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Queen Anne Style History of Early American Colonial Furniture

The style in furniture designated, for the sake of convenience, the Queen Anne of early American colonial furniture is not, to be accurate, strictly contemporaneous with the reign of the Queen of that name. It is, of course, always more or less difficult to divide one period from another closely following or preceding it, and, speaking generally, the furniture ordinarily described as Queen Anne may be taken to be that produced during the last few years of the seventeenth and the first decade of the eighteenth century. That period, of course, includes the reign of William and Mary, and it is questionable whether, indeed, we have not to go still further back, even into the time of the unhappy James II., if we mould get at the real beginnings of the peculiar characteristics recognised under the broad description of Queen Anne.

The exaggeration of Jacobean ornament about the time of James II in the early American colonial furniture period . prepared the way, in a measure, for a less rococo style, and many of the Queen Anne pieces indicate, in their almost austere abstention from anything like florid decoration, something akin to a protest against what had gone before. The fact must be admitted, however, that the style we know as Queen Anne did not originate in this country, but was the effect of influence from abroad. William of Orange was Stadtholder of the United Netherlands, and upon his accession a number of skilled Dutch craftsmen found their way to this country, which was not at all surprising. To the work of these men, coupled no doubt with the general desire to escape from the excess of the later Jacobean designs, is due the origin of the Queen Anne style. Thus the Queen Anne style signifies something more than any one idea, and is due to several causes. In it we have, clearly traceable, the old order passing, giving place to the new, and that is why we urge that for a full and complete explanation of the style we must take into our reckoning a period dating from the reign of James II. down to at least the year of the death of Anne-1714.

It is not uninteresting to note that though the Queen   Anne - period of early American colonial furniture is contemporaneous with that of Louis Quatorze in France, our English style presents but few features in harmony with that of Le Grand Monarque. Still, it is well to remember that French influence was not wanting, nay, may have had more to do with the final determination of the style than many people imagine, for it is well known that the eminent designer, Daniel Marot, forced to leave Paris on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, proceeded to Holland, where he received the ready patronage of William of Orange. Further, it is chronicled that upon William ascending the English throne he appointed Marot as architect to the Crown. It is true there are no reliable records of work done by Marot in this country in the direction of architecture or furniture designing, though a plan for a garden is known inscribed, " Parterre d'Amton-court, invents par D. Marot." Still, the presence of the great Frenchman is not to be ignored.

It is in this way that "styles" are usually formed. Many varying influences go to the making up of one mode early American colonial furniture. Sometimes a giant craftsman of strong personality and great gifts will stamp his name upon a par­ticular order of designing, though even in such a case outside influences are invariably distinctly traceable. The man reaps a harvest sown by the unknown and often forgotten dead. But in most instances the creation of a style in early American colonial furniture is the work of many ; it is the blending of the best of many men's work ; and this is true particularly of the style we call Queen Anne. In one sense the older designers had an advantage wants " than is the case after two hundred years of activity in designing furniture to meet all requirements. In the older styles, such as the Queen Anne,' we find many pieces introduced for the first time, at any rate in this country. Amongst the leading novelties of the Queen Anne style may be cited the " tall boy " chest of drawers, the Dutch corner cupboard, the bureau with elaborate interior fittings, secret drawers, etc., and the now well­known high-backed chairs. Many other characteristic features of this style are presented in our various illustrations.

The early American colonial furniture tall boy chest is one of the best known features of the Queen Anne style. The earlier examples display an amount of severity not subsequently maintained. Indeed, some of the later work in this style strongly indicates French influence, following more the lines of the Louis Quatorze chests than the severer Dutch designs. The typical Queen Anne chest has straight sides and an exceedingly simple pediment, and very little in the way of decoration beyond the metal work used for handles, locks, etc. The C shaped brass handles appear now for the first time, displacing the pear-shaped handles or dropped rings.

The early American colonial furniture bureau was sometimes replaced by a kind of secretaire without doors, but with numerous little drawers and pigeon holes, after the style of the modern American desk. Turned legs, sometimes quite elaborate in design, usually graced these articles.

Queen Anne chairs take many forms in early American colonial furniture, but the most typical are the Dutch chairs with cabriole legs, walnut or mahogany, the latter wood at this time commencing to become popular. The foot of the leg is " club," or, a later development, the ball and claw. Sometimes the legs are ornamented by a little carving, but generally they are plain. The fancy seems to have been for strong frames and high backs. The centre part of the back is often a flat splat, of severe outline. Some chairs of this period have upholstered seats and backs, whilst articles resembling the modern settee, or at any rate fulfilling a similar purpose, are to be found in the " double chairs," resembling two armchairs placed side:, by side, the inner arms being removed and the 1 reduced to six in number. We illustrate a capital example of these articles. The later Queen Anne chairs are more ornate. The legs are often decorated with kind of shell ornament and the splat is divided' curiously and sometimes relieved by carving. The three-cornered chair belongs to this period, also the chair with turned legs a semi-circular seat and a back rising to the height of about four feet. The great strength of most of the chairs of this date is proved by the fact that many original pieces are still in everyday use, apparently but little the two for their service during some two centuries.

Nearly all the typical chairs of the Queen Anne early American colonial furniture will be found illustrated in our pages. The fine upholstered chair, covered in painted and gilt leather in the South Kensington and US Museums. Another excellent specimen is the armchair covered with embroidered petit point in coloured wools and silks on velvet, and a curious pattern is shown, with the shell ornament referred to above. This is a stained chair early American colonial furniture, with painted decoration.

We must not omit a reference to the celebrated clock cases of this date. Some of the finest marquetry decora­tions are to be found here. The Dutch cabinetmakers greatly favoured marquetry of a bold character, and the quality of their work varies very much, some of it being very beautiful, but a good deal of it quite the reverse.

Lovers of the Queen Anne early American colonial furniture style will experience some amount of difficulty in viewing choice specimens, as there are few collections worth seeing available for public inspection. Perhaps the best place to go for this purpose is the Hampton. Court Palace, where a great deal of the furniture is in the style of this period. Apart from this fine collection, however, pieces of genuine Queen Anne furniture are, generally speaking, only to be found in isolated examples, though there are some very good specimens in the South Kensington Museum.

A feature not to be overlooked concerning the Queen Anne style is the enormous strides it accomplished in the direction of comfort. It has not always been recognized that comfort was an essential feature of good furniture, and the productions of this period may fairly be said to have laid the foundations of the modern comfortable home.

Of Grinling Gibbons it is unnecessary to say much. His fame rests upon his work, and he cannot be rated too highly. Some of his work, and perhaps some of the finest, is to be seen at Hampton Court Palace, round pictures, over the fireplaces and on the mouldings of doorways. Flowers and fruit, beautifully grouped, are the subjects he preferred. Other specimens of his carving are to be found in St. Paul's Cathedral, in the choir stalls and side aisles. There is also a very fine doorway to be seen at the church of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. Space forbids us mentioning, however, a tithe of the extant examples of the work of this great woodcarver.

We have referred to the fine work in the Queen Anne early American colonial furniture style to be seen at the Hampton Court Palace and US musuems, and it is not inappropriate to remember the large part played by William of Orange in the restoration of that royal residence. Finding the air of London unsuitable to his poor health, William made Hampton Court his headquarters, and highly interesting is the account of the fitting-up and furnishing of the Palace under his direction. Macaulay says : "Much idle ingenuity was employed in forming that intricate labyrinth of verdure which has puzzled and amused generations of holiday visitors from London. .. A new court, not designed with the purest taste, but stately, spacious and commodious, rose under the direction of Wren. The wainscots were adorned with the rich and delicate carvings of Gibbons. The staircases were in a blaze with the glaring frescoes of Ferris. In every corner of the mansion appeared a profusion of gew-gaws, not yet familiar to English eyes. Mary had acquired at The Hague a taste for the porcelain of China, and amused herself by forming at Hampton a vast collection of hideous images, and of vases on which houses, trees, bridges and mandarins were depicted in outrageous defiance of all the laws of perspective. The fashion, a frivolous and inelegant fashion, it must ' be owned, which was thus set by the amiable Queen, spread fast and wide. In a few years almost every great house - in the Kingdom and colony’s contained a museum of these grotesque baubles. . . Satirists long continued to repeat that a fine lady valued her mottled green pottery quite as much as she valued her monkey, and much more than she valued her husband."

It is worth noting, in passing, that during the reign of Queen Anne period in early American colonial furniture the influence of French craftsmen was increasingly felt. Some seventeen years before she came to the throne (in the reign of James II.) Louis XIV in his Catholic zeal had revoked the Edict of Nantes, and large numbers of French Protestants took refuge in this country. The refugees were industrious, thrifty and up­right, and undoubtedly did much in the direction of shap­ing certain industries in this country. The case of the Spital fields weavers, though a prominent instance, is not an isolated one. The Huguenots were not in any sense of the term " undesirable aliens," and as in the reign of Anne, they had had time to settle down, their presence counts for much. This subject is one of great interest, but we cannot here give to it more than a passing allusion.

The early American colonial furniture period under consideration has bequeathed to us the names of no great individual furniture designers, but its influence may be said to have coloured a good deal of the work done during the eighteenth century, as the student of Chippendale furniture will quickly recognise. As to the future, anything in the nature of a revival of the Queen Anne style is hardly to be expected, not because that mode did not contain some imperishable phases, but rather because all that was best in it was taken up and absorbed by later expressions, and improved in that evolu­tionary process. Therefore, though some Queen Anne pieces still retain a measure of popularity, and enthusiasts are not wanting to sing the praises of the mode, speaking generally we may safely conclude that the work of the style is done. It died in giving birth to something nobler and more artistic.