Popular Antique Furniture Styles Throughout The Ages
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
The earliest recorded antique furniture styles to be officially recognized at the start of the 17th century is Gothic. Most Gothic furniture were made of oak and had simple lines but massive designs. It was directly influenced by the architectural discipline of that era, mostly straight lines with emphasis on right angles.
Gothic and Colonial furniture
France produced the most admired Gothic furniture known for their foliage themes, like leaves and vines. Rococo and baroque stood out among other Gothic styles for the remainder of the century.
A lot of the famous furniture designs sprang up from England. As Gothic pieces diminished in popularity, the Early and Late Colonial furniture styles were ushered in. With pine as its primary wood source, these heavily-decorated furniture featured square lines. A standard and popular example of this style is the Windsor chair.
Queen Anne and Georgian designs
The early 18th century saw the rising popularity of Queen Anne designs which had simple detailing and graceful curves and lines. These antique furniture styles were usually built using oak, mahogany maple, walnut and cherry.
At the end of the 18th century, four famous types of Georgian furniture style have emerged. Georgian Chippendale were famous for their ornate carvings; Georgian Adam is dominated by straight lines. Georgian Hepplewhite furniture had straight tapering legs, with a design influenced by Adam. Georgian Sheraton added more emphasis on straight detailing. All of the designs were constructed with mahogany.