This book describes the technical and stylistic development of English furniture in the early Georgian era

This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience.

The 16th and 17th centuries in Europe witnessed a significant paradigm shift. Rooted in medieval beliefs and preoccupations, the exploration so characteristic of the period stemmed from religious motives but came to be propelled by commerce and curiosity as Europeans increasingly engaged with the rest of the world. Interiors in both public and private spaces changed to reflect these cultural encounters and, with them, the furniture with which they were populated. Visually, furniture of this period displayed new designs, forms and materials. In its uses, it also mirrored developments in science, technology, government and social relationships as prints became more widely distributed, the Wunderkammer developed and there was religious strife and resistance to absolute monarchical rule. Drawing upon a wealth of visual and textual sources, this volume presents essays that examine key characteristics of the furniture of the period on the themes of Design and Motifs; Makers, Making, and Materials; Types and Uses; The Domestic Setting; The Public Setting; Exhibition and Display; Furniture and Architecture; Visual Representations; and Verbal Representations.

Conclusion -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Glossary -- Index

The eighteenth-century home, in terms of its structure, design, function, and furnishing, was a site of transformation – of spaces, identities, and practices. Home has myriad meanings, and although the eighteenth century in the common imagination is often associated with taking tea on polished mahogany tables, a far wider world of experience remains to be introduced. At Home in the Eighteenth Century brings together factual and fictive texts and spaces to explore aspects of the typical Georgian home that we think we know from Jane Austen novels and extant country houses while also engaging with uncharacteristic and underappreciated aspects of the home. At the core of the volume is the claim that exploring eighteenth-century domesticity from a range of disciplinary vantage points can yield original and interesting questions, as well as reveal new answers. Contributions from the fields of literature, history, archaeology, art history, heritage studies, and material culture brings the home more sharply into focus. In this way At Home in the Eighteenth Century reveals a more nuanced and fluid concept of the eighteenth-century home and becomes a steppingstone to greater understanding of domestic space for undergraduate level and beyond.

The Gentleman's House analyses the architecture, decoration, and furnishings of small classical houses in the eighteenth century. By examining nearly two hundred houses it offers a new interpretation of social mobility in the British Atlantic World characterized by incremental social change.