THAMES FURNITURES

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Prehistoric Furniture

When people learned to farm and lived in permanent settlements they began to make furniture. In Europe some of the earliest known furniture comes from a stone age a village at Sara Brae in the Orkney Islands in Scotland about 2,000 BC. The stone age farmers lived in stone huts with roofs of whalebone and turf. Inside they made stone furniture such as cupboards and beds.

Ancient Egyptian Furniture

Meanwhile in Egypt rich Egyptians lived in large, comfortable houses with many rooms. Walls were painted and floors had coloured tiles. Inside their homes rich Egyptians had wooden furniture such as beds, chairs, tables and chests for storage.

However instead of pillows they used wooden head rests.

Ordinary people lived in simpler homes made of mud. People may have slept on the flat roof when it was hot and they did most of their work outside because of the heat. For the poor furniture was very basic. Ordinary Egyptians sat on brick benches around the walls. They used reed chests or wooden pegs on walls to store things.

Ancient Greek Furniture

In Ancient Greece even in a rich home furniture was basic. The Greeks stored things in wooden chests or hung them from wooden pegs on the walls. A rich home would also have a dresser to display expensive cups. People reclined on couches (which could also act as beds). The couches were simply wooden frames with rope webbing and mats or rugs laid on top.

Roman Furniture

In Rome rich people enjoyed luxuries such as mosaics and (in colder parts of the empire) panes of glass in windows and even a form of central heating called a hypocaust. Wealthy Romans also had wall paintings called murals in their houses.

The wealthy owned very comfortable furniture. It was upholstered and finely carved. People ate while reclining on couches. Oil lamps were used for light. Of course for the poor Roman furniture was very basic and sparse.

Saxon Furniture

Life even for rich Saxons was hard and rough and furniture was very simple. Usually in a Saxon hall there was only one room shared by everybody. Thanes (upper class Saxons) and their followers slept on beds with straw mattresses and pillows but the poorest people slept on the floor.

Very little is known about Saxon furniture but it must have been basic and heavy such as wooden benches and tables although upper class Saxons liked having tapestries on their walls. There were no panes of glass in windows, even in a Thane's hall.

Furniture in the Middle Ages

In Saxon times a rich man and his entire household lived together in one great hall. In the Middle Ages the great hall was still the centre of a castle but the lord had his own room above it. This room was called the solar. In it the lord slept in a bed, which was surrounded by curtains, both for privacy and to keep out draughts. The other members of the lord's household, such as his servants, slept on the floor of the great hall. At one or both ends of the great hall there was a fireplace and chimney. However in the Middle Ages chimneys were a luxury.

About 1180 for the first time since the Romans rich people began to have panes of glass in the windows.

Furniture in the Middle Ages was very basic. Even in a rich household chairs were rare. Often only the lord sat on one so he was the 'chairman'. Most people sat on stools or benches. Rich people also had tables and large chests, which doubled up as beds. Rich peoples homes were hung with wool tapestries or painted linen. They were not just for decoration. They also helped keep out draughts. In the Middle Ages furniture (for the rich) was usually made of oak.