Antique Victorian Furniture

Antique Victorian furniture refers to pieces made during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), and includes both mass-produced pieces and those handcrafted in small shops by designers such as Herter Brothers, Allen and Brother, Merklen Brothers, John Henry Belter, Alexander Roux and R.J. Horner. Although some designers, like George Hunzinger, put labels or stamps on all their furniture, many did not, so attributing a Victorian piece conclusively can require lots of research. In terms of wood types, walnut is generally inferior to rosewood, which was used on higher-end pieces. There are many diverse styles of Victorian furniture. In fact, famous Victorian designer Charles Eastlake himself hated Rococo, which was a mid-1850s Victorian look. Here are short descriptions of four popular Victorian styles: 1) Gothic Revival (circa 1830-1860): Think of traditional church design and you have a good feel for this furniture style, which incorporated design elements such as pointed arches, quatrefoils, trefoils, spires, and crockets. 2) Rococo Revival (c. 1840-1865): High-style furniture of French influence marked by use of naturalistic motifs like flora, shells, and fruit; C-scrolls and S-scrolls; and sinewy curved lines. Early pieces may have used mahogany, but Rococo designers typically used Walnut, while the top-end craftspeople worked with Rosewood. 3) Renaissance Revival (c. 1860-1890): Reversed the feminine elegance of Rococo around the time of the Civil War by espousing masculine arches, cartouches, animal and human figures, inlaid panels, burl panels, gilt incising, and ormulu (gilt-bronze) mounts. Subgenres include Egyptian Revival, Modern Gothic, and Neo-Grec. 4) Eastlake and Aesthetic Movement (c. 1880-1900): Moving away from the showy complicated designs of prior eras, this furniture relied on stylized natural elements like flowers and leaves; rectangular forms and severe lines; and shallow incisings and turnings. On finer pieces, marquetry, inlay and veneering can also be found.