19th Century

The 19th century was the most prolific period in furniture history. Empire formalism gave way to Victorian exuberance, then to the reform movements of the 1870s and 1880s, then to the Arts and Crafts reaction against machine production. The result was a century of enormous variety, and some of the most distinctive furniture forms ever produced.

The 19th century styles in this collection include:

• American Empire (1815-1840) — bold classical forms inspired by Napoleon's campaign furniture and ancient Greek and Roman sources. Heavy carved feet, broad mahogany veneers, marble tops on pier tables and sideboards. The furniture of Andrew Jackson's Washington.
• Victorian (1840-1900) — the broad term covering the eclectic styles of the mid-to-late century: Renaissance Revival with its incised ornament, Eastlake with its rectilinear reform geometry, and the elaborate carved and tufted parlor sets that defined middle-class aspiration across six decades.
• Aesthetic Movement (1870-1890) — the Anglo-Japanese influence that brought ebonized finishes, incised gilded ornament, and sunflower motifs to British and American furniture following the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
• Arts and Crafts (1880-1910) — the handcraft revival that rejected machine production and returned to honest construction: exposed joinery, quartersawn oak, hammered hardware, and the simple rectilinear forms associated with Gustav Stickley and the English reform designers.

Custom sizes and finishes are available on most pieces. White glove delivery is standard.