English furniture designers of the eighteenth century

In the present volume I have endeavored to trace the history of English furniture from the reign of William and Mary to the early years of the nineteenth century. The illustrations (most of which have not appeared before) present choice examples of the Queen Anne School, the brothers Adam, the Chippendales, Sheraton, Shearer, and Hepplewhite. I have not reproduced any fanciful designs from the illustrated catalogues issued by eighteenth-century cabinet-makers, but have preferred to give illustrations of pieces that were actually made and are to-day the cherished possessions by inheritance or purchase of time-honoured families or discriminating collectors.

For the biographies many new facts have been gleaned from parish registers, the records at Somerset House, and other original sources. The careers of the second and third Thomas Chippendale have been traced to their close; while the identity of the hitherto elusive Hepplewhite is for the first time satisfactorily established. In collecting the biographical material I have received valuable help from Mr. Gordon Goodwin.

In Norman and Plantagenet times, except in the houses of the nobility and the very wealthy, domestic furniture was but sparingly used in England. Until the second half of the sixteenth century most examples show rude and coarse workmanship, and were designed more with a view to utility than beauty; the chief decorative woodwork of the Middle Ages was made for ecclesiastical purposes only. In the Elizabethan age there was a great artistic development, entirely attributable to the influence of the Italian Renaissance. The old feudal houses, which had depended chiefly upon tapestry and other wall hangings for their decoration, soon began to change their appearance, and oak panellings, friezes, screens, and furniture, were embellished with elaborate and beautiful carvings.

The Restoration brought us into close connection with the continent, and about that period furniture was sent to this country in large quantities from Flanders, Holland, France, and Spain. This foreign work was largely copied, and for a time, at least, English productions possessed no very distinct national character of their own. It was then that chairs first came into general use. Until the middle of the seventeenth century they had been reserved only for the master of the house or for some honored guest, and persons of less importance had to accommodate themselves with stools, benches, or settles. With the accession of William and Mary in 1689, came a new development in furniture design. Many influences contributed to this result, but at first the most potent was the great popularity acquired by Dutch models. The style of furniture in the Netherlands was very striking and characteristic, and when historical reasons favored the general acceptance of Dutch types in this country, our native cabinet-makers were quickly stimulated with a desire to improve upon the foreign methods. It was thus that the great artistic movement of the eighteenth century began. Through a long cycle of years, dating from about 1689, various styles, each having distinctive features, followed one another in quick succession, and though the different classes or schools of design naturally overlapped, they may be approximately divided into the following periods:

    The Queen Anne School, about 1689-1730.
    The Chippendale School, about 1730-1770.
    The Adam School, about 1760-1790.
    The Hepplewhite School, about 1785-1795.
    The Sheraton School, about 1790-1806.


It is unfortunate that there is no large national collection of English furniture. There are a few fine pieces of eighteenth-century work at the Victoria and Albert Museum, but the best examples can only be seen in large country houses, or in the hands of dealers and collectors here and in America. The numerous books of design issued as trade catalogues (there is almost a complete collection in the Museum Art Library, South Kensington) show the different styles of the eighteenth-century craftsmen, and are thus a valuable guide to a knowledge of their work. But with the exception of Robert Adam's designs and some of Hepplewhite's, very few sketches in the illustrated catalogues were actually carried out. Most of the drawings were probably intended merely to show what could be executed if required. "Book- pieces" made to order from the plates are very rare, and the greater part of the old furniture now in existence must have been produced from designs which have disappeared.

In the present volume, the illustrations have all been taken from actual examples, and wherever possible the pieces chosen represent the finest or most characteristic types of each school.

Queen Anne is the name generally given to the furniture produced from the time of William and Mary till the opening years of the reign of George II. The changes brought about by the prevalence of French fashions were observable early in the eighteenth century, but the style which finally culminated in that known as " Chippendale," retained at first so much of the "Queen Anne" character, that it has been found simpler to regard the furniture of the transitional stage as " late Queen Anne" and "early Chippendale," than to treat the early Georgian types as a separate class by themselves.

One of the most important characteristics of the Queen Anne period was the general adoption of the Dutch "cabriole" or bent-knee leg. In country districts Jacobean square-framed chairs and tables still lingered on for another fifty years, but in towns and cities bombe curves superseded the old rectangular shapes, and walnut veneers and delicate carving were employed for decoration. Whenever supports of any kind were needed, the cabriole leg was nearly always used; the bulbous Dutch outlines were soon toned down, and in the types of this period we find once more a national school, truly English in feeling and workmanship.

Another influence, that of the architects, is rarely taken sufficiently into consideration. The mouldings, ornaments, and outlines of furniture were largely based on the researches and work of those who erected our public and private buildings. Architects designed the panelling, chimney-pieces, corner cupboards, console-tables, and many other details of the apartment. They were men of much learning in their profession, and early in the eighteenth century began to publish books of decoration for the interior of houses. Their ideas were freely borrowed by the cabinet-makers ; the architectural character of bookcases, cabinets, and many other pieces, goes far to prove indeed, proves conclusively that it was primarily due to the architects that the great bulk of our beautiful eighteenth-century furniture ever came into existence.

At the close of the seventeenth century Sir Christopher Wren was rebuilding St. Paul's and many of the city churches, besides erecting a large number of houses and other edifices throughout the country. His style of work was based upon classical models very freely interpreted and modified by his own personality. He established a school of craftsmen, among whom Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) stands out preminent as a carver and modeller. Thus Wren's school with Gibbons as chief exponent combined with Dutch influences, produced a distinct class of English carving.

The woods which formed the carcass or foundation work of Queen Anne furniture were walnut, oak, and chestnut, the finer qualities of walnut being reserved for veneers. At the beginning of the eighteenth century mahogany was but sparingly used; the first large importations of this timber from Cuba, San Domingo, and Honduras, were made about 1720 at the opening of the Chippendale era. Ebony and the native woods, holly, pear, box, and yew were all employed for banding and inlay: marquetry (in intricate geometrical or leaf patterns) which had long been fashionable, was generally carried out in light yellow upon a walnut ground. The shading was obtained by placing the grain of the wood in various directions, also by means of a hot iron, hot sand, or artificial staining. Dutch furniture was inlaid in a very similar manner, but the work was invariably coarser than the English.

Lacquering and painting in black, gold, and other colors was also a favorite mode of decoration. Not only inlaid panels, but whole pieces of furniture were ornamented in this manner by English and Dutch workmen who imitated Chinese methods.

Brass-work in the form of hinges, key-escut- cheons, handles, angle plates, nails, and ornaments were hardly ever seen on English furniture until this period. Now, however, metal-work began entirely to supersede the old wooden knobs and handles.