The Regency style
(1811-1820)
Origin, characteristics and examples.
The Regency style was the second phase of the Classic Revival in England. The style was in vogue in the decorative arts from about 1795 to 1820, although historically Regency covers the years from 1811 to 1820.
The Regency style was marked by an eclectic character, based on the cult of antiquity and was essentially an archaeological revival with the principles drawn from Roman, Greek and Egyptian civilizations. Furniture designs also showed certain features of the French Directoire, a coarse version of the French Empire, Chinese and Gothic art.
Types of wood
During the Regency style, woods of dark color, such as mahogany, either solid or veneered, were most frequently used.
Rosewood became a very fashionable wood for cabinetwork after 1800 and many Regency pieces were made entirely of it.
Satinwood was still used, especially during the early phase of the Regency style.
The practice of graining wood, in which a more expensive wood is simulated, was extensively used in early 19th century cabinetwork.
Metal mounts and inlays
Metal mounts and metal inlays were the prevailing fashion for decorating the surface of Regency style furniture.
Typical applied mounts were:
-rosettes
-paterae
-bosses and anthemion palmettes
-female masks
-lion masks
-terminal figures
Brass inlays cut from thin sheets of brass came into favor and were extensively employed by the Regency designers.
Rosewood and mahogany furniture was frequently inlaid with:
-narrow bandings
-stringing lines
-scrollwork
-foliated ornament
-fretwork ornament cut from brass.
Other metal features were:
-metal moldings
-pierced galleries
-metal paw feet on legs of chairs and tables
-brass colonettes and balusters as supports for shelves
-freestanding fluted colonnettes made of metal
-furniture doors were often filled with brass trellis work, backed by silk curtains
-bronze or brass knob handles, either ornamented or plain
-loose-ring handles, some with lion masks
As a result of this taste for all kinds of decorative bronze accessories, wood carvings were sparingly used. Frequently the carved details were finished in gilt or bronze paint to simulate the fashionable metal mounts.
Ornaments
The style of classic ornament used by the Regency designers was characterized by the symmetry of its composition. The ornament, which was cold, stiff and formal, was borrowed from antique Greek and Roman sources.
Favorite motifs and details taken from classical antiquity were:
-archaic lion masks
-lion monopodium
-hocked animal leg as a support
-lion and other paw feet
-terms
-caryatids
-swans
-dolphins
-lyres
-trumpets
-stars
-bosses
-rosettes
-paterae
-antique heads of helmeted warriors
-winged classical figures emblematic of freedom
-lances
-Phrygian cap of liberty
-winged thunderbolt of Jupiter
-water leaf motif
-anthemion
-acanthus foliage of a stiff and formal character
-tight woven wreaths
-laurel leaves
-Greek palm leaves
-scrolls
-Egyptian decorative motifs
-Chinese figure subjects (birds, flowers, landscapes)
Regency Chairs
Typical features of Regency style chairs:
-horizontal lines
-saber or concave front legs
-high set arms on the back uprights
-backward sweep of the top rail forming a continuous curve with the rear legs
-archaeological ornaments drawn from the Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations
-broad and flat concave crest rail
Chairs with a low back, rolled-over uprights, saber or concave front legs were especially fashionable, and usually made of rosewood or mahogany.
In the spirit of imitating the antique, chairs of ancient curule or X-form with uprights and legs terminating in archaic animal heads and feet were also made.
A characteristic light, inexpensive chair was made of a soft wood, such as beechwood, and was most frequently painted black (japanned) and brightened with decoration of flowers or geometrical designs in brass or gilt. Sometimes in order to introduce an Oriental touch the beechwood frames of chairs (or small tables) were bamboo turned and were painted in imitation of bamboo.
Straight tapered legs of either quadrangular or cylindrical form were also used and were frequently finely reeded. Stringing lines, foliated patterns and paterae of brass largely replaced the carved, inlaid or painted decoration employed in the 18th century.
Sofas and Couches
The antique classic couch inspired the characteristic design for Regency style sofas and couches. The sofa of lyre form with cornucopia-shaped legs and the couch designed with an out-scrolled side where popular. It is generally accepted that the Regency designers derived their inspiration for these sofas and couches from the designers of the French Empire, who in turn copied the designs from antique classical sources.
Sofas had become increasingly fashionable as an article of furniture used for reclining; it was practically mandatory to have at least one and very often two sofas in a room. Some of the sofas were of very large size and they usually had a bolster at each end and several loose cushions placed against the back. In the more ambitious examples, couches and sofas were sometimes made with animal supports.
Stools
The designs for stools and window seats essentially followed the designs for chairs and sofas. Some stools were designed with hocked animal legs for supports. Stools of X-form were also fashionable.
Beds
In addition to the popular tester bed a new variety of mahoganybed was introduced by the Regency designers who borrowed the model from the fashionable French Empire lit en bateau. The more elaborate English specimens were ornamented with applied bronze mounts or carved and gilded decoration.
Tables
The pedestal dining table of two or more sections with each sectionsupported on a turned pedestal with a splayed tetrapod base was in general use in the early 19th century. It was usually characterized by more massive supports during the second decade of the century.
Round dining tables, which were extensively employed in France at the time of the French Empire, were revived in England early in the 19th century.
During the Regency style the sideboard table designed with a frieze and without drawers was regarded as most fashionable and was characterized by its massive treatment. The supports were often of "lion monopodium" form. In this form of leg each
support was composed of a head and chest of a lion resting on an elongated leg terminating in a paw foot.
The sideboard with the deep lateral wine drawers and the pedestal sideboard were also in general use and were characterized by their heavier forms. In some extant examples of sideboards the frieze was decorated with carved lion mask ornament and the tapering legs ended in paw feet.
The archaeological character of Regency furniture was plainly declared in some examples of pier tables, circular tables and stands. Other tables in this category displayed a more rational form and were notable for their dignified and massive simplicity.
The sofa table was a popular and satisfactory piece of Regency style furniture and was often finely made. The oblong top with its end drop-leaves was frequently mounted on trestle-end supports often of lyre form. Sometimes the top was mounted on a group of four short turned pillar supports which rested on a small heavy oblong median shelf supported on four splayed legs finished with brass paw feet and wheel casters.
The card table with its folding top was often mounted on this same form of support.
The massive library table designed to hold bound folio volumes was introduced about this time and was regarded as a necessary piece of furniture in the large houses. It had a long oblong top over two frieze drawers. The back and sides were of wood while the front was entirely open. It had a floor shelf resting on four paw feet. The height of the opening corresponded to the height of a folio volume. It was designed in the taste of the Regency style, and it frequently had four freestanding metal fluted columns headed with metal leaf capitals. These library tables were often supplemented with circular open-shelf revolving bookstands. They were designed with two or more circular shelves revolving around a central column.
An interesting variety of small table having an oblong top over a shallow frieze drawer mounted on four legs was the cheveret. This table which came into vogue late in the 18th century was designed with a movable book stand having an open shelf for books over one or two rows of shallow drawers. It was provided with a bracket-like handle. It has also been called a cheveret.
Work Tables
Especially typical of the Late Georgian era were the combined game and work tables. In one variety the work or sewing table with its silk work-bag was designed with folding flaps which, when opened, revealed a chess or backgammon board. It often rested on open lyre-form trestle-end supports. The work table was also frequently constructed with a hinged lid rising on an easel rest flanked by half round lids, with pierced brass galleries, which opened over wells fitted with compartments. This variety was designed with a pull-out chess or backgammon board. The table rested on open scrolled end supports with arched bridge feet terminating in brass paw mounts and casters.
Dressing Tables
Early in the 19th century larger dressing tables fitted with drawers became very popular and to a large extent supplanted the dressing table with a hinged box lid or lifting top. A movable dressing mirror was usually placed on top of the dressing table. The typical dressing table often had shaped trestle-end supports, and drawers are to be without handles and are to be locked with spring catches. This omission of hardware is in accordance with the contemporary French taste for flat uninterrupted surfaces. The shaped trestle-end supports were a free adaptation of those found on certain ancient Roman tables.
Writing Furniture
The pedestal writing table often had reeded columns and was sometimes further enriched with brass bandings and ebonized inlay.
The oblong writing table with its frieze drawers was frequently supported on massive reeded legs headed by lion masks and finishing in paw feet. It was also designed with straight tapered legs of either cylindrical or quadrangular form.
There was much demand for the drum table with its turned column and splayed tetrapod base. During the later phase of the Regency style the turned column of the drum table became more massive, and rested on a flat and massive shaped base, mounted on paw or winged paw feet.
Wall furniture, such as secretary bookcases, cabinets and bookcases, frequently afforded excellent examples of the more ordinary Regency style, since to a large extent antique classical detail was simply applied to traditional 18th century forms. Bronze terminal figures and pilasters mounted with a bronze head and two feet were among the favorite motifs. Brass trellis-work, backed with silk curtains, was often used in place of the glazed doors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Low Bookcases
Especially fashionable were the low bookcases of elbow height which revealed considerable variety in their design. Sometimes they were entirely open and frequently the open shelves were flanked by panels or doors. Gilt columns and applied
metal ornament were characteristic forms of decoration for these low bookcases.
The type with center shelves flanked by cupboard doors were calculated to contain all the books required in a sitting room without reference to the library. Bookcase doors in Chinese, Gothic and Egyptian taste were also very common. One of the principal advantages of the low bookcase was the space afforded above for hanging paintings.
The most simple were manufactured in plain mahogany, or japanned in imitation of various woods; the more elegant in mahogany with decoration in imitation of bronze metal.
Extant examples depicted in English furniture having a frieze drawer, open framework and rounded ends and were sometimes fitted with metal trellis-work panel doors. In some of the longer specimens the central portion was fitted with two grille doors flanked by open sides.
Commodes
Regency style commodes were often massive and had little artistic merit, except for a few examples which were finely inlaid with brass work. Frequently the commodes were flanked by columns.
Chests of Drawers
The chest of drawers was often designed with a bow-shaped front and had the characteristic outset rounded front corners, with the drawers flanked by three-quarter round reeded columns continuing to form the short round tapered legs. The drawers were often mounted with either bronze knob or lion mask loose-ring handles. During the later Regency style the chest of drawers became increasingly ponderous.
Mirrors
The characteristic and popular wall mirror was the gilded circular convex mirror already described in the Sheraton style.
The swinging dressing mirror on a box stand was usually made of mahogany, rosewood or satinwood. It had an oblong mirror and the stand was generally straight or bow-fronted and frequently had projecting corners in accordance with the Regency taste. The decoration of glass by painting on the back as well as the simpler method of transfer-printed decoration on the back of glass was also common.
Accessories
The what-not, a small open shelf stand introduced during the Regency style, was designed with slender uprights supporting two or more shelves, and was used for displaying all kinds of small curios.
The term teapoy is given to a small tray-top table generally supported on three legs or on a central shaft resting on a tripod base. It was used in the drawing room to prevent the company rising from their seats when taking refreshment.
The tea chest, was fitted with canisters, mounted on legs or on a stand. During the Regency style it was often supported on a turned pedestal with a splayed tetrapod base ending in brass paw feet.
In the early 19th century hanging wall shelves were often designed in pairs. The tiers of each set of shelves frequently diminished in depth as they approached the top.
The flower stand was a fashionable decorative accessory, and made in either wood or metal.
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