Furniture Styles

1. Furniture Styles Interior Design Mrs. Crusan

2. Jacobean Style17th Century • Heavy & rectangular with geometric or floral carvings. • Rounded forms such as legs & spindles, method called turning. • Stools & benches more common than chairs: High, straight backs with plank seats and no cushion. • Made from oak at first, then maple, beech, ash and hickory. Often painted black, red, or yellow. • Chests and cupboards for storage. • Draw-top table: the leaves are pushed under when the table is not in use.

3. Jacobean Table Jacobean Chair Jacobean Sideboard

4. William and Mary Style1700-1725 • Dutch & French influenced. • Chairs w/curved backs & woven seats. • Lighter w/fine carvings and trims. • Velvets and silks used to upholster chairs, made of walnut, birch, and maple. • Table the 2nd most common piece. Called a gateleg table (legs on each side swing out to support drop leaves that are pulled up from the sides. • Highboy is a chest of drawers mounted on legs. Used for clothing storage (no closets). Brass fixtures.

5. William & Mary Highboy William & Mary Chair Gateleg Table

6. Queen Anne StyleEarly 18th Century • Adopted by colonists & popular with the middle class. • Known for graceful, curved lines-slender & flowing. • Cabriole leg: Leg that curves out at the middle & then tapers inward just above an ornamental foot. • Brought innovations in sofa & chair styles- Upholstered and more comfortable. • Wing chair: Arm chair with high back & side (wings) helped to keep warm air close. • Windsor chair: turned legs and spindle back inserted in a saddle shaped seat. Still popular today.

7. Wing Chair Windsor Chair Queen Anne Table

8. Chippendale StyleMid to Late 18th Century • Evolved from Thomas Chippendales book of furniture designs & use of mahogany wood. • Mahogany wood made furniture appear heavier and more solid a change from the Queen Ann Style. • S-Shaped chairs and table legs ending in claw & ball feet were a common feature. • Camelback sofa was a Chippendale design. Distinctive for curved back and sides. • Decorations or carvings on the furniture often showed shells, leaves, & flowers.

9. Chippendale Secretary Chippendale Chair Camelback Sofa

10. Federal Style1780-1820 • Most popular in NY, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia, the federal Capitals. • Designs are small & rectangular and the furniture is light, delicate and symmetrical. • Two English designers named Hepplewhite & Sheraton changed the original designs. • Hepplewhite style chair has tapered legs & decorative back in the shape of a shield, oval or heart. • Sheraton’s chairs had rectangular or square backs & slender, tapered legs.

11. Hepplewhite Chair Buffet Sofa

12. Empire Style1820-1840 • Originally created by Napoleon's architects and interior designers. In America it flourished for about 20 years. • The style is elaborate & much more dramatic than the Federal style. The copying of ancient furniture. • Incorporated Egyptian decoration like symbols & carvings. • Most famous American Empire designer was Duncan Phyfe- Used many classical designs like leaves, swans, eagles, and dolphins, as well as urn-shaped pedestals and a dog’s-paw and lion’s-paw feet. • Well known for chair back shaped like a lyre.

13. Duncan Phyfe Chair Duncan Phyfe Table Chaise

14. Shaker Style • Existed along with Federal & Empire Styles. • Created by religious group in New England called the Shakers. • Plain and simple style. Emphasis on utility (use), not the ornamentation…no carvings, few or simple knobs. • More popular now than it was in the 1800’s. • Graceful lines & well-proportioned.

16. Victorian Style1840-1900 • The revival of many old styles- Gothic, Elizabethan, Italian Renaissance. • Sofas & chairs distinguished by their curving lines, inlaid floral patterns, & rich upholstery. • Tables, desks, & cabinets are very ornate and heavy looking. • Marble, iron, and brass also used in the making of the furniture pieces. • Belter chair one of most famous results of Victorian era furniture. Steaming & bending wood. Gave the chair the name “bentwood” chair.

17. Bentwood Chair

18. Modern Period1901-Present • William Morris who lead the reform of the Victorian Style, also looked ahead to the Modern period. • First 2 decades of 20th century designers became interested in simpler forms, many forms were abstract. • Modern furniture used very little decoration and it was made with fewer parts and was built out of newly invented materials

20. International Style • A plain, functional style developed by Walter Gropius a German architect, considered completely nontraditional. • Early designs abandoned the use of wood and other natural materials and started using chrome-plated steel tubing, plastics, metals, and chrome. • Modern Scandinavian designers have added back the use of wood, but very simple, natural, and hand-rubbed finishes. • Technique gives furniture a distinctive machine-made look.

22. Contemporary Style • Time we live in still termed Modern, general trend toward softening the harshness of early Modern designs. Sometimes hard to tell between the two, but some of these points set contemporary apart: • Aren’t confined to one nation or continent. • Usually use architectural materials such as marble, wood, glass, stone, & plastics. Furniture arranged so shape stands out against a simple background. Bold design or color may be used. • Furniture shapes designed for the human form. • Modular furniture part of the style. Modular furniture consists of pieces that can fit together in a variety of ways.

24. Miscellaneous Furniture Saarinen Miller Morris Belter Barcelona