Name: Xander Brazier BFT 11/21/2023
Victorian Era
Furniture(chairs)
Name: Xander Brazier BFT 11/21/2023
Aesthetics
The Victorian era, which is the period of Queen Victoria’s reign, spans from 1837-1901. The
Victorian furniture characteristics of this period have a distinct aesthetic with dark finishes or
gilding, embellishments, and heavy proportions.
This period overlapped with the Industrial Revolution, making it the first style of furniture
manufactured. Also, do not expect to find any identifying marks on Victorian-era furniture. The
furniture that emerged in this period drew heavily from Gothic.
Characteristics of Victorian era furniture
Elaborate Ornamentation
Victorian furniture pieces are valuable for their opulence and elegance. During Queen Victoria’s
reign, her taste for grandeur shaped the period enormously, and grand and elaborate furniture
was in fashion for much of her reign.
Carved wood ran along the top of the couch and chair backs and arms. It’s also on bed frames
and dressers. They feature shapely leaves, trailing vines, ribbons, and bows that are nice in any
master bedroom. Wood might be dark and finished or painted and gold gilded.
Designers favored foliate motifs for ornamentation. They would incorporate pointed arches,
spires, quatrefoils, trefoils, and crockets.
Draping Fabrics
During the Victorian age, it became a social norm for people to cover their ankles. So, furniture
legs and feet were commonly concealed by draping of fabric.
According to Marryat’s book, “A Diary in America,” it was out of fear that bare legs were
provocative. Others argue it was to protect their cherished furniture from being damaged.
Gilding
Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a thin coating of gold to solid surfaces such as
metal (most commonly), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also called “gilt.”
Where metal is gilded, the metal below was traditionally silver. It is to make silver-gilt (or
vermeil) objects. Yet, China commonly uses gilt-bronze. Gilding methods include hand
application and gluing, typically of gold leaf, chemical gilding, and electroplating.
Cost
Victorian era furniture was not made for the common people but for the middle but
mostly upper-class of society in that era. For example, a Victorian era chair back
then would be around 500$ to 10,000$ for a single chair.
Material/Cooler & Texture
Victorian furniture is known for its ornateness, orderliness, and eclectic approach to unifying
design themes from a variety of periods into a coherent framework. While it incorporated
Name: Xander Brazier BFT 11/21/2023
elements of Renaissance, Rococo and Gothic influences, Victorian Furniture is often
characterized by its use of velvet, hard woods with dark finishes, intricate tufting, detailed
needlework, floral patterns and romantic imagery.
Construction Method
Victorian furniture was carved using processes such as laminating paper-thin sheets of brittle
rosewood with glue, steaming and pressing them into three-dimensional molds that then were
carved in fine detail. This allowed for strong furniture that could still be mass-produced. The
laminated sheets were resistant to breakage, yet pliable enough to be intricately ornamented.
Victorian furnishings feature intricate carvings and designs. Many of the wood pieces were hand
carved with nature-inspired designs.
Clients’ requirements
During Queen Victoria’s reign, her taste for grandeur shaped the period enormously, and grand
and elaborate furniture was in fashion for much of her reign, because as the queen she is the one
who sets the trends between the nobles, and many nobles who wanted attention followed this
trend until it became the norm.
