Queen Anne style furniture

Queen Anne furniture is "somewhat smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than its predecessors," and examples in common use include "curving shapes, the cabriole leg, cushioned seats, wing-back chairs, and practical secretary desk-bookcase pieces."John F. Pile, A History of Interior Design (2nd ed.) Laurence King, 2005: p. 201. Other elements characterizing the style include pad feet and "an emphasis on line and form rather than ornament.""Queen Anne style." The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts (Vol. 2). Oxford University Press, 2006: p. 246. The style of Queen Anne's reign is sometimes described as late Baroque rather than "Queen Anne.""Queen Anne style." The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts (Vol. 2).Rosemary Troy Krill, Early American Decorative Arts, 1620-1860: A Handbook for Interpreters, p. 49.

The Queen Anne style began to evolve during the reign of William III of England (1689-1702), but the term predominantly describes decorative styles from the mid-1720s to around 1760, although Queen Anne reigned earlier (1702-1714).R. Davis Benn, Style in Furniture (Longmans, Green & Co., 1904), p. 70 ("The style was founded in the reign of William III and Mary II, and retained its popularity throughout those of Anne and George the First, and nearly the whole of that of George the Second; nevertheless 'Queen-Anne' it was dubbed"). "The name 'Queen Anne' was first applied to the style more than a century after it was fashionable." The use of Queen Anne styles in America, beginning in the 1720s and 1730s, coincided with new colonial prosperity and increased immigration of skilled British craftsmen to the colonies.American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. 1, p. 108 (2007).In the 18th Century Style: Building Furniture Inspired by the Classical Tradition (Taunton Press, 2003), p. 20.Edwin Tunis, Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999), p. 88 ("Anne became queen in 1702, but the sturdy furniture named for her was hardly known in America before 1725"). Some elements of the Queen Anne style remain popular in modern furniture production.

File:Philadelphia Queen Anne Shell feature c1750.jpg

Curved lines, in feet, legs, arms, crest rails, and pediments, along with restrained ornament (often in a shell shape) emphasizing the material, are characteristic of Queen Anne style. In contrast to William and Mary furniture, which was marked by rectilinearity (straight lines) and use of curves for decoration, Queen Anne furniture uses C-scroll, S-scrolls, and ogee (S-curve) shapes in the structure of the furniture itself. In sophisticated urban environments, walnut was a frequent choice for furniture in the Queen Anne style, superseding the previously dominant oak and leading to the era being called "the age of walnut."[http://www.britannica.com/art/Queen-Anne-style Queen Anne style], Encyclopædia Britannica. However, poplar, cherry, and maple were also used in Queen Anne style furniture.Zac Bissonnette, Warman's Antiques & Collectibles 2013 (46th ed. 2012).

File:Side Chair, c. 1740, firm of Giles Grendey, England, burr walnut and walnut veneers - Art Institute of Chicago - DSC09757.JPG, London, c. 1740 (Art Institute of Chicago)]]

Ornamentation is minimal, in contrast to earlier 17th-century and William and Mary styles, which prominently featured inlay, figured veneers, paint, and carving. The cabriole leg is the "most recognizable element" of Queen Anne furniture.Beds and Bedroom Furniture. Taunton Press, 1997: p. 21. Cabriole legs were influenced by the designs of the French cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle{{cite book|title=American Furniture of the 18th Century: History, Technique, and Structure|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfurnitur00gree|url-access=limited|first=Jeffrey P. |last=Greene|publisher=Taunton Press|year=1996|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanfurnitur00gree/page/n243 227]–253|isbn=978-1-56158-104-7}} and the Rococo style from the French court of Louis XV.[http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/french-furniture.htm French Royal Furniture (c.1640-1792)] But the intricate ornamentation of post-Restoration furniture was abandoned in favor of more conservative designs, possibly under the influence of the simple and elegant lines of imported Chinese furniture.

When decorative motifs or other ornamentation are used in Queen Anne-style furniture, it is often limited to carved scallop or shell or scroll-shaped motifs (sometimes in relief form and often found on the crest and knees), broken and C-curves, and acanthus leaves.Joseph Aronson, The Encyclopedia of Furniture (Random House, 1965), p. 192. The use of japanning is an exception to the general Queen Anne trend of minimal ornament. When used, japanned decoration was frequently in red, green, or gilt on a blue-green field.

The tilt-top tea table on a tripod was first made during the "Queen Anne" (in reality George II) period in the 1730s.{{cite book |last1=Claxton Stevens |first1=Christopher |last2=Whittington |first2=Stewart |title=18th Century English Furniture |date=1994 |publisher=Antique Collectors Club |location=Woodbridge |isbn=1 85149 218 6 |page=288 |edition=3}}

Queen Anne eventually was eclipsed by the later Chippendale style; late Queen Anne and early Chippendale pieces are very similar, and the two styles are often identified with each together.Joseph Downs, American Furniture: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods 1725-1788 (Schiffer Publishing, 2001).[http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/2400/Armchair Collections: Decorative Arts: Armchair] (William Savery), Brooklyn Museum.[https://www.interiorsecrets.com.au/collections/king-beds Good Furniture Magazine (Vol. 13)], InteriorSecrets. Retrieved 2014-05-21.[https://mckeefrysfurniture.com/ McKeefry's Furniture (Vol. 1)], McKeefry's. Retrieved 2014-05-21.

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|position=left|Queen Anne furniture}}

Category:English furniture

Category:History of furniture

*