American Furniture Styles, 1610 to 1900 – An Overview
In the process of defining and describing the attributes of American furniture we find both time periods and styles being used to label particular pieces and whole groupings. Such labeling can lead to significant misunderstandings and can, to the new comer, be very confusing.
Furniture periods provide us with just a time frame while styles provide us with the details of design. We must be careful to separate out furniture periods from actual styles. Otherwise the reader of a particular article or the viewer of a particular piece of furniture may leave the playing field more confused than when they entered.
From 1610 through the beginning of the 20th century American furniture has seen four different periods, Pilgrim, Colonial, Federal and Victorian along with at least 14 distinct styles. Add terms such as country, formal, first period, second period and reproduction to the mix and one can understand why even after years of collecting and dealing in antique furniture there can still be confusion as to how one might label a particular piece.
Pick up an assortment of books, price guides and auction catalogs on American furniture and you will find the same or similar pieces of furniture carrying different descriptions. There are many reasons for this divergence: ignorance of time periods and subtle style differences can be the case, but generally it appears due to the preference of the author of each publication or article.
Take the Pilgrim Period as an example. Just the words denote something very early in our history thus something of the Pilgrim Period must be of greater rarity than say a William and Mary chair though the date of craftsmanship is exactly the same. Secondly, most everyone has some idea of the Pilgrim Period while few may know of Jacobean or William and Mary styles. Another author may in preparing a collection of William and Mary furniture for an auction not wish to use the term Pilgrim Period in the catalog as the term may conjure up images within their customer base of less graceful and primitive items and thus not be the motivator needed to bring them out for the sale. The same can be said for the Federal Period, which is used to describe very fine formal furniture from approximately 1790 to 1815. However, it does not tell the reader if the piece is of the Hepplewhite, Sheraton or Classical style. Again conversely, to describe a fine inlaid Hepplewhite table just as Hepplewhite may not sound as regal or as valuable as calling it a true Philadelphia Federal table.
So it can be seen that frequently various different terms are used to describe a particular piece of furniture depending on the labeler’s need to convey a particular cache, value or simply to fit the venue being reached. Of course, none of this “playing” with words does anything for the education of the average person just getting their feet wet in the field of antique furniture.
In an effort towards clarity in this reference database, we will make every effort to label furniture listings with both a period and a style designation and description. We begin with the four basic periods, Pilgrim, Colonial, Federal and Victorian, including some references to background historical events that had an effect on the various furniture styles found within each period. Then we will provide a general description of each style within the period, keeping in mind that many have written books just on one particular type of furniture within a style such as Chippendale chairs, Hepplewhite card tables or Sheraton work tables. There are many nuances to be found and discussed within every style, much of which is beyond the scope of a general style description. For such additional detail we would recommend the reader to such treatises.
reference note by p4A contributing editor Charles Wibel.