Later, bedsteads were used of massive construction, which on occasions of journeying were placed on wheels, forming a sort of coach or carriage ironically termed whirlicots, in which the aged and infirm were transported.
[Illustration: No. 50. Chair of Dagobert, French 7th century, bronze.]
For some time after the Norman Conquest the unsettled state of the country rendered it necessary that household effects and valuables should be few in number and of such a nature as to be easily transportable. Thus chests in which belongings could be stored came into general use. They were simple in construction, and without carving, but were strengthened and decorated by hinges and scroll strappings in iron. Such chests served a double purpose, as they could be used as tables and seats.
[Illustration: No. 51. 14th Century Textile Sicilian tradition.]
For convenience of transport, chairs and stools were made with projecting tenons secured by pins or wedges so as to be easily taken apart.
That the Crusades were incidental to the importation of examples of Eastern art, is evidenced by the celebrated cup of Eden Hall, on the safe preservation of which depended the worldly welfare of the owners, according to the couplet:
“If that cup either break or fall, Farewell the luck of Eden Hall.”
This cup is of Saracenic origin, and is of glass, painted in enamels, similar in character to the mosque lamps in the British Museum.
Tapestries of Sicilian manufacture were also introduced through the medium of the Crusades, and led to the employment of painted wall decoration, evidently in imitation, even in some instances to indicating the folds of the material.
[Illustration: No. 52. Sicilian Textile.]
A precept exists in the twentieth year of the reign of Henry III directing “that the King’s great chamber at Westminster be painted a good green colour like a curtain,” and “that the King’s little wardrobe should also be painted of a green colour to imitate a curtain.”
This was undoubtedly suggested by the custom abroad of draping the walls with tapestries, though carpets were unknown. Probably the first time these were seen in England was in the apartments in the Temple occupied by the suite of the infant Don Sancho, archbishop elect of Toledo, who with Don Garcias Madinez, officiated as _avant-courriers_ to Eleanor of Castile in the autumn of 1255.