Traditional Furniture

Traditional furniture is the English and American decorative arts tradition from roughly 1680 to 1840. It is the longest continuous design tradition in Western furniture history, and it produced the forms that remain the standard of proportion and craftsmanship against which all subsequent furniture is measured.

What makes traditional furniture traditional is not ornament but structure: the cabriole leg that begins with a knee and ends with a foot, the case piece that sits on a frame base with properly proportioned bracket feet, the chair that uses mortise-and-tenon joinery at every joint rather than staples and dowels. The ornament, when present, grows from the structure rather than being applied to it.

EGA Home's traditional collection spans the major English and American period styles:

• William and Mary and Queen Anne — the early 18th century styles that established the cabriole leg and the curved splat as the vocabulary of English furniture
• Georgian and Chippendale — the high-water mark of English and American craftsmanship, with mahogany as the primary wood and carved ornament at its most refined
• Hepplewhite and Sheraton — the neoclassical period that followed, lighter in scale, with inlay replacing carving as the primary decorative technique
• Regency and Empire — the formal classical revival that closed the traditional period, with bold Greek and Roman references in both form and ornament

Most pieces are available in custom sizes and finishes. White glove in-home delivery is standard on every order.