he might wish to

rest.

• Some of these were greatly decorated and

used as backless thrones outdoor in similar

manner.

• X-framed stools enjoyed both popular and

official status, the straight legged version

(sella curilis) being used by magistrates. “Diphros Okladias” X-frame

style

• The third type of stool, the

Thronos or throne, was a type

of stool known only to the

wealthy. The Thronos was

ornately decorated and was often

times lined with precious stones.

• •The thronos or throne-chair, was

always reserved for the use of the

most important person present.

Often a god was depicted on a

throne which was carved with

ram’s heads at the ends of the

arms or whose back was shaped

like a snake or a horse’s head.

• •The footstool, which was used

for access to couches and other

high furniture, was known as the

Theyns.

Couches - Klines

• Greek Kline- The Greeks followed the Eastern

tradition of lying down to eat.

• The couches, known as klines, had a headboard

that could be used as a backrest while sitting, and

were elegantly upholstered.

• They were made entirely of wood, but often had

bronze legs cast in animal styles.

• The klines were placed around the walls, and

small tables were placed next to them to hold the

food and drink.

• Kline from klino (cause to lean), from which also

the word clinic and clinical is derived (that on

which one reclines).

• It was made of wood or bronze, and was often

richly adorned.

Decoration of a kline

Chests

• Various types and sizes of chests were used for storage.

• These usually had gabled lids and some painted with flowers and figures or elaborately decorated with inlay

and bronze or silver mounts.

• Chests were prized pieces of furniture, and would often be passed down from one generation to another.

• Chests were originally made similar to those of the Egyptian style and then took on their own style.

• Chests were the only means for storing clothing because shelves were generally not used for that

purpose.

• Jewellery, Valuables and fruits were hidden alongside the clothing for protection.

• Chests were also often valued enough to be part of a wife's dowry into use in the Hellenistic period

• Some of the chests made of wood were used as coffins

CHESTS Woman

putting valuables into

chests

Woman putting clothes

into a chest

Beds • Greek furniture was treated architecturally.

• Beds usually had the appearance of Greek temples and usually

were made of stone

Chairs• Prior to the invention of a type of chair known as the

Klismos by the Greeks in the 5th Century BCE, chairs

were the same as those of Egypt and Persian.

• These chairs had hard stiff backs and arms. Even the

people depicted in paintings and friezes sitting in these

types of chairs look to be uncomfortable.

• The Klismos was an entirely new type of chair

designed by the Greeks. It's smooth and flowing shape

inspired cultures of the Middle Ages and the early 19th

Century to revive the concept.

• The Klismos, used principally by women, was made

with delicately curved back and legs.

• Rather than being designed to be comfortable, these

chairs of the 6th and 7th Centuries BCE were purely

ceremonial in nature.

• The 5th Century BCE brought along a new era in Greek

chairs and furniture.

Chair

The Hard stiff back Chair

The Klismos

• These features allowed the sitter to be in a freer and more natural position; the backs of these chairs, referred to as Stiles, were designed to the

curvature of the back for comfort and extended to the shoulders.

• The Klismos, like most other furniture, was made of wood and not ornately decorated.

• In order to increase the comfort, cushions and animal skins were usually placed on the Klismos.

• By Hellenistic times, the general shape and structure of the Klismos had already started to change.

• Chairs once again became heavier and more rigid.

• The general concept of comfort over ceremony has luckily survived through these changes so that a piece of furniture from 2500 years ago does not

seem at all strange today.

Klismos - The backs of these chairs, referred to

as Stiles, were designed to the curvature of the

back for comfort and extended to the shoulders.

Used mainly by women.

Couches• Couches of ancient Greece were combinations

of beds and sofas. This type of furniture, called the Kline, was made for sleeping as well as

dining.

• During meals Greek diners would lie down rather than sit to eat. The Greek tend to recline

rather than sit originated in the 6th century.

• Greek couches were similar to those of the Egyptians except for two differences.

• They stood higher off the ground, so much that a footstool was sometimes used as a means of

access; and second, there was a headboard but no footboard.

• The height allowed for easier access to tables and also allowed room beneath to fit tables.

The headboard was used as a means of back support while eating.

Sometimes a kline

was used even on a

horse

Tables• A common wood type table was rectangular and

stood on three legs. There were two legs at one

end, the third being in the centre of the other end.

• The Greeks had one set item to be placed upon

their tables: food; The ancient Greeks did not use

tables as places to set up trinkets or valuables, but

merely used them in their most basic purpose.

• Tables were low and mostly movable, credences

and drinking tables being often three-legged and

made of bronze.

• Most ancient tables, were made with 3 rather than

4 legs to create a better sense of balance.

• These tables could be made of bronze or marble,

but typically of wood. This type of table was the

most common up until the 4th Century BCE when

square topped tables were replaced with round

tops.

table with lion form legs

Additional Furnishing• The previously mentioned furnishings were usually the

bare essentials for a family living in ancient Greece.

• There are also other furnishings which were less useful and more decorative. These, of course, belonged to the

wealthy.

• Wealthy Greeks enjoyed the luxuries of incense burners, vases, and large vases known as Lebeti as a part of daily

life

• LEBETI - he vases of the wealthy were decorative and were often times made of precious or semi-precious

metals. These vases, along with Lebeti, were made by highly skilled workers and were often times ornately

decorated.

• Lebeti were "elegant nuptial vases of eighteen inches high and minutely decorated with stories from history or

legend...“

• Lebeti, in addition to their decorative purpose, were used as water jugs and large bowls.

incense burner

A chair designed for small

children. Baby on Stool with

Mother

Marble Table – Supported on a single

Leg – Animal faced leg

Marble Table – typical three

legged with a Round top