Guide to English Antique Furniture Styles

Friday, January 26, 2018

English antique furniture styles provide a good versatility in terms of designs. If you plan to incorporate English antiques in your homes here is a bit about the different styles available.

English Renaissance
Tudor furniture was seen during the beginning of the early English Renaissance period. Tudor furniture took some influence from the Medieval and Gothic furniture periods preceding it and was highly ornate, carved and heavy. The Elizabethan furniture era is characterized by flamboyant carvings, turned, inlaid, and painted decorations etc. This period saw some beautiful woodwork and pieces like the sideboards became quite fashionable. Elaborate four poster beds were also famous. Jacobean style furniture was sturdy, massive in size, came with padded upholstery, embroidery and carving. A good example of Tudor furniture is this WONDERFUL HENRY VIII TUDOR OAK BOARDED CHEST. ENGLISH. CIRCA 1540.

THE THICK PLANKED TOP ABOVE A FRONT WITH DEEPLY CARVED GEOMETRIC ROUNDELS CENTRED BY A GEOMETRIC LOZENGE.ABOVE A ROW OF DEEP KNULL CARVING AND PUNCH DECORATION. THE BOARDED SIDES WITH GOTHIC CUTOUTS TO FORM THE FEET. THE HINGES AND HASP ARE VERY OLD REPLACEMENTS BUT THE LOCKPLATE IS ORIGINAL. WONDERFUL COLOUR.

Baroque
The English baroque furniture style gradually replaced the use of oak wood with walnut and mahogany. This exuberant style had its roots in Italy and had a good impact. It was characterized by a sense of drama and a love of the ornate and although the furniture remained heavy it was adorned by carving and fine detail.

Palladianism
For the want of something simpler than the extravagance of the Baroque style, design elements with basic principles of classicism came into being and this led to the uniquely British style which was unique, ornamental yet not overly exuberant.

Rococo & Classical
Rococo style furniture was a style of extravagant forms and marked asymmetry. The key elements of this style included fruit and flower motifs. An ornamental from known as rocaille, was quite famous during that time which resembled irregular edges of rocks and shells, and acanthus leaves.

Georgian
The furniture during the Georgian period was ornate, with lavish carving and golden ornamentation. Lion mask, the satyr or human mask, the acanthus, claw and ball foot, scroll foot and the paw foot were some of the most commonly used motifs.

Neoclassical
The Neoclassical style was greatly influenced by the art and design of classical Greece and Rome, as also the archaeological discoveries. Dolphins, lions, sphinxes, griffins and styrs were very commonly depicted during this era of design. Furniture of this period was light and elegant in appearance and had straight tapering legs for the chairs.

Victorian Era
The Victorian Era took inspiration from the gothic forms, Rococo and Louis XV and were in heavy proportions, dark finish, elaborate carving, and ornamentation and featured curves, lush upholstery and decorative carvings. This was also the time when machines replaced labour and mass production was resorted to, to keep up with the growing demands of the newly emerging upper middle class.

Arts and Crafts
The Arts and Crafts period was a time where craftsman came together to restore the beauty of hand crafted furniture after the downfall of the quality of furniture items degraded with the Victorian mass produced options.

These were more or less the periods in the history of English furniture. You can look for detailed information on these to better understand what kind of furniture styles were prevalent during the time so that you can decide as to what style you want to incorporate in your home.
Visit our website for good examples of our period furniture.

WONDERFUL HENRY VIII TUDOR OAK BOARDED CHEST