ANTIQUE EUROPEAN FURNITURE PERIODS AND STYLES:
The major antique European furniture styles have all been related to other arts, upholstered sideboards fine and applied, crendenza, foreigen designs and especially to architecture. Most were international, walnut chest on chest but subject to national and regional variations. They seldom changed abruptly; a transitional phase would usually intervene so that elements of both old and new styles were often seen in the same piece.
Provincial and country work reflected these changes, 19th century stand up silver chest but only after a delay sometimes a lengthy one while perpetuating both local traditions and styles that had, oak twist leg table and chairs years before, carpets kazak iranian been fashionable in the cities; and even there, how to make bookcase mouldings revivals of earlier styles were promoted from time to time.
These factors, wash bowl stand not to mention the modern reproductions and downright fakes that abound, cupboard armoire kast cross make it unsafe to assume that any given piece is necessarily of the period its style implies. Familiarity with styles, hinged farmhouse tables restored important though it is, antique claw foot buffets with glass should ideally go hand in hand with a knowledge of the materials and methods in use at different times and in different places.
ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL FURNITURE STYLES
The private collector is unlikely to acquire an authentic piece of furniture from the ancient civilizations, matchbox holder with the ashtray set engraved but can hardly escape becoming the owner of something that derives from them; so it is helpful to have an understanding of the sources.
The Egyptians were making sophisticated furniture in about 3, antique plaques 000 BC and, worcester fbb relief by 1, victorian walnut breakfront 500 BC, antique draw leaf desk were employing mortise-and-tenon, antique small walnut bookcases dovetail and mitred joints to produce beds, world most amazing mechanism for extending dining table tables, antique vincennes winged angel w/roses figurine stools (including an X-shaped folding type), brass paw furniture legs chairs and chests many decorated with carving, 1800’s walnut linen presses veneering, antique split pedestal dining table inlay and painting. These methods were taken over and developed by the Greeks, wood lion head chair Etruscans and Romans. Turning on the lathe, flat top nine drawer highboys made in the 20th century and casting in bronze and silver were added to the techniques of furniture-making.
Left, lichte-wallendorf white vase Ancient Egyptian sphinx.
Below Antique Roman sphinx.
Left, wells fargo antique desk Classical Greek lyre.
A repertoire of ornament was built up that included animal forms for legs and feet (lion paws, chiffonier furniture hooves); sphinxes and other mythological beasts; human and semi-human figures such as caryatids, 18th century french pill boxes used as decorative supports; leafy scrolls, victorian black slate and brass-mounted mantel clock wreaths and floral motifs including anthemion (honeysuckle) and acanthus; columns and pediments based on classical architecture.
Although the fall of the Roman Empire in the west in the 5thC AD resulted in the decay of furniture-making skills, 19th century italian mirror not all were lost, antique metal chest of drawers and from the Renaissance onwards, millefiori small handled vase with stopper their rediscovery led to a whole series of classical revivals, antque tea pots crown dorset from the 16th to the 19thC.
BYZANTINE FURNITURE STYLE
Many of the old skills were retained in Constantinople, antique wedgwood plates imari design capital of the Eastern Empire, antique furniture james ii built in the 4thC AD near the Hellenic city of Below, satyr handled silver wine urns Byzantine carved ivory throne, 1930’s jacobean revival timber sideboard 6thC, used drop leaf dining table and chair
Byzantium. To them were added those of Middle Eastern craftsmen who were adept at the intricate carving of religious figures, antique dresser 6ft plants and animals, antique austrian chairs on ivory panels set in a frame, domed corner cabinet for chests and box-seated chairs. Similar subjects were painted on large wooden cupboards.
ROMANESQUE FURNITURE STYLE
Painted cupboards were among the furniture made in Italy in the early Middle Ages, english silver centerpiece pierced baskets probably by itinerant Byzantine craftsmen. The northern invaders also grafted their own ideas of decoration on to residual Roman types, art nouveau wood carved figures on table and a composite style emerged which, italy silver square handled tea tray by the I IthC, elegant small victorian writing table had slowly spread to France, antique charles ii settle the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The furniture, typical wood in 1940 furniture inlay coffee table whether meant for churches or castles, - eugene gaillard buffet was mainly ecclesiastic in flavour; box-seated chairs, basin stand antique functional stools on turned legs, how to make rococo commode carved ones that served as thrones and status
symbols, mirrored antique end table massive chests carved with rounded arches supported by squat classical columns a form of decoration that continued until after 1600.
GOTHIC FURNITURE STYLE
This style owed nothing to the Goths, art deco folding open desk who had been defeated 400 years before the first `Gothic’ church was begun in France in 1140. Another 400 years later, mould velvet removal the term was used by an enthusiast for a new style (Renaissance), old clocks made of giltbronze to decry medieval architecture. By the 15thC, large ornate rococo gilt mirrors the Gothic style had spread throughout most of Europe, gothic monks chair surviving in some areas until the 16thC. Main features: pointed arches, stand-away hinge tracery, japanese pottery with gold lacquer repairs
carving of animals and foliage, rectangular barley twist gateleg table panels carved to represent the folds of parchment or linen (`linenfold’), 1920 - 1930 european breakfront wrought-iron scrolls on chests, early chippendale pembroke table coats-of-arms. Much was painted in bright, antique console table with barley twist legs heraldic colours. Main types: trestle tables, computers internet blog lidded chests, myott son & co. ltd. slab-ended stools, antique cigarette stands box-seated and X-framed chairs, bird pattern silver spoon posted beds.
A revival of interest in ancient culture began in Italy in the 14thC, german pottery - jugs grew over the next hundred years into the Renaissance in Florence and spread widely. Little was known of Greek or Roman furniture, european style couches louis 13 but decorative features from classical architecture were grafted on to existing forms, antique english porter chair canework and new ones created. Carved, walnut antique bedside cabinet claw foot painted and gilded decoration on 15thC cassoni (lidded chests) bore coats-of-arms and depicted Olympian gods and goddesses as well as Christian saints; 16thC examples were shaped to resemble the Roman sarcophagus.
Columns and pilasters were applied to the credenza (low cupboard). Tables, william and mary buffet copied from fragments of Roman originals in marble, lenci pottery were carved with animal subjects. Intarsia inlaid decoration inspired by Roman mosaics depicted landscapes and still-life subjects in vivid perspective. Carved strapwork a flat, dining chairs with walnut legs
Carved walnut meuble-a-deux-corps, cattaneo of london barometer 16thC.
continuous geometric pattern was popular in northern Europe.
The Mannerist movement in art led to the carving of the nude or semi-nude human figure with elongated, armchair stylistic development distorted limbs; an extreme version of this style, 1800 german dresser hidden drawers known as Auricular, handle types on antique asian porcelain involved demonic caryatids on bed-heads, paris porcelain and marks and grotesque masks with huge ears as chair-backs.
Printed pattern books on architecture and furniture design began to appear in the 16thC. Works by Serlio, 18th century english shell crested chair Vredeman de Vries, satinwood pembroke tables Flotner, old oak table, 2 drop flaps Sambin, antique dragon table Du Cerceau and the German master known only as ‘H.S.’ were widely circulated and used by craftsmen internationally.
Some countries, antique writing table with thick square legs however, classicism furniture developed very individual versions of the Renaissance style. Spain, regency chair construction at the height of its power and wealth in the 16thC, three famous person art deco embellished furniture with silver from the New World, built-in cabinet by antonio gaudi and abstract decoration derived from the Islamic culture of the resident Moors. Doors and drawer-fronts were
Left, antique czechoslovakia vases armchair with panels of linenfold carving, hepplewhite footstool 16thC.
Right, capodimonte saucers cups antique 16thC carved caryatid with grotesque mask.
Drawer front with geometrical mouldings, cabinet makers chest fashionable throughout the 17th Century, gold bell shaped flower seed pearls earrings
decorated with mouldings arranged in geometric patterns a fashion that spread to the Spanish Netherlands and thence to much of Europe in the 17thC, georgian silver cream pail becoming a feature of many pieces regarded now as baroque.
BAROQUE FURNITURE STYLE
The word baroque means ‘irregular pearl’, vauxhall glass reproduction and many pieces in the style are partly asymmetrical, czechoslovakian antique porcelian vases being the work of sculptors such as Brustolon who carved life-size human figures in the round as supports for console tables and candle-stands. Most other pieces, thomas tompion tall case clock however, why are chairs called smokers bow
were symmetrical, frencj arm chair how to paint velvet chaies formal and heavy-looking.
The style first developed in Italy early in the 17thC, arts & craft settee using classical architecture as a basis but adding bold, reproduction victorian octagonal work table restless curves and rich decoration gilding, bergama rug painting in imitation of oriental lacquer, american art deco furniture veneering and marquetry (inlaying into veneers) in exotic woods, french regency rococo furniture pietre dure (hardstones) and metal.
In France, neoclassical candlesticks during the reign of Louis XIV (effectively 1600-1715), antique double chair back settee carved shell 1700 photo the royal cabinetmaker A.C. Boulle perfected the technique of boullework inlaying a turtleshell veneer with brass scrolls. He also created new shapes, sheffield silver company candelabera e.g. the commode (chest) with curved outline.
Louis XIV boulle bureau Mazarin, rococo scroll corners about 1690.
ROCOCO FURNITURE STYLE
Known in France, zanzibar doors cup board where it originated, antique furniture drawer construction with nails as rocaille, round antique molding the rococo (’rock and shell’) style was a reaction to the pompous, william and mary veneer tables macho, art nouveau development Louis XIV version of baroque. Soon after the king’s death in 1715, antiques chippendale dining tables restorers rococo was created by Meissonier and Pineau, card table inlaid shell and developed during the Rgence when Louis XV was still a child. The cabinetmaker Crescent perfected the bombe (’blown up’) commode (see CHESTS OF DRAWERS P. 234-246). The cabriole leg, 17th century oak carved four panel coffer with the delicate curve of an elongated ‘S’, wood storage cabinet sideboard table furniture replaced the turned or scrolled legs of the baroque.
Surfaces were decorated with floral marquetry or lacquer. Carving and ormolu (gilded bronze) mounts were often asymmetrical, italian lacquer furnitures/versailles especially in some areas (Spain, antique painted card table country #2 Scandinavia) where the style was adopted almost too eagerly; but at its best, breakfront furniture, painted it was charming.
The Paris guild of cabinet-makers and joiners enforced quality control on its members who, hooded french chairs 18th century from 1743 until the Revolution in 1789, small quarter-round table had to stamp their products with their names.
Foreign craftsmen and makers to the Crown were excused, antique german side board so contrary to popular belief not all fine French furniture is signed.
Chairs and settees were richly upholstered. Large mirrors, antique murano glass mirrors previously a Venetian monopoly, small 2 drawer antique dresser were produced in France for the Palace of Versailles which was imitated by the rich all over Europe. Those with less money to spend adopted a diluted version of the baroque style one that involved (in Portugal especially) much bold turning on the lathe to produce baluster, 1800 century decorating stile bulbous and spiral profiles.
NEO-CLASSICAL FURNITURE STYLE
The rococo style was replaced in France several years before the death of Louis XV in 1774 by what is now known as the Louis XVI style. This was heralded as a return to discipline after the frivolities of rocaille. Shapes changed from sinuous curves to rectilinear, german porcelain maker wallendorf 1764 circular or oval outlines. Cabriole legs gradually gave way to straight ones, meissen girl with basket figurine lamp and bombe carcases were soon outmoded in Paris, sideboard form the early 1900’s though remaining popular in Holland and Sweden.
Once again, wooton desk a paris designers returned to the ancient civilizations for their inspiration. In the late 1750s, chinese fretwork chairs a cosmopolitan group mingled in Rome, forms of famous saxon pottery Pompeii and Herculaneum, antique iredescent tea sets where recent excavations aroused fresh enthusiasm for classical ideas, 1807 fusee pocket watch although little more was known about ancient furniture itself than had been familiar to the men of the Renaissance. In the first phase of neo-classicism, antique french arm chair it was only the ornament on neo-classical furniture urns, watteau style porcelain plates rams’ heads, antique free standing lighted ashtray masks and so forth that owed much to antiquity.
Marquetry was as popular as ever, antique kneehole desk & bookcase and although mythological figures were favourite subjects for it in Northern Italy, moorse bros ceramics with no mark the French still liked their flowers, antique florentine mirror and many pieces were inset with Svres porcelain plaques painted
with floral subjects. Some of the finest craftsmen in Paris were German, macasar in paris and one of the greatest David Roentgen supplied the Crown with furniture made in his Neuwied workshops. Famous for his marquetry, how to find the maker of a carriage clock he was among the first to abandon it when fashion dictated a plainer style.
Left, rug two dogs symbol kingwood secretaire incorporating Sevres porcelain plaques, antique spindle bed about 1780.
Louis XVI gilded fauteuil, antique dragon carved hexagonal marble top table about 1770-1780.
DIRECTOIRE FURNITURE STYLE
The first to attempt furniture based on ancient prototypes was the artist David, antique armoire no-1600 on the back of it? who copied couches and chairs from paintings on Greek vases and had them made for him, spanish antique armchairs in about 1787, antique william and mary chest of drawers by the royal chairmaker, thomas tompion tall case clock Jacob, antique corner cabinet cupboard an admirer of English furniture and the first major French craftsman to use solid mahogany a wood that had been fashionable in England for 50 years. The severe, wallace sideboard no-nonsense style continued after the Revolution in 1789, victorian button back, under the short-lived Directoire.
EMPIRE FURNITURE STYLE
A partial return to grandeur accompanied a new phase of neo-classicism in the early years of the 19thC, hand painted antique bedside tables when Perrier and Fontaine dressed it up with eagles, vintage swiss silver gilt pearlset enamel pendant watch laurel wreaths and other imperial symbols to echo the glory of the Emperor Napoleon, bruce talbert pet sideboard and added sphinxes to mark his Egyptian campaign. These motifs were cast in bronze and applied to pieces of austere shape, louis 15th rococo chair legs some based on Roman or Greek prototypes. Great play was made with black and gold paint, bear and stag japanese jug and drinking mugs and fabrics striped like the tents of the armies. The style was imitated
across Europe, french feet on antique english furniture what period is it? even in countries at war with France, mahagony so that terms such as ‘Russian Empire’ are sometimes used misleadingly to describe the French Empire style as it was interpreted elsewhere. In Paris, reproduction le courte coffee table 10, antique maple gateleg drop leaf table with 3 leaves 000 hands were employed in the furniture trade, antique folding chairs the Jacob family being the leading manufacturers.
Directoire mahogany chair, antique-style.com about 1790-1800.
Empire X-frame stool, art deco writing desk about 1810.
BIEDERMEIER FURNITURE STYLE
This term should be confined to Austrian, art nouveau ring box 1800s German and Scandinavian furniture of 181S-SO, lion’s paw furniture feet but many pieces Russian (Alexander 1), regency vases Polish (the ‘Simmler’ style) and French (Charles X) strongly resemble early Biedermeier, 18th century fusee which followed the neo-classical principles of the Empire, antique george ii oak library table three drawer but expressed them more soberly.
Light-coloured woods were favoured. Comfortable sofas with swan-neck arms, sofa leg wheel antique brass hefty fall-front secretaires, victorian bedside commode lyre-backed chairs and circular dining tables on central supports, antique furniture prices were typical items designed mainly for the middle-class which the name originally satirised, bureau english nineteenth century value though the most notable designer was the Berlin court architect Schinkel. The biggest manufacturers in Vienna were Danhauser from 1804 to 1838, spiral reeded leg rectangular pine table and Thonet, love coat of arms lions head who set up a factory in 1842 for making bentwood furniture.
‘Late Biedermeier’ and ‘Second Empire’ are terms used to describe the European bourgeois home in the later 19thC: over-stuffed seating and over-decorated woodwork in a medley of styles based on romantic revivals. In France, compagnie general transatlantique chamberpot good copies of 18thC pieces were made, historismus double eagle side table price while a few designers notably Violletle-Duc attempted scholarly re-creations of medieval types. In Italy, antique fold top table with pedestal legs magnificent pastiches in the Renaissance and baroque styles were produced.
ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE STYLE
This style takes its name from Bing’s shop in Paris which, octagonal oak gate leg table in the 1890s, antique carved wood chair sold both oriental imports and new, antique sellers cupboard upright revolutionary furniture.
Plant-form inspired the ‘whiplash line’ and asymmetrical shapes reminiscent of the rococo. Marquetry decoration was used by Majorelle and Gall of Nancy. Other leading designers were Endell of Germany and the Belgian, neoclassical upholstery fabric van de Velde. ‘Viking’ furniture was dreamed up in Scandinavia, bureau bookshelf while Munthe’s offbeat chairs in black and white, antique walnut italian mid 19th century mirror based on peasant patterns, louise the 14 chairs anticipated Art Deco.
French art nouveau cabinet, antique knee hole desks with marquetry decoration, victorian inlaid rosewood table about 1900.
Charles X dressing-table, antique oak lion head round table about 1850.
Biedermeier birchwood sofa, jacobethan dining room set about 1820.
In the 1920s, antique dutch pine bedside the Bauhaus was set up in Germany, drop leaf butler’s tray coffee table under the direction of Gropius, sevres boucher plate to create furniture suited to modern needs, italian mahogany china hutch to which Le Corbusier’s concept of the home as a
factory for living was first cousin.
Gerrit Rietveld Red and Blue chair; 1918.
ART DECO FURNITURE STYLE
Many people, value my antique roll top desk value however, antique frosted epergne of woman still yearned for luxury. At an exhibition of decorative arts in Paris in 1925, dinning room table against wall Le Corbusier’s display was in stark contrast to the lavish flavour of Ruhlmann’s exhibits, 19th century shaving which gave a new and very expensive twist to adaptations of 18thC design, classicism furniture using costly materials for items purporting to be functional.
Art Deco wrought-iron console table, bergere high white 1930s.
MODERNIST FURNITURE STYLE
A reaction against art nouveau began in Vienna soon after 1900 and continued in Berlin with the setting up of workshops for producing good inexpensive furniture, edwardian narrow bookcase using hand skills in association with machinery. During the 1914-18 war, gate-legged, ball foot tables Rietveld worked in neutral Holland on angular chairs, french art deco club chair put together without recourse to normal joinery, antique desk bible and painted in red, 19th century bell mortar blue and yellow.
Debased versions of jazzy Art Deco were soon being mass-produced, antique burgundy indigo blue oriental rugs but there was much good, pietre dure antiques galleries medium-range furniture made between the two world wars, antique watch bracelet enamel especially that produced under Scandinavian influence. Plain and simple, victorian carved floral panel cupboard modern but not ultra-modern, antique furniture with hand inlay it owed at least in spirit as much to the Biedermeier tradition as to the Bauhaus and art nouveau.
Palisander wood card table and chairs, burr walnut piano top davenport by Maurice Dubene, art nouveau maple china hutch 1930s.