When the colonists settled along the Eastern seaboard of North America during the 17th century, they brought their European traditions with them. Their domestic customs (how they lived and worked) also reflected in the style and construction of their furniture. Settlers arriving from different countries brought with them the training and the styles of their native lands.

Of course, the European influence on American furniture was not unique to the 17th century. Until the end of the 19th century, American furniture styles continued to evolve principally from European sources, a phenomenon that has made American furniture making a fascinating but occasionally perplexing subject of study.

First, some definitions are in order. Furniture making is a comprehensive term that can be divided into two categories: cabinetry and joinery.

Cabinetmaking was the regulated trade that produced fine furniture. A cabinetmaker generally served an apprenticeship through which he learned to construct and, in particular, to carve furniture. A fine piece of furniture produced in a good European cabinet shop commonly followed the style established by the reigning monarch; this style eventually reached the colonies.

Joined and turned furniture tended to be less style-conscious. The joiner was not as well trained as a cabinetmaker. He used a draw knife and constructed mortise-and-tenon joints to pin furniture together. Another type of craftsman, a turner, was skilled in making parts of furniture on a lathe.

While often derivative of high-style furniture, such pieces are sometimes termed country or primitive. But since joiners operated in urban as well as rural areas, vernacular is a more accurate term for describing joined, or less sophisticated, furniture. Finally, the term hand-made is used to mean exactly that: furniture created with simple tools. After the first quarter of the 19th century, the machine was applied to furniture making and the factory method of production began.

European furniture styles crossed the Atlantic in several ways. The original colonists constructed native furniture according to their recent training and the ideas they brought with them to the New World; 17th-century furniture makers used their skills to construct pieces in the medieval and Renaissance forms they remembered.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, some European furniture was actually imported by wealthy settlers. These pieces served as models for colonial furniture makers.

European furniture styles were also transmitted through published pattern and design books. Fine cabinet shops in Europe owned pattern books that pictured the popular styles of the time. There is little documented evidence to substantiate the use of such publications in America before the mid-18th century. However, the close similarity of actual pieces of 18th-century American furniture, shows that American craftsmen were familiar with these books.

Regardless of how European styles reached the New World, a certain time lag naturally occurred between the two continents. What was fashionable in Europe might not appear in America until twenty or more years later. This phenomenon has created some confusion in the naming of American styles. For example, the William and Mary style did not develop in America until after the actual reign of those monarchs in England. (The William and Mary period in England is 1689-1702, while in America, the style predominated in 1700-1725.) Periods in American furniture are further confused because they shift from the names of English monarchs to the name of a designer (Chippendale) or to an overall design movement (Classicism).

Ok, so now that we know a little more about the history and origin of American furniture, lets take a closer look at the different American furniture styles.

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