Styles - Tudor, Jacobean, Cromwellian
TUDOR: Elizabeth I to James I (1558-1603)
Oak was in use for
furniture during the reigns of the Tudors, and for most of the seventeenth century as
well. It is a heavy and strong wood, which grew plentifully in England but was imported
also, and the furniture made from it is both weighty and durable. Being a hard wood it is
not easy to carve, although it can be decorated with inlay. On the whole,
the hardness of oak determined the styles in which it was made and ornamented, and in
spite of the difficulty of working the timber surprisingly elaborate carving and inlay was
carried out. Construction was simple: the mortice and tenon joint held fast with a wooden
peg, or dowel. The most noticeable feature in design is the exaggerated bulbous turned leg
on tables, bedstead posts, and supports on the fronts of cupboards.
JACOBEAN: James I to Cromwell (1603-1649)
Walnut began to be used, but in the
solid and then only occasionally. As this wood is prone to attack by woodworm, a great
amount of it was probably destroyed and it may have been much more popular than we know.
The bulbous support, so popular earlier, is seldom seen and is replaced by simpler
turning.
CROMWELLIAN: Oliver and Richard Cromwell (1649-1660)
Oak and walnut remained
the principal woods, but the most common feature is again the use of turned ornament.
Fronts of chests were decorated with turned columns cut into two halves lengthwise, and
inlaid with simple patterns in mother-of-pearl, bone or ivory. Turning on chair and table
legs was often in a series of knobs, known as 'bobbin-turning'. Seats of chairs were
sometimes of leather, fixed with large brass-headed nails.