The Eras of Antique Furniture in America

1630-1690 Pilgrim
Mostly made of oak and pine. Most pieces are large, crude, utilitarian and very strong. This form of furniture was usually painted and decorated with applied spindles and had wood handles and knobs.

1690-1725 William & Mary
This furniture is both graceful and elegant. Pieces are on raised legs and some have domed tops. Brass instead of wood hardware became more common during this period. Usually made from fruitwood, maple or walnut. Had ornate decorative effects such as veneer, marquetry, parquetry and lacquer. The William & Mary style introduced highboys and lowboys and was named for the King and Queen of England who reigned together from 1689 to 1694.

1725-1750 Queen Anne
Named for Queen Anne, this furniture presented the cabriole leg and pad foot to America for the first time. Very delicate, the S shaped leg delivers a balance that allows heavy pieces to rest on slim legs without benefit of stretcher rails which were previously needed to insure stability. Some earlier pieces of this style were made in mahogany but walnut and maple were the most common woods. The Queen Anne style was comfortable, graceful and elegantly proportioned.

1750-1780 Chippendale
Although similar to Queen Anne, Chippendale pieces were much more elaborate and fancy to include serpentine, bowfront and blockfront. This style introduced the ball and claw foot which became exceptionally popular and is still used on furniture made today. The Chippendale style emphasized symmetry and proportion.

1780-1820 Federal
This simplistic form of furniture was known as neoclassic in Europe. In America, the Federal period was mainly associated with the pieces of two prominent furniture designers, George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton. Decorations popular during this period were often inlaid or painted on the furniture. These decorations included eagles, bellflowers and urns. Hepplewhite pieces have mainly square tapered legs and Sheraton pieces usually have reeded legs.

1815-1840 Empire
Much heavier and more ornate that the Federal style. Empire pieces are usually quite large and can have lyre-shaped legs in addition to scroll-shaped feet. Veneer on Empire pieces became common. Also, with the invention of new machinery, the Empire Era was the beginning of America having a nationwide furniture industry. Such progress put many individual furniture makers out of business. New York cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe was instrumental in the development of the Empire style. Acanthus leaf design and glass pulls were introduced during this period.

1690-1900 Country
Country furniture was simple and rustic. Made from less expensive woods it was popular with people who could not afford the more expensive ever-changing styles of the times. Many of these pieces are what we commonly refer to today as primitive. Most of this furniture was hand painted with designs that would actually be called "folk art" by present standards. Quite a few pieces had the look of past furniture styles such as Federal, but they were produced after those styles were no longer popular. Jelly cabinets, open cupboards and pie safes are examples of the Country period.

In the 1980's and 1990's, the "country style" found a new following and was all the rage especially in New England. Worn paint on these old pieces became extremely popular. Should you come across an old piece that you like, whatever you do, don't paint it. There are pieces of country furniture still being made today but they are not considered genuinely old. New pieces are sometimes made of boards from a one hundred year old barn. The wood is old but the piece itself is not. Then there are new pieces created with all new materials that have been made to look old.

1790-1900 Shaker
The Shakers were a self-sufficient religious sect who lived in large closed communities. With few exceptions, these communities were located in New England. Their religious beliefs called for very simple living which was definitely reflected in their hand made furniture. Famous for exceptional craftsmanship, Shaker pieces are beautiful but quite plain with no decoration to speak of and are modeled after both the Federal and Country styles. Only after their communities started to close down in the early 20th century was the furniture they made available for sale to the general public.

It was the Shakers who invented chair peg rails that attach to walls at a height of 6 to 7 feet. They used these rails to keep their chairs off the floor and out of the way when they were not in use. This provided them with additional space and made sweeping the floors much easier. This was very much in keeping with their desire to maintain order and to avoid clutter. Several Shaker Villages are still open today and operate as museums. The two that come to mind are in Canterbury, New Hampshire and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

You should visit one of these if you ever get the chance. You will be so very impressed with the innovative ideas they brought us and just as impressed with the fine examples of their furniture. They even offer classes to teach people how to make the now famous shaker boxes. My husband took this class and made me one of those boxes - the box is just perfect. But then again, so is my husband.

1840-1880 Victorian
Although the furniture made during this time was labeled Victorian, Victorian is not a particular style. It includes a mixture of different styles that were developed during the reign of Queen Victoria. Victorian furnishings were factory produced for the most part. Included in the Victorian genre were Rococo Revival, Tudor, Gothic, Elizabethan Revival and Renaissance Revival to name a few. Some of the design aspects associated with this grouping of styles featured curving cabriole legs, heavy ornamental floral motifs, marble tops and gothic arches. Also available during this same period were pieces that offered porcelain and mother of pearl decorations as well as architectural elements such as pediments and columns.

1860-1910 Cottage
The Cottage era overlapped with the Victorian era. Intended for the homes or cottages of the working class, it was particularly popular on the East Coast of America. Cottage furniture mainly came in complete sets, kitchen and bedroom sets being the most common. In keeping with the Victorian theme, beds were very high and lavishly decorated. Boasting finials and medallions as common fare, most of this furniture was hand painted with different motifs such as florals, ships and wildlife. The painting rather than the furniture was what usually caught one's eye. Some pieces were more attractive than others depending on the talent level of the particular artist involved.

1870-1890 Eastlake
This movement was begun by British architect Charles Eastlake. Eastlake furniture was designed to be of good quality but affordable and easy to clean. Even though it was technically part of the Victorian period, rectilinear shapes replaced curving lines with an integration of form and function. Eastlake made no pieces himself but relied on British cabinetmakers to produce his designs. However here in the states, American furniture manufacturers took Eastlake's ideas and, rather than a return to the quality he sought, they produced poorly made pieces and marketed them as Eastlake.

1880-1910 Anglo-Japanese
The beginnings of the Anglo-Japanese style came late in the Victorian era. Having not been previously exposed to such designs before, Americans became enthralled by the Japanese furnishings they saw at the Bicentennial Exhibition in Philadelphia during 1876. American furniture manufacturers started producing these pieces which were asymmetrical and incorporated fans, bamboo-turned legs and ebonized woods.

1895-1910 Art Nouveau
Although it had a large following in Europe, Art Nouveau was never very popular in America. French for "new art", Art Nouveau is characterized by highly stylized flowing curvilinear forms. Furniture manufacturers in America produced pieces somewhat reminiscent of the French version but only to the extent of incorporating the floral and other plant inspired motifs from the European market. The American pieces that were produced were more a combination of Rococo Revival and Eastlake.

1890-1925 Colonial Revival
Around this time frame, few Americans were aware of the furniture that was made by their ancestors. Wallace Nutting, a cabinetmaker, produced reproductions of earlier American furniture. He copied the pieces that he himself had collected. Although Nutting made quality reproductions that were hard to distinguish from the real pieces, even by experts, most reproductions during this period were not made with quality materials.

1900-1920 Arts and Crafts/Mission
This movement was pretty much a desire to get back to basics, to get away from the industrial revolution and return to the individual craftsman who could make furniture by hand. Arts and Crafts style was founded by William Morris of England (famous for the Morris chair). It took a number of years for this movement to hit America. The main drawback was how to keep prices down while creating quality handcrafted pieces using mainly oak or tiger oak.

Gustav Stickley and Elbert Hubbard from Roycroft also began to make similar quality furniture from oak and tiger oak around the same time. Both these men, although involved in the Arts and Crafts movement, became known for making what was called Mission furniture. Both Arts and Crafts and Mission are much the same. Stickley furniture had exposed joints, no nails and was made from all natural materials to include canvas and leather for upholstery.

1925-1945 Art Deco
Art Deco grew out of a French movement and was the answer to postwar demand for luxury, high style and good craftsmanship at a modest price. Immensely popular in America during the 20's and 30's it was tied to the new mechanical age and could also be seen in the streamlined look of cars, planes and ships. In Art Deco furniture, the first synthetic plastic known as Bakelite was commonly used for drawer pulls and applied decorations to mirrors. Other than these accents that were applied to the tops of mirrors, most mirrors were frameless, big and round. A common Deco style used in bedroom sets was referred to as "Waterfall". The name comes from the curved or rounded horizontal edge design used on bureaus, chests, nightstands, wardrobes and tables.

Furniture was only one part of the all-encompassing Art Deco movement. It also became its own separate architectural style as is evident by the Deco design of hundreds and hundreds of buildings to include skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. Many places such as South Beach and St. Petersburg in Florida still have a very distinct Deco flavor today. As a matter of fact, in some sections, new construction must mimic the Deco style in order to fit in with the rest of the landscape. Chevron patterns, sunbursts, female nudes and females in bathing suits are typical of the Deco design. This style also heavily influenced lighting, clothing, barware, cigarette lighters and many other items.

1925-1950 Modern
Coming into its own at the same time as Art Deco, the Modern era stems from the Bauhaus movement. The Bauhaus was a German School of Art and Design founded in 1919. Easily mass-produced modern furnishings were made of many of the same materials used in Modern architecture. Common materials included chrome, steel, plastic, laminate and glass. Geared toward appearance and comfort, this movement is still important today although it has undergone some changes through the years. Many modern pieces produced now are once again made from wood which had fallen out of favor during the peak of the 30's.

1930-1945 Depression
Although some Depression era pieces are attractive, most of this furniture is bulky and heavy. During the Depression, people could no longer afford to buy even moderately expensive furniture. Furniture makers took past designs from other furniture eras and produced new pieces, only these pieces were made much more cheaply. Inexpensive woods were used and the thinnest layers of ornate veneer were applied to give the furniture a showy look. Because of the excessive use of very thin veneer, glue failure is always a concern when dealing with Depression era pieces. Since so much of this furniture was produced and since it was and still is relatively inexpensive, no reproductions of Depression Era furniture have ever been made.

Written by Anne Benedetto, Auction House Talk
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