Interior Design Furniture History

The history of furniture is extensive, this area of the website covers the Evolution of English Period Furniture, including Tudor Gothic, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Commonwealth, Restoration, William & Mary, Queen Anne, Georgian, Chippendale, Regency, Hepplewhite, Adam, Sheraton, and Victorian as well as French Period Furniture of Louis 14th, Louis 15th and Louis 16th periods.

Furniture Style was dictated by the ruling monarch of the country and the conditions of the era and availability of construction materials and tools to work with. It was also influenced by the knowledge of the designers or craftsmen, overseas trade or incentives and the economic conditions of the country.

Furniture history is often classed by the reigning monarchs for example Queen Anne, Victorian, William & Mary. Later furniture history was also classed by the major influence of designers like Robert Adam, Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite. This website highlights the individual furniture history periods and provides an understanding of the styles and how they were derived.

English Period Furniture

The Evolution of English Furniture

Britain had Oak and Beech as it's native timber for furniture production, but with the discovery of new land and the establishment of overseas trade, other timber species suddenly became available:

• Oak 1500-1600 Walnut 1660-1723 Mahogany 1715 Satinwood 1765

Prior to 1500, the Gothic Period, teaching and learning of craftsmanship was mostly overseen by the church. Therefore, most ornamentation on Gothic furniture follows the lines of ornamental stonework from the Gothic Churches and buildings

The wealth of the country increased under the stable Tudor government and a new middle class was formed creating a demand for a new form of furniture.

Therefore the 16th C can be divided into two halves. The first part, furniture consis-ted of carving on gothic framework, stools and forms were the only form of seating available. The se-cond part, new pieces of furniture evolved. Buffets or sideboards, fold top games tables, taller chests which doors became cupboards or hutches and the draw leaf table which is still common today.