Queen Anne style furniture

The Queen Anne style of furniture design developed before, during, and after the reign of Anne, Queen of

Great Britain (1702–1714).

History and characteristics[edit]

Queen Anne furniture is "somewhat smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than its predecessors," and

examples in common use include "curving shapes, the cabriole leg, cushioned seats, wing-back chairs, and

practical secretary desk-bookcase pieces."[1]

Other elements characterizing the style include pad feet and "an

emphasis on line and form rather than ornament."[2]

The style of Queen Anne's reign is sometimes described

as late Baroque rather than "Queen Anne."[3][4]

The Queen Anne style began to evolve during the reign of William III of England (1689-1702),[5]

but the term

predominantly describes decorative styles from the mid-1720s to around 1760, although Queen Anne reigned

earlier (1702-1714).[3][6]

"The name 'Queen Anne' was first applied to the style more than a century after it was

fashionable."[4]

The use of Queen Anne styles in America, beginning in the 1720s and 1730s, coincided with

new colonial prosperity and increased immigration of skilled British craftsmen to the colonies.[7][8][9]

Some

elements of the Queen Anne style remain popular in modern furniture production.[4]

Curved lines, in feet, legs, arms, crest rails, and pediments, along with restrained ornament (often in a shell

shape) emphasizing the material, are characteristic of Queen Anne style.[4]

In contrast to William and

Mary furniture, which was marked by rectilinearity (straight lines) and use of curves for decoration, Queen

Anne furniture uses C-scroll, S-scrolls, and ogee (S-curve) shapes in the structure of the furniture itself.[4]

In

sophisticated urban environments, walnut was a frequent choice for furniture in the Queen Anne

style,[4]

superseding the previously dominant oak and leading to the era being called "the age of

walnut."[5]

However, poplar, cherry, and maple were also used in Queen Anne style furniture.[10]

Ornamentation is minimal, in contrast to earlier 17th-century and William and Mary styles, which prominently

featured inlay, figured veneers, paint, and carving. The cabriole leg is the "most recognizable element" of

Queen Anne furniture.[11][5]

Cabriole legs were influenced by the designs of the French

cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle[12]

and the Rococo style from the French court of Louis XV.[13]

But

the intricate ornamentation of post-Restoration furniture was abandoned in favor more conservative designs,

possibly under the influence of the simple and elegant lines of imported Chinese furniture.[12]

When decorative motifs or other ornamentation are used in Queen Anne-style furniture, it is

often limited to carved scallop or shell or scroll-shaped motifs (sometimes in relief form and

often found on the crest and knees),[4]

broken and C-curves, and acanthus leaves.[14]

The use

of japanning is an exception to the general Queen Anne trend of minimal ornament.[4]

When used, japanned

decoration was frequently in red, green, or gilt on a blue-green field.[10]

The tilt-top tea table was first made during the Queen Anne period in 1774.[10]

Queen Anne eventually was eclipsed by the later Chippendale style; late Queen Anne and early Chippendale

pieces are very similar, and the two styles are often identified with each together.[15][

During Queen Anne’s reign (1702-1714) she introduced the custom of social tea drinking. This created a need

for small movable furniture such as: tables, chairs, small couches & chaise lounges.

Where did we come from, and how did we get here.

William & Mary furniture,

1. Turned trumpet style legs.

2. Crossed stretchers, often X – shaped

3. Hooded cabinet tops, either single or double

4. Ball feet or bun feet (slightly flattened ball).

5. Aprons or skirts that reflect the hoods on cabinets

6. Large unbroken surfaces that were often lacquered.

7. Introduction of veneers from the French.

8. Often burled walnut.

Queen Anne Balloon Back, English walnut, 1710 to 1730.

Yoke form crest rail over a vasi-form (balloon) splat and slip seat, raised on cabriole legs ending in pad feet.

Joined by block and round turned stretchers.

An important feature of Queen Anne pieces is the cabriole leg terminating in a pad (or club) foot, or in later

incarnations, in a claw and ball foot (see photos below). This shape of leg has been in use since the early

Greeks and Romans, but it was perfected in European furniture during this time. It was the Queen Anne style

that saw the elevation of the cabriole leg into a sweet, sweeping, gentle curve. It is called a cabriole leg

because of its resemblance to the slender hind leg of a deer or goat: in French, the

word cabrioler means to spring or leap like a goat. The shape is always convex at the top and

concave at the bottom.

Pad or club feet, seen above, are cabriole legs turned on a lathe, legs are hand formed & carved.

A Pair of Country Queen Anne Chairs with turned legs and stretchers. The back has a sweeping shape in profile.

Circa 1720, Origin English, Width 20", Depth 19.25", Height 43.5", Seat Height 18"

Side Chair (The Met 5th Ave. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/1724) Date: 1730–90 Geography: Made in New England, United States Culture: American Medium: Walnut, cherry Dimensions: 42 x 20 1/4 x 16 1/2 in. (106.7 x 51.4 x 41.9 cm) Classification: Furniture Credit Line: Bequest of Charlotte E. Hoadley, 1946 Accession Number: 46.192.2

Modern variation of the pad foot. Base of foot is turned into a taper, the leg is machined, CNC, similar to a 3D

router setup.

SLIPPER FOOT, SNAAKE FOOT HAS A RIDGE ON TOP

Queen Anne Side Chair, Yoke Crest, Vasiform Splat, Block and Vase Turned Legs, Spanish Feet

North Shore of Massachusetts, 18th Century

A classic example,

Delaware Valley, Queen Anne Trifid Foot Chair

https://caseantiques.com/item/lot-367-delaware-valley-queen-anne-trifid-foot-chair/

American Queen Anne mahogany side chair with yoke shaped molded crest rail, upturned ears and molded,

tapering stiles over a solid vasiform splat, set into shoe on rear rail. Trapezoidal slip seat, mortised and pinned

into frame, with crewel work upholstery, cabriole front legs terminating in trifid or drake feet, flaring rear legs

with chamfered corners. Delaware Valley, likely Philadelphia, circa 1740. 39" H x 22-1/4" W x 16-1/4" D

overall. Provenance: The estate of Dr. Benjamin H. Caldwell, Nashville, Tennessee, ex-Jack Tompkins Antiques,

Millbrook, New York. Illustrated and briefly discussed in the article on the Caldwells' home published in The

Magazine Antiques, Sept. 1971, p. 438. CONDITION: 7-1/2" L split to back lower half of splat. Stains on crewel

work seat. Abrasions at feet and knees, and several scratches to splat and stiles. Missing rear blocks under

seat.

Made of tiger-striped maple, this Queen Anne Philadelphia dressing table is a design most commonly related

to the celebrated shop of William Savery. The original being made circa 1765, it features an exuberantly

scalloped front apron, pinched corner top and shell carved cabriole legs.

30” high, 33” wide, 20” deep

This Queen Anne chair, Trifid foot, scalloped crest rail, Mahogany baloon back, Acanthus leaf carving on knee.

With more involved carving and the interrupted compass seat with shell, it is masterful in design and

proportion. 42” high, 20 ¾” wide

Although certain details and elements were developed during her actual reign (1702-1714), the name "Queen

Anne" to designate a furniture style was not used until nearly a hundred years later. The Queen Anne style can

be seen as a refinement of the silhouettes and ideas from the earlier William and Mary period. The rather

rectilinear William and Mary pieces used curves only in applied decorative elements like inlay or marquetry.

But Queen Anne pieces eschewed embellishments and instead incorporated curves, S-scrolls, and C-scrolls

into the shape of the furniture itself creating graceful, much more delicate lines than had ever been seen

before. And even though the embellishments of prior styles like Rococo and William and Mary were muted on

Queen Anne pieces, one can still see an occasional shell or acanthus leaf on a leg or back...

Seat backs--or "splats" as they are called--feature vase shapes. They are also sometimes referred to as

"balloon backs" since some of the more simplified splats did indeed resemble a balloon.

And claw and ball feet are literally just that: a claw with its talons gripping a sphere.

These days you are likely to see a Queen Anne element like a cabriole leg (the most common) or a claw and

ball foot on a more current piece of furniture as well, but now you know where the cabriole leg originated!

REFERENCES Carving trefid feet

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/shaping/a-trio-of-trifids

Auction house, American antique chairs

https://www.aaawt.com/html/antique_early_chairs.html

Spanish foot chair

http://www.sillafineantiques.com/fine-american-queen-anne-spanish-foot-antique-side-chair-connecticut-c-1720/

Metropolitan museum, William & Mary high boy - chest

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/52.195.2a,b/

Reproduction Newport & Rhode Island Chairs

http://www.andersenandstauffer.com/seating.php

Doucette & Wolfe

https://furnituremaker1.blogspot.ca/2015/10/