John Jeliff
The Victorian furniture designer and manufacturer John Jeliff apprenticed as a cabinetmaker at the age of 14 in New York City. Later, he became a journeyman, and in 1843 he opened his own business in Newark, New Jersey. His furniture is characterized by a lush use of woods and finely carved busts of Columbia, large crests, classical urns and other Renaissance Revival elements. Because of the very high quality of his work, Jeliff has become one of the most respected cabinetmakers of the Victorian era.
The American Renaissance Revival style of furniture was fashionable in the Victorian era, from 1860 through 1875. It is characterized by the use of decorative design elements found in ancient Roman, Greek and Egyptian architecture, and by its heavy, large scale, buildinglike effect.