Formicartform as art: a guide to the history of furniture

An independent cultural reference on the history of furniture and interior styles. We neither sell nor make furniture, and we are not connected with the former site on this domain or its catalogue.

History

History of the subject

Furniture changes more slowly than fashion in dress, but it reflects its time just as faithfully. The timeline below contains only three dates that are firmly confirmed by reference literature. Beneath it is an account of how styles changed, told in general terms: without unnecessary numbers, but with the features that let you recognize each era.

Every new style argued with the one before it: lavishness gave way to restraint, hand carving to the machine, ornament to the clean surface.

— Margin note

Timeline

  1. 1754

    The cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale publishes his pattern book of furniture designs, "The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director." Drawings of his pieces become available to craftsmen and clients who had never set foot in his workshop.

  2. 1859

    Michael Thonet's workshop produces the bentwood chair No. 14. It is shipped disassembled, and its parts are joined with screws: the chair is easy to transport and to put together on site.

  3. 1919

    Walter Gropius founds the Bauhaus school in Weimar, where art education is combined with work in the workshops.

How styles changed

Baroque loved grandeur: massive cabinets and armchairs, deep carving, gilding, furniture designed for state rooms. Rococo made the same devices lighter and more intimate, bringing curved legs, asymmetrical ornament with scrolls and shells, and small pieces for drawing rooms and boudoirs.

Neoclassicism answered this capriciousness with restraint. Craftsmen turned to antiquity: straight legs, clear proportions, columns, the Greek key and calm, smooth surfaces. The Empire style made this language more ceremonial, with dark polished wood, bronze mounts and motifs recalling imperial grandeur.

The 19th century brought machines and serial production. There was more furniture, it became more affordable and reached homes that had once made do with the bare necessities; at the same time, past styles returned as imitations and mixtures. Around the turn of the century, Art Nouveau tried to break with repetition: its lines are as supple as plant stems, and the object and the interior are conceived as a single whole.

In the 20th century the avant-garde and the Bauhaus proposed giving up ornament in favor of clear construction: tubular metal, plywood, simple geometric volumes. By midcentury forms had become softer and more organic, and heavy matching suites gave way to light pieces on slender legs. Minimalism took the idea to its limit, leaving only surface, proportion and material.

  • Collections

    Routes through the guide: by style, by craft, and a short path for first-time visitors.

  • Close looks

    A step-by-step way to examine a piece of furniture, plus a table of its main elements.

  • Minimalism (in Russian)

    A note at an old catalogue address: where minimalism in interiors came from and how to recognize it.

Sources

  • Reference works on the history of furniture and the decorative arts
  • Museum catalogues and guides to furniture collections

Historical information is drawn from reference literature on the history of furniture and the decorative arts. Opening hours and visiting rules at museums, historic houses and workshops change, so please confirm them with each venue.