Georgian England The Georgian Era roughly covers the reigns of the four Georges-George I(1714-1727) George II(1727-1760)

George III(1760-1820) George IV(1820-1830) This period covers a succession of styles-Rococo, Palladian ,Gothic and Chinese and finally in the 19th century Neo Classical and Regency. Furniture between 1714-1760 show the defined characteristics of what is called Georgian style. The 18th century was the golden age of English furniture. The wealthy and educated English aristocracy built magnificent Palladian style villas in the country. This was the era when architecture and garden design were discussed at length by the nobility dilettantes who had broadened their minds by the experiences of the Grand Tour in France , Germany and Italy. The aristocrat who took pleasure in the arts required a setting fit for the display of the treasure he had acquired abroad. The study became an important room for the display of scientific curiosities ,coins etc and the library became a room for social intercourse and where books were instruments for entertainment rather than rare objects. Gothic ruins ,Chinese gardens ,Pompeian ruins were all topics of discussion ,the parameters of which were taste style and elegance. From time to time conclusions would be drawn and the supremacy of one style chosen over anotherthe serpentine line preferred to the linear and irregularity of say Rococo to the symmetry of Classical design. Cabinet makers followed the vagaries of taste and fashion. This was the era of the cabinet maker and witnessed the introduction of the first interior designer.

William Kent and the classical baroque style

William Kents name is synonymous with the Palladian movement. He studied painting in Rome and first worked as a painter and fresco artist. Soon however he found his vocation in life under the cultural guidance of Lord Burlington an important patron and amateur architect. They designed together the faade of the Treasury building . .He advocated in architecture a return to the simplicity and classical dimensions of Palladio and applied these ideals to both the external structure and interior decoration of his building. Houghton Hall and Holkham hall are two fine examples of his prowess as architect and interior designer. Unlike his architecture ,Kent, however, unleashed his imagination in the designs of his furniture. His furniture display a Baroque opulence in their sumptous decorations and are architectural and statuesque in form. Kent visually planned his rooms like he planned his gardens. They offered him a chance to create romantic vistas the sweeping curve of a staircase, a view across a roometc His rooms were conceived as a whole and usually there was one focal point an imposing feature to catch the eye.

Florid or pompous Kents furniture reveled in ornamentation. It was furniture for the rich. Cabriole legs were embellished with animal details such as lions eagles owl And human masks, claw and balls feet and eagles talons. Lions manes foliated scrolls rocks and shells were all in his vocabulary. Kent pioneered the practice of designing the movable as well as the fixed furniture in a room. Furniture was designed as part of the design of a room. Carved and gilt mirrors hung en suite with pier tables. Their size and weight made it impractical to move them and they were virtually architectural features. Chairs fulfilled function rather than architectural needs. Sconces , brackets symmetrically disposed on which bronze busts could be displayed-artifacts brought back from the grand tour, and other wall fittings were all part of the scheme of things. Furniture The console table above others epitomized the aims and aspirations of the designer. This is a side table introduced as a permanent fixture projecting from the wall. In some cases the back is fixed to the wall and it has bracket supports which are carved and detailed. Others stand on four legs and were placed in a permanent position against the wall. The table offered a sturdy rigid surface ideal for displaying a treasured ornament or vast flower arrangement. Kent designed a spectacular console where he used the eagles body as a bracket-the wings sloped backwards for support and strut concealment.

The top was surmounted by Italian marble which was expensive. Scagliola was a less expensive option. When not used for purely decorative purposes console tables were used as sideboards for food utensils etc.

Console tables were made in walnut, giltwood or wood embellished by gesso. They embodied the full repertoire of motifs found in chairs ie-human heads sphinx putti, family coat of arms in their aprons a, brackets and legs. Double shell motif is a favourite motif of Kents. Carved side aprons covered supporting brackets. Chairs At an early stage hoof feet were popular and later between 1720 and 1735 there was widespread carving of the lions mask on chair legs and arms .Fish scales was another motif used to decorate legs which could end in dolphin heads. Chairs were becoming wider in order to accommodate the large hoop skirts of the times. Arm supports were being raked, the upper end being considerably farther back than the lower. Seat rails received carving and gilt chairs proliferate , gesso being pliable to baroque ornamentation. Chairs were made in softwoods and after 1740 in walnut. Mirrors Design of mirrors were an integral part of the console table concept of unified design. From 1725 the design of mirrors was directly inspired by their architectural setting. Mouldings followed the pattern of those on console(pier tables) tables, doors cornices etc. Gateleg table was made with a circular or oval top. Others were made with square flaps so that they could be joined together when there was a large company for dining. Giant library tables often in Mahogany, with drawers, were made ,sporting elaborate mouldings, carved pendants of flowers and lion masks, often combined with architectural columns. The owl symbol of learning was a popular motif here. Kneehole desks were introduced also as dressing tables. 1740s onwards By the middle of the 18th century furniture making in England would seem to have been dominated by a handful of individuals-Chippendale ,Adam , Hepplewhite ,Sheraton. In the history of furniture they were men of stature and they lent their names to conveniently labeled styles. There were hundreds of cabinet makers a reflection of

demand especially by the well heeled middle classes. Fashion was a relentless dictator and a familys status was affirmed by its ability to reflect the trends of the time. Another influence in the demand for furniture was the changing pattern of living habits among the middle classes. There was time for conversation for reading, writing , for having long meals, card games needlework and a great deal of furniture was made to meet these varied demands of life. Thomas Chippendale In this milieu of stylistic fancies no cabinetmaker was more perspicacious in recognizing the furniture needs than Thomas Chippendale. He came from a Yorkshire family of joiners and after moving a few places he worked out of a cabinet and upholstery warehouse in St Martins lane, London till his death in 1774. In 1754 Chippendale published The Gentlemans and Cabinetmakers Director which became a bestseller and was responsible for his success both in his lifetime and in the eyes of posterity. Chippendales aim was to make good furniture in the latest styles suited to the fancy and circumstances of persons in all degrees of life. The Director remains an unparalleled guide to mid 18th century furniture both as regards style as well as the kind of objects used by people with money. Rococo a style earlier rejected by the Whigs had established itself in full form. Chippendale succeeded in provided designs in the Georgian ,Rococo, the French ,the Gothick ,the Chinese ,and the Neo Classical which form a complete and representative example of the various trends of the period.

Chairs were proposed without arms with backs pierced and carved with interlaced scrolls

and leaves. Chippendales name is synonymous to a chair of this description-The top rail is shaped like a bow, forming sharp angles at the ends and there is delicate tracery in the back slat. The legs are cabriole carved with acanthus leaves and cartouches. Typical of Chippendales work are the ribbon backed chairs in which the wood of the chair back is carved to resemble entwined ribbons. Although the claw and ball foot survived into the 1750s Chippendale only illustrated the more fashionable rocaille or French scrolled type. Upholstered chairs were proposed of the French form with cartouche shaped backs. Gothick tracery pattern were used on Gothick styled chairs whos backs are decorated with pointed arches finials panels with quatrefoil motifs and other motifs inspired by the

Gothic style, where legs were straight.

Chinese Chippendale chairs had pagoda style top rail with geometric latticework back .the legs were straight and the pierced lattice decoration is (could be) repeated on the legs. Sofas were made either of gilded pine or mahogany and the tradition of forming the backs out of several chair backs persisted. French style Chippendale transalated the French taste into an English form. Cabriole leg sofas and commodes bordered with acanthus and shell decoration. But unlike French furniture of the period designs were executed in mahogany with decoration carved on the wood rather than applied in the form of metal mounts.

Chinese style Chippendale introduced what he thought of as oriental motifs on his furniture .They were in the form of pagoda surmounts, galleries of fretwork,interlaced little sticks and bamboo and appear on chair backs ,stetchers ,legs, doors of bookcases and on bedheads. Gothick style Gothick taste was promoted by Sir Hugh Walpole whos fashionable villa Strawberry Hill was a feature in the social arena. Gothic tracery was carved on mahogany cupboard doors,sides of desks.. The Director contained not only chairs but bookcases desks and sideboards applied with finials and ogival motifs often mixed with ornamental characteristics of other styles and imposed on furniture Georgian in structure. Neo Classic His neo classical pieces showed his originality as a designer for although they fit into rooms designed by Adam it is clear from records that Chippendale supplied furniture independent of Adam.

The Rococo style French artist and teacher arrived in London in 1732.He was responsible for, in the field of decorative arts the spread of the picturesque and he contributed to the introduction of the serpentine outline. William Hogarth later expressed it as the most effective way to express beauty of form. Hogarth called the straight line unnatural compared with the curved line, which he considered fundamental to design. The serpentine line he felt would give fluid shape to a piece of furniture. Irregular lines and asymmetry, shells sprays ,drops of water flowers branches. The Rococo in England was limited to one or two rooms.Dining rooms would boast vines and Bacchic figures ,drawing rooms musical trophies, bedrooms would boast flowers, putti etc,dressing rooms would be adorned with chinoiseries and gothic motifs-gothic for men and chinoiseries for ladies. Its usual manifestations on furniture were as geometric trellis work known as railing,in the backs and sides of chairs,fret cut patterns in borders,pagodas surmounting beds ,display units,chairs.18th century chinoiserie was part of the Rococ style-a frolicsome search for the fantastic and exotic rather than a serious copying of the originals. Like Gothick it had no bearing in history or geography. Thomas Johnson ,Linnel names of other important cabinet makers and Mathias Locke an exceptional carver and cabinetmaker. Mayhew and Ince and Thomas Vile cbinet maker to the Crown. Chippendales essays in chinoiserie-japanned china carved canopied and dripping with icicles case,chunky sideboards and library tables plain except for fret cutting in the friezes andfretted brackets. Chippendale recommended japanning for lighter furniture intended for ladies rooms.Gilding he suggested for smaller items such as stands firescreens ,brackets. Missing from the Director are dining tables and sideboard units. Robert Adam Robert Adam revolutionized interiors with his novel decorative style. Adam drew on many sources for his style and assimilated and renewed them in a light and graceful manner. Adamsinterpretations of the designs of ancient Greece and Rome involved decoration rather than form. His decoratins include Classical motifs strings and festoons of husks or bell flowers, paterae,highly formalized shell ornaments, honeysuckle,

palmleaves and delicate formal scrolls of foliage which he called the flowing rainceau or branch. A good deal of Adams furniture is painted. Under Adam mahogany carving of the 1740s and 1750s gave way to inlaid decoration and besides mahogany lighter woods like golden yellow satinwood. Exotic woods such as pinkish hued tulipwood ,kingwood and for veneers with marquetry in contrasting woods such as sycamore, harewood, holly box or ebony for flowers and other neo-classic motifs. His furniture falls into four phases. His first designs were reinterpretations of the Georgian in style seen in an armchair designed in 1764.The surface decoration consists of honeysuckle Classical sphinxes and delicate formalized scrolls of foliage from his repertoire of ornament. But the bow shaped rail and curved shape of leg echo the Georgian form. By the late 1760s Adam had developed a more suitable rectilinear style. We see the rectangular side table with a marble, scagliola or marquetried wood top. Classical motifs decorate the carved and painted or gilded frieze and the legs which were generally

arranged in pairs were of tapering square section or slender baluster form. In semi circular tables decorative stretchers might be added. A delicate and more feminine manner is found in the gilt sideboard in Osterely Park and a a marked tendency towards lightness and elegance seen in the pier tables at Nostell Priory and in the side tables at Syon house between 1769 and 1771. Nearly all these tables have scagliola tops either in geometrical designs or decorated with husks or bell flowers medallions paterae grotesques etc. They represent Adams furniture in the most Mature phase. From 1780 painted furniture became popular especially with design in the Etruscan taste. The famous Etruscan room at Osterley park being criticized by Walpole as an anti climax to his previous work. Osterley park is known for a pair of Adams commodes dated 1773 they are of bold semicircular form veneered with harewood and satinwood and inlaid with circular and oval medallions containing figures of Venus and Cupid Diana and her hounds and nymphs. The sideboard unit was one of the most significant contribution of Adam to furniture design. This consisted of an elaborate group consisting of along table flanked by urns or pedestals with a wine cooler underneath.It was considered appropriate for such a composition in a dining room as Adam believed that political decisions were made at the dining table. Another item that Adam conceived as part of the wall decoration of the room was the bookcase. This developed into a structure let into the wall with open shelves above and doors below. Adam designed three kinds of mirrors.

Upto 1768 he favoured the upright picture frame shape consisting of broad flat moulding with stylized foliage and classical ornament. During the 1770s cresting with sphinxes beautiful female figures supporting an urn Or medallion seen at Saltram House, Osterley Park. A third type was the oval mirror .Sometimes the frame was broad and flat but it was frequently surrounded by festoons. Console tables were frequently matched with mirror, decorative motifs on the frame would match those on frieze and legs of the table. George Hepplewhite In 1788 The Cabinet makers and Upholsters Guide was published two years after the death of George hepplewhite by his wife. Certain types of furniture are especially associated with the name Hepplewhite. First his chairswith their oval, shield and heart shaped backs.The influence of Adam is seen in the shaping of backsplats as urns or vases festoons wheat ears and the popular prince of Wales feathers which was either carved or painted. The legs of Hepplewhites chairs are straight and tapering, either round or square and with leaf ornament. Sofas were especially delicate in structure. The seats were deeper from back to front and the legs were of slender baluster form. The French type confidante and duchesse were also popular. Hepplewhite featured a new type of sideboard combining Adams table and

pedestals in one piece. The pedestal cupboards contained a wine cellaret on one side and, and on the other, which was covered with sheet-iron a rack for plates and a spirit lamp for heating them. The secretaire cabinet was another piece where the base is like a chest of drawers with the front of the top drawer opening downwards to form a writing surface. The upper stage

has glazed doors, the glazing frames embodying either Classical vase like shapes ,gothic tracery, geometrical shapes of diamonds octagons .The tops of such pieces were often shaped as pediments with vases or urns as ornaments. Card tables , Pembroke tables were all part of his repertoire of furniture. The full range of bedroom and dressing room furniture is illustrated in his book. The distinctive Hepplewhite chest of drawers with the bow or serpentine front. Tallboys were double chests the top having a cornice moulding. Dressing tables for men and women were designed as deep tables with several drawers and having a top hinged at the sides and divided in the middle so as to open revealing inside receptacles for toilet articles. A distinctive feauture of the Hepplewhite period is the persistence of Rococo elements seen in the curvedarms backrails etc.

Thomas Sheraton(1751-1806) Thomas Sheraton was the last of the line of great cabinet makers who gave their name to the styles of the Georgian era. Hepplewhite and Thomas Shearer had influenced the designs of commodes, cabinets and tables but Sheratons chairs it must be noted was definitely original in his design of chairs. His square back chairsmark the radical the spirit of the 1780s to the 1790s.As

well as vase ,leaf and drapery motifs in chair backs, he illustrated newlattice and lozenge designs, deriving from France all with a vertical emphasis. Flowing serpentine are replaced by rectangular forms-banana and kidney shapes are suggested and elaborate classical marquetry gives way to geometrical banded borders and bold oval and lozenge insets in contrasting woods.

A vertical element is lent to chest of drawers and commodes by the inclusion of slender colonette uprights which break into the frieze area. In chair designs the front leg soars

upward into the chair arm support in an unbroken line. Spinning top feet were another favourite of Sheratons.