Modern Day Origins Of Classic Furniture
Perhaps the single biggest influence on today's classic furniture was the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 1800s. But before that, our earliest furniture requirements started gaining distinct styles in the classical worlds associated with Turkey, places like the Assyrian palaces of the 9th and 8th centuries, countries such as Ancient Greece and of course, the Roman civilisations.
Early modern Europe on the other hand had to put up with typically heavy oak furniture in the Middle Ages. Then the Italian Renaissance saw the birth of a real opulence in design trends, that added its own distinct look to classic furniture, often inspired by those early Greco-Roman traditions. After a general cultural renaissance in Northern Europe, the seventeenth century saw the arrival of more overt opulence in the form of gilded Baroque designs that featured a lot of scrolling and vegetal ornament.
Certain countries then went their own ways in classic furniture design development. Palladianism was a great influence in Great Britain. Louis Quinze originated much French furniture. And styles such as Rococo and Neoclassicism played their part in Western Europe. Without doubt though, the development that had the single biggest influence on classic furniture, as we know it today, was the Arts & Crafts movement.
The Arts & Crafts movement was a rebellion against Victorian styles that had become so popular in their day. It was all becoming a bit pretentious and ostentatious and the Victorians were well known for 'borrowing' design, as well as architectural styles, from previous generations. This period also heralded the industrial revolution with its mass production - not approved of by everyone when it came to shoddily produced furniture.
The key figure in this country was William Morris, a designer who objected to the idea of furniture being designed to be manufactured easily by machines. Instead, he adopted simpler design approaches, but accompanied by meticulous craftsmanship. Furniture design was now all about sturdiness, simplicity and practicality.
The Victorian penchant for mass production did find favour eventually though, with the advent of materials like metal and aluminum, leather and chrome - these were the mainstay of the later styles, led by the likes of the famous Bauhaus designers, that arose from the Arts & Crafts movement and truly heralded the arrival of our present day classic furniture. It may have originated over one hundred years ago, but its integrity has survived and there is little today that can improve on these iconic classic furniture design ideas.
About the Author
Richard Johnson - It's all about furniture - http://www.ukfurnituredirect.co.uk/Classic.html
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