Furniture History
Is inextricably linked with the story of civilization, in our case western civilization primarily, since it was the
Europeans who came to the U.S. first, bringing with them their belongings, memories and skills. The further
back you go in history, the less you can know about residential interiors, since only buildings made of stone or items carefully hidden from the elements survived to
give us insight into a way of life.
Mortise-and-tenon joints and tongue and groove
A method used to connect two pieces of wood or of other material. Joining methods still used today.
Fresco techniques
In which paint is applied directly to wet plaster
creating an extremely durable surface, a technique we
associate with Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.
Classical Period
Greco-Roman period of history/ This term recognizes the borrowing back and forth between the Greeks and Romans of ideas, architectural styles and languages with the Greeks contributing high culture and the Romans legal unity and administrative security.
Define: Polymath
The ideal Greek male is someone with knowledge of many subjects
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian
Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian
Empire was at the peak of its power.
Doric Column
Is the simpler, more masculine style with a large square block (the abacus) placed on top of the form. Only the Doric order has no base at the bottom. This column sits directly on the platform.
Ionic Column
Ionic style is less heavy, more feminine, some would
say. The capital is square as is the abacus, but each
end of the square has scrolling or volutes--pin curls at the top.
Corinthian Column
The Corinthian order is the most elaborate and the
latest developed. The capital is circular with two rows of acanthus leaves below four small volutes. The
Romans, who had a taste for grandeur over simplicity, preferred the Corinthian order.
Klismos chair
The most important piece of furniture was the klismos, with a concave back rail to fit the human form.
The Romans (753 B.C.E.-476 C.E.)
Imported goods from all over their empire and beyond and developed a taste for luxury in all of the arts. They
borrowed most heavily from the Greeks, but they
bought wares from everywhere.
The Pantheon
In Rome, though not a large building, is viewed by many people as Roman architecture at its finest. This open-eye temple to all the gods worshipped in the
Empire stands today in exquisite condition despite
wars and the wear of modern air quality and climate.
Atrium
In architecture, an atrium is a large open air or skylight covered space surrounded by a building. Atria were a
common feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing
light and ventilation to the interior.
Basilicas
Designed by the Romans which later served as models
for Christian churches
Renaissance period (1400s-1540s)
Was a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity and
covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change.
Apse
A semicircular recess in the wall at the east end of the
church.
Hagia Sophia
is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum in the Turkish Republic.
Pendentive
A concave triangular piece of masonry, four of which
support a dome erected over a square.
Gothic
designs of the period from 1140-1500 still inspire
modern travelers to make pilgrimages to the pointed arch and vault cathedrals that pepper the landscape of Europe. Built to the glory of God, with a large amount of craftsmanship and civic pride, Gothic churches like
Notre Dame in Paris
Flying buttress
an external support system carried on a series of arches to provide lateral thrust, the walls of the church could be opened up with larger and larger windows
Ambulatory
A covered walkway usually between the choir and the
apse, which provided access to chapels along the
outer wall of the apse.
Gargoyles
Carvings of fantastic animal forms used for gutter ends and waterspouts.
Renaissance (1400-1650)
Began in Italy and evolved there fully, long before its
impact was felt elsewhere. Over the next 150 years, the ideas and styles of the Italian revival of “all things classical” spread to Spain, France, the Flemish
countries and England.
High Renaissance (late 1400s-mid 1500s),
When the search for excellence yielded much fruit and
when artistic genius was admired. The creativity of these Renaissance designers was well compensated by patrons who treated them with dignified respect, not as mere artisans.
Palazzo
The town house of the great families ruling Italy’s
individual states and provinces
Villa
A country house
Terrazzo
Crushed marble mixed with cement.
Fresco
The most expensive form of decoration for ceilings and walls during Renaissance period.
Andrea Palladio (mid-1500s)
An architect who worked in Venice. He wrote a series
of treatises on design, offering practical instruction and
providing illustrated texts.
Baroque
The word baroque is French for ‘bizarre,’ ‘ugly’ or ‘fantastic.’ The baroque period is the 1600s and 1700s. The baroque style was a blend of illusion, light, color and movement designed to impress and
overwhelm the beholder. This style is characterized by
contrasts between light and dark emphasis on
movement, grand scale and a general sense of drama.
Associated with Louis XIV.
Marquetry
Type of inlay
Cabriole leg
a popular furniture leg with the knee curving outward
and the ankle curving inward terminating in an
ornamental foot.
Ormulu
a method of fusing gold leaf to brass
Rococo Style
Associated with Louis XV. Rococo style is characterized by elaborate ornamentation, asymmetrical values, pastel color palette, and curved
or serpentine lines. Rococo art works often depict themes of love, classical myths, youth, and playfulness. Came after Baroque they are both
ornamental in style. Rocco emphasis is on light and airy.
Neo-Classical style
Period became simpler, with straighter more regular
lines. Mahogany was used extensively; ebony was reintroduced. Fine materials continued to be favored.
Associated with Louis XVI.
Georgian
identified by its symmetrical composition and formal, classical details, was the most prevalent style in the
English colonies throughout the 18th century.
Queen Anne
Noted for their curved lines, and the splat back (a
carved plank which ran from the seat to the top), a
cabriole leg and a club foot (later a claw-and-ball foot).
Chippendale
Drawing on classic, French, Chinese and Gothic
styles, Thomas Chippendale created some of the most popular designs of the mid-18th century.
Hepplewhite
Hepplewhite furniture is delicate, has elegant lines and typically straight and slender legs that end in a spade
or thimble foot. The top of the chair back was curved in
an oval, heart or shield pattern.
Sheraton
Influenced by Neo-Classical styles, Thomas Sheraton designed furniture with straight lines and rectilinear forms. The chair legs were similar to those by Hepplewhite. The rear legs of the chair might continue
beyond the seat to form the back. Two or more
horizontal rails framed the back. An ornamental splat (or sometimes more than one) was often decorated like a vase.
Regency Style (1811-1820)
In England, Neo-Classical influences continued into the early 19th century, which is sometimes called the
Regency Style (1811-1820). This style came to
include more exotic characteristics, such as Egyptian, Chinese and Moorish traits, reflecting the international focus of the 19th century age of imperialism
Fiddleback
Queen Anne splat-back chair
Windsor chair
This chair design that was immensely popular in the colonies with a bent hoop spindle back and plank seat.
Federal style
Emerged, perhaps as a way of celebrating the newly
unified democratic republic by evoking the wisdom of the Athenian heritage of Ancient Greece
Greek Revival
for the effort to revive Greek architecture is central to it.
Interior design details included Greek accents, vase painting and architectural elements
William Morris (1834-1896)
An English design reformer, established a firm with a
group of colleagues, Morris, Marshall and Faulkner (known as “the Firm”), to make simplified designs,
emphasizing the natural character of woods, painted
surfaces, limited ornament
Arts & Crafts Movement
Morris’ company led the Arts and Crafts Movement or the Craftsman movement, a movement that reflected the attempt to have handcrafted quality items persist
despite the machine age.
Art Nouveau
In the late 19th century, reaching its heyday just at the
turn of the century, the style known as Art Nouveau emerged. It employed asymmetry and a sinuous
curving line in reaction to previous formality. The
emphasis was organic and natural; flower and insect motifs were commonly featured. This movement was strongly fashionable until its virtual disappearance just before World War I
Gaudi
Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain. developed a highly
personalized style. Like a flashing comet, this style
was later regarded as a fad.
Louis Tiffany (1848-1933)
The U.S. Art Nouveau movement included decorative lamps and glassware by Louis Tiffany
Louis Sullivan
Who used steel-frame construction, glass and attention to nature as inspiration for his interiors. His famous saying, “form follows function,” became the mantra of modernists.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Recognized as one of the four pioneers of Modernism. Wright (d. 1959) designed buildings, furniture, lighting, even rugs, with attention to nature and a desire to unify the interior of the building with the exterior and the building with its site and the natural setting.
Bauhaus
Using plain surfaces and straight lines, rejecting the flowing forms of Art Nouveau. This trend toward uncluttered, linear architecture culminates in Europe. The austere and unornamented interiors were mostly black, white, neutrals and primary colors.
Art Deco
The name of this movement is derived from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. There handmade furniture and fine craftsmanship were on display. The Art Deco style sports flashy decorative
motifs, including sunbursts, zigzags and stair step
patterns.
Beaux-Arts Movement
Is known for perpetuating classically inspired buildings, but in a more simplified, less ornamented way called Stripped Classicism.
Eclecticism
Or the borrowing and blending from many sources.
Elsie de Wolfe (d. 1950)
A pioneer in the field of interior decorating was Elsie de Wolfe (b.1865 - d. 1950), who worked for wealthy
New Yorkers. The first wave of designer-decorators
from the Eclectic movement paved the way for all of us
interested in design and aesthetic beauty in our interiors.
Post-Modernism
Modernism breaks away from Modernism in its willingness to include ornamentation and even elements of the historical, yes, even classical, styles—
often with a humorous impact.
High Tech
Designers from this style associate Modernism with the
Industrial or Machine Age, and they recognized that
the late 20th century is less centered around industry
and more impacted by technology. Their style is post-
Machine Age and futuristic.
Post Modernism
As a design and artistic style, Modernism deliberately
broke away from classical and traditional methods of expression to release innovative expressions that were
characterized by a new but different simplicity, order and logic.
Deconstructivism
Among the last of the 20th century styles, is
deconstructivism. This style looks as if it has
“deconstructed”. The best known architect working in this manner is Frank Gehry of California, who
designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Taj Mahal
(1632-1656) in Agra, India. It was built as a tomb by a Muslim ruler for his wife.
Louis XIII
Elizabethan
Jacobean
William & Mary
Queen Anne
Louis XIV
Georgian
Chippendale
Louis XV
Hepplewhite
Louis XVI
Sheraton
R & J Adam (Brothers Adam)
Empire
British New Art
L'Art Nouveau
Modern Austrian
Scotch New Art
Arts & Crafts
Misson
