Yes, medieval furniture is interesting, just the word MEDIEVAL has a mysterious ring to it. And wood, being perishable, there isn't a lot of this in period (12th -15th century) furniture around with most of it extant, in european museums.
A brief history:
Gothic furniture, when compared to the other European furniture styles, is covering the longest period. The Gothic period proper lasted from the 12th to the 15th century, while its characteristic ornaments survived side by side with the new influences up to the beginning of the 17th century. The Gothic furniture style even had its own Renaissance with the Gothic revival of the 19th century.
The furniture of the Gothic period, with its characteristic contour and ornaments, derived from the Gothic Art which originated in France at the beginning of the 12th century. In its early stages, the furniture was quite simple, then it evolved towards an architectural character. The decorations were done by painting and, later, mainly carving, with tracery as principal element.
The Gothic period furniture, similar to the Gothic architecture, had local particularities, one of them being the wood used for its construction. In England, Germany, and the Low Countries it was mainly oak, in France, chestnut, in Italy and Spain walnut.
The carving had almost a geometrical character. The chief ornamentation motifs, imported from architecture, were the pointed arch, the trefoil and quatrefoil, the wheel, the rose, and the linen-fold.
Early chests were of simple, robust construction, decorated only with ornamental hinges. Initially, they were used exclusively for travel. Later in the period, as the chests grew larger and heavier, they became static, elaborately carved pieces of furniture, and main components of the Gothic interior decor.
The armoire became the main piece of the domestic Gothic interior. It was more luxurious than any other piece in residences of all classes. Variations like cupboards, cabinets, French armoires and buffets, all were in use during the Gothic period.
