Ancient Furniture (part 2 of 12)

Domestic Furniture (Continued..)
Low, straight legged tables were used to display water vessels or the faience vases so treasured by Egyptians. Stands designed specifically for vases were constructed from timber poles terminating in a collar that supported the vessel.
Beds were usually made of timber, although metal and ivory were also used. Woven cord was suspended between the two sides of the frame to support a mattress of folded linen.
There was no uniform height, many beds were low and some were heigh enough to require a low step or mounting board.

Woods
Timbers available to ancient Egyptians included native sycamore fig, acacia and sidder, a hardwood also known as 'Christ's Thorn'. These were supplemented by woods imported from Middle Eastern trading partners, such as cypress and Lebanese cedar, which were also used for boat construction for what we now call antique furniture.

Construction and Decoration
The arid climate curtailed the growth of trees, so large pieces of timber were hard to come by. This let to a certain amount of ingenuity on the part of Egyptian carpenters who developed many of the sophisticated panelling and joining methods that have been used ever since.

Dovetails, mortice and tenon joints, and even tongue and groove were very well known, alongside more primitive techniques involving pegging and lashing.
Some workshops specialized in complex intarsia designs, often painstakingly constructed from tiny slivers of the most valuable timbers.
Untidy joins or poor quality wood were frequently masked with veneer, gesso and paint.

Surface decoration was an important consideration and the finest furniture was covered with silver and gold leaf. Carved and applied decoration could be just as elaborate. The legs of a folding stool often terminated in ducks heads or, for higher ranking members of society, lions paws.

Among the finest examples known to have existed are stools with goose head terminals, inlaid with ivory eyes and neck feathers.
Upholstery was usually limited to rolls of linen or other fabrics. Furniture, including fitted furniture  was also painted and the ancient Egyptians sowed the embryonic seeds of Western art that continue to flourish and develop today.
The 'frontalist' style, in which figures are depicted with the head in profile and the torso facing outwards, was a defining characteristic of ancient Egyptian culture.