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Many styles in furniture come and go in popularity, determined largely by whatever interior design guru currently holds reign in the media. However, certain furniture styles – the "classics" – are here to stay and remain favorites, particularly among people whose tastes in furniture do not rest on trendiness, but rather on the lasting qualities of timeless design and impeccable craftsmanship.
Cabinfield has the great opportunity to be able to deliver to the discriminating consumer some of the great, classic styles of furniture that originated decades ago, yet remain as "au courant" as they were when they first appeared. We will discuss classic styles and learn a little about where, when and how they came about, so you, the buyer, can know more regarding such issues as what makes a piece "Mission," where "Shaker" style comes from, what defines "Traditional," and more.
Arts & Crafts, American Craftsman, Morris, and Mission
When you come across the terms "Mission", "Stickley", "Arts & Crafts," "American Craftsman", and "Morris", you are actually encountering styles so closely related to one another, many (excluding skilled collectors and those who've made it a point to learn the distinctions) consider them one and the same, and do not differentiate between them.
The Arts & Crafts movement began in Europe in the late 1800s as a rebellion against the long-popular Victorian styles that incorporated many considered pretentious design and ostentatious ornamentation. Also, as a result of the Industrial Age, furniture was being mass-produced, designed to be easily made by machines, instead of machines being used to create quality furniture. As a result, these poorly designed, hurriedly built furnishings lacked both durability and tastefulness. The Arts & Crafts movement rebelled against all that with its simple, straightforward designs and meticulous hand-craftsmanship.
William Morris, a founder of the British Arts & Crafts movement, had adapted the design of the Morris chair from a prototype owned by Ephraim Colman in Sussex, England. Morris and Company successfully marketed the chair, which was copied by many, notably in America by Gustav Stickley, a stonemason, architect, and furniture maker. The Morris chair, as it became known, served as a mainstay of the Arts & Crafts style.
When Stickley introduced the Arts & Crafts style to America with the Morris chair and other pieces designed and crafted in a similar style, it became known as American Craftsman. He and others involved in the movement utilized these Arts & Crafts style fundamentals and incorporated other ideals by building handcrafted pieces that included certain basic criteria such as:
- Simplicity
- Usefulness
- Sturdiness
- The use of unpainted woods (although varnishing was acceptable)
- An abstinence from unnecessary lines and ornamentation
- The utilization of organic materials, emphasizing the inherent beauty of wood and the use of natural upholsteries, such as canvas and, in particular, leather
Mission – A Part of American Craftsman
Mission Characteristics
Mission furniture is often described as Arts & Crafts, American Craftsman, and Stickley. Although Mission is, indeed, a part of these movements, not all furniture defined as these styles can be called Mission. Mission features definitive characteristics.
One common trait (though not found in all Mission-style pieces) is exposed joinery. Exposed (or "through") mortise-and-tenon joinery in Mission furniture not only creates a nearly indestructible joint between wood pieces, but also performs as an effective style element. This creates an interchange of both form and function rarely found in furniture design, but beautifully illustrated in Mission style.
Another oft-found style element of Mission includes the use of multiple, uniformly sized wood slats. The simple use of repetitive, evenly spaced parallel slats infuses many Mission-style furnishings with a sense of harmonious equanimity that also implies a quiet strength. Open-slat styling also gives relief by lightening pieces that might otherwise appear too heavy.
Corbels offer another commonly seen Mission characteristic. Corbels are brackets used as joint reinforcements, but similar to exposed mortise-and-tenon joinery, these brackets also offer a style bonus by lending a gracefully curved or sloping profile to joined rectilinear (straight-lined) wood pieces.
Today's current resurgence in popularity of Mission-style furniture may reflect what many people yearned for during its beginnings: a desire to return to simpler, quieter times and to "natural" furniture built with honesty and intrinsic style.
Shaker
More on Shaker Style
Millennial Laws established in 1821 provided standards for the Shakers, which emphasized order, durability, and utility, and encompassed all aspects of Shaker life, including furniture-making. One of the most notable chair styles, the ladder-back, became so in demand, the Shakers patented the design. Although the basic design had been common all around the New England area for many years, the Shakers greatly refined it, making it more comfortable, lighter in weight, and simplifying the chair back's finials. The chair clearly epitomized the Shakers' dictums of order, durability, and utility within its style.
Because of the austere nature of Shaker style, some scholars believe it to be a precursor to the famed "Danish Modern." In addition to its similarity to the Scandinavian economy of design, Shaker design also is thought to have influenced Japanese and European furniture makers in their quest for the purest examples of scale, proportion, and balance.
Comparatively thin tops with generous overhangs of two to three inches exemplify, as another characteristic, Shaker table-top design. Flush panels, flaring or tapered legs, and seamless crown molding coves are also commonly seen as Shaker-style traits. Imported or exotic woods, such as mahogany, were never used in original Shaker furniture, with local woods such as birch, pine, walnut, and maple used instead. Although nails and pegs were employed in joining Shaker furniture sections, the more reliable and constructively superior dovetail was more common. But perhaps most important among criteria identifying Shaker furniture can be found in its utilitarianism: A true Shaker piece always serves a practical purpose.
Federal Style
Furniture from the Federal-era (1780-1820) was crafted from dark wood (often mahogany imported from Cuba) using rich colors and elegant lines. Furniture makers today who reproduce the Federal style tend to do the same; however, with the current popularity of oak and other light woods, "Federal" style has come to mean more about broken-arch or "swan neck" pediments with centered, neoclassical urns; fluted reed posts; and slender, tapering legs – all with lightly curvilinear forms utilized in the making of classic, simple designs. Federal-style reproductions can be found commonly today not only in mahogany, but also in oak, cherry, walnut, pine, and other woods.
The Federal era began in the New England area, catering to that region's wealthy merchants, with Baltimore-area furniture makers rising to the top as leaders of this style. As the trend spread, so did nuances specific to each area. One stylistic favorite in Federal furniture of this era and its reproductions was the "rice" bed, first designed and built in Charleston, South Carolina. The posts on these four-poster beds featured carvings of one of the South's favorite food staples grown there: elegant, stylized versions of a rice sheaf. Rice beds became popular not only in the South, but everywhere they could be shipped throughout the country and remain much in demand today.
Federal-style furniture generally features designs originated by notable furniture makers Thomas Chippendale (1718-1789), George Hepplewhite (1727-1786), and Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). Although these British innovators inspired most Federal designs, American Federal developed its own unique characteristics, such as the rice bed mentioned above, and continues to this day in succeeding as a timeless and classically beautiful style.
Empire
Napoleon's First French Empire inspired this style of furniture, which featured the marriage of ascetic Greek and Roman design ideals to the imperial opulence of Napoleon's court. Gaining popularity in the United States in the early 19th century, the Empire style incorporated columns, pilasters, a near-obsession with symmetry, and sharply defined profiles. Much Empire-style furniture was massive and relied heavily on the use of solid or veneered mahogany, highly polished to a lustrous sheen. Gilded ormolu and inlay were used, as were Egyptian decorative motifs such as griffins and phoenixes. But New York furniture maker Duncan Phyfe refined and scaled down the French Empire style, Americanizing it to a more elegant, sophisticated look.
One of the most lasting creations to spring from the Empire style is the sleigh bed. These beds, appearing in 19th century Empire style, featured lavish scrolling and were of heavy, bulky proportions. Although this type of authentic Empire style of sleigh bed can still be found, most modern-day interpretations rely on the style's gracefully curving lines without the added gilding or excessive carved ornamentation. A sleeker, more streamlined profile of the sleigh bed is popular today, one that still captures the essence of Empire style, yet fits and works much better in today's more limited spaces and modern lifestyles.
Country French
This furniture style makes reference not so much to a particular era, but to differentiate between styles of the French urbanite and those of the country dweller. Whereas sophisticated Parisians of the 18th and early 19th centuries preferred such elaborate ornamentation as the gilt bronze mounts found in many period French styles, farm families of the smaller towns and surrounding countryside of such places as Bordeaux, Normandy, and Provence chose other, less-expensive ways to make their furniture appealing. Eschewing the often-imported and pricier woods of the capital city, French country furniture makers used woods indigenous to their area. Instead of expensive gilding, carving became the acceptable method of adding interest to a piece.
By the late 1800s, the more relaxed character of the country-style French furniture became increasingly popular to the middle classes of the city. Formality took a backseat to casualness, even among the cultured circles of big-city Paris and has remained a much in-demand style to the present day.
Modern
The Modern style of furniture came into being soon after World War II, heralded by the Art Deco trend that began in the late 30s. A new optimism was in the air that promoted innovativeness and a sleek sophistication in design. Streamlining was in demand and to help meet this criterion, furniture was "matched," that is, sets or suites of bedroom, dining room, and living room furniture pieces were created to coordinate seamlessly with one another. Matched sets came into fashion at this time and remain very much in favor to the present. Woods used were light in color ("blonde" was the overwhelmingly popular finish), and ornate accents and embellishments gave way to smooth, clean lines and beautifully open expanses of wood, upholstery, and the new synthetics and composites , such as vinyl, plastics, and fiberglass. Metals such as nickel, chrome, and aluminum were also incorporated along with wood and leather, a juxtaposition that married the organic to the inorganic in a fashion that clearly earmarked Modern as unique.
The Heywood-Wakefield company, Florence Knoll, brothers Charles and Ray Eames, Herman Miller and others introduced during this era that spanned the 40s throughout the 70s, classic modern forms that continue to be in demand today.
One of the interesting characteristics of Modern furniture is its origins in classic styles such as Mission and Shaker. As mentioned earlier, the famed Danish Modern is thought to have borrowed many elements of Shaker design and then altered, modified, and incorporated them into its own unique style.
Only purists among the Modern-style furniture designers today have not abandoned the "blonde only" wood colors, choosing instead to embrace all types and colors of finishes, including painted and distressed. The essential form, however, of a streamlined, clean simplicity persists as a hallmark defining classic Modern style.
Traditional
The comforting, classic style of Traditional furniture remains a favorite through the years. Indefinable by any one set of features, Traditional furniture embraces the elements of design from a number of styles – Sheraton, Chippendale, Queen Anne, Victorian, and more – and incorporates the least ostentatious of them into a dйcor that appeals to those wanting a casual, refined elegance that never calls attention to itself.
Symmetry in design, as well as matching of pieces, helps create the relaxed sophistication of Traditional style, and although carvings, appliquйs, and other ornamentation is used, it is always to a minimum, and the only metal found in Traditional-style furniture will be the hardware. Consistency is key, and so the bold irregular angles and imaginative juxtapositions often found in such styles as Modern or Art Deco furniture are replaced with repetitive patterns and unifying themes such as multiple raised panels, coordinating arches, and upholstery featuring understated fabrics.
Wood hues in Traditional furniture tend toward mid-range to very dark in color, with an equal blend of curvilinear and rectilinear design. The overall ambiance is of low-key opulence, making Traditional-style furniture more difficult to pair with other, more spare furniture styles, such as Modern, Shaker, or Mission, which emphasize an almost-severe feel to their overall design. Traditional is more synonymous with luxuriousness, while styles such as Mission lean more toward utility, modernity, and function.
The term "Traditional," may or may not be used in descriptions of furniture that feature reproductions of classic European or American period styling; however, Traditional furniture will always embody something of these style classics. For example, you may encounter Federal-style furniture with no mention of "traditional" in its description, but much Traditional furniture is crafted with Federal influences.
Transitional
Transitional style blends Contemporary with Traditional to create a uniquely homogenous and tranquil ambience to the home. With less ornamentation than in Traditional furniture, but without the severe boldness of Modern, Transitional furniture features rectilinear forms generally softened by rounded or curved silhouettes. Flexibility in design and function are hallmarks of this style of furniture, placing comfort as a pre-mium over embellishment. Upholstery fabrics tend toward richness in texture rather than bright colors, and both dark and lighter woods are used.
Glass and metal figure often in Transitional-style furniture to work both decoratively and practically. The contemporary elements of these materials are offset by the use of lush fabrics such as chenille, brocades, and other heavily textured fabrics in chairs, sofas, and headboards, and in furniture such as tables, by the organic and naturalistic beauty of wood.
Eclectic and Casual
Two sub-styles exist under the Transitional umbrella: Eclectic and Casual. Many times, these two furniture styles are understandably used interchangeably. Eclectic furniture is a freeform style that embraces several of the classics. You may see Modern, Traditional, or other of the most-loved furniture styles in a single piece, which is a challenge to designers and a coup d'etat when successful. In the photo to the side, for instance, this end table features ball feet and a granite top, reminiscent of American Empire styling, yet it's overall lines remain simple and clean, suggestive of Modern influences. Eclectic-style furniture maintains a fresh, yet harmonious look by judiciously pairing complementary colors and textures in fabrics and woods.
Casual furniture eschews all formality, focusing instead on comfort and fun. It does, however, maintain the classic lines and forms of Traditional furniture, but never does so at the expense of its function as relaxing furniture ideal for entertaining or for the simple joys of at-home leisure. A focus on horizontal lines, rather than vertical, creates an atmosphere of homeyness, as does ample or even over-sized furniture such as chairs and sofas. Woods are predominantly light in color, although dark-stained woods are sometimes used as well, with very simple lines such as those used in Modern, Shaker, or Mission styles.
Casual furniture emphasizes restfulness, so deep upholstery is a must in muted colors that rely on the tactile interest of texture (similar to Transitional) for accenting it. Symmetry may be found, but is not a mainstay of Casual-style furniture; however, mixing decorative accents is kept to a minimum. Furniture made in the Casual style is a reflection of laid-back good taste and underscores the "livability" of a room while maintaining an ambience of serene sophistication. The ice-box design, for example, in the picture below, exemplifies the relaxed, yet inherent good looks of Casual-style furniture. It's a fun and lighthearted reminder of days past, but as in all quality Casual furniture, maintains a tasteful form and minimum decorative accents.
Summary
Some furniture styles come and go in popularity, while others – the classics – are forever "in style." Some disappear completely from the latest media on home dйcor, while some return years later reinvented, rejuvenated, and resplendent as the latest and greatest to hit the scene of home fashion and design. And some furniture defies style definition altogether. So, all in all at the end of the day, what matters is what appeals the most to you – no matter what the style. Look for the characteristics that best complement you and your family's lifestyle – and then enjoy!
