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Interior design always swings between extremes: simple or opulent, delicate or bulky,
straight or rounded. It’s been going on like that for centuries, and we’re currently
in an era of “less is more.” We’ve become conditioned to prefer the pared-down, the
sleek – but the bravest among us isn’t afraid to admit to the guilty pleasures
inspired by the luxurious styles and decorative designs ideals rooted in the Victorian era.
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Be honest: what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the phrase
“Victorian furniture?” Over-the-top pieces, dripping with carved angels and covered in
dark velvet and gold paint, right? Well, while the Victorians certainly weren’t shy about
ornamentation, there was a lot more that came out of that era (roughly 1830 to the beginning of
the twentieth century) which coincides with the long, prosperous reign of Britain’s Queen Victoria.
But to understand the Victorian era and the design trends that sprang from it, you have to understand the society of the day.
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The first half of the nineteenth century was driven by social change. In America, England, and
Europe, aristocratic and formal styles began to give way to furniture that was simpler, more democratic in
design and affordable to a growing middle class. The Industrial Revolution meant that larger factories began to elbow
their way in beside the smaller artisans’ workshops, using mass-production techniques that created an ever-increasing
range of styles and decoration. Manufacturers made design decisions to take advantage of the new machinery that could
imitate handcrafted woodworking and decoration. And more people, employed in the rapidly multiplying factories, had
discretionary income to spend on the new lower-priced furniture for their homes.
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Echos of the Rennaisance Revival movement
can be found in the burled oval insets of
this bedroom collection.
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Setting the Stage
Technology may have set the stage, but the bottom line for many middle class Victorians was that opulent
styles became affordable. This phenomenon contributed to a renewed fascination with historical styles and
designs from previous eras. The impulse to “look back” wasn’t invented by the Victorians, of course, but
certainly took root in the beginning of the 19th century. English, American and French styles during those
years were influenced by excavations of Pompeii and other Roman ruins. Bookcases and sideboards came to
resemble temple facades, sofas took the shape of Roman chaises and, in general, furniture bulked up to
resemble the massive architecture it was emulating. The Victorians changed focus from ancient civilization,
but their design continued to be fueled by earlier eras.
The first true Victorian style in England was Neo-Gothic design, arriving around 1830 with a heavy emphasis on
the medieval era. The style is most closely associated with the architect Augustus Pugin, who with his father used Gothic
motifs in designing London’s Houses of Parliament. Dark woods, pointed arches, trefoils (a shape similar to three-leaf
clover) and other Gothic cathedral carvings recalled the dedication of medieval craftsman and implied moral character.
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This marble-topped dresser
shows the elements of Rococo Revival design.
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Reviving Rococo and Renaissance
From 1850 to 1870, popular taste turned to a more romantic form known as “Rococo Revival.”
This furniture looked back to eighteenth century France with swirling lines, natural motifs
like fruit and flowers, and dark woods like mahogany, rosewood and black walnut. Furniture had
gilt and marble accents, carved leaf or fruit drawer pulls, serpentine fronts and rounded tops and corners. Parlor
seating featured cabriole legs, curved backs with carved oval insets, and rich, opulent fabrics. Cabinetmaker John
Henry Belter, whose highly ornamented designs set the standard and were widely (and sometimes badly) imitated, is most
prominently associated with the period.
The overlapping Renaissance Revival (roughly 1860-1880) offered a different set of options.
Curvy cabriole legs were replaced with straight, turned or fluted legs and massive squared-off
silhouettes ruled.
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There was no lack of ego in this look; huge sideboards, beds and armoires that approached ceiling height were
among the most extravagant pieces. Burl panels, carved crests, medallions, pediments, finials and bronze and
brass accents replaced rococo carved flowers and fruit motifs. Such decorative elements took on a life of their own and
were often lavishly added to poorly made furniture to give it a little more “class.”
During the 1850s and ‘60s, other trends took root. Patterned wallpapers and large-design wall-to-wall carpeting
were mass produced, becoming increasingly available and desirable. Window treatments became more important, more layered and
architectural, more opulent. For the first time, furniture was sold in suites: matched pieces for the parlor, dining room or
bedroom.
Alternatives to Opulence.
As in current times, there was an alternative to opulence. In the 1840s, Cottage furniture surfaced as the
less expensive, less formal option for working class homes, rustic getaways, and even the for the porches and
solariums of the massive seaside “cottages” of communities like Newport, Rhode Island. Though simpler in design,
and often crafted from less expensive woods, these pieces were anything but plain, often given light or pastel
colors, then embellished with hand-painted or stenciled designs. Like gingerbread houses, this furniture sought to
be conspicuously quaint, personal and intimate. These homey looks remained popular to the end of the century and
beyond. They relate to the Adirondack style popularized at the turn of the century, and enjoying a strong revival today.
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Cottage furniture wasn’t the only reaction to the ornate sensibilities of Victorian style.
In the early 1870s, Charles Eastlake’s rejection of the overblown and excessive furniture had
traveled from Great Britain to America. His call for honest furniture design resulted in more
modestly scaled pieces with relatively (for the time) simple decoration such as carved geometric
motifs, incised lines and modest painted accents. Golden oak replaced darker woods and for the
first time, mail order furniture became available, sending a wave of Eastlake’s affordable factory-made furniture into homes across the country.
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Sumptuous fabrics and trims are presented in
this modern interpretation of a classic Victorian sofa.
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The final 25 years of the nineteenth century kept much of what had gone before, as well as a riot of new
options. In the United States, the 1876 Centennial of the American Revolution fostered a Colonial revival, a
Victorian’s look back at the eighteenth century. The Aesthetic movement was influenced by the fascination
with all things Japanese – delicate bamboo and wicker furniture, folding screens and fans provided relief
from the darker, heavier Victorian formality, as did the exotic touches of Oriental carpets, indoor plants
and silk wallpapers and lampshades. By the 1890s, the circle was complete, with the curved lines of Rococo
Revival giving birth to the simplified curves of the Art Nouveau style, and the chunkier geometric elements
of Gothic Revival making way first for the straightened and geometric flavors of Eastlake, and then for
simpler-yet squareness of the Arts and Crafts (or Mission) movement.
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Coinciding with our nation's 100th birthday, the Colonial Revival design movement re-interpretted classic
Colonial furniture
through the somewhat more florid
lens of Victorian tastes.
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The importance of technology in furniture manufacturing as a factor in design trends cannot be
overstated. Big cities like New York, Philadelphia and Boston set the trends, and small town manufacturers across the
country fell into formation and began to produce the “newest looks,” taking advantage of a constantly improving set of
manufacturing techniques and technologies. Routing and stamping echoed the look of hand-carving. Spool beds developed
as power lathes made it possible to turn out miles of simple turnings at a fraction of what they had cost to produce in
the recent past. A process developed by German inventor/designer Michael Thonet for steam bending wood was used by
manufacturers across the country to produce simple, intriguing bentwood chairs, rockers and beds, laying the ground work
for the twentieth century’s modernist movements.
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If we can step outside of our own realities for a moment, it’s not really hard to understand
why a newly-monied nineteenth-century middle class rushed to embrace a suddenly-affordable,
opulent style, even with its occasional excesses. The concept of “less is more” would have
baffled them as a conceit of the wealthiest. Hard-lived lives had taught them that less was,
in fact, less, and they cannot be faulted for wanting to see for themselves what it was like
to have “more.” PY/CDR
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Interested in seeing more traditional furniture?
Click any of the links below to see traditional styles.
Bedroom Dining Room Living Room Entertainment Lighting Kids
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