Victorian Period (1840 to 1910)

Victorian (1840 to 1910)

The Victorian period, named after England's Queen Victoria, reflecting her taste, was a dramatic departure from the Shaker period in that Victorian furniture was very formal and opulent representing the extreme wealth brought on by the industrial revolution in America. Black walnut, oak, maple, and ash were common building materials of the time with rosewood inlays for contrast.  

The country grew from a small, mostly agrarian society to an international industrial powerhouse.   As the century progressed, furniture was increasingly produced by means of the machine, and not by hand.   

The styles evolved significantly during this period bringing about multiple movements in furniture design including: Gothic Revival,  Elizabethan, Egyptian Revival, Louis VXI, Rococo, Eastlake, Renaissance Revival, and the Aesthetic Movement.  With all these revival periods happening during the Victorian Era makes identifying items as being made in the Victorian Period rather than the earlier period difficult 

Gothic Revival (1840 – 1860)

Gothic Revival brought back the architectural design elements found in Gothic Period (12th to 16th century) such as turrets, pediments, pointed arches, and quatrefoils 

Elizabethan style (1850 – 1920) 

Elizabethan Style is considered a subset of the Victorian Period and is a revival of a 16th century style. It is also referred to as Neo-Jacobean as some motifs were revived. Some consider this style a revival of the Gothic style with design for comfort and aesthetics added.

Louis 16th (1850 – 1914)

Louis 16th is another style within the Victorian period. The later portion of the style saw even more ornamentation including opulent carvings and ormolu decorations.  

Eastlake Style (1870 - 1890)

The Eastlake Style was named for Charles Locke Eastlake who wrote a very popular book “Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and other  Details” in London 1872 which promoted the principle that form, function, and craftsmanship need to be equally found in design. He believed that furniture should be hand made or if machine made by workers who took immense pride in their work. He promoted designs that were easy to create, affordable, and easy to clean.  This style is considered by many to be the tail end of the Victorian Period. 

 

Egyptian Revival (1861-1865) 

The Egyptian Revival style emerged in popularity around the time of the Civil War (1861-1865) — a period when American tastes  increasingly drew inspiration from Classic and Romantic periods of the past. Major motifs of Egyptian art such as obelisks, hieroglyphs, sphinxes and pyramids were used in various creative ways.  Ebonizing, elaborate carving, elegant detailing and ormolu mounts became the height of furniture fashion. 

Renaissance Revival (1850-1885)

The last half of the 19th century reveals an even further expansion of revivalism. Inspired by Renaissance architecture, the furniture from this movement was characterized by massive square architectural forms, broken pediments, applied medallions, acorn trim and tapering baluster-turned legs. Porcelain,  bronze and mother-of-pearl plaques were popular embellishments. Walnut was the most popular wood, with some veneer introduced as surface decoration. Light woods were favored in reaction to the prevailing dark woods of the Empire and Rococo Revival styles.

Aesthetic Movement (1860- 1890) 

The Aesthetic Movement argued that art was not supposed to be useful in any practical sense. Instead, aesthetic experience is a fully autonomous and independent aspect of a human life. Its adherents believed that ‘art should exist solely for its own sake.

Aestheticism stressed simple lines and naturalistic decoration, such as inlay,  marquetry and cloisonné. In the Aesthetic Movement’s credo, ornament was often placed asymmetrically, moving away from the highly elaborate products of mainstream Victorian taste.